Applied Materials, Inc.

Shaun W Crawford

Daniel O Clark

Youssef A Loldj

Robbert M Vermeulen

Jay J Jung

Ho-Man Rodney Chiu

Maxime Cayer

Sebastien Raoux

Tony H Tong

Eric Rieske

Leonard B Todd

Mark William Curry

Dana Tribula

Daniel S Brown

Allen Fox

Rene T Correa

Robert M Vermeulen

Barry Page

William D Pyzel

Robbert Vermeulen

Methods and apparatus for controlling manufacturing equipment are provided herein. In some embodiments, a manufacturing system may include an integrated controller having one or more inputs to receive input values corresponding to operating information of at least one of a process tool, a mass flow controller or at least one sub-fab auxiliary system, wherein the integrated controller is configured to receive the input values, determine that an error condition is matched based on the received input values, and control the at least one sub-fab auxiliary system to operate at a fail-safe operating mode responsive to the determined error condition.

Integrated controller solution for monitoring and controlling manufacturing equipment

Methods and apparatus for enhanced control, monitoring and recording of incoming chemical and power use, and emissions of electronic device manufacturing systems are provided. In some embodiments, integrated sub-fab system systems may monitor the energy usage of the sub-fab equipment. The tool can enter many different depths of energy savings modes such as idle (shallow energy savings where production equipment can recover to normal production with no quality or throughput impact in seconds), sleep (deeper energy savings where production equipment can recover in minutes), or hibernate (where production equipment may require hours to recover not to have impact on quality, or throughput) for the system. In some embodiments, the system may monitor and display all gas emissions in a sub-fab as well as the Semi S23 method reporting of COequivalent emission. The system may monitor effluent process gases and energy use from the process tool and sub-fab equipment.

Energy savings and global gas emissions monitoring and display

A method for abating effluent from an electronic device manufacturing process is provided, including abating the effluent in a thermal abatement tool to form abated effluent; determining whether the abated effluent contains one or more chemical species of interest; and changing one or more operating parameters of the thermal abatement tool based upon the determination. Numerous other embodiments are provided.

Methods and apparatus for smart abatement using an improved fuel circuit

A flame sensor apparatus for use with a flame heated thermal abatement reactor is provided, including a flame sensor adapted to sense a flame within the thermal abatement reactor; and a shutter adapted to selectively block the transmission of radiation from the flame to the flame sensor.

Methods for starting and operating a thermal abatement system

An abatement system is provided which includes 1) an abatement unit adapted to abate effluent; and 2) an ambient air supply system. The ambient air supply system includes an air moving device, wherein the ambient air supply system is adapted to supply ambient air to the abatement unit for use as an oxidant. Numerous other aspects are provided.

Apparatus and methods for ambient air abatement of electronic manufacturing effluent

The present invention relates to systems and methods for controlled combustion and decomposition of gaseous pollutants while reducing deposition of unwanted reaction products from within the treatment systems. The systems include a novel thermal reaction chamber design having stacked reticulated ceramic rings through which fluid, e.g., gases, may be directed to form a boundary layer along the interior wall of the thermal reaction chamber, thereby reducing particulate matter buildup thereon. The systems further include the introduction of fluids from the center pilot jet to alter the aerodynamics of the interior of the thermal reaction chamber.

Reactor design to reduce particle deposition during process abatement

A thermal reactor for use during the abatement of a semiconductor manufacturing process is provided, including a thermal reaction unit having: an interior porous wall that defines a central chamber, the interior porous wall formed from a plurality of stacked porous sections; at least one gas inlet in fluid communication with the central chamber and adapted to introduce gaseous waste stream to the central chamber; a thermal mechanism positioned within the central chamber and adapted to decompose the gaseous waste stream within the central chamber, thereby forming reaction products; and a fluid delivery system adapted to provide a fluid to the central chamber through the interior porous wall at a sufficient force to reduce deposition of reaction products on an inner surface of the interior porous wall of the central chamber; wherein at least one of the porous sections has one or more of: a property that varies within the porous section; and a property that differs from a property of at least one other porous section of the interior porous wall.

Apparatus for manufacturing a process abatement reactor

In certain embodiments, an apparatus is provided for use in removing pollutants from a gas stream. The apparatus includes a thermal reaction unit formed from a plurality of stacked porous ceramic rings. At least one of the stacked ceramic sections may be adapted to allow sensing of a characteristic of contents of the central chamber. In some embodiments, waste gas inlets to the thermal reaction unit may be angled to create a helical vortex within the thermal reaction unit. Other aspects are provided.

Methods and apparatus for sensing characteristics of the contents of a process abatement reactor

The present invention relates to a thermal reactor apparatus used to treat industrial effluent fluids, for example waste effluent produced in semiconductor and liquid crystal display manufacturing processes. Specifically, the present invention relates to improved monitoring and control features for the thermal reactor apparatus, including a flame sensing device, an intrinsically safe flammable gas sensing device, and a sequential mode of operation having built-in safety redundancy. The improved monitoring and control features ensure the safe and efficient abatement of waste effluent within the thermal reactor apparatus.

Safety, monitoring and control features for thermal abatement reactor

Method and systems are provided for monitoring and controlling one or more abatement systems. One or more abatement systems may be represented on a display alone with one or more effluent flows from processing tools. A selected effluent flow configuration is received. An interface manifold is controlled to implement the selected effluent flow configuration. Numerous other aspects are provided.

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San Ramon, CA, United States of America

Shaun W Crawford