Methods and apparatuses for deuterium recovery
AssigneePoongsan Corporation
InventorsManuel Rivera, Biao Wu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Novel methods, systems, and apparatuses for reclaiming annealing gases from a high pressure annealing processing system are disclosed. According to an embodiment, the exhaust gasses from the high pressure annealing processing system are directed into a gas reclaiming system only when a precious gas, e.g., deuterium is used. The annealing gas is the separated from other gasses used in the high pressure annealing processing system and is then pressurized, filtered, and purified prior to transferring the gas to a bulk storage distribution unit. In one embodiment, the reclaimed gas is then again provided to the high pressure annealing processing system to anneal the wafers.
Claims22
A method of reclaiming at least a first annealing gas from an exhaust of a high pressure annealing processing system used to anneal a plurality of substrates in a semiconductor manufacturing process comprising:
- receiving a signal about the presence of at least the first annealing gas in the high pressure annealing processing system;
- purging a gas reclaiming system with a second gas;
- directing the at least first annealing gas to the gas reclaiming system, wherein the at least first annealing gas and the second gas are mixed together to form a mixture of a plurality of gases in the gas reclaiming system;
- after the directing, separating the plurality of gases in a gas separating unit of the gas reclaiming system, wherein the gas separating unit substantially separates the at least first annealing gas from the plurality of gasses to yield a separated annealing gas;
- conveying the separated annealing gas to a heat exchange unit of the gas reclaiming system;
- testing the separated annealing gas in a gas monitoring system of the gas reclaiming system to monitor the quality of the separated annealing gas, wherein if the separated annealing gas has a concentration of the at least first annealing gas below a predetermined threshold:
- conveying the separated annealing gas back to the gas separating unit to reprocess the separated annealing gas, and
- re-testing the quality of the separated annealing gas;
- conveying the separated annealing gas to a gas pressurizing unit of the gas reclaiming system, wherein the separated annealing gas is pressurized above atmospheric pressure to yield a pressurized first annealing gas;
- conveying the first pressurized annealing gas to a purification system;
- and
- storing the purified and pressurized first annealing gas for at least a period of time before re-using the pressurized first annealing gas in the high pressure annealing processing system.
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions, which when executed by a processing system, including one or more processors, performs a method of reclaiming at least a first annealing gas from an exhaust of a high pressure annealing processing system used to anneal a plurality of substrates in a semiconductor manufacturing process, the method comprising:
- receiving a signal about the presence of at least the first annealing gas in the high pressure annealing processing system;
- purging a gas reclaiming system with a second gas;
- directing the at least first annealing gas to the gas reclaiming system, wherein the at least first annealing gas and the second gas are mixed together to form a mixture of a plurality of gases in the gas reclaiming system;
- after the directing, separating the plurality of gases in a gas separating unit of the gas reclaiming system, wherein the gas separating unit substantially separates the at least first annealing gas from the plurality of gasses to yield a separated annealing gas;
- conveying the separated annealing gas to a heat exchange unit of the gas reclaiming system;
- testing the separated annealing gas in a gas monitoring system of the gas reclaiming system to monitor the quality of the separated annealing gas, wherein if the separated annealing gas has a concentration of the at least first annealing gas below a predetermined threshold:
- conveying the separated annealing gas back to the gas separating unit to reprocess the separated annealing gas, and
- re-testing the quality of the separated annealing gas;
- conveying the separated annealing gas to a gas pressurizing unit of the gas reclaiming system, wherein the separated annealing gas is pressurized above atmospheric pressure to yield a pressurized first annealing gas;
- conveying the first pressurized annealing gas to a purification system;
- and
- storing the purified and pressurized first annealing gas for at least a period of time before re-using the pressurized first annealing gas in the high pressure annealing processing system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.