Gas Supply Unit Rapid Cooling Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional gas supply units in semiconductor manufacturing processes face delays due to natural cooling of fluid devices, which can cause premature reaction of cleaning gases with pipe surfaces, leading to corrosion and film growth, thereby increasing process time.
Innovation Solution
A gas supply unit with a base plate, upper device, and middle blocks, featuring a heater for maintaining process gas temperature and a cooling member to rapidly cool the system to the reaction start temperature of the cleaning gas, allowing for selective supply of process and cleaning gases, thereby shortening cooling and overall process time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If natural cooling is used to cool the fluid device to the reaction start temperature of the cleaning gas, then the cleaning gas can be supplied without causing corrosion or film growth, but the process time is significantly increased
Solution Approach 1:
A cooling plate is introduced as an intermediary component between the heating plate and the fluid device. The cooling plate receives cooling air from the cooling chamber and transfers the cooling effect to the fluid device, enabling controlled and accelerated cooling without directly exposing the fluid device to the cleaning gas at inappropriate temperatures.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating and cooling functions are segmented into separate chambers - a heating chamber with a heating plate and a cooling chamber with a cooling plate. This segmentation allows independent control of heating and cooling processes, enabling the fluid device to be rapidly cooled to the reaction start temperature before cleaning gas supply without compromising reliability.
2Productivity
If the fluid device is kept at high temperature to maintain process gas in vapor state, then the process gas can be supplied effectively, but the cleaning gas reacts prematurely with deposited substances causing corrosion
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling chamber is prepared in advance with cooling air supplied to the cooling plate before the cleaning gas is introduced. This preliminary cooling action ensures that the fluid device reaches the reaction start temperature of the cleaning gas before the cleaning process begins, preventing harmful reactions while maintaining the ability to supply process gas effectively at higher temperatures.
Solution Approach 2:
The temperature of the fluid device is dynamically adjusted based on the operational phase - maintained at high temperature during process gas supply for effective vapor state maintenance, and rapidly cooled to the reaction start temperature before cleaning gas supply to prevent corrosion. The heating and cooling plates enable flexible temporal control of temperature.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration enables rapid cooling of the gas supply unit, preventing premature chemical reactions and significantly reducing the process time of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus by accelerating the cooling process from 2 hours to 15 minutes.
Implementation Method 1
the gas supply unit is configured to heat a fluid device(s) in which the process gas flows to a temperature equal or close to the temperature of the process gas by use of a heater
Implementation Method 2
the cooling plate is configured to cool the fluid device down to a reaction start temperature of the cleaning gas or lower by use of cooling air
Data Source
AI summary
A gas supply unit is configured such that when a first gas whose temperature has been controlled at a first temperature is supplied to a chamber through an upper device and then a second gas which starts a chemical reaction at a reaction start temperature lower than the first temperature is supplied to the chamber through the upper device, before cleaning gas is supplied to the chamber through the defined between a base plate and the upper device to cool the upper device down to the reaction start temperature or lower.