Multi-Chamber Substrate Processing Gas Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
The productivity of semiconductor device manufacturing is reduced due to mismatches between the number of process chambers in a processing apparatus and the number of substrates, leading to inefficient gas usage, unnecessary film formation on components, and variations in processing conditions.
Innovation Solution
A substrate processing system with multiple process chambers, a process gas supply unit, a purge gas supply unit, and an exhaust unit, controlled by a unit to optimize gas flow and pressure in each chamber, ensuring efficient gas usage and uniform processing by supplying process gas to one chamber while purging and exhausting the others.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If process gas is supplied to all process chambers simultaneously, then all chambers can process substrates in parallel, but gas is wasted in chambers without substrates and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by controlling gas supply individually to each process chamber based on substrate presence. The gas supply unit supplies process gas only to chambers where substrates are present, while purging chambers without substrates. This localized gas distribution eliminates waste while maintaining processing efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts gas supply to each chamber based on real-time substrate status. The control unit receives substrate presence information and dynamically switches between supplying process gas to active chambers and purging inactive chambers, optimizing resource utilization continuously.
2Stability of the object's composition
If process gas is supplied to chambers without substrates, then gas distribution remains uniform, but unnecessary films form on chamber components requiring maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by differentiating gas treatment between chambers with substrates and chambers without substrates. Process gas is supplied only where needed (chambers with substrates), while purge gas is supplied to chambers without substrates to prevent film formation on components, reducing maintenance requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potential harm of gas supply (unnecessary film formation) into a benefit by using purge gas in chambers without substrates. The purge gas prevents reactive process gas from contacting chamber components, thereby preventing film deposition and reducing maintenance needs.
3Productivity
If the number of process chambers is increased to handle more substrates, then processing capacity increases, but gas supply control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing a gas supply control system that handles multiple functions through a unified approach. The same control unit manages both process gas supply and purge gas supply across all chambers, using a consistent decision-making framework based on substrate presence, thereby scaling efficiently with chamber count.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments gas control into independent chamber-level decisions. Each chamber's gas supply is controlled independently based on its substrate status, allowing the system to scale to any number of chambers without increasing overall complexity, as each chamber follows the same simple control logic.
Data Source
AI summary
In the present invention, the productivity of a processing apparatus including a plurality of process chambers is improved. There is provided a substrate processing apparatus including a plurality of process chambers, a process gas supply unit configured to supply a process gas into each of the plurality of process chambers, a purge gas supply unit configured to supply a purge gas into each of the plurality of process chambers, an exhaust unit configured to exhaust each of the plurality of process chambers and a control unit configured to control the process gas supply unit, the purge gas supply unit and the exhaust unit to supply the process gas into a first process chamber of the plurality of process chambers to which a substrate is transferred while supplying the purge gas into process chambers other than the first process chamber and exhausting the plurality of process chambers.