JP2003266033A - Washing method and washing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently remove particles bonded to an object to be washed and to simplify a process and time for the wet washing of the object to be washed. <P>SOLUTION: The object 40 to be washed is subjected to vapor pressure treatment by using a chemical liquid in a washing treatment body 31 set to an airtight atmosphere to accelerate the chemical reaction of particles bonded to the object 40 to be washed to a particle removable state. Thereafter, the chemical reaction for removing particles changed to the particle removable state is further accelerated by dipping treatment by using to the chemical liquid. <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 cleaning method and a cleaning apparatus for performing wet cleaning of objects to be cleaned such as semiconductor devices and liquid crystal devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In semiconductor device manufacturing and liquid crystal device manufacturing, there is a step of performing wet cleaning (hereinafter referred to as wet cleaning) of an object to be cleaned such as a wafer or a glass substrate.

In such wet cleaning, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of articles 1 to be cleaned, which are works, are mounted on the article mounting member 2, and a carrier mechanism (not shown) transfers them to the chemical tank 3. It is transported and immersed in the heated chemical liquid in the chemical liquid tank 3.

When the particles adhering to the article to be cleaned 1 are removed by the chemical solution in the chemical solution tank 3, the article to be cleaned 1 is again transferred to the rinse tank 4 by the above-mentioned transfer mechanism, so that the rinse solution in the rinse tank 4 is replaced. Be immersed. When the chemical solution is neutralized in the rinse tank 4, the article to be cleaned 1 is again transported to the drying unit 5 by the transport mechanism, and the article to be cleaned 1 is dried by IPA VAPOR. After the article to be cleaned 1 is dried, the article to be cleaned 1 is transported again to the next processing step by the above-described transport mechanism.

[0005]

In the conventional cleaning apparatus, a chemical reaction for removing particles adhering to the object to be cleaned 1 is promoted by heating the chemical solution in the chemical solution tank 3. Since the chemical solution is in the atmospheric pressure atmosphere, the chemical solution cannot be heated to a temperature higher than the boiling point in the atmosphere. This hinders the promotion of the chemical reaction for removing particles, and therefore it is predicted that the particles may not be completely removed depending on the type of particles.

Further, since the article to be cleaned 1 is cleaned by being conveyed to the chemical solution tank 3, the rinse tank 4, and the drying unit 5,
There is also a problem that the steps and time for the cleaning increase, which hinders the simplification of the cleaning step and the time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to efficiently remove particles adhering to an object to be cleaned and, moreover, a process for wet cleaning the object to be cleaned. It is also possible to provide a cleaning method and a cleaning device that can simplify the time.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning method for performing a wet cleaning process on an object to be cleaned, wherein the object is cleaned in an airtight atmosphere. And a step of performing a vapor pressure treatment with the chemical liquid and a step of performing a dipping treatment with the chemical liquid in an airtight atmosphere.

Further, in the step of performing the vapor pressure treatment, after supplying the chemical liquid to a water level at which the object to be cleaned is not immersed, the chemical liquid is heated to a temperature higher than the boiling point in the atmosphere, and steam generated by the heating is added. The step of exposing the object to be cleaned to a pressure atmosphere is included, and the step of performing the immersion treatment is a step of supplying the chemical solution to a water level at which the object to be cleaned is immersed and then heating the chemical solution to a temperature higher than the boiling point in the atmosphere. Can be included.

Further, the step of performing the vapor pressure treatment includes the step of performing heating control and pressure control based on the detection results of the temperature and pressure in the airtight atmosphere by the temperature sensor and the pressure sensor, and the immersion treatment is performed. The step may include a step of performing heating control based on the detection result of the temperature of the chemical liquid by the temperature sensor.

After the dipping treatment, a step of drying the article to be cleaned can be included by draining the chemical liquid and reducing the pressure in the airtight atmosphere by the pressure reducing valve.

A cleaning apparatus according to a fifth aspect is a cleaning apparatus for performing a wet cleaning process on an object to be cleaned, and is an airtight container for accommodating an object to be cleaned in a hermetically sealed state. A chamber, a processing chamber for performing a wet cleaning process on an object to be cleaned conveyed from the airtight chamber side in an airtight atmosphere at atmospheric pressure or higher, and a process when the object to be cleaned is transferred from the airtight chamber to the processing chamber. And a load / lock chamber for suppressing a decrease in pressure inside the chamber.

The pressures in the airtight chamber and the load / lock chamber may be applied from the processing chamber side via a valve.

Further, the processing chamber has a cleaning processing main body for performing vapor pressure processing and immersion processing on an object to be cleaned by a chemical liquid supplied from the outside in an airtight atmosphere, and an opening / closing mechanism for sealing the inside of the cleaning processing main body. And a lid.

Further, in the cleaning processing body, a heater for heating the chemical liquid, a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the vapor pressure in the airtight atmosphere or the temperature of the chemical liquid, and the pressure by the vapor pressure in the airtight atmosphere are detected. With a pressure sensor,
The heating operation by the heater can be controlled based on the detection result of the temperature sensor, and the pressure control in the airtight atmosphere can be performed based on the detection result of the pressure sensor.

Further, in the vapor pressure treatment, when the chemical liquid is supplied to a water level at which the material to be cleaned is not immersed, and the chemical liquid is heated to a temperature higher than the boiling point in the atmosphere, the vapor pressure atmosphere generated by heating is generated. The article to be cleaned is exposed to, and in the dipping treatment, when the chemical solution is supplied to the water level at which the article to be cleaned is immersed, the chemical solution can be heated to a temperature higher than the boiling point in the atmosphere.

Further, the material to be cleaned can be dried by draining the chemical liquid and reducing the pressure by the pressure reducing valve.

In the cleaning method and the cleaning apparatus according to the present invention, the object to be cleaned is subjected to vapor pressure treatment with a chemical solution in an airtight atmosphere so that particles adhering to the object to be cleaned can be removed. The chemical reaction is promoted, and the chemical reaction for removing the particles that have changed to the removable state is further promoted by the immersion treatment with the chemical solution in the airtight atmosphere.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of the cleaning apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view showing details of the processing chamber of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an object to be cleaned by the cleaning apparatus of FIG. It is a flow chart for explaining a cleaning method.

The cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 1 has an airtight chamber 1
0, load / lock chamber 20, processing chamber 3
It has 0.

The airtight chamber 10 is a portion for accommodating an object to be cleaned 40 which is a workpiece such as a wafer or a glass substrate processed before the cleaning process. The pressure in the airtight chamber 10 is applied from the processing chamber 30 side via the valve 50. The pressure inside the airtight chamber 10 may be supplied from a compressor (not shown).

The load / lock chamber 20 is a portion that suppresses a decrease in pressure inside the processing chamber 30 when the object 40 to be cleaned is moved to the processing chamber 30 side. The pressure in the load / lock chamber 20 is applied from the processing chamber 30 side via the valve 51.
The pressure in the load / lock chamber 20 may be supplied from the compressor.

The processing chamber 30 is a portion for performing wet cleaning (hereinafter referred to as wet cleaning) on the object to be cleaned 40 in an atmosphere of atmospheric pressure or higher. The pressure in the processing chamber 30 may be given by the compressor.

Next, details of the processing chamber 30 are shown in FIG.
Will be described.

That is, the processing chamber 30 includes a cleaning processing main body 31 and a lid 32 that can be opened and closed with respect to the cleaning processing main body 31. Further, the lid 32 when closed is configured to hermetically seal the inside of the cleaning processing main body 31 to create an airtight atmosphere.

At the bottom of the cleaning processing main body 31, there is provided a mounting table 34 on which a heater 33 for heating a chemical liquid and a cleaning object mounting member 41 having a plurality of cleaning objects 40 mounted thereon are mounted. A temperature sensor 35 and a pressure sensor 36 are provided on the inner wall of the cleaning processing body 31. Based on the detection results of the temperature sensor 35 and the pressure sensor 36, the heating operation by the heater 33 and the cleaning processing main body 3
The pressure inside 1 is controlled. Further, the pressure control inside the cleaning processing main body 31 is performed by the pressure relief valve 37.
Done by

A chemical solution is supplied into the cleaning processing main body 31 through a chemical solution supply line 38. When supplying the chemical liquid, the water level during steam pressurization (steam pressurization process) is set to the position a, and the water level during cleaning (cleaning process) is b.
Up to the position of. The water level can be adjusted according to the detection result from the water level sensor provided at a desired position. Although the chemical liquid surface undulates and repeats minute fluctuations during supply and treatment, a desired liquid surface can be obtained by providing a delay switch. Water or an aqueous solution of H ₂ O ₂ can be used as the chemical solution for vapor pressurization.
In addition, during cleaning, a cleaning auxiliary agent or a surfactant may be further added.

The drainage of the chemical liquid in the cleaning treatment main body 31 is performed through the drain line 39. The decompression inside the cleaning processing body 31 is performed by the decompression valve 39a.

Next, a method of cleaning the object 40 to be cleaned by the cleaning apparatus having such a configuration will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of cleaning objects 40 mounted on the cleaning object mounting member 41 are transferred from the airtight chamber 10 through the load / lock chamber 20 into the processing chamber 30 by a transfer mechanism (not shown). Transported,
It is placed on the placement table 34 in the cleaning processing body 31 of the processing chamber 30 (step 301). At this time, the load / lock chamber 20 is used to move the object 40 to be cleaned toward the processing chamber 30 side.
The decrease in pressure within 0 is suppressed.

When the object 40 to be cleaned is placed on the placing table 34, the lid 32 is closed and the cleaning processing body 31 is closed.
The inside is hermetically closed (step 302), and the chemical liquid is the water level at the time of vapor pressurization via the chemical liquid supply line 38.
Is supplied to the position (step 303). The chemical liquid may be supplied to the position a before the object 40 to be cleaned is mounted on the mounting table 34.
The chemical liquid to be supplied may be heated in advance.

Next, the heater 33 heats the chemical liquid to a desired temperature (step 304). At this time, the pressure inside the cleaning processing body 31 is increased by filling the inside of the cleaning processing body 31 with the vapor generated by heating the chemical liquid (step 305). At this time, the temperature sensor 35 and the pressure sensor 36 detect the temperature and pressure inside the cleaning processing body 31, and when the temperature and the pressure exceed the desired temperature, the heating operation by the heater 33 is controlled and The pressure is controlled by the pressure relief valve 37 (step 306).

By controlling the heating operation by the heater 33 and the pressure control by the pressure relief valve 37, the temperature and pressure inside the cleaning processing body 31 become constant,
The humidity inside the cleaning processing body 31 is also kept constant.

As described above, when the object 40 to be cleaned is exposed to the vapor pressure atmosphere by the vapor of the chemical solution for a predetermined time while the temperature, pressure and humidity inside the cleaning processing body 31 are maintained (step 307). , The particles adhering to the object to be cleaned 40 are changed to a removable state (step 3
08). At this time, since the pressure inside the cleaning processing body 31 is equal to or higher than the atmospheric pressure, the chemical liquid supplied to the position a can be heated to a temperature higher than the boiling point in the atmosphere and adhere to the object to be cleaned 40. It is possible to accelerate the chemical reaction of the existing particles into a removable state.

After a lapse of a predetermined time (step 309), the pressure inside the cleaning processing body 31 is lowered by the pressure relief valve 37, and the chemical solution is supplied to the position b which is the water level at the time of cleaning through the chemical solution supply line 38. (Step 31
0), further heated.

As a result, the object 40 to be cleaned is easily immersed in the heated chemical solution to easily remove the particles that have changed to the removable state (step 31).
1, 312). At this time, since the inside of the cleaning processing main body 31 is sealed by the lid 32, the chemical liquid supplied to the position of b which is the water level at the time of cleaning by the heating by the heater 33 has a boiling point in the atmosphere similar to the above. Since it can be heated to a higher temperature, the chemical reaction for removing the particles that have changed to the removable state is further promoted, and the particles are efficiently removed.

When the article 40 to be cleaned is immersed in the chemical liquid, the heater 33 may be further heated, and the chemical liquid in the cleaning body 31 may be drained and supplied repeatedly.

When the object 40 to be cleaned is dipped in the chemical solution for a predetermined time (step 313) and the particles adhering to the object 40 to be cleaned are removed, the chemical solution in the main body 31 for cleaning treatment flows through the drain line 39. Drained through (step 3
14). After that, the pressure in the cleaning processing body 31 is reduced by the pressure reducing valve 39.
The pressure is reduced by a (step 315). This allows
The object to be cleaned 40 is pulled up and dried according to the reduced pressure (step 316).

As described above, in the present embodiment, the particles 40 adhering to the object 40 to be cleaned are subjected to the vapor pressure treatment with the chemical solution in the cleaning main body 31 in the airtight atmosphere for the object 40 to be cleaned. After promoting the chemical reaction to the removable state, the chemical treatment for removing the particles that have changed to the removable state is further promoted by the immersion treatment with the chemical solution. 40
The particles adhering to the can be removed efficiently.

Since a series of steps from cleaning to drying of the object 40 to be cleaned is performed inside the cleaning processing main body 31 of the processing chamber 30, the object 40 to be cleaned 40 is cleaned.
The process and time for wet cleaning can be significantly reduced.

Further, inside the cleaning processing main body 31, a lid 32 is provided.
Since it is made airtight by the method, the chemical liquid supplied from the outside can be heated to a temperature higher than the boiling point in the atmosphere, so that the chemical reaction for particle removal by the chemical liquid can be accelerated to the ultimate state. it can.

Further, by sealing the inside of the cleaning processing main body 31, it is possible to easily avoid the risk of safety due to heating of the chemical liquid.

[0044]

As described above, according to the cleaning method and the cleaning apparatus of the present invention, the particles adhered to the object to be cleaned are subjected to the vapor pressure treatment with the chemical solution in the airtight atmosphere. Since the chemical reaction to the removable state is promoted, and the chemical reaction for removing the particles changing to the removable state is further promoted by the immersion treatment with the chemical solution in the airtight atmosphere. It is possible to efficiently remove particles adhering to the object to be cleaned, and to simplify the process and time for wet cleaning the object to be cleaned.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a cleaning apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of the processing chamber of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a method of cleaning an object to be cleaned by the cleaning device of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a conventional cleaning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Airtight chamber 20 load / lock chamber 30 processing chamber 31 Washing main body 32 lid 33 heater 35 Temperature sensor 36 Pressure sensor 39a Pressure reducing valve 40 Items to be cleaned 50,51 valve

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H01L 21/304 642 H01L 21/304 642A 645 645B 651 651K

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning method for performing a wet cleaning process on an object to be cleaned, comprising: a step of subjecting the object to be cleaned to vapor pressure treatment with a chemical solution in an airtight atmosphere; And a step of performing a dipping treatment with the chemical solution. 2. In the step of performing the vapor pressure treatment, after supplying the chemical liquid to a water level at which the object to be cleaned is not immersed, the chemical liquid is heated to a temperature higher than a boiling point in the atmosphere, and generated by heating. The step of exposing the article to be cleaned to a steam pressurizing atmosphere that includes, in the step of performing the dipping treatment, after supplying the chemical solution to a water level at which the article to be cleaned is immersed, the chemical solution has a boiling point in the atmosphere. The cleaning method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of heating to a higher temperature. 3. The step of performing the vapor pressure treatment includes a step of performing heating control and pressure control based on a detection result of temperature and pressure in the airtight atmosphere by a temperature sensor and a pressure sensor. The cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein the step of performing the treatment includes a step of performing heating control based on a detection result of the temperature of the chemical liquid by the temperature sensor. 4. After the immersion treatment is performed, the chemical liquid is drained and a pressure reducing valve is used to reduce the pressure in the airtight atmosphere.
The cleaning method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of drying the object to be cleaned. 5. A cleaning device for performing a wet cleaning process on an object to be cleaned, comprising an airtight chamber for accommodating the object to be cleaned to be subjected to the wet cleaning process in an airtight state, and being conveyed from the side of the airtight chamber. A processing chamber for performing the wet cleaning process on the object to be cleaned in an airtight atmosphere at atmospheric pressure or higher; and when the object to be cleaned is transferred from the airtight chamber to the processing chamber, A cleaning device comprising: a load / lock chamber that suppresses a decrease in pressure. 6. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the pressures in the airtight chamber and the load / lock chamber are applied from the processing chamber side via a valve. 7. The processing chamber includes a cleaning processing main body for performing vapor pressure processing and immersion processing on the object to be cleaned with a chemical liquid supplied from the outside in the airtight atmosphere, and an inside of the cleaning processing main body. The cleaning device according to claim 5 or 6, further comprising a lid that can be closed and opened. 8. The cleaning processing body includes a heater for heating the chemical liquid, a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature by pressurizing vapor in the airtight atmosphere or a temperature of the chemical liquid, and a vaporizer in the airtight atmosphere. A pressure sensor for detecting the pressure by the pressure is provided, based on the detection result of the temperature sensor, the heating operation by the heater is controlled, based on the detection result of the pressure sensor, the pressure control in the airtight atmosphere The cleaning device according to claim 7, which is performed. 9. In the steam pressurization process, when the chemical liquid is supplied to a water level at which the object to be cleaned is not immersed and the chemical liquid is heated to a temperature higher than a boiling point in the atmosphere, steam generated by heating is added. The object to be cleaned is exposed to a pressure atmosphere, and in the immersion treatment, when the chemical solution is supplied to the water level at which the object to be cleaned is immersed, the chemical solution is heated to a temperature higher than the boiling point in the atmosphere. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that. 10. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the object to be cleaned is dried by draining the chemical liquid and reducing the pressure by a pressure reducing valve.