Edwards Limited

Novellus Systems Incorporated

Edwards Vacuum LLC

Kenneth Allen Aitchison

Andrew James Seeley

Christopher Mark Bailey

Michael Andrew Galtry

Richard A Hogle

Geoffrey Young

David Engerran

Michael Alan Eric Wilders

The present invention relates to vacuum processing systems in which process gases are introduced in a process chamber and are exhausted through a vacuum processing system exhaust path. Deposits made by the exhausted gas are reduced or eliminated by introducing a reactive gas upstream of the device affected by deposits. The amount of introduced reactive gas is controlled by measuring gas phase concentrations of exhausted gas components upstream and downstream of the affected device, and, from those measurements, determining whether the components are being consumed in deposits on the affected device.

Use of spectroscopic techniques to monitor and control reactant gas input into a pre-pump reactive gas injection system

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

A method and apparatus for removing gas species which can be deposited thermally from a semiconductor process exhaust gas is provided. To treat the exhaust gas, an exhaust gas reactor comprising an artificial substrate which is heated is used. The artificial substrate is a structure upon which high temperature chemical vapor deposition (HTCVD) reaction product is deposited. In particular, the HTCVD reaction product is deposited by contacting the exhaust gas with the heated artificial substrate.

Method and apparatus for treating exhaust gases from CVD, PECVD or

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Los Gatos, CA, United States of America

Kenneth Allen Aitchison