EP0811413A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Evacuation system
Assignee: Ebara Corp
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Filing: 1997-05-22
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2017-05-22
Abstract
Abstract An evacuation system having a long service life, a compact configuration and high reliability is disclosed. The system enables the process gases to be reused, so that the overall costs of capital investment and operation are reduced. The system comprises a processing chamber, and a vacuum pump communicating with the processing chamber by way of an evacuation conduit for evacuating the processing chamber. The evacuation conduit are provided with not less than two trapping devices arranged in series and operating at different temperatures for capturing different components contained in an exhaust gas discharged from the processing chamber.
Inventors
- 👤 Nobuharu Noji
- 👤 Yasuhiro Niimura
- 👤 Hiroaki Ogamino
- 👤 Hiroshi Hattori
- 👤 Norihiko Nomura
- 👤 Tetsuro Sugiura
- 👤 Yuji Matsuoka
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 15:02
CPC Classifications
C; C23; C23C; C23C16/00; C23C16/44; C23C16/4412; B; B01; B01D; B01D53/00; B01D53/002; F; F25; F25B; F25B21/00; F25B21/02; Y; Y02; Y02C; Y02C20/00; Y02C20/30
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
62 words
An evacuation system comprising a processing chamber and a vacuum pump communicating with said processing chamber by way of an evacuation conduit for evacuating said processing chamber, wherein said evacuation conduit are provided with not less than two trapping devices arranged in series and operating at different temperatures for capturing different components contained in an exhaust gas discharged from said processing chamber.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
121 words
A system according to claim 1, wherein said processing chamber is a semiconductor processing chamber, wherein preferably said vacuum pump is a dry pump using no lubricant in an exhaustion passage within said vacuum pump, wherein preferably at least one of said trapping devices is a low-temperature trapping device, wherein preferably said low-temperature trapping device is cooled with a helium refrigeration unit, wherein preferably said low-temperature trapping device is cooled with a pulse tube refrigeration unit, and/or by the heat of vaporization of liquefied gas, and/or by liquid nitrogen, and wherein preferably said low-temperature trapping device is provided with not less than two trapping devices, one of which is cooled with a helium refrigeration unit and another cooled with liquid nitrogen.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
238 words
A system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least one of said trapping devices is detachably attached through a coupling to said evacuation conduit, wherein preferably at least one of said trapping devices is provided with a heater, wherein preferably at least one of said trapping devices has an inlet port for admitting a regeneration gas, wherein preferably at least one of said trapping devices has an outlet port for releasing a regenerated gas, wherein preferably said trapping devices are disposed in an arrangement so that a trapping device disposed in a downstream location is operated at a lower temperature than a trapping device disposed in an upstream location, wherein preferably at least one of said trapping devices is arranged in a dual parallel arrangement, which is communicable selectively with said evacuation conduit, wherein preferably at least one of said trapping devices is provided with a differential pressure sensor, wherein preferably at least one of said trapping devices is provided with a recovery conduit for returning a regenerated gas to a processing chamber, wherein preferably at least one of said trapping devices is provided with a conduit to deliver a regenerated gas to a detoxification apparatus, and wherein preferably at least one of said trapping devices is provided with a conduit to deliver a regenerated gas to a low temperature tank held at a temperature close to a temperature of said at least one trapping device.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
31 words
A system according to one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein preferably said evacuation conduit is arranged in a dual parallel arrangement in such a way to be selectively communicable.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
141 words
A system according to one of the claims 1 to 4, further comprising a regeneration conduit for regenerating at least one of said trapping devices, at least one of said trapping devices being disposed so as to be switchable between said evacuation conduit and said regeneration conduit, wherein preferably wherein said regeneration conduit is disposed adjacent said evacuation conduit and said at least one of said trapping devices comprises switching device for mechanically switching said at least one of said trapping devices between said regeneration conduit and said evacuation conduit, wherein preferably said at least one of said trapping devices comprises two trapping members alternatingly placed in said regeneration conduit and said evacuation conduit, and preferably further comprising a control device for automatically operating said switching device by directly or indirectly judging the amount of components trapped in said trapping device.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
51 words
An evacuation system comprising a processing chamber communicated with a vacuum pump for evacuating said processing chamber through an evacuation conduit which is provided with a sacrificial material to react with a reactive component contained in an exhaust gas discharged from said processing chamber so as to deactivate said reactive component.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
92 words
A system according to claim 6 , wherein said sacrificial material is permeable and is contained in a reactive trapping device disposed in a path of said evacuation conduit, wherein preferably a filtering device, for removing a reaction product formed by a reaction between said reactive component and said sacrificial material, is disposed in a path between said sacrificial material and said vacuum pump, wherein preferably said filtering device is a low-temperature trap, and wherein preferably said vacuum pump is a dry pump which uses no lubricating oil in an exhaust path.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
87 words
A system according to claim 6 or 7 wherein said reactive trapping device is detachably disposed in a path of said exhaust passage, wherein preferably said reactive trapping device is disposed in a dual parallel arrangement so as to be selectively communicable with said evacuation conduit, wherein preferably said reactive trapping device comprises a sensor to indicate an amount of sacrificial material remaining, and wherein preferably said reactive trapping device comprises a sensor to indicate a differential pressure between fore- and aft-locations of said reactive trapping device.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
41 words
A system according to one of the claims 6 to 8, wherein said sacrificial material includes not less than one material selected from a group consisting of C, Si and S, and wherein preferably said sacrificial material includes a metallic material.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
40 words
An evacuation system comprising a processing chamber and a vacuum pump communicating with said processing chamber by way of an evacuation conduit for evacuating said processing chamber, wherein said evacuation conduit are provided with not less than two trapping devices.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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