JPH0322910Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) This invention relates to a spin-type drying device suitable for drying semiconductor wafers after cleaning.

(Prior Art) The throughput of semiconductor wafer cleaning and drying processes has been significantly improved through a series of automations. The mainstream processing method is to clean and dry carriers containing around 20 semiconductor wafers in pairs. The drying equipment used in this process is generally of the spin type, in which a carrier containing the semiconductor wafer is set on a turntable and water is blown off by rotation. An example of this type is JP-A No. 55-154736.
No. 56-8823.

FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing a conventional spin drying device. This spin type drying device consists of a container 1
0, drive motor 12, turntable 14, support plate 16, cradle 18, cradle raiser 22
Consisting of A drive motor 12 is attached to the bottom of the container 10, and a circular turntable 14 is fixed to the rotation shaft of the drive motor 12. A cradle 18 is rotatably suspended from the upper surface of the turntable 14 via a pair of support plates 16.
Two cradles 18 are provided at axially symmetrical positions with respect to the drive motor 12. Further, as a posture changing device for the cradle 18, a cradle raiser 22 that moves forward and backward from the outside of the container 10 is installed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the cradle 18 shown in FIG. 3. The cradle 18 is a box with one opening 19, and a pair of rotating shafts 20 are fixed to the outside. The cradle 18 is suspended by passing the rotating shaft 20 through the hole 17 of the support plate 16. The rotating shaft 20 is generally mounted at a bottom corner of the four corners of the side surface of the cradle 18. This is due to the cradle 18 as will be clear from the description below.
This is to easily obtain a vertical posture.

A carrier is set in this spin type drying device as follows.

First, the turntable 14 is moved and stopped at a position where one side of the cradle 18 faces the cradle raiser 22. Press the cradle raiser 22 against the bottom of the cradle 18, and stop when the cradle 18 becomes horizontal. A carrier (not shown) carrying a semiconductor wafer is inserted through the opening 19 of the cradle 18. When the cradle raiser 22 is moved backward, the cradle 18 rotates downward and stops against a stopper 15 provided on the turntable 14. Cradle 18 is suspended substantially vertically.

Next, turn the turntable 14 by half a turn, and set the carrier on the other cradle 18 in the same manner as above.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which one cradle raiser 22 is provided, and carriers are set one by one. By installing two cradle raisers 22 corresponding to each cradle 18, it is possible to set two carriers at the same time.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) When automating the drying process, it is generally configured so that it is continuously processed together with the preceding washing process. In the cleaning process, a plurality of cleaning tanks filled with chemical solutions or pure water are lined up, and it is desirable that the cleaning tanks be as small as possible in terms of space. For this purpose, it is necessary to reduce the distance between the carriers (hereinafter referred to as "inter-carrier pitch") that are introduced into the cleaning tank.

On the other hand, in the spin type drying device having the above configuration, as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 3, the trajectories drawn by the cradles at the time of attitude change greatly swell in the direction in which they approach each other. Therefore, when changing the posture of both cradles at the same time, the hanging position of the cradles must be set in consideration of this swelling. In this case, the distance between the cradles in the horizontal state increases, and the pitch between the carriers must also be increased when inserting the carriers.

From the above, in order to set two carriers at the same time in the spin-type drying apparatus having the above structure, a device for changing the pitch between the carriers is required when automatically transporting the carriers from the cleaning tank. Therefore, there is a problem that the device configuration becomes complicated.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the spin type drying device of the present invention has a rotating shaft of the cradle at the corner on the opening side of the four corners of the side surface of the cradle.

(Function) In the spin drying device of the present invention, when the cradles are placed horizontally, the distance between the cradles is small.
Therefore, the pitch between the carriers when inserting the carriers into the cradle is small.

(Example) FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a spin type drying apparatus showing an example of the present invention. This spin-type drying device has almost the same construction as the conventional example shown in FIG. 3, and is provided with two cradle raisers 22 in order to set two carriers at the same time. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the cradle raiser 22 is advanced and the cradle 18 is horizontal.

The difference between this spin type drying device and the conventional example is the mounting position of the rotating shaft 20. As shown in FIG. 1, the rotating shaft 20 is attached to one of the four corners of the side surface of the cradle 18 on the opening side. In this way, as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 1, the trajectories drawn by the cradles during attitude change will hardly swell in the direction in which they approach each other.

Furthermore, due to the mounting position of the rotating shaft 20, when the cradle raiser 22 is moved backward, the cradle 18 remains tilted as shown in FIG.
However, when the turntable 14 rotates, it is pressed against the stopper 15 by centrifugal force, and drying is performed in a vertical position. Note that if the cradle 18 collides with the stopper 15 forcefully, there is a risk that the semiconductor wafer will be damaged.
4. Start the rotation at low speed and gradually increase the speed.

(Effects of the invention) As described above, in the spin drying device of the invention, the trajectories drawn by the cradles during attitude change hardly swell in the direction in which they approach each other. Therefore, when the cradles are placed horizontally, the distance between the cradles can be set to be small, and the pitch between the carriers can be reduced. Therefore, there is no need for an inter-carrier pitch converter during automatic transport from the cleaning tank in the previous process, and the cleaning and drying process can be simplified.

Further, since the spin type drying device of the present invention has a small amplitude in the vertical direction when changing the posture of the cradle, the height of the entire device can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic explanatory diagrams of a spin type drying apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a conventional spin type drying device, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the cradle shown in FIG. 3. 10... Container, 12... Drive motor, 14...
Turntable, 15... Stopper, 16...
Support plate, 17... Hole, 18... Cradle, 19
...Opening, 20...Rotation axis, 22...Cradle raising.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A support plate provided on a turntable, and a cradle that is suspended from the support plate by a rotating shaft and whose posture can be changed around the rotating shaft so that the opening becomes horizontal. , a semiconductor wafer spin drying apparatus having a cradle raiser for changing the posture of the cradle, wherein the rotation axis of the cradle is provided at a corner on the opening side of the four corners of the side surface of the cradle; Features spin type drying equipment.