Semiconductor process system and method of cleaning the same
A method of cleaning a semiconductor processing system may include applying a vacuum pressure to a supply pipeline through which a process fluid is transferred to a process chamber and purging the supply pipeline with a cleaning gas, wherein the purging the supply pipeline with the cleaning gas includes by supplying the cleaning gas to a front end of the supply pipeline and discharging the cleaning gas supplied to the supply pipeline by applying an atmospheric pressure from a back end of the supply pipeline.
1 . A method of cleaning a semiconductor process system, the method comprising:
applying a vacuum pressure to a supply pipeline through which a process fluid is transferred to a process chamber; and
purging the supply pipeline with a cleaning gas,
wherein the purging the supply pipeline with the cleaning gas comprises:
supplying the cleaning gas to a front end of the supply pipeline; and
discharging the cleaning gas supplied to the supply pipeline by applying an atmospheric pressure from a back end of the supply pipeline such that the cleaning gas bypasses a vacuum pump connected to the process chamber.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the applying the vacuum pressure to the supply pipeline and the purging the supply pipeline with the cleaning gas are sequentially and repeatedly performed.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, in both the applying the vacuum pressure to the supply pipeline and the purging the supply pipeline with the cleaning gas, a fluid discharged from the supply pipeline passes through a scrubber connected to the process chamber.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein applying the vacuum pressure to the supply pipeline is performed using the vacuum pump.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cleaning gas comprises nitrogen (N 2 ).
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the atmospheric pressure is in a range of about 80 kPa to about 120 kPa.
7 . A method of cleaning a semiconductor process system, the method comprising:
applying a vacuum pressure to a supply pipeline connected to a process chamber; and
purging the supply pipeline with a cleaning gas, wherein the purging the supply pipeline with the cleaning gas comprises:
supplying the supply pipeline with the cleaning gas at a first pressure; and
discharging the cleaning gas supplied to the supply pipeline by applying a second pressure,
wherein the applying the vacuum pressure and the purging the supply pipeline are sequentially and repeatedly performed at least three times,
wherein the supplying the cleaning gas and the discharging the cleaning gas are performed at substantially the same time, and
wherein the discharging the cleaning gas is performed such that the cleaning gas bypasses a vacuum pump connected to the process chamber.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the cleaning gas comprises nitrogen (N 2 ).
9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the second pressure is an atmospheric pressure.
10 . The method of claim 7 , wherein applying the vacuum pressure and purging the supply pipeline are sequentially and repeatedly performed six times.
11 . The method of claim 7 ,
wherein the discharging the cleaning gas is performed such that the cleaning gas bypasses the process chamber.
12 . The method of claim 7 ,
wherein the discharging the cleaning gas is performed such that the cleaning gas passes through the process chamber.