Edwards Limited

David Engerran

Andrew James Seeley

Christopher Mark Bailey

Michael Andrew Galtry

Richard A Hogle

Kenneth Allen Aitchison

Geoffrey Young

Michael Alan Eric Wilders

A trap device () for removing species from a gas stream drawn from an enclosure by a vacuum pump is described, the device () comprising a casing having an inlet () for receiving the gas stream, an outlet () for exhausting the gas stream from the casing, and first and second chambers () each for receiving the gas stream from the inlet and conveying the gas stream to the outlet; means () for selectively diverting the gas stream from the inlet to a selected one of the chambers; a first plurality of cartridges () each being removably insertable into the casing to provide a plurality of flow passages for gas passing through the first chamber; and a second plurality of cartridges () each being removably insertable into the casing to provide a plurality of flow passages for gas passing through the second chamber, each flow passage extending between an inlet and an outlet of a respective cartridge, each cartridge housing means for removing species from the gas passing therethrough as solid material collecting within the cartridge.

Trap device

A method is described of treating a gas stream exhausted from an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process chamber to which two or more gaseous precursors are alternately supplied. Between the process chamber and a vacuum pump used to draw the gas stream from the chamber, the gas stream is conveyed to a gas mixing chamber, to which a reactant is supplied for reacting with one of the gaseous precursors to form solid material. The gas stream is then conveyed to a cyclone separator to separate solid material from the gas stream. By deliberately reacting a non-reacted precursor to form solid material upstream from the pump, reaction within the pump of the non-reacted precursor and a second non-reacted precursor subsequently drawn from the chamber by the pump can be inhibited.

Method of treating a gas stream

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Arundel, United Kingdom

David Engerran