Product removal apparatus, treatment system, and product removal method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12394609-B2
Application number	US-202217935595-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 27, 2022
Priority date	Oct 15, 2021
Publication date	Aug 19, 2025
Grant date	Aug 19, 2025

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a product removal apparatus, a treatment system, and a product removal method that can sufficiently remove the products deposited inside a vacuum pump and also suppress corrosion of the base material of the vacuum pump. The product removal apparatus of the present disclosure includes: a sensor for measuring the temperature of the inside of a vacuum pump, the thickness of a film of a product in a flow path in the vacuum pump, or the vibration frequency of the vacuum pump; a gas supplier for supplying a gas containing hydrogen halide, fluorine, chlorine, chlorine trifluoride, or fluorine radicals to the vacuum pump; and a control device. The control device controls the gas supplier so that the supply of the gas to the vacuum pump is stopped depending on a rate of temperature increase calculated from the temperature measured by the sensor, the film thickness, or the vibration frequency.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A product removal apparatus comprising:
a vacuum pump;
a sensor for measuring the temperature of the inside of the vacuum pump, the thickness of a film of a product in a flow path in the vacuum pump, or the vibration frequency of the vacuum pump;
a gas supplier for supplying a gas containing hydrogen halide, fluorine, chlorine, chlorine trifluoride, or fluorine radicals to the vacuum pump; and
a control device, wherein
the control device controls the gas supplier so that the supply of the gas to the vacuum pump is stopped depending on a rate of temperature increase calculated by the control device from the temperature measured by the sensor, the film thickness, or the vibration frequency,
the sensor comprises a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the inside of the vacuum pump, and
the control device calculates the rate of temperature increase from the temperature measured by the sensor, and controls the gas supplier so that the supply of the gas to the vacuum pump is stopped when the rate of temperature increase starts to decrease.

2. The product removal apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature sensor comprises a temperature measuring section to be located downstream from a rotor of the vacuum pump.

3. The product removal apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the sensor includes a film thickness gauge for measuring the thickness of a film of a product in the flow path in the vacuum pump, and
the control device controls the gas supplier so that the supply of the gas to the vacuum pump is stopped when the film thickness measured by the film thickness gauge falls to or below a predetermined thickness.

4. The product removal apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein
the film thickness gauge is an optical film thickness gauge, and
the optical film thickness gauge comprises an incident optical fiber for emitting light and a light-receiving fiber for receiving reflected light resulting from the light being reflected, and is configured to determine the film thickness from the reflected light received by the light-receiving fiber.

5. The product removal apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the sensor comprises a vibration measuring instrument for measuring the vibration frequency of the vacuum pump, and
the control device controls the gas supplier so that the supply of the gas to the vacuum pump is stopped when the vibration frequency measured by the vibration measuring instrument falls within a predetermined range.

6. The product removal apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the gas supplier comprises a valve for adjusting the flow rate of the gas supplied to the vacuum pump, and
the control device controls the valve to stop the supply of the gas to the vacuum pump.

7. The product removal apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the gas supplier comprises a plasma source for generating the fluorine radicals.

8. The product removal apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the plasma source is configured to generate the fluorine radicals from nitrogen trifluoride, sulfur hexafluoride, or carbon tetrafluoride.

9. The product removal apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the gas supplier comprises a reducer located downstream from the plasma source and configured to maintain the pressure inside the plasma source at 10 Torr or higher.

10. The product removal apparatus according to any one of claim 7 , wherein the gas supplier is located downstream from the plasma source and comprises a pipe coated with aluminum oxide or insulator.

11. A treatment system comprising:
the product removal apparatus according to claim 1 ;
a chamber;
a pipe for connecting the chamber to the vacuum pump; and
the apparatus being connected to the pipe.

12. The treatment system according to claim 11 , further comprising a detoxification device located downstream from the vacuum pump.

13. A product removal method comprising the steps of:
providing the product removal apparatus of claim 1 ;
supplying a gas containing hydrogen halide, fluorine, chlorine, chlorine trifluoride, or fluorine radicals to the vacuum pump;
measuring the temperature inside the vacuum pump, the thickness of a film of a product in the flow path in the vacuum pump, or the vibration frequency of the vacuum pump; and
stopping the supply of the gas to the vacuum pump depending on a rate of temperature increase calculated from the temperature, the film thickness, or the vibration frequency.

Assignees

• Ebara Corp

Inventors

• Okazaki Fumiya

Classifications

• H01J2237/335

  Cleaning · CPC title

• H01J37/32449

  Gas control, e.g. control of the gas flow · CPC title

• G01K13/00

  Thermometers specially adapted for specific purposes · CPC title

• G01B21/08

  for measuring thickness · CPC title

• F04B37/14

  to obtain high vacuum · CPC title