KR-102961258-B1 - SEALING SYSTEM FOR ALD REACTOR, ALD REACTOR INCLUDING THE SAME AND METHOD FOR RELEASING SEALING STATE OF ALD REACTOR

KR102961258B1KR 102961258 B1KR102961258 B1KR 102961258B1KR-102961258-B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a sealing system for sealing and opening/closing the space between a tube section and a loading area in an ALD reactor comprising an upper tube section where a reaction for an ALD process is performed and a lower loading area including a space for loading a wafer or substrate to be subjected to the ALD process into the interior of the tube section. The system comprises: a cap that opens and closes between the upper tube section and the lower loading area; a sealing device installed in the cap to perform a sealing function of blocking fluid flow between the upper tube section and the lower loading area; and an air valve installed in the cap to open and close gas flow. The apparatus includes a relief valve connected to the air valve, which discharges gas to the outlet side only when the pressure difference between the inlet side connected to the air valve and the outlet side opened to the loading area is greater than a predetermined operating pressure; the air valve is maintained in a closed state when the tube section and the loading area are sealed, and a pressure control operation is performed during the process of opening the cap; the pressure control operation is characterized by opening the air valve only when the internal pressure of the tube section is higher than the internal pressure of the loading area, thereby controlling the difference between the internal pressure of the tube section and the internal pressure of the loading area to a range smaller than the operating pressure of the relief valve.

Inventors

이일휘
김남영
김정웅

Assignees

주식회사 서플러스글로벌

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20250602

Claims (4)

A sealing system for sealing and opening/closing the space between a tube section and a loading area in an ALD reactor comprising an upper tube section where a reaction for an ALD process is performed and a lower loading area including a space for loading a wafer or substrate to be subjected to the ALD process into the interior of the tube section. A cap that opens and closes between the upper tube section and the lower loading area; A sealing device installed in the above cap to perform a sealing function that blocks fluid flow between the upper tube portion and the lower loading area; An air valve installed in the above cap, capable of opening and closing the gas flow between the upper tube portion and the lower loading area; and It includes a relief valve connected to the above air valve, which discharges gas to the outlet side only when the pressure difference between the inlet side connected to the air valve and the outlet side open to the loading area is greater than a predetermined operating pressure. When the space between the tube section and the loading area is sealed, the air valve remains in a closed state, and a pressure control operation is performed before opening the cap. A sealing system for an ALD reactor, characterized in that the pressure control operation is performed by opening the air valve only when the internal pressure of the tube section is higher than the internal pressure of the loading area, and the relief valve connected to the opened air valve controls the difference between the internal pressure of the tube section and the internal pressure of the loading area to a range smaller than the operating pressure of the relief valve by discharging gas toward the loading area when the difference between the internal pressure of the tube section and the internal pressure of the loading area is greater than the operating pressure.
An upper tube section where a reaction for the ALD process is performed; A lower loading area including a space for loading a wafer or substrate, which is to be subjected to an ALD process, into the interior of a tube portion; and It includes a sealing system that seals and opens/closes the space between the tube section and the loading area, and The above sealing system is, A cap that opens and closes between the upper tube section and the lower loading area; A sealing device installed in the above cap to perform a sealing function that blocks fluid flow between the upper tube portion and the lower loading area; An air valve installed in the above cap, capable of opening and closing the gas flow between the upper tube portion and the lower loading area; and It includes a relief valve connected to the above air valve, which discharges gas to the outlet side only when the pressure difference between the inlet side connected to the air valve and the outlet side open to the loading area is greater than a predetermined operating pressure. When the space between the tube section and the loading area is sealed, the air valve remains in a closed state, and a pressure control operation is performed before opening the cap. The above pressure control operation is performed by opening the air valve only when the internal pressure of the tube section is higher than the internal pressure of the loading area, and the relief valve connected to the opened air valve controls the difference between the internal pressure of the tube section and the internal pressure of the loading area to a range smaller than the operating pressure of the relief valve by discharging gas toward the loading area when the difference between the internal pressure of the tube section and the internal pressure of the loading area is greater than the operating pressure.
In claim 2, In the process of opening the above cap, before performing the above pressure control operation, An ALD reactor characterized by introducing an inert gas into the tube portion until the internal pressure of the tube portion becomes higher than the internal pressure of the loading area.
A method for releasing the seal of an ALD reactor comprising: an upper tube section where a reaction for an ALD process is performed; a lower loading area including a space for loading a wafer or substrate to be subjected to the ALD process into the interior of the tube section; and a sealing system for sealing and opening/closing the space between the tube section and the loading area, wherein the sealing system comprises: a cap that opens/closes between the upper tube section and the lower loading area; a sealing device installed in the cap to perform a sealing function that blocks fluid flow between the upper tube section and the lower loading area; an air valve installed in the cap to open/close gas flow between the upper tube section and the lower loading area; and a relief valve connected to the air valve, which discharges gas to the outlet side only when the pressure difference between the inlet side connected to the air valve and the outlet side open to the loading area is greater than a predetermined operating pressure. A step in which the sealing system seals the space between the tube section and the loading area, and while the air valve is closed, an inert gas is introduced into the tube section such that the internal pressure of the tube section becomes higher than the internal pressure of the loading area; When the internal pressure of the tube section becomes higher than the internal pressure of the loading area, the air valve is opened, and the relief valve connected to the opened air valve discharges gas toward the loading area when the difference between the internal pressure of the tube section and the internal pressure of the loading area is greater than the operating pressure, thereby controlling the difference between the internal pressure of the tube section and the internal pressure of the loading area to a range smaller than the operating pressure of the relief valve; and A method for releasing the seal of an ALD reactor, characterized by including the step of opening the cap.

Description

Sealing system for an ALD reactor, an ALD reactor including the same, and a method for releasing the sealing of an ALD reactor The present invention relates to an ALD reactor, and more specifically, to a sealing system for sealing an upper tube portion and a lower loading area, and an ALD reactor including the same. Generally, ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) is a thin film deposition technology based on the sequential use of gaseous chemical processes, which forms thin films at the atomic layer level by repeatedly exposing multiple precursors to react with the material surface one at a time in a sequential and self-limiting manner. Conventional PVD or CVD technologies have limitations when applied to the fabrication of nanoscale ultra-high-density devices with line widths of 90 nm or less. ALD technology is attracting attention as an essential technology for semiconductor manufacturing because it can be performed at lower temperatures than conventional CVD methods and exhibits excellent step coverage. However, the relatively low growth rate of primary layers is a problem with ALD technology. To address this, an ALD reactor capable of performing the ALD process on a large volume of wafers or substrates is being developed (Korean Registered Patent No. 10-0417893). This ALD reactor utilizes a structure in which a vertical boat is mounted through the lower part of a tube section equipped with a reaction space where the ALD process is performed. In this case, since the tube section is a space where pressure is regulated for the reaction, while the loading area—the space below the tube section for loading—is a space where separate pressure control is not performed, problems arise due to the pressure difference between the tube section and the loading area during the wafer loading or unloading process. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an ALD reactor according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a drawing for explaining the configuration of a sealing system for an ALD reactor according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a case where the sealing system for an ALD reactor according to an embodiment of the present invention does not perform pressure control operation. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the state in which a sealing system for an ALD reactor according to an embodiment of the present invention performs a pressure control operation. An embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. However, embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various other forms, and the scope of the present invention is not limited only to the embodiments described below. The shapes and sizes of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for clearer explanation, and elements indicated by the same reference numerals in the drawings are the same elements. Furthermore, throughout the specification, when a part is described as being "connected" to another part, this includes not only cases where they are "directly connected" but also cases where they are "electrically connected" with other components interposed between them. Additionally, when a part is described as "including" or "equipped" with a certain component, this means that, unless specifically stated otherwise, it does not exclude other components but rather allows for the inclusion or equipping of additional components. Furthermore, terms such as "first," "second," etc., are intended to distinguish one component from another, and the scope of rights shall not be limited by these terms. For example, the first component may be named the second component, and similarly, the second component may be named the first component. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an ALD reactor according to an embodiment of the present invention. An ALD reactor according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an upper tube portion (100) and a lower loading area (200), and includes a sealing system (300) for sealing between the tube portion (100) and the loading area (200). The tube section (100) is a space where a reaction for the ALD process is performed and is located at the top of the reactor. The tube section (100) can be configured without limitation to have a general configuration for performing the ALD process, and can be configured so that a vertical boat is loaded to perform the process. The loading area (200) is a space for loading a wafer or substrate, which is the target for performing the ALD process, into the interior of the tube section (100), and is located at the bottom of the reactor. The loading area (200) can be configured without limitation for loading the wafer or substrate, and can be configured to load a vertical boat. The sealing system (300) seals the space between the tube section (100) and the loading area (200) and performs opening and closing operations when loading or unloading a waf