JP2000315673A - Cleaning processor and method for reusing atmospheric fluid - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning processor capable of reducing cost for obtaining clean air and miniaturizing an apparatus. SOLUTION: An atmospheric fluid in an apparatus is supplied upward of a circulating tank 19 by a fan 25. This atmospheric fluid is separated into a gas and a liquid through their collision with a gas/liquid separate plate 22. Namely, the atmospheric fluid collides with the gas/liquid separate plate 22 and is also supplied upward by the fan 25, and the liquid is dropped downward with water from a shower 23 and is stored in the circulating tank 19. Furthermore, the gas which is separated into gas and liquid rises upward, and a mist component is removed by a mist catcher 24. Moreover, the gas in which the mist component is removed is filtered by a ULPA filter 26 to turn into a clean air, which is supplied to the apparatus through recycling.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus used in a semiconductor manufacturing process and a method for reusing an atmospheric fluid.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor manufacturing process, various processes are performed on an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer.
Before and after such processing, the object to be processed is subjected to cleaning processing.

A conventional cleaning apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a conventional cleaning apparatus.

A processing tank 52 shown in FIG. 4 is adapted to store a predetermined processing liquid.

[0005] A pump / filter chamber 53 is provided below the processing tank 52. A mounting table 54 is attached to the side of the processing tank 52 and on the inner wall of the processing apparatus 51, and a support bar 5 for supporting the support arm 55 a is provided thereon.
5 are erected. The support arm 55a extends in the horizontal direction, and is provided with a grip portion 56 for gripping a case containing the object to be processed.

An exhaust duct 57 is provided above the pump / filter chamber 53. This exhaust duct 57 is provided with an opening adjustment damper 59. An air valve chamber 60 is disposed above the exhaust duct 57, and a control chamber 61 is provided above the air valve chamber 60. The opening and closing of the valve is controlled by the air valve chamber 60 and the control chamber 61 to control the supply and discharge of the processing liquid. A ULPA filter 62 is mounted above the inside of the apparatus.

[0007]

However, the clean air supplied to the cleaning apparatus having the above structure is ULP.
At present, since the air is sucked from the upper part of the A filter 62, the exhaust gas in the apparatus is only discharged and cannot be used effectively.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning apparatus and a method for reusing an atmospheric fluid which can reduce the cost for obtaining clean air.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has taken the following means.

The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus for performing a cleaning process on an object to be processed, comprising a processing tank provided with a processing container for storing a cleaning liquid for cleaning the object to be processed, and a processing tank installed in the processing tank. A cleaning apparatus comprising: an atmosphere fluid circulating unit that circulates an atmosphere fluid in the processing tank; and a filtering unit that cleans the circulated atmosphere fluid.

According to this configuration, the atmospheric fluid in the apparatus main body is circulated to clean the atmospheric fluid.
Exhaust gas in the cleaning apparatus can be recycled, energy can be saved, and costs for obtaining clean air can be reduced. Further, piping for exhausting from inside the factory to outside of the factory becomes unnecessary, and the piping space can be omitted.

In the cleaning apparatus according to the present invention, the atmospheric fluid circulating means has a gas-liquid separating means for separating gas and liquid in the atmospheric fluid, and the filtering means is provided for the gas after the gas-liquid separation. Preferably, filtering is performed.

Further, in the cleaning apparatus of the present invention,
The atmosphere fluid circulating means preferably has a mist removing means for removing mist components in the atmosphere fluid.

According to these constructions, the gas and the liquid are separated and the mist component is removed, so that clean air can be obtained efficiently.

Further, the present invention provides a process for circulating an atmosphere fluid containing a gas and a liquid in a processing tank provided with a processing vessel containing a cleaning liquid for cleaning an object to be processed, and a process for separating a gas from the atmosphere fluid. And a step of purifying the separated gas; and a step of supplying the purified gas into the processing tank.

According to this method, the atmosphere fluid in the apparatus main body is circulated to clean the atmosphere fluid.
Exhaust gas in the cleaning apparatus can be recycled, energy can be saved, and costs for obtaining clean air can be reduced. Further, piping for exhausting from inside the factory to outside of the factory becomes unnecessary, and the piping space can be omitted.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a cleaning apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The cleaning apparatus includes a loader unit 1 for carrying a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer into the apparatus, a transfer robot 2 for transporting the loaded workpiece to each processing tank, Processing tanks 5 to 9 for cleaning and etching;
Unloader unit 3 that unloads the object to be processed from inside the device
And a scrubber unit 4 for performing gas-liquid separation and the like.

In the cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the acid chemical bath 5, the washing bath 6, the final washing bath 7,
An alkaline chemical tank 8, a washing tank 6, a final washing tank 7, and a vapor drying tank 9 are provided.

Therefore, when the object to be processed is carried in from the loader unit 1, it is carried by the transfer robot to each processing tank, processed, and then carried out of the unloader unit 3 to the outside. The waste water from the final washing tank 7 is supplied to a circulation tank, and is used for removing a chemical solution atmosphere.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the structure of the processing tank of the cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. Processing device 11 shown in FIG.
Has a substantially cubic shape, and a processing tank 12 is provided at a lower central portion thereof. The processing tank 12 stores a predetermined processing liquid.

A pump 13 is provided below the processing tank 12. A mounting table 14 is mounted on the side wall of the processing tank 12 and on the inner wall of the processing apparatus 11, and a support bar 15 for supporting the support arm 15a is erected thereon. The support arm 15a extends in the horizontal direction, and is provided with a grip 16 for gripping a case containing the object to be processed.

A filter chamber 17 is provided beside the pump 13. In addition, a circulation tank 19 for receiving drainage from the final washing tank is provided above the filter chamber 17. A drainage pipe 18 is connected to the circulation tank 19 so that the drainage is discharged to the outside.

An air valve chamber 20 is disposed above the circulation tank 19, and a control chamber 21 is provided above the air valve chamber 20. The opening and closing of the valve is controlled by the air valve chamber 20 and the control chamber 21 to control the supply and drainage of the chemical liquid / pure water.

A partition wall 27 is provided vertically inside the air valve chamber 20 and the control chamber 21. A plurality of sheets are provided between the partition wall 27 and the air valve chamber 20 and the control chamber 21. The gas-liquid separation plates 22 are horizontally arranged at predetermined intervals. A shower 23 for spraying water from the circulation tank 19 onto the gas-liquid separation plate 22 is attached above the gas-liquid separation plate 22. The shower 23 has a plurality of nozzles 23a formed therein.
The water is sprayed through.

Above the shower 23, a plurality of mist catchers 24 are horizontally arranged at predetermined intervals. Above the mist catcher 24 and on the top of the processing device 11, a fan 25 for sucking air that has been processed in a chemical solution atmosphere is attached. A ULPA filter 26 is mounted above the inside of the apparatus.

Next, the configurations of the gas-liquid separation plate 22, the shower 23, the mist catcher 24, the fan 25, and the ULPA filter 26 are shown in detail in FIG.

A plurality of gas-liquid separation plates 22 are arranged between the partition 27 and the air valve chamber 20 and the control chamber 21. As shown in FIG. 3B, the gas-liquid separation plate 22 is formed by forming a plurality of holes 22a in a rectangular plate. The size of the hole 22a is, for example, about 10 mmφ. In addition, this gas-liquid separation plate 22
For example, it is composed of a resin or the like.

The shower 2 above the gas-liquid separation plate 22
Numeral 3 is such that water in the circulation tank 19 is pumped up by a pump 29 attached to the shower 23 and sprayed from a nozzle 23a. In addition, in the circulation tank 19,
Drainage is supplied from the final washing tank via a pipe 28.

Next, the operation in the processing tank of the cleaning apparatus having the above configuration will be described.

The circulation tank 19 is supplied with drainage from a final washing tank via a pipe 28. The drainage supplied to the circulation tank 19 is pumped up by a pump 29 and sprayed from a nozzle 23 a of the shower 23.

On the other hand, the atmosphere fluid in the apparatus is
Is sent above the circulation tank 19. This atmospheric fluid collides with the gas-liquid separation plate 22 and is separated into gas and liquid. That is, the atmospheric fluid collides with the gas-liquid separation plate 22, the gas is sent upward by the fan 25, and the liquid is dropped downward by the water from the shower 23 and accumulates in the circulation tank 19.

Further, the gas that has undergone gas-liquid separation rises upward, and the mist catcher 24 removes mist components. Further, the gas from which the mist component has been removed is UL
The air is filtered by the PA filter 26 to become clean air, recycled, and supplied into the apparatus.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment,
Various modifications can be made. For example, in the above embodiment, since the chemicals are an acid and an alkali, the mechanisms shown in FIG. 3A are provided independently, but depending on the chemicals, one mechanism can handle a plurality of processing tanks. It can also be done.

[0036]

As described above, the cleaning apparatus of the present invention circulates the atmosphere fluid in the apparatus body and purifies the atmosphere fluid, so that the exhaust gas in the cleaning apparatus can be recycled. In addition, energy can be saved, and the cost for obtaining clean air can be reduced. Further, piping for exhausting from inside the factory to outside of the factory becomes unnecessary, and the piping space can be omitted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an overall configuration of a cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a processing tank of the cleaning apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing a part of the scrubber unit shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a processing tank of a conventional cleaning processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Loader part, 2 ... transfer robot drive area, 3 ... Unloader part, 4 ... Scrubber part, 5 ... Acid chemical tank, 6 ... Rinse tank, 7 ... Final rinse tank, 8 ... Alkaline chemical tank, 9 ... Vapor drying tank , 11 processing apparatus, 12 processing tank, 13, 29
... Pump, 14 ... Placement table, 15 ... Support rod, 15a ... Support arm, 16 ... Grip part, 17 ... Filter chamber, 18 ... Drainage pipe, 19 ... Circulation tank, 20 ... Air valve chamber, 21
... control room, 22 ... gas-liquid separation plate, 22a ... hole, 23 ... shower, 23a ... nozzle, 24 ... mist catcher,
25: fan, 26: ULPA filter, 27: partition,
28 ... Piping.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning apparatus for performing a cleaning process on an object to be processed, comprising: a processing tank provided with a processing container containing a cleaning liquid for cleaning the object to be processed; A cleaning apparatus comprising: an atmosphere fluid circulating unit that circulates an atmosphere fluid in a processing tank; and a filtering unit that cleans the circulated atmosphere fluid. 2. The atmosphere fluid circulating means has gas-liquid separation means for separating gas and liquid in the atmosphere fluid, and the filtering means performs filtering on the gas after gas-liquid separation. The cleaning treatment apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the atmospheric fluid circulating means has mist removing means for removing mist components in the atmospheric fluid. 4. A step of circulating an atmosphere fluid containing a gas and a liquid in a processing tank provided with a processing vessel containing a cleaning liquid for cleaning an object to be processed, a step of separating a gas from the atmosphere fluid, and A method for reusing an atmospheric fluid, comprising: a step of purifying a gas that has been purged; and a step of supplying the purified gas into the processing tank.