AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition
    Vacuum Technology Division Tuesday Sessions
       Session VT+MN-TuA

Invited Paper VT+MN-TuA3
A Rigorous Approach to Effluent Gas Management for the Vacuum Processing Industry

Tuesday, October 31, 2017, 3:00 pm, Room 7 & 8

Session: Pumping
Presenter: Paul Dozoretz, MKS Instruments, Inc.
Correspondent: Click to Email

Vacuum processing is consistently gaining momentum in the manufacturing of novel materials relying on thin film coating and implantation technologies. The vacuum systems developed for such new applications borrow from many of the standard vacuum processing techniques but consistently push the design limits in terms of the amount of precursor gas consumption and by-product mass generation. In order to handle the large amounts of effluent produced in some of these these processes it has become essential to better understand gas dynamics for the effluent flowing out of the chamber and into the pumping systems. In most cases, effluent gas must be captured or trapped before it can reach and irreversibly damage the pumps and before it can become a danger for the personnel operating the vacuum manufacturing tools. With the aid of gas dynamic modeling software, our engineering team has been able to better understand flow through effluent lines and develop more efficient gas trapping solutions for very novel applications spanning from the semiconductor to the aeronautical industries. In this presentation we describe the rigorous methodology used to guide and validate the design effluent gas handling systems. Detailed understanding of process chemistries and effluent physicochemical properties, combined with gas dynamic flow modeling, has revolutionized the way our team approaches effluent gas management and improved the speed at which customer effluent needs can be addressed.