JP3194211B2 - 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 cleaning apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a cleaning apparatus of this type cleans a surface of a wafer, for example, by immersing an object to be processed, for example, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer) in a processing liquid such as ammonia, hydrofluoric acid and pure water. For example, a processing tank containing each processing liquid arranged in a straight line, and a wafer chuck serving as a transfer / holding unit for holding an unprocessed wafer loaded into the loader unit and sequentially transferring the wafer to the processing tank. And a wafer boat as a holding means for holding the wafer transferred by the transfer means and immersing the wafer in a processing liquid in a processing tank.

[0003] In the cleaning apparatus configured as described above, the wafer is immersed in a different type of chemical solution (processing solution), so that the wafer chuck and the wafer holding portion of the wafer boat need to have corrosion resistance. Since the wafer holding portion of the boat is directly immersed in a high-temperature processing liquid, a material made of quartz is used as a material having heat resistance in addition to corrosion resistance and high strength resistance.

[0004]

However, if the wafer holding portion is entirely made of quartz, there is a problem that chipping or dust of the wafer boat occurs at a contact portion with the wafer and adheres as particles on the wafer surface. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is intended to reduce the generation of particles in a contact portion of a workpiece holding portion with the workpiece and to efficiently immerse the workpiece in each processing liquid. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning processing apparatus which performs the following.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning apparatus, comprising: a loader unit for extracting a plurality of objects from a carrier; and a loader for holding the plurality of objects. A transport unit for transporting the processing object to the processing tank, a processing tank for storing a processing solution for immersing the plurality of processing objects, and a plurality of the processing objects transferred from the transport unit and held in the processing tank The object to be processed holding portion of the holding means is assumed to be
Or a member made of polyetheretherketone or polyphenylene
Sulfided members and
A center holding rod having a plurality of holding grooves and the center holding rod
Side holding rods arranged on both sides of the
The holding rod has an appropriate groove pitch according to the temperature of the processing solution.
The side holding rod has an upper surface with an upward slope.
And an upright wall protruding upward from the outer upper end of the inclined surface
And a lower surface projecting downward in a chevron.
The opening end of the holding groove formed in the upright wall is expanded.
It is characterized by being formed in a triangular shape .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning apparatus, comprising: a loader section for extracting a plurality of workpieces from a carrier; transport means for holding the plurality of workpieces and transporting them to a processing tank; A treatment tank containing a treatment liquid for immersion treatment;
Assuming that the cleaning device includes a holding unit that receives the plurality of workpieces from the transport unit and holds the plurality of workpieces in the processing tank, the workpiece holding unit of the transport unit includes:
Respectively Porieterue Teruketon made member or polyphenylene
It is made of Nylene sulfide material and
A plurality of spaced-apart holding grooves, and the holding grooves have a
It has an appropriate groove pitch according to the temperature, and
The treated body holding parts are made of polyetheretherketone
Made of polyphenylene sulfide
Center holding, having a plurality of holding grooves at predetermined intervals.
Holding rod and side holding rods arranged on both sides of this center holding rod
And the holding rod is suitable for the temperature of the processing solution.
It has a positive groove pitch, and the side holding rod has an upper surface
From the upward slope, and from the upper outside of this slope
Standing wall protruding upward and chevron downward
The holding groove having a lower surface and formed in the upright wall.
Characterized in that it is formed in a triangular shape that expands the open end of
Is what you do .

[0008] In the first or second aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the holding means is replaceable in accordance with the use temperature of the processing liquid (claim 3 ).

[0009] The structure of the workpiece holder is arbitrary, but preferably it is better to form the drain through passage at the bottom of the retaining groove of the workpiece holding unit (claim 4).

[0010]

According to the cleaning apparatus of the present invention, the transfer means or the holding means is formed of a member made of polyetheretherketone or a member made of polyphenylene sulfide, so that the object-to-be-processed holding part is held. , Corrosion resistance,
Heat resistance and strength resistance can be provided, and deformation due to thermal expansion of the processing object holding portion can be reduced depending on the use temperature of the processing liquid. Therefore, it is possible to reliably hold and transport the object to be processed, and to prevent generation of particles at a contact portion between the object holding portion and the object to be processed (claims 1 and 2 ).

Further , the holding groove of the side holding rod is formed in the upright wall.
As well as forming the open end in a triangular shape
Thus, the contact area with the object can be reduced,
Prevents particles from adhering to the workpiece
You. Also, the lower surface of the side holding rod projects downward in a chevron.
The flow of the processing liquid in the processing tank, such as convection.
Can be better .

[0012] Further, the processing object holding portion of the transfer means or the holding means is formed so as to be exchangeable with one having a holding rod having an appropriate groove pitch in accordance with the temperature of the processing liquid, thereby making it possible to use the processing liquid. it is possible to use to replace the ones having different pitches of the substrate-supporting unit by temperature, it is possible to consider the deformation due to thermal expansion of the substrate-supporting unit according to the temperature used in the treatment liquid (claim 3).

Further, by forming a drainage passage at the bottom of the holding groove for forming the workpiece holding section, the contact area between the workpiece and the workpiece holding section can be reduced, and the holding area can be reduced. The flow of the processing liquid in the section can be improved, and particles can be positively removed. Therefore, it can be processed efficiently immersed in different processing solution to be processed (claim 4).

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the semiconductor wafer cleaning processing apparatus performs a cleaning process on a carry-in section 1 for accommodating a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer) W which is an unprocessed object and a wafer W. The cleaning processing unit 2 and the unloading unit 3 for accommodating the cleaned wafer W constitute a main part.

The carry-in section 1 has a standby section 5 for waiting a carrier 4 accommodating a predetermined number of wafers W, for example, 25 wafers before cleaning processing, taking-out of wafers W from the carrier 4, alignment of the orientation flat, and detection of the number of wafers W. Loader unit 6 that performs
And a carrier transfer arm 7 for transferring the carrier 4 loaded from outside by a transfer robot or the like to the standby unit 5 and transferring the carrier 4 between the standby unit 5 and the loader unit 6. Become.

The cleaning unit 2 includes a carry-in unit 1 and a carry-out unit 3
A first chuck cleaning / drying processing chamber 8a for cleaning / drying the wafer chuck 12 as a transfer means in a straight line toward the wafer W, an organic contaminant, metal impurities, particles and other impurities on the surface of the wafer W are removed by a chemical solution. First cleaning
Of the wafer W cleaned in the first chemical processing chamber 8b and the first chemical processing chamber 8b, the two cleaning processing chambers 8c and 8d for cleaning with pure water, for example, and a cleaning liquid different from the chemical in the first chemical processing chamber 8b. A second chemical processing chamber 8e, two cleaning processing chambers 8f and 8g for cleaning the wafer W cleaned in the second chemical processing chamber 8e with pure water, for example, and a wafer chuck 12
Chuck cleaning / drying processing chamber 8h for cleaning / drying
And the wafer W from which the impurities are removed is, for example, IPA
A wafer drying processing chamber 8i for vapor drying with (isopropyl alcohol) or the like is provided. In each of these cleaning processing chambers (hereinafter, simply referred to as processing chambers) 8a to 8i,
Each of the processing tanks 9 is provided.

On the side of the cleaning section 2, a guide section 10 is provided along each of the processing chambers 8a to 8i. The guide section 10 is mounted on the guide section 10 to be horizontal (X direction) and vertical (Z direction). direction)
Is constituted by a wafer transfer block 11 of the 3 groups movable in the
Wafer transfer apparatus 15 is provided that is. The wafer transfer block 11 is provided with a wafer chuck 12 for holding a plurality of wafers W in rows at appropriate intervals.
The wafer W held by the wafer chuck 12 is transferred to each of the processing chambers 8a to 8i. In each of the processing chambers 8a to 8i, the wafer W is transferred from the wafer chuck 12 to a wafer boat 16 serving as a wafer holding unit. Has become.

A carrier transport section 13 for transporting empty carriers and full carriers is provided above the cleaning section 2. Further, on the back side of the cleaning processing unit 2, a processing liquid / piping storage chamber 14 including a tank and a piping group for storing a processing liquid such as a chemical liquid is provided.

The wafer chuck 12 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 5, a pair of left and right gripping members 18a and 18b that are reciprocally rotatable by the driving mechanism 17 in the front-rear direction (Y direction), the vertical direction (Z direction), and as indicated by an arrow M, and the gripping members 18a and 18b. The support members 19a and 19b are suspended downward from both ends of the support member 19, and the holding rods 20 are vertically installed between the support members 19a and 19b. The holding rod 20 has, for example, 5
Zero holding grooves 21 are provided at a constant pitch, and the 50 wafers W to be held have their peripheral edges inserted into the holding grooves 21 of the holding rods 20 of the gripping members 18a, 18b. In this state, each of the gripping members 18a and 18b is rotated in a direction approaching each other, so that the wafer chuck 1 is rotated.
2.

The wafer chuck 1 configured as described above
The second holding rod 20 is made of a polyetheretherketon having excellent corrosion resistance, heat resistance and strength resistance.
e; PEEK) or a polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) member. The holding rod 20 is fitted into a mounting hole 22 provided in supports 19a and 19b formed of the same material as the holding rod 20 or an engineering plastic member of the same type that can be welded. It is fixed by welding (see FIG. 3). The reason why the holding rod 20 and the supports 19a and 19b are fixed by welding in this way is to eliminate the gap between the constituent members of the wafer chuck 12 to prevent generation of particles.
The holding rod 20 can be formed by injection molding, but the holding rod 20 made of PPS is formed by injection molding of a compound compounded with a fiber reinforcing material, an inorganic filler or the like.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the wafer boat 16 has an inverted T-shape which is detachably mounted on a mounting member 24 which is mounted on a mounting base 23 via a position adjusting mechanism 25 which will be described later. A pair of support members 26a, 26b
A center holding rod 27 erected at a lower center portion between the support members 26a and 26b;
And two side holding rods 28 horizontally and parallel to each other at both left and right ends. in this case,
The center holding rod 27 is formed of a rod member having a rectangular cross section, and has, for example, holding grooves 29 for 50 wafers W on its upper surface.
Are formed at an equal pitch along the longitudinal direction. As shown in FIG. 7, the holding groove 29 has a tapered groove base 29 slightly expanding toward the opening side for substantially holding the wafer W.
a, and a tapered guide portion 29b which greatly expands from the opening of the groove base portion 29a toward the opening side. As shown in FIG. 6, the side holding rod 28 has an inclined surface 30 having an upper surface facing outward and having an upward slope, and an upright wall 31 projecting upward at an upper end outside the inclined surface 30. In this structure, for example, holding grooves 32 of 50 wafers W are formed on the upright wall 31 at equal pitches along the longitudinal direction. This holding groove 32 is, as shown in FIG.
The opening end is formed in a triangular shape that greatly expands. By forming the holding groove 32 in the upright wall 31 in a triangular shape in this manner, the contact area between the holding groove 32 and the wafer W can be reduced, and the adhesion of particles to the wafer W can be prevented. The lower surface of the side holding rod 28 protrudes downward in a chevron shape .
The liquid flow such as the convection of the processing liquid can be improved.

The center holding rod 27 and the side holding rod 28 configured as described above are, like the holding rod 20 of the wafer chuck 12, made of polyetheretherketone having excellent corrosion resistance, heat resistance and strength resistance. ; PE
EK) parts or polyphenylene sulfide (Poly
phenylenesulfide (PPS). At both ends of the central holding rod 27 and the side holding rod 28, mounting flanges 33 are formed, respectively.
The mounting flange 33 is fitted into a mounting notch 34 provided in the support members 26a and 26b and fixed by welding, so that the support members 26a and 26b and the holding rods 27 and 28 are fixed.
To prevent the generation of particles (see FIG. 5). The support members 26a and 26b are formed of the same material as the holding rods 27 and 28 or a member of the same type of engineering plastic that can be welded.

An engaging ridge 26c slidably inserted into a dovetail groove 24a provided in the mounting member 24 is provided on an upper outer side of the support members 26a, 26b. With the fitting 26c inserted into the dovetail groove 24a of the mounting member 24, the fixing member 26c is fixed to the screw hole 24b provided at the bottom of the dovetail groove 24a of the mounting member 24 via the mounting hole 26c provided in the supporting members 26a and 26b. The wafer boat 16 can be attached to the attachment member 24 by fastening the bolt 35, and the wafer boat 16 can be detached from the attachment member 24 by releasing the fastening of the fixing bolt 35. (See FIG. 9).
Here, the wafer boat 16 is detached from the mounting member 24, but the mounting member 24 and the wafer boat 16 may be fixed and the entire wafer boat may be replaced.
Therefore, the wafer boat 1 can be used in accordance with the temperature of the processing solution
The pitch of the holding grooves 29 and 32 of the holding rods 27 and 28 can be changed to an appropriate pitch, and the holding and transfer of the wafer W can be performed reliably.

The position of the wafer boat 16 is adjusted by a position adjusting mechanism 25 provided outside the processing tank 9. This position adjustment mechanism 25
As shown in FIG. 4, the supporting members 26a and 26b are fixed by fixing bolts 25b inserted through the mounting holes 24c formed in the mounting member 24, and the position can be adjusted by adjusting the position adjusting bolts 25b. .

Hereinafter, a specific embodiment in which the wafer boat 16 is replaced according to the use temperature of the processing liquid will be described.

Here, the PEEK holding rods 27 and 28 are used.
Using (test piece) (linear expansion coefficient: 5.times.10.sup.- ⁵ / .degree. C.), groove pitches of 6.35 mm, 6.345 mm, and 6.35 when simultaneously holding 50 8-inch wafers.
Thermal expansion as shown in FIG. 10 when the holding rods 27 and 28 are set at 34 mm, 6.335 mm and 6.33 mm at different temperatures (room temperature (RT: 23 ° C.), processing liquid temperatures: 60 ° C. and 80 ° C.). As a result, the results shown in Table 1 were obtained. In FIG. 10, Lt is the length (mm) of the holding rods 27, 28 at the use temperature, Lr is the length (mm) of the holding rods 27, 28 at the normal temperature, and Δl is the center reference elongation (Δl = ( Lt−Lr) / 2), the holding rod 27,
The length Lt at the use temperature of 28 is expressed by the following equation.

That is, Lt = Lr + Lr × Δt × 5 × 10 ^-5 where Δt is a temperature difference between the temperature of the processing solution and room temperature.

[0029]

[Table 1]

As a result of the above test, the temperature of the processing solution was 60 ° C.
In this case, the center holding rod 27 and the side holding rod 28 having a groove pitch of 6.34 mm are used, so that even if the holding rods 27 and 28 thermally expand due to the use temperature (60 ° C.) of the processing liquid, the wafer W Was securely held and transported.
Further, based on the test results, the working temperature of the processing
In the case of 0 ° C., the groove pitch of the holding rods 27 and 28 is 6.33.
When a wafer having a diameter of mm was used, the wafer W could be cleaned without trouble in holding and transporting the wafer W.

In the above experiment, the case of a PEEK-made holding rod has been described. However, a PPS-made holding rod having a small linear expansion coefficient may be used similarly to PEEK. In the above experiment, the case of holding rods 27 and 28 of the wafer boat 16 was described. However, the holding rods 20 of the wafer chuck 12 have the same meaning as the holding rods 21 of the wafer chuck 12 with an appropriate pitch according to the use temperature of the processing liquid. Can be used by exchanging the holding rod 20 having.

The processing solution (chemical solution) in the processing tank 9 is used.
Is formed of a hot tub made of quartz, and the processing liquid in the processing tank 9 is heated to a predetermined temperature by a surface heater 36 disposed near the outer periphery on all sides of the processing tank 9. (See FIG. 4). However, in such a heating method, the quartz portion of the processing tank 9 becomes a dielectric, and a potential is generated in the processing tank 9, and a voltage is generated in the processing liquid in the processing tank 9, and the liquid is immersed in the processing liquid. The wafer W may be charged and particles and the like may easily adhere to the wafer W. Therefore, a shield plate 37 made of, for example, aluminum is interposed between the processing tank 9 and the surface heater 36, and the shield plate 37 is grounded, thereby suppressing the potential of the processing tank 9 and the generation of voltage to the processing liquid. To prevent charging of the wafer W (see FIGS. 4 and 11).

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the object-to-be-processed holding portion according to the present invention. In the second embodiment, the contact area between the object-to-be-processed holding portion and the wafer W as the object to be processed is reduced so that particles adhering to the wafer W can be reliably removed. That is, the object holding portion, for example, the center holding rod 27 of the wafer boat 16
By forming a drainage passage 38 at the bottom of the holding grooves 29 and 32 of the side holding rod 28, the wafer W and the holding groove 2 are formed.
9 and 32, and the holding groove 2
This is the case where the flow of the processing liquid remaining at 9, 32 is improved so that particles can be positively discharged. FIG.
In FIG. 2, the other parts are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, the case where the drainage passage 38 is provided at the bottom of the holding grooves 29 and 32 of the center holding rod 27 and the side holding rod 28 of the wafer boat 16 has been described.
Similarly, by forming a drainage passage at the bottom of the holding groove 21 of the holding rod 20 of the wafer chuck 12, the wafer W
The contact area between the holding groove 21 and the holding groove 21 can be reduced, and the flow of the processing liquid remaining in the holding groove 21 can be improved to positively discharge particles.

Although the semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus of the above embodiment has a structure in which a plurality of processing chambers, ie, processing tanks, are arranged in a straight line, other types of cleaning processing apparatuses, such as a The present invention is also applicable to a structure in which processing units are arranged around a transfer chamber having indirect wafer transfer means and wafers are sequentially transferred to each processing unit.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the description has been given of the structure in which the holding means for the object to be processed is replaceable. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

In the above embodiment, the case where the cleaning apparatus of the present invention is applied to a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus has been described. However, the apparatus for cleaning an object to be processed such as a glass substrate or an LCD substrate other than a semiconductor wafer. Of course, it can be applied to

[0038]

According to the cleaning apparatus of the present invention as described above, the following effects can be obtained since the cleaning apparatus is configured as described above.

1) According to the cleaning apparatus of the first and second aspects, the object-to-be-processed holding portion can be provided with corrosion resistance, heat resistance, and strength resistance, and the object-to-be-processed held by the use temperature of the processing solution. Since the deformation due to thermal expansion of the portion can be reduced, the holding and transport of the object can be ensured, and the generation of particles at the contact portion between the object holding portion and the object is prevented. It is possible,
The yield can be improved.

Further, the holding groove of the side holding rod is formed in the upright wall.
As well as forming the open end in a triangular shape
Thus, the contact area with the object can be reduced,
Prevents particles from adhering to the workpiece
You. Also, the lower surface of the side holding rod projects downward in a chevron.
The flow of the processing liquid in the processing tank, such as convection.
Can be better .

2) According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to exchange a workpiece having a different holding unit pitch depending on the use temperature of the processing liquid. Deformation due to thermal expansion of the processing body holding unit can be considered.

3) According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the contact area between the object to be processed and the holder for the object to be processed can be reduced, and the flow of the processing liquid in the holder can be improved. Can be positively removed, so that the object to be processed can be efficiently immersed in a different processing solution for processing to improve the processing efficiency.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing one embodiment of a semiconductor wafer cleaning processing apparatus to which a cleaning processing apparatus of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an object transfer means in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of the object transfer means.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a processing object holding means in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part of the processing object holding means.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of a holding rod of the processing object holding means.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the processing object holding means.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view of a test piece of a holding rod of the processing object holding means.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing a heating means of the processing tank in the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a main part of a second embodiment of the object holding means according to the present invention.

[Description of Signs] W Semiconductor wafer (workpiece) 12 Wafer chuck ( transfer means ) 15 Wafer transfer device 16 Wafer boat ( holding means ) 20 Holding rod 21 Holding groove 23 Mounting base 24 Mounting member 25 Position adjustment mechanism 27 Center Holding rod 28 Side holding rod 29 Holding groove 32 Holding groove

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-5-326476 (JP, A) JP-A-4-338668 (JP, A) JP-A-3-156951 (JP, A) JP-A-3-50847 (JP) JP-A-4-64246 (JP, A) JP-A-6-204197 (JP, A) JP-A-2-61194 (JP, U) JP-A-63-8478 (JP, U) JP-A-6-8478 3-111554 (JP, U) Jiro 52-142370 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/304, 21/68 B08B 3/04, 11 / 04

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A loader unit for taking out a plurality of objects to be processed from a carrier, a transporting means for holding the plurality of objects to be transported to a processing tank, and containing a processing solution for immersing the plurality of objects. A cleaning tank, comprising: a processing tank to be processed; and a holding unit that receives the plurality of processing objects from the transport unit and holds the processing object in the processing tank . Each polyate
Polyether ketone or polyphenylene sulfide
A central holding rod , which is formed of a member made of a material and has a plurality of holding grooves at predetermined intervals, and disposed on both sides of the central holding rod.
Comprising a side supporting rods being, and have a proper groove pitch which the holding rod in accordance with the temperature of the treatment liquid, the side supporting bar, the inclination of the upslope upper surface toward the outside
Surface and an upright wall protruding upward from the outer upper end of the inclined surface
And a lower surface projecting downward in a chevron.
The opening end of the holding groove formed in the upright wall is expanded.
A cleaning apparatus characterized by being formed in a triangular shape . 2. A plurality of objects to be processed are taken out of a carrier.
A loader unit and a transporter that holds the plurality of workpieces and transports them to a processing tank.
A step and a process for containing a processing solution for immersing the plurality of objects to be processed.
The treatment vessel and the plurality of objects to be processed are transferred from
Cleaning processing comprising: holding means for holding in the processing tank
In the apparatus, the object holding portions of the transport means are each a polyether.
Polyether ketone or polyphenylene sulfide
A plurality of holding grooves formed at predetermined intervals
And the holding groove is appropriate for the temperature of the processing solution.
The object holding portions of the holding means have polyether grooves.
Polyether ketone or polyphenylene sulfide
A central holding rod , which is formed of a member made of metal and has a plurality of holding grooves at predetermined intervals, and disposed on both sides of the central holding rod.
Comprising a side supporting rods being, and have a proper groove pitch which the holding rod in accordance with the temperature of the treatment liquid, the side supporting bars
Has a slope with an upper surface facing outward and an upward slope.
An upstanding wall projecting upward from the outer top edge of the surface, and
With a lower surface protruding in a chevron shape and formed on an upright wall
The open end of the holding groove is formed in a triangular shape to expand.
Cleaning apparatus characterized by comprising. 3. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the said retaining means is replaceable according to the operating temperature of the processing solution. 4. claims 1, characterized in that the formation of the drain through-passage in the bottom of the holding groove of the workpiece holder 3
The cleaning treatment device according to any one of the above.