JP2001135604A - Polishing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a polishing apparatus applicable to dry-in/dry-out system without reducing processing capability per hour and per unit of footprint, having cleaning steps or more in a cleaning process, and capable of developing clean processing of semiconductor wafer in accordance with miniaturization. SOLUTION: The polishing apparatus is provided with polishing tables 34, 35, 36, 37 with polishing surface, top rings 32, 33 for retaining a polishing object and pressing the object onto the polishing surface, three or more cleaning devices 5, 6, 22, 23 for cleaning the object after polishing process, and transfer mechanisms 20, 21 for transferring the object after polishing between three or more cleaning device 5, 6, 22, 23. The transfer mechanisms 20, 21 are changeable in the transfer route between three or more cleaning devices 5, 6, 22, 23.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a polishing apparatus for making a surface of an object to be polished such as a semiconductor wafer flat and a mirror surface, and more particularly to a polishing apparatus provided with a cleaning apparatus for cleaning after polishing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor manufacturing process, polishing is performed to make a wafer surface flat and mirror-surfaced in a semiconductor wafer manufacturing process, and a layer formed on a device is made flat and mirror-finished in a device manufacturing process. Polishing. A polishing apparatus is used in the polishing process in the semiconductor wafer manufacturing process and device manufacturing process.

A conventional polishing apparatus is a dedicated polishing apparatus for performing only polishing, and a semiconductor wafer having been subjected to polishing is placed in a movable water tank and transported to a next cleaning step. However, in this method, in the polishing step, the cleanliness of the clean room is impaired, and the transfer of the semiconductor wafer after the polishing has to be performed depends on manual transfer means. Since two types of devices were required, a large installation space was required.

Therefore, in order to clean the polishing step and reduce the installation space of the apparatus, the polishing step and the cleaning step are performed in the same apparatus, the semiconductor wafer is put into the apparatus in a dry state, and the semiconductor wafer is processed. A polishing apparatus has been developed which realizes a dry-in / dry-out method in which a wafer is discharged from the apparatus in a clean and dry state. However, a polishing apparatus employing a dry-in / dry-out method has a lower processing capacity per unit time and per unit installation area than a dedicated polishing apparatus that performs only polishing. To date, a method for solving this problem has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-59.
No. 522, which is an apparatus having excellent characteristics in many aspects as compared with a dedicated polishing apparatus that performs only polishing.

In the above-mentioned dry-in / dry-out type polishing apparatus, in order to increase the processing capacity per unit installation area, in the cleaning process after polishing is completed, two cleaning apparatuses having different cleaning methods are used.
Cleaning was performed in two stages, and the equipment was housed in a smaller footprint with minimal functionality. However, as the miniaturization of devices has progressed, there has been an increasing demand to carry out semiconductor wafers after polishing has been completed with a higher degree of cleanliness.
The number of cleaning steps in the cleaning process after polishing has been increased from two to three. The steps of these cleaning devices include a step of removing fine particles attached to the semiconductor wafer after polishing, a step of removing metal ions attached to the semiconductor wafer, and a step of drying the semiconductor wafer to a dry state. Consists of In some cases, two or more types of metal ions adhering to the semiconductor wafer are cleaned by changing the chemical solution supplied to the semiconductor wafer, and the number of cleaning steps may be four. The four-stage cleaning process may be performed by four different cleaning devices, or two of the three cleaning devices may be performed by one cleaning device.

[0006]

However, when three or more washing steps are performed by two washing apparatuses, at least one step is required.
The two-stage cleaning process is performed by one cleaning device, and accordingly, the processing capacity per unit time in one cleaning device is reduced. Further, when three or more cleaning devices are provided in a row in the polishing device, the size of the entire polishing device increases, and the processing capacity per unit installation area decreases. Either of the above measures is taken in Japanese Patent Application
The features proposed in US Pat. No. 59,522 will be impaired.

The present invention is applicable to a dry-in / dry-out type polishing apparatus, and does not impair the processing capacity per unit time and per unit installation area.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a polishing apparatus having three or more cleaning steps in a cleaning step and capable of coping with cleaning of a semiconductor wafer accompanying miniaturization.

Further, the present invention is applicable to the above-described dry-in / dry-out type polishing apparatus, and can greatly improve the processing capacity per unit time and unit area of a polishing object such as a semiconductor wafer. It is an object to provide a polishing apparatus.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a polishing table having a polishing surface, a polishing table for holding an object to be polished, and a polishing surface for the polishing object. A top ring that presses the polishing object, three or more cleaning devices for cleaning the object to be polished after polishing, and a transport mechanism for transporting the object to be polished between the three or more cleaning devices; The mechanism is characterized in that a transport route between the three or more cleaning devices can be changed. According to the present invention,
With the same equipment, the number of cleaning steps required for various polishing steps is ensured without reducing the processing capacity per unit installation area. To separate the time-consuming cleaning process into two or more cleaning devices,
By changing the transport route, the number of processed polishing objects per unit time (throughput) can be increased.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there are provided a plurality of polishing tables each having a polishing surface, a plurality of top rings for holding a polishing object and pressing the polishing object against the polishing surface; The top ring is installed at a position where it can be reached, has a plurality of portions that are located on a predetermined circumference from the rotation center and holds the polishing object, and has a function of replacing the polishing object in the plurality of portions. A rotary transporter, a pusher for transferring an object to be polished between the rotary transporter and the top ring, and a function for transferring the object to be polished between the rotary transporter and a function of inverting the object to be polished. And a reversing machine having the same. ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to shorten the time which conveys an object to be polished, such as a semiconductor wafer, to a top ring, and can increase the number of processed objects (polishing) per unit time dramatically. .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a polishing section for polishing an object to be polished, a cleaning section for cleaning an object to be polished after polishing, and a reversing machine for inverting the object to be polished before and after polishing. Wherein the polishing unit performs processing with the surface to be polished of the object to be polished facing downward, and the cleaning unit performs processing with the surface to be polished of the object to be polished facing upward. is there. According to the present invention, in all of the cleaning steps, it is possible to treat the polished surface of the polishing object after polishing in an upward state.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is a polishing table having a polishing surface, a top ring for holding a polishing object and pressing the polishing object against the polishing surface,
A plurality of cleaning devices for cleaning the object to be polished after polishing, a transport mechanism for transporting the object to be polished between the plurality of cleaning devices, and a plurality of stages of the object to be polished via the plurality of cleaning devices. And a station having a table for holding the polishing object on standby during the cleaning step.
According to the present invention, a polishing target after polishing can be made to stand by during a cleaning process, so that a plurality of cleaning processes having different cleaning process times are performed in parallel with respect to a plurality of polishing targets. be able to.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a load / unload section for supplying a polishing target to be polished and receiving a polished polishing target, a polishing section for polishing the polishing target, and a polishing section for polishing the polishing target. A cleaning unit for cleaning the object to be polished, wherein the load / unload unit, the polishing unit, and the cleaning unit are housed in a room partitioned by a partition having an opening for passing the object to be polished. It is characterized by the following. According to the present invention, since the rooms having different degrees of cleaning are separated by the partition walls, there is no possibility that the atmosphere of the contaminated room flows into another clean room and lowers the degree of cleanliness.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there are provided a plurality of polishing tables each having a polishing surface, a top ring for holding a polishing object and pressing the polishing object against the polishing surface, and a polishing object after polishing. A plurality of cleaning devices, and a transport mechanism for transporting an object to be polished, wherein the polishing surfaces of the plurality of polishing tables include a polishing surface for performing rough polishing and a polishing surface for performing final polishing. It is characterized by the following. According to the present invention, a polished surface focused on increasing the polishing rate is combined with a polished surface for finish polishing in which the polishing speed is low but the texture of the surface to be polished after polishing is finer. Thereby, the object to be polished can be efficiently polished and a good polished surface can be obtained.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a loading / unloading section for supplying a polishing target to be polished and receiving a polished polishing target, a polishing table having a polishing surface, and holding the polishing target. And a top ring for pressing the object to be polished against the polishing surface, three or more cleaning devices for cleaning the object to be polished after polishing, and a transport mechanism for conveying the object to be polished, wherein the three or more At least two of the cleaning apparatuses have the same cleaning function. According to the present invention, since at least two cleaning devices of the same cleaning module are mounted among three or more cleaning devices, a cleaning step requiring a long time is divided into two or more cleaning devices. Processing can be performed, that is, tact time can be dispersed, and the number of processed sheets per unit time (throughput) can be increased.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a polishing table having a polishing surface, a top ring for holding a polishing object and pressing the polishing object against the polishing surface, A transfer mechanism having a plurality of movable tables, a pusher for transferring the object to be polished between the table and the top ring, and a polishing apparatus capable of transferring the object to be polished between the table and polishing And a reversing machine having a function of reversing the object.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a polishing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an arrangement configuration of each part of the polishing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes four load / unload stages 2 on which a wafer cassette 1 for storing a large number of semiconductor wafers is placed. The load / unload stage 2 may have a mechanism that can move up and down. A transfer robot 4 having two hands is arranged on the traveling mechanism 3 so that each of the wafer cassettes 1 on the load / unload stage 2 can be reached.

The lower hand of the two hands in the transfer robot 4 is used only when receiving a semiconductor wafer from the wafer cassette 1, and the upper hand is used only when returning the semiconductor wafer to the wafer cassette 1. . This is an arrangement in which the clean wafer after cleaning is placed on the upper side so that the wafer is not further contaminated. The lower hand is a suction hand that sucks the wafer by vacuum.
The upper hand is a drop-down hand that holds the peripheral edge of the wafer. The suction-type hand accurately transports the wafer regardless of the displacement of the wafer in the cassette, and the drop-down hand does not collect dust unlike vacuum suction, so that the wafer can be transported while maintaining the cleanness of the back surface of the wafer. Traveling mechanism 3 of transfer robot 4
Are disposed on the opposite side of the wafer cassette 1 with respect to the axis of symmetry. Each of the washing machines 5 and 6 is arranged at a position where the hand of the transfer robot 4 can reach. Further, between the two cleaning machines 5 and 6, four semiconductor wafer mounting tables 7, 8, 9, and 10 are placed at positions where the robot 4 can reach.
Is disposed. The cleaning machines 5 and 6 have a spin-drying function of rotating the wafer at a high speed to dry the wafer.
Step washing and three-step washing can be handled without replacing modules.

The washing machines 5, 6 and the mounting tables 7, 8, 9, 1
0 is arranged, and a partition 14 is arranged to separate the cleanliness of an area A where the wafer cassette 1 and the transfer robot 4 are arranged, and a semiconductor wafer is transferred between the areas. Shutter 1 at opening of partition
1 is provided. Washing machine 5 and three mounting tables 7, 9,
A transfer robot 20 having two hands is disposed at a position where the robot can reach the washing machine 6, and a transfer robot 21 having two hands at positions that can reach the washing machine 6 and the three mounting tables 8, 9 and 10. Is arranged.

The mounting table 7 is used for transferring semiconductor wafers between the transfer robot 4 and the transfer robot 20 and has a sensor 71 for detecting the presence or absence of a semiconductor wafer. The mounting table 8 is used to transfer a semiconductor wafer between the transfer robot 4 and the transfer robot 21 and includes a semiconductor wafer presence / absence detection sensor 72. The mounting table 9 is used for transferring a semiconductor wafer from the transfer robot 21 to the transfer robot 20 and includes a sensor 73 for detecting the presence or absence of a semiconductor wafer and a rinsing nozzle 75 for preventing drying or cleaning of the semiconductor wafer. . Mounting table 10
Is used for transferring a semiconductor wafer from the transfer robot 20 to the transfer robot 21 and includes a sensor 74 for detecting the presence or absence of a semiconductor wafer and a rinsing nozzle 76 for preventing drying or cleaning of the semiconductor wafer. The mounting tables 9 and 10 are arranged in a common waterproof cover, and a shutter 77 is provided at an opening of the cover for transport. The mounting table 9 is located on the mounting table 10. By placing the cleaned wafer on the mounting table 9 and the wafer before cleaning on the mounting table 10,
Prevents pollution caused by falling rinse water. FIG.
In FIG. 7, the sensors 71, 72, 73, 74, the rinsing nozzles 75, 76, and the shutter 77 are schematically shown, and their positions and shapes are not shown accurately.

The upper hand of the transfer robot 20 and the transfer robot 21 is used to transfer the semiconductor wafer once cleaned to the washing machine or the mounting table of the wafer station 50, and the lower hand is used for cleaning once. It is used to transport semiconductor wafers that have not been polished and semiconductor wafers that have not been polished. By taking the wafer in and out of the reversing machine with the lower hand, the upper hand is not contaminated by drops of rinse water from the upper wall of the reversing machine. Transfer robot 2 so as to be adjacent to the washing machine 5
The washing machine 22 is arranged at a position where the hand 0 can reach. Further, the transfer robot 2 is positioned adjacent to the cleaning machine 6.
The washing machine 23 is arranged at a position where one hand can reach. The washing machines 5, 6, 22, and 23, the mounting tables 7, 8, 9, and 10 of the wafer station 50, and the transfer robot 2
0 and 21 are all arranged in the area B and are adjusted to a pressure lower than the pressure in the area A. The washing machine 2
Reference numerals 2 and 23 denote cleaning machines capable of cleaning both sides.

The polishing apparatus has a housing 46 surrounding each device. The housing 46 has a plurality of rooms (areas A, A) by a partition 14, a partition 15, a partition 16, a partition 24, and a partition 47. (Including region B). A polishing chamber separated from the region B by the partition wall 24 is formed, and the polishing chamber further includes a partition 4.
7, the area is divided into two areas C and D. In each of the two regions C and D, two polishing tables and one top ring for holding one semiconductor wafer and polishing while pressing the semiconductor wafer against the polishing table are arranged. . That is, the polishing tables 34 and 36 are provided in the area C, and the polishing tables 3 and 36 are provided in the area D.
5 and 37 are disposed, respectively, and a top ring 32 is disposed in the region C, and a top ring 33 is disposed in the region D. The polishing table 34 in the area C
A polishing liquid nozzle 40 for supplying a polishing liquid to the polishing table and a dresser 38 for dressing the polishing table 34 are arranged. A polishing liquid nozzle 41 for supplying a polishing liquid to the polishing table 35 in the region D and a dresser 39 for dressing the polishing table 35 are arranged. Further, a dresser 48 for dressing the polishing table 36 in the region C and a dresser 4 for dressing the polishing table 37 in the region D.
9 are arranged. The polishing tables 36 and 37
Instead, a wet type wafer film thickness measuring device may be installed. In this case, the film thickness of the wafer immediately after polishing can be measured, and the polishing of the next wafer can be controlled by using the measured value by increasing the amount of wafer scraping.

FIG. 2 shows the top ring 32 and the polishing table 3.
It is a figure which shows the relationship with 4,36. The relationship between the top ring 33 and the polishing tables 35 and 37 is the same. As shown in FIG. 2, the top ring 32 is rotated by a rotatable top ring drive shaft 91 to form the top ring head 3.
It is suspended from 1. The top ring head 31 is supported by a positionable swing shaft 92, and the top ring 32 can access the polishing tables 34 and 36. The dresser 38 is suspended from a dresser head 94 by a rotatable dresser drive shaft 93. The dresser head 94 has a positionable swing shaft 95.
The dresser 38 is movable between a standby position and a dresser position on the polishing table 34. The dresser 48 is also suspended from a dresser head 97 by a rotatable dresser drive shaft 96. The dresser head 97 has a positionable swing shaft 98.
The dresser 48 is movable between a standby position and a dresser position on the polishing table 36.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transfer robot 2 is located in an area C separated from an area B by a partition wall 24.
A reversing device 28 for reversing the semiconductor wafer to a position where the hand 0 can reach, and a reversing device 28 'for reversing the semiconductor wafer to a position where the hand of the transfer robot 21 can reach are arranged. Further, the partition wall 24 that separates the region B and the region C is provided with an opening for transferring a semiconductor wafer,
Shutters 25 and 26 dedicated to each reversing machine 28 and reversing machine 28 'are provided in the openings. The reversing machine 28
And a reversing device 28 ′ includes a chuck mechanism for chucking the semiconductor wafer, a reversing mechanism for reversing the front and back surfaces of the semiconductor wafer, and a wafer presence / absence detection sensor for confirming whether or not the semiconductor wafer is chucked by the chuck mechanism. I have. The semiconductor wafer is transferred to the reversing device 28 by the transfer robot 20, and the semiconductor wafer is transferred to the reversing device 28 'by the transfer robot 21.

Below the reversing machines 28 and 28 'and the top rings 32 and 33, a rotary transporter 27 for transferring a wafer between the cleaning chamber (area B) and the polishing chamber (areas C and D) is arranged. I have. The rotary transporter 27 is provided with stages on which wafers are mounted at four equally spaced positions, so that a plurality of wafers can be mounted at the same time. When the center of the stage of the rotary transporter 27 and the center of the wafer chucked by the inverter 28 or 28 ′ are in phase with each other, the wafers transferred to the reversing devices 28 and 28 ′ are positioned below the rotary transporter 27. The lifter 29 or 29 ′ is moved up and down to be conveyed onto the rotary transporter 27. The wafer placed on the stage of the rotary transporter 27
By changing the position of the rotary transporter 27 by 90 °, the rotary transporter 27 is transported below the top ring 32 or 33.
The top ring 32 or 33 has been swung to the position of the rotary transporter 27 in advance. When the center of the top ring 32 or 33 is in phase with the center of the wafer mounted on the rotary transporter 27, the pusher 30 or 30 'disposed below them moves up and down, so that the wafer is rotated. It is transferred from 27 to the top ring 32 or 33.

The wafers transferred to the top rings 32 and 33 are suctioned by a vacuum suction mechanism of the top ring, and the wafers are transported while being suctioned to the polishing table 34 or 35. Then, the wafer is placed on the polishing table 3
Polishing is performed on a polishing surface, such as a polishing pad or a grindstone, mounted on the surfaces 4 and 35. The above-described second polishing tables 36 and 37 are arranged at positions where the top rings 32 and 33 can reach each. As a result, the wafer is polished at the first polishing tables 34 and 35,
Polishing can be performed by the second polishing tables 36 and 37. However, depending on the type of film applied to the semiconductor wafer, the semiconductor wafer may be polished by the second polishing tables 36 and 37 and then processed by the first polishing tables 34 and 35. In this case, since the polishing surface of the second polishing table has a small diameter, a grindstone that is more expensive than the polishing pad is attached, and after rough cutting, the life of the large-diameter first polishing table is smaller than that of the grindstone. The running cost can be reduced by attaching a short polishing pad and performing final polishing. In this manner, by using the first polishing table as a polishing pad and the second polishing table as a grindstone, an inexpensive polishing table can be supplied. This is because the price of a whetstone is higher than that of a polishing pad, and increases almost in proportion to the diameter. Further, since the life of the polishing pad is shorter than that of the grinding stone, the life is longer when the polishing is performed with a light load as in the finish polishing. Further, when the diameter is large, the contact frequency can be dispersed, and the life is prolonged. Therefore, the maintenance cycle is extended, and the productivity is improved.

In this case, after the wafer is polished by the first polishing table 34, before the top ring 32 moves to the second polishing table 36, the polishing table is moved to a position where the top ring 32 is separated from the polishing table 34. The cleaning liquid is sprayed toward the wafer held by the top ring 32 by a cleaning liquid nozzle 510 installed adjacent to 34.
Thus, the wafer is once rinsed before moving to the second polishing table 36, so that contamination between the plurality of polishing tables can be prevented.

There is also a two-step polishing method in which a polishing pad IC1000 / SUBA400 manufactured by Rodel Nitta is adhered to the first polishing surface, and a polishing pad POLITEX also manufactured by Rodel Nitta is adhered to the second polishing surface. In this two-stage polishing, polishing can be sequentially performed using two large-diameter tables without using the second polishing table having a small diameter. In the above, the method of performing two-step polishing using different polishing pads has been described, but the same polishing pad or the same grindstone may be used. After polishing is completed on the first polishing surface and the second polishing surface, the dresser 3
The dressing of each polished surface is performed by 8, 39, 48 and 49. Dressing is a process for recovering a polishing surface of a polishing table from being deteriorated by polishing of a wafer, and is sometimes called conditioning, correction, or the like.

The polished wafer is returned to the reversing machines 28 and 28 'again along the same route. The wafer returned to the reversing machine is rinsed by pure water or a cleaning chemical by a rinse nozzle. Further, the wafer suction surfaces of the top rings 32 and 33 from which the wafer has been detached are cleaned with pure water or a chemical solution from a top ring cleaning nozzle, and in some cases, rinsed to prevent drying. A pusher cleaning nozzle is attached to the partition so that the pusher can be cleaned.
Further, in order to improve the yield of the wafer and the cleaning effect, the chemical solution can be rinsed while the wafer is adsorbed on the top ring, and the chemical solution can be rinsed while being held by the rotary transporter 27 above the pusher. .
Further, the lifter can be washed with a nozzle described later.

FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the rotary transporter 27, the reversing device 28 or 28 ', the lifter 29 or 29', and the pusher 30 or 30 '. As shown in FIG. 2, the rotary transporter 2
A reversing machine 28 or 28 ′ is arranged above 7, and a lifter 29 or 29 ′ and a pusher 30 or 30 ′ are arranged below the rotary transporter 27.

Next, the wafer transfer route will be described. The normal processing route of this apparatus is provided with software so that all units can be freely combined and set. For example, there are the following three methods. (1) process wafers in one wafer cassette on one side of two polishing chambers (area C and area D);
Method used for processing wafers in another wafer cassette in the other polishing chamber (2-cassette parallel operation) (2) Method in which wafers in one wafer cassette are arbitrarily distributed to two polishing chambers for processing ( (1 cassette parallel operation) (3) A method in which wafers from a wafer cassette are processed in one polishing chamber and then processed in the second polishing chamber in the second stage (series operation)

On the cleaning chamber side, wafers that have come out of the polishing chamber after being processed are processed by the following six methods. (A) Method of dispensing by two-stage washing in two rows of washing machine 22 → washing machine 5 and washing machine 23 → washing machine 6 (B) Three-stage washing in one row of washing machine 23 → washing machine 6 → washing machine 5 , Or washing machine 22 → washing machine 23 or 6
→ Method of dispensing by single-row three-stage washing of washing machine 5 (C) Two-row single-stage washing and washing machine 6 to wash with either washing machine 22 or washing machine 23 which has not been washed → washing Method of paying out by three-stage washing combining two-stage washing of one line of washing machine 5 (D) Method of paying out by four-stage washing of one line of washing machine 23 → washing machine 6 → washing machine 22 → washing machine 5 (E ) Method of dispensing by one-stage four-stage cleaning of cleaning machine 22 → cleaning machine 23 → cleaning machine 6 → cleaning machine 5 (F) Wafer after finishing first-stage polishing is cleaned by cleaning machine 2
After the cleaning in step 2, the second-stage polishing is performed again, and then the payout is performed by three-step cleaning in one row of the cleaning machine 23 → the cleaning machine 6 → the cleaning machine 5.

The above (1) to (3) and (A) to (F)
Are appropriately combined, there are the following features depending on the combination. (1-A) This combination is effective when the processes are different between the two cassettes and when a plurality of lots are paid out with high throughput. If the processes are different between the two cassettes, the two dry-in / dry-out devices are integrated into one.
Further, since this combination has the highest throughput, the two cassettes are used when more production capacity is required in the same process. (2-A) This combination is effective when processing wafers in one cassette in a short time. It is also possible to arbitrarily divide the wafers in one cassette into two types of processes. (3-A) When the cleaning time of at least one of the two-stage cleaning steps is longer than either polishing time of the two-step polishing, if the two-step cleaning step is only one row, the polishing time is increased according to the cleaning time. Processing capacity is reduced. In this case, if there are two rows of two-stage cleaning steps, the wafer after polishing is paid out without being subjected to the cleaning time. In such a case, this combination is very effective. (1-B) This combination is adopted when three or more types of cleaning steps are required in the cleaning step after polishing is completed. Also,
This combination is extremely effective when the polishing time is longer than the cleaning time, because the cleaning process performance is reduced because the cleaning process is performed in one row. (2-B) Used when only one lot is processed without processing a plurality of lots at once as in 1-B.
The same effect as that of -B can be obtained. (3-B) Similar to 1-B, when three washing steps are required, the processing is performed in this combination. (1-C) This combination has the same effect as 1-B, but if the cleaning time in the first-stage cleaning step is longer than in other wafer processing units, the first-stage cleaning By using one washing machine, the wafer can be
It is possible to alleviate traffic congestion in the stage washer and increase the processing capacity. (2-C) This combination is used for the same reason as 1-C and for the same reason as 2-B. (3-C) This combination is used for the same reason as 1-C and the same reason as for 3-B. (1, 2, 3-D, E) In addition to the use of each polishing chamber, it is used when four cleaning steps are required. (3-F) In performing the second-stage polishing, a cleaning step is performed before starting the second-stage polishing in order to prevent the first-stage polishing agent from being adhered to the wafer in the second-stage polishing. This combination is used to put and transport.

In the present invention, since two polishing units each having the polishing tables 34 and 35 are provided, maintenance of another polishing unit can be performed during operation of the polishing apparatus using at least one of the polishing units. It is possible. The cleaning section includes a plurality of cleaning machines 5, 6, which clean the object to be polished.
22 and 23, at least one of the washing machines can be used to maintain another washing machine while the polishing apparatus is operating.

FIGS. 3 to 22 are schematic process diagrams showing an example of the case where the wafer is polished by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIGS. 3 to 14 show the case where the wafer is transferred from one wafer cassette (CS1). Each process from the removal to the wafer cassette (CS1) through the polishing process and the cleaning process, and another wafer cassette (CS1).
2 illustrates each process from the removal of the wafer from 2), the polishing process, the cleaning process, and returning to the wafer cassette (CS2). FIGS. 15 to 22 show the steps from the removal of a wafer from one wafer cassette (CS1) to the return to the wafer cassette (CS1) through a polishing step and a cleaning step. 3 and 2
2, the wafer cassette 1 is CS1, CS2, CS
3, CS4, the transfer robots 4, 20, 21 are represented by RBD, RBL, RBR, respectively, and the cleaning machines 22, 2,
3, 6, and 5 are represented by CL1, CL2, CL3, and CL4,
The reversing machines 28 and 28 'are represented by TTL and TOR, the polishing tables 34 and 35 are represented by TTL and TTR, the top rings 32 and 33 are represented by TRL and TRR, and the loading table of the rotary transporter 27 is LR and LL. , And the unloading table is represented by ULR and ULL. The tables 7, 8, 9, and 10 of the wafer station 50 are represented by DSL, DSR, WS1, and WS2, respectively.

FIGS. 3 to 7 show two-cassette parallel processing of two-stage cleaning. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 7, one of the wafers is a wafer cassette (CS1) → a transfer robot (RBD) → a wafer station pedestal (DSL).
→ Transfer robot (RBL) → Reversing machine (TOL) → Loading table (LL) → Top ring (TRL) → Polishing table (TTL) → Top ring (TRL) → Unloading table (ULL) → Reversing machine (TOL) → transfer robot (RBL) → cleaning machine (CL1) → transfer robot (R
BL) → Cleaning machine (CL4) → Transfer robot (RBD) →
It passes through a path leading to the wafer cassette (CS1).

The other wafer is transferred from the wafer cassette (CS2) to the transfer robot (RBD) to the wafer station table (DSR) to the transfer robot (RBR) to the reversing machine (TOR) to the load table (LR). ) → Top ring (TRR) → Polishing table (TTR) → Top ring (TRR) → Placement table for unloading (ULR) → Reversing machine (TOR) → Transfer robot (RBR) → Cleaning machine (CL)
2) → Transfer robot (RBR) → Cleaner (CL3) → Transfer robot (RBD) → Wait cassette (CS2).

FIGS. 8 to 14 show two-cassette parallel processing of three-stage cleaning. As shown in FIG. 8 to FIG. 14, one of the wafers is placed in a wafer cassette (CS1) → a transfer robot (RBD) → a wafer station mounting table (D
SL) → transfer robot (RBL) → reversing machine (TOL) →
Stand for loading (LL) → Top ring (TRL) →
Polishing table (TTL) → Top ring (TRL) → Unloading table (ULL) → Reversing machine (TOL) → Transfer robot (RBL) → Cleaning machine (CL1) → Transfer robot (RBL) → Place wafer station Stand (WS2)
→ Transfer robot (RBR) → Cleaning machine (CL3) → Transfer robot (RBR) → Wafer station platform (WS
1) → a transfer robot (RBL) → a cleaning machine (CL4) → a transfer robot (RBD) → a wafer cassette (CS1).

The other wafer is transferred from the wafer cassette (CS2) to the transfer robot (RBD) to the wafer station pedestal (DSR) to the transfer robot (RBR) to the reversing machine (TOR) and to the loading pedestal (LR). ) → Top ring (TRR) → Polishing table (TTR) → Top ring (TRR) → Placement table for unloading (ULR) → Reversing machine (TOR) → Transfer robot (RBR) → Cleaning machine (CL)
2) → Transfer robot (RBR) → Cleaner (CL3) → Transfer robot (RBR) → Placement table of wafer station (WS1) → Transfer robot (RBL) → Cleaner (CL)
4) → Transfer robot (RBD) → Wafer cassette (CS)
Via the route to 2).

FIGS. 15 to 22 show a series of three-step cleaning. As shown in FIGS. 15 to 22, the wafer is transferred from the wafer cassette (CS1) to the transfer robot (RB).
D) → Placement of wafer station (DSL) → Transfer robot (RBL) → Reversing machine (TOL) → Placement for loading (LL) → Top ring (TRL) → Polishing table (TTL) → Top ring (TRL) → Unloading table (ULL) → reversing machine (TOL) → transfer robot (RBL) → cleaning machine (CL1) → transfer robot (RB)
L) → Placement of wafer station (WS2) → Transfer robot (RBR) → Reversing machine (TOR) → Placement for loading (LR) → Top ring (TRR) → Polishing table (TTR) → Top ring (TRR) → Unloading table (ULR) → reversing machine (TOR) → transfer robot (RBR) → cleaning machine (CL2) → transfer robot (RB)
R) → Cleaning machine (CL3) → Transfer robot (RBR) → Placement of wafer station (WS1) → Transfer robot (RBL) → Cleaner (CL4) → Transfer robot (RB)
D) → via a path leading to the wafer cassette (CS1). 3 to 22, one of the wafers is a wafer cassette (C
From S1), the other wafer is placed in the wafer cassette (CS2).
The wafer cassette (CS1, CS2) is a cassette for supplying wafers to one polishing table (TTL), and the wafer cassette (CS
3, CS4) may be a cassette for supplying wafers to the other polishing table (TTR).

Next, the configuration of each part of the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail. Loading and unloading section view 23 (a) and FIG. 23 (b) is a diagram showing a loading and unloading section, FIG. 23 (a) is a front view, FIG. 23 (b)
Is a side view. As shown in FIGS. 23A and 23B, the loading / unloading section includes the wafer cassette 1
There are four load / unload stages 2 for mounting the (open cassette) on the apparatus. The loading / unloading stage 2 has a positioning mechanism using a block corresponding to the shape below the wafer cassette, and is configured to always be at the same position even if the cassette is repeatedly loaded.
When the wafer cassette is mounted at a correct position, the presence of the cassette is detected by a button-type sensor. At the same time, by arranging the transmission type optical sensor 351 above and below the cassette so that light is shielded when the wafer jumps out of the cassette for a certain length, the wafer jumping out is detected, and the wafer is correctly placed in the slot of the cassette. See if it is. If a jump is detected, an interlock is activated, and control is performed so that the transport robot 4 and the search mechanism 352 cannot access the load / unload section.

Below each load / unload stage 2, there is a dummy wafer station 353. The dummy wafer station 353 can place one or more wafers each, and confirms a dummy wafer used to stabilize the state of the polishing pad and the state of the apparatus before processing a product wafer. QC wafers and the like to be transferred are loaded. In the dummy wafer station 353,
A sensor 354 for detecting the presence or absence of a wafer is provided, so that the presence of a wafer can be confirmed. In addition, an ejection sensor is also configured, but the function may be shared by the wafer ejection sensor 351. In order to place a wafer on the dummy wafer station 353, when a cassette is not placed, the load / unload stage 2 provided above the station can be lifted and a wafer can be placed manually. . However, as a standard method of mounting a wafer on the dummy wafer station 353, a cassette in which a wafer is inserted is placed on an arbitrary load / unload stage 2, and then a search for wafers is performed to find out which wafer is in which dummy wafer station. If the instruction is given from the control panel, the transfer robot 4, which can access both the cassette and the dummy wafer station,
A method of transferring wafers from a cassette to a dummy wafer station is adopted.

A wafer search mechanism 352 is provided below the load / unload stage 2 (if there is a dummy wafer station, if any). The search mechanism 352 can be moved up and down by a drive source (pulse motor) 355, and the search mechanism
56 are arranged. The search mechanism 352 is on standby inside the apparatus except during the wafer search operation to prevent interference with other operation parts. The search sensor 356 is disposed so as to face the light so as to pass horizontally through the cassette when viewed from the side of the load / unload unit. At the time of wafer search, the search mechanism 352 reciprocates from under the dummy wafer station 353 to the upper portion of the last slot of the cassette, counts the number of times light rays are shielded by the wafer, counts the number of wafers, and uses the position as a pulse motor as a driving source. To determine in which slot in the cassette the wafer is located. In addition, the slot interval of the cassette is input in advance, and a wafer oblique detection function for detecting that the wafer is inserted obliquely when the light beam of the sensor is shielded between pulses longer than the interval is installed. I have.

A shutter 35 driven up and down by a cylinder is provided between the opening of the wafer cassette and the apparatus.
7 is arranged to shut off the cassette mounting area and the inside of the apparatus. The shutter 357 is closed except when the transfer robot 4 takes a wafer in and out of the cassette. Further, partition walls 35 are provided between the load / unload stages 2 arranged on the front of the apparatus.
8 is provided. As a result, during the cassette replacement operation after the processing is completed, the cassette can be accessed without being touched by a person while the adjacent cassette is operating. The front surface of the load / unload unit is further shielded from the outside of the apparatus by a door 360.
The door 360 has a lock mechanism and a sensor 36 for opening and closing.
1 is provided to lock the door 360 during processing, thereby protecting the cassette and preventing danger to the human body. Also, an alarm is issued when the door is left open for a certain period of time.

There are the following two methods for placing the cassette on the loading / unloading section. (1) A method in which a wafer is stored on a mounting table in a cassette containing the wafer. This is a measure to be taken when the room facing the load / unload section of the clean room is relatively clean, for example, when the class is 100 or less. (2) When the room facing the load / unload section of the clean room is relatively dirty (dirty), for example, when the class is 1000 or more, the cassette is placed in class 10
Means are taken in a box controlled to about 0, transported in a clean room, and placed on the load / unload section as it is. When the means (1) is adopted, the place where the cassette is mounted is kept particularly clean by configuring the filter fan unit 10000 in the load / unload section.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing another example of the load / unload unit, and is a diagram showing a case where the means (2) is employed. When the means (2) is employed, the wafer cassette 1 is placed on the load / unload stage 2 with the wafer cassette 1 stored in the box 367. When the box 367 is placed on the load / unload stage 2, the stage 366 attached to the load / unload stage 2 and the bottom plate 363 of the box 367
Are locked together to be locked. The box 367 and the bottom plate 363 are attached so as to be sealed. Also,
At the same time that the stage 366 and the bottom plate 363 are locked, the load / unload stage 2 and the box 367 are in close contact with each other.
67 and bottom plate 363 are released and can be freely removed.

The stage 366 has a lifting mechanism 362, and both the stage 366 and the bottom plate 363 on which the wafer cassette 1 is mounted can be raised and lowered. When it is confirmed that the stage 366 and the bottom plate 363 are locked, the stage 36
6 descends and inserts the wafer cassette 1 into the inside 364 of the apparatus. If the inside of the apparatus 364 is kept in a clean state, the wafer cassette 1 can be carried into the apparatus without being exposed to the atmosphere 365 outside the apparatus which is more dirty than the inside of the apparatus 364, and the wafer cassette 1 can be loaded more easily than the load / unload stage 2. The wafer can be carried into the polishing apparatus by the transfer robot 4 coming to a place located below to receive the wafer.

[0048] Among the washing machines to be mounted to the cleaning machine the polishing apparatus, the cleaning apparatus 22 and 23, as the roll-shaped sponge can clean the backside of the wafer is pressed against the wafer is rotated about the axis of the roll The surface of the wafer can be selected from either a roll type that presses and cleans the wafer while rotating the roll-shaped sponge or a pencil type that presses and cleans while rotating the hemispherical sponge.
A megasonic type that cleans by applying ultrasonic waves to the cleaning liquid can be added. The cleaning machines 22 and 23 mainly play a role of dropping particles on the wafer.
Also, whichever method is selected, three or more cleaning liquids can be supplied to each cleaning machine to the front surface (polished surface) of the wafer and the back surface of the wafer. The cleaning liquid may use pure water.

In the cleaning machines 5 and 6, the back surface of the wafer can be rinse-cleaned, and the cleaning of the wafer surface can be performed by pressing a hemispherical sponge while rotating it, or by applying ultrasonic waves to the cleaning liquid. The megasonic type to be cleaned can be done at the same time. Each cleaning machine can supply three or more cleaning liquids to the front surface of the wafer and the back surface of the wafer. The cleaning liquid may use pure water. The stage for chucking the wafer can be rotated at a high speed, and has a function of drying the washed wafer.

In addition, instead of the megasonic type which can be mounted on each of the above-mentioned washing machines, the same effect can be obtained with the cavitation jet type utilizing the cavitation effect. As shown in FIG. 1, shutters 5a, 6a, 22a, and 23 are provided at wafer entrances of the cleaning machines 5, 6, 22, and 23, respectively.
a is attached and can be opened only when a wafer is carried in. In addition, each cleaning liquid supply line is provided with a constant flow valve that can be controlled by air pressure, and by combining an electropneumatic regulator that controls air pressure,
The flow rate can be set freely from the control panel. The cleaning liquid supplied to each cleaning machine, the cleaning method, and the cleaning time can be arbitrarily set from the control panel. A guide is attached to the base part of the cleaning room (area B), and the type of the cleaning machine can be easily changed by inserting the cleaning machine into this guide. A positioning mechanism is provided to enable this.

The air flow apparatus is divided into four areas: a load / unload section (area A), a cleaning chamber (area B), and a polishing chamber (areas C and D). The air flow composition of the polishing chambers (regions C and D) is roughly classified into four types. The first is exhaust around the polishing table for the purpose of preventing scattering of dust such as slurry.
First, exhaust around the pusher to prevent the mist of the cleaning liquid generated when cleaning the wafer, pusher and top ring in the pusher area. Open the door to the wet atmosphere of the polishing chamber and exhaust the entire area at the same time so that the wet atmosphere in the room does not go outside. Exhaust the entire wet area of the polishing chamber. Exhaust is for exhausting heat exhausted from the equipment, and all of the exhaust is exhausted, so that the entire polishing chamber has a negative pressure compared to the outside of the polishing chamber. In the third exhaust configuration, it is necessary to automatically open the damper in conjunction with the door sensor in order to take the exhaust at the same time as opening the door. The damper is opened and closed.

Further, a damper capable of adjusting the amount of exhaust gas is attached to each of the other exhaust passages. If necessary, the amount of exhaust gas in each of the exhaust passages is adjusted to balance the entire exhaust gas. I have. A pressure switch is installed at the exhaust port on the primary side of the polishing device, and when the exhaust is not taken, an alarm is output from the device or, in some cases, the device is stopped, so that the device can be operated safely. It is set as follows.

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram showing the airflow configuration of the cleaning chamber (region B). As shown in FIG. 25, the airflow configuration of the cleaning room (region B) is based on a filter 190 (for example, an ULPA filter or an H filter) attached to the ceiling of the cleaning room (region B).
A filter fan unit 194 having an EPA filter and a fan 191, a duct 193 for returning air in the cleaning chamber (area B) to the filter fan unit 194 and circulating the air, and a separate unit from the four cleaning machines. Exhaust 1
97 and an air inlet 195 provided in the filter fan unit 194. When it is desired to remove metal ions (for example, NH ₄ ⁻ and K ⁺ ) contained in the air, a chemical filter can be further added.

The air in the cleaning chamber (area B) is sent through the filter 190 by the fan 191 of the filter fan unit 194, and further downflow is provided. The given downflow is adjusted by a mechanism 198 for adjusting the air volume of the fan 191. The mechanism 198 includes an inverter and a thyristor type AC power regulator. The air E exhausted from the washing machine is taken into the washing chamber (area B) through an opening 195 provided in the filter fan unit 194 and supplemented. Further, air F other than the air exhausted from the washing machine is used.
Is connected to the filter fan unit 19 through the duct 193.
4 and again returned to the cleaning chamber (area B), where the air is cleaned through the filter 190 and circulated. The pressure in the cleaning chamber (area B) is adjusted by the opening degree of a damper 192 provided in the duct 193.

The air exhausted from each of the cleaning machines is exhausted from an individually installed exhaust path. If there is no adverse effect due to a chemical reaction between the used cleaning chemicals, the respective exhaust paths are put together. May be exhausted out of the apparatus. In addition, a damper is provided in each exhaust path,
The displacement is balanced.

The air flow configuration of the load / unload section (area A) is the same as that of the cleaning chamber (area B) except for the individual exhaust of the washing machine. Therefore, the method of adjusting the airflow is the same as that of the cleaning room (region B), but the only difference is that
The pressure in the load / unload section (region A) is adjusted to be higher than the pressure in the cleaning chamber (region B). In this way, by installing the return duct 193 to circulate the air in the apparatus and reuse it through the filter 190, the amount of clean air taken into the apparatus from the clean room can be reduced, and energy can be saved. Has helped.

Looking at the air flow in the entire apparatus, the load / unload section (area A), which requires the highest degree of cleanliness, has the highest air pressure, followed by the cleaning chamber (area B) and the polishing chamber (areas C and D). The pressure is adjusted in such a way that the pressure decreases. Also, depending on the cleanness of the clean room,
For example, if the cleanliness level of the clean room is lower than the cleanliness level required for the wafers, the air pressure in the apparatus is set higher than that of the clean room, and the cleanliness level in the clean room is equal to or lower than the cleanliness level required for the wafers. In the case described above, the pressure in the entire apparatus can be adjusted by the damper so that the pressure in the apparatus is lower than the pressure in the clean room.

Transfer Robot FIG. 26 is a side view showing the transfer robot 4. FIG.
As shown in the figure, the transfer robot 4 has a turning θ axis 120,
R1 (upper hand), R2 (lower hand) axis 1
21-1 and 121-2, an upper and lower Z axis 122, and a traveling X axis 123 in the direction in which the cassettes are arranged. However, the Z axis 122 of the robot may be incorporated in the robot body 124. Further, the hand has vacuum lines in both upper and lower hands, and can be used as a vacuum suction hand as in the related art. In order to prevent the back surface of the wafer 101 from being contaminated, a thin ceramic dropping hand 125 for holding an edge portion of the wafer is provided on the upper hand.
May be used. The ceramic thin pushing hand 125 is effective when used in a transfer process from taking out wafers from the cleaning machines 5 and 6 to storing them in the wafer cassette 1. That is, it is preferable to use the dropping hand at least for transferring the wafer after the cleaning is completed. However, if there is a film thickness measuring device, the hand is used to transfer the film to the film thickness measuring device. As the lower hand, a ceramic forked vacuum suction hand 126 is used, and has a vacuum line. The hand 126 performs an operation of taking out the wafer from the wafer cassette 1 and transferring the wafer to the wafer station 50.

FIG. 27 is a perspective view showing the transfer robot 20 (or 21). As shown in FIG. 27, the transfer robot 20 (or 21) has a θ axis 120 for turning, and R1 (upper hand) and R2 (lower hand) axes 121-1, 1 for hand expansion and contraction.
21-2, and has an upper and lower Z axis 122. The upper hand 125 and the lower hand 126 both use a dropping hand. The upper hand 125 of the transfer robot 20 can access the cleaning machine 22, the cleaning machine 5, and the tables 9 and 10 of the wafer station 50. Transfer robot 2
The lower hand 126 can access the table 7, the cleaning machine 22, and the reversing machine 28 of the wafer station 50. The upper hand 125 of the transfer robot 21 is provided with the washing machine 23, the washing machine 6, the table 9 of the wafer station 50,
10 are accessible. The lower hand 126 of the transfer robot 21 can access the table 8 of the wafer station, the cleaning machine 23, and the reversing machine 28 '. In FIG. 27, the upper hand 125 and the lower hand 126
Both show a state where the wafer 101 is held.

[0060] the wafer station Figure 28 is a diagram showing a wafer station, FIG. 28
28A is a front view, FIG. 28B is a side view, and FIG.
28A is a view as seen from the direction of the arrow I in FIG. 28A, and FIG.
28A is a view taken in the direction of arrow II, and FIG.
It is an arrow view. As shown in FIGS. 28 (a) to 28 (e), the wafer station 50 is
8, 9 and 10, and can hold four wafers at the same time. The stations can be broadly divided into a dry station of the placing tables 7 and 8 distributed to the left and right and a wet station of the placing tables 9 and 10 distributed to the upper and lower sides.

The dry stations 7 and 8 are temporary holding tables for wafers before polishing. The dry station 8 is accessible from the transfer robot 4 and the transfer robot 21, and enables the transfer of the wafer from the transfer robot 4 to the transfer robot 21 that transfers the wafer to the polishing unit on the right side. Similarly, the dry station 7 can transfer a wafer from the transfer robot 4 to a transfer robot 20 that transfers the wafer to the polishing unit on the left side. By preparing one wafer mounting table for each of the robots 20 and 21 here, a dedicated route to each polishing chamber is ensured, and even when there is a difference in polishing time in each polishing process, compared with a table on one side. Thus, the wafers to be processed can be constantly supplied to the respective polishing chambers without blocking the route due to the processing having the longer polishing time.

The wafers pulled out of the wafer cassette by the transfer robot 4 by vacuum suction are transferred to the dry stations 7 and 8, but the positional accuracy of the wafers in the cassette is not so good. Similarly, the held wafer has poor positional accuracy. The guide blocks 78 and 79 on which the wafers are placed have a taper 180 for positioning so as to absorb centering so as to absorb the deviation of the positional accuracy and perform delivery by a later robot hand. The taper length of the guide block here is
Because the displacement in the cassette is larger than other mechanisms,
It is necessary to lengthen the tapered surface. The transfer robot 4 positions the lower hand inside the guide block of the dry station and breaks the vacuum to drop the wafer and perform centering and delivery. In addition, each dry station 7,8
Are provided with transmission optical sensors 71 and 72 for detecting the presence / absence of a wafer, and detect the presence / absence of a wafer.

Since the dry stations 7 and 8 are located at an intermediate point between the cleaning area and the dry area, in order to avoid mixing atmospheres in areas having different degrees of cleanliness,
A shutter 11 for blocking the area is provided. Although the shutter 11 is always closed, it is opened only when the transport robot 4 accesses the dry stations 7 and 8. The wet stations 9 and 10 serve as mounting tables for wafers after polishing. The wet stations 9 and 10 can be accessed by the robots 20 and 21, respectively, and enable wafer transfer between the robots. The station 9 is a table on which a clean wafer that has been cleaned at least once is placed, and the station 10 is a table on which a wafer that has been cleaned and has less cleaning times than the wafer placed on the wet station 9 is placed. As described above, the proper use depending on the degree of cleanliness can prevent the diffusion of the contamination through the station.

Each of the wet stations 9 and 10 forms a wafer guide with pins, and can be used as a temporary placing table for both an orientation flat wafer and a notch type wafer. In addition, by adopting a point contact structure using a plurality of pins, diffusion of contamination is prevented. In addition, transmission optical sensors 73 and 74 for detecting the presence or absence of a wafer are disposed in each of the wet stations 9 and 10 to detect the presence or absence of a wafer. Each of the stations has a nozzle 75, 7 for preventing and drying the wafer.
A cleaning liquid 6 can be supplied to the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer. A local exhaust line is provided so that cleaning mist generated in the housing of the wafer station 50 is not diffused from the inside of the housing. Various liquids, such as pure water and ionized water, are used as the cleaning liquid depending on the film type. As described above, in the wet station, the shutter 77 that moves up and down by the cylinder 81 is installed at the opening for wafer transfer of the transfer robots 20 and 21 for waterproofing. The shutter 77 is always closed, and the transfer robots 20 and 2 are closed.
Opened only when 1 accesses the station.

[0065] reversing device 29 is a diagram showing a reversing machine, FIG. 29 (a) is a plan view, FIG. 29 (b) is a side view partially sectional. Since the inverters 28 and 28 'have the same structure, the following description will be made only on the inverter 28. FIG. 29 (a) and FIG.
As shown in (b), the reversing device 28 includes two arc-shaped arms 230, and a plurality of (for example, 6) pieces 231 having grooves formed on the arm 230 for clamping a wafer.
Pcs) are fixed. This arm 230 is connected to the cylinder 23
It is configured to open and close in accordance with the movement of the shaft 234 pushed and pulled using the force of the compression spring 2 and the compression spring 233. The arm 230 opens when the cylinder 232 is extended, and is closed by the force of the compression spring 233 when the cylinder 232 is contracted. An interval is provided between the shaft 234 and the tip of the cylinder 232, and the shaft 234 is
The end block 236 is pulled back by the force of 33 until the stopper 235 hits the end block 236.

When the wafer 101 is being chucked, the end block 236 is adjusted so that a clearance of 1 mm is formed between the stopper 235 and the end block 236. A slit is cut in the stopper 235, and a transmission optical sensor 237 is disposed so as to transmit through the slit at a position where the wafer is clamped. Therefore, when the wafer 101 is not clamped or when the wafer 101 cannot be clamped normally, the light of the sensor 237 does not transmit, so that the sensor 237 can recognize the presence or absence of the wafer 101.

The slide mechanism of the shaft 234 is connected to a pulley 238. The pulley 238 is connected to the pulley 240 at the shaft end of the stepping motor 239 and the belt 24.
1 so that when the stepping motor 239 rotates, the arm 230 rotates. As shown in FIG. 1, shutters 25 and 26 are provided between the reversing machines 28 and 28 'and the transfer robots 20 and 21, and a polishing chamber containing the reversing machine and a washing machine having the transfer robot are provided. Partitions the room. When transferring the wafer, the shutters 25 and 26 are opened, and the hands of the transfer robots 20 and 21 enter and exit. Transfer robot 20,
This shutter 2 is used when there are no 21 hands
Numerals 5 and 26 are closed, and have a waterproof mechanism so that cleaning of a wafer and cleaning of a chuck piece fixed to an arm can be performed.

Next, the operation of the reversing machine configured as described above will be described. The transfer robot 20 and the lifter 29 can access the reversing device 28, and transfer the wafer. The transfer robot 21 and the lifter 29 'can access the reversing device 28', and transfer the wafer. The reversing device 28 waits for a wafer transferred from the transfer robot 20 or the lifter 29 with the arm 230 opened. The position of the wafer transferred by the lower hand or the lifter 29 of the transfer robot 20 is the same as the wafer clamping groove of the top 231 fixed to the arm in a plane, and is transferred to the center of the top of the arm. When the operation is completed, the arm 230 is closed in response to the movement completion signal from the transfer robot 20 or the lifter 29. After confirming the presence or absence of the wafer 101 by the sensor 237, the transfer robot 20 lowers the hand to a predetermined height, and then pulls out the hand. On the other hand, after the sensor 237 confirms the presence or absence of the wafer 101, the lifter 29 retreats downward and completes the transfer of the wafer to the reversing machine 28.
The wafer 101 transferred to the reversing machine 28 is
At the same time, it is reversed by the stepping motor 239. The inverted wafer 101 waits in that state until the transfer robot 20 or lifter 29, which is a transfer mechanism thereafter, comes to receive the wafer.

The inversion operation is performed before and after polishing, respectively. When reversing the wafer 101 after polishing, the polishing liquid or polishing debris attached to the wafer 101 at the time of polishing is dried on the wafer 101, and adheres to the wafer 1.
In order to prevent damage to the wafer 101, the cleaning liquid is rinsed on the wafer 101 during or after the reversal. The cleaning solution to be rinsed is pure water or a chemical solution, and is sprayed at a necessary flow rate and pressure from an optimum angle for a desired time by a spray nozzle. This rinsing can sufficiently exert the subsequent cleaning performance. When the wafer 101 is on standby in the reversing machine 28, the cleaning liquid is continuously supplied during that time. However, the cleaning liquid may be intermittently supplied in consideration of the running cost to reduce the amount of the cleaning liquid used. In addition, when the reversing device 28 is not clamping the wafer 101, the groove for clamping the wafer 101 and the periphery thereof are cleaned with the cleaning liquid to prevent the wafer 101 from being reversely contaminated from a portion that comes into contact with the wafer 101. it can.

[0070] lifter diagram 30 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a lifter. Lifters 29 and 2
Since 9 ′ has the same structure, only the lifter 29 will be described below. The lifter 29 includes a stage 260 on which a wafer is mounted, and a cylinder 261 for performing a raising / lowering operation of the stage.
60 is connected by a slidable shaft 262. The stage 260 is divided into three claws 263 arranged at an equal angle when viewed from above, and each of the claws 263 has an interval capable of holding the wafer within a range that does not affect the transfer even when the orientation flat wafer is placed. It is arranged in. The claw 263 is arranged in a direction in which the phase does not coincide with the chuck piece 231 of the reversing machine 28. That is, the first wafer edge that the chuck top 231 holds the wafer does not coincide with the second wafer edge that the lifter claw holds. The claw 263 for transferring the wafer to and from the reversing machine 28 and the rotary transporter 27 has a surface on which the wafer is placed. Above the claw 263, the transfer positioning error when the wafer is placed is absorbed, Is tapered so as to be centered.

As the cylinder is raised, the wafer holding surface of the stage 260 is raised to the wafer holding height of the reversing machine. A stopper 264 having a buffer function is provided as a stopper to stop this ascent operation. The stopper base 264 fixed to the cylinder shaft is attached to the stopper 264.
When the abutment 5 comes in contact, the cylinder 261 stops rising, and the stage 260 connected to the shaft of the cylinder 261 also stops moving at the same time. The height at which the stage 260 rises can be adjusted to the transfer height by the position of the stopper 264. The cylinder 261 is provided with sensors 266 and 267 for detecting the ascending position and the descending position, respectively, so that it is possible to detect that the ascending and descending operation of the cylinder 261 is completed.

Next, the operation of the lifter configured as described above will be described. The lifter 29 is a wafer transfer mechanism between the reversing machine 28 and the rotary transporter 27. The wafer before polishing is transferred from the transfer robot 20 to the reversing device 28. Thereafter, the wafer is turned over and the pattern surface faces downward. The lifter 29 ascends from below the wafer held by the reversing machine 28 and stops immediately below the wafer. At the upper end of the lifter 29, there is a stage 260 on which the wafer is mounted, and the wafer can be mounted. When the lifting of the lifter 29 is stopped immediately below the wafer, for example, by using the lifter lift confirmation sensor 266, the reversing device 28 releases the clamp of the wafer, and the wafer is moved to the stage 2 of the lifter 29.
60. Thereafter, the lifter 29 descends while the wafer is mounted. The wafer is transferred to the rotary transporter 27 during the lowering. At this time, the wafer is placed on the pins of the rotary transporter 27. After the wafer is transferred to the rotary transporter 27, the lifter 29 continues to descend, descends to the stroke of the cylinder 261 and stops.

On the contrary, the polished wafer is transferred from the rotary transporter 27 to the reversing machine 28 by the lifter 29. The polished wafer is transported above the lifter 29 on the rotary transporter 27. At this time, the lifter 29 is connected to the rotary transporter 2.
7 below. After confirming that the wafer placed on the rotary transporter 27 has come to a position directly above the lifter and has stopped, the lifter 29 starts to rise. The lifter 29 removes the wafer placed on the rotary transporter 27 from below during the ascent. Thereafter, the ascent is continued while the wafer is mounted. At this time, the reversing machine 28 waits with the arm 230 opened in preparation for clamping the wafer.
At the height of the wafer clamping groove of the top 231 for clamping the wafer of the arm 230 of the reversing machine 28, the lifting of the wafer is stopped and the lifting is completed. The ascending end is the cylinder 2
This detection signal is sent to the control system of the apparatus main body, and the end of the ascent is recognized. Upon receiving the signal, the inverter 28 closes the open arm 230 as a clamp operation. By this operation, the wafer is turned into the reversing machine 2
8 is held. When the holding by the reversing machine 28 is confirmed, the lifter 29 is lowered.

Rotary Transporter FIGS. 31 and 32 show the rotary transporter. FIG. 31 is a plan view and FIG. 32 is a longitudinal sectional view. As shown in FIGS. 31 and 32, the rotary transporter 27 for mounting and transporting the wafer 101 has four wafer mounting stages (equally distributed at 90 °), and each of the four wafer mounting stages has: It is sufficient that the wafer is supported by at least three pins. In this embodiment, six pins 201 are provided to support the wafer at the six edges so that the wafer can also serve as the orientation flat. A taper 202 (preferably about 15 ° to 25 °) is formed at the tip end of the pin 201 so that the pin 201 can be centripetal when mounted on a wafer.

Each position has a wafer presence sensor 2
50 is installed at a place off the rotary transporter 27. The sensor 250 is a photo sensor and includes a light emitting side 250a and a light receiving side 250b.
0 does not rotate with the stage. The wafer to be mounted is determined for each stage, and includes a load stage (L, R side) for mounting a wafer before processing and an unload stage (L, R side) for mounting a wafer after processing. The state of the wafer mounted on each stage is always determined, and the rotary transporter 27 includes a stage 210 for mounting a wafer before processing on the polishing table 34, a stage 211 for mounting a wafer processed on the polishing table 34, and a polishing machine. Stage 21 for mounting wafer before processing on table 35
2 and a stage 213 on which the wafer processed on the polishing table 35 is mounted.

Rinse nozzles 501 and 50 for supplying a cleaning liquid to the wafers are provided at the four wafer mounting positions.
Reference numerals 2, 503 and 504 are installed at positions vertically separated from the rotary transporter 27 with the rotary transporter interposed therebetween. The nozzle does not rotate with the stage. As the cleaning liquid, pure water or ionized water is often used. Each wafer mounting stage is designed to prevent scattering of slurry and water during wafer cleaning and top ring cleaning.
Each is separated by a separator 204. The rotary transporter 27 is connected to the servomotor 205, and transfers the wafer by rotation of the servomotor 205. An origin sensor 206 is provided below the rotary transporter 27, and the positioning of the wafer transfer position is controlled by the origin sensor 206 and the servomotor 205. The transport positions to be positioned are three positions having different phases by 90 ° around the HP (home position) position.

Next, the operation of the rotary transporter configured as described above will be described. FIG. 31 shows a home position (HP) position. The rotary transporter rotates 90 ° counterclockwise, and the stage 210 is positioned above the lifter 29 in advance. Top ring 3
2 is transferred to the transfer robot 20
To the reversing machine 28. The reversing device 28 reverses the wafer 101 by 180 ° after chucking the wafer 101. The inverted wafer 101 is received from the reversing machine 28 by the lifter 29, and when the wafer 101 is lowered as it is, the wafer 101 mounted on the lifter 29 is centered by the taper 202 of the pin 201 on the wafer mounting stage 210 of the rotary transporter 27. And is placed on the shoulder of the pin 201. Even after the wafer 101 is placed on the pins 201, the lifter 29 continues to descend to a position where it does not interfere with each other even if the rotary transporter 27 rotates. Lifter 29
Is completed, the rotary transporter 27 changes the position by 90 ° clockwise to position the wafer 101 on the pusher 30. When the positioning of the rotary transporter 27 is completed, the pusher 30 rises and transports the wafer 101 to the top ring 32 located above the pusher 30.

The wafer 10 polished by the top ring 32
1 is conveyed by the pusher 30 toward the wafer mounting stage 211 of the rotary transporter 27 previously positioned below the top ring 32. The wafer 10 received by the pusher 30 from the top ring 32
1 is a taper 20 of the pin 201 on the wafer mounting stage.
2 and is placed on the shoulder of the pin 201. A wafer is placed on the wafer mounting stage 211,
When the pusher 30 is lowered to a position where it does not interfere with the rotary transporter 27, the rotary transporter 27
Changes the 90 ° counterclockwise position and positions the wafer 101 on the lifter 29. When the positioning of the rotary transporter 27 is completed, the lifter 29 rises, receives the wafer 101 from the wafer mounting stage 211, and
To 8.

Pusher FIGS. 33 and 34 show the pusher, and FIG.
3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the pusher, and FIG. 34 is an operation explanatory view of the pusher. Since the pushers 30 and 30 'have the same structure, only the pusher 30 will be described below. As shown in FIG. 33, a guide stage 141 for holding the top ring on the extension of the hollow shaft 140
, A spline shaft 142 passes through the hollow shaft 140, and a push stage 143 for holding a wafer on an extension of the spline shaft 142 is provided. An air cylinder 145 is connected to the spline shaft 142 by a floating joint 144 capable of connecting a shaft flexibly to shaft runout. Two air cylinders are vertically arranged in series.
The air cylinder 146 arranged at the lowermost stage is for raising and lowering the guide stage 141 and for pushing the push stage 143.
The air shaft 145 and the hollow shaft 140 are moved up and down for raising and lowering the air cylinder. The air cylinder 145 is for raising and lowering the push stage 143.

In order to provide the top ring guide 148 with a positioning mechanism, a linear way 149 movable in the X-axis and Y-axis directions is arranged. The guide stage 141 is fixed to the linear way 149. Linear Way 1
49 is fixed to the hollow shaft 140. The hollow shaft 140 is held by the bearing case 151 via the slide bush 150. Air cylinder 146
Stroke of the hollow shaft 1 by the compression spring 152
It is conveyed to 40.

The push stage 143 is located above the guide stage 141, and the push rod 160 extending below the center of the push stage 143 is centered by passing through the slide bush 147 at the center of the guide stage 141, and comes into contact with the spline shaft 142. ing. The push stage 143 is moved up and down by a cylinder 145 via a spline shaft 142,
Is loaded with the wafer 101. Push stage 143
A compression spring 159 for positioning is arranged at the end of the.

At the outermost periphery of the guide stage 141, three top ring guides 148 are provided. The top ring guide 148 has a two-step structure. The upper part 200 is an access part to the lower surface of the guide ring 301, and the lower part 201 is for centering and holding the wafer 101. The upper part 200 has a taper (preferably about 25 ° to 35 °) for inviting the guide ring 301, and the lower part 201 has a taper (preferably about 10 ° to 20 °) for inviting the wafer 101. Attached. During wafer unloading, the wafer edge is directly received by the top ring guide 148.

On the back surface of the guide stage 141, a guide sleeve 153 having a function of guiding the waterproof and raised stage to return to the original position is provided. A center sleeve 154 for centering the pusher is provided inside the guide sleeve 153 in the bearing case 151.
It is fixed to. Pusher is bearing case 15
1 is fixed to the motor housing 104 on the polishing section side.

A V-ring 155 is used for waterproofing between the push stage 143 and the guide stage 141, and the lip portion of the V-ring 155 comes into contact with the guide stage 141 to prevent water from entering inside. Guide stage 1
When 41 rises, the volume of the portion G increases, the pressure drops, and water is sucked. V ring 1 to prevent this
A hole 202 is provided inside 55 to prevent the pressure from dropping.

A shock killer 156 is provided for positioning in the height direction and absorbing shock when the top ring guide 148 accesses the top ring 32. Each air cylinder is provided with an upper and lower limit sensor for confirming the position of the pusher in the vertical direction. That is, the cylinder 14
5 is provided with sensors 203 and 204, and the cylinder 146 is provided with sensors 205 and 206, respectively. In order to prevent reverse contamination of the wafer from slurry or the like attached to the pusher, a cleaning nozzle for cleaning dirt is separately provided. A wafer presence / absence sensor for confirming the presence / absence of a wafer on the pusher may be separately provided. The air cylinder is controlled by a double solenoid valve. Pusher 3
0, 30 'is installed in each of the top rings 32, 33, one unit at a time.

Next, the operation of the pusher configured as described above will be described. 1) At the time of loading a wafer As shown in FIG. 34A, the wafer 101 is carried by the rotary transporter 27 above the pusher. When the top ring 32 is at the wafer loading position above the pusher and does not hold a wafer, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the push stage 143 is raised by the air cylinder 145. When the completion of the lifting of the push stage 143 is confirmed by the sensor 203, the set of components around the guide stage 141 is raised by the air cylinder 146 as shown in FIG. It passes through the wafer holding position of the rotary transporter 27 during the ascent. At this time, the wafer 101 is centered by the taper 207 of the top ring guide 148 at the same time as the wafer 101 passes, and the pattern surface (other than the edge) of the wafer 101 is held by the push stage 143. While the push stage 143 holds the wafer 101, the top ring guide 148 rises without stopping, and the guide ring 3 is tapered by the taper 208 of the top ring guide 148.
01 is called. The center of the top ring 32 is centered on the alignment by the linear way 149 which can be freely moved in the X and Y directions, and the upper stage 200 of the top ring guide 148 comes into contact with the lower surface of the guide ring 301, thereby causing the guide stage 1 to move.
The rise of 41 ends.

The guide stage 141 is fixed by contacting the upper portion 200 of the top ring guide 148 with the lower surface of the guide ring 301 and does not rise further. However, since the air cylinder 146 continues to rise until it hits the shock killer 156, the compression spring 152 contracts, so that only the spline shaft 142 further rises, and the push stage 143 further rises. At this time, FIG.
As shown in (d), the push stage 143 holds the pattern surface (other than the edge) of the wafer 101 and transports the wafer 101 to the top ring 32. Wafer 101
The spring 159 absorbs the stroke in which the cylinder 146 rises after contacting the top ring, and protects the wafer 101. When the top ring 32 completes the suction of the wafer 101, the pusher starts descending, and FIG.
It descends to the state of. At the time of lowering, the guide stage 141 that has moved to the center position for centering the top ring is centered by the tapered portion provided on the guide sleeve 153 and the tapered portion provided on the center sleeve 154. The operation is completed when the descent ends.

2) At the time of wafer unloading The wafer 101 is transferred by the top ring 32 to the wafer unloading position above the pusher. When the wafer unload stage of the rotary transporter 27 is above the pusher and no wafer is loaded, a set of components around the guide stage 141 is raised by the air cylinder 146, and the guide ring 301 is tapered by the taper 208 of the top ring guide 148. Call. Linear Way 1
The centering of the top ring 32 is performed by the alignment by 49, and the upper stage 200 of the top ring guide 148 comes into contact with the lower surface of the guide ring 301, whereby the ascent of the guide stage 141 ends. The air cylinder 146 continues to operate until it hits the shock killer 156. However, since the upper stage 200 of the top ring guide 148 is fixed by contacting the lower surface of the guide ring 301, the air cylinder 146 is driven by the compression spring 152. Overcoming the repulsion force, the spline shaft 142 is moved to the air cylinder 145.
The push stage 143 is raised.
At this time, as shown in FIG. 34E, the push stage 143 does not reach a position higher than the wafer holding portion of the lower stage 201 of the top ring guide 148. In this embodiment, the cylinder 146 is set so as to further stroke from a position where the top ring guide 148 contacts the guide ring 301. The impact at this time is absorbed by the spring 152.

When the lifting of the air cylinder 146 is completed, the wafer 101 is released from the top ring 32. At this time, the wafer 101 is centered by the lower taper 207 of the top ring guide 148, and the top ring guide 1
The edge part is held by the lower part 201 of the 48. Wafer 1
When 01 is held by the pusher, the pusher starts descending. At the time of lowering, the guide stage 141 that has moved to the center position for centering the top ring is centered by the guide sleeve 153 and the center sleeve 154. During the lowering, the wafer 101 is transferred from the pusher to the rotary transporter 27 at the edge of the wafer 101, and the operation is completed when the lowering is completed.

According to the pusher having the structure shown in FIGS. 33 and 34, by providing the pusher 30 with a centering mechanism for the top ring 32, the positional relationship between the pusher and the top ring can be easily adjusted. Further, by setting the rising stroke of the push stage 143 to a position higher by 2 mm than the lower surface of the top ring 32, the positioning in the height direction becomes easy. At this time, the contact in the height direction can be absorbed by the spring.

[0091] The top ring Figure 35 is a side view, partially in section showing the structure of the top ring. Since the top rings 32 and 33 have the same structure, only the top ring 32 will be described below. The top ring 32 is supported by a top ring head 31 that performs operations such as rotating, pressing, and swinging the top ring 32. The top ring 32 holds a top surface of the wafer and presses the polishing surface of the polishing table against the top surface of the polishing table, a guide ring 301 holding the outer periphery of the wafer, and a backing film serving as a buffer between the top ring 32 and the wafer. 302.
The top ring main body 300 is formed of a material with little deflection, for example, ceramic, and has a flat surface on the wafer side so as to uniformly press the entire surface of the wafer. However, depending on the wafer to be polished, this surface may have a gentle unevenness.

The guide ring 301 has an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the wafer so that the outer circumference of the wafer is suppressed, and the wafer is inserted into the guide ring 301.
A plurality of through-holes 303 are formed in the top ring body 300 and open on the wafer pressing surface and open on the opposite surface. Then, positive pressure clean air or nitrogen gas is supplied to the wafer contact surface from above through these through holes 303 to selectively and partially press a certain region of the wafer. Further, by setting the through-hole 303 to a negative pressure, the wafer can be suctioned,
The wafer is transferred by attracting the wafer to the top ring body 300. Also, clean air or nitrogen gas is blown through the through-hole 303 onto the wafer, and the wafer is placed in the top ring body 3.
It is also possible to leave from 00. In this case, the separation force of the wafer is increased by mixing pure water or the like with the air or gas, so that the wafer can be surely separated.

A mounting flange 304 is mounted on the upper surface of the top ring 32, and a hemispherical hole is formed in the center of the upper surface of the mounting flange 304. A drive flange 314 fixed to the top ring drive shaft 91 is provided above the mounting flange 304, and a similar hemispherical hole is also formed in the drive flange 314. A hard ball 305 made of, for example, ceramic is accommodated in both holes, and the downward pressing force applied to the drive flange 314 is transmitted to the lower mounting flange 304 via the ball 305.

On the other hand, the top ring head 31 supports the top ring 32 via a top ring drive shaft 91 composed of a spline shaft. The top ring head 31 is supported by a swing shaft 92. The swing shaft 92 swings by rotation of a motor (407 in FIG. 40) connected to the lower end of the shaft, so that the top ring head 31 can be turned. Polishing position, maintenance position,
And it can be moved to the transport position.
A motor 309 is provided above the swing shaft 92 and on the upper surface of the top ring head 31. When the motor is rotated, a drive pulley 310 attached to the shaft end of the motor is provided.
Rotates, and the driven pulley 311 on the outer periphery of the top ring drive shaft 91 rotates via the belt 312. When the driven pulley 311 rotates, the top ring drive shaft 91 also rotates. The rotation of the top ring drive shaft 91 is transmitted to the top ring 32, and the top ring 32 rotates.

A cylinder 313 is mounted on the upper surface of the top ring head 31 with its axis facing downward.
The top ring head 31 and the shaft of the cylinder 313 are flexibly connected. By controlling the pressure of the air supplied to the cylinder 313, a force for raising and lowering the top ring drive shaft 91, that is, a force for pushing and pulling the top ring 32 can be controlled. Further, a tension / compression type load measuring device 322 (load cell) is interposed at a joint portion between the cylinder 313 and the top ring head 31. When the cylinder 313 generates a vertical thrust with the top ring head 31 as a base point. It is possible to measure the thrust. Since this thrust is replaced by the force pressing the wafer, a feedback circuit may be formed using the measured thrust for the purpose of managing the pressing force. Cylinder 31
The body 3 and a top ring drive shaft 91 composed of a spline shaft are connected so that the top ring drive shaft 91 can rotate. Therefore, the cylinder 313
Operate vertically, the top ring drive shaft 91 simultaneously operates vertically. A through-hole is formed inside the top ring drive shaft 91, and a tube (not shown) is provided in the through-hole. Top ring drive shaft 9
Since the top ring 31 and the top ring 31 rotate, a rotary joint 316 is provided at the upper end of the tube. Gas and / or liquid such as vacuum, N ₂ , clean air and pure water are supplied to the top ring main body 300 via the rotary joint 316.

The top ring 32 constructed as described above
Vacuum sucks the wafer conveyed to the pusher 30 and holds the wafer in the guide ring 301 of the top ring 32. Thereafter, the top ring 32 swings from above the pusher 30 to above the polishing surface on the polishing table. When the top ring 32 swings to a position above the polishing table where polishing can be performed, the top ring 32 is rotated at a desired rotation speed, and the top ring 32 is rotated by the cylinder 313.
Down to the top surface of the polishing table. When the top ring 32 is lowered to the upper surface of the polishing table, the sensor 321 for detecting the lowering point of the cylinder 313 is activated, and a signal indicating that the lowering operation is completed is issued as a signal. Upon receiving the signal, the cylinder 313 is supplied with air set to a pressure corresponding to a desired pressing load, presses the top ring 32 against the polishing table 34, and applies a pressing force to the wafer. At the same time, the circuit for negative pressure, which has been holding the wafer, is shut off. At this time, for example, depending on the film quality of the wafer to be polished,
The polishing pressure of the wafer is controlled by keeping the negative pressure applied, shutting off the pressure, and further controlling the gas pressure by switching a valve to apply a positive pressure. Since the pressure at this time is applied only to the through hole 303 formed in the wafer holding portion of the top ring 32, the through hole 303 depends on which area of the wafer the pressure is to be applied to.
The desired polishing profile is achieved by changing the hole diameter, number and position of the holes.

Thereafter, when the desired polishing time is completed, the top ring 32 holds the wafer by suction. Then, the wafer and the polishing pad are swung on the polishing table while being in contact with each other, and the center of the wafer 101 is located on the polishing table 34 as close to the outer periphery of the polishing table 34 as possible, and is about 40% of the surface of the wafer. Moves to a position protruding from the polishing table 34. Thereafter, the cylinder 313 is operated to raise the top ring 32 together with the wafer. This is because, depending on the polishing pad used, the surface tension between the slurry on the pad and the wafer may be stronger than the suction force of the top ring, and the wafer is left on the polishing pad. In order to reduce the tension, the top ring 32 is raised after the wafer is ejected from the polishing table. When the wafer protrudes more than 40% of the wafer area from the polishing table, the top ring tilts,
Since the wafer may hit the edge of the polishing table and break the wafer, it is desirable to protrude by about 40%. That is, it is important that the center of the wafer is on the polishing table 34.

When the lifting of the top ring 32 is completed, the rising point detection sensor 320 of the cylinder 313 is activated, and it can be confirmed that the lifting operation has been completed. Then, the swinging operation of the top ring 32 is started, and the top ring 32 is moved above the pusher 30 to transfer the wafer to the pusher. After transferring the wafer to the pusher 30, a cleaning liquid is sprayed from below onto the top ring 32 to clean the wafer holding surface of the top ring 32 and the periphery thereof. The supply of the cleaning water may be continued for the purpose of preventing the top ring from drying until the next wafer is transferred to the top ring 32. Cleaning water may be sprayed intermittently in consideration of running costs. During polishing, for example, the polishing time is divided into a plurality of steps, and the pressing force of the top ring, the number of rotations, and the wafer holding method can be changed for each step. It is also possible to change the type, amount, concentration, temperature, supply timing, etc., of the abrasive fluid used.

Further, during the polishing, for example, by monitoring the current value to the motor for rotating the top ring, the torque output by this motor can be calculated.
A change occurs in the friction between the wafer and the polishing pad at the end point of the polishing of the wafer. The change in the torque value may be used to detect the polishing end point.
Similarly, the current of the turntable 34 may be monitored, the change in torque may be calculated, and the end point of polishing may be detected.
Similarly, the polishing may be performed while measuring the vibration of the top ring, the inflection point of the vibration waveform may be detected, and the completion of the polishing may be confirmed. Further, the completion of polishing may be detected by measuring the capacitance. The four types of polishing completion detection are a method of judging from a difference in surface irregularities before and after polishing of a wafer, a difference in surface film quality, or a remaining film amount. Alternatively, the surface of the wafer that has been polished may be cleaned, the polishing amount may be checked, the insufficient polishing may be measured, and the insufficient polishing may be performed again.

[0100] dresser Figure 36 and Figure 37 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a dresser,
FIG. 36 shows a diamond dresser, and FIG. 37 shows a brush dresser. Since the dressers 38 and 39 have the same structure, only the dresser 38 will be described below. As shown in FIG. 36, the dresser 38 includes a dresser plate 37 having a dresser surface for dressing a polishing pad.
0 is provided. The dresser plate 370 is fastened to the mounting flange 375, and a hemispherical hole is formed in the center of the upper surface of the mounting flange 375. A drive flange 371 fixed to the dresser drive shaft 93 is disposed above the mounting flange 375, and a similar hemispherical hole is formed in the drive flange 371. A hard, for example, ceramic ball 372 is accommodated in these two holes, and the downward pressing force applied to the drive flange 371 is applied via the ball 372 to the lower dresser plate 37.
0 is transmitted. Dresser plate 3
A diamond grain 373 is electrodeposited on the lower surface of the pad 70 in order to correct or sharpen the shape of the pad. In addition to the diamond grains, those having a large number of hard, for example, ceramic projections may be used. These replacements only require replacement of the dresser plate 370, so that it is possible to easily cope with other types of processes. In any case, since the surface shape is reflected on the surface shape of the pad to be dressed, the dressing surface of the dresser is finished to be flat.

The dresser drive shaft 93 is supported by a dresser head 94 (see FIG. 2). Dresser head 9
The function of No. 4 is substantially the same as that of the top ring head 31. The dresser drive shaft 93 is rotated by a motor and the dresser drive shaft 93 is moved up and down by a cylinder. The detailed structure of the dresser head 94 is as follows.
Since it is substantially the same as the top ring head 31, illustration is omitted. FIG. 37 shows a brush dresser. A brush 374 is provided on the lower surface of the dresser plate 370 instead of the diamond grains 373. Other configurations are shown in FIG.
This is roughly the same as the diamond dresser shown in FIG.

In the above configuration, when the shape of the polishing pad is corrected or dressed, the dresser swings from the cleaning position,
Move above the dressing position on the polishing table.
When the swing is completed, the dresser rotates at a desired number of revolutions, the up / down cylinder operates, and the dresser descends. When the dresser comes into contact with the upper surface of the polishing table, a descending point detection sensor provided on the cylinder detects the signal, and generates a signal indicating that the dresser 38 has touched down on the table. Upon receiving the signal, the cylinder applies a pressing force to the dresser 38,
The pad on the polishing table is dressed with a desired pressing force. After dressing for a desired time, the cylinder moves in the upward direction and the dresser moves away from the polishing table surface. Thereafter, the dresser 38 swings and moves to the cleaning position, where it is submerged in, for example, the water tubs 43 and 43 '(see FIG. 1) to clean the dresser itself. This washing may be performed, for example, by immersing in a water tub or spraying with a spray nozzle, or by rotating by pressing against a brush planted on the bottom of the water tub. In addition, water tank 43 'is dresser 39.
It is for.

When the dresser 38 is immersed in the water tub 43, the washing water may be vibrated by ultrasonic waves. When immersing in a tub, if the upper surface of the dresser also sinks, it dries when it rises afterwards, the polishing residue solidifies, and eventually falls on the polishing table during dressing and adversely affects polishing, so for example, only the lower surface of the dresser The upper surface may be submerged in cleaning water and the upper surface may be cleaned using a spray nozzle or the like. At this time, since the splash of the spray cleaning is applied to the upper surface, the waterproof cap 376 and the V-ring 377 are used to further reduce the size.
The labyrinth 378 composed of 8a and 378b can prevent intrusion of cleaning water. Further, pure water or a chemical solution may be used as the cleaning liquid used at that time. Similarly, the top ring 32 shown in FIG.
May be applied to the dresser 38 shown in FIG. The dressing operation may be performed, for example, while measuring the current value of the dresser rotation motor, and when the current value reaches a certain value, it may be used as a guide for confirming that the shape correction and dressing operations have been completed.

Dressing of Second Polishing Table As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
The second polishing table 36, which has a smaller diameter than
37 are provided. The second polishing table may be used for finish polishing such as so-called buff-off, which slightly scrapes the surface of the wafer. The second polishing table is also provided with a dresser for performing dressing, that is, dressers 48 and 49 in FIG. The details of the dresser are shown below. FIG.
And in FIG. 2, dresser 48,
However, in the description here, a part of the tip is described as the dresser 3000. FIG. 38 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the structure of the dresser, and FIG. 39 is a side view of the polishing table and the dresser. Although dressers 48 and 49 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 show a case where the shape of the portion facing the polishing table is circular, dresser 3000 shown in FIGS. 38 and 39 has a portion facing the polishing table. Indicates the case of an elongated shape.

The dresser 3000 is retracted in the water tub 3020 during wafer polishing, and rises in conjunction with the operation of the cylinder 3008 after the completion of wafer polishing. Dresser 3
000 raising and lowering mechanism will be described. Dresser 3000
The brush fixing seat 30 with the drive flange 3019 interposed therebetween.
At the end of 02, a splined dresser drive shaft 96 is connected. The upper end of the dresser drive shaft 96 is supported by a bearing 3006. A bearing case 3023 containing a bearing 3006 and a cylinder 3008 are fastened with a bracket 3007 interposed therebetween. The cylinder 3008 is fixed to the upper and lower surface of the base 3009, and the up-and-down movement of the cylinder 3008 is
000. Furthermore, cylinder 3
Guide 3 for supporting up and down linear movement of 008
010 is attached to the base 3009. Guide 30
The slider 3018 linearly moving on the bracket 10
7 to guide the operation of the cylinder 3008.

The dresser rotating shaft 96 has the cylinder 3
Rotary ball spline 3 for guiding the linear motion of a series of vertically movable parts from 008 to dresser 3000
028 is attached. Rotary ball spline 3
Reference numeral 28 denotes a spline outer ring 3029 and a flange outer ring 303.
The spline outer ring 3029 supports the linear motion of the dresser drive shaft 96 and transmits the rotational motion to the dresser drive shaft 96. The flange outer ring 3030 supports the rotation of the spline outer ring 3029. Spline outer ring 30
A pulley 3005 is attached to 29. The rotation of the pulley 3005 rotates the spline outer ring 3029 and is transmitted to the dresser drive shaft 96.

Next, the dresser 3000 reaches the ascending position, and after the ascending-end sensor 3021 informing the arrival of the ascending position issues a signal, swings together with the dresser head 97 to the dressing start position. This oscillating mechanism includes a cylinder 30
The 16 linear motions impart rotational motion to the hollow rotary shaft 98 fastened to the dresser head 97 via the crank 3017. Next, the dresser 3000 that has reached the dressing position performs a rotary motion about the dresser drive shaft 96 after the end sensor 3024 of the cylinder 3016 issues a signal. This rotation is performed as follows. The rotating shaft 3013 is connected to the motor 3014, and the rotation of the rotating shaft 3
013 also rotates. The rotating shaft 3013 is supported by bearings 3032 installed at both ends of the hollow shaft 98 on the outside. Rotating shaft 3 by motor 3014
When 013 is rotated, a pulley 3011 mounted on the upper end of the shaft 3013 transmits a rotational motion to the pulley 3005 via the timing belt 3012. And
The rotation of the pulley 3005 is transmitted to the dresser drive shaft 96 via the spline outer ring 3029.

Next, when the motor 3014 detects that the number of revolutions of the dresser 3000 has reached a steady state, the cylinder 3008 descends and starts dressing of the polishing pad. At this time, if the descending end sensor 3022 does not emit a signal, it is determined that the dresser 3000 has not reached the normal descending position, and an error is displayed. During the dressing, from the dressing agent supply port 3031 on the polishing table 36,
It is possible to introduce a liquid (such as pure water or a chemical solution). After dressing, dresser 3000 goes up,
After the rising end sensor of the cylinder 3008 issues a signal, the rotation of the dresser 3000 stops. After confirming that the motor 3014 has stopped rotating, it swings to the standby position,
6 after the end sensor 3025 emits a signal.
000 descends and fits in the water trough 3020, and a series of operations ends.

Here, the above-mentioned polishing pad is also interchangeable with fixed abrasive grains (grinding stones). Also, the brush body 300
1 is also interchangeable with a diamond dresser. The brush 3000 includes a brush body 3001 and a brush fixing seat 3002, and the brush body 3001 is replaceable as a consumable. Protective sheaths 3026 and 3027 each having a labyrinth mechanism are formed on the portion of the rotating shaft 98 and the portion of the rotary ball spline 3028, respectively. To prevent intrusion. As described above, the case where the portion of the dresser 3000 facing the polishing table is elongated is shown. However, since the shape of the dresser 3000 is elongated and the rotation axis is located at the end, a circular dresser is used. In comparison, a feature is that the same dressing area can be secured with a small occupied area.

Polishing Table FIG. 40 is a front view showing the polishing table. The polishing tables 34 and 35 are installed one by one in each polishing chamber. Depending on the polishing processing step, a small-diameter polishing table 36,
37 is installed in the polishing chamber. The polishing tables 34, 35, 36, and 37 are provided with two types of mechanisms, a rotary polishing table and a scroll polishing table. Both can be mounted in the same area and can be selected according to various polishing processes. The polishing table shown in FIG. 40 is a front view showing a rotary polishing table. The rotation type polishing table 34 has a table radius larger than the wafer diameter, and the polishing table 34 and the wafer are rotated in the same direction, and the wafer is polished at a position off the center of the table. At this point, the relative speed of the wafer to the table is equal.

As shown in FIG. 40, the polishing table 34
Is directly driven by a motor 401, and receives a thrust or radial shaft load by a bearing of the motor. The motor 401 is housed in a motor housing 402. This motor housing 402
Is a housing 4 for a swing shaft for swinging the top ring.
03, and also has an integral structure with a motor housing 404 for a swing shaft for swinging the dresser. The motor housing includes a motor housing directly mounted on a base supporting the entire apparatus and a motor housing integrated with the base. Furthermore, the rotor of this motor is hollow and has a structure through which a plurality of pipes can be passed. A rotary joint 405 is arranged below the rotor, and an internal pipe is connected thereto.

Further, a mechanism synchronized with the rotation of the rotor is provided below the rotor, and by connecting the encoder 406 to the mechanism, the number of rotations of the motor can be constantly measured. By sending a signal of the number of revolutions to a driver that controls the motor, the motor can maintain an appropriate number of revolutions. Further, by monitoring the motor current, the end point of the polishing can be detected. A passage for flowing cooling water for cooling the motor is formed in the stator case of the motor, so that continuous operation under a high load can be performed. In addition, the polishing table 34 may include a sensor that optically detects an abnormality such as a wafer jumping out of the top ring 32. When an abnormality occurs, the polishing table drive motor can stop the polishing table immediately upon receiving a signal from the sensor.

The polishing table 34 has a structure that can be attached and detached while being mounted on the drive motor 401 and the apparatus. The polishing table 34 has a polishing table 3
There is a method in which a pad is attached to the polishing pad 4 and a method in which the pad is attached to a polishing table and a cartridge which can be easily detached and used. In both types, the surface plate shape includes a flat surface, a convex surface, and a concave surface. The integrated surface plate is used by attaching a polishing pad, and the cartridge type can be mounted with a polishing pad or a fixed abrasive (grindstone). The integrated type includes a stainless steel type and a ceramic type. In the case of the cartridge type, changing the shape of the surface plate and the pad or the fixed abrasive only requires changing the cartridge. By preparing a cartridge surface plate to which pads have already been attached, it is possible to reduce the pad replacement time of the surface plate. In addition, some cartridge-type surface plates have a solid structure, and others have a hollow structure with a honeycomb structure and a hollow portion. The honeycomb structure can reduce the load on the operator when the cartridge is replaced.

(Cooling Table Cooling and Temperature Adjustment) A mechanism for adjusting the temperature of the surface plate is provided below the surface plate. The temperature control water is supplied from a pipe in a hollow shaft of the motor 401 to a table cooling chamber below the surface plate. Inside the table cooling chamber, a cooling water flow path is provided so that the entire surface of the table is uniformly cooled, and a method of arranging the flow path differs depending on a surface plate used. A temperature sensor is provided on the pipe of the temperature regulating water supplied to the apparatus, and an interlock is applied when the temperature deviates from an allowable range from a set temperature. In addition, a signal of this temperature is sent to a temperature control unit outside the apparatus, so that feedback control can be performed. By providing a flow meter or a pressure gauge on the same line, an interlock is applied even when an abnormal flow rate and temperature-regulated water are supplied. In addition, a flow control valve and a pressure regulator are installed so that the flow rate and pressure can be controlled in the apparatus. As another temperature control method, the temperature of the polished surface on the table 34 is measured using a non-contact type temperature sensor, and a feedback control is performed by sending a signal to a temperature control unit based on the measurement result. Sometimes.

Next, a polishing table other than the polishing table shown in FIG. 40 will be described. (Scroll type polishing table) FIG. 41 is a vertical sectional view showing a scroll type second polishing table, and FIG.
FIG. 42A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line PP of FIG. 41, and FIG.
42 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. In the second polishing table 36 of the scroll type, an upper flange 751 of a motor 750 having a hollow shaft and a shaft 752 having a hollow inside are sequentially fastened by bolts. A set ring 754 is supported on an upper portion of the shaft 752 by a bearing 753. This set ring 75
A table 759 is fastened to the upper surface of the table 4, and a polishing table 755 is fastened to the upper portion of the table 759 by bolts 790.
The polishing table 755 may be entirely composed of, for example, a grindstone, or the polishing table 755 may be composed of, for example, a metal having excellent corrosion resistance, such as stainless steel, and may be used by attaching a polishing pad to an upper surface thereof. When a grindstone or a polishing pad is used, the upper surface of the polishing table 755 may be flat or may have irregularities. These are selected according to the type of the wafer 101 to be polished. Table 755
Is set to be equal to or larger than the diameter of the wafer + 2 “e”, and the size is such that the wafer does not protrude from the polishing table 755 even when the polishing table 755 performs a translational movement.

The set ring 754 has three circumferentially
One or more supports 758 are formed, and the table 759 is supported by these supports 758. Support 758
In the position corresponding to the upper surface of the and the upper end of the cylindrical member 795,
A plurality of recesses 760 and 761 are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and these recesses 760 and 761 have bearings 76.
2,763 are mounted respectively. Bearing 76
As shown in FIGS. 41 and 42,
A support member 766 having two shafts 764 and 765 shifted by “e” is supported by inserting the ends of the shafts, and by rotating the motor 750, the polishing table 755 becomes a circle with a radius “e”. It can be translated along.

The flange 751 is similarly eccentric by "e" between the motor 750 and the shaft 752.
A balancer 767 is attached to the shaft 752 to balance the load due to the eccentricity. Polishing table 7
The supply of the polishing abrasive onto the upper surface 55 passes through the inside of the motor 750 and the shaft 752, and is supplied to a through hole 757 provided at the center of the table 759 via a joint 791. The supplied polishing abrasive liquid is temporarily stored in a space 756 formed between the polishing table 755 and the table 759, and is brought into direct contact with the wafer 101 via a plurality of through holes 768 provided in the polishing table 755. Supplied to The number and positions of the through holes 768 are appropriately selected depending on the type of the process. When the polishing pad is used by being attached to the polishing table 755, the polishing pad is also provided with a through hole at a position corresponding to the position of the through hole 768. Polishing table 75
In the case where the whole of 5 is made of a grindstone, grooves such as lattice, spiral, or radial may be provided on the upper surface of the polishing table, and the through holes 768 may communicate with the grooves.

The polishing liquid to be supplied is selected from the optimal one among pure water, chemical liquid, slurry and the like, and one or more kinds of polishing liquid are supplied simultaneously, alternately or sequentially as required. Is controlled to be In order to protect the mechanism performing the translational movement from the polishing liquid during polishing, the table 7 is used.
55 has a flinger 769 attached,
0 and a labyrinth mechanism.

In the above configuration, the upper and lower bearings 76
The two members 2763 are mutually connected in the axial direction by a support member 766 composed of a crankshaft having upper and lower shafts 764 and 765 fitted to upper and lower bearings 762 and 763. Therefore, the upper and lower bearings 762 and 763 are horizontally displaced by the distance “e”. Lower bearing 7
The cylindrical member 795 supporting 63 is fixed to the frame and is therefore stationary. When the motor 750 is driven, the hollow shaft 752 rotates with a radius “e” around the rotation axis of the motor 750. Therefore, the polishing table 755 performs a circular translation motion (scrolling motion) via the crankshaft, and the wafer 101 attached to the top ring 32 is pressed onto the polishing surface of the polishing table 755. The polishing liquid supplied to the polishing surface through the through hole 757, the space 756, and the through hole 768 causes the wafer 10
1 is polished. A minute relative translational circular motion having a radius "e" occurs between the polishing surface on the polishing table 755 and the wafer 101, and the surface to be polished of the wafer 101 is uniformly polished. When the positional relationship between the polished surface and the polished surface is the same, the polished surface is affected by a local difference. Only to prevent polishing.

(Overhang Type Polishing Table) FIG. 43
FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an overhang type second polishing table. Overhang-type second polishing table 36
The platen 700 is connected to a motor 705 via a flange 704.
Attached to. By rotating the motor 705, the platen 700 rotates in synchronization with the rotation. The number of rotations of the platen 700 is measured and displayed by counting the number of times the dog 707 attached to the platen 700 rotates and passes through the proximity switch 708. In addition, the overhang type polishing table is made of labyrinth 701, O-rings 702, 703, labyrinth 70 from slurry or pure water used at the time of polishing or dressing.
It is protected by a second labyrinth 710 provided inside one. Further, an exhaust port 709 is formed in the housing 706 so as to withstand high load polishing and continuous polishing for a long time.
06 and the gap between the motor 705 and the motor 705
To reduce the load.

The overhang type polishing table has the center of the table within the diameter of the wafer to be polished. Also, the wafer,
By rotating both tables in the same direction, the relative speed of the wafer to the table becomes equal at any point on the wafer. A platen 700 is disposed on the table upper surface, and a polishing pad or fixed abrasive (grinding stone) can be attached to the platen 700. The polishing liquid, the chemical liquid, and the water are supplied to the platen from above by a nozzle.

Abrasive Liquid Supply Nozzle The abrasive liquid supply nozzle is a device for supplying a polishing abrasive liquid to a polishing surface (eg, a polishing pad) on a polishing table.
FIGS. 44 and 45 are views showing the abrasive liquid supply nozzle.
FIG. 44A is a plan view of the abrasive liquid supply nozzle, and FIG.
FIG. 45B is a side view having a partial cross section of the polishing liquid supply nozzle, and FIG. 45 shows a position of the polishing liquid supply nozzle 40 with respect to the polishing table 34. Abrasive liquid supply nozzle 40
Can be located at a supply position F for supplying liquid on the polishing table 34, a first retreat position E, and a second retreat position D, as shown in FIG.
The polishing liquid supply nozzle 40 can hold the tip of the liquid supply arm 3050 at a predetermined position by rotating about the rotation shaft 3051.

Next, the rotation mechanism of the polishing liquid supply nozzle 40 will be described. The rotating motion of the rotating shaft 3051 is
Swinging arm 3052 attached to the lower end of 051
Are obtained by oscillating about the rotation shaft 3051. The swing arm 3052 includes a cylinder 305
3, together with the cylinder 3054, constitute a link mechanism. That is, the swing arm 3052 swings by the linear movement of the cylinder 3053 and the cylinder 3054 due to the rod expansion and contraction. Then, the rotation shaft 3051 located at the rotation center of the swing arm 3052 rotates. Cylinder 3054
Is the cylinder bracket 3 fastened to the base 3055
056. The cylinder 3053 is pinned so that the cylinder 3054 can rotate at the rod end with respect to the rod end. The rotating shaft 3051 is provided with a bearing 305 housed in a bearing base 3058.
7 rotatably supported.

Next, the operation of the two cylinders will be described. When the tip of the liquid supply arm 3050 is located on the polishing table, for example, at the center of the polishing table 34 in this embodiment, the rod of the cylinder 3053 is in an extended state and the rod of the cylinder 3054 is in a contracted state. At this time, the position sensor 3066 of the cylinder 3053 and the position sensor 3068 of the cylinder 3054 emit a signal. If the signal cannot be detected, the control computer determines that the polishing liquid supply nozzle 40 is not at a normal position, issues an error display, and the process is interlocked.

Next, the tip of the liquid supply arm 3050 is
When in the position, the rod of the cylinder 3053 and the rod of the cylinder 3054 are both in a contracted state. At this time, the position computer 3067 of the cylinder 3053 and the position sensor 3068 of the cylinder 3054 generate signals, so that the control computer can recognize the position of the polishing liquid supply nozzle 40. The liquid supply arm 30
When the tip of 50 is at the D position, the rod of the cylinder 3053 is in a contracted state, and the rod of the cylinder 3054 is in an extended state. Also at this time, the position sensor 3067 of the cylinder 3053 and the position sensor 30 of the cylinder 3054
When the signal 69 is issued, the control computer can recognize the position of the polishing liquid supply nozzle 40.

Next, the sensor 3064 attached to the liquid supply arm 3050 will be described. Sensor 306
4 is a scattering prevention cover 307 around the polishing table 34.
When “0” is set at the regular installation position, it reacts with the dog 3065 attached to the position of the scattering prevention cover 3070 immediately below the sensor 3064 to generate a signal. This makes it possible to easily detect the forgotten attachment of the scattering prevention cover 3070 and the displacement. That is, since the scattering prevention cover 3070 can move up and down, it is lowered during maintenance of the polishing table 34. However, if the polishing operation is performed with the polishing table 34 being lowered, the polishing liquid and the like may scatter around. The signal generated by the sensor 3064 can prevent the drive motor or the like of the polishing table 34 from malfunctioning, and can prevent the above-mentioned situation.
In addition, the rotation mechanism of the rotating shaft 3051 is changed to a liquid (abrasive liquid, chemical liquid,
A flinger 3060 is attached to the arm body 3059 as a protection mechanism for protecting the arm body 3059 from pure water. The flinger 3060 forms a labyrinth mechanism with the polisher pan 3061.

Next, the operation of the liquid supply arm 3050 will be described. The liquid supply arm 3050 is positioned such that the four tubes 3063 coincide with the rotation center of the polishing table 34 at the liquid supply position F, and discharges the polishing liquid from a predetermined tube 3063 among the four tubes 3063. The discharged polishing liquid falls to the center of the polishing table 34, spreads uniformly over the entire surface of the polishing table 34, and covers the entire polishing surface. The tube 3063 is inserted into the hollow liquid supply arm 3050, and is fixed by the fixing member 3062.
Fixed to 0. Thereby, the tube 30
The tip of 63 is guided so as to be perpendicular to the polishing table 34. At the time of dressing, the dressing liquid is discharged from the tube 3063, and this dressing liquid also falls vertically to the center of the polishing table 34 like the polishing liquid, and spreads uniformly over the entire surface of the polishing table 34. That is, in the case of the liquid supply arm 3050 in the present embodiment, the liquid discharged from any of the tubes 3063 is supplied so as to hang vertically to the center of the polishing table 34, and therefore, a required position of the polishing surface of the polishing table 34 is required. Can be supplied accurately.

As a method for supplying the liquid vertically, as shown in the drawing, in addition to a method in which the tip of the tube 3063 is directed vertically downward, tanks T ₁ and T ₂ for storing the liquid are used.
The flow rate control valves V ₁ and V ₂ are provided between the tube and the tube so that the flow rate supplied to the tube can be adjusted, and the flow rate is adjusted so that the liquid discharged from the tube tip immediately flows down vertically. It is also possible.
When the polishing pad attached to the polishing table 34 is to be replaced, the liquid supply arm 3050 is moved to the first retreat position E by the link mechanism driven by the two cylinders.
Rock until As a result, nothing exists directly above the polishing table 34, and operations such as replacement of the polishing cloth can be easily performed. At this time, the tip of the tube 3063 at the tip of the liquid supply arm 3050 is
It is located directly above the notch 3071 of the scattering prevention cover 3070. As a result, the liquid dripping from the tube 3063 falls through the cutout into the tub located thereunder, and the leaked liquid does not stain the periphery of the polishing table 34. In addition, with such a configuration, the tube 3063 is also connected to a pure water source, and by passing pure water therethrough, the tube can be washed without polluting the surroundings.

In the case where maintenance that cannot be performed at the two positions E and F is required, for example, when measuring the liquid discharge flow rate and inspecting the periphery of the polishing table, the liquid is supplied by the link mechanism driven by the two cylinders. The arm 3050 is swung to the second retracted position D. Thus, the polishing table 34 and the scattering prevention cover 307
Nothing is present on 0, and the above maintenance can be performed easily. In the above embodiment, the cylinder 305
The stop position of the liquid supply arm 3050 by the link mechanism using the 3,3054 is set at two positions. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is sufficient that at least one liquid supply position and at least one retreat position are provided. .

FIG. 46 to FIG. 48 are schematic views showing a polishing abrasive liquid supply system. The present apparatus has a plurality of polishing surfaces, and can supply a plurality of slurries to each polishing surface. The supply method includes a case where the required amount of the polishing liquid used for polishing is supplied stably from the outside of the apparatus, a case where the polishing liquid is supplied without controlling the pressure and the flow rate constantly, and a case where the polishing liquid is supplied outside the apparatus. There is a case where a tank for storing the liquid is installed, and the polishing liquid is sucked from the tank. When the polishing liquid flow rate is supplied stably, as shown in FIGS. 46 and 47, a three-way valve is attached to the primary connection port of the supply line as needed to supply the polishing liquid onto the polishing surface. When not performed, the valve 420 of the three-way valve is closed and the valve 421 is opened to return the abrasive fluid to the outside of the apparatus and circulate the same. When supplying the polishing liquid onto the polishing surface, the valve 420 is opened and the valve 421 is closed.

In addition to these valves, a pressure sensor is provided on the abrasive fluid supply line to monitor the abrasive fluid supply pressure. If the supply pressure is too high or not supplied,
An interlock can be applied by detecting the pressure. By providing a constant flow rate valve downstream of the valve, the flow rate of the polishing liquid supplied onto the polishing surface can be precisely controlled near the polishing surface. This constant flow valve is designed to change the flow rate every time one wafer is polished or to combine various rotation speeds and flow rates during one polishing by building a system that can change the flow rate by an electric signal. It is also possible to polish step by step. Also, after polishing,
In some cases, the wafer is polished or cleaned by using pure water instead of the polishing liquid. In order to cope with this, a line of pure water is provided so as to be supplied on the polished surface.
The supply timing is controlled by opening / closing 26. From this pure water line, pure water may be supplied onto the polishing surface even during dressing.

When the flow rate of the supplied abrasive liquid is not constant or when the abrasive liquid is sucked up from a tank placed outside the apparatus, as shown in FIG. 432 are provided. The pump used is
Tubing pumps often used as medical equipment are small and easy to use. By providing the pumps 430 and 432, it is also possible to make the flow rate constant and change the flow rate every time one wafer is polished, or to perform stepwise polishing by combining various rotation speeds and flow rates during one polishing. It is possible. In addition, as shown in FIG. 46, the valve 440 and the valve 44 are used in preparation for mixing at least two or more types of polishing liquid immediately before supplying the polishing liquid to the polishing surface or diluting the polishing liquid with pure water.
1 can be installed. By incorporating a constant flow valve and a pressure sensor, these lines can also be supplied with their concentrations changed freely. In all circuits, a flushing line and valves 424, 425 for cleaning the polishing liquid accumulated in the polishing liquid supply line with pure water so as not to be hardened by drying are provided. This valve can be opened for a certain period of time to clean the inside of the line every time polishing of the wafer is completed, or the inside of the line can be cleaned at a regular interval during a period of time when the apparatus is waiting for the next processing.

Wafer Cleaning FIG. 32 is a schematic view showing the cleaning operation of a wafer and the operation of each device handling the wafer. The wafer transported by the rotary transporter 27, the pushers 30, 30 ', the lifters 29, 29', the top rings 32, 33, and the reversing devices 28, 28 'is cleaned during the transport after polishing. The purpose of this is to wash the polishing liquid or polishing residue adhering to the wafer during polishing at an early stage to prevent unnecessary etching and oxidation due to chemical components of the polishing liquid. Also,
When the polishing liquid or polishing debris dries on the wafer, the adherence to the wafer becomes strong, and the polishing liquid or polishing residue may not be removed even after cleaning with a cleaning machine. For this reason, it is necessary to carry the material to the washing machine without drying. In addition, these five units that transport the wafer also need to be cleaned because they come into contact with the dirty wafer.

The pushers 30, 30 'are for the top ring 3.
The wafer is transferred between the rotary transporters 27 and 33. The wafer before polishing is carried on the rotary transporter 27 and transported above the pushers 30, 30 '. The pushers 30, 30 'transfer the wafer to the top rings 32, 33. The polished wafer is transferred from the top rings 32, 33 to the rotary transporter 27 via pushers 30, 30 '. Since the wafer after polishing has abrasive liquid or polishing scum attached thereto, the abrasive liquid or polishing scum also adheres to the pushers 30 and 30 ′ for transporting the wafer. If the pusher itself is not cleaned, the wafer to be transported next will be contaminated before polishing. In addition, if a long time passes without cleaning, the abrasive liquid and polishing residue solidify and become large particles, which adhere to the wafer and cause large damage (scratch) to the wafer if the wafer is polished. . Therefore pusher 3
It is necessary to wash the stages 0 and 30 ', especially the stage on which the wafer is mounted. As shown in FIG. 32, a cleaning liquid (pure water / chemical liquid / ion water, ozone water, etc.) is sprayed using a spray nozzle 500. Cleaning is performed by spraying. The timing of cleaning is as follows.
The wafers 0, 30 'rise and receive, pass the wafer to the rotary transporter in the course of descending, descend further, and receive a signal of the end of descending from the sensor.

The rotary transporter 27 places the wafer on the upper surface, and transports the wafer by rotating between a transfer position between the lifters 29 and 29 ′ and a transfer position between the pushers 30 and 30 ′. In the transfer of the wafer after the polishing is completed, the wafer on which the polishing liquid or polishing residue remains is transferred, so that the wafer mounting pins 201 and the periphery thereof are stained with the polishing liquid or the polishing residue. The wafer after polishing is transferred to the wafer mounting pins 201 on the rotary transporter 27.
Is transported via pushers 30, 30 '.
When the wafer is transferred to the rotary transporter 27, the wafer is washed by applying a cleaning liquid (pure water, chemical solution, ionic water, ozone water, etc.) to the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer. In order to apply the cleaning liquid, desired flow rates, pressures, and angles are used by using spray nozzles 501, 502, 503, and 504 fixed to the polisher pans 80 and 80 '(see FIG. 1) and the partition 24 (see FIG. 1). , The wafer can be cleaned in the range. The cleaning of the upper surface and the lower surface of the wafer may be performed at the same time, and the air operated valve for operating the cleaning liquid may be shared. In this case, the pipe may be branched downstream from the outlet of the air operated valve to supply the upper and lower surfaces. Also, since the wafer has a pattern surface facing downward, enriching the cleaning from below will improve the yield of wafers.Therefore, lower the nozzle capable of flowing a larger flow rate than the cleaning nozzle on the upper surface. It can be used for washing from above or by making the piping thicker only for the lower surface, so that washing from below can be more enriched than washing from above. Of course, the same can be achieved by dividing the operating air operated valve into a lower surface and an upper air valve. Further, in order to clean the pins of the rotary transporter 27 when the wafer is not held, the wafer mounting pins 201 may be cleaned using this nozzle.

Lifters 29, 29 'are reversing machines 28, 28'
Then, the wafer is transferred by the rotary transporter 27.
The wafer before polishing is turned by a robot into a reversing machine 28,
28 '. The lifters 29, 29 ′ carry this wafer to the rotary transporter 27. Also,
The wafer after polishing is transferred to the rotary transporter 27.
The wafer is transported above the lifter, and the wafer is transported to the reversing devices 28 and 28 '. The wafer after polishing has been cleaned to some extent on the rotary transporter 27 with abrasive liquid and polishing debris. However, if the cleaning is not sufficient, the lifters 29 and 29 'for transporting the wafer may be stained. Therefore, it is necessary to wash the stage 260 (see FIG. 30) on the lifter, particularly the wafer, between the transfer of the wafer. Also in this case, cleaning is performed by spraying a cleaning liquid (pure water / chemical solution) using a spray nozzle 505. In particular, the polished wafer 101
After being transported to the reversing machines 28 and 28 ', the lifters 29 and 2
It is effective to start the washing in response to the lowering of 9 'and the lowering end sensor 267 having issued a signal indicating the end of the lowering.

The top rings 32 and 33 are stained with polishing liquid or polishing waste every time polishing is performed. It is necessary to remove the wafer after polishing, and to clean the previous polishing stain before receiving the next wafer. When the wafer is detached, the wafer holding portions 32a and 33a are opened. By cleaning the opened wafer holding portions 32a and 33a before holding the next wafer and starting the polishing, it is possible to prevent the abrasive liquid or polishing dust from entering between the next wafer to be polished and the wafer holding portion. . Here, as shown in FIG. 32, cleaning is performed by spraying a cleaning liquid (pure water, chemical liquid, ionized water, ozone water, etc.) with a spray nozzle 506. Also,
Immediately push the wafer after polishing to pusher 30,3
It is also possible to clean the pattern surface of the wafer with this nozzle 506 without deviating to 0 '.

The reversing machines 28 and 28 ′ are composed of a robot and a lifter 3.
The wafer is inverted during the transfer of 0, 30 '. Since the wafer after the polishing is simply cleaned before being transferred to the reversing machines 28 and 28 ', the wafer is cleaned and prevented from drying even during the wafer residence time in the reversing machine. , Spray nozzles 507, 50
The cleaning water (pure water, chemical solution, ionized water, ozone water, etc.) is applied to the wafer by using 8. The polished wafer is conveyed to a reversing machine and then reversed so that the pattern surface faces upward. Thereafter, the wafer waits on the reversing machine until the robot comes to receive it. In consideration of the fact that the waiting time of the wafer on the reversing machine is lengthened depending on the conditions of the processing time for polishing and cleaning of the wafer, the role of preventing drying is enhanced here. In addition, washing machines 5, 6, 22,
If one or more of the cleaning times is extremely longer than the polishing time, the reversing machines 28 and 28 '.
In addition, the stage 21 on the rotary transporter 27
The wafer 101 can also be made to stand by by 1 or 213 (see FIG. 31). Also in this case, the above-described reversing machines 28, 28 '
As in the case of the above, the spray nozzle 50 is used for the purpose of preventing drying.
Wash water may be flowed using 3,504.

The cleaning of the wafer around the rotary transporter and the cleaning of each unit have been described above. In summary, the order of cleaning the wafer after polishing is as follows: 1) Cleaning on the top rings 32 and 33 2) Rotary Washing on the transporter 27 3) Washing in the reversing machines 28 and 28 '. In order to prevent unnecessary etching and oxidation by the polishing liquid, it is desirable that cleaning with a chemical liquid be performed immediately after polishing is completed. Therefore, it is more effective to perform the cleaning on the top ring and the cleaning on the rotary transporter with a chemical solution. On the other hand, in consideration of the fact that the wafer is cleaned to some extent in the previous stage, the purpose of preventing the drying can be emphasized rather than the purpose of the cleaning.

Therefore, it is possible to perform cleaning that is optimal and minimizes costs by separating the wafer cleaning with a top ring and a rotary transporter with a chemical solution, and cleaning with a reversing machine with pure water. In addition, the time taken for cleaning with the top ring and the rotary transporter directly affects the processing time of the wafer, but the cleaning of the waiting time in the reversing machine does not affect the processing time of the apparatus. Therefore, it is preferable to spray the washing water with the top ring and the rotary transporter strongly and in a short time, and to wash with the reversing machine at a flow rate that prevents drying, for example, intermittently.

FIG. 49 is a plan view showing the arrangement of each part of the polishing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 50 is a perspective view of the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 49 and 50, the housing surrounding the entire polishing apparatus is not shown. In FIG. 50, illustration of the partition is omitted.
In the polishing apparatus according to the first embodiment, one common rotary provided with four stages (tables) that rotate and move as a common transport mechanism for two polishing units disposed in the areas C and D. Although the transporter 27 is arranged,
The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a linear transporter having two stages that reciprocate linearly as a dedicated transport mechanism is individually arranged in two polishing units. The polishing apparatus shown in FIGS. 49 and 50 includes four load / unload stages 2 on which a wafer cassette 1 for storing a large number of semiconductor wafers is placed. A transfer robot 4 having two hands is arranged on the traveling mechanism 3 so that each of the wafer cassettes 1 on the load / unload stage 2 can be reached. The traveling mechanism 3 employs a traveling mechanism including a linear motor. By adopting a traveling mechanism composed of a linear motor, the diameter of the wafer becomes large, and high-speed and stable transfer can be achieved.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 49, as the load / unload stage 2 on which the wafer cassette 1 is mounted, an SMI
Using F (Standard Manufacturing Interface) pod or FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod)
This is an example in which a load / unload stage is externally attached. S
The MIF and the FOUP are sealed containers that house a wafer cassette therein and cover them with partition walls so that an environment independent of an external space can be maintained. SMIF or FOU
P is loaded / unloaded stage 2 of the polishing apparatus
Is installed in the housing 46 on the polishing apparatus side.
Shutter 52 and SMIF or FO
By opening the shutter on the UP side, the polishing apparatus and the wafer cassette 1 side are integrated. When the polishing process is finished, the SMIF or FOUP is closed by a shutter, separated from the polishing apparatus, and is automatically or manually transferred to another processing step. Therefore, the internal atmosphere of the SMIF or FOUP must be kept clean.

Therefore, a downflow of clean air is formed above the region A where the wafer passes just before returning to the cassette through the chemical filter. Further, since a linear motor is used for moving the transfer robot 4, dust generation is suppressed, and the atmosphere in the area A can be kept more normal. Incidentally, in order to keep the wafers in the wafer cassette 1 clean, a chemical filter and a fan may be incorporated in a closed container such as SMIF or FOUP, and a clean box which maintains the cleanness by itself may be used.

The traveling mechanism 3 of the transfer robot 4 is set on the axis of symmetry,
Two cleaning machines 5 and 6 are arranged on the opposite side of the wafer cassette 1. Each of the washing machines 5 and 6 is arranged at a position where the hand of the transfer robot 4 can reach. A wafer station 50 having four semiconductor wafer mounting tables 7, 8, 9, and 10 is disposed at a position where the robot 4 can reach between the two cleaning machines 5 and 6.

The washing machines 5, 6 and the mounting tables 7, 8, 9, 1
0 is arranged, and a partition 14 is arranged to separate the cleanliness of an area A where the wafer cassette 1 and the transfer robot 4 are arranged, and a semiconductor wafer is transferred between the areas. Shutter 1 at opening of partition
1 is provided. Washing machine 5 and three mounting tables 7, 9,
The transfer robot 20 is disposed at a position where the transfer robot 10 can be reached, and the transfer robot 21 is disposed at a position where the transfer robot 20 can reach the cleaning machine 6 and the three mounting tables 8, 9 and 10.

A washing machine 22 is arranged adjacent to the washing machine 5 at a position where the hand of the transfer robot 20 can reach. The washing machine 23 is arranged at a position where the hand of the transfer robot 21 can reach so as to be adjacent to the washing machine 6. The cleaning machines 5, 6, 22, and 23, the mounting tables 7, 8, 9, and 10 of the wafer station 50, and the transfer robots 20 and 21 are all arranged in the area B, and
It is adjusted to a pressure lower than the internal pressure. The washing machines 22 and 23 are washing machines capable of washing both sides.

The present polishing apparatus has a housing (not shown) so as to surround each device, and the inside of the housing is divided into a plurality of rooms (including the area A and the area B) by the partition walls 14 and the partition walls 24A and 24B. Is divided into Partition wall 24
A and 24B divide into two regions C and D where two polishing chambers separated from the region B are formed. In each of the two regions C and D, two polishing tables and one top ring for holding one semiconductor wafer and polishing while pressing the semiconductor wafer against the polishing table are arranged. . That is, the polishing tables 34 and 36 are arranged in the area C, and the polishing tables 35 and 37 are arranged in the area D. The top ring 32 is arranged in the area C, and the top ring 33 is arranged in the area D. I have. A polishing liquid nozzle 40 for supplying a polishing liquid to the polishing table 34 in the area C and a dresser 38 for dressing the polishing table 34 are arranged. A polishing liquid nozzle 41 for supplying a polishing liquid to the polishing table 35 in the region D
And a dresser 39 for dressing the polishing table 35 are arranged. Further, a dresser 48 for dressing the polishing table 36 in the region C is provided.
And a dresser 49 for dressing the polishing table 37 in the area D.

The polishing tables 34, 35 are provided with atomizers 44, 45 as fluid pressure dressers in addition to the mechanical dressers 38, 39. The atomizer atomizes a mixed fluid of a liquid (for example, pure water) and a gas (for example, nitrogen) and jets the mixture from a plurality of nozzles to a polishing surface. The main purpose of the atomizer is to wash away abrasive debris and slurry particles deposited and clogged on the polishing surface. More desirable dressing, that is, regeneration of the polished surface can be achieved by cleaning the polished surface with the fluid pressure of the atomizer and sharpening the polished surface by the dressers 38 and 39 which are mechanical contacts.

FIG. 51 is a diagram showing the relationship between the top ring 32 and the polishing tables 34, 36. The relationship between the top ring 33 and the polishing tables 35 and 37 is the same. As shown in FIG. 51, the top ring 32 is suspended from the top ring head 31 by a rotatable top ring drive shaft 91. The top ring head 31 is supported by a positionable swing shaft 92, and the top ring 32 can access the polishing tables 34 and 36. The dresser 38 is suspended from a dresser head 94 by a rotatable dresser drive shaft 93. The dresser head 94 is supported by a swingable shaft 95 that can be positioned, and the dresser 38 is movable between a standby position and a dresser position on the polishing table 34. The dresser head (swinging arm) 97 is supported by a swinging shaft 98 that can be positioned, and the dresser 48 is movable between a standby position and a dresser position on the polishing table 36. The dresser 48 has an elongated shape longer than the diameter of the table 36,
The dresser head 97 swings about the swing shaft 98. When the dresser 48 and the dresser fixing mechanism 96 on the opposite side of the swing shaft 98 of the dresser head 97 pivot, the dresser 48 can dress on the polishing table 36 by a movement like a car wiper without rotating. And a dresser head 97 by a dresser fixing mechanism 96.
Hanged from. Here, the polishing table 36,
As for 37, the above-mentioned scroll type polishing table is used.

As shown in FIG. 49, a reversing device 28 for reversing the semiconductor wafer is disposed in a position where the hand of the transfer robot 20 can reach within the region C separated from the region B by the partition wall 24A. ing. A reversing device 28 ′ for reversing the semiconductor wafer is located at a position in the area D separated from the area B by the partition wall 24 </ b> B and reachable by the hand of the transfer robot 21. In addition, area B
In the partition walls 24A and 24B which partition the area C and the area C, an opening for transferring a semiconductor wafer is provided.
8 and shutters 25 and 26 dedicated to the reversing device 28 'are provided in the openings.

The reversing machine 28 and the reversing machine 28 'include a chuck mechanism for chucking the semiconductor wafer, an inversion mechanism for reversing the front and back surfaces of the semiconductor wafer, and a wafer for confirming whether or not the semiconductor wafer is chucked by the chuck mechanism. An existence detection sensor. The semiconductor wafer is transferred to the reversing device 28 by the transfer robot 20, and the semiconductor wafer is transferred to the reversing device 28 'by the transfer robot 21.

In a region C forming one polishing chamber, a linear transporter 27A forming a transfer mechanism for transferring a semiconductor wafer between the reversing machine 28 and the top ring 32 is disposed. A linear transporter 27B, which constitutes a transfer mechanism for transferring a semiconductor wafer between the reversing device 28 'and the top ring 33, is disposed in an area D constituting the other polishing chamber. The linear transporter 27A of this embodiment (or 2)
7B) is different from the rotary transporter 27 of the first embodiment in that the linear transporter 27A includes two stages that reciprocate linearly, and that the semiconductor is disposed between the linear transporter and the top ring or the reversing machine. When the wafer is transferred, the transfer is performed via a wafer tray.

The relationship between the linear transporter 27A, the lifter 29 and the pusher 30 is shown on the right side of FIG. Linear transporter 27B and lifter 2
The relationship between 9 'and pusher 30' is the same as that shown in FIG. 51, and therefore, in the following description, only the linear transporter 27A, the lifter 29, and the pusher 30 will be described. As shown in FIG. 51, the linear transporter 27A
The lifter 29 and the pusher 30 are arranged below the bottom. The reversing machine 2 is located above the linear transporter 27A.
8 are arranged. Then, the top ring 32 swings and the pusher 30 and the linear transporter 27A
It can be located above.

FIG. 52 is a perspective view showing the linear transporter 27A, the lifter 29 and the pusher 30. FIG.
As shown in the figure, the linear transporter 27A is composed of two stages 901 and 902 that can linearly reciprocate and constitute a stage on which a semiconductor wafer is placed, and stages 901 and 902.
Supports 903 and 904 for supporting the
3,904 with guide air cylinders 906 and 905 for linearly reciprocating 3,904. The air cylinders with guides 905 and 906 are symmetrically fixed to the upper and lower surfaces of the support plate 921 (see FIG. 54). Stage 90
The stage 1 and the stage 902 have different height positions, and the two stages 901 and 902 are freely movable without interfering with each other. Therefore, the stage 901 is placed above the lifter 29 and the stage 902 is placed on the pusher 30.
, Each stage,
After moving 902 simultaneously and sliding each other,
01 can be located above the pusher 30 and the stage 902 can be located above the lifter 29. Four pins 920 are fixed to the stages 901 and 902, respectively, and a ring-shaped wafer tray 925 is supported by these pins 920.

FIG. 53 is a view showing an air cylinder 905 (or 906) with a guide. FIG. 53 (a) is a perspective view, and FIG. 53 (b) is a partial cross section showing a main part of FIG. 53 (a). FIG. As shown in FIG. 53, the air cylinder with guide 905 includes a movable slider 908 for supporting the support 903, a guide rail 909 for guiding the slide of the slider 908, and a linear reciprocating movement of the slider 908 connected to the slider 908. Magnet type cylinder 91
0. Magnet type cylinder 910
Is composed of a guide pipe 911, a piston 912 provided in the guide pipe 911 and movable in the guide pipe 911 by supplying air, and a moving body 914 which is magnetically coupled by the magnet 913 and moves together with the piston 912. Have been. Therefore, when air is supplied into the guide pipe 911, the piston 912
Moves in the guide pipe 911, and the moving body 914 magnetically coupled to the piston 912 moves together with the piston 912. Accordingly, the slider 908 slides along the guide rail 909, and the support 903 and the stage 901 fixed to the slider 908 linearly reciprocate.

FIG. 54 is a diagram showing the entire structure of the linear transporter 27A, FIG. 54 (a) is a plan view, and FIG.
FIG. 54B is a view as viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 54A, and FIG.
FIG. 4B is a view as seen from the arrow B in FIG. In FIG. 54A, the illustration of the wafer tray 925 is omitted. FIG.
4 (b) and FIG. 54 (c), the stage 9
01 and the stage 902 have different height positions, and the two stages 901 and 902 can freely move without interfering with each other. And the stages 901, 9
02 pins 920, wafer trays 925 respectively.
Has been posted. The wafer tray 925 is automatically aligned with the pins 920 and the outer peripheral surface of the wafer tray 925. The wafer tray 925 has a wafer holding surface 926 for mounting and holding a semiconductor wafer on its upper surface.
have. As shown in FIG. 55, the wafer holding surface 92
In No. 6, the ring is provided with concavities and convexities over the entire surface, and the convex portion 926a is provided with a taper so as to become higher toward the outer periphery so as to reduce the contact area with the wafer.
In this embodiment, the stage 901 constitutes a load stage, and the stage 902 constitutes an unload stage.

FIG. 56 is a schematic diagram for explaining the transfer of the semiconductor wafer between the linear transporter and the reversing machine and between the linear transporter and the top ring. Figure 56
As shown in (1), the semiconductor wafer 101 before polishing transferred by the transfer robot 20 to the reversing machine 28 is reversed by the reversing machine 28. When the lifter 29 is lifted, the wafer tray 925 on the load stage 901 is transferred to the lifter 29. The lifter 29 is further raised, and the semiconductor wafer 101 is transferred from the reversing machine 28 to the wafer tray 925 on the lifter 29. Thereafter, the lifter 29 is lowered, and the semiconductor wafer 101 is placed on the loading stage 901 together with the wafer tray 925. The wafer tray 925 and the semiconductor wafer 101 are loaded on a loading stage 901.
Is transported above the pusher 30 by the linear movement of.
At this time, the unloading stage 902 receives the polished semiconductor wafer 101 from the top ring 32 via the wafer tray 925, and moves toward the lifter 29. Loading stage 901 and unloading stage 9
02 will pass each other while moving. When the loading stage 901 reaches above the pusher 30,
The top ring 32 has previously swung to the position shown in FIG. Next, the pusher 30 is raised, and after receiving the wafer tray 925 and the semiconductor wafer 101 from the loading stage 901, the pusher 30 is further raised to transfer only the semiconductor wafer 101 to the top ring 32.

The wafer 101 transferred to the top ring 32 is suctioned by the vacuum suction mechanism of the top ring 32, and the wafer 101 is transported while being suctioned to the polishing table 34. Then, the wafer 101 is polished by a polishing surface such as a polishing pad or a grindstone mounted on the polishing table 34. The above-described second polishing table 36 is disposed at a position where the top rings 32 can reach each of them. Thus, the wafer can be polished on the second polishing table 36 after the polishing on the first polishing table 34 is completed. However, depending on the type of film formed on the semiconductor wafer, the semiconductor wafer may be polished by the second polishing table 36 and then processed by the first polishing table 34.

The polished wafer 101 is returned to the reversing machine 28 by a route reverse to that described above (described later). The wafer returned to the reversing machine 28 is rinsed by pure water or a cleaning chemical by a rinse nozzle. Also,
The wafer suction surface of the top ring 32 from which the wafer has been detached is
It is cleaned with pure water or a chemical from the top ring cleaning nozzle.

Next, an outline of the processing steps of the polishing apparatus shown in FIGS. 49 to 51 will be described. In the case of the two-cassette parallel processing of the two-stage cleaning, one wafer is transferred to the wafer cassette (CS1) → the transfer robot 4 → the mounting table 7 of the wafer station 50 → the transfer robot 20 → the reversing device 28 →
Loading stage 901 of linear transporter 27A
→ Top ring 32 → Polishing table 34 → Polishing table 36 (if necessary) → Unloading stage 902 of linear transporter 27A → Reversing machine 28 → Transfer robot 20 → Washer 22 → Transfer robot 20 → Washer 5 → Transfer The robot 4 passes through a route from the wafer cassette (CS1).

The other wafer is transferred from the wafer cassette (CS2) to the transfer robot 4 to the wafer station 50.
Table 8 → transfer robot 21 → reversing machine 28 ′ → loading stage 901 of linear transporter 27B → top ring 33 → polishing table 35 → top ring 33 →
Unloading stage 9 of linear transporter 27B
02 → reversing machine 28 ′ → transfer robot 21 → washing machine 23 →
The route passes through the transfer robot 21 → the cleaning machine 6 → the transfer robot 4 → the wafer cassette (CS2).

In the case of the two-cassette parallel processing of the three-stage cleaning, one wafer is placed in the wafer cassette (CS1) →
Transfer robot 4 → Placement table 7 for wafer station 50 →
Transfer robot 20 → reversing machine 28 → loading stage 901 of linear transporter 27A → top ring 32 →
Polishing table 34 → Polishing table 36 (if necessary) →
Stage 9 for unloading linear transporter 27A
02 → reversing machine 28 → transfer robot 20 → washing machine 22 → transfer robot 20 → table 10 of wafer station 50
→ Transfer robot 21 → Cleaning machine 6 → Transfer robot 21 → Place 9 of wafer station 50 → Transfer robot 20 →
Cleaning machine 5 → transfer robot 4 → wafer cassette (CS1)
Via the path to.

The other wafer is transferred from the wafer cassette (CS2) to the transfer robot 4 to the wafer station 50.
Table 8 → transfer robot 21 → reversing machine 28 ′ → loading stage 901 of linear transporter 27B → top ring 33 → polishing table 35 → polishing table 37
(If necessary) → stage 902 for unloading linear transporter 27B → reversing machine 28 ′ → transfer robot 2
1 → cleaning machine 23 → transfer robot 21 → cleaning machine 6 → transfer robot 21 → place 9 of wafer station 50 → transfer robot 20 → cleaner 5 → transfer robot 4 → wafer cassette (CS2).

Further, in the case of the series processing of three-stage cleaning, the wafer is loaded into the wafer cassette (CS1) → the transfer robot 4 → the placing table 7 of the wafer station 50 → the transfer robot 20 → the reversing device 28 → the loading of the linear transporter 27A. Stage 901 → top ring 32 → polishing table 34 → polishing table 36 (if necessary) → stage 902 for unloading linear transporter 27A → reversing machine 28 → transport robot 20 → cleaning machine 22 → transport robot 20 → wafer station 50 mounting table 10 → transfer robot 21 → reversing machine 28 ′ → linear transporter 27B
Loading stage 901 → top ring 33 → polishing table 35 → polishing table 37 (if necessary) → unloading stage 902 of linear transporter 27B →
Reversing machine 28 '→ transfer robot 21 → cleaning machine 23 → transfer robot 21 → cleaning machine 6 → transfer robot 21 → place 9 of wafer station 50 → transfer robot 20 → cleaning machine 5
→ Transfer robot 4 → Route to wafer cassette (CS1).

Next, the operations of the linear transporter 27A, lifter 29 and pusher 30 shown in FIGS. 52 to 54 will be described in detail. Note that the operations of the linear transporter 27B, the lifter 29 ', and the pusher 30' are performed in the same manner, and a description thereof will be omitted. Lifter 29 and pusher 3
0 has substantially the same configuration as that used in the first embodiment, and a detailed description of those structures will be omitted. The pusher 30 in the second embodiment has a push stage 143 '. This push stage 143 'is the push stage 1 in the first embodiment.
43 is different. Loading stage 901 of linear transporter 27A at wafer transfer
Are located above the lifter 29. Wafer 1 before polishing
01 is transferred from the transfer robot 20 to the reversing machine 28.
Thereafter, the wafer 101 is inverted by the inverter 28, and the pattern surface of the wafer 101 faces downward. The lifter 29 (shown in FIG. 30) is raised, and the stage 260 above the lifter 29 engages and couples with the load-only wafer tray 925 on the load stage 901 of the linear transporter 27A.

Next, the lifter 29 rises to a position for receiving the wafer 101 from the reversing device 28 and stops while the wafer tray 925 is placed on the lifter 29. The fact that the lift of the lifter 29 has stopped immediately below the wafer 101 is, for example, the lifter 29
When confirmed by the sensor 266 of the ascending cylinder 261,
The reversing device 28 releases the clamp of the wafer 101, and the wafer 101 is transferred onto the wafer tray 925 on the lifter 29.

Thereafter, the lifter 29 descends while the wafer 101 is placed on the wafer tray 925. Then
Loading stage 901 of linear transporter 27A
The wafer tray 925 placed on the lifter 29 is transferred from the lifter 29 to the loading stage 901 of the linear transporter 27A while being centered by the upper pins 720. After the wafer tray 925 is placed on the loading stage 901 of the linear transporter 27A, the lifter 29 continues to descend to a position where it does not interfere with the movement of the loading stage 901 of the linear transporter 27A, and stops at a predetermined position.

When the lifter 29 at the time of wafer loading completes the lowering, the loading stage 901 of the linear transporter 27A moves, and the wafer tray 925 for exclusive use of loading holding the semiconductor wafer 101 is placed above the pusher 30 (see FIG. 33). Position. When the positioning of the load stage 901 is completed,
The air cylinder 146 raises the pusher 30 together with the components around the guide stage 141, and during the ascent, the loading stage 90 of the linear transporter 27A.
No. 1 wafer holding position. At this time, the wafer tray 92 on which the wafer 101 is placed
5 engages with the push stage 143 'of the pusher 30, and the pusher 30 receives the wafer tray 925 from the loading stage 901 of the linear transporter 27A.

While the push stage 143 ′ holds the wafer tray 925, the top ring guide 148 rises without stopping, and the top ring guide 148 rises.
The guide ring 301 of the top ring 32 is called in by the taper 208 of. Top ring 32 is positioned by linear way 149 which can be freely moved in the X and Y directions.
When the step 200 of the top ring guide 148 comes into contact with the lower surface of the guide ring 301, the lifting of the guide stage 141 ends.

The guide stage 141 is fixed by the step 200 of the top ring guide 148 contacting the lower surface of the guide ring 301, and does not rise further. However, since the air cylinder 146 continues to rise until it hits the shock killer 156, the compression spring 152 contracts, so that only the spline shaft 142 further rises, and the push stage 143 'further rises. The stroke in which the cylinder 146 rises after the wafer 101 comes into contact with the top ring 32 is absorbed by the spring 159 and protects the wafer 101.

Next, the push stage 143 ′ is further raised by the air cylinder 145 while holding the wafer tray 925, and the wafer 101 is suction-held by the top ring 32. Thereafter, the air cylinder 145 operates in reverse to lower the wafer tray 925 together with the push stage 143 '. Then, the pusher 30 descends together with the components around the guide stage 141 by the air cylinder 146, and transfers the wafer tray 925 to the loading stage 901 of the linear transporter 27A while descending, and further descends and stops at a predetermined position. .

At the time of wafer unloading, the wafer 101 is transported by the top ring 32 to the wafer unloading position above the pusher 30, and the unloading stage 902 of the linear transporter 27A is moved, so that the wafer tray 925 dedicated to unloading moves the pusher 30. It is located above. Then, the air cylinder 14
By 6, the pusher 30 rises together with the components around the guide stage 141, and passes through the wafer holding position of the unloading stage 902 of the linear transporter 27A during the ascent. At this time, the empty wafer tray 925 and the push stage 14 of the pusher 30 are
3 'is engaged with the pusher 30 and the wafer tray 925
From the unloading stage 902 of the linear transporter 27A.

The guide ring 3 of the top ring 32 is formed by the tapered surface 208 of the top ring guide 148.
01, the centering of the top ring 32 is performed by the alignment by the linear way 149, and the top ring guide 14
When the step 200 of FIG. 8 comes into contact with the lower surface of the guide ring 301, the lifting of the guide stage 141 ends.

At this time, the air cylinder 146 continues to operate until it hits the shock killer 156. However, the guide stage 141 is fixed by the step 200 of the top ring guide 148 contacting the lower surface of the guide ring 301. 146 overcomes the repulsive force of the compression spring 152 to move the spline shaft 142 to the air cylinder 145.
And push up the push stage 143 '. At this time, the push stage 143 'does not reach a position higher than the wafer holding portion of the top ring guide 148. In this embodiment, the cylinder 146 is set so as to further stroke from a position where the top ring guide 148 contacts the guide ring 301. The impact at this time is absorbed by the spring 152.

When the lifting of the air cylinder 146 is completed, the wafer 101 is released from the top ring 32 and is held on a wafer tray 925 dedicated to unloading. When the wafer 101 is held on the wafer tray 925 dedicated to unloading, the pusher 30 starts lowering. Then, the wafer tray 925 dedicated to unloading is transferred together with the polished wafer onto the unloading stage 902 of the linear transporter 27A, and the pusher 30 is continuously lowered, and the operation is completed when the lowering is completed.

The unloading stage 902 of the linear transporter 27A moves to position the unloading wafer tray 925 on which the polished wafer is placed, above the lifter 29. The lifter 29 rises, the lifter 29 receives the unloading wafer tray 925 on which the polished wafer is placed from the unloading stage 902 of the linear transporter 27A, and further rises, and
The wafer is positioned at the wafer transfer position. After the gripper of the reversing machine 28 receives the wafer 101, the lifter 29 descends, and the wafer tray 925 dedicated to unloading is used.
Is transferred to the unloading stage 902 of the linear transporter 27A, and is further lowered and stopped, and the operation of transferring the wafer from the top ring 32 to the reversing machine 28 is completed. Thereafter, the wafer 101 is inverted by the inverter 28 and then received by the transfer robot 20.

According to the polishing apparatus of the second embodiment of the present invention, each polishing section is provided with a linear transporter having at least two stages (places) that reciprocate linearly as a dedicated transport mechanism. In addition, the time required for transferring the object to be polished between the reversing machine and the top ring can be reduced, and the number of processed objects to be polished per unit time can be increased. Further, when the polishing target is transferred between the stage of the linear transporter and the reversing device, the polishing target is transferred between the wafer tray and the reversing device. Then, when the polishing target is transferred between the stage of the linear transporter and the top ring, the polishing target is transferred between the wafer tray and the top ring. Therefore, the wafer tray can absorb a shock at the time of transfer, can increase the transfer speed of the polishing target, and can increase the throughput of the polishing target. In addition, by transferring wafers from the reversing machine to the top ring via trays detachably held on each stage of the linear transporter, for example, between the lifter and the linear transporter, between the linear transporter and the pusher It is possible to eliminate the transfer of the wafer between the above and the above, and to prevent the damage due to dust generation and erroneous gripping.

Further, by dividing the plurality of trays into two trays dedicated to loading for holding the polishing target before polishing and trays dedicated to unloading for holding the polishing target after polishing, the wafer before polishing can be divided into two. The wafer is transferred not from the pusher but from the load-only tray to the top ring, and the polished wafer is transferred from the top ring to the unload-only tray instead of the pusher. Therefore, since the loading of the wafer onto the top ring and the unloading of the wafer from the top ring are performed by different jigs (or members), the polishing liquid or the like attached to the polished wafer is common to the loading and unloading. It is possible to solve the problem that the abrasive liquid or the like adheres to and solidifies on the wafer support member and damages or adheres to the wafer before polishing.

[0179]

According to the present invention, in the same apparatus, the required number of washing steps in the washing step corresponding to various polishing steps can be secured without reducing the processing capacity per unit installation area,
Change the transport route so that the cleaning process that requires a long time is divided into two or more cleaning devices so that the cleaning process time in each cleaning process is kept short, and the polishing target per unit time is changed. The number of processed articles (throughput) can be increased. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to shorten the time for transporting an object to be polished such as a semiconductor wafer to a top ring, and to dramatically increase the number of processed objects (throughput) per unit time. Can be.

According to the present invention, the polished polishing object can be made to stand by during the cleaning process, so that a plurality of cleaning processes having different cleaning process times are performed in parallel on a plurality of polishing objects. Can be handled. In other words, a polishing object to be constantly processed can be supplied to each cleaning step without blocking the route by the longer one of the plurality of cleaning steps. Further, according to the present invention, since the rooms having different degrees of cleanliness are separated by the partition walls, there is no possibility that the atmosphere of the contaminated room flows into another clean room and lowers the degree of cleanliness.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an arrangement configuration of each part of a polishing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between a top ring and a polishing table.

FIG. 3 is a schematic process diagram showing an example of a case where a wafer is polished by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic process diagram showing an example of a case where a wafer is polished by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a schematic process diagram showing an example of a case where a wafer is polished by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a schematic process diagram showing an example of a case where a wafer is polished by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a schematic process diagram showing an example of a case where a wafer is polished by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a schematic process diagram showing another example of the case where the wafer is polished by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a schematic process diagram showing another example of the case where the wafer is polished by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a schematic process diagram showing another example of the case where the wafer is polished by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

11 is a schematic process diagram showing another example of the case where the wafer is polished by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a schematic process diagram showing another example when polishing a wafer by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

13 is a schematic process diagram showing another example in the case where the wafer is polished by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 14 is a schematic process diagram showing another example of a case where the wafer is polished by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 15 is a schematic process diagram showing still another example when polishing a wafer by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 16 is a schematic process diagram showing still another example when polishing the wafer by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 17 is a schematic process diagram showing still another example when polishing a wafer by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 18 is a schematic process diagram showing still another example when polishing a wafer by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 19 is a schematic process diagram showing still another example in the case where the wafer is polished by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

20 is a schematic process diagram showing still another example in the case where the wafer is polished by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 21 is a schematic process diagram showing still another example in the case where the wafer is polished by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 22 is a schematic process diagram showing still another example when polishing a wafer by the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

23 (a) and 23 (b) are views showing a load / unload unit, where FIG. 23 (a) is a front view and FIG. 23 (b) is a side view.

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating another example of the load / unload unit.

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram showing an airflow configuration of a cleaning chamber.

FIG. 26 is a side view showing the transfer robot.

FIG. 27 is a perspective view showing a transfer robot.

FIG. 28 is a view showing a wafer station;
28A is a front view, FIG. 28B is a side view, and FIG.
28A is a view as seen from the direction of the arrow I in FIG. 28A, and FIG.
28A is a view taken in the direction of arrow II, and FIG.
It is an arrow view.

29 is a view showing a reversing machine, FIG. 29 (a) is a plan view, and FIG. 29 (b) is a partially sectional side view.

FIG. 30 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a lifter.

FIG. 31 is a plan view showing a rotary transporter.

FIG. 32 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a rotary transporter.

FIG. 33 is a longitudinal sectional view of a pusher.

FIG. 34 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the pusher.

FIG. 35 is a partially sectional side view showing the structure of the top ring.

FIG. 36 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a dresser, showing a diamond dresser.

FIG. 37 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a dresser and showing a brush dresser.

FIG. 38 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a structure of a dresser of the second polishing table.

FIG. 39 shows a side view of the dresser of the second polishing table.

FIG. 40 is a front view showing a rotary polishing table.

FIG. 41 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a scroll-type polishing table.

42 (a) is a cross-sectional view taken along line PP of FIG. 41, and FIG. 42 (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 42 (a).

FIG. 43 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an overhang type polishing table.

FIG. 44 is a view showing a polishing liquid supply nozzle, and FIG.
FIG. 44A is a plan view of a polishing liquid supply nozzle, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a side view having a partial cross section of the polishing liquid supply nozzle.

FIG. 45 is a view showing a polishing liquid supply nozzle, and shows a position of the polishing liquid supply nozzle with respect to a polishing table.

FIG. 46 is a schematic view showing a polishing abrasive liquid supply system.

FIG. 47 is a schematic view showing a polishing abrasive liquid supply system.

FIG. 48 is a schematic view showing a polishing abrasive liquid supply system.

FIG. 49 is a plan view showing an arrangement configuration of each part of a polishing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

50 is a perspective view of the polishing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 51 is a diagram showing a relationship between a top ring and a polishing table.

FIG. 52 is a perspective view showing a linear transporter, a lifter, and a pusher.

53 is a view showing an air cylinder with a guide, and FIG.
3 (a) is a perspective view, and FIG. 53 (b) is a plan view having a partial cross section showing a main part of FIG. 53 (a).

54 (a) is a plan view, and FIG. 54 (b) is a view showing the overall configuration of the linear transporter.
FIG. 54 (a) is a view as viewed from an arrow A, and FIG. 54 (c) is a view as viewed from an arrow B in FIG. 54 (a).

FIG. 55 is a perspective view of the linear transporter shown in FIG. 54.

FIG. 56 is a schematic diagram for explaining the transfer of semiconductor wafers between the linear transporter and the reversing machine and between the linear transporter and the top ring.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wafer cassette 2 Load / unload stage 3 Traveling mechanism 4, 20, 21 Transfer robot 5, 6, 22, 23 Cleaning machine 5a, 6a, 11, 22a, 23a, 25, 26, 5
2,77,357 Shutter 7,8 Dry station 9,10 Wet station 14,15,16,24,47,358 Partition wall 27 Rotary transporter 27A, 27B Linear transporter 28,28 'Inverter 29,29' Lifter 30 , 30 'Pusher 31 Top ring head 32, 33 Top ring 34, 35, 36, 37, 755 Polishing table 38, 39, 48, 49, 3000 Dresser 40, 41 Abrasive liquid supply nozzle 43, 43', 3020 Water trough 44, 45 atomizer 46 housing 50 wafer station 51 swing arm 60 top ring cleaning nozzle 71, 72, 73, 74, 237, 351, 354
Transmission type optical sensor 75, 76, 100, 101, 203 Rinse nozzle 78, 79 Guide block 80, 80 ', 3061 Polisher pan 81, 232, 261, 313, 3008, 3016
3053, 3054 cylinder 91 Top ring drive shaft 92, 95, 98, 3013, 3051 Rotary shaft 93 Dresser drive shaft 96 Dresser fixing mechanism 94, 97 Dresser head 98 Swing shaft 101 Wafer 103, 301 Guide ring 104, 402, 404 Motor Housing 120 θ axis 121 R1, R2 axis 122 Z axis 123 X axis 124 Robot body 125 Upper hand 126 Lower hand 140 Hollow shaft 141 Guide stage 142 Spline shaft 143, 143 ′ Push stage 144 Floating joint 145, 146 Air cylinder 147, 150 Slide bush 148 Top ring guide 149 Linear way 151, 3058 Bearing case 152, 159, 233 Compression spring 153 Guide Reeve 154 Center sleeve 155 V-ring 156 Shock absorber 160 Push rod 180 Positioning taper 190 Filter 191 Fan 192 Damper 193 Duct 194 Filter fan unit 195 Suction port (opening) 197 Individual exhaust 198 Mechanism 201 Wafer mounting pin 202 Taper 204 Separator 205 Servo motor 206 Origin sensor 210, 211, 212, 213, 216, 260, 3
66,901,902 Stage 230 Arm 231 Frame 234,262,752 Shaft 235,264 Stopper 236 End block 237 Sensor 238,240,3005,3011 Pulley 239 Stepping motor 241, 312 Belt 250 Wafer presence sensor 250a Light emitting side 250b Light receiving Side 263 Claw 265 Stopper base 266, 267, 3064 Sensor 300 Top ring body 302 Backing film 303 Through hole 304 Mounting flange 305 Sphere 306 Swivel arm 309, 401, 633, 750, 3014 Motor 310 Drive pulley 311 Follower pulley 314, 371 3019 Drive flange 316 Rotary joint 352 Search mechanism 353 Dummy wafer station 355 Drive source (pulse motor ) 356 Wafer search sensor 360 Door 361 Open / close discrimination sensor 362 Elevating mechanism 363 Bottom plate 364 Inside device 365 Atmosphere outside device 367 Box 370 Dresser plate 373 Diamond grain 374 Brush 376 Waterproof cap 377 V ring 378, 701, 710 Labyrinth 403 , 709 Housing 405 Rotary joint 420, 421, 424, 425, 426, 440, 4
41 Valve 430, 432 Pump 501, 502, 503, 504, 505 Spray nozzle 634 Casing 635 Support plate 636 Support section 637 Surface plate 638, 639, 648, 760, 761 Recess 640, 641, 753, 762, 763, 3006 ,
3057 Bearing 642, 643, 764, 765 Shaft 644 Connecting member 645 Main shaft 646 Drive end 647, 650, 651, 3032 Bearing 649 Motor chamber 652a, 652b, 767 Balancer 653, 654 Plate member 655 Polishing liquid space 656 Polishing liquid supply Mouth 657,658 Polishing liquid discharge hole 659 Polishing pad 661 Rotating tank 700 Surface plate 702,703 O ring 707 Dog 708 Proximity switch 709 Port 751 Upper flange 754 Set ring 757,768 Through hole 758 Support portion 759 Table 766 Support member 769 Flinger 770 gutter 790 bolt 791 joint 810, 3050 liquid supply arm 812 slide mechanism 813 box cover 814 stay 815 detent mechanism 819 bottom surface 821 opening 23 Nozzle 824 Connector 825 Supply tube 840 Nozzle assembly 840a Nozzle setting member 850 Swing shaft 903, 904 Support 905, 906 Air cylinder with guide 908 Slider 909 Guide rail 910 Magnet type cylinder 911 Guide pipe 912 Piston 920 Pin 921 Support plate 925 Wafer tray 926 Wafer holding surface 3002 Brush fixing seat 3007 Bracket 3010 Guide 3012 Timing belt 3017 Crank 3018 Slider 3021 Rising end sensor 3022 Descending end sensor 3024 Termination sensor 3026, 3027 Protective armor 3028 Rotary ball spline 3029 Spline outer ring 3030 Flange outer ring 3031 Dressing agent 3052 Swing arm 3 55 base 3056 cylinder bracket 3059 arm body 3060 flinger 3062 Inshirokku 3063 Tube 3065 dog 3066,3067,3068,3069 position sensor 3070 scattering prevention cover

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H01L 21/304 644 H01L 21/304 644C 651 651B B24B 37/04 B24B 37/04 Z H01L 21/68 H01L 21 / 68 A (72) Inventor Nobuyuki Takada 11-1 Haneda Asahimachi, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ebara Corporation (72) Inventor Satoshi Wakabayashi 11-1 Haneda Asahi-cho, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ebara Corporation ( 72) Inventor Kenichiro Saito 11-1 Haneda Asahimachi, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ebara Works, Ltd. (72) Inventor Masahiko Sekimoto 11-1, Asahi-cho Haneda, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ebara Works, Ltd. (72) Inventor Takuji Hayama 11-1 Haneda Asahimachi, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ebara Corporation (72) Inventor Daisuke Koga 11th Asahi-cho Haneda, Ota-ku, Tokyo No. within the Ebara Corporation

Claims (46)

[Claims] 1. A polishing table having a polishing surface, a top ring for holding an object to be polished and pressing the object to be polished against the polishing surface, and three or more cleaning devices for cleaning the object to be polished after polishing An apparatus, and a transport mechanism for transporting the polished object after polishing between the three or more cleaning apparatuses, wherein the transport mechanism can change a transport route between the three or more cleaning apparatuses. Polishing equipment. 2. The polishing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the three or more cleaning apparatuses are capable of performing three or more cleaning steps of each polished object after polishing. 3. The transport mechanism is capable of transporting the object to be polished between two cleaning routes in parallel between the cleaning devices, and the three or more cleaning devices transport the object to be polished in two stages. 2. The polishing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of cleaning steps is possible. 4. The polishing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least two of the cleaning apparatuses have a spin-drying function of rotating and drying an object to be polished. 5. A plurality of polishing tables each having a polishing surface; a plurality of top rings for holding an object to be polished and pressing the object to be polished against the polishing surface; and a position to which the plurality of top rings can reach. Installed in
A rotary transporter having a plurality of portions located on a predetermined circumference from the rotation center and holding the object to be polished, and having a function of exchanging the objects to be polished in the plurality of portions; and the rotary transporter and the top A pusher for transferring a polishing object to and from a ring, and a reversing machine capable of transferring the polishing object between the rotary transporter and having a function of reversing the polishing object. Polishing equipment. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of top rings can move above at least one of the polishing table and the rotary transporter by swinging about a rotation axis. The polishing apparatus according to claim 1. 7. The polishing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein each of the plurality of top rings can move above two polishing tables by swinging about a rotation axis. 8. The polishing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein one of the plurality of polishing tables is a scroll-type polishing table. 9. The polishing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of polishing tables has a dedicated dresser and a mechanism for cleaning the dresser. 10. The top ring swings to an overhang position separated from a polishing table after polishing is completed,
6. The polishing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a cleaning liquid is supplied to a polishing target held on the top ring from a nozzle installed adjacent to the polishing table in this state. 11. A plurality of portions of the rotary transporter, wherein: a loading table for holding a wafer before polishing;
7. The polishing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising an unloading table for holding the polished wafer. 12. The reversing machine is located above or below the rotary transporter, and the transfer of the polishing object between the reversing machine and the rotary transporter is performed by a lifter that holds the polishing object and moves up and down. The polishing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: 13. The polishing machine according to claim 1, wherein the reversing machine reverses the object to be polished after polishing, so that the surface to be polished faces upward, and thereafter, the object to be polished is cleaned with the surface to be polished facing upward. 13. The polishing apparatus according to any one of items 5 to 12. 14. A polishing section, comprising: a polishing section for polishing an object to be polished; a cleaning section for cleaning the object to be polished; and a reversing machine for reversing the object to be polished before and after polishing. In the polishing apparatus, the polishing is performed with the polished surface of the object to be polished facing downward, and the cleaning unit performs the processing with the polished surface of the object to be polished facing up. 15. A polishing table having a polishing surface; a top ring for holding a polishing object and pressing the polishing object against the polishing surface; a plurality of cleaning devices for cleaning the polished polishing object; A transport mechanism for transporting the polished polishing object between the plurality of cleaning devices, and a polishing mechanism for allowing the polishing object to wait through a plurality of cleaning processes via the plurality of cleaning devices. A polishing apparatus comprising: a station having a table. 16. The polishing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the station includes a nozzle for supplying a cleaning liquid for preventing drying to the polishing target on standby. 17. The polishing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the station is disposed between the polishing table and a cassette containing a plurality of objects to be polished, and the station waits before transferring the object to be polished before polishing to the polishing table. 16. The polishing apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a table for mounting. 18. The polishing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the station includes a table for holding a polished object to be polished before being housed in the cassette. 19. The polishing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the station includes a shutter for separating an area on the cassette side and an area on the cleaning apparatus side. 20. The holder according to claim 15, wherein the holder is divided into a holder for holding a polishing object before polishing and a holder for holding a polishing object after polishing. The polishing apparatus according to claim 1. 21. A polishing object before polishing, comprising two or more pedestals for holding the polishing object before polishing, and two or more pedestals for holding the polishing object after polishing. 20. At least two pedestals for holding the polishing object are provided on the left and right without overlapping, and two or more pedestals for holding the polished polishing object are provided below the at least two pedestals. The polishing apparatus according to claim 1. 22. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the two or more placing stands for holding the polished object to be polished are vertically located at the intersection of the transferable areas of the two transfer robots. Polishing equipment. 23. The two or more pedestals for holding the polished polishing object on standby are vertically positioned, the upper pedestal holding at least the polishing object that has been cleaned at least once, and the lower pedestal. 22. The polishing apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the polishing object waits for a polishing target before cleaning. 24. A loading / unloading section for supplying a polishing target to be polished and receiving a polishing target after polishing, a polishing section for polishing the polishing target, and a cleaning for cleaning the polishing target after polishing. A polishing apparatus comprising: a loading / unloading unit; a polishing unit; and a cleaning unit, each of which is accommodated in a room partitioned by a partition having an opening through which an object to be polished passes. 25. An opening / closing shutter provided at an opening of each partition.
The polishing apparatus according to claim 1. 26. The polishing measure according to claim 24, wherein the air pressure in each room can be controlled independently. 27. The polishing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein there are a plurality of polishing sections, and each of the polishing sections is separated from each other by partition walls.
5. The polishing apparatus according to claim 4. 28. The polishing apparatus according to claim 27, wherein maintenance of another polishing section is possible while operating the polishing apparatus using at least one of the polishing sections. 29. The cleaning section includes a plurality of cleaning apparatuses for cleaning an object to be polished, and at least one of the cleaning apparatuses can perform maintenance of another cleaning apparatus during operation of the polishing apparatus. The polishing apparatus according to claim 24, wherein: 30. The loading / unloading section is capable of mounting a plurality of cassettes for accommodating a plurality of objects to be polished, and the loading / unloading section includes a partition wall for partitioning the loaded cassettes. 25. A polishing measure according to claim 24, comprising: 31. The loading / unloading section, wherein four or more cassettes can be placed, and polishing objects in at least two cassettes can be processed in parallel. The polishing apparatus according to claim 1. 32. A plurality of polishing tables each having a polishing surface, a top ring for holding a polishing object and pressing the polishing object against the polishing surface, and a plurality of cleaning devices for cleaning the polished polishing object. And a transport mechanism for transporting an object to be polished, wherein the polishing surfaces of the plurality of polishing tables include a polishing surface for performing rough polishing and a polishing surface for performing final polishing. 33. The polishing apparatus according to claim 32, wherein at least one of the polishing surfaces of the plurality of polishing tables is formed of a polishing pad, and at least one of the other polishing tables is formed of a grindstone. 34. The polishing apparatus according to claim 32, wherein said plurality of polishing tables include at least two types of polishing tables having different diameters. 35. Second-stage polishing of an object to be polished after the first-stage polishing of the object to be polished on the polished surface made of the whetstone is completed on the polished surface made of the polishing pad. 34. The method according to claim 33, wherein
The polishing apparatus according to claim 1. 36. A loading / unloading section for supplying a polishing target to be polished and receiving a polished polishing target, a polishing table having a polishing surface, holding the polishing target, and removing the polishing target. A top ring for pressing against the polishing surface, three or more cleaning devices for cleaning the object to be polished after polishing, and a transport mechanism for transporting the object to be polished, at least two of the three or more cleaning devices Is a polishing apparatus having the same cleaning function. 37. The transfer mechanism comprises a plurality of robots, and the robot for transferring a polishing object to and from a cassette mounted on the loading / unloading unit has two hands, one of which is a polishing machine. The suction type hand is a suction type hand that vacuum-adsorbs an object, the other hand is a drop-down type hand that holds a peripheral edge of the object to be polished, and the suction type hand is used when receiving the object to be polished from a cassette, 37. The polishing apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the drop-type hand is used when returning an object to be polished to the cassette. 38. The transfer mechanism comprises a plurality of robots, at least one of the robots includes two hands arranged one above the other, the upper hand holding the object to be polished once, and the lower hand. 37. The polishing apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the hand holds an object to be polished that has not been cleaned and an object to be polished before polishing. 39. The polishing apparatus according to claim 36, wherein at least two of said cleaning apparatuses are capable of cleaning both sides of an object to be polished. 40. A polishing apparatus, comprising: a holder for holding the object to be polished, wherein the suction type hand is positioned above the holder while holding the object to be polished, and then the vacuum is broken to place the object to be polished on the holder. 38. The polishing apparatus according to claim 37, wherein the polishing target is centered by a guide and transferred to a placing table. 41. A polishing table having a polishing surface, a top ring for holding a polishing object and pressing the polishing object against the polishing surface, and a plurality of pedestals on which the polishing object is placed and movable. And a pusher for transferring the object to be polished between the table and the top ring, and a function of inverting the object to be polished while being capable of transferring the object to be polished between the table and the table. And a reversing machine having the same. 42. The transport mechanism is provided at a position where the top ring can reach, has a plurality of pedestals that are located on a predetermined circumference from a rotation center and hold a polishing object, and 42. The polishing apparatus according to claim 41, comprising a rotary transporter having an index function for indexing the table. 43. The polishing apparatus according to claim 41, wherein said transport mechanism comprises a linear transporter which is installed at a position where said top ring can reach, and has a plurality of platforms which can linearly reciprocate. . 44. The apparatus according to claim 41, wherein the top ring is movable about at least one polishing table and a table above the transfer mechanism by swinging about a rotation axis. Any one of 43
The polishing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 45. The polishing apparatus according to claim 41, wherein the plurality of placing tables are located at different heights so as not to interfere with each other during movement. 46. The pedestal of the transport mechanism comprises a loading pedestal for holding an object to be polished before polishing and an unloading pedestal for holding an object to be polished after polishing. 46. The polishing apparatus according to claim 41.