JPH03124026A - Liquid treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent scattering of mist produced during treatment and secure clean properties of a wafer by forming each gate for carrying in a substance to be treated into a slit shape and covering the gate with a long circular surface body. CONSTITUTION:When each semiconductor wafer 1 is carried in, each rotating piece 20 rotates and each long circular surface body 19 slides in each circular arc groove 18 and then, each gate 4 is opened by making the circular body 19 separate from the slit like carrying-in gate 4 at the upper opening part of a treatment vessel 3. After carrying its water in the treatment vessel through the gate 4, the rotating piece 20 rotates and the circular body 19 abuts upon the gate 4 and then, the gate 4 is covered with each lid. In such a state, the water 1 is immersed in a heated chemical and chemical washing treatment is performed. Even though mist is produced from the chemical in washing, mist is not scattered into the outside because the carrying-in gate is blocked up surely and lowering of cleanliness properties does not take place in this way.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Purpose of light milk (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a liquid treatment device.

(Prior Art) In a semiconductor manufacturing process, a semiconductor is manufactured through various steps, and an essential step that bridges these steps is a cleaning step. In particular, with the recent increase in the degree of integration and density of semiconductor integrated circuits, an ultra-cleaning environment is required, and the quality of cleaning technology is extremely influenced by device performance and yield.

Conventional cleaning methods employ various chemical and physical methods, including cleaning semiconductor wafers housed in carriers by immersing them in a chemical bath, and cleaning methods that require precision cleaning. In this case, a single wafer cleaning method is also used in which the wafers are cleaned one by one.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, according to the above-mentioned conventional example, since the chemical liquid in the chemical liquid tank is in a heated state, a mist of the chemical liquid is generated during use, and the tank is filled with mist. Therefore, there is a problem that the particles may float in the atmosphere in the clean room and cause a decrease in the cleanliness level.

Therefore, conventionally, a disposal device was installed to dispose of this chemical mist to cover up the lack of cleanliness.
Conventional disposal equipment is not compact, so it is large and
This was also a factor in increasing costs.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a compact gate mechanism at the opening of the processing container, which not only reduces costs but also ensures that the mist generated from the liquid during processing is not scattered to the outside. The purpose is to prevent this and ensure cleanliness.

Structure of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a liquid processing apparatus that carries a processing object into a processing container containing a processing liquid and processes the processing object. This is a liquid processing apparatus in which a carry-in gate for carrying in liquid is formed in the shape of a slit, and this carry-in gate is covered with an elongated circular body.

(Function) As described above, the present invention is configured such that the carry-in gate for carrying in the object to be processed is formed in the shape of a slit in the upper part of the processing container, and this carry-in gate is covered with an elongated circular body. Therefore, when carrying in the object to be processed that has been carried by the carrying mechanism, the slit-shaped carry-in gate 1 of the processing container to the longer-shaped surface circular body are spaced apart to open the gate, and then the orientation flat alignment is carried out in advance. After the completed object to be processed is carried in through the carry-in gate, the one-surface circular body is brought into contact with the gate to cover the gate. In this state, since the object to be processed is immersed in the processing liquid, for example, a heated chemical solution, the object to be processed is subjected to cleaning treatment, and even if mist is generated from the processing liquid during cleaning, the processing container cannot be brought in. Since the gate is reliably closed, there is no risk that the generated mist will scatter to the outside and cause a reduction in cleanliness. Further, when the processing step is completed, the surface circular body is separated from the carry-in gate, and the object to be processed is taken out from the processing container and transported to the next step.

(Example) An example in which a liquid processing apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a cleaning apparatus for half-quad wafers will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The cleaning apparatus in this embodiment suctions and holds each semiconductor wafer 1, which has completed a previous process, for example, an etching process, in a vertical position using tweezers (not shown) of an arm mechanism, which is a transport device, and transports it to the cleaning process. Each sheet is vertically transported into a processing container 3 containing a processing liquid 2, and then cleaned with a slit-shaped transport gate 4 covered.

In Figure 1, liquid 5 is kept at a temperature of about 90°C inside.
A plurality of vertically elongated processing containers 3 with a rectangular cross-section (in this example, four) are placed in a heat-retaining tank 6 containing a plurality of heat-retaining containers 3, with the lower part facing into the heat-retaining tank 6, and a mounting portion 8 provided in the middle of the processing container 3. It is fixed to the heat-retaining tank 6 via the heat insulating tank 6. Further, the heat-retaining tank 6 containing the liquid 5 has the function of keeping the processing liquid 2 in the processing container 3 warm and transmitting the vibrations of the ultrasonic vibrator 7 provided in the heat-retaining tank 6 to each processing container 3. ing.

The processing container 3 is made of quartz glass, has an arcuate bottom, and has spacers 9 and 10 made of quartz glass on both sides of the interior, either integrally with the processing container 3 or separately. A holding portion 11 for holding the semiconductor wafer 1 in a vertical state is provided on the bottom surface, and a U-shaped insertion groove 13 is provided on one side of the storage space 12 for storing the semiconductor wafer 1, on the side facing the back surface of the wafer 1. is forming.

Further, a gate member 16 is fixed to a flange 14 formed at the upper opening of the processing container 3 via a backing 15, and a slit-shaped carry-in gate 4 is provided above the gate member 16. A retaining plate 17 is provided on both sides of the retaining plate 17, and an arcuate groove 18 is formed in the retainer plate 17.
A long circular surface body 19 is slidably provided on the surface circular body 8, and rotating pieces 20 are fixed to both ends of this circular surface body 19.
is attached to the rotating shaft 21 of the holding plate 17, and this rotating shaft 2
1 is interlocked with the drive shaft 25 of the drive system, and the rotating piece 2o is rotated around the rotating shaft 21, so that the circular body 19 on the surface of 1 is connected to the arcuate groove 18.
The circular surface body 19 is configured to close and open the carry-in gate 4 while being guided by.

Further, in the figure, 22 is an overflow pipe, 23 is a chemical supply pipe, and 24 is a drain pipe.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

When loading the semiconductor wafer 1 transported by the transport mechanism, the driving force of the drive shaft 25 of the drive system is transmitted to the rotation shaft 21, and the rotation piece 20 rotates to move the surface arc body 1 inside the arc groove 18.
9 slides, and the elongated circular surface body 19 is separated from the slit-shaped import gate 4 at the F-side opening of the processing container 3, thereby opening the gate 4.

Next, the semiconductor wafer 1 whose orientation flat alignment has been completed in advance
After transporting through the loading gate 4 by positioning it using tweezers to avoid contact with the side wall of the gate 4, when the drive shaft 25 is driven in the opposite direction, the circular surface body 19 is moved. It comes into contact with the gate 4 and covers the gate 4.

In this state, the semiconductor wafer 1 is immersed in a heated chemical solution (for example, a chemical solution such as hydrogen peroxide solution or hydrofluoric acid), and the wafer 1 is vibrated and rotated using ultrasonic waves as power. A special cleaning process is applied. During this cleaning, even if mist is generated from the chemical solution, the carry-in gate 4 of the processing container 3 is reliably closed, so there is no risk that the generated mist will scatter to the outside and cause a reduction in cleanliness. Further, when the processing step is completed, the semiconductor wafer 1 can be taken out from the processing container 3 with the circular surface body 19 separated from the carry-in gate 4 and transported to the next step.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above, the present invention has the following useful effects.

By providing a compact gate mechanism at the opening of the processing container, not only can costs be significantly reduced compared to conventional methods, but there is also no risk of mist generated from the liquid scattering to the outside during processing. This has the effect of ensuring cleanliness.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a semiconductor wafer cleaning process has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to other liquid processing processes such as an LCD cleaning process.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the liquid processing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the processing apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line A--A in FIG. 1. 1...Semiconductor wafer (substrate to be processed) 2...Processing liquid 3...Processing container 4...Carrying gate 19...Circular surface body Fig. 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a liquid processing apparatus in which an object to be processed is transported into a processing container containing a processing liquid for processing, a carry-in gate through which the object to be processed is carried in is formed in the shape of a slit, and this carry-in gate is connected to a long surface. A liquid processing device characterized in that it is configured to be covered by a circular body.