JPH04334579A - Cleaning apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent an opening and closing means from corroding and at the same time to prevent the disorder of the environment in a cleaning chamber by cleaning the opening and closing means to open and close an open part which is for carrying a treatment object in and out and formed in the cleaning chamber to clean the treatment object with a treatment liquid. CONSTITUTION:An opening and closing means 6 is so set in a case 7 having an open part as to open and close the open part. The opening and closing means 6 and a driving means 8 located in the outside of a case 7 are joined by a seal system 10. A gas discharging and liquid discharging outlet 14 is formed in the bottom of the case 7 and at the same time a supplying means 17 to supply an opening and closing means cleaning liquid is installed at a part of the case 7. The opening and closing means 6 is cleaned by the supplying means 17 and the waste liquid of the cleaning liquid used for cleaning is discharged to the outside through the gas discharging and liquid discharging outlet 14, so that the opening and closing means 6 becomes clean and disorder of the environment in a cleaning chamber 3 is prevented.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus, and more particularly, to a cleaning apparatus in which an object to be processed, such as a semiconductor wafer, is transported to a cleaning processing chamber and immersed in a processing liquid in the processing chamber for cleaning. It is related to the device.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in semiconductor manufacturing processes, cleaning equipment is used to remove chemicals, impurities, etc. adhering to the surface of semiconductor wafers. This cleaning equipment performs, for example, ammonia treatment, water washing treatment, etc. on semiconductor wafers.
The surface of the semiconductor wafer is cleaned by sequentially performing various treatments such as hydrofluoric acid treatment.

Therefore, conventional cleaning equipment has a plurality of cleaning processing chambers in which processing tanks such as an ammonia processing tank, a water washing processing tank, a hydrofluoric acid processing tank, etc. are arranged, and a semiconductor wafer as an object to be processed is transferred to a transport means. Place and hold the container at the
It was being carried out. In this case, each processing chamber is surrounded by a container to prevent the atmosphere from leaking outside, and the container is provided with an opening for loading and unloading semiconductor wafers. The chamber was closed off with a shutter to prevent the atmosphere inside each cleaning chamber from leaking to the outside.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional cleaning apparatus of this type, since the transport means carries the semiconductor wafers into and out of processing chambers with different atmospheres,
During transportation, the chemical solution treated in the pretreatment that adhered to the transportation means sometimes dripped onto the shutter. In addition, a chemical reaction occurs due to the difference in atmosphere between the two treatment chambers that are communicated by opening the opening. For example, when an ammonia treatment chamber and a hydrofluoric acid treatment chamber are communicated, alkali and acid come into contact and a chemical reaction causes salt formation. was generated and this salt sometimes adhered to the shutter. Therefore, there is a problem that not only the shutter is corroded by these chemicals, impurities, etc., but also the cleanliness of the atmosphere inside the processing chamber is deteriorated, and the product yield of the objects to be processed is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and provides a cleaning device that cleans the shutter to prevent disturbance of the atmosphere in each cleaning processing chamber, and improves the product yield of objects to be processed. The purpose is to

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the cleaning apparatus of the present invention includes a cleaning chamber for cleaning the object to be treated with a treatment liquid, and a cleaning chamber for cleaning the object to be treated by the cleaning chamber. Assuming that the cleaning device is equipped with an opening/closing means for opening and closing an opening for loading and unloading, the opening/closing means is disposed in a case having the opening so as to be openable and closable, and the opening/closing means and the outside of the case are provided. The case is connected to the driving means located therein via a seal mechanism, and an exhaust/drain port is provided at the bottom of the case, and a supply means for cleaning the opening/closing means is provided in a part of the case.

In the present invention, the opening/closing means may be of any type as long as it opens and closes the opening; for example, a shutter disposed in the case so as to be openable and closable may be used.

The case may have any form as long as it has an exhaust/drain port at the bottom, but it is preferably made of a corrosion-resistant and water-resistant material. In this case, a member made of vinyl chloride, for example, can be used as the corrosion-resistant and water-resistant member.

[0009] The above-mentioned sealing mechanism may be formed of only a sealing member as long as it connects the opening/closing means disposed inside the case and the driving means located outside the case in an air-watertight manner, but preferably two parts are used. It is better to pressurize the inside of the sealed space formed between the two seal members.

Further, the means for supplying the liquid for cleaning the opening/closing means may be provided in any part of the case, for example, it may be provided in the upper part of the case to shower wash the shutter. Further, the cleaning method may be one in which the shutter is washed by a shower, or the shutter may be cleaned by storing a cleaning liquid in the case.

[0011]

[Operation] According to the cleaning device of the present invention constructed as described above, the opening/closing means disposed inside the case is cleaned with the cleaning liquid supplied from the cleaning liquid supply means, and the waste water used for cleaning is cleaned with the cleaning liquid supplied from the cleaning liquid supply means. Since the liquid can be discharged to the outside from the exhaust/drain port, the opening/closing means is always maintained in a clean state and the atmosphere within the cleaning processing chamber is not disturbed. Further, by preventing air contaminated with cleaning liquid or chemicals from entering the driving means by the sealing mechanism, corrosion of the opening/closing means can be prevented and the life of the opening/closing means can be increased.

0012

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the cleaning device of the present invention, and FIG.
1 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part of FIG.

The cleaning apparatus of the present invention has a plurality of cleaning processing chambers 3 in which semiconductor wafers 2, which are objects to be processed, are immersed in a processing liquid contained in a processing tank 1 for cleaning. A shutter 6 is openably and closably disposed in an opening 5 for loading and unloading objects to be processed, which is provided between the chamber 3 and an adjacent object transfer chamber 4.

The shutter 6 is made of quartz glass with excellent chemical resistance, and is disposed in a rectangular frame-shaped case 7 having an opening 5 so as to be movable in the vertical direction.
The opening 5 can be opened and closed. Further, the shutter 6 and a plunger 9 of an air cylinder 8, which is a driving means located below outside the case 7, are connected via a seal mechanism 10.

The case 7 is made of a vinyl chloride member with excellent water resistance and corrosion resistance. An air supply section 7a having a plurality of small holes is provided at the upper end of the case 7.
In the duct 11 connected to this air supply part 7a,
An air supply fan 13 is provided through an EPA filter 12. Further, an exhaust/drain port 14 is provided at the bottom of the case 7, and a suction means (not shown) is connected to the exhaust/drain port 14 via a discharge pipe 15. By forming the case 7 in this way, an air curtain is formed in which purified clean air supplied from the upper part flows to the outside from the lower exhaust/drain port 14 in a laminar flow state, and the cleaning processing chamber 3 Air containing chemicals leaking from the side can be safely discharged to the outside. Note that a gas-liquid separator 16 is disposed in the middle of the discharge pipe 15 to separate the discharged cleaning liquid and contaminated air.

On the other hand, a shower nozzle 17, which is a means for supplying shutter cleaning liquid, is disposed in the upper part of the case 7, and a supply pump 19 is connected to the shower nozzle 17 via a supply pipe 18. Pure water, which is a cleaning liquid, is supplied. This shower nozzle 17 sprays pure water toward the shutter 6, thereby making it possible to remove chemicals, impurities, etc. attached to the shutter 6.

As shown in FIG. 2, the sealing mechanism 10 includes a guide tube 20 made of vinyl chloride that is installed through the bottom of the case 7, and an air cylinder that is passed through the guide tube 20. It is formed by two synthetic rubber sealing members 21, 21 interposed between the plunger 9 of 8 and the plunger 9 of 8. In this case, the inside of the sealed space 23 formed between the seal members 21 and 21 is connected to the N2 gas supply pipe 22 connected to the ventilation hole 20a formed in a part of the guide cylinder 20.
The inside of the sealed space 23 is maintained in a pressurized state by connecting it to a tank 24 and filling the sealed space 23 with N2 gas. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the cleaning liquid used for cleaning the shutter 6 from entering the air cylinder 8 side through the plunger 9, thereby preventing corrosion of the air cylinder 8 and increasing its life.

A fork 26 is provided in the object transfer chamber 4 to rotatably connect a plurality of arm bodies 25, 25, . . . and to place and hold the semiconductor wafer 2 on the upper arm body 25. A rotating transfer arm 27 is provided, and the semiconductor wafer 2 is carried into and out of the cleaning processing chamber 3 by this rotating transfer arm 27. In addition, a perforated plate 2 is provided in the opening provided at the upper end of the object transfer chamber 4.
8 is arranged, and the duct 29 connected to the opening is
PA) A filter 30 and an air supply fan 31 are provided. Further, an exhaust/drain port 32 is provided at the bottom of the object transfer chamber 4, and a perforated plate 33 for rectification is provided above the exhaust/drain port 32.
A suction fan (not shown) is connected to the drain port 32. Therefore, the purified clean air supplied from the upper part of the processing object transfer chamber 4 flows to the outside from the lower exhaust/drain port 32 in a laminar downflow, so that the atmosphere inside the chamber is always clean. be done. Note that the atmosphere of each cleaning processing chamber 3 is similarly cleaned by the downflow of clean air.

Next, the operation of the cleaning apparatus of the present invention will be explained. When carrying the semiconductor wafer 2 into the cleaning processing chamber 3, the plunger 9 and shutter 6 are lowered by driving the air cylinder 8 to close the opening. 5 is opened, and the semiconductor wafer 2 is placed and held on the fork 26 of the rotary transfer arm 27 and transferred into the cleaning processing chamber 3. At this time, clean air is injected from the upper part of the case 7 to form an air curtain to prevent external atmosphere from entering the cleaning processing chamber 3. After transporting the semiconductor wafer 2 into the cleaning processing chamber 3, the rotary transport arm 27 returns to the object transporting chamber 4 and waits until the cleaning processing is completed. The semiconductor wafer 2 is held upright by a wafer holding arm (not shown) and is immersed in a processing liquid in the processing tank 1 for cleaning. At this time, the plunger 9 and shutter 6 are raised by driving the air cylinder 8 to close the opening, thereby preventing the atmosphere inside the cleaning processing chamber 3 from leaking to the outside. On the other hand, when pure water for cleaning is sprayed from the shower nozzle 17 toward the shutter 6, impurities such as chemical liquid adhering to the shutter 6 and fine particulate salts generated by a chemical reaction due to a different atmosphere in the adjacent cleaning processing chamber 3 are removed. is removed. The cleaning waste liquid used for cleaning and the removed chemicals and impurities are then exhausted and
The liquid is discharged to the outside from the drain port 14. Therefore, the shutter 6 is always maintained in a clean state, and there is no possibility that the atmosphere inside the cleaning processing chamber 3 will be disturbed.

Although the above embodiment describes the cleaning process for the semiconductor wafer 2, it is not necessarily limited to cleaning the semiconductor wafer 2, and any liquid process can also be applied to the cleaning process for, for example, an LCD substrate. Of course.

[0022]

As explained above, according to the cleaning device of the present invention, the opening/closing means disposed inside the case is cleaned with the cleaning liquid supplied from the cleaning liquid supply means, and the opening/closing means disposed inside the case is cleaned with the cleaning liquid supplied from the cleaning liquid supply means. Since the drained liquid can be discharged to the outside from the exhaust/drain port, the opening/closing means is always maintained in a clean state and the atmosphere inside the cleaning processing chamber is not disturbed. As a result, it is possible to improve the product yield of objects to be processed. Further, by preventing air contaminated with cleaning liquid or chemicals from entering the driving means by the sealing mechanism, corrosion of the opening/closing means can be prevented and the life of the opening/closing means can be increased.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part showing an opening/closing means in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Semiconductor wafer (object to be processed) 3　Cleaning processing room 5 Opening 6 Shutter (opening/closing means) 7 Case 8 Air cylinder (driving means) 10 Seal mechanism 14 Exhaust/drain port

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning apparatus comprising a cleaning chamber for cleaning an object to be treated with a processing liquid, and an opening/closing means for opening and closing an opening provided in the cleaning chamber for loading and unloading an object to be treated. The opening/closing means is disposed in a case having the opening so as to be openable and closable, and the opening/closing means and a driving means located outside the case are connected via a sealing mechanism, and an exhaust/air outlet is provided at the bottom of the case. A cleaning device characterized in that a drain port is provided, and a part of the case is provided with a means for supplying a liquid for cleaning the opening/closing means.