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EP0504420A1 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Steam supplier

Assignee: Fujitsu Ltd
•
Filing: 1991-10-05
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2011-10-05
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Abstract

Abstract A vapor supplier for introducing the vapor evaporated inside a container (2) storing therein water into a vacuum chamber (8) for ashing photoresist, and the like, wherein the container is constituted so that the relation M/S < 8 can be satisfied where M is a maximum sectional area of the container in the horizontal direction and S is its minimum sectional area. When the vapor is introduced into a vacuum container (27) from a sealed water tank (21) through a mass flow controller (24) to carry out a vacuum treatment, the temperature of water inside the water tank, the temperature of water in a piping from the water tank to the mass flow controller (24), the temperature of water in a piping from the mass flow controller to the vacuum container (27) and the temperature of the mass flow controller itself are independently controlled, and the temperature of water Tt inside the water tank (21), the piping temperature Tp from the tank to the mass flow controller (24) and from the mass flow controller to the vacuum container (27) and the temperature Tm of the mass flow controller are adjusted so as to satisfy the relation Tt ≦ Tp ≦ Tm.

Inventors

  • 👤 Keisuke Fujitsu Limited Shinagawa
  • 👤 Shuzo Fujitsu Limited Fujimura
  • 👤 Yuuji Shinko Seiki Co. Ltd. Matoba
  • 👤 Yoshimasa Shinko Seiki Co. Ltd. Nakano
  • 👤 Tatsuya Shinko Seiki Co. Ltd. Takeuchi
  • 👤 Takeshi Shinko Seiki Co. Ltd. Miyanaga

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-08 18:29
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10P; H10P72/00; H10P72/04; H10P72/0402; C; C23; C23C; C23C16/00; C23C16/44; C23C16/448; C23C16/4485; H10P72/0448

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 6
Claim 1
Independent Claim 44 words
A steam supplying apparatus for introducing the steam evaporated in a closed chamber (2) to a vacuum chamber (8) to process, assuming that a maximum is M and a minimum is S in a cross-sectional horizontal area of said chamber (2), M/S < 8.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 37 words
A steam supplying apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said chamber (2) has an inside surface coated with resin and is dipped in temperature controlled liquid, has a steam inlet (10) above a water surface.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 60 words
A control method of a steam supplying apparatus for introducing the steam evaporated in a chamber (2) to a vacuum chamber (8) via a mass-flow controller (11), the range of steam flow controlled in said mass-flow controller (11) is 50-100% of a maximum steam flow determined by a vapor pressure of a water steam supplying system in said process apparatus.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 56 words
A control method of a steam supplying apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein a water temperature in said chamber (2) is controlled in such a manner that said maximum steam flow determined by the vapor pressure of the water steam supplying system is smaller than a controllable maximum flow of said mass-flow controller (11).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 123 words
A steam supplying method for introducing the steam evaporated in a closed water tank (21) to a vacuum chamber (27) via a mass-flow controller (24) to pressure reduction process, controlling independently the water temperature in the water tank (21), the temperature in the pipes (25) from the water tank (21) to the mass-flow controller(24) and from the mass-flow controller(24) to the vacuum chamber (27), and the temperature in the mass-flow controller(24), assuming that the water temperature Tt in the water tank (21), the temperature Tp in the pipes (25) from the water tank (21) to the mass-flow controller(24) and from the mass-flow controller(24) to the vacuum chamber (27), and the temperature Tm in the mass-flow controller (24) are controlled as Tt≦ Tp≦ Tm.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 103 words
A steam supplying apparatus for introducing the steam evaporated in a closed water tank (21) to a vacuum chamber (27) via a mass-flow controller (24), comprising: a water tank (21) having a temperature control means (22a), the mass-flow controller (24) having a heater (22b) and a temperature control means (22b), pipes (25), having heaters (26a, 26c) and temperature control means (22c), from the water tank (21) to the mass-flow controller (24) and from the mass-flow controller (24) to the vacuum chamber (27), the temperature in said water tank (21), said mass-flow controller(24) and said pipes (25) can be controlled independently from each other.

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