JP2006216742A - Washer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a washer capable of preventing a re-adhesion on a wafer of a foreign matter, and to provide the washer having a high washing efficiency. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of the wafers 2 are dipped in a washing liquid 6 in a washing tank 1 and washed. Shielding plates 3 are mounted among the wafers 2 in the washing tank 1. A plurality of jets are formed to both surfaces of the shielding plates 3, and the washing liquid 6 may also be injected towards the upper sections of the wafers 2 from the jets. A plurality of suction ports are formed to both surfaces of the shielding plates 3, and the washing liquid 6 may also be sucked towards the suction ports from the lower sections of the wafers 2. It is preferable that the washer has a circulating means for supplying the washing tank 1 with the sucked washing liquid 6 again in this case. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus, and more particularly to a cleaning apparatus that immerses and cleans a plurality of wafers in a cleaning liquid in a cleaning tank.

  Conventionally, as a wafer cleaning method in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, there are a single wafer cleaning for processing wafers one by one and a batch cleaning for simultaneously processing a plurality of wafers. Batch cleaning has the advantage that throughput is greater than sheet cleaning.

  By the way, in the cleaning tank used for the conventional batch type cleaning, a plurality of wafers are immersed in the cleaning liquid while being supported by a dedicated support tool. At this time, there is nothing other than the support between the wafers, and most of the areas of the wafers are in contact with adjacent wafers via the cleaning liquid.

  For this reason, there has been a problem that the foreign matter removed from the surface of the wafer by cleaning is reattached to the adjacent wafer. Further, there is a problem that the cleaning efficiency is lowered due to the cleaning liquid stagnating between the wafers.

  On the other hand, when the wafer is inverted in the cleaning tank for the purpose of cleaning the lower surface of the wafer, in order to prevent the wafer from being recontaminated, the lower surface of the wafer is cleaned by a cleaning device that jets the cleaning liquid upward. There has been proposed a method of cleaning the upper surface of a wafer by a cleaning device that injects downward (see, for example, Patent Document 1). However, this method does not solve the above-described problem.

JP-A-6-106144

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning apparatus capable of preventing foreign matters from reattaching to a wafer.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning apparatus having high cleaning efficiency.

  Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

  The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus for immersing and cleaning a plurality of wafers in a cleaning liquid in a cleaning tank, wherein a shielding plate is provided between the wafers.

  According to the present invention, by providing the shielding plate, it is possible to prevent the foreign matter removed from the surface of the wafer by cleaning from reattaching to the adjacent wafer.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
The cleaning apparatus in the present embodiment is a cleaning apparatus that immerses and cleans a plurality of wafers in a cleaning liquid in a cleaning tank, and is characterized in that a shielding plate is provided between the wafers.

  The cleaning apparatus in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning apparatus according to the present embodiment is characterized in that a shielding plate 3 is provided between adjacent wafers 2 in the cleaning tank 1.

  In the example of FIG. 1, the wafer 2 and the shielding plate 3 are supported by the support portion 5 provided on the support 4. In this case, by making the shield plate 3 removable from the support portion 5, the shield plate 3 to which the foreign material 7 is attached can be appropriately replaced. In addition, the support part 5 is not restricted to the shape of FIG. 1, It can change suitably with the shapes of the washing tank 1 or the wafer 2, and the shielding board 3. FIG.

  The shape of the shielding plate 3 is not particularly limited as long as it is larger than the wafer 2. For example, the shielding plate 3 may have a circular shape having a diameter larger than that of the wafer 2. The shielding plate 3 is made of a material that is resistant to the cleaning liquid to be used.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the provision of the shielding plate 3 prevents the foreign matter 7 removed from the surface of the wafer 2 by cleaning with the cleaning liquid 6 from reattaching to the adjacent wafer 2. It becomes possible to do. More specifically, when the wafer 2 is arranged so that the front surface 2a faces in one direction (left direction in FIG. 1), the foreign matter on the back surface 2b of the wafer removed by the cleaning is re-applied to the front surface 2a of the adjacent wafer. It can be prevented from adhering.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
The cleaning device in the present embodiment is a cleaning device that immerses and cleans a plurality of wafers in a cleaning liquid in a cleaning tank, and a shielding plate is provided between the wafers. The cleaning liquid is jetted toward the head.

  The cleaning device in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, also in the present embodiment, a shielding plate 23 is provided between adjacent wafers 22 in the cleaning tank 21 as in the first embodiment.

  In the example of FIG. 2, the wafer 22 and the shielding plate 23 are supported by the support portion 25 provided on the support 24. In this case, by making the shielding plate 23 removable from the support portion 25, the shielding plate 23 to which the foreign matter 27 is attached can be appropriately replaced. In addition, the support part 25 is not restricted to the shape of FIG. 2, It can change suitably with the shapes of the washing tank 21 or the wafer 22, and the shielding board 23. FIG.

  The shape of the shielding plate 23 is not particularly limited as long as it is larger than the wafer 22. For example, the shielding plate 23 may have a circular shape having a diameter larger than that of the wafer 22. The shielding plate 23 is made of a material resistant to the cleaning liquid to be used.

  FIG. 3A is an example of a plan view of the shielding plate 23. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, an ejection port 28 through which the cleaning liquid 26 is ejected is provided on the surface of the shielding plate 23.

  FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the shielding plate 23 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 3B, the injection ports 28 are provided on both surfaces of the shielding plate 23, and are provided so as to face downward from the surface of the shielding plate 23 toward the inside.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a pipe 29 for supplying the cleaning liquid 26 is connected to the shielding plate 23. By supplying the cleaning liquid 26 to the pipe 29, the cleaning liquid 26 is sprayed upward from the ejection ports 28 provided on both surfaces of the shielding plate 23 (in the direction of the arrows in FIGS. 2 and 3B).

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning liquid 26 overflowed from the cleaning tank 21 flows into the pipe 32 connected to the circulation pump 31 via the tray 30. Then, the cleaning liquid 26 that has passed through the circulation pump 31 passes through the pipe 33 through the filter 34, passes through the pipe 35, is supplied again from the pipe 29 to the shielding plate 23, and is also supplied directly to the cleaning tank 21.

  According to the present embodiment, in addition to the effects obtained in the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. That is, since the spraying port is provided in the shielding plate and the cleaning liquid is sprayed upward from the spraying port with respect to the wafer, it is possible to easily remove the foreign matter attached to the surface of the wafer.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
The cleaning device in the present embodiment is a cleaning device that immerses and cleans a plurality of wafers in a cleaning liquid in a cleaning tank, and a shielding plate is provided between the wafers, and the suction port is provided from below the wafers. The cleaning liquid is sucked in the direction. In addition, this cleaning device can have a circulation means for supplying the suctioned cleaning liquid to the cleaning tank again.

  The cleaning apparatus in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, also in the present embodiment, a shielding plate 43 is provided between adjacent wafers 42 in the cleaning tank 41 as in the first embodiment.

  In the example of FIG. 4, the wafer 42 and the shielding plate 43 are supported by the support portion 45 provided on the support tool 44. In this case, by making the shielding plate 43 removable from the support portion 45, the shielding plate 43 to which the foreign matter 47 is attached can be appropriately replaced. The support portion 45 is not limited to the shape shown in FIG. 4, and can be appropriately changed depending on the shapes of the cleaning tank 41 or the wafer 42 and the shielding plate 43.

  The shape of the shielding plate 43 is not particularly limited as long as it is larger than the wafer 42. For example, the shielding plate 43 may have a circular shape having a diameter larger than that of the wafer 42. The shielding plate 43 is made of a material resistant to the cleaning liquid to be used.

  FIG. 5A is an example of a plan view of the shielding plate 43. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5A, a suction port 48 that sucks the cleaning liquid 46 is provided on the surface of the shielding plate 43.

  FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of the shielding plate 43 in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5B, the suction ports 48 are provided on both surfaces of the shielding plate 43, and are provided so as to face upward from the surface of the shielding plate 43 toward the inside.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a pipe 49 is connected to the shielding plate 43. Further, the pipe 49 is connected to the circulation pump 51 through the pipe 50. By doing so, the cleaning liquid between the wafer 42 and the shielding plate 43 is sucked into the shielding plate 43 from the suction port 48. As a result, a flow is generated in the cleaning liquid 46, and the stagnation of the cleaning liquid 46 between the wafers 42 can be prevented.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the cleaning liquid 46 overflowing from the cleaning tank 41 flows into the pipe 50 via the tray 52. The cleaning liquid 46 that has passed through the circulation pump 51 passes through the filter 53 from the pipe 53 and then is supplied to the cleaning tank 41 through the pipe 55.

  According to the present embodiment, in addition to the effects obtained in the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. That is, a suction port is provided in the shielding plate, and the cleaning liquid is sucked from the lower side of the cleaning tank to the upper side (the direction of the arrow in FIGS. 4 and 5B) through this suction port. Thus, the stagnation of the cleaning liquid between the wafers can be prevented. In addition, foreign matters can be sucked together with the cleaning liquid, so that cleaning efficiency can be improved.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

2 is an explanatory diagram of a cleaning device in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a cleaning device in a second embodiment. It is an example of the shielding board in Embodiment 2, (a) is a top view, (b) is sectional drawing of (a). FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a cleaning device in a third embodiment. It is an example of the shielding board in Embodiment 3, (a) is a top view, (b) is sectional drawing of (a).

Explanation of symbols

1, 21, 41 Cleaning tank 2, 22, 42 Wafer 3, 23, 43 Shield plate 4, 24, 44 Supporting tool 5, 25, 45 Supporting part 6, 26, 46 Cleaning fluid 7, 27, 47 Foreign matter 29, 32, 33, 35, 49, 50, 53, 55 Piping 30, 52 Receptacle 31, 51 Circulation pump 34, 54 Filter 28 Injection port 48 Suction port

Claims (4)

A cleaning apparatus for immersing and cleaning a plurality of wafers in a cleaning liquid in a cleaning tank,
A cleaning apparatus, wherein a shielding plate is provided between the wafers. A plurality of injection holes are provided on both sides of the shielding plate,
The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning liquid is sprayed from the ejection port toward the upper side of the wafer. A plurality of suction ports are provided on both sides of the shielding plate,
The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning liquid is sucked from below the wafer toward the suction port. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a circulation unit that supplies the suctioned cleaning liquid to the cleaning tank again.

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