Patents by Inventor Masakazu Minami
Masakazu Minami has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Publication number: 20240094176Abstract: The present invention brings an actual concentration of a process gas closer to an ideal concentration, and a gas analysis device that is used in a fluid control system that controls a process gas obtained by vaporizing a liquid material or a solid material, the gas analysis device including: a first concentration calculation unit that calculates a concentration of the process gas; a second concentration calculation unit that calculates a concentration of a by-product gas at least generated in a side reaction that is a reaction different from a main reaction for generating the process gas; a comparison unit that compares a first actual concentration that is the concentration of the process gas calculated by the first concentration calculation unit with a first ideal concentration, and compares a second actual concentration that is the concentration of the by-product gas calculated by the second concentration calculation unit with a second ideal concentration.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 18, 2023Publication date: March 21, 2024Applicant: HORIBA STEC, Co., Ltd.Inventors: Motonobu TAKAHASHI, Masakazu MINAMI, Yuhei SAKAGUCHI
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Publication number: 20240030013Abstract: The present invention is aimed to perform precise monitoring of the processed amount by which a workpiece is processed, and includes a measurement unit that measures a concentration or a partial pressure of a reaction product generated while the workpiece is being processed, and an operation unit that calculates the processed amount of the workpiece using an output value of the measurement unit. The measurement unit includes: a laser light source that irradiates target gas containing the reaction product with a laser beam; a photodetector that detects a laser beam having passed through the target gas; and a signal processing unit that calculates the concentration or the partial pressure of the reaction product based on a detection signal of the photodetector. The operation unit includes a time integration unit; a relationship data storage unit; and a processed amount calculation unit.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 14, 2023Publication date: January 25, 2024Applicant: HORIBA STEC, Co., Ltd.Inventors: Miyako HADA, Motonobu TAKAHASHI, Masakazu MINAMI, Yuhei SAKAGUCHI, Toru SHIMIZU, Tetsuo FUJII
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Publication number: 20230417660Abstract: The present invention is a gas analysis device that measures a concentration or partial pressure of a halide contained in a material gas used in semiconductor manufacturing process or a by-product gas generated in semiconductor manufacturing process with good accuracy, the device being for analyzing a concentration or partial pressure of a halide contained in a material gas used in a semiconductor manufacturing process or a by-product gas generated in a semiconductor manufacturing process, the device including a gas cell into which the material gas or the by-product gas is introduced, a laser light source that irradiates the gas cell with laser light whose wavelength is modulated, a light detector that detects the laser light transmitted through the gas cell, and a signal processing unit that calculates the concentration or partial pressure of the halide by using a light absorption signal obtained from an output signal of the light detector.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 22, 2021Publication date: December 28, 2023Applicants: HORIBA STEC, Co., Ltd., HORIBA, LTD.Inventors: Yuhei SAKAGUCHI, Masakazu MINAMI, Kyoji SHIBUYA, Motonobu TAKAHASHI
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Patent number: 11796460Abstract: In order to provide an absorbance analysis apparatus for DCR gas that can measure a concentration of a DCR gas by separating absorbance of the DCR gas alone even in a mixed gas consisting of the DCR gas and CO gas whose absorption spectrum overlaps each other, the absorbance analysis apparatus for DCR gas comprises a DCR filter 31 that is configured to transmit a light in a first wavenumber domain including an absorbance peak of the DCR gas, a CO filter 32 that is configured to transmit a light in a second wavenumber domain that is different from the first wavenumber domain, and a DCR gas volume calculator 4 that is configured to calculate volume of the DCR gas based on a first absorbance measured by the light transmitted through the DCR filter 31 and a second absorbance measured by the light transmitted through the CO filter 32.Type: GrantFiled: March 15, 2022Date of Patent: October 24, 2023Assignees: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED, HORIBA STEC, CO., LTD.Inventors: Yuichi Furuya, Masayuki Tanaka, Yuhei Sakaguchi, Masakazu Minami, Toru Shimizu
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Publication number: 20230228679Abstract: In order to prevent cracking of a window material in manufacturing an optical measurement cell that satisfies various performances required for airtightness, heat resistance, and the like by atomic diffusion bonding, an optical measurement cell into which a sample is introduced includes a light transmission window through which light is transmitted, and includes a window material forming the light transmission window, and a flange member to which the window material is bonded via a metal thin film, and a ratio of a thermal expansion coefficient of the flange member to a thermal expansion coefficient of the window material is 0.5 times or more and 1.5 times or less.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 22, 2022Publication date: July 20, 2023Applicant: HORIBA STEC, Co., Ltd.Inventors: Yoshiaki NAKATA, Masakazu MINAMI, Yuhei SAKAGUCHI, Toru SHIMIZU, Takeshi AKAMATSU
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Publication number: 20230228677Abstract: Provided are a gas cell into which a gas is introduced, a temperature control block configured to control a temperature of the gas cell, and a pressure sensor configured to measure a pressure inside the gas cell. The pressure sensor is built into the temperature control block and/or the gas cell.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 10, 2023Publication date: July 20, 2023Applicant: HORIBA STEC, Co., Ltd.Inventors: Motonobu TAKAHASHI, Sotaro KISHIDA, Akira KUWAHARA, Takeshi AKAMATSU, Yuhei SAKAGUCHI, Masakazu MINAMI
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Patent number: 11631596Abstract: In order to provide a concentration control apparatus that, without adding any new sensors or the like, makes it possible to accurately estimate a quantity of source consumed inside a vaporization tank, and to perform highly accurate concentration control in accordance with the remaining quantity of source, there is provided a concentration control apparatus that, in a vaporizer that is equipped with at least a vaporization tank containing a liquid or solid source, a carrier gas supply path that supplies a carrier gas to the vaporization tank, and a source gas extraction path along which flows a source gas which is created by vaporizing the source and is then extracted from the vaporization tank, controls a concentration of the source gas and includes a concentration monitor that is provided on the source gas extraction path, and outputs output signals in accordance with a concentration of the source gas.Type: GrantFiled: March 3, 2020Date of Patent: April 18, 2023Assignee: HORIBA STEC, CO., LTD.Inventors: Toru Shimizu, Masakazu Minami
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Patent number: 11519070Abstract: In order to inhibit overshoot in the concentration of a source gas immediately after a gas supply period starts, there is provided a vaporization device that is equipped with a vaporization tank that holds a liquid or a solid source, a carrier gas supply path that supplies carrier gas to the vaporization tank, a source gas extraction path along which flows a source gas which is obtained by vaporizing the source and which is extracted from the vaporization tank, a concentration monitor that is provided on the source gas extraction path, and a concentration control mechanism that is provided with a fluid controller which controls a concentration of the source gas extracted from the source gas extraction path. This vaporization device alternates between supplying the source gas and stopping the supply of the source gas.Type: GrantFiled: January 31, 2020Date of Patent: December 6, 2022Assignee: HORIBA STEC, CO., LTD.Inventors: Toru Shimizu, Masakazu Minami
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Patent number: 11493443Abstract: In order to make it possible to conduct a zero calibration even though an interference gas exists in a measurement area of a detector, a light absorbance analysis apparatus includes a detector that detects an intensity of light that transmits a gas, a total pressure sensor that measures a total pressure of the gas, an absorbance calculating part that calculates an absorbance based on an output value of the detector and a previously set zero reference value, a partial pressure—absorbance relation storing part that stores a partial pressure—absorbance relational data that indicates a relationship between a partial pressure of an interference gas that exists in a measurement area of the detector and an absorbance calculated by the absorbance calculating part, and a partial pressure calculating part that calculates an interference gas partial pressure as a partial pressure of the interference gas.Type: GrantFiled: April 15, 2020Date of Patent: November 8, 2022Assignee: HORIBA STEC, CO., LTD.Inventors: Toru Shimizu, Yuhei Sakaguchi, Masakazu Minami
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Publication number: 20220307977Abstract: In order to provide an absorbance analysis apparatus for DCR gas that can measure a concentration of a DCR gas by separating absorbance of the DCR gas alone even in a mixed gas consisting of the DCR gas and CO gas whose absorption spectrum overlaps each other, the absorbance analysis apparatus for DCR gas comprises a DCR filter 31 that is configured to transmit a light in a first wavenumber domain including an absorbance peak of the DCR gas, a CO filter 32 that is configured to transmit a light in a second wavenumber domain that is different from the first wavenumber domain, and a DCR gas volume calculator 4 that is configured to calculate volume of the DCR gas based on a first absorbance measured by the light transmitted through the DCR filter 31 and a second absorbance measured by the light transmitted through the CO filter 32.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 15, 2022Publication date: September 29, 2022Applicants: Tokyo Electron Limited, HORIBA STEC, Co., Ltd.Inventors: Yuichi FURUYA, Masayuki TANAKA, Yuhei SAKAGUCHI, Masakazu MINAMI, Toru SHIMIZU
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Patent number: 11365480Abstract: A concentration control apparatus capable of appropriately making a zero adjustment of a concentration measurement mechanism without interrupting a semiconductor manufacturing process includes: a control valve that controls gas flowing through a lead-out flow path; a concentration measurement mechanism that measures the concentration of source gas contained in gas flowing through the lead-out flow path; a concentration controller that controls the control valve so that the deviation between measured concentration measured by the concentration measurement mechanism and preset set concentration decreases; a judgement time point determination part that determines a judgement time point that is the time point when the gas present in a measurement part where the concentration measurement mechanism performs the concentration measurement has been replaced with other gas; and a zero adjustment part that makes a zero adjustment of the concentration measurement mechanism at or after the judgement time point.Type: GrantFiled: January 22, 2020Date of Patent: June 21, 2022Assignee: HORIBA STEC, CO., LTD.Inventors: Toru Shimizu, Masakazu Minami
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Patent number: 11226235Abstract: An absorption spectroscopic system is provided with a detector that detects an intensity of light transmitted through a gas, a total pressure sensor that measures a total pressure of the gas, an interference gas partial pressure-absorbance relationship storage unit that stores interference gas partial pressure-absorbance relationship data, an interference gas partial pressure estimation unit that estimates the partial pressure of the interference gas based on the total pressure measured by the total pressure sensor, an interference gas absorbance conversion unit that converts an estimated partial pressure of the interference gas estimated by the interference gas partial pressure estimation unit into an absorbance of the interference gas based on the interference gas partial pressure-absorbance relationship data, and a target gas absorbance calculation unit that calculates an absorbance of the target gas based on output values from the detector and on the absorbance of the interference gas.Type: GrantFiled: April 28, 2020Date of Patent: January 18, 2022Assignee: HORIBA STEC, CO., LTD.Inventors: Toru Shimizu, Yuhei Sakaguchi, Masakazu Minami
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Patent number: 10927462Abstract: The present invention provides a gas control system which introduces carrier gas into a tank containing a material and leads out material gas generated by vaporization of the material from the tank together with the carrier gas, the gas control system being provided with: a flow rate control unit that is configure to control the flow rate of the material gas led out from the tank by adjusting the flow rate of the carrier gas introduced into the tank; and a control limit detection unit that is configured to detect a control limit state and output detection of the control limit state, the control limit state is a state that the adjustment of the flow rate of the carrier gas performed by the flow rate control unit cannot secure the flow rate control of the material gas at a predetermined performance level.Type: GrantFiled: July 26, 2017Date of Patent: February 23, 2021Assignee: HORIBA STEC, CO., LTD.Inventors: Hiroshi Nishizato, Masakazu Minami, Yuhei Sakaguchi
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Publication number: 20200355551Abstract: An absorption spectroscopic system is provided with a detector that detects an intensity of light transmitted through a gas, a total pressure sensor that measures a total pressure of the gas, an interference gas partial pressure-absorbance relationship storage unit that stores interference gas partial pressure-absorbance relationship data, an interference gas partial pressure estimation unit that estimates the partial pressure of the interference gas based on the total pressure measured by the total pressure sensor, an interference gas absorbance conversion unit that converts an estimated partial pressure of the interference gas estimated by the interference gas partial pressure estimation unit into an absorbance of the interference gas based on the interference gas partial pressure-absorbance relationship data, and a target gas absorbance calculation unit that calculates an absorbance of the target gas based on output values from the detector and on the absorbance of the interference gas.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 28, 2020Publication date: November 12, 2020Applicant: HORIBA STEC, Co., Ltd.Inventors: Toru SHIMIZU, Yuhei SAKAGUCHI, Masakazu MINAMI
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Publication number: 20200340918Abstract: In order to make it possible to conduct a zero calibration even though an interference gas exists in a measurement area of a detector, a light absorbance analysis apparatus includes a detector that detects an intensity of light that transmits a gas, a total pressure sensor that measures a total pressure of the gas, an absorbance calculating part that calculates an absorbance based on an output value of the detector and a previously set zero reference value, a partial pressure—absorbance relation storing part that stores a partial pressure—absorbance relational data that indicates a relationship between a partial pressure of an interference gas that exists in a measurement area of the detector and an absorbance calculated by the absorbance calculating part, and a partial pressure calculating part that calculates an interference gas partial pressure as a partial pressure of the interference gas.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 15, 2020Publication date: October 29, 2020Applicant: HORIBA STEC, Co., Ltd.Inventors: Toru SHIMIZU, Yuhei SAKAGUCHI, Masakazu MINAMI
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Publication number: 20200294820Abstract: In order to provide a concentration control apparatus that, without adding any new sensors or the like, makes it possible to accurately estimate a quantity of source consumed inside a vaporization tank, and to perform highly accurate concentration control in accordance with the remaining quantity of source, there is provided a concentration control apparatus that, in a vaporizer that is equipped with at least a vaporization tank containing a liquid or solid source, a carrier gas supply path that supplies a carrier gas to the vaporization tank, and a source gas extraction path along which flows a source gas which is created by vaporizing the source and is then extracted from the vaporization tank, controls a concentration of the source gas and includes a concentration monitor that is provided on the source gas extraction path, and outputs output signals in accordance with a concentration of the source gas.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 3, 2020Publication date: September 17, 2020Applicant: HORIBA STEC, Co., Ltd.Inventors: Toru SHIMIZU, Masakazu MINAMI
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Publication number: 20200255944Abstract: In order to inhibit overshoot in the concentration of a source gas immediately after a gas supply period starts, there is provided a vaporization device that is equipped with a vaporization tank that holds a liquid or a solid source, a carrier gas supply path that supplies carrier gas to the vaporization tank, a source gas extraction path along which flows a source gas which is obtained by vaporizing the source and which is extracted from the vaporization tank, a concentration monitor that is provided on the source gas extraction path, and a concentration control mechanism that is provided with a fluid controller which controls a concentration of the source gas extracted from the source gas extraction path. This vaporization device alternates between supplying the source gas and stopping the supply of the source gas.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 31, 2020Publication date: August 13, 2020Applicant: HORIBA STEC, Co., Ltd.Inventors: Toru SHIMIZU, Masakazu MINAMI
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Publication number: 20200240015Abstract: A concentration control apparatus capable of appropriately making a zero adjustment of a concentration measurement mechanism without interrupting a semiconductor manufacturing process includes: a control valve that controls gas flowing through a lead-out flow path; a concentration measurement mechanism that measures the concentration of source gas contained in gas flowing through the lead-out flow path; a concentration controller that controls the control valve so that the deviation between measured concentration measured by the concentration measurement mechanism and preset set concentration decreases; a judgement time point determination part that determines a judgement time point that is the time point when the gas present in a measurement part where the concentration measurement mechanism performs the concentration measurement has been replaced with other gas; and a zero adjustment part that makes a zero adjustment of the concentration measurement mechanism at or after the judgement time point.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 22, 2020Publication date: July 30, 2020Applicant: HORIBA STEC, Co., Ltd.Inventors: Toru SHIMIZU, Masakazu MINAMI
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Patent number: 10718050Abstract: Provided is a concentration control apparatus that, without reducing maintainability, can shorten piping to improve responsiveness. The concentration control apparatus is one adapted to introduce carrier gas into a storage tank storing a material, and control the concentration of material gas that is led out of the storage tank as mixed gas with the carrier gas and results from vaporization of the material. Also, the concentration control apparatus includes: a first unit that controls the flow rate of the carrier gas to be introduced into the storage tank; and a second unit that detects the concentration of the material gas led out of the storage tank.Type: GrantFiled: September 18, 2018Date of Patent: July 21, 2020Assignee: HORIBA STEC, CO., LTDInventors: Toru Shimizu, Masakazu Minami
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Patent number: 10655220Abstract: The present invention makes it easy to control the amount of material gas led out of a tank. Accordingly, carrier gas is introduced into a tank containing a material and together with the carrier gas, from the tank, material gas produced by vaporization of the material is led out. A control part controls the flow rate of the carrier gas so that a concentration index value obtained by measuring mixed gas led out of the tank and indicating the concentration of the material gas in the mixed gas comes close to a predetermined target concentration index value. In addition, the control part controls the flow rate of the carrier gas to change at a predetermined change rate, and then controls the flow rate of the carrier gas on the basis of the deviation between the concentration index value and the target concentration index value.Type: GrantFiled: March 5, 2018Date of Patent: May 19, 2020Assignee: HORIBA STEC, Co., Ltd.Inventors: Yuhei Sakaguchi, Toru Shimizu, Masakazu Minami, Daisuke Hayashi