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EP-4736221-A1 - IN-LINE MINI-ENVIRONMENT CONTAMINATION DETECTION AND MONITORING SYSTEM

EP4736221A1EP 4736221 A1EP4736221 A1EP 4736221A1EP-4736221-A1

Abstract

Embodiments are disclosed of an active flow control system including one or more inlets and one or more outlets. A first outlet is configured to be fluidly coupled to an inlet of a mini-environment, and a first is configured to be coupled to an outlet of the mini-environment. The active flow control system includes one or more flow control configurations; each flow control configuration corresponds to a flow control mode. The one or more flow configurations include a configuration corresponding to a sampling mode. The sampling mode includes injecting a neutral fluid from the first outlet into the inlet of the mini-environment, and directing a mixed fluid exiting through the outlet of the mini-environment to the first inlet of the active flow control system, the mixed fluid being a combination of the neutral fluid and the fluid that was in the mini-environment before injecting the neutral fluid into the mini-environment.

Inventors

  • WANG, LI-PENG
  • HSIAO, Ching-Lin
  • TUNG, WEI-SHAO
  • CHOU, TSUNG-KUAN A.

Assignees

  • Tricorntech Corporation

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240628

Claims (20)

  1. 1. An apparatus comprising: an active flow control system including one or more inlets and one or more outlets, wherein: a first outlet of the one or more outlets is configured to be fluidly coupled to an inlet of a mini-environment, and a first inlet of the one or more inlets is configured to be coupled to an outlet of the mini-environment; and wherein the active flow control system includes one or more flow control configurations, wherein each flow control configuration corresponds to a flow control modes, the one or more flow configurations including a configuration corresponding to a sampling mode comprising: injecting a neutral fluid from the first outlet into the inlet of the mini-environment, and directing a mixed fluid exiting through the outlet of the mini-environment to the first inlet of the active flow control system, the mixed fluid being a combination of the neutral fluid and the fluid that was in the mini-environment before injecting the neutral fluid into the mini-environment.
  2. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the active flow control system can be coupled to one or multiple mini-environments.
  3. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a control center communicatively coupled to the active flow control system, wherein the control center can transmit instructions to the active flow control system that, when executed, cause the active flow control system to execute one or more of the flow control modes.
  4. 4. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a contamination analysis system adapted to be communicatively coupled to the control center and fluidly coupled to a second outlet of the one or more outlets of the active flow control system.
  5. 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the contamination analysis system is also communicatively coupled directly to the active flow control system.
  6. 6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the instructions include instructions that, when executed, cause the active flow control system to direct the mixed fluid to the contamination analysis system.
  7. 7. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the contamination analysis system can be coupled to one or multiple active flow control systems.
  8. 8. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the one or more flow control modes include: a check mode in which the active flow control system checks itself for contamination, a clean mode in which the active flow control system cleans itself of contamination, and a purge mode in which the active flow control system purges contamination from the mini-environment.
  9. 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the active flow control system is fluidly coupled to an existing load port unit with an existing purge function.
  10. 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the purge mode uses or supplements or replaces the purge function of the existing load port unit.
  11. 11. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the active flow control system adds the sampling mode, the clean mode, and the check mode to the existing purge function.
  12. 12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the sampling mode and the purge mode run concurrently for at least an initial part of the purge mode.
  13. 13. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein, in addition to cleaning the active flow control system, the clean mode cleans the contamination analysis system.
  14. 14. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein each flow control mode is programmable.
  15. 15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein each flow control mode can be programmed to use a flow rate profile and the flow profile can be adjustable.
  16. 16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein different flow rate profiles can be used in different flow control modes for specific mini-environments.
  17. 17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein one or more new flow control modes can be added to existing flow control modes.
  18. 18. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the instructions include instructions that, when executed, cause the active flow control system to execute an operation, the operation including multiple flow control modes selected from the one or more flow control modes and executed in a sequence.
  19. 19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the sequence of flow control modes in the operation is changeable and programmable.
  20. 20. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the sequence of flow control modes can include multiple instances of any flow control mode.

Description

IN-LINE MINI-ENVIRONMENT CONTAMINATION DETECTION AND MONITORING SYSTEM CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority under Article 8 of the Patent Cooperation Treaty to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/511,419, filed 30 June 2023, and U.S. Patent Application No. 18/756,650, filed 27 June 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The disclosed embodiments relate generally to airborne contamination monitoring and in particular, but not exclusively, to an apparatus, system, and method for in-line detection and monitoring of airborne contamination in stationary and mobile mini-environments. BACKGROUND Air quality and airborne molecular contamination (AMC) have become increasingly important in the semiconductor, memory, and other similar high-tech industries (e.g., displays) as their processes advance. In these and other industries, AMC has been identified as a major contributor to fabrication failure rate, and the effects of AMC on manufacturing process yield get worse as the fabrication process nodes becomes smaller. Manufacturers have been putting significant effort into on-site monitoring and into controlling facility ambient cleanliness using on-site or off-line AMC monitoring equipment. Detailed studies and ongoing improvements have been implemented to identify contamination sources and preventive procedures to reduce AMC in a facility’s ambient air. But although significant efforts have been made to control facility ambient air quality, the cleanliness inside mini-environments such as process equipment modules and movable carriers (e.g., Front Opening Unified Pods (FOUPs) used as substrate/wafer transport containers in the semiconductor industry) are not well- studied. Contamination, in particular AMC contamination, inevitably exists inside a FOUP during the process; it can come from specific process equipment/modules or from other mini-environments. Because in most situations the process equipment and substrates are enclosed their own mini -environment, on-site facility ambient monitoring cannot detect related problems associated with process equipment/module or substrate containers such as a FOUP. When a process equip- ment/module or a FOUP is contaminated, cross-contamination and AMC can spread over the fabrication line, with the FOUP serving as a contamination carrier that transmits the AMC to multiple locations. In most situations the process equipment modules and substrates have their own enclosed micro-environments, meaning that on-site facility ambient monitoring cannot capture AMC-related problems associated with process equipment modules or movable carriers. Furthermore, when one process equipment module or one movable carrier is contaminated, AMC cross-contamination can occur over a fabrication line, with the movable carrier serving as an AMC carrier that spreads contamination to various locations. As a result, it becomes extremely difficult to trace the source of contamination, even if AMC is later found in one movable carrier or process equipment module. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the following figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified. Figs. 1 A-1B are diagrams of a process module or process equipment with a front-opening unified pod (FOUP) and an embodiment of a process by which a mini-environment such as a FOUP is purged when loaded onto the process equipment. Figs. 2A-2B are diagrams of embodiments of off-line sampling and analysis methods for detecting airborne molecular contamination in a mini-environment such as a FOUP. Figs. 3A-3B are diagrams of embodiments of in-line contamination monitoring systems for mini-environments. Figs. 4A-4E are diagrams of further embodiments of in-line AMC monitoring systems for mini-environments. Figs. 5A-5C are graphs of embodiments of flow profiles that can be applied to the modes used by the contamination monitoring system. Fig. 6 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an in-line contamination analyzer. Fig. 7A is a diagram of an embodiments of a load-port-based in-line contamination monitoring system for mobile mini-environments. Fig. 7B is a pair of diagrams embodiments of a traditional load-port purge system and a load-port based in-line contamination monitoring system for mobile mini-environments. Figs. 8A-8D are process diagrams illustrating embodiments of the interaction between different elements of a load-port based in-line contamination monitoring system for mobile mini-environments. Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the interaction between a contamination analyzer and multiple load-port units in a load-port based in-line contamination monitoring system for mobile mini-environments. Figs. 10A-10C are block diagrams of embodiments of load-port units. Figs. 11 A-l IB a