The trap apparatus of the present invention includes a case provided for a gas exhaust system used for a film forming equipment which carries out a film forming process on an object, a gas supply port, made in the case and connected to an exhaust pipe of the gas exhaust system, for introducing an exhaust gas flowing through the exhaust pipe, into the case, a gas exhaust port, made in the case and connected to an exhaust pipe of the gas exhaust system, for exhausting the exhaust gas flowing through an inner space of the case, to the exhaust pipe, a plurality of partition plates arranged in the case so as to partition the inner space of the case into a plurality of rooms between the gas supply port and the gas exhaust port, a gas distribution port provided in some of the partition plates such that the exhaust gas introduced into the case through the gas supply port, is allowed to flow through the rooms partitioned by the partition plates, in the order, and then exhausted from the gas exhaust port, and a trap mechanism housed in each of the rooms, for trapping reaction byproducts contained in the exhaust gas introduced into the case through the gas supply port.
The present invention has an object to improve the efficiency of collection of solidification constituents and solids in exhaust gas and to prevent early blockage of the filter without damaging the vacuum pump. In an exhaust path 48a, a vacuum pump and exhaust gas filtration device are provided. This exhaust gas filtration device is constituted by a trap device, pre-filter and filter. The pre-filter reduces the exhaust gas flow rate flowing through the interior of the exhaust path by controlling the exhaust gas flow path in the vessel. The aforesaid exhaust path is constituted by connecting this vacuum pump, trap device, pre-filter and filter which are arranged in this order from the side of airtight vessel and connected through piping if required.
The present invention discloses a piping system for etch equipment including an exhaust gas tube connected with an etching chamber for conveying exhaust gas out of the chamber. A cooling gas tube connected to the etching chamber allows cooling gas to flow around a back side of the wafer placed in the chamber for cooling the wafer's temperature. A cooling gas bypass tube connected between the cooling gas tube and the exhaust gas tube is used for regulating a gas flow in the cooling gas tube. Moreover, a plurality of heaters are set out of conjunctions of the cooling gas tube and cooling gas bypass tube with the exhaust gas tube so as to retard particle accumulation in the conjunctions of these tubes.
An apparatus and a method for providing fluid communication between a process chamber and a dry pump without contamination problem are disclosed. The apparatus utilizes a conduit that has at least one gate valve installed therein for opening or closing the conduit and a T-shaped cold trap to collect large size contaminating particles. The present invention apparatus is effective in preventing particle contamination to the process chamber by a siphoning or backsteam effect when a dry pump failure occurs. While the present invention apparatus and method may be used in any deposition process which produces reaction by-products, or contaminating particles, it is particularly suitable for use in a TEOS oxide deposition process.
In a deposition system, such as a TiN deposition system where TiCl.sub.4 and NH.sub.3 are reacted in a process chamber to produce TiN thin film coatings, a second reactor is included between the process chamber and the vacuum pump to react enough of the theretofore unreacted feed gases to consume substantially all of at least one of them so that further reactions that could otherwise produce solids, which cause excessive vacuum pump wear, are presented. The second reactor is preferably positioned between a cooled condensation trap downstream from the process chamber and vacuum pump, and it is also applicable in atomic layer deposition (ALD) systems for TiN, WN, and other materials as well as in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems for those and other materials.
A temperature-controlled exhaust assembly with cold trap capability. One embodiment of the exhaust assembly comprises a multi-heater design which allows for independent multi-zone closed-loop temperature control. Another embodiment comprises a compact multi-valve uni-body design incorporating a single heater for simplified closed-loop temperature control. The cold trap incorporates a heater for temperature control at the inlet of the trap to minimize undesirable deposits. One embodiment also comprises a multi-stage cold trap and a particle trap. As a removable unit, this cold trap provides additional safety in the handling and disposal of the adsorbed condensables.
