JP2836352B2 - Semiconductor wafer cleaning equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus for cleaning semiconductor wafers by colliding fine frozen particles with the semiconductor wafers, and more particularly to a structure of a semiconductor wafer holding portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a view showing the configuration of a conventional semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus of this type, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a semiconductor wafer holding mechanism of the semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus in FIG.
FIG. 6 is a view showing a state of spraying fine frozen particles in the semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus in FIG. In the figure, 1 is an ice making section for generating fine frozen particles, 2 is a supply pipe for supplying liquid nitrogen for cooling to the ice making section 1, 3 is a spray nozzle for finely spraying pure water, and 4 is generated fine frozen particles. Reference numeral 5 denotes an injection nozzle for injecting the fine frozen particles 4, reference numeral 6 denotes a wafer holding arm for holding the semiconductor wafer 7, and reference numeral 8 denotes the wafer holding arm 6.
The wafer holding arm 6 and the driving mechanism 8 constitute a wafer holding mechanism 9 as shown in FIG. Reference numeral 10 denotes a cleaning tank, and reference numeral 11 denotes a static electricity removing device that emits ions to the semiconductor wafer 7 to neutralize and remove static electricity charged on the surface.

As shown in FIG. 5, the wafer holding mechanism 9 has fingers 12a, 1
2b and 13a, 13b, respectively, and the cylinder 1
4, a pair of arms 12 and 13 that move on the slider 15 in the contact and separation directions, and fingers 12a and 12b,
Rollers 16, 17 supported at the tips of 13a, 13b,
18 and 19; a motor 21 for rotating the rollers 17 and 19 positioned below the rollers 16, 17, 18 and 19 via a gear group 20; And a linear motor 23 for moving the motor.

Next, the operation of the conventional semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus configured as described above will be described. First, FIG.
As shown in (1), liquid nitrogen is supplied to the ice making unit 1 surrounded by the heat insulating material through the supply pipe 2, and the inside thereof is evaporated to cool the inside of the ice making unit 1. After the inside of the ice making unit 1 is sufficiently cooled, ultrapure water is finely sprayed from the spray nozzle 3 to obtain fine frozen particles 4. The fine frozen particles 4 thus obtained are ejected from the ejection nozzle 5 into the cleaning tank 10 at a high pressure by an ejector method using a gas jet, and the surface of the semiconductor wafer 7 held by the wafer holding mechanism 9 is washed. At this time, friction occurs between the semiconductor wafer 7 and the fine frozen particles colliding with the semiconductor wafer 7, and when static electricity is generated and the semiconductor wafer 7 is charged, electrostatic destruction of a pattern formed on the semiconductor wafer 7 occurs. Therefore, the static eliminator 11
Thus, ions are emitted onto the semiconductor wafer 7 to neutralize and remove the static electricity, thereby preventing the semiconductor wafer 7 from being charged.

On the other hand, in the wafer holding mechanism 18, first, when the semiconductor wafer 7 is transferred to a predetermined position by a transfer device (not shown), the arms 14 and 13 are moved by the cylinder 14 in the approaching direction. The semiconductor wafer 7 is held by rollers 16, 17, 18, and 19 supported by fingers 12a, 12b and 13a, 13b. Thereafter, while the motor 21 is driven to rotate the rollers 17 and 19, the fine frozen particles 4 are jetted from the jet nozzle 5 onto the surface of the semiconductor wafer 7 as shown in FIG. Then, by driving the linear motor 23 to move the arms 12 and 13 horizontally on the rail 22, the fine frozen particles 4 spread over the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer 7 as shown in FIGS. It is made as follows.

[0006]

In the conventional semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus, since the wafer holding mechanism 9 is constructed as described above, in order to clean the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer 7, FIGS. As described above, the arms 12 and 13 must be moved in the horizontal direction on the slider 15 and the semiconductor wafer 7 must be moved until the position of the injection nozzle 5 and the end face of the semiconductor wafer 7 substantially coincide with each other. Each finger 12a disposed near the end face of
12b, 13a, 13b and each roller 16, 17, 1
8 and 19, the fine frozen particles 4 are sprayed, and their surfaces are shaved to generate fine foreign matters. These foreign matters adhere to the surface of the semiconductor wafer 7, and as a result, contamination of the semiconductor wafer 7 occurs. However, there has been a problem that the reliability in cleaning is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus capable of improving reliability in cleaning a wafer.

[0008]

A semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a pair of fingers which extend in a vertical direction and are movable in directions of coming and going and moving up and down with each other, and a pair of these fingers. A plurality of rollers respectively disposed at the lower end and gripping opposite sides of the end face of the semiconductor wafer and rotating synchronously, and an injection nozzle disposed substantially in the middle of both fingers and injecting fine frozen particles onto the surface of the semiconductor wafer are provided. It is provided.

[0009]

The plurality of rollers of the semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to the present invention are rotatably disposed at the lower ends of a pair of fingers which move vertically, and grip opposite sides of the end face of the semiconductor wafer.

[0010]

【Example】

Embodiment 1 FIG. Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a semiconductor wafer holding mechanism of a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the drawing, reference numeral 24 denotes a vertically arranged rail 25.
And a slider 26 that moves up and down along the rail 25.
6, rails 28, 29 provided on
, A slider that slides on the rail 27 in a direction to contact and separate from each other, and the rail 27 and both sliders 28 and 29 constitute a linear motor 30.

Reference numerals 31 and 32 denote a pair of fingers provided on both sliders 28 and 29 and extending in the vertical direction, and holding portions 31a and 32a are formed at the tips, respectively.
33, 34, 35 and 36, 37, 38
Rollers rotatable on 1a, 32a, 39, 4
0 is connected to each of the rollers 33 to 38 by a transmission mechanism (not shown) such as a belt.
Is a driving device for synchronously rotating. In addition, the injection nozzle 5 that injects the fine frozen particles 4 has two fingers 31, 32.
It is arranged almost at the middle position of.

Next, the operation of the semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. First, when the semiconductor wafer 7 is transferred to a predetermined position by a transfer device (not shown), the sliders 28 and 29 are moved in the approaching direction, and the holding portions 31a formed at the tips of the fingers 31 and 32, respectively.
At 32a, the semiconductor wafer 7 is held via the rollers 33 to 38. Then, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the semiconductor wafer 7 is rotated up and down by rotating the slider 26 up and down along the rail 25 while being synchronously rotated by the driving devices 39 and 40. Cleaning is performed by ejecting the fine frozen particles 4 from the ejection nozzle 5 toward the surface of the semiconductor wafer 7.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, while the semiconductor wafer 7 is rotated by the synchronous rotation of the rollers 33 to 38 and the semiconductor wafer 7 is moved up and down by raising and lowering the slider 26, Since the frozen particles 4 are ejected from the ejection nozzle 5 onto the surface of the semiconductor wafer 7, the semiconductor wafer 7 is moved in the horizontal direction with respect to the ejection nozzle 5 as in the conventional apparatus shown in FIGS. Since the fine frozen particles 4 can be sprayed over the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer 7 without any trouble, the fine frozen particles 4 do not collide with each of the rollers 33 to 38 and each of the holding portions 31a and 32a. The generation of fine foreign matter due to shaving is also prevented, and the reliability in cleaning is greatly improved.

Embodiment 2 FIG. According to the first embodiment, the case where the horizontal and vertical movements of the fingers 31 and 32 are performed by using the linear motors 30 and 24 as drive sources, respectively, has been described. Even if the shafts are disposed in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, respectively, this screw shaft is rotated by, for example, a small motor or the like, and the object to be moved is mounted on each of the nuts moving on the screw shaft and moved. Needless to say, it is effective.

Embodiment 3 FIG. In the first and second embodiments, each of the rollers 33 to 38 directly contacting the semiconductor wafer 7.
The material of the rollers 33 to 3 is not described.
4 is made of a conductive material and connected to the ground, static electricity generated during cleaning can be discharged from the semiconductor wafer 7 to the ground to prevent charging. The static elimination device 11 of the device is not required, so that the device can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, a pair of fingers which extend in the vertical direction and are movable in the directions of contacting and separating from each other and in the vertical direction, and the lower ends of these two fingers are respectively provided. A plurality of rollers that are arranged and grip the opposite sides of the end face of the semiconductor wafer and rotate synchronously, and an ejection nozzle that is arranged almost in the middle of both fingers and ejects fine frozen particles to the surface of the semiconductor wafer are provided, A semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus capable of improving the reliability of wafer cleaning can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a semiconductor wafer holding mechanism of a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a state in which fingers of a semiconductor wafer holding mechanism in FIG. 1 are raised.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a state where fingers of the semiconductor wafer holding mechanism in FIG. 1 are lowered.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus.

5 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a semiconductor wafer holding mechanism of the semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a state of spraying fine frozen particles in the semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a view showing a state in which the wafer holding portion of the semiconductor wafer holding mechanism in FIG. 5 moves in parallel and one of the semiconductor wafer end faces coincides with the position of the ejection nozzle.

8 is a view showing a state in which the wafer holding portion of the semiconductor wafer holding mechanism in FIG. 5 moves in parallel, and the other of the semiconductor wafer end faces matches the position of the ejection nozzle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 4 Fine frozen particles 5 Injection nozzle 7 Semiconductor wafer 24, 30 Linear motor 31, 32 Finger 31a, 32a Holder 33-38 Roller 39, 40 Drive device

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H01L 21/304

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus for removing fine particles and the like adhering to the surface of a semiconductor wafer by colliding with fine frozen particles on the surface of the semiconductor wafer. And a plurality of rollers respectively disposed at the lower ends of the two fingers and gripping opposite sides of the end surface of the semiconductor wafer and rotating synchronously with each other, and disposed substantially at the center between the two fingers. And a spray nozzle for spraying the fine frozen particles onto the surface of the semiconductor wafer. 2. The roller according to claim 1, wherein each roller is formed of a conductive member and is connected to a ground.
A semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus as described in the above.