Gas-line system for semiconductor-manufacturing apparatus
AssigneeASM Japan K.K.
InventorsTakayuki Yamagishi, Masaei Suwada
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A gas-line system used for a semiconductor-manufacturing apparatus with at least two reactors, includes at least one gas source; a flow-divider means including an input port on the primary side, which receives a source gas from the gas source, and an output port on the secondary side, which outputs an inputted source gas by equally distributing it. The input port on the primary side is connected with the gas source and the output port on the secondary side is connected with the reactors; and one exhaust pump for exhausting gases within the reactors, which is connected with the reactors. It is desirable that the gas-line system is provided between the reactors and the exhaust pump, and an APC is included for controlling pressure for each reactor.
Claims20
A gas-line system for a semiconductor-manufacturing apparatus with at least two reactors, which comprises:
- a source gas line derived from at least one gas source;
- at least two branch gas lines leading to the respective reactors;
- and
- a flow divider for equally distributing the gas passing through the source gas line into each branch gas line, said flow divider comprising (i) an input port connected to the source gas line wherein a gas passes therethrough at a primary side flow rate, and (ii) at least two output ports connected to the respective branch gas lines wherein a gas passes through each branch gas line at a secondary side flow rate,
- wherein said flow divider comprises:
- at least two flow controllers for setting the respective secondary side flow rates, disposed at the respective output ports:
- a flow meter for detecting the primary side flow rate, disposed at the input port;
- and
- a signal processor for receiving a signal of the primary side flow rate from the flow meter and outputting a signal of the secondary side flow rate to each flow controller to equally set each secondary side flow rate.
A gas-line system for a semiconductor-manufacturing apparatus with at least two reactors, which comprises:
- a source gas line derived from at least one gas source;
- at least two branch gas lines leading to the respective reactors;
- and
- a flow divider for equally distributing the gas passing through the source gas line into each branch gas line, said flow divider comprising (i) an input port connected to the source gas line wherein a gas passes therethrough at a primary side flow rate, and (ii) at least two output ports connected to the respective branch gas lines wherein a gas passes through each branch gas line at a secondary side flow rate,
- wherein said flow-divider means comprises one digital mass flow meter connected with said input port on the primary side, two digital mass flow controllers provided on each line branching off from said digital flow meter, and an electrically connected digital signal processor provided between said digital mass flow meter and said digital mass flow controllers.
A gas-line system for a semiconductor-manufacturing apparatus with at least two reactors, which comprises:
- a source gas line derived from at least one gas source;
- at least two branch gas lines leading to the respective reactors;
- and
- a flow divider for equally distributing the gas passing through the source gas line into each branch gas line, said flow divider comprising (i) an input port connected to the source gas line wherein a gas passes therethrough at a primary side flow rate, and (ii) at least two output ports connected to the respective branch gas lines wherein a gas passes through each branch gas line at a secondary side flow rate,
- said gas-line system further comprising an exhaust pump for exhausting each reactor, disposed downstream of the reactors, wherein a pressure control valve is provided between each reactor and the exhaust pump to control gas flow of each reactor.
A gas-line system for a semiconductor-manufacturing apparatus with at least two reactors, which comprises:
- a source gas line derived from at least one gas source;
- at least two branch gas lines leading to the respective reactors;
- a diverging point where the branch gas lines branch off from the source gas line;
- a flow rate detecting device provided on the source gas line;
- at least two flow rate adjusting devices provided on the respective branch gas lines;
- and
- a controlling device which sets a setpoint of each flow rate adjusting device based on a signal from the flow rate detecting device to equally distribute a gas passing through the source gas line into each branch gas line.
A method for equally distributing a source gas into at least two reactors for semiconductor processing, comprising the steps of:
- detecting the flow rate of the source gas derived from a gas source;
- calculating an equally divided flow rate for the respective reactors;
- diverging the source gas into each reactor;
- and
- setting a flow rate between the diverging point and each reactor at the equally divided flow rate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.