JP4007677B2 - Brush cleaning device and workpiece cleaning system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a brush cleaning apparatus capable of efficiently cleaning a disk-shaped workpiece, for example, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as a wafer), and a workpiece cleaning system using the brush cleaning apparatus.
[0002]
[Related technologies]
In semiconductor device manufacturing, impurities and foreign matter adhering to the surface of a semiconductor wafer (for example, chemical impurities and particles are attached to a polished wafer) adversely affect the performance of the semiconductor device.
[0003]
Therefore, the wafer manufacturing process includes a cleaning process. In this cleaning process, the wafer is cleaned by various methods. The wafer cleaning method is roughly divided into a physical method and a chemical method. There is.
[0004]
Examples of the former include, for example, a method in which dirt is directly removed mechanically using a cleaning brush or the like, or a working fluid is jetted to a part or the whole of a body to be cleaned by a jet nozzle, and the jet pressure is used to remove dirt. Examples include a mechanical removal method, and an ultrasonic cleaning method in which the object to be cleaned is buried in a liquid and the ultrasonic energy generated by a vibrator installed in the liquid is used to mechanically remove dirt. It has been.
[0005]
On the other hand, examples of the latter include a method of chemically decomposing and removing dirt with various chemicals, oxygen, and the like. The physical cleaning method and the chemical cleaning method are also used in combination.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the semiconductor manufacturing field, with the recent trend toward higher integration of semiconductor devices, the diameter of semiconductor wafers has increased, and according to the conventional method of cleaning a plurality of wafers contained in a carrier, It takes effort.
[0007]
In addition, when the method of carrying the wafer while being accommodated in the carrier is employed, there arises a problem that the wafer is contaminated due to particles adhering to the wafer due to contact between the wafer and the carrier.
[0008]
Furthermore, if the polished wafer is temporarily stocked in water until it moves to the next cleaning step, surface roughness such as cloudiness and pits may occur due to the etching action of the polishing slurry adhering to the wafer surface. Or susceptible to metal contamination during storage in water.
[0009]
In view of this, a wafer-by-leaf automatic cleaning apparatus is proposed that cleans wafers one by one by vertically supporting the wafers one by one and sequentially immersing them in the cleaning liquid in a plurality of cleaning tanks.
[0010]
By the way, particles have adhered to the polished wafer, and brush cleaning is effective in removing impurities such as particles adhering to the wafer surface. Brush cleaning is widely used in the wafer cleaning process. It has been.
[0011]
When these particles are removed by brush cleaning, it is necessary to perform brush cleaning in a state where the wafer is erected vertically in the above-described automatic cleaning apparatus of each leaf type.
[0012]
In view of such circumstances, the applicant of the present application, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-47724, includes a pair of rotating brushes that are horizontally and rotatably arranged, and brush driving means that rotationally drives the rotating brushes. A wafer brush cleaning apparatus is proposed which comprises a wafer drive means for supporting a wafer and rotationally driving it around a central axis perpendicular to the wafer surface. However, when the wafer is rotated in this way, or when brush cleaning with a rotating brush is performed, the time for the wafer and the brush to come into contact with the outer periphery of the wafer is shorter, and the brush cleaning time is longer to clean the outer periphery. Since the wafer rotating mechanism is required, there is a problem that the cleaning device is enlarged.
[0013]
The present invention has been made by paying attention to the above-described conventional problems, and can reduce the brush cleaning time and eliminate the need for a wafer rotation mechanism, thereby reducing the size of the cleaning apparatus and holding the wafer vertically. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a brush cleaning apparatus and a work cleaning system using the brush cleaning apparatus that can easily remove the residual contaminants on the wafer.
[0014]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, a brush cleaning apparatus of the present invention has a pair or plural pairs of upper rotating brushes provided to face each other in the horizontal direction, and is in a vertical state between the pair or plural pairs of upper rotating brushes. in the brush cleaning means on cleaning the disk-shaped workpiece to be transported, and the stopper means on which is provided below the upper brush cleaning means to discharge to stop and downwardly of the circular plate-shaped workpiece, said upper stopper means A disc-shaped workpiece that has a pair of or a plurality of pairs of lower rotating brushes provided below and horizontally opposed to each other and is conveyed in a vertical state between the pair or a plurality of pairs of lower rotating brushes and a lower stopper means for performing a lower brush cleaning means, the stop support and vertical movement of the circular plate-shaped workpiece vertically movable below the lower brush cleaning means, Tona is, the upper stopper means, closing Possible pair When the pair of upper stopper rods are closed or opened smaller than the diameter of the workpiece, the workpiece is stopped and gradually opened to gradually move the workpiece downward. When the workpiece is opened larger than the diameter of the workpiece, the workpiece is discharged downward, and the lower stopper means is a support member that can move up and down to support the lower end of the disk-shaped workpiece, and is discharged downward. The disc-shaped workpiece is washed by the upper brush washing means and the lower brush washing means while being supported by the lower stopper means and moved up and down .
[0015]
The upper stopper means is composed of a pair of upper stopper rods that can be opened and closed, and when the pair of upper stopper rods are closed or opened smaller than the diameter of the workpiece, the workpiece is stopped and gradually opened. Thus, the workpiece is gradually advanced, and when the workpiece is opened larger than the diameter of the workpiece, the workpiece is discharged downward .
[0016]
As the lower stopper means, a vertically movable support member for supporting the lower end portion of the disk-shaped workpiece is used.
[0017]
The work cleaning method of the present invention is a method for cleaning a disk-shaped work using the brush cleaning device described above, and gradually moves the work downward while moving the work downward by gradually opening the pair of upper stopper rods. When a pair of stopper rods is opened larger than the workpiece diameter and discharged downward, the workpiece discharged downward is supported by the lower stopper means and moved up and down by the upper brush cleaning means and the lower brush cleaning means. It is characterized in that it can be washed.
[0018]
Furthermore, the workpiece cleaning system of the present invention includes a first robot means for discharging and conveying a disk-shaped workpiece housed in a cassette, a brush cleaning section for cleaning the workpiece conveyed by the first robot means, and the brush In a workpiece cleaning system having a rinse cleaning unit for rinsing and cleaning a workpiece cleaned by the cleaning unit, a drying unit for drying the rinsed workpiece, and second robot means for storing the dried workpiece in a cassette, The brush cleaning device described above is used as the cleaning unit.
[0019]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a main part of the brush cleaning device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional side view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view of the brush cleaning device of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a side explanatory view continuously showing the cleaning operation by the brush cleaning device and FIG. 5 is a front explanatory view showing the cleaning operation by the brush cleaning device of the present invention continuously. In the following embodiments, a wafer will be described as an example of a disk-shaped workpiece to be cleaned.
[0020]
In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a brush cleaning device of the present invention. The brush cleaning device 10 has an upper brush cleaning means 12 composed of a pair of upper rotating brushes 12a and 12b provided opposite to each other in the horizontal direction (left and right direction in FIG. 2). The interval between the upper rotating brushes 12a and 12b is configured to be changeable according to the thickness of the wafer W and other needs. One or a plurality of the upper brush cleaning means 12 are installed, but in the illustrated example, a case where one is provided is shown as an example.
[0021]
Reference numeral 14 denotes an upper stopper means for stopping and discharging the wafer W, and is provided below the upper brush cleaning means 12. The upper stopper means 14 is composed of a pair of upper stopper rods 14a and 14b. The upper stopper rods 14a and 14b are configured to be opened and closed by moving sideways by a stopper rod opening / closing mechanism (not shown).
[0022]
Reference numeral 16 denotes a lower brush cleaning means provided below the upper stopper means 14. The lower brush cleaning means 16 is composed of a pair of lower rotating brushes 16a and 16b provided opposite to each other in the horizontal direction (left and right direction in FIG. 2). The interval between the lower rotary brushes 16a and 16b is configured to be changeable according to the thickness of the wafer W and other needs. One or a plurality of the lower brush cleaning means 16 are also provided. In the illustrated example, the case where one is provided is shown as an example.
[0023]
Reference numeral 18 denotes a lower stopper means for stopping and supporting the wafer W and moving up and down, and is provided below the lower brush cleaning means 16. The lower stopper means 18 is composed of a support member that supports the lower end portion of the wafer W and is movable up and down.
[0024]
With the above configuration, the wafer W is first set in a vertical state between the pair of upper rotating brushes 12a and 12b. Next, both surfaces of the wafer W are cleaned by the rotation of the upper rotary brushes 12a and 12b and are transported in the rotational direction of the upper rotary brushes 12a and 12b, that is, downward.
[0025]
The transported wafer W is initially not transported downward when the upper stopper means 14 is closed, that is, when the upper stopper rods 14a and 14b are smaller than the diameter of the wafer W. In an open state, that is, when the upper stopper rods 14 a and 14 b are separated from each other so as to be larger than the diameter of the wafer W, the wafer W is unloaded and supported by the lower stopper means 18. If the lower stopper means 18 is moved up and down in this state, the wafer W is also moved up and down, and the upper brush cleaning means 12 and the lower brush cleaning means 16 sufficiently clean both surfaces of the wafer W. Further, since the wafer is not rotated, there is no difference in the contact time with the brush within the wafer surface, and cleaning can be performed in the minimum necessary time.
[0026]
By adjusting the time for supporting the wafer W by the lower stopper means 18, that is, the time for moving the wafer W up and down, the cleaning time for the wafer can be set freely.
[0027]
The brush cleaning apparatus 10 described above is normally used by being incorporated in a cleaning system for a workpiece such as a wafer. An example when this brush cleaning device is incorporated in a workpiece cleaning system will be described below with reference to FIG.
[0028]
In FIG. 6, reference numeral 20 denotes a workpiece cleaning system having first robot means 21. The first robot means 21 stores wafers W, takes out the wafers W one by one from a cassette 22 in a cassette supply tank 23 filled with pure water, and supplies them to the brush cleaning unit 24. The brush cleaning device 10 described above is installed in the brush cleaning unit 24.
[0029]
Reference numerals 26 and 40 denote rinse cleaning units, which rinse clean the wafers W cleaned by the brush cleaning unit 24. The rinse cleaning units 26 and 40 are configured in one or more stages as necessary. The rinse-cleaned wafer W is dried by a drying unit 30 equipped with an IR lamp 28. The dried wafer W is stored in the cassette 36 in the cassette take-out tank 34 by the second robot means 32.
[0030]
Reference numeral 38 denotes a hand cleaning unit, which is provided for cleaning the wafer suction hand of the first robot means 21.
[0031]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the brush cleaning time can be shortened, and since the wafer rotating mechanism is unnecessary, the cleaning apparatus can be reduced in size, and the wafer is held vertically. A great effect of facilitating removal of residual contaminants on the wafer is achieved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view of a main part of a brush cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional side view of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view of a brush cleaning apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a side explanatory view continuously showing a cleaning operation by the brush cleaning apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a front explanatory view continuously showing a cleaning operation by the brush cleaning apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view showing an example when the brush cleaning apparatus of the present invention is incorporated in a workpiece cleaning system.
[Explanation of symbols]
10: Brush cleaning device, 12: Upper brush cleaning means, 12a, 12b: Upper rotating brush, 14: Upper stopper means, 14a, 14b: Upper stopper rod, 16: Lower brush cleaning means, 16a, 16b: Lower rotating brush, 18: Lower stopper means, 20: Workpiece washing system, 21 : First robot means, 23 : Cassette supply tank, 22, 36: Cassette, 24: Brush washing section, 26, 40: Rinsing washing section, 28: IR lamp, 30: Drying section, 32: Second robot means, 34: Cassette take-out tank, 38: Hand cleaning section, W: Wafer.

Claims (3)

An upper brush cleaning means for cleaning a disk-shaped workpiece having a pair or a plurality of pairs of upper rotating brushes provided opposite to each other in the horizontal direction and conveyed in a vertical state between the pair or a plurality of pairs of upper rotating brushes; a stopper means on to discharge to stop and downwardly of the circular plate-shaped workpiece disposed below the upper brush cleaning means, provided to face in the horizontal direction together provided below the upper stopper means A lower brush cleaning means for cleaning a disk-shaped workpiece having a pair or a plurality of pairs of lower rotating brushes and being conveyed in a vertical state between the pair or a plurality of pairs of lower rotating brushes; and a lower stopper means for performing dynamic capable provided stop supporting and vertically moving the circular plate-shaped workpiece, Ri Tona, wherein the stopper means is constituted by a openable pair of upper stopper rod, said pair of upper stoppers When the rod is closed or opened smaller than the diameter of the workpiece, the workpiece is stopped and gradually opened to move the workpiece gradually downward. When the rod is opened larger than the diameter of the workpiece, the workpiece is stopped. The lower stopper means is a support member capable of moving up and down to support the lower end portion of the disk-shaped workpiece, and the disk-shaped workpiece discharged downward is supported by the lower stopper means. The brush cleaning device is cleaned by the upper brush cleaning means and the lower brush cleaning means while being moved up and down . A method of cleaning a disk-shaped workpiece using the brush cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece is moved downward by gradually opening the pair of upper stopper rods, and the entire surface of the workpiece is cleaned and the pair of stopper rods When the workpiece is opened larger than the workpiece diameter and discharged downward, the workpiece discharged downward is supported by the lower stopper means and moved up and down to be cleaned by the upper brush cleaning means and the lower brush cleaning means. Characteristic workpiece cleaning method. First robot means for discharging and conveying a disk-shaped work housed in a cassette, a brush washing section for washing the work conveyed by the first robot means, and rinsing washing the work washed by the brush washing section and rinsing unit for a drying unit for drying the rinsed the workpiece, the workpiece after drying at work cleaning system and a second robot means for accommodating the cassette, brush cleaning according to claim 1, wherein as the cleaning unit A work cleaning system using an apparatus.

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