KR20210007587A - A Plasma Scrubber Apparatus With a Structure of Distributing a Supplying Amount - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a plasma scrubber apparatus with a supply distribution structure in which thermal decomposition efficiency is improved. The plasma scrubber apparatus of the supply distribution structure comprises: a vacuum pump (11) for discharging process gases from a process chamber; a plasma reactor (13) for treating the process gases supplied from the vacuum pump (11) by plasma reaction; and a distribution means for supplying the process gases from the vacuum pump (11) to the plasma reactor (13) through at least two supply paths.

Description

Plasma Scrubber Apparatus With a Structure of Distributing a Supplying Amount}

The present invention relates to a plasma scrubber apparatus having a supply distribution structure, and specifically, to a plasma scrubber apparatus having a supply distribution structure that improves processing efficiency and reduces power consumption by supplying exhaust gas to a plasma reactor through at least two paths. will be.

Noxious gases generated in a semiconductor manufacturing process, a display manufacturing process, or a manufacturing process using a similar compound may be treated by a scrubber device. For example, a process gas discharged from a fab for semiconductor manufacturing by a dry pump may be transferred to a scrubber device through a transfer conduit for treatment. In this structure, the capacity of the scrubber device is larger than the injection capacity of the vacuum pump, and since the scrubber device is installed separately from the vacuum pump, gas can be transferred by a transfer conduit having a predetermined length. For this reason, a heating means such as a heating jacket for maintaining the temperature of the conveying conduit must be used, and equipment for preventing clogging of the conduit needs to be provided. However, due to such a structure, the overall structure of the device becomes complicated and the operation cost increases. Patent Publication No. 10-2018-0066571 discloses a plasma scrubber device having a plurality of barrier walls in a reaction chamber. In addition, Patent Publication No. 10-2009-0057037 discloses a method for treating harmful gas by forming a vortex. Process residual gas supplied to the plasma reactor through a vacuum pump is pyrolyzed by plasma, and then can be made into a purified gas through an appropriate post-treatment process. For pyrolysis in the plasma reactor, a high temperature of, for example, 1,300 K or more is required, and the structure of the plasma reactor may be complicated to generate and maintain such plasma. In addition, the amount of power consumption may be increased for the treatment of harmful gases in the plasma reactor, and such a problem is increasing as the size of the wafer increases. Therefore, there is a need to create a technology capable of efficiently pyrolysis in a plasma reactor and at the same time reducing power consumption. However, the prior art does not disclose such a method.

The present invention has the following objects to solve the problems of the prior art.

Prior Art 1: Patent Publication No. 10-2018-0066571 (Triple Cores Korea Co., Ltd., published on June 19, 2018) Plasma scrubber device with barrier wall Prior Art 2: Patent Publication No. 10-2009-0057037 (Unisem Co., Ltd., published on Jul. 08, 2009) Plasma scrubber and harmful gas treatment method

An object of the present invention is a plasma scrubber with a supply distribution structure that distributes waste process gas supplied from a vacuum pump through at least two different paths and supplies it to the plasma reactor of the scrubber to efficiently pyrolysis while reducing power consumption. To provide a device.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a plasma scrubber device having a supply distribution structure includes a vacuum pump for discharging a process gas from a process chamber; A plasma reactor that processes the process gas supplied from the vacuum pump by a plasma reaction; And distribution means for supplying the process gas through at least two supply paths from the vacuum pump to the plasma reactor.

According to another suitable embodiment of the invention, at least two supply paths are connected to different plasma thermal reaction processes.

According to another suitable embodiment of the invention, at least two vacuum pumps are each connected to at least one supply path.

The plasma scrubber device having a supply distribution structure according to the present invention supplies gas supplied from a vacuum pump to a plasma reactor so that a thermal reaction proceeds in stages, thereby improving pyrolysis efficiency. The plasma scrubber device according to the present invention allows the amount of power consumption to be reduced by stepwise thermal reaction. In addition, the plasma scrubber device according to the present invention detects the state of the plasma reactor and controls the supply of waste process gas to improve treatment efficiency.

1 shows an embodiment of a plasma scrubber apparatus having a supply distribution structure according to the present invention.
2 shows another embodiment of the plasma scrubber device according to the present invention.
3 shows an embodiment in which waste process gas is supplied from the plasma scrubber device according to the present invention.
4 shows an embodiment of an operation process of the plasma scrubber device according to the present invention.

In the following, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, but the embodiments are for a clear understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto. In the following description, components having the same reference numerals in different drawings have similar functions, so if they are not necessary for the understanding of the invention, they will not be described repeatedly, and well-known components will be briefly described or omitted, but the present invention It should not be understood as being excluded from the embodiment of.

1 shows an embodiment of a plasma scrubber apparatus having a supply distribution structure according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a plasma scrubber apparatus having a supply distribution structure includes a vacuum pump 11 for discharging a process gas from a process chamber; A plasma reactor 13 for processing the process gas supplied from the vacuum pump 11 by a plasma reaction; And distribution means for supplying the process gas from the vacuum pump 11 to the plasma reactor 13 through at least two supply paths.

The vacuum pump 11 or dry pump may be connected to a process chamber in which a chemical vapor deposition (CVD), etching, photoresist or cleaning process is performed and the discharge guide tube 15. The waste process gas remaining after the process proceeds may be guided to the plasma reactor 13 through the vacuum pump 11. A distribution valve 12 may be installed in a path connecting the vacuum pump 11 and the plasma reactor 13, and the process gas may be guided to the plasma reactor 13 through at least two paths from the distribution valve 12. I can. The plasma reactor 13 may be provided with a generating means such as a plasma torch for generating plasma. Process gases including various harmful components, including perfluorocarbon gases (PFCs), SiH ₄ , SiF ₄ , pH, CH, HF, HCl, etc., induced to the plasma generator 13 may be thermally reacted or pyrolyzed by plasma. have. The process gas including such a harmful gas may be guided to the plasma reactor 13 through at least two supply paths 121 and 122. Specifically, the vacuum pump 11 and the distribution valve 12 are connected by the supply induction pipe 111, and the process gas supplied through the supply induction pipe 111 by the distribution valve 12 is different from the supply path ( It may be supplied to the plasma reactor 13 through 121 and 122. The internal temperature or plasma reaction state of the plasma reactor 13 may change spatially or temporally. The supply gas guided through the different supply paths 121 and 122 may be subjected to a thermal decomposition or thermal reaction sequentially, or may cause the reaction to proceed by temporally or spatially dispersing the process gas. For example, the process gas supplied through the first supply path 121 may be pyrolyzed primarily inside the plasma generator 13, and the process gas supplied through the second supply path 122 is a plasma generator ( 13) may be secondary pyrolysis inside. The first and second supply paths 121 and 122 may be connected to different positions of the plasma generator 13, and thermal reactions may be sequentially performed at different positions. The amount of the process gas supplied through the first and second supply paths 121 and 122 may be determined according to the internal state of the plasma reactor 13. The internal state of the plasma reactor 13 may be determined by, for example, an internal temperature distribution, a pressure distribution, or a thermal reaction rate. The distribution valve 12 may determine the level of opening and closing of the first and second supply paths 121 and 122 according to a predetermined method. For example, the opening/closing control unit 16 may be coupled to the distribution valve 12, and detection information for the plasma reactor 13 is transmitted to the opening/closing control unit 16 to determine the level of opening/closing of the distribution valve 12. I can. The process gas decomposed in the plasma generator 13 is treated in various ways in the post-treatment module 14 to remove harmfulness and may be discharged to the outside.

The supply of the process gas to the plasma generator 13 by the vacuum pump 11 may be controlled in various ways.

2 shows another embodiment of the plasma scrubber device according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a process gas to be treated harmless may be supplied to at least two plasma generators 13_1 and 13_2 by at least two vacuum pumps 11_1 and 11_2. Process gas may be guided to the retention unit 22 through the discharge guide tube 15 connected to the process chamber. The retention unit 22 maintains the process gas at a predetermined temperature while having a backflow prevention function. The retention unit 22 may be connected to the distribution control unit 21 by a flow control tube 221. The distribution control unit 21 may be connected to each of the vacuum pumps 11_1 and 11_2 through different control tubes 211 and 212. The distribution control unit 21 may control a path connected to the different vacuum pumps 11_1 and 11_2, and each of the vacuum pumps 11_1 and 11_2 transfers process gases to different plasma reactors 13_1 and 13_2. Alternatively, the process gas may be supplied to different regions of one plasma reactor 13_1 and 13_2. The distribution control unit 21 may adjust the amount and time of the process gas flowing into the vacuum pumps 11_1 and 11_2, respectively, thereby improving the operating efficiency of the vacuum pumps 11_1 and 11_2. The same or different amounts of process gas may be induced through the first and second vacuum pumps 11_1 and 11_2, or different amounts of process gas may be induced. For example, the process gas may be periodically induced by the distribution induction unit 21, or the amount of the induced gas may be periodically adjusted. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the efficiency of one vacuum pump 11_1 or 11_2 from deteriorating due to an excessive load. The means for generating plasma may be formed of at least two plasma generators 13_1 and 13_2 each independently formed. Alternatively, one plasma generating means may have different temperature conditions in the first and second regions. For example, first and second thermal reactions may proceed in the first and second regions, and the amount of the process gas supplied to each region may be controlled by the first and second vacuum pumps 11_1 and 11_2. The harmful gas decomposed by the first and second plasma generators 13_1 and 13_2 may be transferred to the post-treatment module 15 by the flow means 23. After that, the gas from which the harmful components are removed by being processed in the post-treatment module 15 may be discharged to the outside through the discharge path 24.

The number of vacuum pumps 11_1 and 11_2 or the number of plasma reactors 13_1 and 13_2 may be variously set according to the discharge amount of the process gas, and are not limited to the exemplary embodiments presented.

3 shows an embodiment in which waste process gas is supplied from the plasma scrubber device according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a plasma generating means 32 such as a plasma torch may be installed for pyrolysis of harmful gases in the plasma generator 13, and the plasma generated by the plasma generating means 32 is a plasma reactor 13. Can be induced by Alternatively, the plasma generating means 32 may be installed inside the plasma generator 13 to generate plasma to treat harmful components included in the process gas. As a plasma induction part in which the plasma PL generated from the plasma generating means 32 is guided, a part of the process gas is guided through the first inlet pipe 311 to be guided to the plasma reactor 13 together with the plasma PL. I can. As a result, pyrolysis of harmful components included in the process gas may first be performed. A second inlet pipe 311 may be formed below the first inlet pipe 311 based on a direction in which the plasma PL and the process gas flow. Process gas including harmful components induced through another induction path may be introduced through the second inlet pipe 312. The surface temperature of the plasma PL may have a temperature of 900 to 3,500 K, for example, and the central portion may have a temperature of 10,000 K or more. As the plasma PL flows together with the process gas in the plasma reactor 13, the temperature may change, and the state of the plasma PL may change due to thermal decomposition. The injection position of the second inlet pipe 312 may be determined according to a temperature change or a pyrolysis speed, and a secondary pyrolysis or thermal reaction may proceed by the process gas introduced through the second inlet pipe 312. Subsequently, the pyrolysed process gas may be guided to, for example, the neutralization module 34 through the flow module 33 in which the cooling means is disposed and treated, and then discharged through the discharge path 24. The plasma reactor 13 may be an atmospheric pressure plasma reactor, a low pressure plasma reactor, a low temperature plasma reactor, or similar various types of reactors. The positions of the first and second inlet pipes 312 may be appropriately set according to the structure of each plasma reactor 13, whereby the present invention is not limited.

4 shows an embodiment of an operation process of the plasma scrubber device according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, at least two supply paths for induction of process gas containing harmful components may be formed, and the amount of process gas supplied through each supply path may be controlled by the control module 41. I can. The amount or pressure of the process gas discharged from the processing chamber can be detected by the discharge pressure unit 42. In addition, information on the plasma generated by the plasma generating means 32 and the internal state of the plasma reactor 13 are detected by the generation level unit 44 and the temperature gradient unit 45, and the control unit 41 and the valve control unit Can be sent to 43. Pyrolysis may proceed in the plasma reactor 13, and a temperature change according to the progress of the pyrolysis may be detected by the temperature gradient unit 45. Based on the information detected by the temperature gradient unit 45, the supply level of the process gas for the secondary thermal reaction may be calculated and transmitted to the control unit 41 and the valve control unit 43. The control valve for determining the open/close level of each supply path may have an electronic proportional control valve structure, and the open/close level may be adjusted based on the information transmitted from the temperature gradient unit 45.

The pyrolysis by the plasma generator 13 may be performed in various ways, and is not limited to the exemplary embodiments presented.

The plasma scrubber device having a supply distribution structure according to the present invention supplies gas supplied from a vacuum pump to a plasma reactor so that a thermal reaction proceeds in stages, thereby improving pyrolysis efficiency. The plasma scrubber device according to the present invention allows the amount of power consumption to be reduced by stepwise thermal reaction. In addition, the plasma scrubber device according to the present invention detects the state of the plasma reactor and adjusts the supply of waste process gas to improve treatment efficiency.

The present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the presented embodiments, but those of ordinary skill in this field will be able to make various modifications and modifications without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention with reference to the presented embodiments. . The present invention is not limited by such modifications and variations of the invention, but is limited by the claims appended below.

11: vacuum pump 12: dosing valve
13: plasma reactor 14: post-treatment module
15: discharge guide tube 16: open/close control unit
21: distribution control unit 22: retention unit
23: flow means 24: discharge path
32: plasma generating means
41: control module 42: discharge pressure unit
111: guide tube 121, 122: supply path
211, 212: control unit 311, 312: inlet pipe

Claims (3)

A vacuum pump 11 for discharging the process gas from the process chamber;
A plasma reactor 13 for processing the process gas supplied from the vacuum pump 11 by a plasma reaction; And
A plasma scrubber device having a supply distribution structure comprising distribution means for supplying process gas from the vacuum pump 11 to the plasma reactor 13 through at least two supply paths. The plasma scrubber apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least two supply paths are connected to different plasma thermal reaction processes. The plasma scrubber apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least two vacuum pumps (11) are each connected to at least one supply path.

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