Leak judgment method, and computer-readable recording medium with recorded leak-judgment-executable program

• US 7,641,382 B2
• Filed: 11/10/2005
• Issued: 01/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Tanaka, Masatoshi, Izawa, Hiroshi, Echizen, Hiroshi, Ohtoshi, Hirokazu
• Primary Examiner(s): VERBITSKY, GAIL KAPLAN
• Application Number:
  US11/270,563
• Publication Number:
  US 20060068081A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,517 Days
• Field of Search: 374/29, 374/4, 374/5, 374/43, 374/44, 374/45, 374/57, 374120- 21, 374/141, 374/143, 374/147, 374/137, 374110-112, 374/148, 374/30, 374/135, 118/715, 118/728, 118/50, 118/663, 118/61, 118/666, 118/667, 118/719, 156/345.29, 156/345.33, 156/345.34, 73/40, 73/405.R, 73/453, 73/454, 621/29, 432/200, 436/3, 427/8
• US Class Current: 374/4
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/4401 Means for minimising impurities, e.g. dust, moisture or residual gas, in the reaction chamber
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 3/002 by using thermal means
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/3244 Gas supply means

Abstract

In a deposited-film formation apparatus or process having the means or steps of evacuating the inside of an inside-evacuatable chamber through an evacuation piping by an evacuation means, feeding a material gas into the chamber while evacuating the inside of the chamber, and applying a high-frequency power to form a deposited film on a substrate disposed inside the chamber, a leak is detected on the basis of a measured value of a temperature sensor which detects the heat of reaction that is generated when the material gas fed into the chamber reacts with oxygen contained in air having entered from the outside, so as to be able to stop the material gas feeding.

In deposited-film formation apparatus or processes making use of spontaneously ignitable gases, the leak can quickly be detected when air enters the chamber because of any unexpected accident such as a break of piping.

Claims

1. Method of detecting the occurrence of a leak due to the entry of external air to the interior of a chamber or piping comprising the steps of:

forming a deposited film from reactive gas in a deposited film-forming apparatus which includes a vacuum pump mounted in an evacuation piping and an exhaust gas treatment unit downstream of the vacuum pump;

measuring temperature in the evacuation piping at a plurality of spots thereof employing a plurality of temperature sensors;

measuring a plurality of temperature values from the temperature sensors; and

detecting a leak of reactant gases based on a temperature change, detected by the temperature sensors, which is caused by reaction between oxygen entering the chamber or the piping and the reactive gas.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein an average value of the temperature of the evacuation piping is found by averaging the output of detected temperatures of the temperature sensors.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein a detected temperature value greater than the reference value, determined by the average value of piping temperatures, is preset as a warning value, and the leak is determined to be present when the plurality of measured temperature values become greater than the warning value.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of temperature sensors is provided in one measurement region, and the leak is determined when temperature increase is detected by at least two temperature sensors among the plurality of sensors provided in the one measurement region.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of temperature sensors is continuously provided in a direction of gas flow, and the leak is determined when temperature increase is detected by the plurality of temperature sensors continuously provided.