JPH0363485A - temperature control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable an item of which temperature is controlled to be monitored in a high accuracy by a method wherein a pressure loss in a flow passage ranging from an isothermal water supplying means to a plurality of heat exchanging devices of which temperature is controlled is adjusted by an adjusting valve at the supplying part and another adjusting valve at a recovery side. CONSTITUTION:Liquid medium recoverying passages 12, 13 and 14 have adjusting valves 25, 24 and 23 of which flow passage resistance can be adjusted. A pressure loss is divided by arranging the adjusting valves 19 to 21 at the supplying side, a pressure and a flow rate at the heat exchanging segments 6, 7 and 8 are separately set and the pressures at each of the heat exchanging segments 6, 7 and 8 become substantially the same. With such an arrangement, a temperature increase caused by a pressure loss energy becomes the same degree and temperatures of liquid medium at each of the heat exchanging segments becomes equal to each other. An external part of a room where a temperature controlled item is mounted is provided with a heating part of an isothermal liquid medium supplying means to reduce a temperature variation caused by an external influence on the temperature controlled item.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a temperature control device used in semiconductor exposure equipment, etc., which uses a liquid medium to precisely control the temperature of a temperature-controlled part. The present invention relates to a temperature control device.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, temperature control has been an important issue in equipment such as semiconductor exposure equipment that requires precise dimensional control.
For example, many proposals have been made regarding temperature control of wafers and masks in exposure equipment.

In particular, temperature control using a liquid medium has the advantage of good controllability and high practicality due to its large heat transfer coefficient, and has been widely used in the past.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in a device that performs temperature control by thermally coupling a temperature-controlled object with a precisely temperature-controlled liquid medium, it is difficult to control the temperature with an accuracy of about 0.01°C. In this case, the pressure loss in the liquid medium flow path from the constant temperature liquid medium supply source to the heat exchange section whose temperature is to be controlled becomes a thermal problem that cannot be ignored.

For example, when water is supplied through an insulated tube, if the pressure loss in the flow path is set to 0.5 gf/c1 and all of this lost energy becomes a temperature rise in the water, the temperature rise will be 0.012°C. Become. Furthermore, if multiple temperature control targets are located at different locations, and the flow path shapes and lengths through which the liquid medium passes are different, the temperature rise for each of these flow paths will be different due to the flow path loss. will occur. Therefore, even when controlling each temperature-controlled object to the same temperature, there is a drawback that precise temperature control cannot be performed due to the difference in temperature rise due to the flow path loss.

That is, in order to manage the temperatures of a plurality of temperature controlled objects with an accuracy of ±0.01, the heat generating valves of such temperature control system mortars have become a problem.

For this purpose, there is a method of installing the temperature control device's own temperature sensor and controlling each temperature control target individually based on its temperature output, but this requires the preparation of multiple highly accurate feedback control devices. There was a drawback.

In addition, in order to control the temperature of the temperature controlled object with high precision, the temperature controlled object is generally installed in a constant temperature room that is controlled at a constant temperature, and in this case, temperature control within the constant temperature room can be achieved with high precision. In order to do this, it is desirable to reduce the heat generated within the constant temperature room, but in this case, the heat generated by the temperature control device itself becomes a problem that cannot be ignored.

In view of the problems of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to
An object of the present invention is to enable highly accurate temperature control of a plurality of objects with a simple configuration in a temperature control device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the temperature control device of the present invention includes a means for supplying a constant temperature liquid medium, and a constant temperature liquid medium supplied from the supply means to a plurality of channels. A distribution means for distributing, a heat exchange section provided in each flow path to which the constant temperature liquid medium is distributed by the distribution means, and a heat exchange section provided on the upstream and downstream sides of the heat exchange section, from the distribution means to the heat exchange section. and means for adjusting the flow path resistance.

Further, the main heat generating part of the constant temperature liquid medium supply device, which is a means for supplying the constant temperature liquid medium, is installed as far as possible outside the room in which the temperature-controlled device is installed.

[Function] In this configuration, the flow rate and pressure loss reaching the heat exchange section are individually adjusted by each flow path resistance adjustment means for the constant temperature liquid medium distributed in multiple flow paths corresponding to multiple temperature control targets. As a result, variations in liquid medium temperature caused by pressure loss energy in the liquid medium flow paths of each of the plurality of temperature controlled objects are corrected.

Moreover, by installing the main heat generating part of the constant-temperature liquid medium supply means outside the chamber in which the temperature controlled object is installed, temperature fluctuations caused by external influences on the temperature controlled object are reduced.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a temperature control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a constant temperature liquid medium supply device that supplies a constant temperature liquid medium whose temperature is controlled to an accuracy of, for example, ±0.01° C. and at a constant flow rate. Also, 3,4.5
are temperature controlled targets placed at different locations, 6,
7.8 is a heat exchange section configured to increase the heat transfer coefficient between each temperature controlled object and the liquid medium; 9. to, tt are liquid medium supply paths formed by heat insulating tubes, 12.13゜1
Reference numeral 4 denotes a liquid medium recovery flow path formed by a heat insulating tube.

These liquid medium supply channels 9, 10, 11, heat exchange sections 6, 7.
8 and the liquid medium recovery channel 12, 13, and 14, respectively (
Pressure loss may vary depending on the flow rate of the flowing liquid medium and the shape of the flow path. 18 and 22 are heat exchange parts 6, 7.8 for controlling multiple temperatures from the precision constant-temperature liquid medium supply device 1.
This is a distributor for distributing liquid medium to. A temperature sensor 26 is installed in the distributor 18, and this temperature sensor 2
The constant temperature liquid medium supply device 1 is controlled so that the temperature indicated by 6 is always constant. 19, 20.21 are liquid medium supply paths 9.
It is a regulating valve provided in to, tt, and 23, 24.
25 is a regulating valve provided in the liquid medium recovery path 14, 13, 12.

In the temperature control device configured in this way, temperature control is performed by flowing a liquid medium at a flow rate sufficient to quickly remove the heat generated by the temperature controlled object through each of the heat exchange parts 6, 7.8. Efforts are being made to stabilize the temperature of the target. At this time, since the temperature controlled objects 3.4.5 each have different degrees of heat generation, in order to efficiently supply the liquid medium, it is necessary to appropriately design the heat exchange section according to the degree of heat generation of each object. 6,7,81. : It is necessary to flow the liquid medium at an appropriate flow rate. And for this purpose, from the distributor 18 to the heat exchange parts 6, 7
．． As shown in FIG.
It is considered that the adjustment valve 23°24.25 in the liquid medium recovery path is not necessary. However, in this case, the pressure loss from the distributor 1B to the heat exchange sections 6, 7.8 will be different.

That is, by adjusting the flow path resistance with the regulating valves 19, 20, and 21, the liquid medium whose flow rate is set to an appropriate value is transferred from the distributor 18 to the liquid medium supply paths 9, 10, 11.
, regulating valves 19, 20° 21, heat exchange sections 6, 7, 8, and liquid medium recovery channels 12, 13, and 14 to reach distributor 22, the pressure in the channel increases. It descends in different ways in each channel. FIG. 3 shows this situation, and the three broken lines in the figure show pressure changes in each path.

As shown in the figure, the pressure in the heat exchange section 6.7.8 is different in each path, and the temperature of the liquid medium in the distributor 18 is the same, so the pressure is due to pressure loss energy. The temperature of the liquid medium in the heat exchange section differs depending on the temperature rise of the liquid medium. This temperature rise is 0.012℃ per pressure loss of 0.5kg/c1 when the liquid medium is water.
This is a value that cannot be ignored in order to control the temperature with an accuracy of ±0.01t.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, liquid medium recovery channels 12, 13.
Adjustment valves 25, 24.2 that can adjust flow path resistance even during 14
3, and distributes the pressure loss using regulating valves 19 to 21 and 23 to 25 on the supply side (upstream side) and recovery side (downstream side), thereby controlling the pressure and flow rate in the heat exchange sections 6 and 7.8. This allows them to be set individually. The state of pressure change in each path in this case is shown in the fourth section.
The figure shows a case in which the pressures in each heat exchange section are set to be approximately the same using regulating valves located upstream and downstream of the heat exchange section.

According to this, the pressure loss up to each heat exchange part 6, 7.8 is the same in each path, so the temperature rise due to pressure loss energy is also the same, and each heat exchanger The temperatures of the liquid medium at portions 6, 7 and 8 become equal.

Although Fig. 4 shows the case where the pressure of the liquid medium in each heat exchange section is the same, by changing the balance of the regulating valves on both the supply side and the recovery side for one route, Since the pressure in the heat exchange section can be adjusted without changing the flow rate of the liquid medium, it is also possible to change the temperature of the liquid medium in the heat exchange section by utilizing the temperature rise caused by pressure loss energy.

By the way, in order to reduce the influence of temperature from the outside, the entire device 27 that is subject to temperature control is usually installed in a constant temperature room 28 where the temperature is controlled to be constant. In order to accurately maintain a constant temperature in this constant temperature chamber, it is desirable that the heat generation inside the constant temperature chamber is small, but the constant temperature liquid medium supply device 1
It contains large heat sources such as water pumps and high temperature primary cooling water discharge channels. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the part of the constant temperature liquid medium supply device 1 that includes these heat sources is placed outside the constant temperature room 28 to reduce the influence of heat from the heat source of the constant temperature liquid medium supply device 1. I try to do that. The thermostatic chamber 28 may be an air-conditioned room, a space simply covered by a partition, or a precise thermostatic chamber.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the pressure loss in the flow path from the constant temperature water supply means to the plurality of temperature-controlled heat exchange units can be reduced by the regulating valves on both the supply side and the recovery side. Since it can be adjusted, temperature variations in each heat exchange section caused by this pressure loss can be individually corrected, making it easy to manage multiple temperature control targets with high accuracy using one precision constant temperature water supply means. This is possible with this configuration.

In addition, by separating the main heat generating parts of the precision constant temperature water supply means from the space where the entire temperature control target is installed, the influence of these heat generating parts is eliminated, making it possible to achieve higher precision in temperature control. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a temperature control device embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional temperature control device that does not have a pressure regulating valve. Fig. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional temperature control device that does not have a pressure regulation valve. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of pressure loss in the flow path in the case of FIG. 1 in which the pressure is adjusted. 1: Constant temperature liquid medium supply device, 2: Liquid medium supply outlet, 3.4, 5: Temperature controlled object, 6.7. B: heat exchange section, 9.10, 11: liquid medium supply path, 12.13, 14: liquid medium recovery path, 19.20, 21: upstream side regulating valve, 27: device to be temperature controlled, 23. 24, 25: Downstream regulating valve, 18.22: Distributor, 26: Temperature sensor 28: Constant temperature room.・Sagaki (tun R Mokuhiki, ridge and ward procedure amendment form (.e) August 29, 1989

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A means for supplying a constant temperature liquid medium, a distribution means for distributing the constant temperature liquid medium supplied from the supply means to a plurality of flow paths, and each flow path to which the constant temperature liquid medium is distributed by the distribution means. A temperature control device comprising: a heat exchange section provided in the heat exchange section; and means provided on the upstream and downstream sides of the heat exchange section to adjust flow path resistance from the distribution means to the heat exchange section. . (2) A temperature control device that includes a constant-temperature liquid medium supply device and controls the temperature of other devices using the liquid medium supplied from the device, and the main heat generating part of the constant-temperature liquid medium supply device is connected to the device whose temperature is being controlled. A temperature control device characterized in that it is installed outside the room in which it is installed.