CN111774368A

CN111774368A - Cleaning equipment and cleaning method

Info

Publication number: CN111774368A
Application number: CN201910265385.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 林凤雏
Original assignee: SiEn Qingdao Integrated Circuits Co Ltd
Current assignee: SiEn Qingdao Integrated Circuits Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-04-03
Filing date: 2019-04-03
Publication date: 2020-10-16

Abstract

The invention provides a cleaning device and a cleaning method, wherein the cleaning device comprises a cleaning part and a cleaning part, wherein the cleaning part comprises a plurality of solution pools, the plurality of solution pools comprise at least two cleaning reagent storage pools and a cleaning pool for receiving a cleaning reagent in the cleaning reagent storage pool and cleaning an object to be cleaned, and the cleaning reagent storage pools are used for storing the cleaning reagent for removing different impurities on the object to be cleaned; the drying part is provided with a drying gas channel, and is connected with an external drying gas source so as to release drying gas through the drying gas channel to dry the cleaned object to be cleaned; at least one robotic arm. According to the invention, the cleaning reagent is circularly pumped between the cleaning reagent storage tank and the first cleaning tank, and the corresponding cleaning reagent can be pumped into the first cleaning tank aiming at the objects to be cleaned with different pollutants. The cleaning device realizes that objects to be cleaned with different pollutants are cleaned in the same equipment without frequently replacing cleaning reagents.

Description

Cleaning equipment and cleaning method

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of semiconductor device preparation, in particular to the field of cleaning of wafers and related equipment, and more particularly relates to cleaning equipment and a cleaning method.

Background

In integrated circuits, the most fundamental and important is the preparation and testing of wafers. In the process of preparing the wafer, different thin film materials need to be grown on the surface of the wafer according to actual needs, and a furnace tube for growing the thin film on the surface of the wafer is used at the moment. During the film growth process, the furnace tube inevitably adheres to the film material, so the furnace tube must be cleaned.

In addition, in the current wafer reliability test, the wafer measurement machine can perform daily particle size detection, so as to monitor the number of particles in the machine, and determine that excessive defects are not added to the wafer in the test process. These daily particle size measurements are usually performed with a pseudo wafer. Particle contamination often occurs on the surface of the pseudo wafer due to environmental or equipment influences, and the pseudo wafer to be subjected to particle size detection must be cleaned.

The furnace tube and the pseudo wafer are usually cleaned by a wet cleaning method, and the wet cleaning method usually comprises the following steps: firstly, cleaning the surface of a wafer by using chemical reagents such as acid liquor and the like; and then deionized water (DI) is used for cleaning the surface of the wafer. Different chemical reagents are needed for different pollutants on the surface of the furnace tube or the pseudo wafer.

Therefore, for different pollutants, different cleaning devices are usually adopted in the prior art to clean the pseudo wafer behind the furnace tube, or the same cleaning device is adopted, but different chemical reagents need to be replaced according to different pollutants. This results in increased production costs due to increased cleaning equipment or frequent replacement of chemical reagents.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the defects in the cleaning aspect of the furnace tube or the pseudo wafer in the prior art, the invention provides the cleaning equipment and the cleaning method, and the same cleaning equipment is adopted to clean the furnace tube or the pseudo wafer with different pollutants, so that the utilization rate of a machine table is improved, and the cleaning cost is reduced.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning apparatus comprising:

the cleaning part comprises a plurality of solution pools and a cleaning part, wherein the solution pools comprise at least two cleaning reagent storage pools and a cleaning pool for receiving a cleaning reagent in the cleaning reagent storage pool and cleaning an object to be cleaned, and the at least two cleaning reagent storage pools are used for respectively storing the cleaning reagent for removing different impurities on the object to be cleaned;

the drying part is arranged above the cleaning part and forms a chamber with an opening at one side, the chamber is provided with a drying gas channel, and the drying part is connected with an external drying gas source so as to release drying gas through the drying gas channel to dry the cleaned object to be cleaned;

at least one robot arm disposed at an upper portion of the chamber, the robot arm being movable in a first direction and a second direction, the first direction being perpendicular to the second direction, and each robot arm being independently movable.

Optionally, the cleaning pool comprises a first cleaning pool and a second cleaning pool, the first cleaning pool cleans the object to be cleaned with the cleaning agent, and the second cleaning pool cleans the object to be cleaned, which is cleaned with the cleaning agent in the first cleaning pool, with the deionized water.

Optionally, the dry gas channel includes a first dry gas channel disposed at the top of the chamber and a second dry gas channel disposed on a side wall of at least one side of the chamber, and a plurality of through holes are disposed on the first dry gas channel and the second dry gas channel, and release the dry gas;

wherein the first dry gas channel is movable in a third direction.

Optionally, the cleaning reagent storage pool is a sealed structure, and the cleaning pool has a door structure on a side facing the drying part.

Optionally, a pumping device is arranged between at least two of the cleaning reagent storage pools and the first cleaning pool, when an object to be cleaned needs to be cleaned, the pumping device pumps a cleaning reagent required for cleaning the object to be cleaned to the first cleaning pool, and when the object to be cleaned is cleaned in the first cleaning pool, the pumping device pumps the cleaning reagent back to the cleaning reagent storage pool.

Optionally, a rolling device is arranged at the bottom of the cleaning pool, and the rolling device rotates in the cleaning pool to roll the object to be cleaned.

Optionally, the surface of the rolling means has protrusions comprising cylindrical protrusions and/or spherical protrusions.

Optionally, a heating device is arranged in the first cleaning tank, and the heating device heats the cleaning reagent as required.

Optionally, a filtering system is arranged in the first cleaning tank, and the filtering system is located at the bottom of the first cleaning tank.

Optionally, an overflow area for a cleaning reagent formed by an overflow plate is arranged on one side of the first cleaning tank, the overflow area is communicated with the filtering system, and the cleaning reagent filtered by the filtering system is pumped back to the first cleaning tank.

Optionally, the object to be cleaned includes at least one of a dummy wafer, a wafer, or a furnace tube for thin film growth on the surface of the wafer.

Optionally, the cleaning apparatus further comprises: the frame box is used for accommodating and fixing at least one pseudo wafer or wafer to be cleaned, when the pseudo wafer or the wafer is cleaned, the frame box in which at least one pseudo wafer or wafer is placed on the mechanical arm, and the frame box and the pseudo wafer or the wafer placed in the frame box are immersed into the cleaning pool by the mechanical arm.

Optionally, the cleaning device further comprises a frame box support frame for placing a plurality of frame boxes, when the dummy wafer or the wafer is cleaned, the frame box support frame on which at least one frame box is placed on the robot arm, and the frame box support frame and the frame box placed therein are immersed in the cleaning pool by the robot arm.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning method comprising:

pumping a cleaning reagent required for cleaning an object to be cleaned from a cleaning reagent storage pool of the cleaning equipment to a first cleaning pool of the cleaning equipment;

immersing the object to be cleaned in the first cleaning tank for cleaning with a cleaning reagent;

immersing the object to be cleaned which is cleaned in the first cleaning pool into a second cleaning pool of the cleaning equipment, and cleaning with deionized water;

lifting the cleaned object to be cleaned to a drying part above the first cleaning pool, drying the object to be cleaned, and recovering the dried object to be cleaned;

the cleaning equipment comprises at least two cleaning reagent storage pools for storing different cleaning reagents respectively.

Optionally, the object to be cleaned includes at least one of a dummy wafer, a wafer, and a furnace tube for thin film growth on the surface of the wafer.

Optionally, before the object to be washed is immersed in the first washing tank for washing with the washing reagent, a door structure for opening a side of the first washing tank facing the drying part is further included.

Optionally, the drying the object to be cleaned includes introducing a drying gas into the top and/or at least one side wall of the drying part to dry the object to be cleaned.

Optionally, the drying gas comprises N₂。

Optionally, the method further comprises: and after the objects to be cleaned are cleaned, pumping the cleaning reagent in the first cleaning pool back to the cleaning reagent storage pool.

Optionally, the furnace tube is rolled while being cleaned.

Optionally, immersing the object to be washed in the first washing tank for washing with the washing reagent further comprises heating the washing reagent.

Optionally, immersing the object to be cleaned in the first cleaning tank for cleaning with the cleaning reagent further comprises filtering the cleaning reagent in the first cleaning tank, and recycling the filtered cleaning reagent in the first cleaning tank.

Optionally, when the dummy wafer or the wafer is cleaned, the method further includes placing the dummy wafer or the wafer to be cleaned in a wafer frame box. Optionally, the method further comprises placing a plurality of the wafer frame boxes on a frame box support frame.

As described above, the cleaning apparatus and the cleaning method of the present invention have the following technical effects:

the cleaning equipment is provided with a plurality of cleaning reagent storage pools for storing different cleaning reagents, and a pumping device is arranged between the cleaning reagent storage pools and the first cleaning pool, so that the circulating pumping of the cleaning reagents between the cleaning reagent storage pools and the first cleaning pool can be realized, and the corresponding cleaning reagents can be pumped into the first cleaning pool aiming at the objects to be cleaned with different pollutants. The cleaning device realizes that objects to be cleaned with different pollutants are cleaned in the same equipment without frequently replacing cleaning reagents.

In addition, the cleaning reagent after being cleaned can be pumped back to the cleaning reagent storage pool from the first cleaning pool, so that the cyclic utilization is realized until the impurity content is not suitable for cleaning, and the cleaning reagent is replaced, thereby further reducing the cleaning cost.

The cleaning device is also provided with a drying part, after the objects to be cleaned are cleaned, the objects to be cleaned are directly lifted by the mechanical arm for drying, and different drying modes can be adopted for different objects to be cleaned, such as a furnace tube and a pseudo wafer, for example, drying gas can be simultaneously supplied from the top and the side for drying, or drying gas can be supplied from the top for drying. Therefore, the drying of the object to be cleaned is more targeted, and the production of products is reduced.

Still be provided with filter equipment in first washing pond, this filter equipment filters the washing reagent in first washing pond and circulates, not only can improve abluent efficiency and quality from this, can also increase the cyclic utilization number of times of washing reagent, obviously reduces the washing cost.

The invention can control and finish various operations and actions of various parts of the cleaning equipment through the control system, realizes an automatic cleaning process, improves the safety of the operation and saves manpower and material resources.

Drawings

The features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, which are illustrative and not to be construed as limiting the invention in any way, and in which:

fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a cleaning apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic bottom view of the top panel of the drying section of the cleaning apparatus shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic top view of a cleaning section in the cleaning apparatus according to the second embodiment, in which the gate structure above the first cleaning tank and the second cleaning tank is omitted.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic front cross-sectional view of the first washing tank in the washing apparatus provided for the third embodiment, showing the first washing tank and its filtration system.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a cleaning method according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of cleaning a furnace used for growing a thin film on a wafer surface according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating the drying of the furnace tube described in fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a wafer frame box for cleaning a dummy wafer according to the fifth embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural view of a wafer frame cassette support frame for supporting the wafer frame cassette shown in fig. 7.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the structure of the wafer frame cassette holder holding the dummy wafer to be cleaned.

Reference numerals

10 cleaning device

101 cleaning part

102 drying section

1021 top panel of chamber of drying part

101-1 cleaning reagent storage pool

101-11 first storage pool

101-12 second storage pool

101-2 cleaning pool

101-21 first cleaning pool

101-22 second cleaning pool

103 mechanical arm

104 dry gas panel

105 first sliding rail

106 dry gas channel

1061 second sliding rail

107 dry gas through hole

108 rolling device

1081 projection

109 heater

110 filtration system

Cleaning part of 101-210 first cleaning pool

101-211 inner side wall of first cleaning pool

Outer side tank wall of 101-212 first cleaning tank

111 overflow area for cleaning agent between the outer and inner tank walls of the first cleaning tank

112 liquid inlet pipe

113 filtration device

114 liquid return pipe

115 furnace tube for wafer surface film growth

116 frame box for placing dummy wafers

117 frame box support frame

Bottom support bar of 117-1 frame box support frame

118 pseudo wafer to be cleaned

119 pumping device

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, but not all, embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the description, directional terms such as "upper and lower", "left and right", "front and back", and variations thereof, should be construed to explain specific embodiments of the description and should not be construed as limiting the description or the claims.

Example one

The present embodiment provides a cleaning apparatus, as shown in fig. 1, the cleaning apparatus 10 including: a cleaning section 101, a drying section 102 disposed above the cleaning section 101, and a plurality of robot arms 103 disposed in a chamber of the drying section.

The cleaning part 101 includes a plurality of solution tanks including at least two cleaning reagent storage tanks 101-1 and a cleaning tank 101-2 that receives a cleaning reagent and cleans an object to be cleaned. In this embodiment, as illustrated in fig. 1, the solution reservoir includes two washing reagent storage reservoirs: a first cleaning reagent storage tank 101-11 and a second cleaning reagent storage tank 101-12. The first cleaning reagent storage tank 101-11 and the second cleaning reagent storage tank 101-12 respectively store different cleaning reagents for cleaning different pollutants. For example, in the preferred embodiment of this embodiment, the first cleaning reagent reservoir 101-11 stores HF acid of high concentration for etching and cleaning SiN and oxide films, and the second cleaning reagent reservoir 101-12 stores HF acid and HNO for etching and cleaning polysilicon₃The mixed acid solution of (1).

In the preferred embodiment of the present embodiment, in order to ensure the stability of the index such as the concentration of the washing reagent in the washing reagent storage tank 101-1, the washing reagent storage tank 101-1 is designed as a sealed structure and is connected to an external washing reagent replacement system. So that a new cleaning reagent is replaced when the cleaning reagent in the cleaning reagent reservoir 101-1 does not meet the standard for the cleaning reagent.

Also as shown in fig. 1, the cleaning bath 101-2 in this embodiment includes two cleaning baths: the first cleaning pool 101-21 is used for receiving the cleaning reagent pumped from the cleaning reagent storage pool and cleaning the object to be cleaned placed in the first cleaning pool 101-21 by using the cleaning reagent. The second cleaning pool 101-22 is used for storing deionized water and cleaning the objects to be cleaned which are cleaned in the first cleaning pool 101-21 by the deionized water. A pumping device is arranged between the first cleaning pool 101-21 and the cleaning reagent storage pool 101-1, when an object to be cleaned needs to be cleaned, the pumping device pumps a cleaning reagent from the corresponding cleaning reagent storage pool 101-11 or 101-12 to the first cleaning pool 101-21, and after the first cleaning pool 101-21 finishes cleaning the object to be cleaned, the pumping device pumps the cleaning reagent back to the corresponding cleaning reagent storage pool 101-11 or 101-12. After the second cleaning tank 101-22 finishes cleaning the object to be cleaned with deionized water, the second cleaning tank is replaced with new deionized water to ensure the cleaning quality of the object to be cleaned.

In the preferred embodiment of this embodiment, for safety and quality assurance of the cleaning agent, the cleaning tank 101-2 is designed to be provided with a door structure toward the drying chamber, i.e., above the cleaning tank 101-2 shown in fig. 1, and the door structure is closed when the object to be cleaned is not being cleaned, and when the object to be cleaned needs to be cleaned, the door structure above the cleaning tank 101-2 is first opened and then the object to be cleaned is put in.

Still referring to fig. 1, the drying part 102 is disposed above the washing part 101 and forms a chamber with one side opened, for example, in the preferred embodiment of the present embodiment, a chamber with a front opened as shown in fig. 1. The chamber is provided with a dry gas passage, and the drying part 102 is connected to an external dry gas source (not shown) to dry the washed object by releasing dry gas through the dry gas passage. In the preferred embodiment of the present embodiment, a dry gas channel is disposed on the top and at least one side wall of the chamber (e.g., the left side wall, the right side wall and/or the rear side wall of the chamber with a front opening), and in the more preferred embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, a second dry gas channel is disposed on the left side wall of the chamber of the drying part 102, and the second dry gas channel is formed as a dry gas panel 104, and the dry gas panel 104 may also be disposed on the right side wall and/or the rear side wall (not shown). The dry gas panel 104 is uniformly provided with a plurality of through holes 107, and the dry gas is discharged through the through holes 107.

Referring now to fig. 2, a schematic bottom view of the top panel of the chamber of the dryer section 102 is shown. A first dry gas channel 106 is disposed on the top panel, as shown in fig. 2, in this embodiment, two first dry gas channels 106 are disposed, and through holes 107 are uniformly distributed on a downward side (i.e., a side facing the cleaning part 101) of the first dry gas channel 106. The first dry gas channel 106 and the through hole 107 of the dry gas panel 104 may be simultaneously supplied with the dry gas or separately supplied with the dry gas. The shape and structure of the object to be cleaned to be dried can be selected according to the requirement. And the introduction amount and the wind speed of the drying gas can be adjusted according to the requirement. These adjustments may be accomplished by known automated control systems.

In addition, the first dry gas passage 106 is movably disposed on the top panel 1021. For example, as also shown in fig. 2, in the third direction of the top panel 1021, i.e., the left-right direction shown in fig. 2, a second slide rail 1061 is provided, and the first dry gas duct 106 is slidably coupled to the second slide rail 1061, whereby the movement of the first dry gas duct 106 in the third direction can be achieved. When drying the object to be cleaned, the sliding drying gas channel 106 can uniformly supply gas to the object to be cleaned, so that the drying is more uniform and faster.

Referring also to fig. 2, a plurality of first slide rails 105 are provided in a first direction of a top panel 1021 (i.e., in a front-rear direction of the apparatus shown in fig. 1), and the plurality of robot arms 103 of the cleaning apparatus 10 are connected to the top panel 1021 through the first slide rails 105, respectively. Through the first sliding track 105, the plurality of mechanical arms can slide in the first direction, so that the positions of the mechanical arms in the first direction can be adjusted, and the objects to be cleaned are placed above the corresponding cleaning pools. The robot arm 103 is configured to be movable or extendable in a second direction (i.e., in the vertical direction of the apparatus shown in fig. 1), and by moving or extending in this direction, the robot arm can immerse the objects to be washed in the corresponding washing tank and can lift the washed objects to be washed out of the corresponding washing tank. Likewise, the above-described movement or extension and retraction of the robot arm 103 is also performed by a well-known automatic control system. And multiple robotic arms may move or telescope individually.

In a preferred embodiment of this embodiment, the cleaning apparatus further includes a control system, preferably an automatic control system, and through a preset operation program, the actions of each part of the cleaning apparatus can be implemented, and the sequence of the actions of each part can be operated.

The cleaning equipment can store various cleaning reagents simultaneously, so that the cleaning of objects to be cleaned containing different pollutants by the same equipment can be realized, and the cleaning cost is greatly saved.

Example two

The present embodiment also provides a cleaning apparatus, and the same parts as those in the first embodiment are not described again, except that: in the cleaning apparatus of this embodiment, a rolling device is provided in the cleaning tank 101-2.

As shown in the top view of the cleaning part 101 in fig. 3, the bottom of the first cleaning basin 101-21 and the second cleaning part 101-22 are provided with rolling means 108, and the rolling means 108 may be designed in a cylindrical shape. The rolling device 108 is made of PFA resin, and has the characteristics of strong acid and strong alkali corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance, good radiation resistance and the like, so that the rolling device cannot be corroded and damaged by cleaning agents such as strong acid in the first cleaning tanks 101-21. When cleaning tubular objects to be cleaned, such as furnace tubes with thin films growing on the surfaces of wafers, a driving force is applied to the rolling device 108 to rotate, and the objects to be cleaned are driven to rotate due to the friction force existing when the rolling device is in contact with the objects to be cleaned, so that the cleaning efficiency of the objects to be cleaned is increased.

In a preferred embodiment of this embodiment, in order to increase the contact of the rolling means with the objects to be cleaned, the surface of the rolling means 108 is provided with protrusions 1081, which may be cylindrical or spherical-like protrusions. The protrusions can be better contacted with the objects to be cleaned, so that the friction force between the protrusions and the objects to be cleaned is increased, and the cleaning efficiency is increased.

In another preferred embodiment of this embodiment, also shown in fig. 3, a heating device 109 is provided at the bottom of the first cleaning basin 101-21. The heating device can be a heating rod, a heating resistance wire and other common heating devices. The heating device 109 may be activated to heat the cleaning reagent as needed, thereby improving the removal of the contaminants by etching and improving the cleaning efficiency.

EXAMPLE III

The present embodiment also provides a cleaning apparatus, and the same parts as those in the first and second embodiments are not described again, except that: in the cleaning apparatus of this embodiment, a filtration system is provided in the first cleaning tank 101-21. The filtering system filters the cleaning reagent in the first cleaning pool 101-21, and the filtered cleaning reagent flows back to the first cleaning pool 101-21, so that the cleaning reagent can be recycled in the first cleaning pool 101-21.

The filter system may be any filter system capable of performing the above-mentioned functions, and the filter system may be integrated with the first cleaning tank, or may be disposed outside the first cleaning tank, for example, below the first cleaning tank.

In this embodiment, the filtering system disposed below the first cleaning pools 101-21 is taken as an example to illustrate the filtering and recycling processes of the cleaning reagent in the first cleaning pools. When the filtration system is arranged below the first washing tank, an overflow area for the washing reagent is formed between the first washing tank and the filtration system in order to temporarily store the washing reagent during filtration and to buffer the washing reagent. The overflow area may be formed at one or both ends of the first washing tank or around the first washing tank. In a preferred embodiment of this embodiment, an overflow area is formed around the first washing tank.

As shown in the front cross-sectional view of the first cleaning bath 101-21 of fig. 4, the filter system 110 is disposed below the first cleaning bath 101-21. The first cleaning pool 101-21 is configured to have a double-layer side wall, as shown in fig. 4, the inner side pool wall 101-211 and the outer side pool wall 101-212, and the cleaning portion 101-210 of the first cleaning pool 101-21 is formed by the inner side pool wall 101-211 and is used for storing a cleaning reagent and cleaning an object to be cleaned. And the inner side pool walls 101 and 211 are lower than the outer side pool walls 101 and 212, and the clearance between the inner side pool walls 101 and 211 and the outer side pool walls 101 and 212 forms an overflow area 111 for cleaning reagent. A liquid inlet pipe 112 is disposed at one side of the overflow area 111, for example, the bottom of the right side shown in fig. 4, the end of the liquid inlet pipe 112 is connected to a pumping device 119, the pumping device 119 is connected to a filtering device 113, the outlet side of the filtering device is connected to a liquid return pipe 114, and the liquid return pipe 114 passes through the outer tank wall 101 and 212 and is communicated to the bottom of the cleaning part 101 and 210.

When an object to be cleaned is cleaned, the cleaning reagent is pumped from the corresponding cleaning reagent storage pool 101-1 to the cleaning part 101-210 of the first cleaning pool 101-21, and the liquid level of the cleaning reagent in the cleaning part 101-210 is higher than the inner side pool wall 101-211, at this time, the cleaning reagent in the cleaning part 101-210 overflows into the overflow area 111 above the inner side pool wall 101-211, and is temporarily stored in the overflow area 111. In the cleaning process, the pumping device 119 of the filtering system 110 is turned on, the cleaning reagent in the overflow region 111 is pumped to the filtering region 113 through the liquid inlet pipe 112, after the large-particle pollutants and the like in the overflow region are filtered out through the filtering region 113, the cleaning reagent flows back to the cleaning part 101 and 210 of the first cleaning tank 101-21 through the liquid return pipe 114, and the object to be cleaned is continuously cleaned. The filtering system 110 can work continuously in the cleaning process, so that the cleaning reagent circulates between the cleaning part 101-210 of the first cleaning tank 101-21 and the filtering system 110, the continuous filtration of the cleaning reagent is realized, the concentration of the particle pollutants in the cleaning reagent is reduced, and the cleaning efficiency of the object to be cleaned, especially the object to be cleaned such as a pseudo wafer, can be improved. Meanwhile, the quality of the cleaning reagent in the cleaning parts 101 and 210 of the first cleaning tanks 101-21 is ensured, so that the recovery and the reutilization of the cleaning reagent can be realized. This can significantly reduce the cleaning cost.

In addition, as shown in fig. 4, the liquid return pipe is disposed at the bottom of the cleaning portion 101-210, so that when the filtered cleaning reagent flows back to the cleaning portion 101-210, an impact force is generated on the cleaning reagent therein, a certain stirring effect is exerted on the cleaning reagent, and the original cleaning reagent in the cleaning portion 101-210 and the filtered cleaning reagent are mixed, so as to achieve uniformity of the cleaning reagent to a certain extent, thereby improving cleaning quality and cleaning efficiency.

In a preferred embodiment of the present embodiment, in order to facilitate cleaning of an object to be cleaned, such as a dummy wafer or a wafer, the cleaning apparatus further includes a frame box for accommodating the dummy wafer or the wafer. The frame box may be any shape of frame box capable of receiving and holding a wafer or a pseudo wafer.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a frame box 116 of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the frame box 116 can place several dummy wafers or wafers, for example, 20-50 dummy wafers or wafers may be placed. The frame box can be made of PFA resin raw materials. The anti-corrosion material has the advantages of strong acid and strong alkali corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance, good ray radiation resistance, soft texture, no damage to a pseudo wafer and no pollution to the pseudo wafer or the wafer, and is not expanded by an organic solution with strong polarity. As is well known to those skilled in the art, the side walls of the frame box may be provided with tooth-like structures to assist in holding dummy wafers or wafers.

In a more preferred embodiment of the present invention, in order to realize cleaning of more wafers or pseudo wafers at a time, the cleaning apparatus may further include a frame box support frame capable of accommodating the frame box.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a frame box support frame 117 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which the frame box support frame 117 is a hollow frame structure formed by support rods or support columns to facilitate the immersion and leakage of the cleaning reagent. A bottom support bar 117-1 is provided in the middle of the bottom of the frame box support frame 117, and the bottom support bar 117-1 assists in supporting a plurality of frame boxes placed on the frame box support frame 117, as shown in fig. 10, for example. When pseudo wafer cleaning is carried out, the mechanical arm 103 places the frame box support frames 117 of the frame boxes 116 in which the pseudo wafers 118 to be cleaned are placed in the cleaning pool, and the frame box support frames 117, the frame boxes 116 and the pseudo wafers 118 are lifted after cleaning.

In another preferred embodiment of this embodiment, in order to realize cleaning more wafers or pseudo wafers at a time, the frame box containing the pseudo wafers or wafers is configured to include a plurality of frames, each frame can be used for placing a plurality of wafers or pseudo wafers, and a tooth-like structure can be disposed on a sidewall of each frame to assist in fixing the pseudo wafers or wafers.

Example four

The embodiment provides a cleaning method, and the cleaning method adopts the cleaning equipment described in the first embodiment, the second embodiment or the third embodiment. As shown in fig. 5, the method comprises the steps of:

pumping a cleaning reagent required for cleaning an object to be cleaned to a first cleaning pool;

immersing the objects to be cleaned which are cleaned in the first cleaning pool into a second cleaning pool, and cleaning with deionized water;

lifting the cleaned object to be cleaned to a drying chamber above the first cleaning pool, and drying the object to be cleaned;

wherein different cleaning reagents are stored in different cleaning reagent storage pools.

In this embodiment, the object to be cleaned is a furnace tube 115 for growing a thin film on the surface of the wafer. The corresponding cleaning reagents are selected according to the type of contaminants adhered to the inner and outer surfaces of the furnace tube 115. For example if the furnace tube 115 has SiN and/or oxide films adhered to the inner and outer surfaces,high concentration HF acid is selected, and HF acid and HNO are selected if polysilicon is adhered to the inner and outer surfaces of the furnace tube 115₃The mixed acid solution of (1). The required cleaning reagent is pumped from the corresponding cleaning reagent storage tank to the first cleaning tank in preparation for cleaning of the furnace tubes 115. In order to improve the cleaning effect and the cleaning efficiency, the cleaning reagent in the first cleaning pool can be heated according to requirements.

Then, as shown in fig. 6, the robot arm 103 grips the furnace tube 115 to be cleaned and places the furnace tube 115 above the first cleaning baths 101 to 21 by moving in the first direction (the front-rear direction shown in fig. 6). At this time, the automatic control system first opens the door structure above the first cleaning basin 101-21 so that the first cleaning basin receives the furnace 115. Then, the robot arm 103 moves or extends and contracts in the second direction (the up-down direction shown in fig. 6) to immerse the furnace tube 115 in the cleaning reagent in the first cleaning bath 101 to 21. At this time, in order to clean the furnace tube more completely, the rolling device at the bottom of the first cleaning tank 101-21 may be opened, and the furnace tube 115 is rolled by the rolling device, so that the outer surface and the inner wall thereof can uniformly and completely contact the cleaning agent. After the cleaning, the mechanical arm 103 extracts the furnace tube 115 from the first cleaning pool 101-21 by the movement in the first direction and the second direction, and the mechanical arm at one end of the furnace tube is adjusted to move upwards in the second direction, so that the furnace tube 115 is inclined, and the cleaning reagent in the furnace tube can be poured out conveniently. After pouring, the gate structure above the first cleaning tank 101-21 is closed, the furnace tube 115 is returned to the horizontal position, and then immersed in the second cleaning tank 101-22 for cleaning with deionized water. Before this, the door structure above the second washing basin 101-22 is first opened by the automatic control system. After the furnace tube 115 is cleaned in the second cleaning tank 101-22, the furnace tube 115 is extracted, and the mechanical arm at one end of the furnace tube is adjusted to move upward in the second direction, so that the furnace tube 115 is inclined, and the deionized water discharged from the interior of the furnace tube can be poured conveniently. The door structure above the second cleaning bath 101-22 is then closed and the deionized water in the second cleaning bath 101-22 is replaced.

The furnace tube 115 is then dried. At this time canThe furnace tubes 115 are dried by simultaneously ventilating the dry gas passages 106 in the top of the drying chamber 102 and the dry gas passages 107 in the dry gas panel 104 on the sidewall of the drying chamber. The drying gas used may be N₂And the like, without contaminating or destroying any gas in the furnace tube. By adopting the drying mode, the inner wall and the outer surface of the furnace tube can be dried simultaneously, the drying effect is good, and the drying time is short. And after drying, recovering the furnace tube.

In a preferred embodiment of this embodiment, after the furnace tubes are cleaned in the first cleaning pools 101-21, the cleaning reagents therein are pumped back to the corresponding cleaning reagent storage pools for recycling. And replacing the recovered cleaning reagent with new one until the recovered cleaning reagent can not be cleaned.

In another preferred embodiment of this embodiment, when cleaning the furnace tube with the cleaning reagent, the method further includes the step of filtering the cleaning reagent in the first cleaning tank 101-21 and circulating the filtered cleaning reagent in the first cleaning tank. For example, as described in example three, the cleaning reagent is filtered and circulated using the filtration system shown in fig. 4. Thereby, the cleaning effect and the cleaning efficiency can be improved. And the recycling times of the cleaning reagent can be increased, and the cleaning cost is saved.

In a preferred embodiment of this embodiment, the drying gas comprises N₂And the like, will not generate damaging or contaminating gases on the inner and/or outer surfaces of the furnace tube to be dried.

EXAMPLE five

The embodiment provides a cleaning method, and the method also adopts the cleaning equipment described in the first embodiment, the second embodiment or the third embodiment. The same parts as those in the fourth embodiment are not described again, but the differences are as follows:

the object to be cleaned in this embodiment is a dummy wafer for testing the granularity of the machine or the wafer after the granularity test cleans the particles on the surface of the dummy wafer, here, the dummy wafer 118 is taken as an example.

As shown in fig. 8, in the present embodiment, a frame box 116 for placing dummy wafers 118 is provided, and at least one or more wafers to be cleaned are placed in the frame box 116.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, if the number of pseudo wafers 118 to be cleaned is large and one frame box 116 cannot accommodate the pseudo wafers, the pseudo wafers 118 to be cleaned may be placed in the plurality of frame boxes 116 respectively, and then the plurality of frame boxes 116 with the pseudo wafers 118 therein may be placed in the frame box support 117 shown in fig. 9. As shown in fig. 10, a plurality of frame cassettes 116 are placed in the frame cassette support 117, and a plurality of pseudo wafers 118 are placed in each frame cassette 116.

In another preferred embodiment of this embodiment, if a larger number of dummy wafers 118 need to be cleaned and one frame box 116 cannot accommodate it, a frame box having a plurality of frames is selected, and each frame can hold a plurality of dummy wafers.

Then, in the same manner as the method described in the fourth embodiment, the pseudo wafer 118 to be cleaned is sequentially placed in the first cleaning tank 101-21 and the second cleaning tank 101-22 by the robot arm 103 to be cleaned by the cleaning reagent and the deionized water. After the cleaning, the pseudo wafer is also dried. Because the frame box 116 and the frame box support frame 117 are all hollow structures, the cleaning reagent can be leaked out at a horizontal position without inclining the frame box. And then dried. The drying may also be carried out by simultaneously ventilating the top and side walls of the drying section chamber. More preferably, in order to avoid damage to the dummy wafer caused by the side ventilation, the dummy wafer 118 is dried by selectively supplying gas only from the dry gas through hole 107 of the dry gas channel 106 at the top of the chamber. Drying and then recovering the product.

In a preferred embodiment of this embodiment, the drying gas comprises N₂And the gas which can not damage or pollute the surface of the wafer or the pseudo wafer to be dried is not generated.

In summary, the cleaning device and the cleaning method of the present invention have the following technical effects:

the cleaning equipment is provided with a plurality of cleaning reagent storage pools for storing different cleaning reagents, and a pumping device is arranged between the cleaning reagent storage pools and the first cleaning pool, so that the circulating pumping of the cleaning reagents between the cleaning reagent storage pools and the first cleaning pool can be realized, and the corresponding cleaning reagents can be pumped in the first cleaning pool aiming at objects to be cleaned with different pollutants. The cleaning device realizes that objects to be cleaned with different pollutants are cleaned in the same equipment without frequently replacing cleaning reagents.

The foregoing embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles of this invention and its efficacy, rather than limiting it, and various modifications and variations can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A cleaning apparatus, comprising:

2. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning tank comprises a first cleaning tank and a second cleaning tank, the first cleaning tank performs cleaning reagent cleaning on the object to be cleaned, and the second cleaning tank performs deionized water cleaning on the object to be cleaned in which the cleaning reagent cleaning is completed in the first cleaning tank.

3. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dry gas channel comprises a first dry gas channel disposed at a top of the chamber and a second dry gas channel disposed at a sidewall of at least one side of the chamber, and a plurality of through holes are disposed on the first dry gas channel and the second dry gas channel, and the through holes release the dry gas;

wherein the first dry gas channel is movable in a third direction.

4. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cleaning reagent storage tank is a sealed structure, and the cleaning tank has a door structure on a side facing the drying section.

5. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a pumping device is provided between at least two of the cleaning reagent storage tanks and the first cleaning tank, the pumping device pumps a cleaning reagent required for cleaning the object to be cleaned to the first cleaning tank when the object to be cleaned needs to be cleaned, and the pumping device pumps the cleaning reagent back to the cleaning reagent storage tank after the object to be cleaned is cleaned in the first cleaning tank.

6. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a rolling device is provided at a bottom of the cleaning tank, the rolling device being rotated in the cleaning tank to roll the object to be cleaned.

7. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the surface of the rolling device has protrusions comprising cylindrical protrusions and/or spherical protrusions.

8. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a heating device is provided in the first cleaning tank, the heating device heating the cleaning reagent as required.

9. The cleaning apparatus defined in claim 2, wherein a filtration system is disposed in the first cleaning tank, the filtration system being located at a bottom of the first cleaning tank.

10. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 9, wherein an overflow area of the cleaning agent separated by an overflow plate is provided at one side of the first cleaning tank, the overflow area is communicated with the filtering system, and the cleaning agent filtered by the filtering system is pumped back to the first cleaning tank.

11. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the object to be cleaned comprises at least one of a dummy wafer, a wafer, or a furnace tube for thin film growth on a surface of the wafer.

12. The cleaning apparatus defined in claim 11, further comprising: the frame box is used for accommodating and fixing at least one pseudo wafer or wafer to be cleaned, when the pseudo wafer or the wafer is cleaned, the frame box in which at least one pseudo wafer or wafer is placed on the mechanical arm, and the frame box and the pseudo wafer or the wafer placed in the frame box are immersed into the cleaning pool by the mechanical arm.

13. The cleaning apparatus as claimed in claim 12, further comprising a frame box holder for holding a plurality of frame boxes, wherein when the dummy wafer or the wafer is cleaned, the frame box holder holding at least one frame box is placed on the robot arm, and the frame box holder and the frame box held therein are immersed in the cleaning bath by the robot arm.

14. A method of cleaning, comprising the steps of:

15. The cleaning method according to claim 14, wherein the object to be cleaned comprises at least one of a dummy wafer, a wafer, and a furnace tube for thin film growth on the surface of the wafer.

16. The cleaning method according to claim 14, further comprising opening a door structure of a side of the first cleaning tank facing the drying part before immersing the object to be cleaned in the first cleaning tank for cleaning with the cleaning agent.

17. The cleaning method according to claim 14, wherein the drying the object to be cleaned comprises introducing a drying gas into the top and/or at least one side wall of the drying part to dry the object to be cleaned.

18. The cleaning method of claim 17, wherein the drying gas comprises N₂。

19. The cleaning method according to claim 14, further comprising: and after the objects to be cleaned are cleaned, pumping the cleaning reagent in the first cleaning pool back to the cleaning reagent storage pool.

20. The cleaning method of claim 15, wherein the furnace tube is rolled while cleaning the furnace tube.

21. The cleaning method according to claim 14, wherein immersing the object to be cleaned in the first cleaning bath for cleaning with the cleaning agent further comprises heating the cleaning agent.

22. The cleaning method according to claim 14, wherein immersing the object to be cleaned in the first cleaning tank for cleaning with the cleaning agent further comprises filtering the cleaning agent in the first cleaning tank, and the filtered cleaning agent is recycled in the first cleaning tank.

23. The method of claim 15, wherein the cleaning of the dummy wafer or the wafer further comprises placing the dummy wafer or the wafer to be cleaned in a wafer frame box.

24. The cleaning method of claim 23, further comprising placing a plurality of said wafer frame cassettes on a cassette support rack.