JPH02186656A - Low dust device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce fine particles which occur due to abrasion by a method wherein a covalent binding member which prevents the occurrence of dust is provided to the contact part of a second member with a first member or the second member is formed of a covalent binding material which prevents dust from occurring when the second member is brought into contact with the first member. CONSTITUTION:A main body 2A of a vacuum pincers 2 is formed of the same kind of material of quartz as a silicon wafer 1 when it transfers the wafer 1. A covalent bonding material 3 small in contact interface dimensionless shear strength f such as diamond, sapphire, boride, or the like is provided to a wafer sucking face 2C of the vacuum pincers 2 to avoid the direct contact of the silicon wafer 1 with the sucking face 2C. By this constitution, the contact section between the silicon wafer 1 and the covalent binding member 3 is made small in contact interface dimensionless shear strength f owing to the function of the covalent bonding material 3, so that dust can be prevented from occurring due to abrasion. By this setup, an equipment which is apt to be repulsive to fine particles can be improved in reliability and a clean environment can be also improved in cleanness.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a low dust generation device, and particularly to a low dust generation device 1 (i) suitable for equipment used in an environment where cleanliness is required.

fPrior art] Conventionally, in order to increase the wear resistance of the - member in two members that are in relative sliding contact, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1989-6] -
As shown in Japanese Patent No. 1,5972, a method of coating with a hard thin film such as tire oxide has been proposed.

However, in these known examples, one member whose wear resistance is desired to be improved is coated with an S* film to protect it.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As mentioned above, the above conventional technology improves the wear resistance (jl) of one of the two members that are in relative sliding contact, and
This is intended to extend the life of the component.

On the other hand, in recent years, the effects of fine particle adhesion have become serious problems in the electronics field, such as decreased yield due to foreign particles adhering to semiconductor wafers, and unstable flying due to foreign particles adhering to magnetic disks and heads. is causing problems.

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, there is a problem in that the above-mentioned defects due to adhesion of fine particles cannot be solved, even though consideration has been given to preventing the generation of the above-mentioned fine particles.

An object of the present invention is to provide a low dust generation device that can suppress the generation of fine particles.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, in a device in which a second member contacts a first member of the present invention, a feature for suppressing dust generation is provided at the contact portion of the second member with the first member. Either a bonding member is provided or the second member is grooved with a covalent bonding material that inhibits I1.11.

[Effect]

The Jl, Ij binding material embedded in the second member is the first part A]
It functions to reduce the shear strength of the contact interface in contact with. As a result, generation of fine particles due to abrasive wear can be reduced.

This makes it possible to overcome the insufficiency caused by the adhesion of fine particles.

[Example j Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an example in which the present invention is applied to vacuum tweezers for hunt-linking semiconductor wafers as a transport mechanism that requires cleanliness. It's a wafer. Reference numeral 2 denotes vacuum tweezers for sucking and transporting the wafer 1. The vacuum tweezers 2 includes a main body 2A, a wafer suction hole 2I3 provided in the main body 2A, and a wafer suction surface 2C formed around the wafer suction hole 2I3, and the suction hole 2B is connected to a vacuum pump or the like.

Generally, when the silicon wafer 1 is the object to be transported, the main body 2A of the vacuum tweezers 2 is made of quartz, which is the same type of material. The wafer suction surface 2C of the vacuum Vincera i~2 is coated with a material such as diamond, sapphire, boron lithium 1, etc., which has a low dimensionless shear strength 1 at the contact interface 9 with the silicon wafer, in order to avoid direct contact with the silicon wafer 1, such as quartz. A covalent bonding material 3 such as ~ is provided.

With the above configuration, the non-dimensional shear strength f of the contact interface between the silicon wafer 1 and the covalent bonding member 3 becomes small due to the function of the covalent bonding material 3, which causes damage due to abrasive wear. Dust generation can be suppressed.

The dimensionless shear strength f of the contact interface mentioned above is defined as the shear strength of the contact interface is Z, and the shear strength of the silicon wafer is 7.
o, then f = X/Xo (x<-xo)
−(Represented by 9.

Based on the above-mentioned formula (9), the smaller the dimensionless υ1f shear strength f of the contact interface, the fewer wear particles there are, and the appearance of dust caused by abrasive wear can be reduced.

This is also clear from the following experimental results.

Figure 3 shows an example of a device for measuring the number of dust particles.
In this figure, disk 6 is, for example, a silicon wafer. This disk 6 is attached to a rotating sample holder 7. A hard material bottle 8 is attached to this disk 6.
The fine particles generated when the disk 6 is rotated are captured by a mirror wafer 9 provided below, and the particles captured on the mirror wafer 9 are counted by a face plate inspection device using a laser. The equivalent diameter after sliding 800 images was 0.17 μ by changing the bottle 8 in the above-mentioned measuring device to various materials.
Figure 4 shows the results of counting fine particles of m or more. The horizontal axis of this figure indicates the dimensionless shear strength f of the interface between the bottle 8 and the disk 6, and the value in the figure is obtained depending on the material of the bottle 8.

From this result, it can be seen that the smaller the dimensionless shear strength f of the contact interface, the smaller the number of fine particles generated. It can be seen that materials that do not generate dust from silicon wafers are covalently bonded materials such as sapphire and diamond.

By the way, in the sliding experiment between a quartz bottle and a silicon wafer, the number of fine particles cannot be shown in Figure 4 because the sliding conditions are different, but the nondimensional shear strength f at the contact interface is approximately 0.
．． 6, which is thicker than the sapphire and diamond bottles. It was also confirmed that 23,410 fine particles were generated due to the sliding movement between the quartz bottle and the silicon wafer, which is an extremely large number. Therefore, common bonding materials such as sapphire and diamond are more effective than quartz, which is a similar material, as a material that does not easily generate fine particles even when sliding in contact with a silicon wafer.

In addition, the same covalent bonding member volonty 1-lite is also effective.

Note that the dimensionless shear strength f described above can also be expressed as the strength of adhesion.

Further, FIG. 5 shows the value of 1° with respect to various bottle materials when aluminum is used as the disc material. As is clear from this figure, the value of f is small in the case of bottles made of diamond, which is a covalent bonding material. Therefore, covalently bonded materials such as diamond can be used as materials that do not generate fine particles when compared to a wide range of other materials.

Therefore, the part of the vacuum tweezers that the conveyed member comes into contact with should be made of a covalent bonding material such as diamond or sapphire, or as in the embodiment shown in FIG. By coating the surface, fine particles from transported objects such as silicon wafers can be removed.
It is possible to reduce the generation of T and realize clean vacuum tweezers with low dust generation.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of vacuum tweezers to which the present invention is applied. This example is a vacuum pincer i~2
On the main body 2A, that is, on the wafer suction surface 2Cl, a substance 5 having a small dimensionless shear strength F at the contact interface with the transferred object is removably attached. As a result, it is not only a scale that can reduce dust generation, but it can also be replaced if the substance 5 is damaged. It can also be made the smallest.

The vacuum tweezers mentioned above can be used not only for semiconductor manufacturing equipment, but also for transporting liquid crystal glass substrates for flat-screen televisions, and are highly effective in terms of cleanliness.

FIG. 7 shows the present invention applied to a tact transport mechanism as a transport mechanism. The transfer mechanism to Tough 1 is equipped with a loading platform for wafers 1, etc., which has an elevator mechanism 14 and a horizontal positioning mechanism, and this loading platform 10 is moved between other transfer means by the aforementioned drive mechanism. The receiver is used to transfer the loaded items.

In this FIG. 7, a belt conveyance mechanism including a belt 13.13A hung on pulleys 12, 12A corresponds to another conveyance means. By this tact conveyance, for example, the parts that cannot be exchanged by the belt conveyance mechanism alone are transferred. In such a tact transfer mechanism, when an object 1 to be transferred such as a wafer is placed on the stacking member 11, generation of fine particles at the contact portion poses a problem. Therefore, if the loading member 11 is made of a covalently bonded material such as diamond, sapphire, boron nitride, etc., the number of places where fine particles are generated can be reduced.

In addition, in FIG. 8, the loading member 11 is made of metal or ceramic material.
, j;: is made of a - film structure material, and a die is placed on the surface of the material.
It is coated with a thin film layer 3A of a covalently bonded material such as carbon fiber or sapphire. Thereby, an inexpensive loading member 1 can be produced.

Furthermore, it is convenient to make the loading member 1 removable from the loading platform 10 so that it can be replaced in case of damage, contamination, etc.

This l♂ Tough 1 ~ transport mechanism can achieve clean transport when used for transporting liquid crystal glass and substrates for flat-screen televisions, as in the case of vacuum tweezers.

FIG. 9 shows the wafer mounting plate of a pattern exposure device or an electronic drawing device which is indispensable to a semiconductor manufacturing line according to the present invention. Loading platform 1 on XY stage 16
A wafer or the like is placed on the wafer 5, and the wafer 1 is driven under the exposure machine light source section 17 and the electron beam generating section 7. At this time, if there are foreign substances 8 such as fine particles between the wafer 1 and the loading stage 1, the wafer will deform as shown by the two-dot chain line, so the distance Q between the light source 17 and the wafer may vary depending on the location. Change. As a result, the focused pattern becomes blurred (1z). This makes it difficult to draw fine patterns, and it is essential that fine particles are not generated between the wafer and the loading table 15.

Therefore, if the surface of this loading platform 15 is coated with a thin film 3B made of a covalently bonded material such as Tiremon 1~ or sapphire,
Generation of fine particles from the wafer 1 can be reduced, and a high-precision exposure apparatus etc. can be realized.

In FIG. 10, a groove 19 is gripped on a loading table 15 coated with a thin film 3B of diamonds 1 to 3, and fine particles, if any, are dropped into the groove 19. This makes it even more difficult for fine particles to exist between the wafer 1 and the loading stage 15.

Further, FIG. 11 shows a mounting table 15 made of a general structural member such as metal, ceramics, or polymeric material, on which an attachment/detachment tool 20 made of a bulk material of covalent bonding material or whose surface is coated is attached. This makes it easy to replace the attachment/detachment tool 20 when it becomes contaminated or damaged.

Note that the present invention is also applicable when the hardness of the first member and the second member is hard, soft, or soft.

Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, the generation of fine particles can be suppressed, so the reliability of equipment that dislikes fine particles and the cleanliness in a clean environment can be improved.

4. Explanation in f11 of Fig. 41 to define the situation
Figure 4 is a diagram showing the particle counting results, Figure 5 is a diagram showing the 111 counting results for other materials, 1]--The figures are diagrams showing other embodiments showing nine application examples of the present invention.

Silicon wafer, 2-vacuum tweezers, 3°: 3 A
+ +3 B Thin film made of covalent bonding material set on die, etc., 5. Detachable member, 10. Loading platform, 11. Loading member,] 2, 12A, pulley, 13. 13A, bell 1
~, T4 Elm・”＼-ta mechanism, 15 Loading platform, 16-
X"'! Stage, 1゛7- light source, electron beam source, 18...
Foreign matter, 19...Groove, 20...Attachment/detaching tool.

Kasu country Figure g

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a device in which a dust-generating first member is held by a second member, a covalent bonding member is provided at the contact portion of the second member with the first member, and A low dust generation device characterized by suppressing dust generation from the member of item 1. 2. In a device in which a dust-producing first member is held by a second member, the second member is made of a covalently bonded material to suppress dust generation from the first member. Dust generator. 3. The low dust generation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the covalent bonding material is diamond. 4. The low dust generation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the covalent bonding material is sapphire. 5. The low dust generation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the covalent bonding material is boron nitrite. 6. The low dust generation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first member is a conveyed object and the second member is a conveying body. 7. The low dust generation device according to claim 6, wherein the object to be transported is a silicon wafer. 8. The low dust generation device according to claim 6, wherein the conveyed object is a gallium arsenide substrate. 9. The low dust generation device according to claim 6, wherein the conveyed object is a glass substrate. 10. The low dust generation device according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the second member is a vacuum tweezers. 11. The low dust generation device according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the second member is a transport mechanism of a pattern exposure device. 12. The low dust generation device according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the second member is a duct conveyance mechanism. 13. In a device in which a dust-generating first member is held by a second member, a member is provided in a portion of the second member that contacts the first member, and the connection between this member and the first member is A low dust generation device characterized in that a member is selected so that the shear strength of a contact interface generated at a contact portion is smaller than that in a case where the member is not provided, and dust generation in the first member is suppressed. 14. In a device in which a dust-generating first member is held by a second member, a member is provided at a portion of the second member that contacts the first member, and this member is attached to the contact portion of the first member. The member is selected from a material in which the ratio (f = X / X_0) of the shear strength 2 of the contact interface generated at A low dust generation device characterized by suppressing dust generation from a first member. 15. In a device in which a dust-generating first member is held by a second member, a portion of the second member that contacts the first member,
A member is provided, and the material is selected so that the strength of adhesion between the member and the first member is smaller than that in the case where the member is not provided, and dust generation from the first member is suppressed. A low dust generation device that is characterized by: