A Destruction Pattern Analysis of a Turbo-Molecular Pump According to the Foreline Clamp Damage in an ICP Dry Etcher for 300 mm Wafers

We analyzed the destruction patterns of a turbo-molecular pump (TMP) resulting from its sudden exposure of a foreline to the atmospheric pressure due to a destruction of the foreline connecting clamp of an ICP dry etcher for 300 mm wafers during high-vacuum operation ($5{\times}10^{-6}$ Torr). Unlike in the case of view port's breakage, the TMP's rotor module was crashed inside the chamber. The primary damage resulted from the collision of the blades and stators, and the secondary damage resulted from the breaking of the rotor - driving shaft assembly. The fixing screws of the rotor and axial shaft were bent and broken when the TMP controller output the maximum current even after the crash event. Electrical power consumption analysis of the TMP power controller confirmed it. The stress distributions were analyzed by a finite element method using CFD-ACE+ multi physics software. Rotating inertia of each parts and kinetic energies were calculated as well. 68% of the rotational kinetic energy is deposited by the rotor - shaft module.