JP2003264226A - Substrate carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate carrier which suppresses pollution due to the generation of particles from the rear, etc., of a semiconductor substrate in batch type wet etching. <P>SOLUTION: Partitions 3 with a thickness of approximately 1 mm is arranged between grooves, wherein substrates are stored, of a substrate carrier used for the batch type wet etching. Hereby, the substrate carrier can prevent the spread of contaminant such as particles, etc., from the rear of the substrate to adjacent substrate faces by partitions, whereby achieving stable wet etching. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate carrier used in a process of processing a substrate in a liquid in a semiconductor manufacturing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a semiconductor manufacturing process, there is a process of etching a substrate or a substance formed on the substrate in order to form a fine circuit pattern on a semiconductor substrate. The etching method is roughly classified into dry etching using an activated gas and wet etching immersing in an oxidizing agent or the like. Further, in the latter, there are a single-wafer method in which each substrate is processed, and a batch method in which a plurality of semiconductor substrates are put in a substrate carrier and a plurality of substrates are simultaneously processed.

In recent years, the single-wafer method has come to be used due to the downsizing of the apparatus and the demand for higher cleanliness, but the batch method still remains. Since the present invention solves the problem in this system, the details of this system will be described with reference to the drawings.

Batch-type wet etching is generally performed by inserting a semiconductor substrate into a substrate carrier and etching a plurality of substrates arranged in parallel as shown in FIG. 1 (the substrate carrier is omitted for simplification of the drawing). This is a method of etching by immersing in a liquid.

[0005]

However, when a batch type process is used, a plurality of semiconductor substrates are immersed in the same chemical solution, so that if some substrates are contaminated, they will also contaminate other semiconductor substrates. May spread.
In particular, the back surface of the substrate is likely to be contaminated because it comes into contact with various parts during transportation in other processes, and if wet etching is performed without cleaning the back surface, contaminants such as particles will diffuse from the back surface into the etching tank and Redeposition occurs on the surfaces of the adjacent substrates facing each other. In the worst case, not only foreign matter adheres to the surface, but in the worst case, these contaminants may interfere with the etching and interfere with the etching.

It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems by performing a wet batch etching in a clean and stable manner without using a large-scale means such as remodeling of the apparatus.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems relatively easily, the present invention proposes a carrier dedicated to wet etching by improving a carrier for holding a substrate. This carrier dedicated to wet etching is very simple, and is a partition of the substrate carrier which is generally used at present as described in claim 1. This can prevent particles generated from the back surface of the substrate from reattaching to the front surface of the adjacent substrate.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The substrate carrier which is generally used at present has grooves for holding the substrate formed at intervals of 4.76 mm.

FIG. 2A shows an enlarged view of a groove portion in which a substrate is accommodated in this general carrier. The carrier is modified and a partition 3 is inserted between the grooves as shown in FIG. 2 (b). If the partition 3 is too thick, it may affect the etching, so that about 1 mm is considered appropriate. However, in the case of this substrate carrier, when the film thickness of the substrate is about 0.65 mm, the distance between the substrate and the partition is about 1.6 mm, and it becomes difficult to handle the wafer using air tweezers or the like. Dedicated

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent redeposition of dusting substances from the back surface or the like in wet etching using a conventional substrate carrier, and to perform stable etching processing. Become. The process of wet etching using the carrier of the present invention is shown in FIG.

FIG. 3A is a sectional view of a general batch type wet etching treatment tank. The etching liquid flows from the chemical liquid supply port 4 into the bottom of the tank through the separation port 5. At this time, since there is the separation port 5, the flow of the etching liquid in the bath is from the bottom of the bath to the liquid surface as shown by an arrow 6. When the substrate is put in the present invention and immersed in the present invention, FIG.
It becomes like (b). As shown in this figure, when the particles 7 attached to the back surface of the substrate are soaked away from the back surface and float in the etching solution, since the flow of the etching solution is toward the liquid surface, the particles 7 will soon come to the liquid surface and Flows out of the bath with the etching solution. However, in this case, when there is no partition between the substrates, the structure shown in FIG.
As described above, since the particles 7 have a lateral movement to some extent, they may be reattached to the surface of the substrate. When the substrate carrier of the present invention is used, there is a partition as shown in FIG. 3 (d), so that even if the dust-generating base is redeposited on the back surface, there is a flow of the etching solution, so there is no contamination. That is, at least the processing can be completed in the same state as before the processing. Therefore, stable wet etching can be performed.

[0012]

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent particles generated from the back surface of the substrate from reattaching to the surface of the adjacent substrate.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1] Batch wet etching process

FIG. 2A is an enlarged view of a groove portion of a general substrate carrier as seen from above. (B) An enlarged view of the groove portion of the substrate carrier of the present invention as seen from above.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of particles during a wet etching process.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 substrate 2 Etching liquid 3 partitions 4 Chemical supply port 5 Separation port 6 Flow of etching liquid 7 Pollutants such as particles

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A substrate carrier for holding a substrate used in a batch-type wet etching process in a semiconductor manufacturing process, wherein the substrate carrier is provided between a groove for accommodating the substrate and a groove adjacent to the groove. Substrate carrier characterized by having a partition. 2. The substrate carrier according to claim 1, wherein the partition has a thickness of about 1 mm.