CN115217776A

CN115217776A - High-efficiency turbo molecular pump device

Info

Publication number: CN115217776A
Application number: CN202111589470.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 曾国力; 欧国宝
Original assignee: PROSOL CORP
Current assignee: PROSOL CORP
Priority date: 2021-04-21
Filing date: 2021-12-23
Publication date: 2022-10-21
Also published as: TWI757158B; TW202242261A

Abstract

The invention discloses a high-efficiency turbo-molecular pump device. A high efficiency turbomolecular pump device comprises a housing structure, a stator element, a rotor element, and a heater. The shell structure is provided with a chamber and an exhaust port which are communicated. The stator element is disposed in the chamber and includes an air guide ring. The rotor element is disposed in the chamber and corresponds to the stator element, the rotor element includes a rotor base, and a gas channel is formed between the rotor base and the gas guide ring. The heater is disposed on the gas guide ring, wherein the heater is configured to make the gas channel have a plurality of temperature sections, and the plurality of temperature sections comprise a first temperature section near the gas outlet, and the temperature of the first temperature section is 60 ℃ to 80 ℃.

Description

High-efficiency turbo molecular pump device

Technical Field

The invention relates to a vacuum-pumping device, in particular to a high-efficiency turbo molecular pump device.

Background

As the size of the device is continuously reduced and the semiconductor technology is continuously developed to a smaller line width and a higher density, the semiconductor processes such as thin film deposition and dry etching need to be performed in a low-pressure vacuum environment, so that the application of the turbo-molecular pump in the electronic semiconductor industry is more and more extensive.

However, when the turbomolecular pump is used to evacuate a semiconductor process chamber, dust, particulates, or other aerosols entrained in the process gas may enter the turbomolecular pump and become deposited at the exhaust and gas flow path ends at lower ambient temperatures. And once the amount of the deposition material is too much, the gas flow path may be blocked and the vacuum may not be smoothly drawn. To solve this problem, most manufacturers use heating to slow down the formation of the deposit by installing a heater outside the pump body (e.g., outside the magnetic bearing pedestal) to raise the ambient temperature inside the semiconductor process chamber by heating from outside the pump body.

Although the above method solves the problem of blocking the gas flow path, it still has the following disadvantages: 1. the temperature rising speed is slow; 2. heat loss is severe and energy is consumed; 3. precision electrical components may fail due to being subjected to high temperature heating for extended periods of time.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to provide a high efficiency turbo molecular pump device, which can reduce energy loss and heat loss during heat transfer and can operate normally for a long time.

In order to solve the above technical problems, one of the technical solutions of the present invention is to provide a high efficiency turbomolecular pump device, which includes a casing structure, a stator element, a rotor element, and a heater. The shell structure is provided with a chamber and an exhaust port communicated with the chamber; the stator element is disposed within the chamber, wherein the stator element includes an air ring; the rotor element is arranged in the cavity and corresponds to the stator element in position, wherein the rotor element comprises a rotor base, and a gas channel is formed between the rotor base and the gas guide ring; the heater is disposed on the gas ring, wherein the heater is configured to provide the gas channel with a plurality of temperature sections, and the plurality of temperature sections comprises a first temperature section near the gas outlet, the temperature of which is 60 ℃ to 80 ℃.

In an embodiment of the invention, the housing structure includes an upper housing and a lower housing, and the upper housing and the lower housing are integrated. The air guide ring is assembled on the lower shell, and the position of the air guide ring corresponds to the rotor base.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a positioning structure is disposed between a portion of the air guide ring and the lower housing.

In an embodiment of the invention, the air guide ring includes a supporting portion and a main body portion, the main body portion is integrally formed on the supporting portion and surrounds the rotor base, and the positioning structure is disposed between the supporting portion and the lower casing or between the main body portion and the lower casing.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the positioning structure includes one or more bumper pads.

In an embodiment of the invention, the heater is a belt heater, and the heater is concealed in the air guide ring.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the turbomolecular pump device further comprises a temperature sensor, and the temperature sensor is configured to detect a temperature state of the first temperature section.

In an embodiment of the invention, the temperature sensor is disposed in the vicinity of the heater.

In an embodiment of the invention, the plurality of temperature sections further includes a second temperature section far away from the exhaust port and a third temperature section located between the first temperature section and the second temperature section, the predetermined temperature of the second temperature section is 60 ℃ to 80 ℃, and the predetermined temperature of the third temperature section is 70 ℃ to 90 ℃.

In an embodiment of the invention, the turbomolecular pump further includes a controller electrically connected to the heater to control a heating temperature and/or a heating range of the heater.

One of the advantages of the present invention is that the turbomolecular pump device of the present invention can avoid the influence of the deposition of the derivatives of the semiconductor process in the gas channel on the vacuum pumping efficiency while greatly improving the heat supply efficiency by the technical means of "the heater is disposed on the gas guiding ring and configured to make the gas channel between the rotor base and the gas guiding ring have a plurality of temperature sections, including the first temperature section near the exhaust port and having a temperature of 60 ℃ to 80 ℃. In addition, the turbomolecular pump device of the invention can reach the optimal operation state in a short time.

Furthermore, the turbomolecular pump device of the invention not only can prolong the maintenance period, but also can avoid the magnetic suspension bearing from being in failure due to long-term high-temperature heating.

For a better understanding of the features and technical content of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description of the invention and accompanying drawings, which are provided for purposes of illustration and description only and are not intended to limit the invention.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a functional block diagram of a turbomolecular pump device of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of one of the pump bodies of the turbomolecular pump device of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is another schematic structural view of the pump main body of the turbomolecular pump device of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of a gas flow path of a pump main body of the turbomolecular pump device of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a partially enlarged view of a portion V in fig. 2.

Detailed Description

The invention provides a high-efficiency turbomolecular pump device, which can bring negative influence on the product yield and economic benefit due to the working efficiency of the turbomolecular pump. The turbo-molecular pump device has the advantages that the heater is arranged at a specific position in the pump, energy loss and loss in the heat transfer process can be reduced, and faults of precise electric appliance components caused by long-time high-temperature heating bearing can be avoided.

The following is a description of the embodiments of the "high efficiency turbomolecular pump device" disclosed in the present invention by specific embodiments, and those skilled in the art can understand the advantages and effects of the present invention from the disclosure of the present specification. The invention is capable of other and different embodiments and its several details are capable of modifications and various changes in detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The drawings of the present invention are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be drawn to scale. The following embodiments will further explain the related art of the present invention in detail, but the disclosure is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. In addition, the term "or" as used herein should be taken to include any one or combination of more of the associated listed items as the case may be.

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, fig. 1 shows main components of a turbomolecular pump device according to the present invention, and fig. 2 and 3 show a structure of a turbomolecular pump device according to the present invention. As shown in the above drawings, the turbomolecular pump device Z of the present invention mainly includes a pump main body 1 and a controller 2 for controlling the operation state of the pump main body 1, wherein the pump main body 1 includes a housing structure 11, a rotor element 12, a stator element 13, a heater 14, and a driver 15. The housing structure 11 has a chamber 110 in a sealed state and an exhaust port 112 communicating with the chamber 110; the rotor element 12 and the stator element 13 are disposed in the chamber 110 and are corresponding to each other, wherein a gas passage G is formed between the rotor element 12 and the stator element 13 for guiding gas to the exhaust port 112; the heater 14 is disposed on the stator element 13 to make the gas passage G in a specific thermal environment having a temperature gradient distribution; a driver 15 is disposed within the chamber 110 for driving the rotor element 12 to rotate at a high speed relative to the stator element 13.

In use, the turbomolecular pump device Z may be connected to a process chamber (not shown) via an isolation valve, wherein the controller 2 is electrically connected to the heater 14 and the driver 15, the controller 2 is capable of activating the heater 14 to reach a target heating temperature, and the driver 15 is capable of driving the rotor element 12 to reach a target rotation speed; in this way, the turbomolecular pump device Z enters a normal operation mode, and can evacuate the process chamber to a target vacuum level. The controller 2 may be any kind of processor or programmable circuit, but is not limited thereto.

It is worth mentioning that the heater 14 may be configured to make the gas channel G have a plurality of temperature sections with different ambient temperatures, wherein the temperature section closest to the exhaust port 112 has a temperature of 60 ℃ to 80 ℃. This prevents the gas channel G from being clogged with derivatives of the semiconductor process, such as products generated from reactants and an object to be etched in the dry etching process, and prevents the precision electric components from being damaged by high-temperature heating for a long time.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, in the present embodiment, the housing structure 11 includes an upper housing 11a and a lower housing 11b, which can be integrated by locking. The upper housing 11a and the lower housing 11b are each generally cylindrical and together define a chamber 110, wherein the upper housing 11a defines an upstream region of the chamber 110, the upper housing 11a has an inlet port 111 in communication with the chamber 110, the lower housing 11b defines a downstream region of the chamber 110, and the lower housing 11b has an outlet port 112 in communication with the chamber 110. The above description is only one possible embodiment and is not intended to limit the invention.

The rotor member 12 includes a rotor base 121, a rotor shaft 122 and a plurality of rotating wings 123, wherein the rotor shaft 122 passes through the center of the rotor base 121 and is integrated with the rotor base 121 by a locking manner, and the plurality of rotating wings 123 are fixedly connected to the outer wall of the rotor base 121 in a manner of being layered up and down along the shaft. In addition, the stator element 13 includes a plurality of fixed wings 131 and an air guide ring 132, wherein the fixed wings 131 are fixedly connected to the inner wall of the upper housing 11a, and the fixed wings 131 and the rotating wings 123 are alternately arranged, i.e., each fixed wing 131 is located in a gap between two rotating wings 123; the air guide ring 132 is disposed below the rotating wings 123 and the fixed wings 131, and the air guide ring 132 and the rotor base 121 together define an annular air channel G.

Referring to fig. 4 in conjunction with fig. 2 and 3, fig. 4 shows the arrangement of the rotating wings 123 and the fixed wings 131 and the resulting gas flow path. In practical applications, the rotating wings 123 and the fixed wings 131 may be arranged in seven layers, wherein each rotating wing 123 includes a plurality of rotor blades 1231 arranged in a radial manner, and each fixed wing 131 includes a plurality of stator blades 1311 arranged in a radial manner. As shown in fig. 4, the inclination direction of the rotor blades 1231 is opposite to the inclination direction of the stator blades 1311, the inclination angle of the upper rotor blade 1231 is greater than or equal to the inclination angle of the lower rotor blade 1231, and the inclination angle of the upper stator blade 1311 is greater than or equal to the inclination angle of the lower stator blade 1311. Thereby, irreversible outward flow of gas molecules can be ensured. In addition, the air guide ring 132 may be assembled to the lower case 11b at a position corresponding to the rotor base 121. The above description is only a possible embodiment and is not intended to limit the present invention.

The heater 14 is embedded in the air guide ring 132 of the stator element 13, and the heater 14 may be a band heater, but is not limited thereto. To eliminate mechanical tolerances, a positioning structure 16 may be disposed between a portion of the air ring 132 and the lower housing 11b, wherein the positioning structure 16 may include one or more cushion pads (e.g., washer pads), but is not limited thereto. Further, the air ring 132 includes a supporting portion 1321 and a body portion 1322, the body portion 1322 is integrally formed on the supporting portion 1321 and surrounds the rotor base 121, wherein the body portion 1322 may have a threaded groove (not shown). The positioning structure 16 may be disposed between the supporting portion 1321 of the air guide ring 132 and the lower housing 11b, as shown in fig. 2; alternatively, the positioning structure 16 may be disposed between the main body part 1322 of the air guide ring 132 and the lower housing 11b, as shown in fig. 3. In practice, the air ring 132 may be integrally connected to the lower housing 11b by one or more locking members (e.g., bolts, not shown); the positioning structure 16 may be located corresponding to a locking member (e.g., a bolt, not numbered) that may optionally be inserted through the positioning structure 16.

The drive 15 may include a magnetic bearing that supports and drives the rotor shaft 122 in a non-contact manner. As the magnetic bearing of the driver 15, it may include a driving motor, axial and radial electromagnetic elements, and axial and radial displacement sensors, but is not limited thereto.

Referring to fig. 1 in conjunction with fig. 2 and 5, the turbomolecular pump device of the present invention may further include a temperature sensor 3 configured to detect the temperature state of each temperature section of the gas channel G; for example, the temperature sensor 3 is disposed in the vicinity of the heater 14. When in use, the controller 2 is electrically connected to the temperature sensor 3, and the controller 2 can determine the heating temperature and/or the heating range of the heater 14 according to the temperature variation detected by the temperature sensor 3, so as to avoid unnecessary energy waste.

It is noted that under the heating effect of the heater 14, the plurality of temperature sections of the gas channel G may include a first temperature section G1, a second temperature section G2 and a third temperature section G3, as shown in fig. 5. The first temperature section G1 is located near the exhaust port 112 and has a temperature of 60 ℃ to 80 ℃; the second temperature section G2 is located away from the exhaust port 112 and has a temperature of 60 ℃ to 80 ℃; the third temperature section G3 is located between the first temperature section G1 and the second temperature section G2 and corresponds to the heater 14, and the temperature thereof is 70 ℃ to 90 ℃. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned examples.

Advantageous effects of embodiments

One of the benefits of the present invention is that the turbomolecular pump device of the present invention can avoid the influence of the deposition of the derivatives of the semiconductor process in the gas channel on the vacuum pumping efficiency while greatly improving the heat supply efficiency by the technical means of "the heater is disposed on the gas guide ring and configured to make the gas channel between the rotor base and the gas guide ring have a plurality of temperature sections, including the first temperature section near the exhaust port and having a temperature of 60 ℃ to 80 ℃. Moreover, the turbomolecular pump device of the present invention can reach the optimum operating state in a short time.

Furthermore, the turbomolecular pump device of the invention not only can prolong the maintenance period, but also can avoid the magnetic suspension bearing from generating faults due to long-term high-temperature heating.

Furthermore, in the turbomolecular pump device of the present invention, a positioning structure may be provided between a portion of the air guide ring and the lower housing to eliminate mechanical tolerances, and the positioning structure may include one or more cushion pads (e.g., washer pads). Therefore, the operation of the turbomolecular pump device can be more stable and reliable.

The disclosure is only a preferred embodiment of the invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the claims, so that all technical equivalents and modifications using the contents of the specification and drawings are included in the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A high efficiency turbomolecular pump device, comprising:

a housing structure having a chamber and an exhaust port in communication with the chamber;

a stator element disposed within the chamber, wherein the stator element comprises an air ring;

a rotor element disposed within the chamber and positioned relative to the stator element, wherein the rotor element includes a rotor base with a gas passage therebetween; and

a heater disposed on the gas ring, wherein the heater is configured to provide the gas channel with a plurality of temperature segments, and the plurality of temperature segments includes a first temperature segment proximate the gas outlet having a temperature of 60 ℃ to 80 ℃.

2. The high efficiency turbomolecular pump of claim 1, wherein the casing structure comprises an upper casing and a lower casing, and the upper casing and the lower casing are integrated; the air guide ring is assembled on the lower shell, and the position of the air guide ring corresponds to the rotor base.

3. The high efficiency turbomolecular pump of claim 2, wherein a positioning structure is provided between a part of the air guide ring and the lower housing.

4. A high efficiency turbomolecular pump device according to claim 3, wherein the air guide ring comprises a support part and a main body part, the main body part is integrally formed on the support part and surrounds the rotor base, and the positioning structure is provided between the support part and the lower casing or between the main body part and the lower casing.

5. The high efficiency turbomolecular pump device of claim 4, wherein the positioning structure comprises one or more buffer pads.

6. A high efficiency turbomolecular pump device according to claim 1, wherein the heater is a belt heater and is incorporated in the air guide ring.

7. The high efficiency turbomolecular pump device of claim 1, further comprising a temperature sensor, and the temperature sensor is configured to detect a temperature state of the first temperature section.

8. The high efficiency turbomolecular pump of claim 7, wherein the temperature sensor is arranged in the vicinity of the heater.

9. A high efficiency turbomolecular pump according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of temperature sections further comprises a second temperature section remote from the exhaust port and a third temperature section between the first temperature section and the second temperature section, the predetermined temperature of the second temperature section is 60 ℃ to 80 ℃, and the predetermined temperature of the third temperature section is 70 ℃ to 90 ℃.

10. The high efficiency turbomolecular pump device of claim 1, further comprising a controller electrically connected to the heater for controlling a heating temperature and/or a heating range of the heater.