EP-4741658-A1 - VACUUM PUMP SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR

EP4741658A1EP 4741658 A1EP4741658 A1EP 4741658A1EP-4741658-A1

Abstract

A vacuum pump system and a control method therefor according to the present invention include: a process chamber in which a deposition process is performed; a dry pump connected to the process chamber and converting an atmospheric state of the process chamber into a vacuum state; a first booster pump connecting the process chamber with the dry pump and assisting an operation of the dry pump; a gate valve provided between the process chamber and the first booster pump; a valve controller that controls opening/closing of the gate valve; and a pump controller connected to the valve controller and controlling the operations of the dry pump and the first booster pump in accordance with an opening signal input from the valve controller to the gate valve, wherein the pump controller may stop the operation of the first booster pump when the opening signal is input from the valve controller to the gate valve during the operation of the dry pump.

Inventors

LEE, KEUN YOUNG
HONG, DONG WAN
SHIN, JI HOON

Assignees

LOT Vacuum Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20240708

Claims (18)

A vacuum pump system comprising: a process chamber in which a deposition process is performed; a dry pump which is connected to the process chamber and converts an atmospheric state of the process chamber to a vacuum state; a first booster pump which connects the process chamber and the dry pump and assists operation of the dry pump; a gate valve provided between the process chamber and the first booster pump; a valve controller which controls the gate valve to be opened or closed; and a pump controller which is connected to the valve controller and controls the dry pump and the first booster pump to operate according to an opening signal input to the gate valve from the valve controller, wherein, when the opening signal is input to the gate valve from the valve controller while the dry pump operates, the pump controller stops operation of the first booster pump.
The vacuum pump system of claim 1, wherein the gate valve is opened after the opening signal is input and a preset buffer delay time elapses.
The vacuum pump system of claim 2, wherein the pump controller stops the operation of the first booster pump during the buffer delay time of the gate valve.
The vacuum pump system of claim 1, wherein the gate valve is opened after the operation of the first booster pump is stopped.
The vacuum pump system of claim 1, further comprising a second booster pump which assists the operation of the first booster pump, wherein the second booster pump connects the process chamber and the first booster pump, and the second booster pump is controlled to be operated by the pump controller.
The vacuum pump system of claim 5, wherein one or more of a rated capacity or a rated speed of the second booster pump are provided to be different from those of the first booster pump.
The vacuum pump system of claim 5, wherein, when the opening signal is input to the gate valve from the valve controller, the pump controller sequentially stops the second booster pump and the first booster pump.
The vacuum pump system of claim 7, wherein, when the opening signal is input to the gate valve from the valve controller, the pump controller sequentially decelerates the second booster pump and the first booster pump and then stops the second booster pump and the first booster pump.
The vacuum pump system of claim 7, wherein the gate valve is opened after operation of the second booster pump and the first booster pump is stopped.
The vacuum pump system of claim 9, wherein, after the gate valve is opened, the pump controller starts the first booster pump and the second booster pump at rated speeds.
The vacuum pump system of claim 10, wherein the pump controller sequentially starts the first booster pump and the second booster pump.
The vacuum pump system of claim 10, wherein the pump controller sequentially accelerates the first booster pump and the second booster pump.
A method of controlling the vacuum pump system of claim 12, the method comprising; operation (a) of starting a dry pump; operation (b) of inputting an opening signal to a gate valve; operation (d) of stopping operation of a first booster pump in response to the input opening signal of the gate valve; and operation (f) of starting the stopped first booster pump at a rated speed, wherein, in operation (d), the dry pump is operating.
The method of claim 13, further comprising operation (c) of stopping operation of the second booster pump in response to the input opening signal of the gate valve after operation (b) is performed.
The method of claim 14, wherein, in operations (c) and (d), the second booster pump and the first booster pump are sequentially decelerated, and then the operation of the second booster pump and the first booster pump is stopped.
The method of claim 15, wherein, in operations (c) and (d), the gate valve is opened after the second booster pump and the first booster pump are stopped.
The method of claim 14, further comprising operation (e) of starting the stopped second booster pump at a rated speed after operation (f) is performed.
The method of claim 17, wherein, in operations (d) and (f), the first booster pump and the second booster pump are sequentially accelerated.

Description

[Technical Field] The present invention relates to a vacuum pump system and a method of controlling the same, and more specifically, to a vacuum pump system in which a dry pump is prevented from being stopped by minimizing the inflow of a large amount of process byproducts, which is accumulated in a vacuum pipe between a process chamber and a gate valve, through the dry pump and minimizing an overload applied to the dry pump, and a method of controlling the same. [Background Art] Generally, various processes, such as photo processes, diffusion processes, etching processes, thin film deposition processes, etc., are repeatedly performed on wafters to fabricate chips which are semiconductor devices. Among the processes, a thin film deposition process is a process of forming a thin film on a wafer and is performed by a physical vapor deposition method or a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method according to a thin film deposition method, and recently, the CVD method, in which a compound in a gaseous state is decomposed and a chemical reaction occurs to form a thin film on a wafer, has been widely used. The CVD method is a gas reaction process method generally used in a semiconductor industry to deposit a thin layer of a material on a surface of an integrated circuit substrate. In order to perform the CVD method, there are a process chamber in which a process is performed, a dry pump (DP) for converting an atmospheric state of the process chamber to a vacuum state, a booster pump (BP) for assisting operation of the DP, and an auto gate valve (AGV) which is disposed between the process chamber and the booster pump and allows or blocks a flow of air flowing toward the DP. When the AGV is opened while the process is performed, the BP operates, and a large amount of process byproducts, which is accumulated in a vacuum pipe disposed between and connected to the process chamber and the gate valve and is greater than a processable amount of the DP, is introduced into the DP. In this case, it is required to discharge the process byproducts, which are introduced into the DP, from the DP. Meanwhile, while discharging the process byproducts, a load of the DP is rapidly increased. When the load of the DP is increased, an overload alarm may occur to stop the operation of the DP. As described above, when the operation of the DP is stopped, since the semiconductor deposition process is not performed properly, there is a problem of reducing a manufacturing efficiency for a semiconductor wafer. [Detailed Description of Invention] [Technical Problem] The purpose of the present invention is directed to providing a vacuum pump system in which the inflow of process byproducts into a dry pump may be minimized even when a gate valve is opened while a process is performed, and a method of controlling the same. Objectives to be achieved by the present invention are not limited to the above-described objectives, and other objectives, which are not described above, may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art through the following specification. [Technical Solution] According to the present invention, the above-described objective may be achieved from a vacuum pump system which includes a process chamber in which a deposition process is performed, a dry pump which is connected to the process chamber and converts an atmospheric state of the process chamber to a vacuum state, a first booster pump which connects the process chamber and the dry pump and assists operation of the dry pump, a gate valve provided between the process chamber and the first booster pump, a valve controller which controls the gate valve to be opened or closed, and a pump controller which is connected to the valve controller and controls the dry pump and the first booster pump to operate according to an opening signal input to the gate valve from the valve controller, wherein when the opening signal is input to the gate valve from the valve controller while the dry pump operates, the pump controller stops the operation of the first booster pump. The gate valve may be opened after the opening signal is input and a preset buffer delay time elapses. The pump controller may stop the operation of the first booster pump during the buffer delay time of the gate valve. The gate valve may be opened after the operation of the first booster pump is stopped. The vacuum pump system may further include a second booster pump which assists the operation of the first booster pump, wherein the second booster pump may connect the process chamber and the first booster pump, and the second booster pump may be controlled to be operated by the pump controller. One or more of a rated capacity or a rated speed of the second booster pump may be provided to be different from those of the first booster pump. When the opening signal is input to the gate valve from the valve controller, the pump controller may sequentially stop the second booster pump and the first booster pump. The pump