Filters employing both acidic polymers and physical-adsorption media

Abstract

A filter includes at least two different adsorptive media. first, chemisorptive media, which is porous and includes an acidic functional group, is used to remove molecular bases, including ammonia, organic amines, imides and aminoalchols, from the atmosphere used in semiconductor fabrication and other processes that require uncontaminated gaseous environments of high quality. second, physisorptive media is able to adsorb condensable contaminants, particularly those having a boiling point greater than 150 degrees C. The physisorptive media can include untreated, activated carbon.

Description

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a
Where R° is an organic free radical, and oxygen, O₂, reacts as
O₂20°
Such that
Si—R°+O°Si—R—O or R—Si—O
Repeating the above reaction n-times provides
Si—R+O₂Si—O₂+R+R—O+ . . .
thereby producing Si—O₂, which is a non-volatile inorganic oxide that is condensable on the sacrificial lens 602. Therefore, by exposing the Si—R to UV radiation, the acoustic wave detector 600 is able to detect the amount of Si—R in the sampled air.

Rather than connecting the sampling port to an analytical device, the sampling port 510 can be connected to a concentrator 524, as illustrated in FIG. 24B. A pump 526 coupled to the concentrator 524 draws the samples to the concentrator through a line 528. Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 24C, the sample accumulates by diffusion in a concentrator 530 attached directly to the sampling port 510. In either case, the operator takes the concentrator 524 or 530 back to the lab where the contents of the concentrator is evaluated by any of the analytical devices described above.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for removing contaminants from a gas in a semiconductor processing device comprising:

flowing a gas through an enclosure having an inlet for receiving the gas and an outlet for discharging the gas;

filtering the gas in the enclosure with a filter unit coupled to the inlet and the outlet and having a plurality of parallel filter elements located within said filter unit for removing at least a portion of said contaminants from said gas passing through said enclosure, the filter unit further comprising at least one filter element positioned in series with at least one of the parallel filter elements; and

sampling the gas with a sampling port coupled to the gas flow between filter elements positioned in series within the filter unit to collect sample data.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing an air filtration system.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising flowing said gas through each parallel filter element and through the at least one filter element positioned in series.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising a providing plurality of sampling ports.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising providing the plurality of sampling ports with an associated like plurality of filter elements.

6. The method of claim 4 further including an inlet sampling port.

7. The method of claim 4 further including an outlet sampling port.

8. The method of claim 5 further comprising removing amine contaminants.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising coupling said sampling port to a detection system.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising coupling an amine detection system.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising coupling the sampling port to an analyzer that determines filter life.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising using data from one or more ports selected from the group consisting of an inlet sampling port, a port between filters and an outlet sampling port.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing filters positioned in series such that a first filter element filters a first contaminant and a second filter element filters a second contaminant.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising providing a first filter element including a physisorptive filter media.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising providing a second filter element including a chemisorptive filter media.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising providing a physisorptive media including an activated carbon.

17. The method of claim 15 further comprising providing a chemisorptive media including an acidic material.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising providing an acidic material including a sulfonated material.

19. The method of claim 17 further comprising providing an acidic material including a carboxylic functional group.

20. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing a concentrator coupled to the sampling port that accumulates a contaminant.

21. An apparatus for removing contaminants from a gas in a semiconductor processing device comprising:

a filter enclosure having an inlet for receiving a gas and an outlet for discharging a gas;

a filter system within the enclosure having a plurality of parallel filter elements and at least one filter element in series with at least one of the parallel filter elements; and

a plurality of sampling ports for sampling gas flowing through the enclosure including a sampling port positioned between the at least one filter element that is positioned in series with at least one of the parallel filter elements to collect a gas sample from the gas flowing between the filter elements positioned in series.

22. The apparatus of claims 21 wherein said gas passing through each parallel filter element passes through the at least one filter element positioned in series.

23. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said contaminants include amines.

24. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said sampling port is communicatively coupled to a detection system.

25. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the sampling port is connected to an analyzer that determines filter life.

26. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein filters positioned in series comprise a first filter element that filters a first contaminant and a second filter element that filters a second contaminant.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein the first filter element comprises a physisorptive filter media.

28. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein the second filter element comprises a chemisorptive filter media.

29. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the physisorptive media comprises an activated carbon.

30. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein the chemisorptive media comprises an acidic material.

31. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein the acidic material comprises a sulfonated material.

32. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein the acidic material comprises a carboxylic functional group.

33. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the sampling port is coupled to a concentrator that accumulates a contaminant.

34. The apparatus of claim 21 further comprising a plurality of sampling ports between filter elements positioned in series.

35. A method for removing contaminants from a gas in a semiconductor processing device comprising:

flowing a gas through an enclosure having an inlet for receiving the gas and an outlet for discharging the gas;

filtering the gas in the enclosure with a filter unit coupled to the inlet and the outlet and having a plurality of parallel filter elements located within said filter unit for removing at least a portion of said contaminants from said gas passing through said enclosure, the filter unit further comprising at least one filter element positioned in series with at least one of the parallel filter elements, wherein filters positioned in series comprise a first filter element that filters a first contaminant and a second filter element that filters a second contaminant, and further wherein the first filter element comprises a physisorptive filter media and the second filter element comprises a chemisorptive filter media.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the physisorptive filter media is upstream of chemisorptive filter media.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein the physisorptive media comprises an activated carbon.

38. The method of claim 36 wherein the chemisorptive media comprises an acidic material.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein the acidic material comprises a sulfonated material.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein the sulfonated material comprises a sulfonated divinyl benzene styrene copolymer.

41. The method of claim 38 wherein the acidic material comprises a carboxylic functional group.

42. The method of claim 36 further comprising removing amine contaminants.

43. An apparatus for removing contaminants from a gas in a semiconductor processing device comprising:

a filter enclosure having an inlet for receiving a gas and an outlet for discharging a gas;

a filter system within the enclosure having a plurality of parallel filter elements and at least one filter element in series with at least one of the parallel filter elements, wherein filters positioned in series comprise a first filter element that filters a first contaminant and a second filter element that filters a second contaminant, and further wherein the first filter element comprises a physisorptive filter media and the second filter element comprises a chemisorptive filter media.

44. The apparatus of claim 43 wherein the physisorptive filter media is upstream of chemisorptive filter media.

45. The apparatus of claim 44 wherein said contaminants include amines.

46. The apparatus of claim 44 wherein the physisorptive media comprises an activated carbon.

47. The apparatus of claim 44 wherein the chemisorptive media comprises an acidic material.

48. The apparatus of claim 47 wherein the acidic material comprises a sulfonated material.

49. The apparatus of claim 47 wherein the sulfonated material comprises a sulfonated divinyl benzene styrene copolymer.

50. The apparatus of claim 49 wherein the acidic material comprises a carboxylic functional group.