JPH03154338A - Vapor cleaning drying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use less medium and then, efficiently clean and dry substances to be cleaned to the utmost of precision and with safety by providing a heating means to heat evaporation plates from the outside of a vaporizing chamber. CONSTITUTION:Heaters 5 and 5' are provided to heat a heating medium which is introduced into heating medium reservoirs 36 and 36' when a temperature of the heating medium drops into lower than a desired temperature and the heaters 5 and 5' are controlled by a controller 40 on the basis of output of temperature detectors 37 and 37'. A cleaning medium dispersed from spraying nozzles 7 and 7' to evaporation plates 6 and 6' is vaporized by heat that is held by the heating medium inside the heating medium reservoirs 36 and 36'. In this way, a highly volatile medium for cleaning is always kept in a state of high purity and then, more precise cleaning and drying are performed; besides, its medium lessens even the danger of combustion of the medium itself and the like.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a steam cleaning drying apparatus used in semiconductor manufacturing processes, particularly for precision cleaning of objects to be cleaned such as photomasks, reticles, semiconductor cubes, etc. The present invention relates to a steam cleaning drying device used for.

[Prior art 1] Conventionally, this type of cleaning apparatus stores a highly volatile medium in a storage section provided at the bottom or side of a processing section for washing and drying objects to be cleaned, and also stores a highly volatile medium in the storage section. By heating the medium to generate steam, a steam atmosphere is created in the processing section. After the inside of the processing section becomes a steam atmosphere, the object to be cleaned is immersed in the processing section, and the object to be cleaned is washed and dried.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above-mentioned conventional example has the following drawbacks.

(1) Since it is necessary to store a large amount of highly volatile medium in the storage section for a long time, the purity of the medium tends to decrease, making it difficult to maintain the precision cleaning that is originally intended.

(2) Since it is necessary to constantly generate a large amount of steam, it is necessary to provide a large-capacity heating section.

(3) On the one hand, constantly cooling the evaporated or volatilized medium;
Since it is necessary to condense and drain, a large amount of medium is required.

(4) Since a large amount of medium is heated, the initial heating time from the start of heating to the generation of steam becomes long.

(5) The cleaning effect is low on objects to be cleaned that have steps.

(6) When using a heat-generating medium, there is a risk of ignition or explosion.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a steam cleaning/drying device that can clean and dry objects to be cleaned with high accuracy, efficiency, and safety using a smaller amount of media. It's about doing.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a steam cleaning drying apparatus that includes a storage means for storing a medium, and a storage means for generating steam by evaporating the medium dropped on an evaporation plate. a steam generating means, a medium supply means for supplying a predetermined amount of medium from the storage means to the steam generating means, a cleaning drying means having a cleaning and drying chamber for accommodating an object to be cleaned, and steam generated by the steam generating means comprising a steam introducing means for introducing steam generated by the steam generating means into the cleaning and drying chamber in order to wash and dry the object to be cleaned in the cleaning and drying chamber;
The steam generating means is characterized in that it has an evaporation chamber that accommodates the evaporation plate, and a heating means that heats the evaporation plate from outside the evaporation chamber.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows a cross section of an embodiment of a steam cleaning and drying apparatus according to the present invention. This embodiment is particularly effective when using a medium that generates relatively heavy steam, but is not limited to this, and the cleaning medium may include alcohols such as IPA,
In addition, in this figure, the medium supply section 60 and the steam generation section 70 are provided on both sides of the cleaning/drying chamber 13, but by branching the steam introduction pipe 10, it is possible to You can also do it.

In this embodiment, a heating medium groove 3 is provided around the evaporation chamber 9.9'.
6.36° is provided. This heating medium groove 36.
36', a heating medium 51 such as silicone oil stored in a tank 50 is transferred to a vacuum tank 46'.
Introduced by vacuum pressure inside. vacuum tank 46
is connected to the heating medium groove 36.38° via an electromagnetic valve 43, and can be opened to the atmosphere via an electromagnetic valve 44.

The controller 40 closes the electromagnetic valves 43 and 44, opens the electromagnetic valve 45, and operates the vacuum pump 42 to bring the inside of the vacuum tank 46 into a desired vacuum state. Otherwise, the electromagnetic valve 45 is closed and the vacuum pump 42 is stopped.

Further, the heating medium groove 36.36'' communicates with the inside of the tank 50 via the electromagnetic valve 54.The heating medium 51 inside the tank 50 is ignited by the heater 52 at a temperature higher than the boiling point of the cleaning medium inside the medium storage section 41. The output of the temperature detector 53 that detects the temperature of the heating medium 51 in the tank 50 is sent to the controller 40, and the controller 40 adjusts the temperature of the heater 52 based on this. Heat generation is controlled to maintain the temperature of the heating medium 51 at a desired temperature.

The heaters 5, 5' are provided to heat the heating medium introduced into the heating medium grooves 38, 36' when the temperature falls below a desired temperature. Heater 5.5°
is controlled by a controller 40 based on the output of a temperature sensor 37°37° provided within the heating medium groove 36°36°. The cleaning medium sprayed from the medium spray nozzle 7.7° to the evaporation plate 6.6° is transferred to the heating medium reservoir 3.
6.36' is evaporated by the heat possessed by the heating medium.

If the cleaning medium is highly flammable, this method is preferred because it is safer than a method of directly heating with a heater or the like.

The cleaning medium evaporated at the evaporation plate 6.6° is ejected through the vapor introduction pipe 10.10' toward the upper part of the object to be cleaned (for example, a photomask, reticle, semiconductor wafer) 20. Holder 24 that holds the object to be cleaned 20
The position of is adjusted. The holder 24 is moved up and down by a drive mechanism 35 via a rod 30. The movement mechanism 35 is controlled by a controller 40.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. controller 40
When the air operation valve 4.4' on the outlet side is closed and the air operation valve 1.1' on the inlet side is opened, the cleaning medium is discharged from the medium reservoir 41.41°. Medium supply section 6
The pressure of the gas reservoir 2.2' within 0°60° is the pressure of the medium storage part 4.
It is supplied until the pressure equals 1.41°. After this, the controller 40 closes the valves 1 and 1'. On the other hand, with the upper shutter 31 open, the controller 4o uses the drive mechanism 35 to raise the holder 24 from the illustrated position, holds the object 20 to be cleaned in the holder 24, and then lowers it to the illustrated position. In this state, washing drying chamber 1
The opening at the bottom of the inner cylinder 33 forming the rod 30
It is shut off by a shutter 59 that is integrated with.

After this, when the shutter 31 is closed, the controller 40 issues an opening command to the air operation valve 4°4°, opens the valve 4.4°, and supplies air from the nozzle 7.7° to the medium supply section 60.60'. Transfer the entire amount of cleaning medium to the evaporation chamber 9.9
After a predetermined time period corresponding to the completion of this operation, the valve 4.4 is
Close °. After this, the controller 40 opens the electromagnetic valves 43 and 54 to heat the cleaning medium stagnant in the evaporation chambers 9 and 9 to a temperature above the boiling point and below the ignition point, thereby increasing the vacuum pressure in the vacuum tank 46. Media reservoir 36.
It acts on five heating mediums in the tank 50 via 36'. As a result, the heating medium heated to a desired temperature above the boiling point and below the ignition point of the cleaning medium is stored in the heating medium reservoir 36.
．． 36', and the heat gradually raises the temperature of the cleaning medium in the evaporation chambers 9, 9' to bring it into a vapor state.

The medium vapor is injected onto the object to be cleaned 20 through the steam introduction pipes to, to' and fills the cleaning and drying chamber 13. The steam reaching above the opening 32 of the cleaning/drying chamber 13 overflows from the opening 32 and flows into the steam trapping chamber 15 formed by the outer cylinder 34 . The exhaust pipe 18 is constantly exhausted by an exhaust pump (not shown), and excess steam in the capture chamber 15 is exhausted from the exhaust pipe 18 while being condensed in the cooling pipe 16.

The controller 40 opens the electromagnetic valve 44 to open the vacuum tank 46 to the atmosphere after a period of time sufficient for the cleaning medium in the evaporation chamber 9.9° to completely evaporate and the cleaning and drying process is completed, and then opens the vacuum tank 46 to the atmosphere and removes the heating medium reservoir. The heating medium within 36.36° is returned to the tank 50 and then the valves 43, 44.54
At the same time as closing, the valve 45 is opened, and the vacuum tank 46 is brought to a desired vacuum pressure again by the vacuum pump 42. Meanwhile, in parallel with this, the controller 40 uses the drive mechanism 35 to raise the rod 30 by a half-stroke, opens the lower opening of the inner cylinder 33, and drains the steam and waste liquid filling the cleaning/drying chamber 13 into the outer cylinder 33. Exhaust and drain fluid inside. A cooling means 17 is provided at the bottom of the outer cylinder 34, and the condensed steam and waste liquid are discharged to the outside of the apparatus through a discharge pipe 19.

After this, when the shutter 31 is opened, the controller 4
0, the rod 30 is raised all the way by the drive mechanism 35,
The object to be cleaned 20 can be removed from the holder 24. When a new object 20 to be cleaned is set in the holder 24, the above-described operation is repeated again.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, there is no need to store and heat a large amount of highly volatile medium for a long period of time, so it is possible to always maintain high purity of the highly volatile medium for cleaning. This enables more precise cleaning and drying, and also reduces the risk of medium ignition.

Furthermore, since the medium is not stored for a long time, the storage part does not need to be made of expensive quartz glass, and even if it is made of inexpensive stainless steel, precipitates can be minimized, so manufacturing costs can be reduced. Furthermore, according to the present invention, the medium evaporation chamber can be made small and the heating capacity can also be made small, so that the heating time can be shortened and efficient cleaning can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the steam cleaning and drying apparatus according to the present invention. 9. Evaporation chamber, 10. Steam introduction pipe, 20. Object to be cleaned, 36. Heating medium groove, 60. Medium supply section

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A storage means for storing a medium, a steam generation means for generating steam by evaporating the medium dropped on an evaporation plate, and a medium supply for supplying a predetermined amount of the medium from the storage means to the steam generation means. a cleaning/drying means having a cleaning/drying chamber for accommodating an object to be cleaned; and a cleaning/drying means having a cleaning/drying chamber for accommodating an object to be cleaned; comprising a steam introduction means for introducing steam into the cleaning and drying chamber, the steam generation means having an evaporation chamber that accommodates the evaporation plate;
A steam cleaning/drying apparatus comprising a heating means for heating the evaporation plate from outside the evaporation chamber. (2) The steam cleaning and drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heating means supplies a heating medium heated to a desired temperature around the evaporation chamber. (3) The washing/drying means has an entrance/exit for the object to be cleaned having an openable/closable shutter on the upper surface of the washing/drying chamber, and a vertical conveyance means for carrying in/out the object to be cleaned through this entrance/exit. Steam cleaning drying equipment.