JPH04357836A - Cleaning device for semiconductor wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To maintain cleaning capacity uniform and high on surface of a semiconductor wafer and to reduce a using amount of chemicals in a cleaning device for the wafer. CONSTITUTION:A semiconductor wafer 2 is chucked by a wafer chuck 4. Then, a chemicals stopper 13 is brought into close contact with the wafer 2 by a chemicals stopper elevator 14. Then, the chemicals are ejected from a chemicals nozzle 3 to the wafer 2. The chemicals are stored to a height of the stopper 13 on the wafer 2. The chemicals stored on the wafer 2 are irradiated with a microwave from a magnetron 11 to rise its temperature, and the surface of the wafer 2 is cleaned. When cleaning of the wafer with the chemicals is completed, the stopper 13 is raised by the elevator 14, and the chemicals are discharged. Then, the chuck 4 is rotated, and pure water is ejected from a washing nozzle 1. The wafer 2 is rinsed with the pure water by the rotation of the wafer 2 and ejection of the pure water. Eventually, ejection of the pure water is stopped, the wafer 2 is rotated at a high speed to dry the wafer 2 and to be finished.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus used in the cleaning process of semiconductor chip manufacturing.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, semiconductor wafer cleaning equipment has been developed to have high particle removal ability, less adsorption of metal impurities, and uniform cleaning within the wafer surface.

An example of the above-mentioned conventional semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 shows a schematic front view of a conventional semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a water washing nozzle, which is used when rinsing the semiconductor wafer 2 with pure water. A chemical liquid nozzle 3 is used when cleaning the semiconductor wafer 2 with a chemical liquid. 4 fixes the wafer 2 with a wafer chuck.

The operation of the conventional semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus constructed as described above will be explained below.

First, the semiconductor wafer 2 is fixed by a wafer chuck 4 by a wafer transfer device. Thereafter, while the wafer chuck 4 is being rotated, the chemical liquid is ejected from the chemical liquid nozzle 3. Thereafter, the jetting of the chemical solution is stopped, and instead, pure water is spouted from the water washing nozzle 1 to wash the semiconductor wafer 2. Thereafter, the water washing is finished, and the semiconductor wafer 2 is dried in a rotating state. Finally, the semiconductor wafer 2 is transferred from the wafer chuck 4 by the wafer transfer device.
to finish cleaning (for example, JP-A No. 63-
14434).

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above configuration, the chemical liquid jetted from the chemical liquid nozzle 3 is
Since the chemical solution flows from the surface of the semiconductor wafer 2, the amount of the chemical solution used is extremely large. Furthermore, for example, in the case of cleaning using a mixed solution of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide used for photoresist removal cleaning, the operating temperature is 130°C or higher, so as the amount used increases, it becomes difficult to raise the temperature of the chemical solution. It also had problems such as: Although a method of reusing the used chemical solution using a circulation device has been adopted, this method is not very suitable for cleaning wafers because the purity of the chemical solution decreases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus that reduces the amount of chemicals used in a single wafer processing cleaning apparatus and further improves wafer cleaning performance.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus of the present invention is provided with a microwave generator or a heating lamp, and a chemical liquid stopper mechanism for storing a chemical liquid on a semiconductor wafer. It is.

[0009]

[Operation] With the above-described configuration, the present invention allows a certain amount of chemical liquid to accumulate on the semiconductor wafer, and the temperature of the chemical liquid is raised by a microwave generator or a heating lamp, thereby achieving high cleaning ability uniformly within the surface of the semiconductor wafer. Therefore, the amount of chemical solution used is also reduced.

0010

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 shows
1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 to 4 are the same as those in the conventional example shown in FIG. 3, so their explanation will be omitted. 11 is a magnetron that generates microwaves, 12 is a hood for uniformly irradiating microwaves onto the wafer 2, and 13 is a chemical stopper for storing a certain amount of chemical solution on the wafer 2, depending on the size of the wafer diameter. It has a ring shape. Reference numeral 14 denotes a chemical stopper elevator, which has the function of bringing the chemical stopper 13 into close contact with the semiconductor wafer 2 and raising it after cleaning, and discharging the chemical liquid. Reference numeral 15 indicates a chemical solution stored on the semiconductor wafer 2.

The operation of the semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus constructed as described above will be explained.

First, the semiconductor wafer 2 is transferred from the wafer transfer machine to the cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. Next, the back side of the semiconductor wafer 2 is chucked by the wafer chuck 4. Thereafter, the chemical stopper 13 is brought into close contact with the semiconductor wafer 2 by the chemical stopper elevator 14. Next, a chemical solution (for example, a mixture of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide) is sprayed onto the semiconductor wafer 2 from the chemical solution nozzle 3 . The chemical liquid will accumulate on the semiconductor wafer 2 up to the height of the chemical liquid stopper 13. In order to raise the temperature of the chemical liquid accumulated on the semiconductor wafer 2, microwaves of, for example, 2.45 GHz are generated from the magnetron 11 and irradiated to the chemical liquid accumulated on the semiconductor wafer 2. By performing microwave irradiation, as in a microwave oven, the temperature of the chemical solution increases and the surface of the semiconductor wafer 2 is cleaned. After the wafer cleaning with the chemical is completed, the chemical stopper 13 is raised by the chemical stopper elevator 14, and the chemical is disposed of. Next, with the chemical liquid stopper 13 separated from the semiconductor wafer 2, pure water is ejected from the wafer chuck 4 rotor and the water washing nozzle 1. The rotation of the semiconductor wafer 2 and the jetting of pure water cause the semiconductor wafer 2 to be rinsed with pure water. Finally, the jetting of pure water is stopped and the semiconductor wafer 2 is rotated at high speed to dry the semiconductor wafer 2 and the process is completed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the magnetron 11, which is a microwave generator, and the semiconductor wafer 2
By providing a mechanism for storing the chemical liquid on the top, it is possible to uniformly clean two semiconductor wafers, to have high cleaning ability at high temperatures, and to reduce the amount of chemical liquid used.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus showing a second embodiment of the present invention. 2, the difference from the first embodiment (FIG. 1) is the method of raising the temperature of the chemical solution stored on the semiconductor wafer 2. In FIG.

In the first embodiment, the temperature is raised by microwaves generated from the magnetron 11 in FIG. 1, but in the second embodiment, the temperature is raised by the temperature rising lamp 16.

As described above, according to this embodiment, by providing the temperature raising lamp 16 and a mechanism for storing the chemical solution on the semiconductor wafer 2, the chemical solution can be uniformly distributed over the surface of the semiconductor wafer 2 and has a high cleaning ability at high temperatures. Usage amount can be reduced. Furthermore, clean cleaning can be performed without the injury caused by microwaves or the like.

[0017]

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention provides a microwave generator or a heating lamp and a chemical liquid stopper mechanism for storing a chemical liquid on the semiconductor wafer. It is possible to provide a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus that is expensive and can reduce the amount of chemical liquid used.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus in a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 3] Schematic front view of conventional semiconductor wafer cleaning equipment

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Water washing nozzle 2 Semiconductor wafer 3 Chemical nozzle 4 Wafer chuck 11 Magnetron (microwave generator) 12 Hood 13 Chemical stopper 14 Chemical stopper elevator 15 Chemical

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A semiconductor wafer cleaning device comprising at least a chemical liquid stopper mechanism for storing a chemical liquid on a semiconductor wafer, and a microwave generator for raising the temperature of the chemical liquid accumulated in the chemical liquid stopper mechanism. Device. 2. The semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a heating lamp is used in place of the microwave generator. 3. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, further comprising a mechanism for transporting semiconductor wafers in single wafers, a mechanism for chucking the semiconductor wafers, a nozzle for spouting a chemical solution, and a nozzle for spouting pure water. Or the semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to 2.