JP2001237209A - Scrub cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a scrub cleaning device which is enhanced in cleaning efficiency, performance, and maintainability. SOLUTION: A scrub cleaning device is equipped with a wafer rotating/ holding means 1 which rotates a wafer W while holding it nearly in a vertical position, a brush means 2 which scrubs the one side or both the sides of the wafer W while rotating on its own axis. The brush means 2 is formed like a bottomed cylinder consisting of a rotary shaft member 21 provided with a large number of liquid-passing holes 25 bored in its wall surface, and a brush member 22 mounted on the outer wall surface of the rotary shaft member 21. A cleaning liquid is supplied from a liquid feed means 3 into the cylinder through the one opening 21a of the rotary shaft member 21, and discharged out through the liquid passing holes 25 passing through the brush member 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a scrub cleaning apparatus for cleaning a semiconductor wafer or another wafer while rubbing the wafer surface with a brush.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 shows two conventional examples of a scrub cleaning apparatus. The apparatus shown in FIG.
No. 66 discloses an apparatus shown in FIG.
No. 5, respectively. Both devices are provided with wafer rotation holding means 41 for rotating while holding the wafer W.
Or 51, a brush means 42 or 52, and a liquid supply means 43 or 53 for supplying a cleaning liquid, for cleaning and removing particulate foreign matter attached to the wafer W after processing such as chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). It is.

Here, the wafer rotation holding means 41 or 51
Is a vertical type that rotates while holding the wafer W substantially vertically. The rotation holding means 41 has a rotation jig structure for holding substantially the entire outer periphery of the wafer W, and the rotation holding means 51 has
It has a roller structure that is held by a plurality of rotating rollers. The brush means 42 or 52 rubs one or both surfaces of the wafer W while rotating. The brush means 42 is used for the wafer W
Similarly, the brush means 52 is arranged substantially vertically, and the brush means 52 is arranged substantially horizontally. In addition, each brush means 42 or 52 is
A brush member is attached to a shaft member, and the shaft member is rotated while being supported on both sides. Liquid supply means 43 or 53
In each case, the supply nozzle is disposed above the wafer W, and the cleaning liquid is discharged toward the upper part of the wafer W.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
For example, compared to the horizontal type that holds the wafer W substantially horizontally, the supplied cleaning liquid flows downward in a falling form and the attached foreign matter is easily entrained to the outside of the wafer. There was such a problem. In other words, various foreign substances attached to the wafer W are easily attached to the brush member partially forming the surface of the brush means 42 or 52, in addition to those which are washed and removed under the wafer accompanying the cleaning liquid, In some cases, the deposits are not removed by the cleaning liquid. Such foreign matter adhering to the surface of the brassier member, for example, adheres to the wafer surface when the wafer W is taken out or exerts an adverse effect on the cleaning of the wafer W, resulting in a reduction in product yield. Further, in order to maintain the cleaning accuracy, the brush means 42 or 52 must be replaced at an early stage, and there is a secondary problem that the operation rate of the apparatus is deteriorated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, improve the conventional brush means and cleaning liquid discharging structure, and realize a scrub cleaning apparatus with higher cleaning efficiency and higher maintainability. . Other objects will be clarified in the following description.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a wafer rotating and holding means 1 for rotating a wafer W while holding it substantially vertically, as shown in FIG. In a scrub cleaning apparatus provided with a brush means 2 for rubbing one or both sides while rotating, and a liquid supply means 3 for supplying a cleaning liquid to the wafer W side, the brush means 2 has a bottomed cylindrical shape, Numerous liquid holes 25
And a brush member 22 mounted on the outer periphery of the rotating shaft member 21. The cleaning liquid is supplied from the liquid supply means 3 to the cylinder 21 through one end opening 21a of the rotating shaft member 21. It is configured to be supplied to the inside and discharged through the brush member 22 from the liquid passage hole 25.

According to the above-described apparatus structure, the cleaning liquid is once introduced into the rotating shaft member 21 from the cleaning supply means 3 and is discharged in a substantially radial direction around the brush member 22. Even if foreign matter on the wafer W may be rubbed by the brush member 22 and adhere to the surface of the brush member 22, the foreign matter is
The cleaning liquid discharged from the periphery of the brush member 22 through the one liquid passage hole 25 is easily washed away. For this reason, the present invention is not affected by the foreign matter attached to the brush member 22 as compared with the conventional structure, and the cleaning accuracy and the yield can be improved. At the same time, the frequency of replacement of the brush member 22 can be reduced, and the operation rate of the apparatus can be improved. The cleaning solution is
In contrast to the conventional structure in which the upper surface of the wafer W is discharged toward one or both sides of the wafer W, the discharge is performed directly from the brush member 22 in contact with the wafer surface. For this reason, the present invention can more effectively exhibit the brushing action and the liquid washing action of the brush member 22.

The present invention described above is more preferably embodied as follows. First, the rotating shaft member 21 is disposed in a vertical or inclined state, and the lower end thereof is pivotally supported by a drive unit. The supply unit 31 of the liquid supply unit 3 moves the cleaning liquid into the upper end opening of the rotating member 21. Is arranged so as to be able to be injected. In this structure, since the rotating shaft member 21 is rotatably supported in a cantilevered state, this is an optimal mode for replacing the brush member 22 by a cassette method as described later. Note that the present invention does not exclude the arrangement of the rotating shaft member 21 in the horizontal direction as shown in FIG. 5B, but the vertical or inclined arrangement is a preferable embodiment for cleaning efficiency. . Second, the brush member 22 is configured to be inserted from the upper end side of the rotating shaft member 21 and exchangeably mounted. This is to make the brush member 22 replaceable, for example, in a state where the rotary shaft member 21 is set in the apparatus, thereby improving the maintenance of the brush member 22 and preventing a reduction in the apparatus operation rate. Third, the brush member 22 has a cylindrical shape, is press-fitted into the inner periphery thereof, and is assembled to a shape retaining member 28 having a large number of discharge holes 29 formed in the wall surface. This is because the sponge-like elastic water-permeable material is often used as the brush member 28, and if the brush member 28 is directly mounted on the rotating shaft member 21 supported on the device side, the brush member 28 lacks exchangeability. It is easily replaceable in a cassette type. In this configuration, the discharge holes 29 of the shape-retaining member 28 correspond to the pressure of the cleaning liquid supplied into the cylinder of the rotary shaft member 21.
The cleaning liquid is provided from the lower side to the upper side densely or in a state where the hole diameter is increased.
It is preferred that the brush member 22 be uniformly discharged from the entire periphery of the brush member 22 through the intermediate member 9.

Fourth, wafer rotation holding means 1 of the present invention
5A may be a jig structure shown in FIG. 5A or a roller structure shown in FIG. 5B as long as it rotates while holding the wafer W substantially vertically. A roller structure is preferred. In this case, the wafer W is held by three or more rollers, but two or more rotation holding rollers 11 that rotate while holding the wafer W exclusively are used.
A and 11C, and at least one rotary cleaning roller 11B that rubs the outer periphery of the wafer W via the same or similar elastic material as the brush member 22 are preferable. This is because by preliminarily separating the rotation holding operation and the rotation cleaning action, the respective functions can be sufficiently exhibited, and the design in consideration of the maintainability is enabled.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a main part of a scrub cleaning device according to an embodiment, FIG. 2 shows the arrangement of members of the device, FIG. 1 (a) is a conceptual diagram viewed from one brush means side, FIG. () Is a conceptual diagram viewed from the right side of (a). FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the brush means of the apparatus. FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the brush means, and FIG. 4A is a view of the rotary shaft member as viewed from the front. FIG. 2B is a sectional view of a part of the brush member. In the drawings, small protrusions on the outer surface of the brush member are omitted. The scrub cleaning apparatus according to the embodiment cleans and removes, for example, foreign substances adhered to one or both surfaces of a wafer W that has been subjected to chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) or chemical treatment. The main part of the apparatus includes a wafer rotation holding unit 1 that rotates while holding the wafer W;
The brush unit 2 includes a pair of brush units 2 provided on both sides of the wafer W for rubbing the wafer surface while rotating, and a liquid supply unit 3 for supplying a cleaning liquid to the brush unit 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the wafer rotation holding means 1 comprises three rotation rollers 11A, 11B, and 11C disposed inside a container 4 provided in the apparatus (hereinafter, may be collectively referred to as a rotation roller 11). Thus, the wafer W is held substantially vertically at the lower half part. Each rotating roller 11 projects the drive shaft 12 out of the container 4 while being supported by the fixed base, and is rotated by an external motor 5 or the like. The rotating rollers 11A and 11C have a roller portion 13 made of rubber, as shown in an enlarged portion (a) of FIG. 1, and are designed for wafer rotation holding. The rotating roller 11B is designed for rotating and cleaning the wafer, and is formed of an elastic water-permeable material or an elastic material similar to or similar to a brush member described later on the outer periphery of the rubber material 14 as shown in an enlarged portion (b) of FIG. 15 is mounted. Each of the roller portions 13 and 15 forms a substantially V-shaped groove 13a and 15a having a predetermined angle on the outer periphery, and the outer periphery of the wafer W is brought into contact therewith. The number and arrangement of the rotating rollers for holding and cleaning the wafer are appropriately determined.

The pair of brush means 2 are provided inside the container 4 as shown in FIG. 2 (b), are provided substantially vertically at predetermined intervals, and respectively hold the wafer W held by the rotating roller 11 from both sides. In the state of being sandwiched, the wafer W is in contact with both surfaces. Both brush means 2 are mounted and supported on a bearing bracket 6 below the container 4, and are rotated in different directions by the bracket 6 and an external motor 7 to brush both surfaces of the wafer W. Structurally, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the rotary shaft member 21 and the brush holding member 28 are press-fitted into the brush member 22.
The supply nozzle 31 of the liquid supply means 3 is disposed facing the inside of the opening 21 a on the upper end side of the rotation shaft member 21.

That is, the rotating shaft member 21 has a cylindrical upper shaft portion 24 excluding the lower cylindrical shaft portion 23, and has a large number of liquid passage holes 25 formed in its peripheral wall. . The lower cylindrical shaft portion 23 is composed of a large-diameter portion 23a and a small-diameter portion 23b on the lower end side.
And the upper shaft portion 24 can be arranged at the design height,
The small diameter portion 23b is mounted on the bearing bracket 6. A step portion 26b is provided in a portion of the large diameter portion 23a close to the upper shaft portion 24, and a lower side of the step portion 26b is formed as a tapered portion 23c which spreads downward as shown in an enlarged portion (b) of FIG. At the same time, a positioning and rotation preventing pin 27 is press-fitted into a hole penetrated in the radial direction. The upper shaft portion 24
It has a bottomed cylindrical shape, and has an external thread 26a formed on the outer periphery of the upper end. A large number of the liquid passage holes 25 are provided around the shaft between the stepped portions 26b from below the male screw 26a.

On the other hand, the brush member 22 is made of a sponge-like elastic water-permeable material and has a core shape retaining member 28 press-fitted therein.
Attached to. The material of the brush member 22 is, for example, PV
A material having excellent flexibility and abrasion resistance suitable for brushing the wafer W, as exemplified by a Kanebo-Suginas roller (manufactured by Kanebo Co., Ltd.) using A as a raw material. Shape retaining member 2
8 has a cylindrical shape into which the upper shaft portion 24 can be inserted with a gap 8 therebetween, and has a plurality of discharge holes 29 provided on the peripheral wall of the tube and a pair of positioning recesses 28a provided at the lower end. ing. The plurality of discharge holes 29 have the same diameter, are formed on the peripheral wall of the brush member 22, and are formed so as to become gradually rougher from top to bottom. This is because, by changing the hole distribution of the discharge holes 29 in the vertical direction, the cleaning liquid passes through the discharge holes 25 of the rotary shaft member 21, passes through the discharge holes 29 of the shape-retaining member 28, and is substantially even from the entire circumference of the brush member 22. Is to be exhaled. Therefore, as another configuration, for example, the cleaning liquid may be almost uniformly discharged from the entire circumference of the brush member 22 by changing the diameter of the discharge hole 29. The lower end side of the shape-retaining member 28 has an inner periphery formed into a taper 28c as shown in an enlarged portion (b) of FIG. 3, and the taper 28c is set to a shape that comes into close contact with the taper 23c.

When the above-described brush member 22 is mounted on the rotating shaft member 21, the brush member 22 is connected to the upper end side (one end opening 21a side) of the rotating shaft portion 21 via the shape retaining member 28 as shown in FIG.
After being positioned through the engagement between the recess 28a and the pin 27, the position is regulated by the nut member 9 whose upper part is screwed into the male screw 26a on the outer periphery of the upper end. That is, the lower end of the nut member 9 is formed in the small-diameter insertion portion 9a, and the female screw 9b is screwed into the male screw 26a as shown in the enlarged portion (a) of FIG.
Press 8 down. Then, the small-diameter insertion portion 9a enters between the shape-retaining member 28 and the rotating shaft member 21 to form the gap 8 therebetween. At the same time, the shape retaining member 10 has a taper 2
8c is tightly sealed to the taper 23c so that the lower side is engaged with the recess 28a and the pin 27, and the upper side is restricted in position by the pressing force of the nut member 9, so that the rotating shaft member 21
And can rotate together. Thus, the brush member 22
Can be easily performed by inserting the rotary shaft member 21 into the rotary shaft member 21 via the shape retaining member 28 in a state where the rotary shaft member 21 is supported by the bearing bracket 6 on the apparatus side. The replacement of the brush member 22 is the same. The brush member 22 has a number of small projections (for example, FIG.
A circle or rectangle similar to the small projection 52a of FIG.
Small protrusions of about 4 mm) protrude almost uniformly on the outer periphery, and the surface of the wafer W is brushed by the small protrusions.

The liquid supply means 3 supplies the cleaning liquid from a liquid supply source (not shown) to the brush means 2. The liquid supply source is provided, for example, at a location close to the device as a liquid storage unit. The cleaning liquid is supplied to the brush means 2 at a flow rate and a pressure controlled by a pump, a flow valve and the like. In this form,
The tip supply pipe or supply nozzle 31 of the liquid supply means 3 is arranged toward the opening 21 a on the upper end side of the rotating shaft member 21. In this case, for example, even if the brush unit 2 is rotated, the supply nozzle 31 is rotated so that the rotation shaft member 2 is not rotated.
1 may be inserted into the upper end opening.

Next, the cleaning operation of the wafer W by the above scrub cleaning apparatus will be outlined. The wafer W is lowered by a dedicated transfer hand, held between the pair of brush means 2 and held by the rotating roller 11, and rotated by the rotating roller 11 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Each brush means 2
Brushes both surfaces of the wafer W while being rotated synchronously in the opposite direction. In this cleaning process, the cleaning liquid is pressure-fed from the liquid supply means 3 into the one end opening 21 a of the rotating shaft member 21 through the supply nozzle 31, and the cleaning liquid is brushed from the liquid passage hole 25 and the gap 8, and further from the discharge hole 29 of the shape retaining member 28. Member 22
It is exhaled all around. For this reason, the particulate foreign matter adhering to the wafer W is efficiently removed by the brushing action of the brush member 22 and the liquid cleaning action discharged from the inside of the brush member 22, and drops together with the cleaning liquid. In addition, the foreign matter hardly adheres to the surface of the brush member 22 because the cleaning water is discharged from the inside of the brush member 22, and even if it adheres to the surface of the brush member 22, The cleaning liquid is forcibly flushed by the cleaning liquid discharged in the radial direction. In this way, the brush member 22 is always kept in a clean state by the cleaning liquid discharged from the discharge holes 29 of the shape retaining member 28. For this reason, this structure can solve the conventional problems and improve the cleaning efficiency and accuracy.

In the above embodiment, the brush means 2 is provided as a pair and the both sides of the wafer W are brushed. However, as shown in FIG. A configuration in which only one side is brushed may be used. The rotation method of the rotating roller 11 is, for example, changing the speed of the rotating rollers 11A and 11C and the rotating roller 11B in order to increase the cleaning efficiency of the outer periphery of the wafer W,
They may rotate in opposite directions. Further, as the brush member 22, the core material shape retaining member 28 may be omitted, and the brush member 22 may be directly mounted on the rotating shaft member 21 or may be provided with a hole similar to the discharge hole 29.

[0019]

As described above, in the scrub cleaning apparatus of the present invention, the cleaning liquid is once introduced into the brush means from the cleaning supply means, and is discharged through the brush member from the liquid passage hole of the rotary shaft member. Even if foreign matter adheres to the brush member of the brush means, the foreign matter is removed by the flow and discharge pressure of the cleaning liquid spouted from inside the periphery of the brush means.
For this reason, compared with the conventional structure, there is an effect that the cleaning performance and the yield can be improved without being adversely affected by the foreign matter attached to the brush member.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a main part of an example of a scrub cleaning apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of a main part showing an arrangement relationship of each member of the apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a brush means of the above device.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a rotating shaft member and a brush member of the brush means.

FIG. 5 is a reference view showing two examples of a conventional scrub cleaning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 is a rotation holding means 2 is a brush means 3 is a liquid supply means (31 is a supply unit or a supply nozzle) 11A and 11C are holding rotation rollers 11B is a cleaning rotation roller 21 is a rotation shaft member 21a is one end opening 22 is a brush member 28 is a shape retaining member (29 is a discharge hole) 28a is a recess (positioning portion) W is a wafer

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tsutomu Kawashima 1-6-1, Kanda Jimbocho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nisso Engineering Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3B116 AA03 AB33 AB42 BA02 BA08 BA15 BB03 CD23

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A wafer rotation holding means for rotating a wafer while holding it substantially vertically, a brush means for rubbing while rotating one or both surfaces of the wafer, and a liquid supply means for supplying a cleaning liquid to the wafer side. In the scrub cleaning device, the brush means has a bottomed cylindrical shape, a rotating shaft member having a large number of liquid passage holes formed in a wall surface, and an elastic brush member mounted on an outer periphery of the rotating shaft member. A scrub cleaning device, wherein the cleaning liquid is supplied from the liquid supply means into the cylinder through one end opening of the rotating shaft member, and is discharged from the liquid passage hole through the brush member. 2. The rotating shaft member is disposed in a vertical or inclined state, and a lower end of the rotating shaft member is supported by a driving unit, and a supply unit of the liquid supply unit can inject a cleaning liquid into an upper end opening of the rotating member. The scrub cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the scrub cleaning device is disposed on a scrubber. 3. The scrub cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the brush member is inserted from the upper end side of the rotating shaft member and is replaceably mounted. 4. The scrub according to claim 1, wherein said brush member is cylindrical and is press-fitted into an inner periphery thereof and assembled to a shape retaining member having a plurality of discharge holes formed in a wall surface. Cleaning equipment. 5. The large number of discharge holes are made denser from the lower side to the upper side or in a state where the hole diameters are increased in accordance with the pressure of the cleaning liquid supplied into the cylinder of the rotary shaft member. The scrub cleaning device according to claim 4, which is provided. 6. The wafer rotating and holding means is provided on an outer periphery of the wafer, and uses two or more holding rotating rollers for rotating while exclusively holding the wafer, and an elastic material which is the same as or similar to the brush member. 6. A cleaning rotary roller which rubs the outer periphery of the wafer.
The scrub cleaning device according to any one of the above.