This work presents an implementation of actively controlled exhaust fans on a multi-chamber single-wafer wet-processing platform and quantifies their impact on exhaust reproducibility at the equipment level. Closed-loop control using differential pressure sensors maintains recipe-defined setpoints across all chambers and process levels, eliminating chamber-to-chamber crosstalk and facility-induced fluctuations.

This approach transforms exhaust from a variable disturbance into a deterministic process boundary condition. Chamber-dedicated exhaust fan control enables precise air balance management between different process steps, supporting process-specific pressure profiles while optimizing facility exhaust requirements. In synergy with active exhaust control, chamber-dedicated Fan Filter Units (FFUs) gradually adjust fan speed to provide the required positive pressure and laminar airflow during processing, while reducing speed during idle equipment conditions to match optimized exhaust rates and maintained precise air balance.

Although this study does not yet include process performance data, it provides technical considerations for the safe extraction of chemical vapors during wet processing using an active exhaust and filter-fan control strategy, as well as quantitative pressure data that serve as prerequisites for future work in rigorously linking exhaust behavior with process performance and yield.