Fluid Leakage Detection for a Millisecond Anneal System

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017191897-A1
Application number	US-201615377217-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 13, 2016
Priority date	Dec 30, 2015
Publication date	Jul 6, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods for detecting a fluid leak associated with fluid cooled components in a millisecond anneal system are provided. In one example implementation, a millisecond anneal system can include a processing chamber having one or more fluid cooled components. The system can include a gas flow system configured to provide for the flow of process gas in the processing chamber. The system can include a vapor sensor configured to measure vapor in process gas flowing through the gas flow system for detecting a fluid leak associated with the one or more fluid cooled components.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A thermal processing system, comprising:
a processing chamber comprising one or more fluid cooled components; a gas flow system configured to provide for the flow of process gas in the processing chamber; and a vapor sensor configured to measure vapor in process gas flowing through the gas flow system for detecting a fluid leak associated with the one or more fluid cooled components.

2 . The thermal processing system of claim 1 , wherein the gas flow system comprises one or more exhaust vent openings in the processing chamber to exhaust process gas from the processing chamber.

3 . The thermal processing system of claim 2 , wherein the vapor sensor is configured to measure vapor in process gas flowing downstream of the exhaust vent openings in the gas flow system.

4 . The thermal processing system of claim 3 , wherein the processing chamber comprises a wafer plane plate dividing the processing chamber into a top chamber and a bottom chamber, the exhaust vent openings being located in the bottom chamber.

5 . The thermal processing system of claim 3 , wherein the gas flow system comprises a downstream line coupled to each of the one or more exhaust vent openings.

6 . The thermal processing system of claim 5 , wherein the vapor sensor is configured to measure vapor in process gas flowing in the downstream line.

7 . The thermal processing system of claim 5 , wherein the vapor sensor is configured to measure vapor in process gas flowing in a bypass line coupled to the downstream line

8 . The thermal processing system of claim 7 , wherein the gas flow system comprises a valve configured to control the flow of gas into the bypass line.

9 . The thermal processing system of claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises at least one processor circuit, the processor circuit configured to:
obtain signals from the vapor sensor indicative of the vapor in process gas flowing through the gas flow system; and detect the fluid leak associated with the one or more fluid cooled components based at least in part on the signals from the vapor sensor.

10 . The thermal processing system of claim 9 , wherein the processor circuit is configured to detect the fluid leak associated with the one or more fluid cooled components at least in part by comparing the amount of vapor in process gas flowing through the gas flow system to a threshold and detecting the fluid leak when the amount of vapor in process gas exceeds the threshold.

11 . The thermal processing system of claim 9 , wherein the processor circuit is configured to provide an indicator associated with the fluid leak.

12 . The thermal processing system of claim 1 , wherein the fluid cooled component comprises a wafer plane plate.

13 . The thermal processing system of claim 1 , wherein the fluid cooled component comprises a reflective mirror.

14 . The thermal processing system of claim 1 , wherein the fluid cooled component comprises a water window.

15 . A method for detecting a fluid leak in a millisecond anneal system, the method comprising:
obtaining, by one or more processor circuits, one or more signals from a humidity sensor configured to measure humidity in process gas flowing through a gas flow system, the gas flow system configured to provide for the flow of process gas in a processing chamber having one or more fluid cooled components; and detecting, by the one or more processor circuits, a fluid leak associated with the one or more fluid cooled components in the processing chamber based at least in part on the one or more signals from the humidity sensor.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein detecting, by the one or more processors circuits, a fluid leak associated with the one or more fluid cooled components in the processing chamber comprises:
comparing, by the one or more processor circuits, the humidity in the process gas to a threshold; and detecting, by the one or more processor circuits, the fluid leak when the humidity in the process gas exceeds the threshold.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises providing, by the one or more processor circuits, an indicator associated with the fluid leak.

18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the humidity sensor is configured to measure humidity in process gas flowing downstream of one or more exhaust vent openings in the processing chamber.

19 . A millisecond anneal system, comprising:
a processing chamber having a wafer plane plate dividing the processing chamber into a top chamber and a bottom chamber, the processing chamber having one or more reflective mirrors; a gas flow system configured to provide for the flow of process gas in the processing chamber, the gas flow system comprising at least one vent opening in the top chamber for providing process gas to the processing chamber and at least one exhaust vent opening in the bottom chamber for exhausting process gas from the processing chamber, the gas flow system further comprising a downstream line coupled to the at least one exhaust vent opening; a fluid cooling system configured to circulate fluid through one or more of the wafer plane plate and the one or more reflective mirrors; and a humidity sensor configured to measure humidity in process gas flowing through the downstream line for detecting a leak associated with the fluid cooling system.

20 . The millisecond anneal system of claim 19 , wherein the system further comprises a processor circuit, the processor circuit configured to perform operations, the operations comprising:
obtaining signals from the humidity sensor indicative of the humidity in process gas flowing through the downstream line; and detecting the leak associated with the fluid cooling system based at least in part on the signals from the humidity sensor.

Assignees

• Mattson Tech Inc

Inventors

• Mueller Manuel
• Hezler Dieter

Classifications

• H10P72/0616

  Monitoring of warpages, curvatures, damages, defects or the like · CPC title

• H10P72/0462

  characterised by the construction of the processing chambers, e.g. modular processing chambers · CPC title

• G01M3/20 Primary

  using special tracer materials, e.g. dye, fluorescent material, radioactive material · CPC title

• G01N33/0036

  specially adapted to detect a particular component (physical analysis of gaseous biological material G01N33/497) · CPC title

• H10P72/06

  Apparatus for monitoring, sorting, marking, testing or measuring · CPC title