JP2001300445A - Apparatus, method, and system for cleaning substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and technology for cleaning substrate which can use the space of in a factory effectively by reducing the installation area of the apparatus in the factory. SOLUTION: Two cleaning tank lines 12, 13 are arranged in the progress direction of a treatment process, and in order to immerse substrates in each cleaning tank all together in turn for cleaning, a substrate conveyance robot 15 is constituted to be removable in the progress direction of the treatment process and perpendicularly to the progress direction to reduce the installation space of the apparatus.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for cleaning a thin substrate, and more particularly to an apparatus and a method for cleaning a semiconductor substrate and a liquid crystal glass substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A wet cleaning process for a semiconductor substrate (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer) is basically based on a process called RCA cleaning in order to remove various kinds of objects to be cleaned.
This is performed by combining a plurality of cleaning liquids such as (ammonia / hydrogen peroxide), HPM (hydrochloric acid / hydrogen peroxide), DHF (dilute hydrofluoric acid), and SPM (sulfuric acid / hydrogen peroxide) to form a sequence.

For this reason, a general structure of a conventional substrate cleaning apparatus is shown in FIG. 16, and a plurality of cleaning tanks 101a, 101b, 1 for accommodating the respective cleaning liquids and cleaning the substrate.
A substrate cleaning unit 101 in which 01c, 101d, 101e, and 101f are arranged in a row in the horizontal direction and a substrate drying unit 102 for drying the cleaned substrate are provided side by side, and a substrate loading unit 100 is provided on the left end side of the substrate cleaning unit. Is the substrate drying unit 1
A substrate unloading unit 102 is provided on the right end side of the substrate 02, and three substrate transfer robots 104 (104a, 104b, 104c) for transferring a substrate are provided in parallel in the arrangement direction of the cleaning tank. .

In the substrate loading section 100,
A plurality of (for example, about 25) wafers W stored and supplied in the transfer carrier cassette 105 are transferred to the substrate transfer robot 104a by the substrate transfer device 106. As the structure of the substrate transfer robot 104, there are a cassette type in which the wafer W is housed in a cleaning cassette for cleaning and a cassetteless type in which the wafer W is directly held and cleaned. With the increase in the diameter of the wafer, the latter cassetteless type is becoming popular in order to reduce the size of the apparatus, reduce the amount of chemical solution used, and further increase the cleaning efficiency of the wafer.

[0005] In this cassetteless type, the transferred wafer W is transferred to the substrate transfer robot 10.
4 (104a, 104b, 104c), sequentially immersed in the cleaning tanks 101a to 101f, washed and dried in the adjacent substrate drying unit 102, and then in the substrate unloading unit 103, by the substrate transfer device 107. Then, the sheet is again stored in the carrier cassette 105 for carrying out and carried out.

[0006]

However, in the conventional cleaning apparatus as described above, a substrate loading section and a substrate unloading section are provided on both sides of a substrate cleaning section in which a plurality of cleaning tanks are arranged in a row in the horizontal direction. Because of the configuration in which the unit is provided, the apparatus becomes longer and longer in proportion to the increase in the diameter of the wafer, and it is necessary to secure a large installation space.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method for cleaning a substrate which can effectively utilize a limited factory space. It is in.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a compact substrate cleaning system mainly including a substrate loading section, the above-mentioned cleaning section, and a substrate unloading section along a processing step progress direction. Is to do.

[0009]

In order to achieve this object, a substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention has a plurality of cleaning tanks arranged in a row along a processing step progress direction, and a plurality of substrates are collectively arranged. In order to sequentially immerse and clean the substrate in the cleaning tank, the substrate transport robot is configured to be movable in the processing step progress direction and a direction orthogonal to the processing step progress direction.

In the first substrate cleaning system of the present invention, the substrate loading section into which the substrates accommodated in the carrier cassette are carried in, and the washed substrates are again accommodated in the empty carrier cassette and carried out. A substrate unloading section, a substrate cleaning section between the substrate loading section and the substrate unloading section, wherein a plurality of cleaning baths are arranged in a multi-row along a processing step progress direction; In order to take out the substrates in a lump and wash them by sequentially immersing them in the cleaning tank and returning the cleaned substrates to the substrate unloading section, the processing step progress direction and a direction orthogonal to the processing step progress direction. And a substrate transfer robot configured to be movable.

In a second substrate cleaning system according to the present invention, a substrate loading section into which a substrate accommodated in a carrier cassette is carried in, and a washed substrate which is again accommodated in the empty carrier cassette and carried out. A substrate unloading section, a substrate cleaning section between the substrate loading section and the substrate unloading section, wherein a plurality of cleaning baths are arranged in a multi-row along a processing step progress direction; In order to take out the substrates in a lump and wash them by sequentially immersing them in the cleaning tank and returning the cleaned substrates to the substrate unloading section, the processing step progress direction and a direction orthogonal to the processing step progress direction. A substrate transport robot configured to be movable to a carrier cassette transport unit for transporting the empty carrier cassette in the substrate load unit to the substrate unload unit. Comprising characterized by comprising.

Further, in the method of cleaning a substrate according to the present invention, the cleaning tanks arranged in multiple rows along the processing step moving direction are moved in the processing step moving direction and a direction orthogonal to the processing step moving direction. A plurality of substrates are collectively transported by a substrate transport robot configured so as to be capable of being immersed and washed in the cleaning tank sequentially.

[0013]

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

Embodiment 1 FIGS. 1 to 3 show a substrate cleaning system provided with a substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention. Specifically, the substrate cleaning system is of a batch type in which a plurality of (for example, 50) wafers W, W,. , A substrate unloading section C, substrate transfer sections Da and Db provided in the substrate loading section A and the substrate unloading section C, a carrier cassette transport section E and a control section F, respectively.

The substrate loading section A takes out the wafers W, W,... Which are accommodated and carried in the carrier cassette 1 from the carrier cassette 1 and transfers the wafers to a substrate aligning and holding means to be described later. 1. More specifically, as shown in FIG.
Cassette mounting units 2 (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d,
2e), a tact feeding conveyor 3 that moves between the cassette mounting sections 2a to 2d and tact-feeds the carrier cassette 1 (see FIG. 3), and the cassette mounting sections 2d to 2d.
e, and mainly comprises a tact feeding conveyor 4 (see FIG. 5) for tact feeding the carrier cassette 1.

Although not specifically shown, the cassette mounting portion 2 is provided on a top plate 5 and has a cassette positioning guide for positioning the carrier cassette 1 at each position.

As shown in FIG. 3, the tact feeding conveyor 3 is a single-axis robot 3a for horizontal traveling provided to extend in a horizontal (paper) direction, and a traveling carriage of the single-axis robot 3a. An air cylinder 3c mounted on the air cylinder 3b and a cassette holding plate 3d fixed on an actuator of the air cylinder 3c are provided.

As shown in FIG. 5, the tact feed conveyor 4 is a single-axis robot 4a for horizontal traveling provided to extend in the horizontal (paper) direction, and the traveling of the single-axis robot 4a. An air cylinder 4c mounted on the carriage 4b and a cassette holding plate 4d fixed on an actuator of the air cylinder 4c are provided.

Substrate transfer unit D mounted on substrate loading unit A
a is, as shown in FIGS.
, A substrate alignment and holding means 7 and a substrate transfer means 8.

As shown in FIG. 11, the substrate push-up means 6 is installed on each of two linear rails 6a, 6a arranged in the front-rear direction (in the direction of the paper), and two linear rails 6a are slid thereon. A lifting platform 6e guided vertically by guides 6b, 6b and driven up and down by a ball screw 6c and a drive motor 6d connected thereto;
It comprises a pole 6f fixed to the lift 6e, and a substrate holding portion 6h fixed on a bracket 6g installed on the upper end of the pole 6f.

The substrate holding section 6h has a holding groove for holding the 25 wafers W, W,... Accommodated in one carrier cassette 1 in a stand-like manner from below, and the pitch of the holding grooves is set. Is the array pitch of the carrier cassette 1 (for example, 1
(0 mm pitch).

The substrate aligning and holding means 7 is, similarly to the substrate push-up means 6, provided with two linear rails 7a, 2a respectively arranged in front and rear, two linear guides 7b sliding on the linear rails. , 7b, which are vertically guided by a ball screw 7c and a driving motor 7d connected thereto, and which are driven up and down by a lift 7e; a pole 7f rotatably supported by the lift 7e; It has a board holding part 7h fixed on a bracket 7g installed at the upper end of the pole 7f, and also has a motor, an index machine and the like connected to the lower end of the pole 7f for rotationally positioning the pole 7f. Means 7i.

The substrate holding unit 7h is provided with two carrier cassettes, that is, 50 wafers W, W,...
There is provided a holding groove for aligning and holding the back surface and the back surface, respectively, and the groove pitch of the holding groove is set to a pitch smaller than the arrangement pitch of the carrier cassette 1, and preferably set to ピ ッ チ pitch (for example, 5 mm pitch). .

The substrate transfer means 8 is means for transferring wafers W, W,... From the substrate holding part 6h of the above-described substrate push-up means 6 to the substrate holding part 7h of the substrate alignment holding means 7.
Are provided with a substrate chuck portion 8A for chucking and holding the wafers W, W,... In a holding shape, and a driving portion 8B for opening and closing the substrate chuck portion 8A. The substrate chuck portion 8A is disposed on the near side, and the driving portion 8B is disposed on the rear side.

The substrate chuck section 8A includes a pair of left and right chuck hands 8a, 8b for chucking the wafers W, W,... And the open / close arms 8c, 8d of the drive section 8B. Adjustment (wafer W,
Left and right chuck hands 8a, 8b for W,.
And two adjusting brackets 8e, 8e and 8f, 8f, respectively, for allowing the mounting to be carried out. On the other hand, the driving unit 8B includes the open / close arms 8c, 8d and the entire substrate chuck unit 8A in FIG. Single-axis robot 8g for driving the arrows (7) and (8) in the horizontal direction
And an actuator 8i mounted on the traveling carriage 8h of the single-axis robot 8g and capable of horizontally driving the entire substrate chuck portion 8A in the directions of arrows (5) and (6), and further on the actuator 8i. The opening and closing arms 8c and 8d are fixed individually with arrows (7).
And (8) drive cylinders 8j, 8j and 8k, 8k for opening and closing in the horizontal direction.

At the tips of the chuck hands 8a and 8b (sites for directly chucking the wafers W, W,...), Wafer holding grooves G and wafer passage grooves H are alternately provided as shown in FIG. They are provided at an equal pitch (for example, 5 mm pitch).

As described above, the substrate chuck portion 8A
And the driving unit 8B, the opening and closing arm 8c, which is installed through the horizontal slit 9a of the partition 9 in the substrate loading unit A,
8d, the dust from the driving unit 8B does not leak to the side where the wafers W, W,... Are transferred and processed (in front of the partition wall 9 in the substrate loading unit A). I have.

The loading of the substrate and the transfer of the substrate in the substrate loading section A configured as described above are performed as follows.

1) A carrier cassette 1 containing a plurality of (for example, 25) wafers is carried in manually or by an AGV from a carry-in port A1 of a substrate loading section A, and is placed on a cassette placing section 2a. .

2) The carrier cassette 1 is tact-fed by the tact feeding conveyor 3 from the cassette mounting part 2a to the cassette mounting part 2c. The tact feeding conveyor 3 returns to the cassette mounting portion 2a and feeds the next carrier cassette 1 to the cassette mounting portion 2b.

3) All the 25 wafers W, W,... In the carrier cassette 1 on the cassette mounting portion 2c are transferred to the substrate holding portion 6h of the substrate push-up means 6 which is already open and on standby. It is pushed up between the open / close arms 8c and 8d of the chuck portion 8A, detached from the carrier cassette 1, and held in a forest.

4) Drive cylinders 8j, 8j of drive section 8B
And 8k, 8k are driven to open and close the open / close arms 8c, 8d.
Is closed, and the wafers W, W,... Are chucked in a holding manner, and the substrate holding portion 6h of the substrate push-up means 6 is lowered to separate from the bottom of the carrier cassette 1.

5) The substrate chuck unit 8A is driven in the direction of the arrow (7) by the single-axis robot 8g of the driving unit B to move the wafers W, W,... The empty carrier cassette 1 is moved by the tact feeding conveyor 3 from the cassette mounting portion 2c in front of the partition wall 9 in the substrate loading section A to the entrance 9 of the partition wall 9.
b, the tactile feed is performed to the cassette mounting portion 2d behind the partition wall 9.

6) The substrate holding portion 7h of the substrate alignment holding means 7
Are vertically pushed up to hold the bottoms of the wafers W, W,.
Is opened, and the wafer W from the first carrier cassette is opened.
Are transferred from the substrate transfer means 8 to the substrate alignment holding means 7.

7) The substrate holding unit 7h is lowered in the vertical direction, and the substrate chuck unit 8A is driven in the direction of the arrow (8) to return to the position of the substrate push-up means 6, and the second carrier cassette Wait for one wafer W, W,...

8) On the other hand, the substrate holding part 7h of the lowered substrate alignment holding means 7 is moved by the rotation positioning means 7i.
Rotated 0 degrees.

9) By the tact feeding conveyor 3, all 25 wafers W, W,... In the second carrier cassette 1 already mounted on the cassette mounting portion 2c are removed.
Through the operations of the above items 3) to 5), the substrate alignment holding means 7
And the actuator 8i of the drive unit B moves the substrate chuck 8A in the direction of the arrow (5) (or (6)) by half the arrangement pitch of the carrier cassette 1. .

10) The substrate holding portion 7h of the substrate aligning and holding means 7 holding the bottoms of the wafers W, W,... From the first carrier cassette 1 in a forest shape is vertically pushed up. Wafers W, W,
Are held at the same time, the opening / closing arms 8c and 8d are opened, and the wafers W from the second carrier cassette are transferred from the substrate transfer means 8 to the substrate aligning and holding means 7. Will be transferred to

At this time, the substrate chuck 8A is indicated by an arrow (5).
(Or (6)), the wafers W, W,... From the second carrier cassette 1 are moved by a half pitch of the arrangement pitch of the carrier cassette 1.
The wafer W from the first carrier cassette 1 passes through the wafer passage groove H at the tip of the chuck hands 8a and 8b.
.. And the chuck hands 8a and 8b can be transferred without interference.

By the above series of operations, 50 wafers W, W,.
However, the wafers are held in a stand-by manner at the substrate holding portion 7h of the substrate aligning and holding means 7 at a half pitch of the arrangement pitch of the carrier cassette 1 with the front surface and the front surface and the back surface and the back surface of the adjacent wafers facing each other. Is transferred onto the chuck hands 27 of the substrate transfer robot 15A.

In addition to the above, the substrate loading unit A includes a chuck hand cleaning unit 10 for cleaning the chuck hands 27 of the substrate transfer robot 15A, the chuck hand cleaning unit 10, the substrate alignment holding unit 7, And an automatic shutter unit 11 for partitioning between them.

As shown in FIG. 15, the chuck hand cleaning unit 10 has a cover 10A which is opened up and down and is surrounded by a plate to prevent the cleaning liquid from scattering, so as to separately clean the chuck hands 27, 27. A pure water shower section 10B disposed inside the cover 10A and opposed to the chuck hand 27, and an N2 shower section oppositely disposed on the pure water shower section 10B and the chuck hand 27 therebetween. 10C.

One end of the pure water shower unit 10B is closed, while the other is provided with a plurality of shower nozzles 10b, 10b, 10b, (in the paper direction) connected to a pipe 10a connected to a pure water supply source 10c.・ Provide

Similarly, one end of the N2 shower section 10B is closed, and the other is provided with a plurality of shower nozzles 10b (10b, 10b,...) On a pipe 10a connected to an N2 supply source 10d.・ Provide

In the automatic shutter section 11, the cleaning liquid is scattered while cleaning the chuck hands 27, 27 in the chuck hand cleaning section 10, and the wafers W, W, , And is mainly provided with a shutter plate 11a and a rodless cylinder 11b for raising and lowering the shutter plate 11a, as shown in FIGS.

The substrate cleaning section B includes 50 wafers W, W,
... is a part that is batch-washed without a cassette,
In a cleaning chamber maintained in a clean air atmosphere, cleaning tank rows 12 and 1 each including a plurality of cleaning tanks arranged in multiple rows (two rows in the present embodiment) along the processing process progress direction.
, A cleaning device 14 for drying the cleaned wafers W, W,..., And a substrate transfer robot 15 (15) disposed on the side of the cleaning tank rows 12, 13 and the drying device 14.
A, 15B) as main parts.

The cleaning tank rows 12, 13 are disposed between the substrate loading section A and the substrate unloading section B as shown in FIG. 1, and the drying device 14 is provided with the cleaning tank rows 12, 13 and the substrate unloading section. It is arranged between the part B. Therefore, the processing path (process direction) of the wafers W, W,...
(1) direction).

Of the two cleaning tank rows 12 and 13, the rear cleaning tank row 12 (12) as viewed from the operator zone O side.
a, 12b, and 12c) include APM and HP as cleaning liquids.
A chemical solution such as M, DHF, or SPM is used, and the cleaning tank row 13 (13a, 13
For b, 13c), ultrapure water is used as a cleaning liquid.
The use of ultrapure water in the cleaning tank row 13 near the operator zone O side in this way has the advantage that the risk of inhaling the mist or vapor of the chemical solution can be extremely reduced when the operator performs maintenance and inspection. There is.

The wafers W, W,... Received from chuck hands 27, 27 of the substrate transfer robot 15A described later are provided in the cleaning tanks of the two cleaning tank rows 12, 13.
Is provided with a substrate holding portion J in which comb-shaped holding grooves are formed, and the pitch of the comb-shaped holding grooves is determined by the transfer of the carrier cassette 1. The pitch is set to の of the arrangement pitch.

The above-described cleaning tank rows 12 and 13 and the drying apparatus 1
4, the substrate cleaning section B of the present embodiment shown in FIG.
It has two substrate transfer robots 15A and 15B. As will be described later, the substrate transport robot 15A converts the 50 wafers W, W,... Received from the substrate holding portion 7h of the substrate alignment holding means 7 into arrows (3), (4), and (1). ), And transfer processing is performed between all the cleaning tanks and between the drying apparatus 14, while the substrate transfer robot 15 </ b> B transfers the wafers W, W,.
(1) The substrate is transported in the direction, and is transferred to and from the substrate holding unit 51h of the substrate alignment holding unit 51 on the substrate unloading unit C side.

The substrate transfer robots 15A and 15A
B is a body having substantially the same structure and, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 9, provided with a lifting / lowering means 19 and a FR (front-rear direction) driving means 23 which are moving means in a direction orthogonal to the processing step progress direction. 16 is horizontally and linearly extended by the linear drive motor 17 in the left-right direction (processing step progress direction) which is the arrangement direction (arrows (1) and (2) directions) of the cleaning tanks of the cleaning tank rows 12 and 13. The linear rail 18a of the linear motion guide portion 18 and an accessory component of the linear drive motor 17 are also movable on linear rails 17c, 17c (see FIG. 2) extending horizontally and linearly.

The body 16 has a concave shape composed of five plates, that is, a base plate 16a, a left plate 16b, a right plate 16c, an upper plate 16d, and a lower plate 16e. 17 sliders 17
a, and a guide plate 16f fixed to the left plate 16b, the right plate 16c, and the upper plate 16d is fixed to the linear guide 18b of the straight guide portion 18 in the left and right direction (in the processing process direction). )
It is possible to move to.

The linear drive motor 17 is fixed to a total of four linear guides 17d, 17d,... Sliding two by two on each of the two linear rails 17c, 17c, and extends horizontally and linearly. This is a drive motor in which the slider 17a is electrically driven with respect to the base 17b.

The elevating means 19 is provided with the base plate 16.
are fixed to a total of four linear guides 19b, 19b,... sliding on the two linear rails 19a, 19a, which are vertical linear guide portions fixed to the first linear guide 19a. A pair of vertical frames 20, 20 extending upward through the opening holes 16g, 16g of the plate 16d, a horizontal frame 21 for connecting and fixing the upper portions of the vertical frames 20, 20, and a fixing block 22 for connecting and fixing the lower portion. A ball screw 19c rotatably supported by the upper plate 16d and the lower plate 16e;
9c, a ball nut 19d fixed to the fixed block 22 and a ball screw 1d.
A driven pulley 19e fixed to the lower end of 9c, a drive motor 19g fixed to the lower plate 16e via a motor bracket 19f, a drive pulley 19i fixed to an output shaft 19h of the drive motor 19g, It mainly comprises a timing belt 19j hung between a pulley 19e and a driving pulley 19i.

The FR driving means 23 has 50 wafers W,
Are collectively chucked and moved in the front-rear direction. As shown in FIG. 8, the left arm of the two arms 21a and 21b provided at the left and right ends of the horizontal frame 21 is used. A single-axis robot 24 installed at 21a,
It mainly includes a single-axis guide 25 installed on the right arm 21b, and a substrate chuck section 26 suspended between the single-axis robot 24 and the single-axis guide 25.

The single-axis robot 24 comprises a linear guide 24b sliding on two linear rails 24a, 24a extending horizontally and in the front-rear direction, and the linear rails 24a, 2a.
A ball nut 24d provided in a linear guide 24b so as to be able to advance and retreat to a ball screw 24c provided in parallel to the ball screw 4a; a driven pulley 24e fixed concentrically to one end of the ball screw 24c; Pulley 2
4e mainly includes a drive motor 24i for transmitting power by a timing belt 24f and a drive pulley 24g fixed to an output shaft 24h thereof to rotate the drive screw 24e. The drive motor 24i is rotated to drive the ball screw 4e. The linear guide 24b is driven to rotate, and the linear guide 24b slides on the linear rails 24a, 24a.

The single-axis guide 25 is provided with the single-axis robot 24.
And two linear rails 25a, 25a extending horizontally and extending in the front-rear direction.
And a linear guide 25b that slides on the linear rails 25a, 25a, and serves as an auxiliary sliding guide for the single-axis robot 24.

The substrate holding section 26 holds and chucks a plurality of (50 in this embodiment) wafers W, W,... In a gripping manner, and opens and closes the substrate chuck section 26A. And an opening / closing drive section 26B to be performed.

The substrate chuck section 26A is similar to the substrate chuck section 8A of the substrate transfer section 8 described above, and has the same structure as the wafers W, W,.
..A pair of left and right chuck hands 2 for chucking
7 and 27, and each of the chuck hands 27 and 27 are connected to the open / close arms 28, 28 and 2 of the open / close drive unit 26B.
9 and 29 are mainly provided with two adjustment mounting portions 30 and 30 each for adjusting (positioning of the left and right chuck hands 27 and 27 with respect to the wafers W, W,...).

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the chuck hands 27, 27 have two side plates 27a, 27a having two support rods (round bars) 27b, the upper ends of which are extended in parallel.
27b, and the lower end thereof is supported and fixed by a wafer holding portion 27c extending in parallel with the support rod.

The wafer holding portion 27c is provided with a row of comb-like holding grooves 27d for holding 50 wafers W, W,.
The groove pitch of d and 27d is set to １ ／ of the arrangement pitch of the carrier cassette 1.

The adjustment mounting portion 30 is disposed at two positions in front and back of one chuck hand 27, each of which includes a vertical adjustment bracket 31 and a guide bracket 32 for guiding the vertical adjustment bracket 31 in the vertical direction. A connecting bar 33 for connecting the two guide brackets 32 before and after (in the direction of the paper surface of FIG. 9), and adjusting the angle of the connecting bar 33 to the open / close arms 28, 28 (29, 29) (connecting bar 3).
(Adjustable around the axis 3).

The vertical adjustment bracket 31 is provided at a lower portion thereof for fixing the two support rods (round bars) 27b, 27b installed at the upper ends of the chuck hands 27, 27 in a sandwich shape. Split type clamp part 3
1a, and a screw hole 31b for adjusting the vertical direction is provided at the upper end thereof.

The guide bracket 32 has a guide groove 32a for vertically guiding the vertical adjustment bracket 31.
And an adjustment screw 32b for adjusting the vertical adjustment bracket 31 in the vertical direction, and a half-type clamp portion 32c for clamping the connection bar 33 as described above at the upper end thereof. I have.

The connecting bar 33 is connected to the two open / close arms 28 by the angle adjusting bracket 34.
It is fixed to (29, 29) so that the angle can be adjusted.
Specifically, two adjustment screw blocks 35, 35 provided on the open / close arms 28, 28 (29, 29) are provided with two right and left locations on the upper surface of the angle adjustment bracket 34 to which the connection bar 33 is clamped and fixed. The two adjustment screws 36
By pressing at 36, the connection bar 33 is finely adjusted around its axis and then fixed.

Both ends of the opening / closing arms 28 are connected to a linear guide 2 which is a traveling carriage of the single-axis robot 24.
4b and brackets 37, 3 respectively fixed to the linear guide 25b which is a traveling carriage of the single-axis guide 25.
Are fixed to the four cylinders 38, 38,... Installed on the drive unit 7, and by simultaneously driving the four cylinders 38, 38,. .

On the other hand, both ends of the opening / closing arms 29, 29 are mounted on brackets 37, 37 fixed to the linear guide 24a of the single-axis robot 24 and the linear guide 25b of the single-axis guide 25, respectively. Cylinder 39,
39, ..., the four cylinders 39, 3
, Are operated to open and close the opening and closing arms 29, 29 at the same time.

The substrate chuck 2 configured as described above
6A, the chucking position alignment with the wafers W, W,... Is performed in the following manner.

1) Fifty dummy wafers (pseudo-wafers made of a resin material, a metal material, etc.) W, W, W
, The vertical adjustment screw 32b and the front-rear adjustment screw 32
By adjusting d and the angle adjusting screws 36, 36, the chucking position of one chuck hand 27 is adjusted.

2) The above adjustment is performed with the other chuck hand 27
And adjust the chucking position.

3) After the above adjustment is repeated and the chucking position is accurately adjusted, the clamp portion 31a of the vertical adjustment bracket 31, the clamp portion 32c of the guide bracket 32, and the angle adjustment bracket 34 are fixed.

In addition to the above, the substrate cleaning section B further includes two partition plates 40, 40 between the tanks of the rear row cleaning tanks 12a, 12b, 12c, and the substrate loading section A and the cleaning tank 12a. A single partition plate 40 is provided between the cleaning tank 12c and the drying device 14, and an upper partition 41 and a lower partition 42 are provided between the cleaning chamber and a carrier cassette transport section E described later.

The lower partition 42 is provided with an exhaust duct 43 (43a, 43b, 43c) behind each of the washing tanks 12a, 12b, 12c in the rear row, and is connected to the exhaust equipment 45 of the factory. , A clean unit 44 (44A,
The downflow of the clean air that has passed through 44B) is configured to effectively take out the exhaust generated from the chemical solution through the cleaning chamber and exhaust the exhaust.

The amount of the down flow can be adjusted individually for the clean units 44 (44A, 44B). For example, if the air flow rate of the clean unit 44A on the cleaning tank row 13 side of the front row is set to 0.6 m / sec, FIG. Arrows Y1 and Y2
As shown in the figure, the downflow amount on the front cleaning tank row 13 side is larger than that on the rear cleaning tank row 12 side, and the downflow amount on the front cleaning tank row 13 side is combined with the exhaust flow indicated by Y3. Functions as an air curtain, and the exhaust generated from the chemical solution cleaning tank does not leak to the operator zone O side.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the partitioning plates 40, 40,...
When 5A) moves in the directions of the arrows (1) and (2), lateral grooves 40a, 40a,... Are provided so that the portions of the single-axis robot 24 and the single-axis guide 25 do not interfere with each other. Robot 15 (15A) is located in the back row of washing tank 1
When loading / unloading wafers W, W,... Into / from each of the tanks 2a, 12b, 12c, four open / close arms 28, 28 and 29, 29 of the substrate holding unit 26A do not interfere with each other. Are provided.

Then, the substrate transfer robot 15 (15A)
Are moved up and down to load and unload wafers W, W,... Into and out of each of the cleaning tanks 12a, 12b, and 12c in the rear row, the single-axis robot 24 and the single-axis guide 25 of the substrate transfer robot 15 (15A). Means that the outside of the left and right partition plates 40, 40 existing above the respective tanks is moved up and down, and the substrate holding portion 26A is moved up and down inside the left and right partition plates 40, 40.

As described above, the cleaning tank in the rear row of the cleaning chamber is not only the partition plates 40, 40,.
The substrate transfer robot 15 (1) is effectively partitioned by the downflow of clean air passing through
5A) Single-axis robot 24 and single-axis guide 2 which are drive units
Are exhausted without entering the cleaning tank side, the cleanliness of the wafers W, W,... Is maintained, and conversely, the dust is generated from the cleaning tanks 12a, 12b, 12c for chemicals. Since the chemical mist, vapor, and the like do not enter the drive unit side and rust is not generated in the drive unit, a long life can be maintained.

As the drying device 14, an IPA vapor drying device, an IPA reduced-pressure drying device, a cassetteless spin dryer, and the like are used. In any case, the wafers W, W, and W received from the substrate transfer robot 15A are used.・ ・
In order to hold and dry in a forest shape, a substrate holding portion K having a comb-shaped holding groove is provided, and the groove pitch of the comb-shaped holding groove is the same as in each of the cleaning tanks described above. The pitch is set to １ ／ of the transport arrangement pitch of the carrier cassette 1.

The substrate unloading section C includes the substrate cleaning section B
Are returned to the original carrier cassette 1 at a position where the wafers W, W,.
The configuration other than the automatic shutter unit 11 is the same as that of the substrate loading unit A, and is arranged symmetrically with the substrate loading unit A with the substrate cleaning unit B interposed therebetween.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of (five in this embodiment) cassette mounting portions 46 (46
a, 46b, 46c, 46d, 46e) and a tact feeding conveyor 47 which moves between the cassette mounting portions 46a to 46d and tact feeds the carrier cassette 1 (FIG. 3).
), And a tact feeding conveyor 48 that moves between the cassette mounting portions 46d to 46e and tact feeds the carrier cassette 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, the substrate transfer section Db provided in the substrate unloading section C includes a substrate push-up means 50, a substrate alignment holding means 51, and a substrate transfer means 52. The structure is the same as that of the substrate push-up unit 6, the substrate alignment holding unit 7, and the substrate transfer unit 8 provided in the substrate loading unit A, and the detailed description is omitted.

The transfer and unloading of the substrate in the substrate unloading section C are completely the reverse of the steps of loading and transferring the substrate in the substrate loading section A, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The carrier cassette transport section E takes out the wafers W, W,... From the substrate loading section A and removes the empty carrier cassette 1 to wash and dry the wafers W, W,.
Are transported again to the substrate unloading section C, which is a portion for accommodating the original in the carrier cassette 1, and is provided behind the substrate cleaning section B as shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5. A single-axis robot 53 having one end extending into and entering the substrate loading section A and the other end extending to the substrate drying section C, and a cassette mounting table 53b fixed to a traveling carriage 53a of the single-axis robot 53. The transport of the carrier cassette 1 is performed according to the following procedure.

1) The carrier cassette 1 emptied at the substrate loading section A is transported by the tact feeding conveyor 4 to the cassette mounting section 2e and waits. At this time, the air cylinder 4c of the tact feeding conveyor 4 waits while the cassette holding plate 4d lifts the carrier cassette while the air cylinder 4c remains in the raised state as shown in FIG.

2) The traveling carriage 53a of the single-axis robot 53 of the carrier cassette transport section E is moved in the direction of the arrow (2) in FIG. 1 and enters the substrate loading section A up to the position of the substrate mounting section 2e. It stands by so as to surround the periphery of the carrier cassette 1.

3) The air cylinder 4c of the tact feeding conveyor 4 is operated, the cassette holding plate 4d is lowered, separated from the carrier cassette 1, and the carrier cassette 1 is transferred to the traveling carriage 53a.

4) Traveling carriage 5 of single-axis robot 53
3a is moved in the direction of the arrow (1) in FIG. 1, and the carrier cassette 1 is transported to the rear of the drying device 14 and stands by.

5) The air cylinder 48c of the tact feeding conveyor 48 on the substrate unloading section C side, which is already waiting on the rear side of the base drying device 14, is raised, and the cassette holding plate 48d lifts the carrier cassette 1. Receive. (The tact feeding conveyor 48 of the board unloading section C has the same structure as the tact feeding conveyor 4 of the board loading section B, and is not shown.)

The control unit F includes the substrate loading unit A, the substrate cleaning unit B, the substrate unloading unit C, the substrate transfer units Da and Db,
And the carrier cassette transport unit E are controlled in synchronization with each other. In order to clean the wafers according to a certain cleaning recipe by the control unit F, the following cleaning processing steps are performed from the loading of the wafers W, W,. It is performed fully automatically up to unloading.

I. Loading of wafers W, W,... 1) The two carrier cassettes 1 and 2 are operated by the operations from 1) to 10) relating to the loading and transfer of substrates described in the detailed description of the substrate loading section A. 50 out of 1
Are placed on the substrate holding portion 7h of the substrate aligning / holding means 7 so that one half of the arrangement pitch of the carrier cassette 1 is set in the substrate holding portion 7h. It is held in a forest by pitch.

II. Cleaning of Wafers W, W,... 1) The shutter plate 11a of the automatic shutter unit 11 of the substrate loading unit A is lowered, and the substrate holding unit 26 of the substrate transfer robot 15A can pass.

2) With the chuck hands 27, 27 in the open state, the substrate holding section 26 of the substrate transfer robot 15A moves to a position corresponding to the substrate alignment holding means 7.

3) The opening / closing drive unit 2 is the substrate chuck unit 26A.
6B, the chuck hands 27, 27 are closed, and the 50 wafers W, W,... Held on the substrate holding portion 7h of the substrate alignment holding means 7 are chucked in a gripping manner.

4) Elevating means 1 of substrate transfer robot 15A
9, the chuck hands 27, 27 move up while chucking the 50 wafers W, W,..., And move the substrate transfer robot 15 in the left-right movement position (single-axis robot 24 and single-axis robot 24). The guide 25 and the partition plate 4
(A height position that can pass through the horizontal groove 40a).

5) The FR driving means 23 is operated, and the substrate holding portion 26 moves backward (in the direction of the arrow (4) in FIG. 1), moves to a position corresponding to the front cleaning tank row 13, and stops. At the same time, the linear drive motor 17 is driven to move the substrate transfer robot 15A rightward (in the direction of the arrow (1) in FIG. 1), and directly above the first cleaning tank 12a and the second cleaning tank 13a. To stop.

6) The FR driving means 23 is operated, and the substrate holding portion 26 moves backward (in the direction of the arrow (3) in FIG. 1), and the first
At the same time as moving directly above the washing tank 12a and stopping, the elevating means 19 descends and the chuck hands 27, 27
Move down while chucking 50 wafers W, W,..., And move the wafers W, W,.
a, the wafer transfer position (wafer W,
Are stopped at a position where W,... Are held in a standing state by the substrate holding portion J of the cleaning tank.

7) The opening / closing drive unit 2 is the substrate chuck unit 26A.
6B, the chuck hands 27, 27 are opened, and 50 wafers W, W,... Are transferred to the substrate holding portion J of the cleaning tank 12a, and at the same time, the lifting / lowering means 19 moves upward. Then, the chuck hands 27, 27 rise in an empty state, and stop at the left-right movement position.

8) When the wafers W, W,... Are cleaned at the cleaning time according to the above-described cleaning recipe, the substrate transfer robot 15A operates, and the chuck hands 27, 27 move the wafers in the cleaning tank 12a. Are chucked, and immersed in the second cleaning tank 13a by the same operation as described above, and then transferred to the substrate holding portion J in the cleaning tank 13a.

9) In the second cleaning tank 13a, the wafers W,
While W is being cleaned, the substrate transfer robot 15A operates, and the chuck hands 27, 27 are cleaned in the chuck hand cleaning unit 10.

10) When the time for cleaning in the second cleaning tank 13a is up, the substrate transfer robot 15A operates and the chuck hands 27, 27 chuck wafers W, W,... In the cleaning tank 13a. King, immersed in the third cleaning tank 12b by the same operation as above,
Is transferred to the substrate holding portion J in the inside.

Thereafter, the same operation as described above is repeated, and when the time of cleaning in the last (sixth) cleaning tank 12c is up, the substrate transfer robot 15A moves the chuck hands 27, 2
.. In the cleaning tank 12c are moved by chucking and transferred to the substrate holding unit K in the substrate drying apparatus 14.

The wafers W, W,...
When the drying of the wafers has timed out, the chuck hands 27, 27 of the substrate transfer robot 15B are moved to the wafers W, W,.
Are moved by chucking, and the wafers W, W,... Are transferred onto the substrate holding part 51h of the substrate alignment holding means 51 on the substrate unloading part B side.

III. Unloading of wafers W, W,... 1) Wafers W, W,.
The operation completely opposite to the loading operation of the substrate is performed by the cooperation of the substrate push-up means 50 of the substrate unloading section B, the substrate alignment holding means 51 and the substrate transfer means 52.

2) By the carrier cassette transport section E,
The wafers W, W, W are stored in the empty carrier cassettes 1, 1 which have already been transferred from the substrate loading section A to the substrate unloading section B.
Are returned and tact-feeded by the tact-feed conveyor 47 to the cassette mounting portion 46a.

3) The carrier cassette 1 placed on the cassette mounting portion 46a is carried out manually or by an AGV from the carry-out opening BO of the substrate unloading portion B and sent to the next step.

The above-described embodiment merely shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this, and various design changes can be made within the scope.

For example, APM, HP
Instead of M, DHF, SPM, etc., acidic functional water or alkaline functional water may be used.

In this embodiment, the chemical liquid is used in the rear cleaning tank row and the ultrapure water is used in the front cleaning tank row. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the chemical liquid tank, the ultrapure water tank, or the above-described function can be used. Water tanks may be appropriately arranged in front, rear, left and right tanks.

[0109]

As described above in detail, the apparatus for cleaning a substrate according to the present invention applies the processing step progress direction and the processing step progress to the cleaning tanks arranged in multiple rows along the processing step progress direction. When a plurality of substrates are collectively immersed in the cleaning tank and cleaned by a substrate transfer robot movable in a direction perpendicular to the direction, the substrate cleaning pitch is set to one of the substrate transfer pitches in the carrier cassette. / 2, and because the front and back surfaces of the adjacent substrates are opposed to each other, and the back and back surfaces are opposed to each other, the cleaning unit is extremely compact and the ratio of the cleaning device to the factory space is greatly reduced. it can.

In the apparatus for cleaning a substrate according to the present invention, two partition plates are provided between each of the chemical cleaning tanks in the cleaning section, and the substrate transport robot collectively transfers a plurality of substrates to the cleaning tank. When immersing, the two arms of the substrate transfer robot are respectively raised and lowered between the two partition plates, and the clean air is down-flowed from the upper part of the apparatus and exhausted from the rear part between the chemical solution cleaning tanks. Therefore, the cleanliness of the cleaning section can be maintained, and the substrate can be cleaned in a highly clean atmosphere.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a partially-cut substrate cleaning system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the substrate cleaning system.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the system for cleaning the substrate taken along line II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the substrate cleaning system taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the cleaning system of FIG.
It is sectional drawing along the line.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the substrate transfer robot in a partial cross section.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the substrate transfer robot in a partial cross section.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the substrate transfer robot in a partial cross section.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the substrate transfer robot taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the substrate transfer robot taken along line VV of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the substrate loading section taken along the line VI-VI of FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view showing the substrate loading section, taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the substrate loading section taken along line VIII-VIII of FIG. 11;

FIG. 14 is a plan view showing a substrate holding groove of a chuck hand of the substrate transfer unit.

FIG. 15 is a sectional view showing the chuck hand cleaning section.

FIG. 16 is a schematic plan view showing a conventional substrate cleaning system with a partial cutaway.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Carrier cassette 2 (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e) Cassette mounting section 46 (46a, 46b, 46c, 46d, 46e) Cassette mounting section 3, 4, 47, 48 Tact feed conveyor 6, 50 Substrate push-up Means 6h, 50h Substrate holding part 7, 51 Substrate alignment holding means 7h, 51h Substrate holding part 8, 52 Substrate transfer means 9, 49 Partition wall 10 Chuck hand cleaning part 11 Automatic shutter part 12 (12a, 12b, 12c) Cleaning ( Chemical solution) tank 13 (13a, 13b, 13c) Cleaning (pure water) tank 14 Drying device 15 (15A, 15B) Substrate transfer robot 16 Body 17 Linear drive motor 18 Linear guide 19 Lifting means 20 Vertical frame 21 Horizontal frame 21a , 21b Arm 22 Fixed block 23 FR drive means 24 Single axis robot 25 Single axis guide 26 Substrate holding section 26a Substrate chuck section 26B Opening / closing drive section 27 Chuck hand 28 Opening / closing arm 2 9 Opening / closing arm 30 Adjustment mounting part 31 Vertical adjustment bracket 32 Guide bracket 33 Connecting bar 34 Angle adjustment bracket 35 Adjustment screw block 36 Adjustment screw 38 Cylinder 39 Cylinder 40 Partition plate 41 Upper partition 42 Lower partition 43 Exhaust duct 44 Hepa filter A Board loading part B substrate unloading section C substrate cleaning section Da, Db substrate transfer section E carrier cassette transport section F control section J, K substrate holding section

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H01L 21/68 H01L 21/68 ADS (72) Inventor Masami Hani Jodoji Kamibaba, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto Machi 48 Semi-Techno F term (reference) 2H088 FA17 FA21 HA01 MA20 3B201 AA03 AB23 AB44 BB22 BB92 BB93 BB96 CB15 CC12 CD11 CD34 5F031 CA02 CA05 CA11 DA01 FA01 FA09 FA11 FA12 FA14 FA24 GA13 GA14 GA15 GA15 LA23 LA13 NA16 NA18 PA24

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of cleaning tanks are arranged in a plurality of rows along a processing step traveling direction, and a plurality of substrates are collectively immersed in said cleaning tank sequentially for cleaning. An apparatus for cleaning a substrate, wherein the apparatus is configured to be movable in a traveling direction and a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the processing step. 2. In the arrangement of the washing tank, a pure water washing tank using pure water is arranged on a front row side opposite to an operator zone, and a chemical washing tank using a chemical solution is arranged on a rear row side of the pure water washing tank. The apparatus for cleaning a substrate according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises: 3. A separate clean unit is installed above the front row of cleaning tank rows and the rear row of cleaning tank rows, and the downflow amount of clean air is reduced by the front row of cleaning tank rows and the rear row of cleaning tank rows. The apparatus for cleaning a substrate according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is different from the apparatus on the row side. 4. In the substrate transfer robot, the movement in a direction perpendicular to the processing step progress direction is performed by a substrate holding means suspended between two arms extending in a direction perpendicular to the process step progress direction. 4. The apparatus for cleaning a substrate according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to run in a self-propelled manner. 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein an inner dimension between the two arms is set to be larger than a maximum width dimension of the substrate so as not to obstruct a downflow of clean air from an upper portion of the apparatus. A substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 1. 6. Two partition plates are provided between each of the chemical solution cleaning tanks, and an inner dimension thereof is larger than an outer width dimension of each arm extending in a direction orthogonal to the processing step progress direction of the substrate transfer robot. Is also set large, and in each of the partition plates, when the arm moves in the processing step traveling direction, a groove that can pass without interference, and an elevating groove of the substrate holding unit are formed. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein
6. The apparatus for cleaning a substrate according to 5. 7. A substrate transporter configured to be movable in a cleaning tank arranged in multiple rows along a processing step progress direction in the processing step progress direction and a direction orthogonal to the processing step progress direction. A method for cleaning a substrate, wherein a plurality of substrates are collectively transported by a robot, and sequentially immersed in the cleaning tank for cleaning. 8. A plurality of substrates are collectively transferred by the substrate transfer robot, immersed and washed in a washing tank of a rear row arranged in the multi-row, and then immersed and washed in a washing tank of a front row. The method for cleaning a substrate according to claim 7, wherein the method is repeated. 9. The method for cleaning a substrate according to claim 7, wherein a chemical solution is stored in the rear cleaning tank, and pure water is stored in the front cleaning tank. 10. A substrate loading section into which a substrate accommodated in a carrier cassette is loaded, a substrate unloading section into which a washed substrate is again accommodated in the empty carrier cassette and carried out, and the substrate loading section. And the substrate unloading unit, a substrate cleaning unit in which cleaning tanks are arranged in multiple rows along the processing step progress direction, and a plurality of substrates are collectively taken out from the substrate loading unit and the cleaning tank is removed. Along with sequentially immersing and cleaning, and in order to return the cleaned substrate to the substrate unloading section, the processing step progress direction, and a substrate transfer robot configured to be movable in a direction orthogonal to the processing step progress direction. A cleaning system for a substrate, comprising: 11. A substrate loading unit into which a substrate accommodated in a carrier cassette is loaded, a substrate unloading unit to be again accommodated in the empty carrier cassette after the cleaned substrate is removed, and the substrate loading unit. And the substrate unloading unit, a substrate cleaning unit in which cleaning tanks are arranged in multiple rows along the processing step progress direction, and a plurality of substrates are collectively taken out from the substrate loading unit and the cleaning tank is removed. Along with sequentially immersing and cleaning, and in order to return the cleaned substrate to the substrate unloading section, the processing step progress direction, and a substrate transfer robot configured to be movable in a direction orthogonal to the processing step progress direction. Substrate cleaning means for transporting a carrier cassette emptied in the substrate loading section to the substrate unloading section. system. 12. The substrate loading section and the substrate unloading section, wherein a cassette mounting section for mounting the carrier cassette, substrate alignment holding means for aligning and holding a plurality of substrates,
In the substrate loading unit, the substrate is taken out from the carrier cassette on the cassette mounting unit and transferred to the substrate alignment holding unit. In the substrate unloading unit, the substrate is taken out from the substrate alignment holding unit. The substrate cleaning system according to claim 10, further comprising: a substrate transfer unit housed in a carrier cassette on the mounting unit. 13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate transfer unit is configured to transfer the plurality of substrates between the carrier cassette and the substrate aligning and holding unit by setting an arrangement pitch of the substrates to a transport arrangement pitch in the carrier cassette, 13. The substrate cleaning system according to claim 12, further comprising a pitch conversion unit configured to convert a pitch between the small cleaning arrangement pitch and the small cleaning arrangement pitch. 14. The substrate transfer section according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of substrates are pitch-converted and transferred between the carrier cassette and the substrate alignment holding means, and the front and back surfaces of the adjacent substrates and the back and back surfaces of the adjacent substrates are changed. 14. The substrate cleaning system according to claim 13, further comprising a substrate direction changing means for holding and aligning each other.