Patent Application
20250114740
The present disclosure generally relates to an abatement device, an abatement system including the abatement device, and an abatement method for the abatement system. More particularly, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a compact abatement device for abating effluent gases generated by a semiconductor processing chamber.
Effluent gases produced during semiconductor manufacturing processes include a variety of harmful compounds which need to be abated before disposal for regulatory compliance and environmental and safety concerns. As the effluent gases include many different types of compounds, the current abatement systems occupy a large footprint to hold complex abatement devices. The current abatement systems also consume an enormous amount of energy during operation.
Accordingly, there is a need to have an improved abatement system.
Disclosed herein are a compact scrubber for abating effluent gases, an abatement system including the compact scrubber, and an abatement method for the abatement system. In one example, a compact scrubber includes a first chamber and a second chamber coupled by a conduit. The conduit provides the effluent gases from the first chamber to the second chamber and includes a first end disposed in the first chamber and a second end disposed in the second chamber. The first chamber includes a first inlet configured to receive the effluent gases. The second chamber is configured to treat the effluent gases and includes a second inlet configured to receive a reagent, a first outlet configured to output treated effluent gases, and a second outlet configured to output a byproduct produced by treating the effluent gases. The second end of the conduit in the second chamber is disposed below the second inlet and the first outlet.
In another example, an abatement system includes a plasma abatement unit configured to receive effluent gases from a processing chamber, a pump disposed downstream of and coupled with the plasma abatement unit, a compact scrubber disposed downstream of and coupled with the pump, and a primary abatement unit disposed downstream of and coupled with the compact scrubber. The compact scrubber includes a first chamber and a second chamber coupled by a conduit. The first chamber includes a first inlet configured to receive the effluent gases. The second chamber is configured to treat the effluent gases and includes a second inlet configured to receive a reagent, a first outlet configured to output treated effluent gases, and a second outlet configured to output a byproduct produced by treating the effluent gases.
The abatement method includes outputting effluent gases from a processing chamber to a first abatement unit comprising a plasma unit; outputting the effluent gases from the first abatement unit to a pump; outputting the effluent gases from the pump to a second abatement unit configured to treat the effluent gases with water; and outputting the effluent gases from the second abatement unit to a primary abatement unit configured to treat the effluent gases in bulk.
So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the disclosure, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only exemplary embodiments and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements and features of one embodiment may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments without further recitation.
The disclosure contemplates that terms such as “couples,” “coupling,” “couple,” and “coupled” may include but are not limited to welding, fusing, melting together, interference fitting, and/or fastening such as by using bolts, threaded connections, pins, and/or screws. The disclosure contemplates that terms such as “couples,” “coupling,” “couple,” and “coupled” may include but are not limited to integrally forming. The disclosure contemplates that terms such as “couples,” “coupling,” “couple,” and “coupled” may include but are not limited to direct coupling and/or indirect coupling, such as indirect coupling through components such as links, blocks, and/or frames.
Disclosed herein are a compact scrubber for abating effluent gases, an abatement system including the compact scrubber, and an abatement method for the abatement system that are configured to at least partially treat the effluent gases. The compact scrubber is capable of treating certain water soluble gases, such as HF or HCl, in the effluent gases. The compact scrubber has a small physical footprint and can be retrofitted to many existing abatement systems. The compact scrubber is disposed downstream of a plasma abatement unit and upstream of a primary abatement unit. The compact scrubber treats the effluent gases with a moderate efficiency, which reduces the burden on the primary abatement unit downstream of the compact scrubber. For example, effluent gases outputted by a processing chamber can be treated first by a plasma abatement unit. This plasma treatment process may generate certain water soluble gases, such as HF and HCl. The compact scrubber subsequently treats the effluent gases to remove water soluble gases and then outputs the treated effluent gases to the primary abatement unit.
The compact scrubber includes two chambers: one chamber for buffering the effluent gases and the other chamber for treatment, such as absorbing HF or HCl gases with water. The compact scrubber also utilizes a spreader and gas diffusers to increase the exposure of the effluent gases in the water. During operation, fresh water flows into the treatment chamber at a rate that is approximately the same as the rate of contaminated water being released from the treatment chamber. The compact scrubber does not require a large footprint or complex subsystems. This compact scrubber provides an auxiliary abatement device to an abatement system, which can be inexpensive, reliable, and substantially maintenance free.
The present application is not limited to a compact scrubber with a plurality of integrated chambers for partially treating effluent gases. An auxiliary abatement system, which may have a larger footprint than a compact scrubber, is also contemplated by the present application. The auxiliary abatement system may have a plurality of chambers disposed in separated devices. The plurality of chambers of the auxiliary abatement system have similar functions as those chambers of a compact scrubber.
The processing platform 104 includes a plurality of processing chambers 110, 112, 120, 128, the one or more load lock chambers 122, and a transfer chamber 136 that is coupled to the one or more load lock chamber 122. The transfer chamber 136 can be maintained under vacuum, or can be maintained at an ambient (e.g., atmospheric) pressure. Two load lock chambers 122 are shown in
Continuing to refer to
Each of the load lock chambers 122 has a first port interfacing with the factory interface 102 and a second port interfacing with the transfer chamber 136. The load lock chambers 122 are coupled to a pressure control system (not shown) which pumps down and vents the load lock chambers 122 to facilitate passing the substrates between the environment (e.g., vacuum environment or ambient environment, such as atmospheric environment) of the transfer chamber 136 and a substantially ambient (e.g., atmospheric) environment of the factory interface 102.
The transfer chamber 136 has a vacuum robot 130 disposed therein. The vacuum robot 130 has one or more blades 134 (two are shown in
The controller 144 is coupled to the processing system 100 and is used to control processes and methods, such as the operations of the methods described herein (for example the operations of the methods as described in other parts of the present application). The controller 144 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 138, a memory 140 containing instructions, and support circuits 142 for the CPU. The controller 144 controls various items directly, or via other computers and/or controllers.
The foreline 218 serves as a conduit that routes effluent gases leaving the processing system 100 to the abatement system 200. Effluent gases may contain material which is undesirable for release into the atmosphere or may damage downstream equipment, such as vacuum pumps. For example, the effluent gases may contain compounds from a dielectric deposition process or from a metal deposition process. Examples of compounds present in the effluent gases include silicon-containing materials, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), or other compounds.
The abatement system 200 includes a pre-pump abatement unit 204, a pump 206, an auxiliary system 208, and a primary abatement unit 210. The foreline 218 couples the processing system 100 with the pre-pump abatement unit 204. A transferring line 220 couples the pre-pump unit 204 with the pump 206. A transferring line 222 couples the pump 206 with the auxiliary system 208. A transferring line 224 couples the auxiliary abatement system 208 with the primary abatement unit 210.
The pre-pump abatement system 204 may include a plasma abatement unit, such as an Aeris-G abatement unit available from Applied Materials, Inc., located in Santa Clara, California, among other suitable systems. The pre-pump abatement system 204 includes a plasma source 214, a reagent delivery unit 212, and a controller 216. The plasma source 214 may be a remote plasma source, an in-line plasma source, or other suitable plasma source for generating a plasma within a treatment region of the pre-pump abatement system 204. The reagent delivery unit 212 delivers one or more reagents, such as abating reagents (which may be, for example, volatilizing or condensing abating reagents) into the foreline 218 or treatment region according to instructions by the controller 216. The abating reagents may include water, ammonia (NH3), H2, CHxFy, O2, BCl3, CCl4, SiCl4, NF3, SF4, SF6, SF8, or other compounds. According to an embodiment, nitrogen (N2), argon (Ar), or clean dry air may be introduced into the effluent gases for pressure control. Effluent gases outputted from the treatment region of the pre-pump abatement system 204 may include certain water soluble gases, such as HF, HC, or any other similar gases.
The pump 206 is configured to move the effluent gases from the pre-pump abatement unit 204 to an auxiliary abatement system 208. The auxiliary abatement system 208 may include a compact scrubber. In some embodiments, the pump 206 may be a backing pump, such as a dry mechanical pump or the like. The pump 206 may have a variable pumping capacity with can be set at a desired level.
The auxiliary abatement system 208 is disposed downstream of and coupled to the pump 206. The auxiliary abatement system 208 is operable to treat the effluent gases before the effluent gases enter the primary unit 210. According to an embodiment, the auxiliary abatement system 208 is configured to treat water soluble gases, such as HF, HCL, or other gases. The auxiliary abatement system 208 functions as a compact unit, which does not occupy a substantial amount of physical space. The auxiliary abatement system 208 has moderate efficiency. For example, the auxiliary abatement system 208 may be capable of removing a portion of water soluble gases from the effluent gases, such as 10% to 50% of the water soluble gases. The auxiliary abatement system 208 reduces the burden on the primary abatement unit 210.
The primary abatement unit 210 is disposed downstream and coupled to the auxiliary abatement system 208. The primary abatement unit 210 is configured to treat exhaust gases from the processing chamber 202 in bulk. The primary abatement unit 210 includes a plurality of units for treating the effluent gases, including a water scrubber 226. In addition to a water scrubber 226, other abatement devices, such as a combustion unit 228 and a cooling unit 230, may be optionally included in the primary abatement unit 210.
The second container 304 treats the effluence gases with suitable reagents. According to an embodiment, the second container 304 contains a reagent 308 and a plurality of gas diffusers 309. The reagent 308 may include a liquid reagent such as water or any other suitable materials for treating the effluent gases. The reagent 308 may substantially fill the entire second container 304 or a portion of the second container 304. When a portion of the second container 304 is filled with the reagent, an end 328 of the conduit 316 is disposed within the liquid reagent held within the second container 304 and configured to release effluent gases into the liquid reagent.
The gas diffusers 309 are used to enhance the exposure of the effluent gases in the reagent 308. The gas diffusers 309 may be in the shape of balls, discs, plates, tubes or hoses. In an embodiment, the gas diffusers 309 substantially fill the second container 304. The gas diffusers 309 may be perforated or made of porous materials, which are configured to break down the effluent gases to smaller streams or bubbles. The gas diffusers 309 may also increase the travel path (i.e., residence time) of the effluent gases within the reagent 308. In one example, the gas diffusers 309 may be perforated balls, air stones, or any other suitable porous objects.
The second container 304 includes a second inlet 310 configured to receive a fresh reagent 311, a second outlet 314 configured to remove a byproduct 324 from the second container 304, and a first outlet 312 configured to transfer the rest effluent gases out of the second container 304. The second inlet 310 is disposed at an upper region of the second container 304 and adds the fresh reagent 311 to the reagent 308 disposed in the second container 304. The second outlet 314 is disposed at the bottom 315 of the second container 304 and releases byproduct 324 from the second container 304. The byproduct 324 may include water contaminated by water soluble gases, such as HCl or HF, mixed in the reagent 308. According to an embodiment, the flow rates of the fresh reagent 311 into the second container 304 and the releasing rate of the byproduct 324 and reagent 308 exiting the second container 304 are approximately the same such that the second container 304 is not be overfilled or under filled with the reagent 308. As the effluent gases may be lighter than the reagent 308, the first outlet 312 is disposed at an upper region of the second container 304 to receive the effluent gases.
The conduit 316 is operable to allow the effluent gases to flow from the first container 302 to the second container 304. The conduit 316 includes a first end 326 disposed within the first container 302 and a second end 328 disposed within the second container 304. The first and second ends 326 and 328 are disposed within the bottom sections 331 and 333 of the first and second containers 302 and 304, respectively. The bottom sections 331 and 333 may be understood to include sections that are adjacent to bottoms of the first and second containers 302 and 304. The bottom sections 331 and 333 may be about one third, one forth, or one fifth of the heights of the first and second containers 302 and 304. When the amount of reagent in the second container 304 is used as a reference, the bottom sections 331 and 333 may be about one half, one third, one fourth, or one fifth of the height of the reagent contained in the second container 304.
In an embodiment, liquid reagents may be sucked into the first container 302 when the pump 206 stops operation and then pushed back to the second container 304 when the pump 206 restarts operation. To allow the liquid reagent in the first container 302 to flow into the conduit 316, the first end 302 of the conduit 316 is disposed within the liquid reagent that are sucked into the first container 302. According to an embodiment, the first end 326 may be disposed at an even lower position than that of the second end 328.
As shown in
According to an embodiment, the conduit 316 has an inverted U shape. The conduit 316 may include a one way valve 318 that substantially prevents back flow from the second container 304 to the first container 302. According to an embodiment, the second end 328 includes a spreader 330 configured to disperse the effluent gases in the reagent 308 present in the bottom region of the second container 304. For example, the spreader 330 can break a single stream of effluent gases into many smaller streams of effluent gases. The spreader 330 may include a showerhead, sparger pipes, or any other suitable devices.
The first container 302, the conduit 316, and the second container 304 is made of a material that is corrosion resistant to the effluent gases. According to an embodiment, suitable corrosion resistant materials include metal (such as stainless steel and aluminum), high performance plastic (such as HDPE, PTFE, FEP, and PEEK), or other suitable material.
The lid 402 may be coupled to the tank 404 via a hinge or be detachable from the tank 404. In one example, the lid 402 can be detached from the tank 404 for maintenance, cleaning, or for other reasons. For example, the lid 402 may be removed to allow the gas diffusers 309 to be replaced. In another example, the lid 402 may be removed to allow the spreader to be cleaned. According to an embodiment, the first inlet 306, the second inlet 310, and a reagent control valve 412 are disposed on the lid 402. This configuration can ease the service or replacement of the tank 404. The reagent control valve 412 is operable to flow fresh reagent into the second chamber 410 at the same predetermined rate as the release control valve 414.
According to embodiments of the abatement method, reagents, such as fresh water, may be added to the compact scrubber at a first rate. The fluid with absorbed effluent gases may be released from the compact scrubber at a second rate approximately the same as the first rate. Inside the compact scrubber, the effluent gases is received by a first chamber, and then output from the first chamber to a second chamber. The effluent gases is released into the second chamber via a spreader. The effluent gases flow through the porous materials disposed in the second chamber. During operation, when the pump stops operation, the fluid in the second chamber may flow back into the first chamber; and once the pump restarts operation, the fluid in the first chamber is pushed back into the second chamber.
It is contemplated that one or more aspects disclosed herein may be combined. Moreover, it is contemplated that one or more aspects disclosed herein may include some or all of the aforementioned benefits. While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present disclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.
