JPH0438851A - Wafer carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a wafer surface to be treated uniformly and consumption of gas to be reduced by forming a gas introducing port on an outer-edge surface of an opening surface side and by allowing this gas introducing port to be connected to a plurality of gas introducing ports which are formed within a groove. CONSTITUTION:A wafer 2 is inserted from an opening surface 1 of a wafer carrier and an external edge part is fitted to a groove at a bottom part and is stored. Then, a wafer carrier which stores the wafer 2 is dipped into a liquid bath 8 and is placed on a stand. Then, a pipe 6 is connected to a gas-introducing port 3 and gas, for example, ozone or nitrogen, is supplied from the pipe 6, thus enabling gas to be discharged from a gas lead-out port 5 through a gas path 4 from the gas-introducing port 3. This gas discharge causes bubbles to be generated, which are discharged from a liquid surface of a chemical liquid along a surface of the wafer 2. Thus, a number of gas lead-out ports are provided on a groove surface which is in contact with the wafer and air bubbles increase along an entire surface of the wafer, thus enabling the chemical liquid to produce stirring operation uniformly on an entire surface of the wafer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a wafer carrier that stores a plurality of wafers, which are semiconductor substrates used for chemical processing.

[Conventional technology]

Although not shown in the drawings, conventionally, this type of wafer carrier has a box-shaped outer shell made of chemical-resistant resin. It has an opening surface into which the wafers are inserted on the - side, and grooves into which the outer edges of a plurality of wafers fit are formed in a row at the bottom thereof.

When using this wafer carrier to process wafers with a chemical solution, first, a large number of wafers to be processed are stored in the wafer carrier, and the wafers and the wafer carrier are immersed in a liquid tank filled with a chemical solution. By introducing ozone or nitrogen gas into the liquid tank through piping and bubbling it, the reaction of the chemical liquid to the wafers is accelerated and the process is performed.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, conventional wafer carriers have open surfaces, the distance between the wafers is narrow, and the outlet of the introduced gas is located outside the wafer carrier, so bubbles caused by the introduced gas do not reach the stored wafers. Since the wafer is rarely reached, it is difficult to uniformly process the entire surface of the wafer. As a countermeasure for this problem, if the process is performed for a long time, not only will gas be wasted, but a portion of the wafer will be overprocessed, which will cause significant damage to the production yield of semiconductor chips. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a wafer carrier that eliminates these drawbacks, allows uniform processing of the wafer surface, and reduces gas waste.

[Means to solve the problem]

The wafer of the present invention is a box-shaped wafer carrier having an opening surface into which the wafer is inserted in one direction, and a plurality of grooves into which the outer edge of the wafer is fitted in the bottom of the opening surface. A gas inlet is formed on the outer edge surface of the side, and the gas inlet is in communication with a plurality of gas outlet ports formed in the groove.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a wafer carrier and a liquid tank showing one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, this wafer carrier has a gas inlet 3 on the outer edge surface 4a on the opening surface side.
is formed, and this gas inlet 3 communicates with a large number of gas outlet ports 5 formed in the groove surface 4b at the bottom via a gas path 4. Other than that, it is the same as before.

When using this wafer carrier to process wafers, first insert the wafer 2 into the wafer carrier through opening 1, fit the outer edge into the bottom hole, and store the wafer. The wafer carrier is immersed in a liquid bath 8, and the wafer carrier is placed on a mounting table. Next, a pipe 6 is connected to the gas inlet 3, and a gas such as ozone or nitrogen is supplied from the pipe 6. As a result, gas passes from the gas inlet 3 through the gas path 4 and is discharged from the gas outlet 5. Bubbles are generated by the discharge of this gas, and these bubbles escape from the liquid surface of the chemical solution 9 along the surface of the wafer 2.

In this way, a large number of gas outlet ports are provided on the groove surface that comes into contact with the wafer, and the bubbles rise along the entire surface of the wafer, so that the chemical solution uniformly stirs the entire surface of the wafer.
The use of this wafer carrier has the advantage that unlike conventional liquid tanks, there is no need to provide a gas discharge nozzle that generates bubbles in the tank, and a smaller tank can be used.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention provides a gas inlet on the opening side of the wafer carrier and a large number of gas outlets on the groove surface that contacts the wafer, so that bubbles caused by the gas introduction flow into liquid along the entire surface of the wafer. Since it passes over the surface, the wafer surface can be processed uniformly and the wafer can be processed efficiently. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a wafer carrier that can process the wafer surface uniformly and further reduces waste of gas.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Opening surface, 2... Wafer, 3... Gas inlet, 4... Gas path, 4a... Outer edge surface, 5... Gas outlet, 6... Piping, 7... ...1 unit, 8...liquid tank,
9...Medical solution.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a box-shaped wafer carrier that has an opening surface into which a wafer is inserted in one direction, and a plurality of grooves into which the outer edge of the wafer is fitted is formed at the bottom of the opening surface, the outer edge surface on the side of the opening surface is A wafer cassette characterized in that a gas inlet is formed, and the gas inlet communicates with a plurality of gas outlet ports formed in the groove.