Substrate Processing Gas Sequencing to Prevent Exhaust Blockage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Unreacted source gases accumulate in the exhaust unit of substrate processing apparatuses, leading to reduced exhaust performance and stability due to undesired reactions and blockages.
Innovation Solution
A substrate processing method that divides the processing space into multiple regions, sequentially injects and exhausts different gases and purge gases, and uses a rotating supporting unit to prevent unreacted gases from mixing and reacting in the exhaust system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single exhaust unit is used to exhaust both source gas and reactant gas, then the exhaust unit structure is simple, but unreacted source gas accumulates and reacts with reactant gas causing firing or blockage
Solution Approach 1:
The exhaust unit is divided into a first exhaust line for exhausting source gas and a second exhaust line for exhausting reactant gas. This segmentation prevents unreacted source gas from accumulating and reacting with reactant gas in the same exhaust pathway, thereby eliminating firing or blockage issues while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
2Productivity
If source gas is completely exhausted through the exhaust unit, then unreacted source gas is removed from processing space, but the source gas accumulates in the exhaust unit causing harmful reactions
Solution Approach 1:
The exhaust system is segmented into separate exhaust lines for source gas and reactant gas. This allows complete exhaustion of unreacted source gas from the processing space while preventing its accumulation in the exhaust unit by directing it through a dedicated exhaust pathway that does not mix with reactant gas.
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful interaction between source gas and reactant gas is eliminated by extracting them into separate exhaust pathways. The source gas exhaust line is specifically designed to remove unreacted source gas before it can accumulate and react, thereby taking out the harmful factor from the system.
3Reliability
If source gas and reactant gas are exhausted through separate exhaust lines, then harmful reactions are prevented, but the exhaust unit structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The exhaust unit is segmented into functionally independent exhaust lines for source gas and reactant gas. Each exhaust line is dedicated to a specific gas type, preventing harmful reactions while maintaining manageable complexity through clear functional separation.
Solution Approach 2:
The exhaust unit is designed with multi-functionality, where the first exhaust line handles source gas exhaustion and the second exhaust line handles reactant gas exhaustion. This universal design approach allows the exhaust unit to handle different gas types through standardized separate pathways, balancing complexity with reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
The present inventive concept is a substrate processing method in which processing steps are carried out on a substrate supported on a support unit in a processing space that is divided into a first processing area and a second processing area, the substrate processing method comprising: a step in which a first gas and a first purge gas are sprayed in the first processing area; and a step in which a second purge gas and a second gas are sequentially sprayed in the second processing area.