JP5887089B2 - Liquid supply device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid supply apparatus, and more particularly, to a liquid supply apparatus that can prevent dripping in a liquid use part.

  In the manufacture of semiconductors and the like, when supplying a liquid such as pure water or chemical used for cleaning or etching of a silicon wafer, a very high cleanliness is required for the liquid. In the International Semiconductor Technology Roadmap (ITRS), production with a wiring pitch of 32 nm started in earnest from 2010, and production with a further reduced wiring width is scheduled in the future. Therefore, it is significant to suppress dust generation (particles) mixed in from the liquid flow path as much as possible.

  Currently, silicon wafers are mainly cleaned by a single wafer method in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. Therefore, switching between liquid discharge and stop is frequently performed. Therefore, the stability of the quality of the supplied liquid is important as well as the accuracy of switching the liquid supply. As an example of an apparatus that enables such precise supply of liquid, there is a liquid supply apparatus 201 schematically shown in FIG.

  The liquid supply apparatus 201 includes a liquid supply unit 210 having a liquid tank 211, a pump 212, and the like, and a liquid use unit 220 for cleaning a silicon wafer or the like. Each part is connected by the supply side pipe 231 and the circulation side pipe 232. An on-off valve 241 used for supplying and stopping the liquid and an on-off valve 242 used for circulation are provided. Particles generated during liquid transfer are collected by the filter 213 on the downstream side of the on-off valve 241. If only the on-off valve 241 is closed, liquid dripping from the nozzle 221 of the use part 220 cannot be prevented due to the inertia of the liquid. Therefore, a suck-back valve 249 is disposed in the supply side pipe 231 immediately before the use part 249. The suck back valve 249 is a mechanism that prevents dripping from the use part 220 when the discharge of the liquid is stopped.

  However, liquid remains in the piping after the on-off valve due to the necessity of installation and control of the suck back valve itself. Therefore, there is a possibility that the liquid leaks again with the passage of time from the stop of the liquid discharge. In particular, in the case of a foamable liquid, the liquid may be pushed out due to the volume expansion of the liquid in the pipe or the valve after the liquid discharge is stopped, and may drop from the nozzle of the use part. Thus, it was not possible to reliably prevent the liquid from dripping out.

  In addition, the properties of the liquid remaining in the pipe change over time. Therefore, before the liquid is sprayed on the silicon wafer by the next liquid discharge, the nozzle position is shifted from the wafer, the liquid remaining in the pipe is discarded, and then a new liquid is sprayed on the wafer. It was. As can be seen from this procedure, waste of working time and increase in the amount of chemicals, liquids, etc. used are problems. In particular, in the case of a pipe provided with a filter, the residual amount in the filter increases, and the amount of wear increases accordingly.

  Here, a configuration has been proposed in which an aspirator is installed in a liquid pipe to prevent liquid from remaining (see Patent Document 1, etc.).

  Accordingly, a liquid supply apparatus 301 in which an aspirator is incorporated in the liquid supply apparatus shown in FIG. 10 has been proposed (see FIGS. 11 and 12). The liquid supply apparatus 301 includes a liquid supply unit 310 having a liquid tank 311 and a pump 312 and a liquid use unit 320 for cleaning a silicon wafer or the like. Each part is connected by supply side piping 331 and circulation side piping 332,333. A first on-off valve 341 used for supplying and stopping liquid, and a second on-off valve 342 and a third on-off valve 343 used for circulation are provided. Particles generated during the transfer of the liquid are collected by the filter 313 on the downstream side of the on-off valve 341. An aspirator 350 is provided on the downstream side of the second on-off valve 342 and the third on-off valve 343.

  FIG. 11 shows a state in which the liquid is supplied from the liquid supply unit 310 to the use unit 320. Only the first on-off valve 341 is opened, and the second on-off valve 342 and the third on-off valve 343 are closed. FIG. 12 shows the liquid supply stop. At this time, the first on-off valve 341 is closed, and the second on-off valve 342 and the third on-off valve 343 are opened. Then, the liquid flows through the flow paths of the supply side pipe 331, the second on-off valve 342, the aspirator, and the circulation side pipe 333. At the same time, the liquid remaining in the supply side pipe 331, the circulation side pipe 332, and the third on-off valve 343 near the use unit 320 is sucked through the aspirator 350 and joins the circulation side pipe 333.

  In the case of the liquid supply device 301 disclosed in FIGS. 11 and 12, the liquid is prevented from dripping from the nozzle 321 of the use unit 320 due to the suction effect of the aspirator 350. Therefore, it is effective as a countermeasure against dripping. However, it is difficult to eliminate particles generated from the contact portion (not shown) between the valve element and the valve seat inside the first on-off valve 341 and the third on-off valve 343, and a filter 313 is installed downstream of these on-off valves. It was necessary to set up and collect particles.

  In the conventional liquid supply apparatus, the number of components installed in the pipe for supplying the liquid from the liquid supply section to the use section increases, and the piping and flow paths become complicated. Therefore, there have been problems of improving the cleanliness of the liquid to be circulated and increasing the cost per apparatus. Therefore, in a liquid supply apparatus used for semiconductor manufacturing, an apparatus having a new structure that seeks to achieve both simplification of the structure and improvement in cleanliness of the liquid to be circulated has been sought.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-146560

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and in a liquid supply apparatus used for manufacturing a semiconductor, the use portion generated after stopping the supply of liquid in order to achieve both simplification of the structure and improvement of cleanliness of the liquid to be circulated. A liquid supply apparatus having a new structure capable of suppressing liquid dripping is provided.

  That is, the invention of claim 1 is a liquid supply apparatus having a liquid supply section, a liquid use section, and a supply pipe section for circulating liquid from the supply section to the use section, wherein the supply pipe section A main pipe part for circulating the liquid supplied from the supply part side, an aspirator connected to the main pipe part, a use side pipe part and a sub pipe branched by the aspirator and supplying the liquid to the use part side A pipe part and a valve connected to the sub pipe part and having an opening / closing function, the main pipe part and the sub pipe part are connected to the main flow path side of the aspirator, and the use is made to the suction flow path side of the aspirator The present invention relates to a liquid supply apparatus characterized in that a side piping section is connected.

  The invention according to claim 2 relates to the liquid supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sub-pipe part is a circulation pipe part for returning the liquid to the supply part.

  A third aspect of the present invention relates to the liquid supply apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the sub piping portion is a drain piping portion for discarding the liquid.

  The invention according to claim 4 relates to the liquid supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the valve having the opening / closing function is an opening / closing valve.

  The invention according to claim 5 relates to the liquid supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the valve having the opening / closing function is a flow control valve.

  The invention according to claim 6 relates to the liquid supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a filter is provided in either one or both of the main pipe part and the use side pipe part.

The invention of claim 7 relates to a liquid supply apparatus according to claim 1, temperature controller, or either one or both of sensors for monitoring the temperature or concentration of the liquid provided to the supply pipe section.

  According to the liquid supply apparatus according to the invention of claim 1, a liquid supply apparatus having a liquid supply unit, a liquid use unit, and a supply piping unit that distributes the liquid from the supply unit to the use unit, The supply piping section includes a main piping section for circulating the liquid supplied from the supply section side, an aspirator connected to the main piping section, and a use side that is branched by the aspirator and supplies liquid to the use section side A pipe section and a sub pipe section; and a valve connected to the sub pipe section and having an opening / closing function. The main pipe section and the sub pipe section are connected to the main flow path side of the aspirator, and the suction flow of the aspirator Since the use-side piping section is connected to the road side, by reducing the number of valves, both the simplification of the device structure and the improvement of the cleanliness of the liquid to be circulated are achieved, and the use section generated after the supply of liquid is stopped. It was possible to obtain a liquid supply apparatus having a new structure capable of suppressing the kick dripping.

  According to the liquid supply apparatus according to the invention of claim 2, in the invention according to claim 1, since the sub-pipe part is a circulation pipe part for returning the liquid to the supply part, the liquid itself is reused by reusing the liquid. The wasteful consumption is suppressed.

  According to the liquid supply device according to the invention of claim 3, in the invention according to claim 1, since the sub-pipe part is a drain pipe part for discarding the liquid, the cleanliness of the liquid and the stability of the liquid component This is convenient when it is necessary to dispose of the liquid in consideration of the securing and the influence of the aging of the liquid itself.

  According to the liquid supply device of the invention of claim 4, in the invention of claim 1, since the valve having the opening / closing function is an opening / closing valve, the opening and closing of the valve seat can be operated relatively instantaneously and simply, It is also possible to quickly switch between the flow of the liquid in the liquid supply apparatus itself and the stop thereof.

  According to the liquid supply device according to the invention of claim 5, in the invention according to claim 1, since the valve having the opening / closing function is a flow control valve, the opening and closing of the valve seat can be operated relatively instantaneously and easily. In addition, it is possible to quickly switch between the flow of the liquid in the liquid supply apparatus itself and the stop thereof. In addition, since the flow rate of the liquid can be adjusted steplessly, it is also possible to realize a liquid supply flow rate according to the amount of liquid used in the use section.

  According to the liquid supply apparatus according to the invention of claim 6, in the invention according to claim 1, since either one or both of the main pipe part and the use side pipe part are provided with a filter, the liquid supply apparatus is supplied from the supply part. Particles flowing out with the liquid are collected, and the cleanliness of the liquid is increased.

According to the liquid supply device according to the invention of claim 7, since in the invention according to claim 1, temperature controller, or either one or both of sensors for monitoring the temperature or concentration of the liquid provided to the supply pipe portion The quality of the liquid supplied to the use part is stabilized.

It is the schematic of the liquid supply apparatus which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing of an aspirator. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an on-off valve. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a control valve. It is the schematic of the liquid supply state of FIG. It is the schematic of the liquid supply stop state of FIG. It is the schematic of the liquid supply apparatus which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention. It is the schematic of the liquid supply apparatus which concerns on 3rd Example of this invention. It is the schematic of the liquid supply apparatus which concerns on 4th Example of this invention. It is the schematic of the liquid supply apparatus provided with the suck valve which concerns on a prior art example. It is a 1st schematic diagram of the liquid supply apparatus provided with the aspirator which concerns on a prior art example. It is a 2nd schematic diagram of the liquid supply apparatus provided with the aspirator which concerns on a prior art example.

  The liquid supply apparatus 1A of the present invention is mainly installed in a semiconductor manufacturing factory, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, etc., and supplies various liquids such as ultrapure water, hydrofluoric acid water, hydrogen peroxide water, ammonia water, hydrochloric acid, etc. It is an apparatus capable of stopping supply. In particular, it is an apparatus that enables liquid supply corresponding to cleaning of a silicon wafer by a single wafer method.

  The configuration of the liquid supply apparatus 1A defined in the invention of claim 1 will be described using the schematic diagram of FIG. The liquid supply apparatus 1A (first embodiment) includes a liquid supply unit 10 on the upstream side, a liquid use unit 20 on the downstream side, and a supply piping unit that distributes the liquid from the supply unit 10 to the use unit 20. 30 is provided.

  The liquid supply unit 10 in the illustrated embodiment is provided with a liquid tank 11 for storing the above liquid and a pump 12 for transferring the liquid. The pump 12 is a known liquid feeding means such as a bellows pump or a diaphragm pump. The liquid tank 11 can be pressurized with air or nitrogen gas to extrude the liquid. Therefore, the pump 12 can be omitted from the supply unit 10.

  The liquid use part 20 is a range indicating a part where the liquid supplied through the supply pipe part 30 is actually used. In the illustrated embodiment, the use portion 20 includes a use side piping portion 32 and a nozzle 21 at the tip thereof. Then, the liquid is discharged from the nozzle 21 to the silicon wafer W placed on the rotating disk 5 of the spin chuck 6, and the stop is switched.

  1 is provided with a main pipe part 31, an aspirator 50, a use side pipe part 32, a sub pipe part 33, and a valve 16 having an opening / closing function. The main piping part 31 serves as a conduit for circulating the liquid supplied from the supply part 10 side. As shown in the figure, the liquid tank 11 and the pump 12 are arranged on the upstream side of the main piping portion 31. The aspirator 50 is connected to the downstream end of the main piping part 31 and branches the downstream side of the main piping part 31 in two directions. That is, in the supply piping section 30, the main piping section 31 is a piping section from the liquid tank 11 or the pump 12 to the aspirator 50.

  A use-side piping part 32 that is branched into two by the aspirator 50 and supplies liquid to the use part 20 side is provided, and the nozzle 21 is mounted at the forefront of the use-side piping part 32. Further, the sub-pipe section 33 is connected to the remaining pipe line of the branch of the aspirator 50. A valve 16 having an opening / closing function is provided in the pipe line of the sub-pipe section 33.

  In the liquid supply apparatus 1A of the illustrated first embodiment, the liquid that has passed through the aspirator 50 is returned to the supply unit 10 (liquid tank 11) and reused. Therefore, as defined in the invention of claim 2, the sub-pipe part 33 is a circulation pipe part 34 for returning the liquid circulated with the main pipe part 31 and the aspirator 50 to the supply part 10 (liquid tank 11). By returning the liquid flowing through the supply piping unit 30 to the liquid tank 11, wasteful consumption of the liquid itself can be suppressed.

  The structure of the aspirator 50 and the mode of pipe connection will be described using the cross-sectional view of FIG. The main body 51 of the aspirator 50 is made of various fluororesins such as PTFE having excellent corrosion resistance and chemical resistance. The main channel 52 of the aspirator 50 is formed in the main body 51 and penetrates the main body 51 linearly. A suction channel 53 orthogonal to the main channel 52 is also formed.

  In the aspirator 50, a narrow pipe portion 57 is provided at a portion where the suction flow passage 53 is connected to the main flow passage 52, and a connection chamber 58 is provided downstream of the narrow pipe portion 57 and at a connection portion between the main flow passage 52 and the suction flow passage 53. Is also formed. In the figure, reference numeral 54 is a connection port between the main flow path and the main piping part, 55 is a connection port between the main flow path and the sub piping part, and 56 is a connection port between the suction flow path and the use side piping part.

  The flow rate of the liquid flowing into the aspirator 50 from the main pipe portion 31 is narrowed by the narrow pipe portion 57 and the flow velocity is increased. For this reason, the pressure of the liquid decreases due to the venturi effect. Ambient air is entrained in the decompressed liquid, and as a result, the suction flow path 53 is decompressed.

  As the valve 16 having the opening / closing function, an opening / closing valve 60 for adjusting the suspension and resumption of the circulation of the liquid flowing in the sub-pipe portion 33 is used as defined in the invention of claim 4. Alternatively, a flow rate adjusting valve 80 capable of varying the flow rate of the liquid flowing through the sub-pipe portion 33 is used as defined in the invention of claim 5.

  The structure of an example of the on-off valve 60 will be described using the longitudinal sectional view of FIG. The on-off valve 60 is an on-off valve having a poppet valve disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-139270. In the on-off valve 60, a liquid inlet 63 and a liquid outlet 64 are provided in the lower body block 61b. A portion where the inflow port 63 and the outflow port 64 are connected is a valve chamber 62, and an annular valve seat 65 is formed in the valve chamber 62. Then, when the valve body 70 moves forward and backward, the liquid is circulated and stopped in the valve seat 65.

  The illustrated valve body 70 is provided with a valve portion 78 and a diaphragm portion 71 and an outer peripheral portion 72 around the diaphragm portion 71. The outer peripheral portion 72 is fixed at a predetermined position in the valve chamber 62 by the upper body block 61 a via the pressing member 73 and the fixed block 74. A space 69 is formed in the upper body block 61a. The space portion 69 accommodates a spring 76 and a piston portion 75 that receives the bias of the spring 76. Since the connection part 77 at the upper part of the valve body 70 (valve part 78) is connected to the piston part 75, the valve body 70 and the piston part 75 move forward and backward in conjunction with each other. The upper body block 61a is provided with air ports 66 and 67 for inflow and outflow of working air. Reference numeral 68 denotes a respiratory tract.

  For example, in the case of the inflow of working air to the air port 66 and the exhaust from the air port 67, the air pressure on the upper side of the space 69 increases, and the piston 75 is pushed downward. Therefore, the valve portion 78 of the valve body 70 is seated on the valve seat 65, and the supply of liquid is stopped at the on-off valve 60. On the contrary, when the circulation is resumed, the piston portion 75 is lifted upward by the inflow of the working air into the air port 67 and the exhaust from the air port 66. The adjustment of the inflow / outflow of the working air to each air port is controlled by a controller or an electropneumatic regulator (not shown).

  In the case of the on-off valve 60 disclosed in FIG. 3, the opening and closing of the valve seat can be operated relatively instantaneously and easily, so that the flow of the liquid in the liquid supply apparatus itself and the switching between the stop and the stop can be quickly performed.

  Next, the structure of an example of the flow control valve 80 will be described with reference to the longitudinal sectional view of FIG. The flow rate adjusting valve 80 is a flow rate adjusting valve having a needle valve disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-68935. The lower body block 81 b of the flow control valve 80 is provided with a liquid inlet 83 and a liquid outlet 84, and a portion where the inlet 83 and the outlet 84 are connected is a valve chamber 83. A valve seat 85 having a distal end is formed. Then, when the valve body 90 moves forward and backward, the flow and stop of the liquid is performed in the valve seat 85, and in addition to the valve seat 90 depending on the distance between the valve body 90 and the valve seat 85. Since the opening amount of 85 changes, the liquid flow rate can be finely adjusted.

  The illustrated flow control valve 80 is a kind of control valve called a needle valve, and a long truncated cone-shaped (needle-shaped) valve portion 98 is provided at the tip of the valve body 90. And the outer peripheral part 92 is provided in the diaphragm part 91 and its circumference | surroundings. The outer peripheral portion 92 is fixed at a predetermined position in the valve chamber 82 by the upper body block 81a through the fixed block 93. A space portion 94 is formed in the upper body block 81 a, and a spring 96 and a piston portion 95 that receives the bias of the spring 96 are accommodated in the space portion 94. Since the connection part 97 at the upper part of the valve body 90 (valve part 98) is connected to the piston part 95, the valve body 90 and the piston part 95 advance and retreat in conjunction with each other. The upper body block 81a is provided with air ports 86 and 87 for inflow and outflow of working air. Reference numeral 88 denotes a respiratory tract.

  Further, in the illustrated flow control valve 80, the screw rod 100 is screwed into the upper connection hole 98 of the piston portion 95. The screw rod 100 is accommodated in the adjustment block 81c, and the adjustment screw 101 is engaged so as to cover the adjustment block 81c. At this time, the outer peripheral screw portion 102 and the inner peripheral screw portion 103 are screwed together, and the position of the adjusting screw 101 is restricted. Therefore, the amount of forward / backward movement of the valve body 90 is regulated by adjusting the positions of the screw rod 100 and the adjusting screw 101.

  Similarly to the on-off valve 60 described above, in the case of the inflow of working air to the air port 86 and the exhaust from the air port 87, the air flow control valve 80 also increases the air pressure on the upper side of the space portion 94 (near the spring 96). The portion 95 is pushed downward. Therefore, the valve portion 98 of the valve body 90 enters toward the valve seat 85 and is seated in some cases. Conversely, when resuming or increasing the flow of the liquid, the piston portion 95 is lifted upward by the inflow of the working air into the air port 87 and the exhaust from the air port 86. The adjustment of the inflow / outflow of the working air to each air port is controlled by a controller or an electropneumatic regulator (not shown). That is, in the flow rate control valve 80, with a change in the opening degree of the valve seat portion according to the distance between the valve portion 98 and the valve seat 85, the liquid supply is stopped and the partial opening from the completely closed to the minute flow is further performed. It is possible to adjust the range for more liquid flow.

  As the flow control valve 80, in addition to the needle valve disclosed in FIG. 4, for example, a control valve provided with two diaphragms disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-295209 can be applied. In the case of the flow rate control valve 80 of FIG. 4, the opening and closing of the valve seat can be operated relatively instantaneously and easily, so that the flow of the liquid in the liquid supply device itself and the switching between the stop and the stop can be performed quickly. In addition, since the flow rate of the liquid can be adjusted steplessly, it is also possible to realize a liquid supply flow rate according to the amount of liquid used in the use section.

  Here, the state of the supply of the liquid and the stop thereof will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 shows a liquid supply state in the liquid supply apparatus 1A of the first embodiment, and the liquid is transferred from the supply unit 10 side to the use unit 20 side as indicated by a thick broken line in the figure.

  In the liquid supply state of FIG. 5, the valve 16 having an opening / closing function is in a closed state (CLOSE). That is, in the case of the on-off valve 60 in FIG. 3, the valve seat is closed by the seating of the valve body. In the case of the flow rate adjusting valve 80 in FIG. 4, the valve portion of the valve body is in contact with the valve seat, or is in a state where the flow rate of the valve body that penetrates deeply and passes through the valve seat is suppressed (leakage state). It is.

  The liquid pumped through the liquid tank 11 of the supply unit 10 and the pump 12 flows through the main piping unit 31 of the supply piping unit 30 and reaches the aspirator 50. Then, the liquid passes through the aspirator 50 and circulates in the auxiliary piping part 33. However, since the valve 16 having an opening / closing function is in a closed state, the flow of the liquid is blocked on the upstream side of the valve seat in the valve 16 (including a case of leakage). For this reason, the liquid that has reached the inside of the aspirator 50 flows through the use-side piping part 32 through the suction channel 53. As a result, the liquid supply state that reaches the use unit 20 is maintained, and the liquid is discharged from the nozzle 21 of the use unit 20 onto the silicon wafer W.

  In the liquid supply stop state of FIG. 6, the valve 16 having an opening / closing function is in an open state (OPEN). That is, in the case of the on-off valve 60 of FIG. Further, in the case of the flow rate adjusting valve 80 in FIG. 4, the valve portion of the valve body is separated from the valve seat, the opening degree of the valve seat is increased, and the flow rate passing through the valve seat is increased and circulated.

  The liquid pumped through the liquid tank 11 of the supply unit 10 and the pump 12 flows through the main piping unit 31 of the supply piping unit 30 and reaches the aspirator 50. Since the valve 16 having the opening / closing function is in an open state, the liquid that has reached the aspirator 50 flows out to the sub-pipe section 33 through the main flow path 52 therein. The liquid passes through the valve 16 and flows through the circulation piping section 34 as it is, and returns to the liquid tank 11.

  In this case, since the liquid passes through the narrow pipe portion 57 of the aspirator 50, the suction channel 53 side is decompressed. Then, the inside of the use side piping part 32 connected to the suction flow path 53 becomes a negative pressure, and the liquid filled up to the nozzle 21 is sucked toward the aspirator 50 in the opposite direction.

  As understood from the liquid supply apparatus 1A of the illustrated first embodiment, since the liquid supply apparatus effectively arranges the aspirator, the supply of liquid can be stopped only by arranging one valve having an opening / closing function. Inadvertent liquid dripping from the use part (nozzle etc.) at the time can be suppressed. Since the liquid supply to the use part can be switched to the supply stop by opening and closing one valve provided in the supply piping part, the structure and the number of parts of the liquid supply apparatus itself can be simplified. In particular, since only the aspirator is arranged from the supply unit to the use unit, the factor of generating particles is reduced.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a liquid supply apparatus 1B of the second embodiment. According to the apparatus 1B, as defined in the invention of claim 3, the sub-pipe part 33 becomes the drain pipe part 35 for discarding the liquid that is circulated. In the liquid supply apparatus 1B according to the second embodiment, a drain piping portion 35 is connected to the downstream side of the valve 16 (open / close valve 60, flow rate adjusting valve 80) having an opening / closing function instead of the circulation piping portion 34 according to the first embodiment. Is done. The supply of liquid from the supply unit 10 to the use unit 20 and the supply stop of the liquid are the same as in the first embodiment described in FIGS. The common code | symbol in a figure shows the same structure.

  The liquid supply apparatus 1B of the second embodiment has a configuration in which the reuse of liquid is prohibited. This is because it may be more convenient to dispose of the pumped liquid as it is without circulation or reuse in consideration of the cleanliness of the liquid, the stability of the liquid component, and the influence of changes over time of the liquid itself. Whether to select the liquid supply apparatus 1A of the first embodiment or the liquid supply apparatus 1B of the second embodiment is selected according to the type and nature of the liquid supplied to the use section.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a liquid supply apparatus 1C according to the third embodiment. According to the apparatus 1 </ b> C, the filter 13 is provided in the main piping portion 31 of the supply piping portion 30 as defined in the invention of claim 6. The filter 13 collects particles that are generated and flow out from the supply unit 10 (the liquid tank 11, the pump 12) or the like upstream of the main piping unit 31. Therefore, the cleanliness of the liquid on the downstream side of the filter 13 is increased.

  Although not shown, the use side piping section 32 branched from the aspirator 50 may include the filter 13. In this case, since the filter is arranged immediately before the use part (nozzle), the particle collection efficiency is high. Even if the supply of the liquid to the use section 20 is stopped by switching the opening and closing of the valve 16 (60, 80), the liquid remaining in the use side piping section 32 and the filter is sucked to the aspirator 50 side. Therefore, dripping in the use part is avoided.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a liquid supply apparatus 1D of the fourth embodiment. According to the apparatus 1D, as specified in the invention of claim 7, either one or both of the temperature controller 14 and the sensor 15 are provided in the pipe line constituting the supply pipe section 30. The figure shows an example provided in the main piping part 31 and the circulation piping part 34 of the supply piping part 30.

  The liquid pressure-fed from the liquid supply unit 10 may decrease in temperature or increase in temperature during distribution. Therefore, the temperature controller 14 is provided in the supply piping unit 30 (the main piping unit 31 shown in the figure), so that the temperature change is alleviated. As a result, the quality of the liquid supplied to the use part is stabilized. In addition, a sensor 15 is provided in the supply piping unit 30 (the main piping unit 31 shown in the figure) in order to monitor the temperature, concentration, etc. of the liquid in circulation. The detection result of the sensor 15 is fed back to the supply unit 10 and the temperature controller 14 and set to a predetermined value.

  The temperature controller 14 and the sensor 15 may be both the main piping part 31 and the circulation piping part 34 or both. Furthermore, although not shown, the temperature controller 14 and the sensor 15 can be provided in the use side piping unit 32 in the supply piping unit 30. The type, the number of installation, the installation location, etc. of the temperature controller 14 and the sensor 15 are selected in consideration of the type of liquid to be circulated, the device configuration, the processing capacity, and the like.

  Also in the liquid supply apparatuses 1C and 1D disclosed in FIGS. 8 and 9, portions common to those in FIG. The liquid supply devices 1C and 1D disclosed in FIGS. 8 and 9 are configured to return the liquid to the tank 11 of the supply unit 10 through the circulation piping unit 34. Instead, as shown in FIG. 7, the drain pipe part 35 is connected to the downstream side of the valve 16 (open / close valve 60, flow rate adjusting valve 80) having an open / close function, and the liquid is discarded as it is. You can also. Further, all of the filter, the temperature controller, and the sensor can be provided in the supply piping section.

  The liquid supply apparatus of the present invention is an apparatus for supplying liquid indispensable for semiconductor manufacturing, and can achieve both simplification of the structure and improvement of cleanliness of liquid to be circulated as compared with conventional apparatuses. It is possible to suppress dripping in the use part that occurs after the supply of the liquid is stopped. Therefore, it contributes to improving the production efficiency of silicon wafers and can reduce the capital investment burden.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D Liquid supply apparatus 5 Turntable 10 Supply part 11 Liquid tank 12 Pump 13 Filter 14 Temperature controller 15 Sensor 16 Valve which has an opening / closing function 20 Use part 21 Nozzle 30 Supply piping part 31 Main piping part 32 Use Side piping section 33 Sub piping section 34 Circulating piping section 35 Drain piping section 50 Aspirator 52 Main flow path 53 Suction flow path 60 On-off valve 80 Flow control valve W Silicon wafer

Claims (7)

A liquid supply apparatus comprising: a liquid supply unit; a liquid use unit; and a supply piping unit that distributes the liquid from the supply unit to the use unit.
The supply piping section includes a main piping section for circulating the liquid supplied from the supply section side, an aspirator connected to the main piping section, and a use side that is branched by the aspirator and supplies liquid to the use section side A pipe part and a sub-pipe part, and a valve connected to the sub-pipe part and having an opening / closing function,
The liquid supply apparatus, wherein the main pipe section and the sub pipe section are connected to the main flow path side of the aspirator, and the use side pipe section is connected to the suction flow path side of the aspirator.   The liquid supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sub-pipe part is a circulation pipe part for returning the liquid to the supply part.   The liquid supply device according to claim 1, wherein the sub-pipe part is a drain pipe part for discarding the liquid.   The liquid supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the valve having the opening / closing function is an opening / closing valve.   The liquid supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the valve having the opening / closing function is a flow control valve.   The liquid supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a filter is provided in either one or both of the main pipe part and the use side pipe part. The supply pipe section temperature controller or a liquid supply device according to claim 1, either or both is provided a sensor for monitoring the temperature or concentration of the liquid.

Images