Patent Application
20220197318
The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0179983, filed Dec. 21, 2020, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.
The present disclosure relates generally to a temperature adjustment apparatus and, more particularly, to a temperature adjustment apparatus configured to perform temperature adjustment and control, and to a multi-zone temperature adjustment apparatus including the same, and a multi-zone temperature adjustment type substrate supporting apparatus.
A semiconductor (or display) manufacturing process is a process for manufacturing a semiconductor device on a substrate (e.g., wafer). For example, the semiconductor manufacturing process includes processes of exposure, deposition, etching, ion implantation, cleaning, and the like. In a process of processing a substrate by applying thermal energy, such as etching or deposition, it is necessary to control the temperature for each zone of the substrate.
Meanwhile, in accordance with a demand for miniaturization of the semiconductor manufacturing process, temperature control for each fine zone of the substrate is required. In order to perform temperature control for each fine zone, temperature measurement and adjustment of heater output for each fine zone are required.
However, there is a problem in which it is difficult to arrange a temperature measurement apparatus and a heater in a narrow space.
Accordingly, the present invention is intended to provide a temperature adjustment apparatus configured to perform temperature measurement and control for each fine zone, and to provide a multi-zone temperature adjustment apparatus including the same, and a multi-zone temperature adjustment type substrate supporting apparatus.
The problem to be solved is not limited thereto, and other problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the subsequent description.
In order to achieve the above objective, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a temperature adjustment apparatus including: a first power source; a second power source configured to apply a voltage opposite to a voltage applied from the first power source; an ammeter connected to the second power source in series and configured to measure a current value of the second power source; a heater configured to induce a current in a first direction so as to dissipate heat energy while being connected to the first power source in series during a heating time period; a temperature sensor configured to induce a current in a second direction opposite to the first direction while being connected to the second power source in series during a sensing time period; and a switch controller configured to control connection between the first power source and the heater and connection between the second power source and the temperature sensor.
The heater and the temperature sensor may be connected to each other in parallel through a first common node and a second common node.
The switch controller may include: a heater switch configured to control connection between the first power source and the first common node; a sensor switch configured to control connection between the second power source and the first common node; and a common switch configured to control connection between a common node of the first power source and the second power source and the second common node.
The heater may include: a heater resistor configured to dissipate heat energy by the current in the first direction; and a first diode including an anode connected to the first common node and a cathode connected to the second common node.
The temperature sensor may include: a temperature variable resistor configured such that a resistance valve thereof is variable in response to temperature; and a second diode including an anode connected to the second common node and a cathode connected to the first common node.
The temperature adjustment apparatus may include: an output controller configured to control an output voltage of the first power source on the basis of the current value measured by the ammeter.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a multi-zone temperature adjustment apparatus including: a first power source; a second power source configured to apply a voltage opposite to a voltage applied from the first power source; an ammeter connected to the second power source in series and configured to measure a current value of the second power source; and a multi-zone temperature adjustment part including temperature adjustment modules configured to individually perform heating and temperature sensing, wherein each of the temperature adjustment module may include: a heater configured to induce a current in a first direction while being connected to the first power source in series during a heating time period; a temperature sensor configured to induce a current in a second direction opposite to the first direction while being connected to the second power source in series during a sensing time period; and a switch controller configured to control connection between the first power source and the heater and connection between the second power source and the temperature sensor.
The heater and the temperature sensor of the temperature adjustment module may be connected to each other in parallel through a row common node and a column common node, the row common node being located in a row to which the temperature adjustment module belongs in row common nodes assigned to each row, and the column common node being located in a column to which the temperature adjustment module belongs in column common nodes assigned to each column.
The switch controller may include: a heater switch array including heater switches configured to control connection between the first power source and the row common nodes; a sensor switch array including sensor switches configured to control connection between the second power source and the row common nodes; and a common switch array including common switches configured to control connection between a common node of the first power source and the second power source and the column common nodes.
The switch controller may be configured to turn on one common switch, which corresponds to a specific column in the common switch array; to perform heating and temperature sensing for temperature adjustment modules corresponding to the specific column; and to turn off the common switch, which corresponds to the specific column, and to turn on one common switch, which corresponds to a next column, thereby to perform heating and temperature sensing of temperature adjustment modules belonging to the next column.
In order to perform the heating and temperature sensing for the temperature adjustment modules belonging to the specific column, the switch controller may be configured to turn on one of the heater switches, which corresponds to a specific row, and to turn off one of the sensor switches, which belongs to the specific row, so as to perform heating of a temperature adjustment module belonging to the specific row of the specific column; and to turn off the heater switch, which corresponds to the specific row, and to turn on the sensor switch, which belongs to the specific row, so as to perform temperature sensing for the temperature adjustment module belonging to the specific row of the specific column; and to perform heating and temperature sensing of a temperature adjustment module belonging to a row following the specific row.
The heater may include: a heater resistor configured to dissipate heat energy by the current in the first direction; and a first diode including an anode connected to the row common node and a cathode connected to the column common node.
The temperature sensor may include: a temperature variable resistor configured such that a resistance valve thereof may be variable in response to temperature; and a second diode including an anode connected to the column common node and a cathode connected to the row common node.
The multi-zone temperature adjustment apparatus may include: an output controller configured to control an output voltage of the first power source on the basis of the current value measured by the ammeter.
According to further embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a multi-zone temperature adjustment type substrate supporting apparatus including: a heater plate in which a heater resistor and a temperature variable resistor may be laid, the heater resistor being configured to dissipate heat energy for each of a plurality of temperature adjustment zones and the temperature variable resistor being configured such that a resistor value thereof is variable in response to temperature; a diode block having a first diode and a second diode that may be provided for each of the temperature adjustment zones, the first diode being connected to the heater resistor in series and the second diode being connected to the temperature variable resistor and configured to induce a current in a direction opposite to a direction of the first diode; a power source part including a first power source and a second power source arranged in each of the temperature adjustment zones, the first power source being connected to the heater resistor and the first diode in series during a heating time period and the second power source being connected to the temperature variable resistor and the second diode during a sensing time period; an ammeter connected to the second power source in series and configured to measure a current value of the second power source; a switch controller configured to connect connection between the first power source and the heater resistor and connection between the second power source and the temperature variable resistor; and an output controller configured to control an output voltage of the first power source in response to the current value of the second power source measured by the ammeter.
The heater resistor and the first diode may be respectively connected to the temperature variable resistor and the second diode in parallel through a first common node and a second common node.
The switch controller may include: a heater switch configured to control connection between the first power source and the first common node; a sensor switch configured to control connection between the second power source and the first common node; and a common switch configured to control connection between a common node of the first power source and the second power source and the second common node.
An anode of the first diode may be connected to the first common node and a cathode of the first diode may be connected to the second common node.
The switch controller may be configured to turn on the heater switch and turn off the sensor switch during the heating time period, and to turn off the heater switch and turn on the sensor switch during the sensing time period.
An anode of the second diode may be connected to the second common node and a cathode of the second diode may be connected to the first common node.
According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the temperature measurement and control with respect to the fine zones can be performed by forming the configuration of the heater and the temperature sensor simply and by controlling operations thereof.
The effect of the present disclosure is not limited to the above description, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the subsequent description.
The above and other objectives, features, and other advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the subsequent detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Hereinbelow, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings such that the present disclosure can be easily embodied by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. However, the present disclosure may be changed to various embodiments and the scope and spirit of the present disclosure are not limited to the embodiments described hereinbelow.
In the subsequent description, if it is decided that the detailed description of a known function or configuration related to the present disclosure makes the subject matter of the present disclosure unclear, the detailed description is omitted, and the same reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the elements or parts with a same or similar function or operation.
Furthermore, in various embodiments, elements with the same configuration will be described in a representative embodiment by using the same reference numeral, and different configurations from the representative embodiment will be described in other embodiments.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Other words, such as “between” versus “directly between”, “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent”, etc., used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, includes, and/or including, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
In the following description, unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
In general, the temperature of the substrate tends to decrease from the center of the substrate toward the edge thereof. Therefore, as a macro-zone heater 20 shown in
Particularly, the edge zone of the substrate may tend to be uneven in temperature distribution. When a temperature control zone of the substrate is divided such as the third macro-zone Z3 and the fourth macro-zone Z4 of the edge zone of the macro-zone heater 20, micro-control for each zone may be difficult.
Therefore, a micro-zone heater 10 shown in
In order to control the temperature for each of the micro-zones MZ1 to MZ32, a method of measuring the temperature for each of the micro-zones MZ1 to MZ32 and of controlling output of a heater by comparing a value of the measured temperature to a target temperature value may be used. However, in fine zones such as the micro-zone heater 10, it is difficult to arrange a temperature measurement sensor and a temperature control heater. Therefore, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides a temperature adjustment apparatus capable of performing both temperature measurement and temperature control even for a narrow zone.
The heater 140 and the temperature sensor 150 are connected to each other in parallel through a first common node A and a second common node B. The heater 140 and the temperature sensor 150 may be connected to each other in parallel to provide a single temperature adjustment zone MZ.
The switch controller 160 includes a heater switch 161 (SHeat), a sensor switch 162 (SSensor), and a common switch 163 (SCommon). The heater switch 161 (SHeat) controls connection between the first power source 110 and the first common node A, the sensor switch 162 (SSensor) controls connection between the second power source 120 and the first common node A, and the common switch 163 (SCommon) controls connection between a common node C of the first power source 110 and the second power source 120 and the second common node B. The switch controller 160 may include a processor or a controller for controlling operation of each switch.
The heater 140 includes a heater resistor 141 and a first diode 142. The heater resistor 141 dissipates heat energy by the current I1 in the first direction, and first diode 142 has an anode connected to the first common node A and a cathode connected to the second common node B.
The temperature sensor 150 includes a temperature variable resistor 151 and a second diode 152. The temperature variable resistor 151 has a resistor value variable in response to the temperature, and the second diode 152 has an anode connected to the second common node B and a cathode connected to the first common node A.
According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, in the heating time period for adjusting the temperature, the first power source 110 and the heater 140 are connected to each other so that heat energy may be dissipated. In the sensing time period for measuring the temperature, the second power source 120 and the temperature sensor 150 are connected to each other, and the temperature may be measured. Specifically, the temperature adjustment and measurement may be performed such that, the switches are selectively turned on and off as shown in
Specifically, referring to
Then, as shown in
According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the temperature adjustment apparatus may include an output controller 170. The output controller 170 controls an output voltage of the first power source 110 or the length of the heating time period in response to the value of the current measured by the ammeter 130. As shown in
As another method of controlling the temperature, the output controller 170 may control the length of the heating time period. For example, the output controller 170 may increase the length of the heating time period when the present temperature is lower than the target temperature. The output controller 170 may reduce the length of the heating time period when the present temperature is larger than the target temperature.
Meanwhile, as shown in
The temperature adjustment apparatus described with reference to
The heater 140 and the temperature sensor 150 of the temperature adjustment module are connected to each other in parallel through a row common node (e.g., A1) of a row (e.g., first row) to which the temperature adjustment module belongs among row common nodes (e.g., A1, A2) each assigned to each row and a column common node (e.g., B1) of a column (e.g., first column) to which the temperature adjustment module belongs among column common nodes (e.g., B1, B2) each assigned to each column.
The switch controller 160 includes a heater switch array, a sensor switch array, and a common switch array. The heater switch array includes heater switches 161 controlling connection between the first power source 110 and the row common nodes (e.g., A1, A2). The sensor switch array includes sensor switches controlling connection between the second power source 120 and the row common nodes (e.g., A1, A2). The common switch array includes common switches 163 controlling connection between the common node C of the first power source 110 and the second power source 120 and the column common nodes (e.g., B1, B2).
In the multi-zone temperature adjustment apparatus as shown in
Therefore, the switch controller 160 may turn on a common switch (e.g., S1C, 163-1), which corresponds to a specific column (e.g., first column) in the common switch array; perform heating and temperature sensing for the temperature adjustment modules included in the specific column (e.g., first column); turn off the common switch (e.g., S1C, 163-1), which corresponds to the specific column (e.g., first column); and then turn on a common switch (e.g., S2C, 163-2), which corresponds to a next column (e.g., second column), whereby the heating and temperature sensing for the temperature adjustment modules included in the next column (e.g., second column) may be performed.
In order to perform the heating and temperature sensing for the temperature adjustment modules included in the specific row, the switch controller 160 may perform heating for the temperature adjustment module included in the specific row (e.g., first row) of the specific column (e.g., first column) by turning on a heater switch (e.g., SaH, 161-1), which corresponds to a specific row (e.g., first row) and turning off a sensor switch (e.g., SaS, 162-1), which corresponds to the specific row (e.g., first row), and may perform temperature sensing for the temperature adjustment module included in the specific row (e.g., first row) of the specific column (e.g., first column) by turning on the heater switch (e.g., SaH, 161-1), which corresponds to the specific row (e.g., first row) and turning on the sensor switch (e.g., SaS, 162-1), which corresponds to the specific row (first row), and may perform heating and temperature sensing included in the next row (e.g., second row) of the specific row (e.g., first row).
The heater 140 includes the heater resistor 141 dissipating heat energy by a current I2 in the first direction, and a first diode 142 having an anode connected to a row common node (e.g., A1, A2) and a cathode connected to a column common node (e.g., B1, B2).
Furthermore, the temperature sensor 150 includes the temperature variable resistor 151 changed in a resistance value in response to the temperature, and the second diode 152 having an anode connected to the column common node (e.g., B1, B2) and a cathode connected to the row common node (e.g., A1, A2).
As described above, the output controller 170 may be provided to derive a temperature value from the measured current value to provide an output voltage of the first power source 110.
Then, as shown in
For other temperature adjustment modules, the temperature measurement and control may be performed as a direction of a current is controlled by controlling a switch with the same principle.
The temperature measurement and control according to the embodiment of the present disclosure includes: turning on the common switch (e.g., 163-1) corresponding to a specific column (e.g., first column) in the common switch array at S1405; performing heating and temperature sensing with respect to temperature adjustment modules included in the specific column (e.g., first column) at S1410; when the temperature measurement and control with respect to all the temperature adjustment modules included in the specific column (e.g., first column) is completed, turning off the common switch (e.g., 163-1) of the specific column (e.g., first column) at S1415; and proceeding to a next column (e.g., second column) and performing the temperature measurement and control with respect to temperature adjustment modules in the next column (e.g., second column) at S1420.
The performing the heating and temperature sensing with respect to the temperature adjustment modules included in the specific column (e.g., first column) at S1410 includes: as shown in
According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the multi-zone temperature adjustment type substrate supporting apparatus includes: a heater plate 1000 in which the heater resistor 141 and the temperature variable resistor 151 are laid, the heater resistor 141 dissipating heat energy for each of a plurality of temperature adjustment zones MZ and the temperature variable resistor 151 having a resistance value variable in response to the temperature; a diode block 2000 having the first diode 142 and the second diode 152 that are provided for each of the temperature adjustment zones MZ, the first diode 142 being connected to the heater resistor 141 in series, and the second diode 152 being connected to the temperature variable resistor 151 in series and inducing a current in a direction opposite to a direction of the first diode 142; a power source part 3000 including the first power source 110 and the second power source 120 for each of the temperature adjustment zones MZ, the first power source 110 being connected to the heater resistor 141 and the first diode 142 in series during the heating time period and the second power source 120 connected to the temperature variable resistor 151 and the second diode 152 in series during the sensing time period; the ammeter 130 connected to the second power source 120 in series and measuring a current value of the second power source 120; a switch control block 4000 controlling connection between the first power source 110 and the heater resistor 141 and connection between the second power source 120 and the temperature variable resistor 151; and an output controller 5000 controlling an output voltage of the first power source 110 on the basis of the current value measured by the ammeter 130.
According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the heater resistor 141 and the first diode 142 may be connected to the temperature variable resistor 151 and the second diode 152 in parallel through the first common node A and the second common node B.
According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the heater plate 1000 may be provided in an electrostatic chuck supporting a substrate, and the diode block 2000, the power source part 3000, the switch control block 4000, and the output controller 5000 may be provided outside the electrostatic chuck. As shown in
According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the switch controller 160 includes the heater switch 161, the sensor switch 162, and the common switch 163. The heater switch 161 controls connection between the first power source 110 and the first common node A, the sensor switch 162 controls connection between the second power source 120 and the first common node A, and the common switch 163 controls connection between the common node C of the first power source 110 and the second power source 120 and the second common node B.
According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, during the heating time period, the switch controller 160 turns on the heater switch 161 and turns off the sensor switch 162, and during the sensing time period, the switch controller 160 turns off the heater switch 161 and turns on the sensor switch 162.
According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, an anode of the first diode 142 is connected to the first common node A, a cathode of the first diode 142 is connected to the second common node B. Furthermore, an anode of the second diode 152 is connected to the second common node B and a cathode of the second diode 152 is connected to the first common node A.
As described above, in order to perform the temperature measurement and control with respect to a plurality of zones, a plurality of the heater resistors 141 and the first diodes 142, and the temperature variable resistors 151 and the second diodes 152 may be arranged in a shape of array. Furthermore, a plurality of the heater switches 161, the sensor switches 162, and the common switches 163 may be arranged. The temperature measurement and control with respect to the plurality of zones may be performed by the same method as described above with reference to in
Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. Since the present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without changing the technical sprit or essential features, those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure belongs should understand that the embodiments described above are exemplary and not intended to limit the present disclosure.
The scope of the present disclosure will be defined by the accompanying claims rather than by the detailed description, and those skilled in the art should understand that various modifications, additions and substitutions derived from the meaning and scope of the present disclosure and the equivalent concept thereof are included in the scope of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2020-0179983 | Dec 2020 | KR | national |
