Fluid recirculation system for use in vapor phase particle production system

1. A method of recirculating a fluid in a particle production system, the method comprising:

producing a reactive particle-gas mixture from a precursor material and a working gas in a particle production reactor;

receiving a conditioning fluid at a fluid inlet of a quench chamber and receiving the reactive particle-gas mixture from the particle production reactor at a reactive mixture inlet of the quench chamber;

mixing the conditioning fluid with the reactive particle-gas mixture in the quench chamber, thereby producing a cooled particle-gas mixture, the cooled particle-gas mixture comprising a plurality of precursor material particles and an output fluid, the output fluid including the conditioning fluid;

receiving and filtering the output fluid from the quench chamber using a filter element, thereby producing a filtered output;

receiving and controlling the temperature of the filtered output using a temperature control module, thereby producing a temperature-controlled, filtered output;

receiving and modulating a content ratio of the temperature-controlled, filtered output using a content ratio control module, thereby producing a content-controlled, temperature-controlled, filtered output, wherein the temperature-controlled, filtered output comprises a distinct primary fluid and a distinct secondary fluid, and the content ratio is the ratio of the primary fluid to the secondary fluid; and

supplying the content-controlled, temperature-controlled, filtered output to the fluid inlet of the quench chamber using a channeling element, wherein the content-controlled, filtered output is provided to the quench chamber as the conditioning fluid to be used in quenching the reactive particle-gas mixture.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein producing a reactive particle-gas mixture comprises:

energizing the working gas to form a plasma; and

applying the plasma to the precursor material, thereby producing the reactive particle-gas mixture.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a suction force at the cooled mixture outlet of the quench chamber to draw the output fluid from the quench chamber using a suction generator.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the filter element removes the plurality of precursor material particles from the output fluid to produce the filtered output.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the filter element comprises a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising reducing the pressure of the filtered output if the pressure exceeds a predetermined threshold using a pressure relief module.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temperature control module comprises a heat exchanger.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein modulating the content ratio comprises:

sensing the content ratio of the temperature-controlled, filtered output using a sensor;

producing a signal representing the sensed content ratio;

receiving the signal from the sensor at a micro controller; and

modulating the content ratio of the content-controlled, temperature-controlled, filtered output that is to be supplied to the fluid inlet of the quench chamber based on the received signal using the micro controller.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving the temperature-controlled, filtered output from the temperature control module at a buffer reservoir; and

temporarily storing the temperature-controlled, filtered output in the buffer reservoir before the content ratio of the temperature-controlled, filtered output is modulated.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the modulating the content ratio further comprises venting the secondary fluid from the buffer reservoir to the ambient atmosphere using a fluid relief valve.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein modulating the content ratio further comprises:

storing a supply of the secondary fluid in a secondary fluid supply reservoir; and

selectively adding a portion of the secondary fluid from the secondary fluid supply reservoir into the temperature-controlled, filtered output in response to a signal from the micro-controller using a secondary fluid supply valve, thereby producing the content-controlled, temperature-controlled, filtered output.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein modulating the content ratio further comprises:

storing a supply of the primary fluid in a primary fluid supply reservoir; and

selectively adding a portion of the primary fluid from the primary fluid supply reservoir into the temperature-controlled, filtered output using a primary fluid supply valve in response to a signal from the micro-controller, thereby producing the content-controlled, temperature-controlled, filtered output.

13. A method of recirculating a fluid in a particle production system, the method comprising:

producing a reactive particle-gas mixture from a precursor material and a working gas;

mixing a conditioning fluid with the reactive particle-gas mixture in a quench chamber to produce a cooled particle-gas mixture, the cooled particle-gas mixture comprising a plurality of precursor material particles and an output fluid, the output fluid including the conditioning fluid;

filtering the output fluid to produce a filtered output;

controlling the temperature of the filtered output to produce a temperature-controlled, filtered output;

modulating a content ratio of the temperature-controlled, filtered output to produce a content-controlled, temperature-controlled, filtered output, wherein the temperature-controlled, filtered output comprises a distinct primary fluid and a distinct secondary fluid, and the content ratio is the ratio of the primary fluid to the secondary fluid; and

supplying the content-controlled, temperature-controlled, filtered output to a fluid inlet of the quench chamber, wherein the content-controlled, filtered output is provided to the quench chamber as the conditioning fluid to be used in quenching the reactive particle-gas mixture.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein producing a reactive particle-gas mixture comprises:

energizing the working gas to form a plasma; and

applying the plasma to the precursor material to produce the reactive particle-gas mixture.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising generating a suction force at the cooled mixture outlet of the quench chamber to draw the output fluid from the quench chamber.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein filtering the output comprises removing the plurality of precursor material particles from the output fluid.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising reducing the pressure of the filtered output if the pressure exceeds a predetermined threshold.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein modulating the content ratio comprises:

sensing the content ratio of the temperature-controlled, filtered output;

producing a signal representing the sensed content ratio;

modulating the content ratio of the content-controlled, temperature-controlled, filtered output that is to be supplied to the fluid inlet of the quench chamber based on the content ratio of the temperature-controlled, filtered output.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

receiving the temperature-controlled, filtered output from the temperature control module at a buffer reservoir; and

temporarily storing the temperature-controlled, filtered output in the buffer reservoir before the content ratio of the temperature-controlled, filtered output is modulated.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein modulating the content ratio further comprises venting the secondary fluid from the buffer reservoir to the ambient atmosphere.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein modulating the content ratio further comprises:

storing a supply of the secondary fluid in a secondary fluid supply reservoir; and

selectively adding a portion of the secondary fluid from the secondary fluid supply reservoir into the temperature-controlled, filtered output.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein modulating the content ratio further comprises:

storing a supply of the primary fluid in a primary fluid supply reservoir; and

selectively adding a portion of the primary fluid from the primary fluid supply reservoir into the temperature-controlled, filtered output.