JP3457211B2 - Processing device and processing method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a processing apparatus and a processing method for processing a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass plate for LCD.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, for example, cleaning is performed to remove contaminants such as particles, organic contaminants, and metal impurities attached to the surface of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as "wafer"). The processing system is in use. As one of them, a single-wafer cleaning processing system is generally equipped with a spin type processing device.

An example of this processing apparatus is Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-1
There is known a processing device for performing a so-called scrub cleaning process, which is disclosed in JP-A-41518 and JP-A-8-141519. In this scrub cleaning process, a treatment object provided with a member such as a brush or sponge is brought into contact with the surface of the wafer while rotating, and particles and the like adhering to the surface of the wafer are scraped off. In this conventional processing device, a pressing means is provided at the tip of an arm member that can be raised and lowered and rotated. A shaft that can be raised and lowered and rotated as an output shaft is arranged below the pressing means, and a processing body is attached to the lower end of the shaft.

By the operation of the pressing means, a vertical thrust is applied to the shaft, and this thrust acts on the processing body, and the processing body presses the surface of the wafer. The sum of the thrust acting on this processing body and the weight of the processing body is
The contact pressure is applied to the surface of the wafer by the processing body.
In order to satisfactorily clean the surface of the wafer, it is important to control the contact pressure within a predetermined set value and rotate the processing body at a predetermined rotation speed.

Here, the specific structure of the pressing means will be described. In the pressing means, an expandable bellows, an air cylinder or the like is used as a power source. Then, for example, if the power source is a bellows, a shaft is connected to the lower end of the bellows, and a vertical thrust is applied to the shaft by the expansion and contraction operation of the bellows. In the case of an air cylinder, a shaft is provided below the air cylinder, and thrust is similarly applied to the shaft as the air cylinder moves up and down.

On the other hand, rotating means for controlling the rotation of the processing body is also provided on the arm member. A specific configuration of the rotating means will be described. A motor is provided at a position distant from the shaft, for example, at a base end portion of an arm member, and a drive pulley fixed rotatably to the motor is arranged to follow the body of the shaft. The pulley is fixed, and the belt is wound between the drive pulley and the driven pulley. When the motor rotates, the rotational drive is transmitted from the belt to the shaft, and the processing body rotates. The operation of such a shaft that can be raised and lowered and rotated is supported by a bearing provided on the arm member.

[0007]

However, in the conventional processing apparatus, in order to control the pressing force and the rotation of the processing body, the sliding resistance between the shaft and the bearing, and the belt applied to the shaft via the driven pulley. Adverse effect of the tension of
In addition, sometimes it is necessary to consider transmission loss due to belt loosening. Therefore, it is not always easy to control the pressing force and rotation of the processing body during the cleaning processing, for example.

Further, in the rotating means having complicated transmission parts such as belts and pulleys, the structure of the arm member is complicated. Further, when the belt is rotated between the drive pulley and the driven pulley, the belt and the pulley rub against each other and dust is generated. Similarly, the shaft and bearing rub against each other and generate dust. If this dust diffuses to the surroundings, it causes particles to adhere to the wafer, and the cleaning process efficiency decreases.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a processing device that simplifies the mechanism for transmitting the rotational drive from the rotating means to the processing body and can easily prevent dust generation and control the pressing force and rotation of the processing body. To do.

[0010]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a processing body that contacts the surface of a substrate, a pressing means that presses the processing body against the substrate, and the processing body. In a processing device having a rotating means for rotating,
The rotating means is arranged above the pressing means, the output shaft of the pressing means is projected both above and below the pressing means, and a drive mesh member is attached to the rotating shaft of the rotating means, By attaching a driven meshing member to the upper end and meshing the drive meshing member and the driven meshing member, the drive meshing member and the driven meshing member are in phase with each other.
It is configured to be capable of moving up and down relative to each other, and configured to transmit the rotational drive of the rotating means to the output shaft as the rotating operation of the rotating means is performed, and the processing body is attached to the lower end of the output shaft. It is characterized in that the output shaft is vertically movable.

According to this processing apparatus, the upper end of the output shaft is projected to above the pressing means, and the rotational drive from the rotating means is directly transmitted to the protruding upper end portion to rotate the output shaft. As a result, various disturbance elements (belt tension, etc.) are eliminated from the output shaft, and it becomes easy to control the pressing force and rotation of the processing body. Further, it is not necessary to provide complicated transmission parts such as belts and pulleys.

According to this processing apparatus , the drive meshing member rotates with the rotation operation of the rotating means, and the drive meshing member and the driven meshing member mesh with each other. Then, as the driven mesh member rotates, the output shaft and the processing body rotate together.

In this case, a first protrusion parallel to the rotation axis of the rotating means is provided on the drive meshing member, and a second protrusion parallel to the output shaft is provided on the driven meshing member, and
The rotating shaft of the rotating means and the output shaft are concentrically arranged, and the first protrusion and the second protrusion are arranged so that the driving engagement member and the driven engagement member can be moved up and down relatively. It is good to engage with the protrusion. According to this configuration,
Since the rotating shaft of the rotating means and the output shaft are arranged concentrically with each other, even if the drive meshing member and the front driven meshing member are moved up and down relatively, the first protrusion and the second protrusion are formed. And are in the engaged state. Accordingly, even if the driven meshing member is moved up and down with respect to the drive meshing member as the output shaft is moved up and down, the meshing between the drive meshing member and the front driven meshing member can be preferably maintained.

The drive mesh member includes a first connecting plate connected to the rotary shaft, a horizontal support shaft attached to the first connecting plate, and a roller supported by the horizontal support shaft. The driven meshing member includes a second connecting plate connected to the output shaft, and a vertical member standing upright from the second connecting plate and having a substantially concave shape by an opening. The rotation drive of the rotating means may be transmitted to the output shaft by engaging the roller with the vertical member via. According to this structure, the drive engagement member and the driven engagement member can be appropriately engaged with each other, and the rotational drive of the rotating means can be transmitted to the output shaft. Further, since the roller is engaged with the vertical member through the opening, the roller and the vertical member do not rub each other when transmitting the rotational drive of the rotating means to the output shaft. By this,
Generation of particles can be prevented, and wear of rollers and vertical members can be eliminated.

It is preferable that the pressing means is constructed to control the thrust of the output shaft in the vertical direction by using gas. According to this structure, the thrust of the output shaft in the vertical direction is controlled based on the characteristics of the gas, and thereby the contact pressure of the processing body attached to the lower end of the output shaft is controlled.
In this case, as described in claim 6, if the thrust force in the vertical direction of the output shaft is controlled by the gas supply pressure, the contact pressure of the processing body can be smoothly controlled. Further, as described in claim 7, the pressing means has a supply chamber to which a gas is supplied, and a supply / exhaust chamber to which the gas is supplied and the gas is exhausted. It is preferable that the chamber is provided with a stopper that limits the downward movement of the output shaft.

Further, connecting the gas supply passage to said pressing means, a pressure adjusting mechanism provided in the gas supply path, further, the pressure adjusting mechanism sets a predetermined contact pressure of the treated relative to the substrate to be processed The thrust in the vertical direction of the output shaft may be controlled so that the predetermined contact pressure is obtained. According to such a configuration, by the gas adjusting mechanism,
Since a predetermined contact pressure can be applied to the substrate, suitable processing can be performed.

[0017] It is preferable to provide an air bearing for supporting the rotation and vertical movement of said output shaft to said pressing means. According to such a configuration, the air bearing uses the gas to float the output shaft in the air to create a frictionless state, and supports the lifting and rotating operations of the output shaft. Therefore, friction with the conventional bearing is eliminated.

The atmosphere and the lower outer peripheral portion of the output shaft, it is preferable provided with exhaust means for exhausting the atmosphere in the drive engaging member and the driven engaging member. According to this structure, even if dust is generated between the lower outer peripheral portion of the output shaft and the drive meshing member and the driven meshing member, it is prevented from being exhausted by the exhaust means and diffused to the surroundings.

Further, according to the present invention, in a processing method of processing a substrate by bringing a processing body into contact with a surface of a substrate and rotating the processing body while pressing the processing body, a pressing means for supporting the processing body.
An output shaft of the rotating member and a rotating shaft of a rotating means for rotating and driving the processing body are arranged in series via a driving meshing member and a driven meshing member, and the rotating means is arranged above the pressing means.
The drive meshing member and the driven mesh.
If members and can be relatively moved up and down, the contact prior to contacting the treated body surface of the substrate, a step of setting the predetermined contact pressure of the processing member at the time of treatment, the treatment member on the surface of the substrate And a step of adjusting the pressing force of the processing body so that the predetermined contact pressure is achieved by exerting an upward thrust on the output shaft.

According to such a method, the contact pressure of the processing body can be determined by the pressing force of the processing body (the vertical thrust acting on the processing body) and the self-weight of the processing body, but by adjusting the pressing force of the processing body , It becomes possible to process the substrate with a predetermined contact pressure.

According to this structure, since the rotary shaft and the output shaft are arranged in series, the rotary drive is directly transmitted from the rotary shaft to the output shaft. Because of this direct transmission of rotational drive, disturbance does not enter the output shaft, and the lifting and rotating operations of the output shaft are stable.

Further, while contacting the treated body surface of the substrate, it may be to rotate the substrate.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described on the basis of a surface processing apparatus configured to clean a surface of a wafer as an example of a substrate. Figure 1
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cleaning processing system 1 incorporating a surface processing device 7 according to this embodiment. The cleaning processing system 1 is configured to carry in the wafer W in units of carrier C, clean and dry the wafers W one by one, and carry out the wafer W in carrier.

The cleaning processing system 1 is provided with a mounting portion 2 on which four carriers C containing wafers W can be mounted. In the center of the cleaning processing system 1, a mounting section 2 is provided.
A take-out storing arm 3 for taking out the wafers W before the processing process one by one from the carrier C placed on the substrate C and for storing the wafers W after the processing process in the carrier C is arranged. At the back of the unloading / accommodating arm 3, a transfer arm 4 serving as a transfer mechanism for transferring the wafer W to / from the unloading / accommodating arm 3.
Is waiting. The transfer arm 4 is the cleaning processing system 1
It is provided so as to be movable along the transport path 6 provided at the center of the. Various processing devices are arranged on both sides of the transport path 6. Specifically, on one side of the transport path 6,
For example, a surface treatment device 7 for cleaning the surface of the wafer W
And a back surface processing device 8 for cleaning the back surface of the wafer W are arranged side by side. Further, four heating devices 9 are stacked and provided on the other side of the transport path 6. The heating device 9 is means for heating and drying the wafer W. Adjacent to the heating device 9, two wafer reversing devices 10 are stacked and provided.

Here, the structure of the surface treatment apparatus 7 will be described. 2 is a plan view of the surface treatment apparatus 7, and FIG.
Is a side view thereof. A spin chuck 22 rotated by a motor 21 in a state in which a wafer W is horizontally attracted and held in a substantially center of a case 20, and the spin chuck 22.
And a cup 23 that surrounds the wafer W and prevents the processing liquid and the like supplied to the surface of the wafer W from scattering around. Then, a scrub cleaning machine 2 for cleaning the surface of the wafer W by bringing the surface of the wafer W into contact with the processing body 24 near one side of the case 20
5 are arranged. The scrubbing machine 25 shown in FIG.
Shows the state of waiting at a position away from the wafer W. Further, on the front side of the case 20, there is provided a loading / unloading port 7a which can be opened and closed by a shutter (not shown).
The wafer W is carried in and out of the surface processing apparatus 7 by the carrier arm 4 via the carry-in / out port 7a.

The arm member 26 of the scrubbing machine 25
The mechanism for operating the above will be described below. First, as shown in FIG. 4, a bracket 31 is fixed to the lower surface of the base 30 of the case 20, and a cylinder 32 is attached to the bracket 31.
Is attached. Rod 33 of this cylinder 32
Supports a support plate 36 on which the motor 34 and the speed reduction mechanism 35 are arranged. The rotation of the motor 34 is transmitted to the reduction mechanism 35 via the belt 37.

The upper end of the shaft 38 of the speed reduction mechanism 35 is attached to the lower end of the support column 39 while freely penetrating the base 30.
The upper end of the support column 39 is fixed to the base end of the arm member 26. The outer peripheries of the shaft 38 and the support columns 39 are covered with a cylindrical cover 40 attached to the lower surface of the base end portion of the arm member 26, and the inner peripheral lower end portion of the cover 40 is fixed to the base 30. The tubular cover 41 is located. In this way, the lifting operation of the cylinder 32 is transmitted from the rod 33 to the support pillar 39 to move the arm member 26 up and down (in the direction of the reciprocating arrow A in FIG. 4), and the operation of the motor 34 is performed from the reduction mechanism 35 to the support pillar 39. The arm member 26 is rotated and moved (in the direction of the reciprocating rotation arrow B in FIG. 4).

As shown in FIG. 5, the arm member 26 has a frame 26a and a cover 26b. Here, at the base end portion and the central portion of the arm member 26, the processing body 2
In order to rotate the motor 4, a complicated transmission component including a motor and a driven pulley and a belt for transmitting the rotational drive of the motor to the processing body 24, which is conventionally provided, is not provided. That is, at least the vicinity of the base end of the arm member 26 is formed to be hollow, and the scrub cleaning machine 25
During operation, no dust is generated in the arm member 26 due to friction between the transmission parts.

An air cylinder 50 fixed on the frame 26a is arranged at the tip of the arm member 26. A motor 52 is fixed to the upper surface of a bracket 51 fixed to the air cylinder 50. As a result, the motor 52 can be arranged above the air cylinder 50. The rod 53 of the air cylinder 50 is projected above and below the air cylinder 50. By transmitting the rotational drive of the motor 52 to the upper end of the rod 53, the rod 53 and the processing body 24 are integrally rotated (in the direction of the reciprocating rotation arrow C in FIG. 5). There is. On the other hand, the processing body 24 is detachably attached to the lower end portion of the rod 53 through the lower member 54 and the attachment 55, and the rod 5 is moved along with the lifting operation of the air cylinder 50.
3 and the processing body 24 are configured to move up and down in the vertical direction (the direction of the reciprocating arrow D in FIG. 5).

Here, the rotation of the motor 52 is controlled by the rod 5
3, the drive meshing member 60 is attached to the rotary shaft 56 of the motor 52, as shown in FIG. The drive meshing member 60 is provided with first protrusions 62 parallel to the rotating shaft 56 at appropriate three positions on the outer peripheral surface of the columnar portion 61. On the other hand, below the drive meshing member 60, the rods 5 are provided at appropriate three positions on the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the disk portion 63.
A driven meshing member 65 is provided on which a second protruding portion 64 parallel to 3 is provided upright. The driven engagement member 65 is attached to the upper end of the rod 53 via the upper member 66 so that the second protrusion 64 can be arranged between the first protrusions 62. Rotating shaft 56 and rod 5 as shown
3 is arranged concentrically with the drive meshing member 60.
On the other hand, even when the driven meshing member 65 is moved up and down, the first protrusion 62 and the second protrusion 64 can be brought into the engaged state. The drive meshing member 60 and the driven meshing member 65 are
It is made of resin such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

As the motor 52 rotates, the side surface of the protrusion 62 and the side surface of the column portion 64 are brought into contact with each other to engage the drive meshing member 60 and the driven meshing member 65, thereby rotating the motor 52. The drive is directly transmitted to the rod 53. As a result, there is no need to worry about loosening of the belt as in the conventional case, and an easy processing body 2
The rotation of 4 can be controlled.

As shown in FIG. 7, an air supply chamber 50a to which gas is supplied and an air supply / exhaust chamber 50b to which gas is exhausted are formed inside the air cylinder 50. The air supply / exhaust chamber 50b is located above the air supply chamber 50a, and the air supply chamber 50a and the air supply / exhaust chamber 50b communicate with each other. Further, the lot 53 is provided in the air supply chamber 50.
A, a ring-shaped stopper 70 is attached to the rod 53, passing through the air supply / exhaust chamber 50b. The stopper 70 is installed in the supply chamber 50a and prevents the rod 53 from coming out of the air cylinder 50. The stopper 70 may be attached to the rod 53 so that the stopper 70 can be installed in the air supply / exhaust chamber 50b.

A gas supply passage 71 is connected to the air supply chamber 50a of the air cylinder 50, and in the middle of the gas supply passage 71,
An electropneumatic regulator 72 that adjusts the gas supply pressure is provided. A control unit 73 is connected to the electropneumatic regulator 72, and the control unit 73 outputs a predetermined electric signal to the electropneumatic regulator 72 to adjust the supply pressure of the gas flowing in the air cylinder 50. ing. Therefore,
The vertical thrust of the rod 53 is freely controlled by the supply pressure of the gas supplied from the gas supply passage 71.

During the scrub cleaning process, the stopper 70 is floated as shown by the supply pressure of the gas supplied from the gas supply passage 71. Then, the rod 5 does not separate the processing body 24 from the surface of the wafer W.
An upward thrust is applied to 3 so that the difference between the own weight of the processing body 24 and the thrust acting on the processing body 24 by the rod 53 is a predetermined contact pressure, for example, a contact pressure of 60 gf or less. Further, unlike the conventional case, since the belt is not wound around the rod 53 via the pulley, the rod 53
The thrust of the belt is not adversely affected by the tension of the belt or the like.

FIG. 8 shows an electropneumatic regulator 72 and a control unit 7.
3 is a circuit diagram showing the relationship with FIG. 3, but when the mechanism when the control unit 73 outputs an electric signal to the electropneumatic regulator 72 is described, first, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. A measurement sensor 74 for measuring the contact pressure of the processing body 24 at the position is provided. The measurement sensor 74 is composed of, for example, a load cell, and detects strain caused by a load as a variation of the electric resistance value. And
When the scrubbing machine 25 is on standby other than the cleaning process, the processing body 24 is brought into contact with the measurement sensor 74 and the contact pressure is measured. Based on this measurement result, the processing body 24
Data of an electric signal for the contact pressure to reach a predetermined value is stored in the control unit 73. Then, when the stage of the actual cleaning process is reached, the control unit 73 transmits a predetermined electric signal to the electropneumatic regulator 72 based on the stored data, and adjusts the supply pressure of the gas supplied to the air cylinder 50. , The thrust of the rod 53 and the contact pressure of the processing body 24 are controlled. In this way, the contact pressure of the processing body 24 can be smoothly controlled. In this case, in order to accurately measure the contact pressure of the processing body 24 during the cleaning process, as shown in FIG. 3, the height of the measurement surface 74a of the measurement sensor 74 is set so that the wafer held by the spin chuck 22 is It is preferably equal to the height of the surface of W. Further, regarding the contact pressure of the processing body 24, the control unit 73 controls the electropneumatic regulator 7
By controlling 2, 10 gf, 20 gf, 30
Adjustable adjustments such as gf, 40gf, and 50gf.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, inside the air cylinder 50, ring-shaped porous ceramic air bearings 75 and 76 are provided at two upper and lower positions, and air bearings for supplying gas to these air bearings 75 and 76 are provided. The gas supply path 77 for air is connected to the air cylinder 50. The gas supply path 77 is divided in the middle so that the gas can be supplied to the air supply chamber 50a and the air supply / exhaust chamber 50b. And
The air bearings 75 and 76 supplied with the gas from the gas supply passage 77 for the air bearing make the rod 53 float in a hollow state and create a frictionless state. The operation of the rod 53 is supported so that it can be stably moved up and down and rotated. Therefore, the sliding resistance is equal to zero and the wear resistance is excellent. In the air cylinder 50, the gas exhaust passage 78 is connected to the air supply / exhaust chamber 50b so that gas does not accumulate inside.

Further, for the gas supply paths 71 and 77,
As shown in FIG. 7, the gas is sent from separate gas supply sources, but the gas supply path 7 is supplied from the common gas supply source.
A gas may be sent to each of 1 and 77. The gas is always supplied from the gas supply passage 77 to the air supply chamber 50a and the air supply / exhaust chamber 50b. On the other hand, the gas is supplied from the gas supply passage 71 only when the processing body 24 is pressed against the air supply chamber 50a.

As shown in FIG. 5, the arm member 26
At the tip end of the lower part of the rod 53 and the lower member 5
A protective cover 80, the upper end of which is fixed to the frame 26b, is arranged so as to surround 4. Exhaust tubes 81 and 82 for exhausting dust are connected to the protective cover 80 and the bracket 51, respectively, and the exhaust tubes 81 and 82 are confluent portions 83 and connected to a vacuum suction device (not shown). It merges into road 84. For example, the drive meshing member 60 and the driven meshing member 65 may be meshed with each other,
Even if dust is generated by moving the rod 63 up and down, the exhaust tubes 81 and 82 cause the arm member 26 to move.
It is configured to be exhausted to the outside. Therefore, there is no concern that particles will fall onto the surface of the wafer W during the cleaning process.

The processing body 24 is provided with a processing member 85 such as a brush or a sponge on its lower surface in order to clean the surface of the wafer W cleanly. Depending on the cleaning object, the processing member 85
It is possible to appropriately select a hard brush such as a nylon brush having a hard bristle or a soft brush having a soft bristle, for example, a mohair brush.

In addition, the pure water supply path 86 is provided on the arm member 26.
Is provided, and pure water can be supplied while the processing body 24 is in contact with the wafer W. Further, the surface treatment device 7 includes a scrub cleaning machine 2 with a spin chuck 22 interposed therebetween.
A pure water supply nozzle 87 that is reciprocable in the θ ′ direction in FIG. A nozzle 87a is attached to the tip of the arm of the pure water supply nozzle 87, and pure water is supplied by this nozzle 87a.

Next, the processing of the wafer W performed in the cleaning processing system 1 equipped with the surface processing apparatus 7 configured as described above will be described. First, a carrier robot (not shown) mounts a carrier C containing, for example, 25 uncleaned wafers W on the mounting unit 2. Then, the wafers W are transferred one by one from the carrier C placed on the placing portion 2.
Is taken out, and the transfer arm 4 is passed through the take-in / take-in arm 3
To be delivered to. Then, the front surface processing apparatus 7 and the back surface processing apparatus 8 are used to wash the wafers W one by one to remove organic contaminants, particles and the like adhering to the front and back surfaces of the wafer W. Then, the wafer W is heated by the heating device 9 to be dried. Wafer W for which a predetermined processing step has been completed
Is transferred from the transfer arm 4 to the take-out storage arm 3,
It is stored in the carrier C again.

Now, the steps of the cleaning process in the surface processing apparatus 7 will be described. First, the wafer W is applied to the surface treatment device 7.
Is loaded through the loading / unloading port 7a, and the spin chuck 22
The wafer W is held on the spin chuck 22 and the spin chuck 22 starts to rotate. Then, in the scrub cleaning machine 25 in the standby state of FIG. 2, the arm member 26 is swung by the operation of the cylinder 32 and the motor 34, and the processing body 24 is moved to above the wafer W, for example, near the center of the wafer W. Let As a holding means other than the spin chuck 22,
The wafer W may be held horizontally by using a mechanical chuck that holds the peripheral portion of the wafer W with a claw or a ring.

By the way, in the case of the conventional surface treatment apparatus,
The motor 52 is arranged at a position distant from the rod 53, and the rotational drive of the motor 52 is indirectly transmitted to the rod 53 via a transmission component such as a belt or a pulley. For this reason, various disturbance elements (belt tension, etc.) are applied to the rod 53, which may disturb the lifting and rotating operations of the rod 53.

However, in this embodiment, the motor 52 is arranged immediately above the air cylinder 50. When the motor 52 rotates, the air cylinder 50
On the upper end of the rod 53 protruding above the motor 5
2 to transmit the rotational drive. That is, as the motor 52 rotates, the drive meshing member 60 rotates, and subsequently the drive meshing member 60 and the driven meshing member 65 mesh with each other. Then, with the rotation of the driven meshing member 65, the rod 53 and the processing body 24 integrally rotate. In this way, the rod 5
Since the rotational drive is transmitted to 3, the rotation of the processing body 24 can be easily controlled.

Even when the driven engagement member 65 is moved up and down with respect to the drive engagement member 60, the rotating shaft 56 and the rod 53
Since and are arranged concentrically, even if the driven meshing member 65 is moved up and down with respect to the drive meshing member 60,
The first protrusion parallel to the rod 53 and the second protrusion parallel to the rod 53 are engaged with each other. Accordingly, even if the driven meshing member 65 is moved up and down as the rod 53 moves up and down, the meshing between the drive meshing member 60 and the driven meshing member 65 can be preferably maintained.

As shown in FIG. 3, by operating the cylinder 32, the rotating processing body 24 is brought into contact with the surface of the wafer W. Then, by operating the air cylinder 50,
By pressing the processing body 24, for example, 60 gf on the surface of the wafer W.
The following predetermined contact pressure is applied. For example, the weight of the processing body 24 is about 200 g. The contact pressure of the processing body 24 can be adjusted to 20 gf by controlling the supply of gas to the air supply chamber 50a of the air cylinder 50. In this case, since the upward thrust of the rod 53 is controlled by the gas supply pressure, the contact pressure of the processing body 24 can be smoothly controlled. Thus, while controlling the thrust and rotation of the rod 53, there is no factor that adversely affects the thrust of the rod 53, so that the rotation of the processing body 24 can be controlled easily.

Moreover, before the processing body 24 is brought into contact with the surface of the wafer W, the measurement sensor 74 or the like is used to set a predetermined contact pressure of the processing body 24 during the cleaning processing.
Then, the processing body 24 is brought into contact with the surface of the wafer W, and the pressing force of the processing body 24 is adjusted by the control unit 73 and the electropneumatic regulator 72 so that the contact pressure becomes a predetermined value. You can

That is, a cleaning method in which pure water is applied to the wafer W, and the wafer W is scrubbed by the processing body 24 to which the pressing force and the rotational driving force are respectively transmitted via the rod 53 and the rotating shaft 56, is described in (a) ) Wafer W with processing body 24
A step of setting a predetermined contact pressure at the time of scrubbing the wafer, that the rod 53 is engaged with the rotary shaft 56 and arranged in series on the extension line of the rotary shaft 56, and (b) the wafer W is spun. A step of placing the processing body 24 on the chuck 22, a step of moving the processing body 24 so as to be positioned above the wafer W on the spin chuck 22, and a step of lowering the processing body 24 together with the rod 53. , (E) a step of rotating the processing body 24 by transmitting a rotational driving force from the rotary shaft 56 to the rod 53, and (f) a pressing force of the processing body 24 against the wafer W is set in the step (a). Adjusting to a predetermined contact pressure.

In this cleaning method, the steps (e) and (f) are started after the step (a). Further, in this cleaning method, the step (f) may be started before the step (b).

Further, since it is not necessary to provide a complicated transmission component such as a belt or a pulley, and the rotational drive of the motor 52 is transmitted to the rod 53 by a simple mechanism, the arm member 26
Simplifies the configuration. Moreover, dust generation due to the friction between the belt and the pulley unlike the conventional case does not occur.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, in the air cylinder 50, the operation of the rod 53 is supported by using air bearings 75 and 76. This eliminates friction with conventional bearings. further,
The vacuum suction device (not shown) is activated, and the exhaust tube 81,
Exhaust by 82 is started. Even if dust is generated by the lower outer peripheral portion of the rod 53 and the driving meshing member 60 and the driven meshing member 65, the exhaust tubes 81 and 82 exhaust the gas and prevent it from spreading to the surroundings.

Then, if necessary, while the pure water is being discharged from the pure water supply path 86, the operation of the motor 34
The arm member 26 is rotated at least from the center of the wafer W to the peripheral portion to uniformly clean the surface of the wafer W. On the other hand, the pure water supply nozzle 87 also moves above the wafer W and supplies pure water to the surface of the wafer W.

After a lapse of a predetermined time, the scrub cleaning and the pure water cleaning are completed, and the wafer W is unloaded. On the other hand, when the cylinder 31 and the motor 34 are operated, the arm member 26
To the original standby state. The pure water supply nozzle 87 is also the wafer W
Swing back from the surface of and return to the original state. Thereafter, new wafers W are successively loaded into the surface processing apparatus 7, and the same cleaning process is continuously repeated. Thus, when 25 processed wafers W are stored in the carrier C,
The carrier C unit is carried out of the cleaning processing system 1.

Thus, the surface treatment apparatus 7 of this embodiment
According to this, since the rotational drive from the motor 52 is directly transmitted to the rod 53, various disturbance elements are excluded from the rod 53, and the pressing force and rotation of the processing body 24 can be easily controlled. As a result, a predetermined contact pressure can be stably obtained during the cleaning process, and the reliability of the cleaning process can be improved. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to provide a complicated transmission component such as a belt or a pulley, the structure of the arm member 26 is simplified and dust generation inside the arm member 26 can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of constituent parts related to the surface treatment device 7 and to reduce the burden of assembling work, and it is possible to prevent a reduction in yield due to particle adhesion.

Although an example of the embodiment of the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to this example and can take various forms. For example, a modified example of the drive meshing member and the driven meshing member is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, the driven meshing member 90 is attached to the upper end of the rod 53 with a screw 91. The driven meshing member 90 includes a second rectangular plate 92 and vertical members 93a and 93b that are provided upright on both left and right sides of the second rectangular plate 92. The vertical members 93a and 93b are formed in a substantially concave shape by the opening 94. The drive meshing member 95 is connected to the rotary shaft 56 of the motor 52 as before. The drive meshing member 95 includes a first rectangular plate 96 connected to the rotary shaft 56,
It is provided with a horizontal support shaft 97 and a pair of rollers 98a and 98b. These rollers 98a and 98b are the horizontal support shafts 97
Is rotatably supported on the short side surface of the first rectangular plate 96. Then, as shown in FIG.
8a is arranged in the opening 94 of the vertical member 93a, and the roller 98b is arranged in the opening 94 of the vertical member 93b.

When the driven meshing member 91 is lifted by moving the rod 53 upward, as shown in FIG.
The driven meshing member 90 rises while being guided to the opening 94 by a and 98b. Drive meshing member 95 and driven meshing member 9
It preferably meshes with 0, and the rotational drive of the motor 52 can be transmitted to the rod 53. Further, as shown in the drawing, the roller 98a is connected to the vertical member 93a through each opening 94.
Further, since the roller 98b is engaged with the vertical member 93b, the roller 98a and the vertical member 93a rub against each other and the roller 98b and the vertical member 93b rub against each other when the rotational drive of the motor 52 is transmitted to the rod 53. Never. Thereby, generation of particles can be prevented and wear of the rollers 98a and 98b and the vertical members 93a and 93b can be eliminated.

Further, the substrate is not limited to the semiconductor wafer W as in the above-mentioned embodiment, but may be an LCD substrate, a glass substrate, a CD substrate, a photomask, a printed substrate, a ceramic substrate or the like.

[0058]

According to the processing apparatus of the present invention , the rotational drive from the rotating means is directly transmitted to the output shaft, so that various disturbance elements (belt tension, etc.) are eliminated from the output shaft, and the processing body is processed. It becomes easy to control the pressing force and rotation of. as a result,
During processing, a predetermined contact pressure can be stably obtained, and processing reliability can be improved. Further, since it is not necessary to provide a complicated transmission component such as a belt or a pulley, the structure of the arm member is simplified and dust generation inside the arm member can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of constituent parts of the processing apparatus and reduce the burden of assembling work, and it is possible to prevent the yield from decreasing due to particle adhesion.

According to the processing apparatus of the present invention , even if the output shaft is moved up and down, the engagement between the drive engagement member and the driven engagement member can be maintained appropriately. Prevent the generation of particles ,
The drive meshing member and the driven meshing member have excellent wear resistance. Well
Further, if the vertical thrust of the output shaft is controlled based on the characteristics of the gas, and especially the vertical thrust of the output shaft is controlled by the gas supply pressure, the contact pressure of the processing object can be smoothly controlled. Unnecessary downward movement of the output shaft can be prevented. Suitable processing can be performed. In addition, since the lifting and rotating operations of the output shaft are supported using gas pressure, the bearings of the output shaft have excellent sliding resistance and wear resistance.
Further, even if dust is generated, it is prevented from spreading to the surroundings.

Appropriate processing can be performed by applying a predetermined contact pressure to the substrate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cleaning treatment system including a surface treatment apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the surface treatment apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the surface treatment apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a scrub cleaning machine.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of an arm member.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a drive meshing member and a driven meshing member.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view of an air cylinder.

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram illustrating a relationship between an electropneumatic regulator and a control unit.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a modified example of a drive meshing member and a driven meshing member.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Cleaning system 7 Surface treatment equipment 24 Processing body 26 Arm member 50 air cylinder 53 rod 60 Drive mesh member 62 first protrusion 64 Second protrusion 65 Follower meshing member 71 gas supply path 72 Electro-pneumatic regulator 73 Control unit 75,76 Air bearing W wafer

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Takanori Miyazaki, No. 41, 1375 Nishishinmachi, Tosu City, Saga Prefecture, Tokyo Electron Kyushu Co., Ltd., Saga Works (56) Reference JP-A-9-326378 (JP, A) JP-A-9-148295 (JP, A) JP-A-10-321574 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B08B 1/04 H01L 21/304

Claims (12)

(57) [Claims] 1. A processing apparatus comprising: a processing body that contacts a surface of a substrate; a pressing unit that presses the processing body against the substrate; and a rotating unit that rotates the processing body. The rotating means is disposed on the rotating shaft, the output shaft of the pressing means is projected above and below the pressing means, a drive meshing member is attached to the rotating shaft of the rotating means, and a driven mesh is formed on the upper end of the output shaft. By attaching a member and engaging the driving engagement member and the driven engagement member with each other, the driving engagement member and the driven engagement member are relatively moved to each other.
It is configured so that it can be moved up and down, and that the rotational drive of the rotating means is transmitted to the output shaft when the rotating means rotates, and the processing body is attached to the lower end of the output shaft. A processing device characterized by being configured to be vertically movable. 2. A first protrusion that is parallel to the rotation axis of the rotating means is provided on the drive meshing member, and a second protrusion that is parallel to the output shaft is provided on the driven meshing member. The rotation shaft of the means and the output shaft are arranged concentrically, and the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion are arranged so that the drive engagement member and the front driven engagement member can be moved up and down relatively. The processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processing device and the processing device are engaged with each other. 3. The drive meshing member includes a first connecting plate connected to the rotating shaft, a horizontal support shaft attached to the first connecting plate, and a roller supported by the horizontal support shaft. The driven meshing member includes a second connecting plate connected to the output shaft, and a vertical member standing upright from the second connecting plate and formed in a substantially concave shape by an opening,
The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the roller is engaged with the vertical member through the opening to transmit the rotational drive of the rotating unit to the output shaft. 4. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressing means is configured to control the vertical thrust of the output shaft by using gas. 5. The processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the pressing unit is configured to control the thrust force of the output shaft in the vertical direction by the supply pressure of gas. 6. The pressing unit has an air supply chamber to which gas is supplied and an air supply / exhaust chamber to which gas is supplied and gas is exhausted, and the output is provided to the air supply chamber or the air supply / exhaust chamber. 6. The processing device according to claim 4, further comprising a stopper that limits the downward movement of the shaft. 7. The processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the pressing unit can bring the stopper into a floating state. 8. The processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a gas supply path is connected to the pressing means, and an air pressure adjusting mechanism is provided in the gas supply path. 9. The atmospheric pressure adjusting mechanism is configured to set a predetermined contact pressure of a processing body with respect to a substrate to be processed, and to control a thrust force of the output shaft in a vertical direction so as to reach the predetermined contact pressure. The processing device according to claim 8, wherein 10. The pressing means is provided with an air bearing for supporting the rotation and ascending / descending operations of the output shaft, as claimed in claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9.
The processing device according to. 11. An atmosphere of a lower outer peripheral portion of the output shaft,
The exhaust means for exhausting the atmosphere of the drive engagement member and the driven engagement member is provided.
The processing device according to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10. 12. A treatment object is brought into contact with the surface of a substrate, and the treatment is performed.
A processing method for processing a substrate by rotating the body while pressing it
At Supports the processing bodyOf pressing meansOutput shaft and the processing body
Drive theOf rotation meansThe rotary shaft and the drive mesh member
Are arranged in series with the driven meshing member,Push
The rotating means is arranged above the pressure means, and
The drive meshing member and the driven meshing member move up and down relatively
Can move, When processing before contacting the processing body with the surface of the substrate
A step of setting a predetermined contact pressure of the processing body of A step of bringing a processing body into contact with the surface of the substrate, By applying upward thrust to the output shaft,
Adjust the pressing force of the processing object so that the contact pressure becomes the specified value.
A processing method comprising the steps of: