JP2020159477A - Valve device, fluid control device using this valve device and semiconductor manufacturing device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a valve device which allows a constant flow rate of fluid to flow from an inflow path to an outflow path even when the valve is closed, and which may easily respond to changes in bleed flow rate, and has improved maintainability.SOLUTION: A valve device comprises a valve body 11 having a first flow path 12, a second flow path 13A that communicates with the first flow path 12 when a valve opens, and a third flow path 13B that always communicates with the first flow path 12, a joint block 20 that has a common flow path 23 where the first flow path 22A connected to the second flow path 13A, the second flow path 22B connected to the third flow path 13B a fourth flow path 22A and a fifth flow path 22B merge, and is jointed by the valve body 11 and a fastening member BT, and a metal orifice gasket 50 that is arranged between the third flow path 13B of the valve body 11 and the fifth flow path 22B of the joint block 20 and is pressed by the valve body 11 and the joint block 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a valve device, a fluid control device using the valve device, and a semiconductor manufacturing device.

In various manufacturing processes such as a semiconductor manufacturing process, a so-called bleed valve that allows a constant flow rate of a fluid such as gas to flow from the inflow port to the outflow path may be used even when the valve is closed.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a valve device capable of flowing a constant flow rate of gas from an inflow path to an outflow path even when the valve is closed by providing a flow hole for bleeding in the valve seat.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-14415

In the valve device disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is not easy to change the flow rate by changing the flow hole for bleeding. Further, when the flow hole for bleeding is clogged with dust or the like and the flow rate changes, the maintainability is not good.

One object of the present invention is a valve device capable of flowing a constant flow rate of gas from the inflow path to the outflow path even when the valve is closed, which can easily respond to changes in the bleed flow rate and improve maintainability. The purpose is to provide a valve device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a fluid control device and a semiconductor manufacturing device using the above valve device.

The valve device of the present invention has a first flow path through which a fluid flows, a second flow path that communicates with the first flow path when the valve opens, and a third flow path that always communicates with the first flow path. With the valve body
It has a fourth flow path connected to the second flow path, a fifth flow path connected to the third flow path, and a common flow path where the fourth flow path and the fifth flow path merge. Then, the joint block connected to the valve body by the fastening member,
It has a metal orifice gasket provided between the opening of the third flow path of the valve body and the opening of the fifth flow path of the joint block, and pressed by the valve body and the joint block. ..

Preferably, a metal gasket provided around the opening of the second flow path of the valve body and the opening of the fourth flow path of the joint block and pressed by the valve body and the joint block. Have more.

More preferably, the first flow path, the second flow path, and the third flow path are open on a common surface of the valve body.

The fluid control device of the present invention is a fluid control device in which a plurality of fluid devices are arranged.
The plurality of fluid devices are configured to include the valve device described above.

The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention has a configuration in which the above valve device is used for controlling the flow rate of the process gas in the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device that requires a processing step with a process gas in a closed chamber.

According to the present invention, there is provided a valve device capable of flowing a constant flow rate of fluid from the inflow path to the outflow path even when the valve is closed, easily responding to changes in the bleed flow rate, and having improved maintainability. To.

The external perspective view of the valve device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing the internal structure of the valve device of FIG. The schematic which shows an example of the structure of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. The external perspective view which shows an example of the fluid control device.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present specification and the drawings, the same reference numerals are used for components having substantially the same functions, thereby omitting duplicate description.
The arrows A and B shown in the figure indicate the flow of the fluid flowing through the valve device 10, the arrow A indicates the inflow direction of the fluid into the valve device 10, and the arrow B indicates the flow of the fluid from the valve device 10. The outflow direction of the fluid is shown, but it may be in the opposite direction.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the valve device 10 includes a valve body 11, an actuator 15, a diaphragm 19, a joint block 20 on the downstream side, a joint block 40 on the upstream side, an orifice gasket 50, and gaskets 51 and 52.

The valve body 11 has a rectangular shape when viewed from above, and extends from the bottom surface toward the valve chamber 11a, respectively, as an inflow path 12 as a first flow path of the present invention and a second flow path of the present invention. The outflow passage 13A of No. 1 and the second outflow passage 13B as the third flow path of the present invention are formed.
The first outflow passage 13A opens at the bottom surface of the valve chamber 11a, and a valve seat 16 is provided around the opening.
The ends of the inflow passage 12 and the second outflow passage 13B on the valve chamber 11a side are connected by an annular connecting flow path 14, and the inflow passage 12 and the second outflow passage 13B are always in communication with each other.
The diaphragm 19 is arranged so as to cover the opening of the connection flow path 14, the valve seat 16, and the first outflow path 13A, and the outer peripheral edge portion of the diaphragm 19 is formed by the lower end portion of the casing 15a of the actuator 15 via the pressing adapter 17. It is pressed and fixed to the valve body 11.

The diaphragm retainer 18 is driven in the vertical direction by the actuator 15, and the diaphragm 19 as a valve body is pressed against the valve seat 16 by the diaphragm retainer 18. In the valve closed state, the inflow passage 12 and the first outflow passage 13A are connected. Communication is cut off. When the diaphragm 19 is separated from the valve seat 16, the inflow path 12 and the first outflow path 13A communicate with each other. As described above, the valve device 10 is configured with a three-way valve.
As the actuator 15, for example, one driven by pneumatic pressure is adopted, but the actuator 15 is not limited to this.

The joint block 20 serves as the first flow path 22A as the fourth flow path of the present invention connected to the first outflow path 13A and the fourth flow path of the present invention connected to the second outflow path 13B. A second flow path 22B and a common flow path 23 at which the first flow path 22A and the second flow path 22B merge are formed.
The joint block 40 is formed with a flow path 41 connected to the inflow path 12.
The joint blocks 20 and 40 are fastened to the valve body 11 by a plurality of fastening members BT.

The orifice gasket 50 is provided between the opening of the second outflow passage 13B of the valve body 11 and the opening of the second flow path 22B of the joint block 20, and is pressed by the joint block. The orifice gasket 50 is made of metal or synthetic resin, has an orifice hole through which a fluid passes (a diameter smaller than the diameter of the second outflow path 13B and the second flow path 22B), and has a second outflow of the valve body 11. It serves as a sealing member that seals between the path 13B and the second flow path 22B of the joint block 20, and also serves to limit the flow rate by the orifice hole.

The gasket 51 is made of metal or synthetic resin and is provided around the opening of the first outflow passage 13A of the valve body 11 and the opening of the first flow path 22A of the joint block 20, and is provided with the first outflow passage 13A and the first outflow passage 13A. Seal between 1 flow path 22A.
The gasket 52 is made of metal or synthetic resin and is provided around the opening of the inflow path 12 of the valve body 11 and the opening of the flow path 41 of the joint block 40 to seal between the inflow path 12 and the flow path 41.

In the valve device 10 having the above configuration, when the valve is closed, a constant flow rate of fluid flows from the orifice hole of the orifice gasket 50 through the flow path 41 of the joint block 40, the inflow path 12 of the valve body 11, and the second outflow path 13B. It is supplied to the common flow path 23. That is, a valve device 10 capable of flowing a constant flow rate of fluid from the inflow path to the outflow path even when the valve is closed is provided. If it is desired to change the bleed flow rate flowing through the orifice hole, it can be easily dealt with by replacing it with an orifice gasket 50 having a diameter corresponding to the flow rate. Since the orifice gasket 50 can be replaced by removing the valve body 11, maintenance is very easy. That is, since the three flow paths are opened on the bottom surface (common surface) of the valve body 11, the gasket can be easily replaced by removing only the valve body 11. Further, in the valve open state, the flow rate of the second outflow passage 13B is restricted by the orifice hole, so that the supply of the fluid to the first outflow passage 13A becomes dominant. That is, by opening and closing one valve, fluids having different flow rates can be provided. In other words, by opening and closing the valve, it is possible to selectively supply a large flow rate / small flow rate.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, a configuration example of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus to which the valve device 10 described above is applied will be described.

The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1000 shown in FIG. 3 uses a valve device 10 for controlling the flow rate of the process gas in the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device that requires a processing step with a process gas in a closed chamber (processing chamber 800). .. For example, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1000 shown in FIG. 3 is a system for executing a semiconductor manufacturing process by an atomic layer deposition method (ALD), 600 is a process gas supply source, 700 is a gas box, and 710. Indicates a tank, 800 indicates a processing chamber, and 900 indicates an exhaust pump.

In the processing process of depositing a film on the substrate, the processing gas supplied from the gas box 700 is temporarily stored in the tank 710 as a buffer in order to stably supply the processing gas, and is provided in the immediate vicinity of the processing chamber 800. The valve 720 is opened and closed frequently to supply the processing gas from the tank to the processing chamber in a vacuum atmosphere.

The ALD method is one of the chemical vapor deposition methods, in which two or more types of processing gases are alternately flowed onto the substrate surface one by one under film formation conditions such as temperature and time to form atoms on the substrate surface. It is a method of depositing films by reacting them one by one, and since it is possible to control each monatomic layer, it is possible to form a uniform film thickness and to grow the film very finely as a film quality. ..
In the semiconductor manufacturing process by the ALD method, it is necessary to precisely adjust the flow rate of the processing gas (process gas), and it is also necessary to secure the flow rate of the processing gas to some extent by increasing the diameter of the substrate.

The gas box 700 houses a fluid control device in which various fluid devices are integrated in order to supply the accurately weighed process gas to the processing chamber 800. A fluid control device is an array of a plurality of fluid devices. The valve device 10 is provided as a one-fluid device in the gas box.

The tank 710 functions as a buffer for temporarily storing the processing gas supplied from the gas box 700.
The processing chamber 800 provides a closed processing space for film formation on the substrate by the ALD method.
The exhaust pump 900 evacuates the inside of the processing chamber 800.

An example of a fluid control device to which the valve device 10 of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG.
The fluid control device shown in FIG. 4 is provided with a metal base plate BS arranged along the width directions W1 and W2 and extending in the longitudinal directions G1 and G2. W1 indicates the back side, W2 indicates the front side, G1 indicates the upstream side, and G2 indicates the downstream side. Various fluid devices 991A to 991E are installed in the base plate BS via a plurality of flow path blocks 992, and a flow path (not shown) in which a fluid flows from the upstream side G1 to the downstream side G2 by the plurality of flow path blocks 992. Are formed respectively.

Here, the "fluid device" is a device used for a fluid control device that controls a fluid flow, includes a body that defines a fluid flow path, and has at least two flow path ports that open on the surface of the body. It is a device having. Specifically, the on-off valve (two-way valve) 991A, the regulator 991B, the pressure gauge 991C, the on-off valve (three-way valve) 991D, the mass flow controller 991E, and the like are included, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The introduction pipe 993 is connected to a flow path port on the upstream side of the above-mentioned flow path (not shown).
The valve device 10 is used as one fluid device of such a fluid control device.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. A person skilled in the art can make various additions and changes within the scope of the present invention.

10: Valve device 11: Valve body 11a: Valve chamber 12: Inflow path (first flow path)
13A: First outflow path (second flow path)
13B: Second outflow path (third channel)
14: Connection flow path 15: Actuator 15a: Casing 16: Valve seat 17: Presser adapter 18: Diaphragm presser 19: Diaphragm 20: Joint block 22A: First flow path (fourth flow path)
22B: 2nd flow path (5th flow path)
23: Common flow path 40: Joint block 41: Flow path 50: Orifice gasket 51: Gasket 52: Gasket 600: Process gas supply reduction 700: Gas box 710: Tank 720: Valve 800: Processing chamber 900: Exhaust pump 991A: Opening and closing Valve (two-way valve)
991B: Regulator 991C: Pressure gauge 991D: On-off valve (three-way valve)
991E: Mass flow controller 992: Flow path block 993: Introduction pipe 1000: Semiconductor manufacturing equipment BS: Base plate BT: Fastening member

Claims (5)

A valve body having a first flow path, a second flow path that communicates with the first flow path when the valve opens, and a third flow path that always communicates with the first flow path.
It has a fourth flow path connected to the second flow path, a fifth flow path connected to the third flow path, and a common flow path where the fourth flow path and the fifth flow path merge. Then, the joint block connected to the valve body by the fastening member,
A valve device having an orifice gasket provided between an opening of a third flow path of the valve body and an opening of a fifth flow path of the joint block and pressed by the valve body and the joint block. The first aspect of the present invention further comprises a gasket provided around the opening of the second flow path of the valve body and the opening of the fourth flow path of the joint block and pressed by the valve body and the joint block. The valve device described. The valve device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first flow path, the second flow path, and the third flow path are open on a common surface of the valve body. It is a fluid control device in which multiple fluid devices are arranged.
The plurality of fluid devices are fluid control devices including the valve device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. A semiconductor manufacturing device using the valve device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 for controlling the flow rate of the process gas in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device that requires a processing step with a process gas in a closed chamber.

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