Fujikin Inc.

Tokyo Electron Limited

Tokyo Electron Limi Ted

Futikin Incorporated

Yohei Sawada

Kouji Nishino

Nobukazu Ikeda

Masaaki Nagase

Ryousuke Dohi

Kaoru Hirata

Katsuyuki Sugita

Norihiko Amikura

Atsushi Sawachi

Satoru Yamashita

Tsutomu Shinohara

Tomohiro Nakata

Kazunari Watanabe

Kohei Shigyou

Masahiko Takimoto

Risako Miyoshi

Ryosuke Dohi

Kazuyuki Miura

Eiji Takahashi

Norikazu Sasaki

Kazuyuki Morisaki

Atsuo Tomita

Yoshiharu Kishida

Tooru Hirai

A fluid control system () comprises: a first valve () provided downstream of a flow rate controller (), a flow rate measuring device () provided downstream of the first valve () and having a second valve (), an open/close detector () provided to the second valve (), and a controller () for controlling an open/close operation of the first valve () and the second valve (), and the controller () controls the open/close operation of the first valve () in response to a signal output from the open/close detector ().

Fluid control system and flow rate measurement method

Provided is a valve device in which influence of a physical impact on a valve element is further reduced. Valve device includes a valve seat disposed around an opening connected to a flow path formed in a valve body, a diaphragm for opening and closing flow path by moving between a contact position and a non-contact position with respect to the valve seat, a presser adapter that contacts a peripheral portion of the diaphragm, a casing that incorporates an actuator for actuating the diaphragm and is fixed on the valve body by being screwed into a screw hole formed in the valve body, and an adapter fixing ring that is screwed into the screw hole and thereby fixed in the valve body while pressing the presser adapter and the diaphragm.

Valve device and fluid control device

The flow rate measuring method is performed in a common gas supply system comprising a plurality of gas supply paths each having a first valve, and a gas measuring device formed downstream side of the plurality of gas supply paths, having a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and a downstream side second valve. The flow rate measuring method includes: a first step of opening any one of the first valves and the second valve to allow gas to flow, closing the second valve while gas is flowing, and closing the first valve after a predetermined time has elapsed, and then measuring a pressure and a temperature after the first valve has been closed; a second step of opening any one of first valves and the second valve to allow gas to flow, closing the any one of the first valve and the second valve at the same time while gas is flowing, and then measuring a pressure and temperature after the first valve and the second valve have been closed; and a third step of calculating the flow rate in accordance with the pressure and temperature measured in the first step and the pressure and temperature measured in the second step.

Flow rate measuring method and flow rate measuring device

An abnormality detection method performed using a flow rate control device including a restriction portion, a control valve, a first pressure sensor, a second pressure sensor, and a downstream valve, includes a step of changing the control valve and the downstream valve from an open state to a closed state, a step of measuring an upstream pressure or a downstream pressure in the closed state, and at least one step of (a) extracting an upstream pressure at a point when a difference between the upstream pressure and the downstream pressure reaches a predetermined value as an upstream convergence pressure, and extracting the downstream pressure as a downstream convergence pressure, and (b) extracting the time from a point when the control valve are changed to a closed state to a point when a difference between the upstream pressure and the downstream pressure reaches a predetermined value as a convergence time.

Flow rate control device and abnormality detection method using flow rate control device

The fluid controller includes a fluid control module and an external control module. The fluid control module includes a control valve on a flow channel, a valve driver circuit that drives the control valve, a fluid meter on a flow channel, and a first processor that processes a signal output from the fluid meter. The external control module includes a second processor that processes a signal output from the first processor. The second processor outputs a valve control signal according to the signal of the fluid meter output from the first processor, the valve control signal is directly input to the valve driver circuit without through the first processor, and the valve driver circuit outputs a voltage that drives the control valve according to the valve control signal from the second processor.

Fluid control device, method for controlling fluid control device, and fluid control system

In a method of calibrating a flow rate control device in which a flow rate is calibrated based on comparison with a flow rate measured by a flow rate reference gauge, a predetermined permissible error range is set for a plurality of flow rate settings, and the permissible error range of at least one specific flow rate setting among the plurality of flow rate settings is set to be smaller than the predetermined permissible error range.

Flow rate control device, method of calibrating flow rate of flow rate control device, flow rate measuring device, and method of measuring flow rate using flow rate measuring device

A pressure-type flow rate control device includes a restriction part, a control valve disposed upstream of the restriction part, an upstream pressure sensor, a downstream pressure sensor, and a controller that diagnoses flow rate control by using pressure drop data on a flow passage between the control valve and the restriction part and reference pressure drop data, wherein a close command is issued to the control valve and a shutoff valve provided downstream of the downstream pressure sensor, and the controller determines whether a predetermined critical expansion condition is satisfied by using outputs of the upstream pressure sensor and the downstream pressure sensor after the control valve is closed, and diagnoses flow rate control by using the pressure drop data acquired during a period in which the predetermined critical expansion condition is satisfied.

Pressure-type flow rate control device and flow rate self-diagnosis method using critical expansion condition

A gas supply system capable of flow measurement includes a flow controller that controls the flow rate of a flowing gas, a first shutoff valve provided downstream of the flow controller, a second shutoff valve provided in a first flow passage communicating with the downstream side of the first shutoff valve, a second flow passage that branches from the first flow passage, a third shutoff valve provided in the second flow passage, a pressure sensing device that detects a pressure in a flow passage controlled by the first, second, and third shutoff valves, a temperature sensing device that detects a temperature in the flow passage controlled by the first, second, and third shutoff valves, a volume measuring tank connected downstream of the third shutoff valve and having a known volume, and an arithmetic and control unit that obtains a passage volume controlled by the first, second, and third shutoff valves by applying Boyle's law to open and closed states of the third shutoff valve and calculates the flow rate of the flow controller, using the passage volume and detection values obtained by the pressure sensing device and the temperature sensing device.

Gas supply device capable of measuring flow rate, flowmeter, and flow rate measuring method

A substrate processing system includes a gas supply unit having a first gas flow channel. A second gas flow channel of a flow rate measurement system is connected to the first gas flow channel. The flow rate measurement system further includes a third gas flow channel connected to the second gas flow channel, and a pressure sensor and a temperature sensor that measure a pressure and a temperature, respectively, in the third gas flow channel. In a method, a flow rate of a gas output from a flow rate controller of the gas supply unit is calculated using a build-up method. The flow rate of a gas is calculated without using the total volume of the first gas flow channel and the second gas flow channel and temperatures in the first gas flow channel and the second gas flow channel.

Method of determining flow rate of a gas in a substrate processing system

A gas supply system includes: a first flow channel connecting a first gas source and a chamber; a second flow channel connecting a second gas source and the first flow channel; a control valve, provided in the second flow channel, configured to control a flow rate of the second gas; an orifice provided downstream of the control valve and at a terminus of the second flow channel; a switching valve, provided at a connection point between the first flow channel and the terminus of the second flow channel, configured to control a supply timing of the second gas; an exhaust mechanism, connected to a flow channel between the control valve and the orifice in the second flow channel, configured to exhaust the second gas; and a controller configured to bring the control valve, the switching valve and the exhaust mechanism into operation.

Gas supply system, substrate processing system and gas supply method

A valve with a built-in orifice includes a base section having a housing recess and first and second flow passages; a valve seat body; an inner disc; a valve element; and an orifice body, wherein the housing recess has a wide-diameter section and a narrow-diameter section, the first flow passage is connected to a space between a wall surface of the narrow-diameter section and the orifice body to communicate with a valve chamber, and the second flow passage communicates with the valve chamber through a through hole of the orifice body and a through hole of the valve seat body.

Valve with built-in orifice, and pressure-type flow rate control device

In a gas supply device supplying many different gases to a gas use portion through many flow rate controllers, a flow rate controller calibration unit includes a build-up tank with inner volume, an inlet side on-off valve and an outlet side on-off valve Vof the tank, and a gas pressure detector and a gas temperature detector for gas inside the tank, joined in a branched form to a gas supply line, with the valve Vconnected to vacuum. The calibration unit is used to calibrate a flow rate controller based on performing a first measurement of gas temperature and pressure inside the tank, and then building-up gas into the tank, and then performing a second measurement of gas temperature and pressure, and from respective measured values, calculating gas flow rate Q and by comparing a set gas flow rate and calculated gas flow rate Q, performing flow rate calibration.

Calibration method and flow rate measurement method for flow rate controller for gas supply device

In a variable orifice type pressure-controlled flow controller that includes a pressure control unit and a variable orifice unit, computes a flow rate of a fluid distributed through an orifice of the variable orifice unit as Q=KP(Pis an orifice upstream side pressure and K is a constant), and switches a flow control range and performs flow control in the flow control range by changing a set flow rate signal Qs for a flow rate arithmetic and control unit of the pressure control unit and an orifice opening degree setting signal Qz for an orifice opening degree arithmetic and control unit of the variable orifice unit, the variable orifice unit includes the orifice opening degree arithmetic and control unit.

Variable orifice type pressure-controlled flow controller

An apparatus for dividing and supplying gas is provided with a flow rate control device, a plurality of divided flow passages of gas flowing from the flow rate control device, thermal-type mass flow sensors disposed to the divided flow passages, electrically-operated valves disposed on a downstream side of the thermal-type mass flow sensors, controllers that control the electrically-operated valves, and a flow ratio setting calculator that calculates a total flow rate, then calculates flow rates of the divided flow passages, and then inputs the calculated flow rates as set flow rates to each controllers. One of the divided flow passages with the highest set flow rate is put in an uncontrolled state, and opening degree for each of the rest divided flow passages is controlled, and then feedback control of the divided flow rate of each of the divided flow passages is implemented by each of the controllers.

Apparatus for dividing and supplying gas and method for dividing and supplying gas

A gas dividing/supplying apparatus includes a pressure-type flow control system, a plurality of divided flow passages connected in parallel with each other and through which gas flowing from the pressure-type flow control system is divided and supplied to a process chamber, thermal-type mass flow sensors disposed in the divided flow passages, respectively, motor-operated valves disposed on a downstream side of the thermal-type mass flow sensors, respectively, and switching-type controllers that control opening and closing of the motor-operated valves, respectively, and, in the apparatus, the switching-type controllers perform switching between valve opening control for maintaining the motor-operated valves at a predetermined fixed valve opening degree based on a valve opening control command signal and divided flow control for regulating an opening degree of each of the motor-operated valves by feedback control based on a flow detection signal of the thermal-type mass flow sensor by a divided flow control command signal.

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Osaka, Japan

Yohei Sawada