JPH0155573B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer).
This invention relates to an immersion type etching apparatus.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, in this type of wafer immersion etching apparatus, etching is performed by storing 20 to 25 wafers in a dedicated carrier and sequentially immersing them in an etching chemical bath and a water washing bath.

However, in recent years, the diameter of wafers has become larger, and with this, the dedicated carriers described above have also become larger, and accordingly, the size of the immersion tank and, furthermore, the entire apparatus have become larger. Therefore, if a large number of different etching devices are prepared depending on the process,
A huge amount of floor space was required.

On the other hand, in semiconductor manufacturing factories, in order to improve the yield of semiconductors, a large amount of money is spent on air conditioning management such as making the air inside the factory dust-free and controlling temperature and humidity. Therefore, an increase in floor space has the disadvantage of increasing factory operating costs.

In addition, in the conventional method described above, dedicated carriers are immersed in etching tanks one after another, so the liquid from the previous etching tank adheres to the carrier and enters the next tank, causing changes in the concentration and temperature of the liquid, resulting in stable etching. There were some drawbacks that made it impossible to do so.

Furthermore, even though the original purpose of the washing tank used to wash away the chemical solution is to wash the wafer, the carrier must also be washed at the same time.
The drawback was that it required extra water and took a long time to wash.

[Summary of the invention]

This invention was made in order to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional devices as described above, and includes a wafer moving device that sequentially transfers wafers one by one, and an etching solution that sequentially immerses, washes, and dries the transferred wafers. It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor wafer etching apparatus in which the immersion bath can be made smaller by providing different etching baths, rinsing baths, and drying sections, and the entire apparatus can be constructed compactly.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a semiconductor wafer etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figures, 20 is a wafer moving device that sequentially transports wafers, and in the wafer moving device 20, 5 is an up/down and a swinging device. 6 is the vertical rotation axis 5 which performs movement and rotation.
A driving unit 1 includes a plurality of arms having one end fixed to the upper end of the rotating unit 5 and arranged to protrude horizontally and radially from the center of rotation of the vertical rotating shaft 5.
A clamper 4 is supported by the other end of the arm 1 and includes a plurality of clamp claws 3 that clamp the periphery of the wafer 2 and hold and transport the wafer 2 horizontally by opening and closing.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a loading stage for receiving the loaded wafer 2, and the wafer 2 is placed on the loading stage 7 by a loader 11 provided separately outside the etching apparatus. 8 is a plurality of etching tanks filled with different types of etching solutions; 9 is a washing tank for washing the wafer 2 after etching; 10
is a drying section for drying wafers after washing with water, and the above-mentioned components 7 to 10 are arranged on the same circumference with respect to the center of rotation of the vertical rotation shaft 5 and below the stop position of the clamper 4. Reference numeral 12 denotes an unloader provided outside the etching apparatus for taking out the wafer 2 after washing and drying from the drying section 10.

FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the washing tank 9. Wafer 2 is
Provided to protrude inward from the center of the bottom of the washing tank 9,
The wafer 2 is held and rotated by a chuck 14 that is rotationally driven by a spin motor 13 provided outside the bottom, and at the same time, the front and back surfaces of the wafer 2 are cleaned by cleaning water jetted from a water jet nozzle 15. .
Note that 16 is a washing water outlet provided at the bottom of the washing tank 9.

FIG. 4 shows a cross section of the drying section 10. Similar to the washing tank 9 in FIG. 3, the wafer 2 is held by a chuck 18 and rotated by a spin motor 17, so that the water adhering to the wafer 2 is removed and dried by centrifugal force. Note that 19 is a drain port provided at the bottom of the drying section 10.

5 and 6 show cross sections taken along the line A-A' in FIG. 2. Figure 5 shows the clamp claw 3 with the clamper 4 raised.
6 shows the state in which the wafer 2 is immersed in the etching bath 8. FIG.

Next, the operation will be explained using FIG. 2, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6. First, in FIG. 2, a wafer 2 is loaded by a loader 11 installed outside the etching apparatus.
When the wafer 2 is placed on the loading stage 7, the vertical rotation shaft 5 descends with the clamp claw 3 open as shown in FIG. Hold horizontally. The clamped wafer 2 is lifted from the loading stage 7 by the upward movement of the vertical rotation axis 5, and is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow B of the vertical rotation axis 5 onto the adjacent processing tank 8. Thereafter, the vertical rotation shaft 5 descends again, and the wafer 2 is immersed in the processing bath 8. In this state, the clamp claw 3 opens, and the vertical pivot shaft 5 rises and then pivots in the direction opposite to arrow B and returns to its original position. Through this series of cycle operations, the wafer 2 placed on the loading stage 7 is moved into the adjacent processing bath 8 and sequentially immersed in the etching solution.

On the other hand, a plurality of arms 1 and clamp claws 3 are attached radially to the vertical rotation shaft 5, and the structure is such that they can rotate up and down at the same time, so that a plurality of wafers 2 move in one cycle of the vertical rotation shaft 5. At the same time, it moves between the adjacent loading stage 7, etching tank 8, washing tank 9, and drying section 10, respectively.

Therefore, the wafer loaded into the loading stage 7 is processed in the order of immersion in the etching tank, washing with water, and drying by repeating the above-mentioned cycle operation.

In this way, in this embodiment, since wafers are handled one by one, the shape of the etching bath is small, the amount of etching solution used is small, and the time required for draining and supplying the etching solution is short even when replacing the wafer. Further, since a dedicated wafer storage container is not used, there is less chance of mixing of chemicals between etching baths, and since there is no need to wash the storage container with water, there are advantages such as a reduction in the amount of water used. Furthermore, since the shape of the processing tank is small, the entire device is small, and the floor area occupied is small, which has the effect of reducing running costs.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, one wafer can be
A wafer transfer device that sequentially transfers wafers one by one, and an etching tank, a washing tank, and a drying section that use different types of etching solutions to sequentially immerse, wash, and dry the transferred wafers are provided, so the dipping tank can be made smaller. This has the effect that the entire device can be configured compactly.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is a perspective view of a semiconductor wafer etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the washing tank of FIG. 1.
Figure 4 is a sectional view of the drying section in Figure 1, Figures 5 and 6.
The figure is an explanatory diagram of the wafer moving operation of the apparatus of FIG. 1. In the figure, 20 is a wafer moving device, 1 is an arm, 2
is the wafer, 3 is the clamp claw, 5 is the vertical rotation axis, 8
9 is an etching tank, 9 is a washing tank, and 10 is a drying section. Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A vertical pivot shaft that moves vertically and rotates, a plurality of arms having one end fixed to the vertical pivot shaft and arranged radially with respect to the pivot center of the shaft, and supported at the other end of the arm. a wafer moving device equipped with clamp claws for clamping a wafer; A semiconductor wafer etching apparatus comprising an etching tank of different liquid types, a rinsing tank, and a drying section.