Substrate Processing Exhaust Connection for Vacuum Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing batch-type vacuum processing apparatuses face challenges in ensuring uniform gas distribution and temperature control during substrate processing, leading to non-uniform film formation and etching processes.
Innovation Solution
The substrate processing apparatus integrates a reaction tube, vacuum pipe, and exhaust pipe with a housing that supports the reaction tube and vacuum pipe, featuring a unique pipe connection structure using a fixing member to ensure airtightness and alignment, along with a heating system for uniform temperature control and gas distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a bellows body is provided at the connection portion between exhaust port and vacuum pipe, then flexibility and sealing are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the bellows body from the connection structure between the exhaust port and vacuum pipe, replacing it with a direct connection using a fixing member. This extraction of the complex bellows component simplifies the overall structure while maintaining sealing functionality through the fixing member's flange and clamp mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection structure is segmented into distinct components: the exhaust port, the fixing member with flange and clamp, and the vacuum pipe. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, simplifying the overall design compared to an integrated bellows body while ensuring reliable sealing at each interface.
2Ease of operation
If the opening diameter is made larger than the vacuum pipe outer diameter, then ease of installation is improved, but vacuum sealability may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The fixing member acts as an intermediary component between the exhaust port opening and the vacuum pipe. It provides a standardized interface with a flange that can be securely clamped to the vacuum pipe, ensuring both easy installation (larger opening for pipe insertion) and reliable vacuum sealability through the clamp mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a flexible sealing interface at the connection between the fixing member and vacuum pipe, using a clamp mechanism that can accommodate minor dimensional variations. This flexible sealing approach allows the opening to be larger than the pipe outer diameter for easy installation while maintaining vacuum sealability through the clamped sealing surface.
Data Source
AI summary
A substrate processing apparatus includes a reaction tube, a vacuum pipe integrally formed with the reaction tube, a housing configured to accommodate the reaction tube and the vacuum pipe therein, an exhaust pipe provided below the housing, and a fixing member configured to fix the exhaust pipe to the housing. The housing has a bottom portion configured to support the reaction tube, the bottom portion has an opening with an opening diameter larger than an outer diameter of the vacuum pipe, the vacuum pipe has a lower end inserted through the opening, and the exhaust pipe is fixed to the housing in a state in which an interior thereof communicates with an interior of the vacuum pipe.