JPH05160093A - Dust remover - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable dust attached to the surface of a cleaning object to be removed at an optimal distance in a non-contact manner by a method wherein a dust remover is provided confronting the cleaning object in such a manner that it is able to move in parallel receding from or approaching to the cleaning object as it measures an approach distance between the tapered opening of a suction nozzle and the surface of the cleaning object. CONSTITUTION:A suction nozzle 1 is made to approach so as to be separate from a plate-like specimen alpha fixed onto a fixing jig 2 by a designated distance considering both a value which is indicated by a scale 3a marked on the side surface of a suction nozzle support table on a scale plate 7 which measures the height of the tapered opening 1a of a suction nozzle 1 and the thickness of the plate-like specimen alpha. Thereafter, a vacuum equipment connected to a vacuum pipe 8 is driven to remove dust on a surface region just under the tapered opening 1a of a suction nozzle 1 by sucking. Then, by operating rotary handles 5 and 6, the plate-like specimen alpha is made to move together with the fixing jig 2 both longitudinally and laterally on a horizontal plane under the suction nozzle 1. By this setup, a cleaning object can be cleaned without causing damage to its surface and protected against contamination caused by coming into contact with a suction nozzle.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention sucks and removes dust and fine particle dust adhering to the surface of an object, such as a semiconductor crystal plate for integrated circuits, whose surface deterioration, contamination and damage must be strictly prevented. The present invention relates to a vacuum suction type dust removing device for cleaning.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a cleaning liquid, a brush, or the like is used for removing dust and fine particle dust adhering to the surface of a purification target.
Treatment with a high-speed jet fluid or the like may change the surface condition of the object to be purified, or may cause new contamination or damage due to contact. Therefore, it is desirable to remove the attached dust and fine particle dust without bringing the surface into contact with a different substance. As a device for removing dust and fine particle dust in a non-contact manner, there is conventionally a vacuum suction type dust removing device equipped with a nozzle for sucking outside air at high speed.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional vacuum suction type dust removing device, a measuring device for measuring the distance between the suction nozzle and the surface of the object to be purified, and the measured value of the measuring device. According to the above, since the suction nozzle and the object to be cleaned are not provided with a mechanism to bring them closer to each other, the vacuum nozzle from the suction nozzle can effectively act on the dust, and the suction nozzle and the object to be cleaned up to an appropriate short distance. It was difficult to bring things close together because of the risk of contact.

Furthermore, there is no mechanism for keeping the distance between the suction nozzle and the object to be cleaned close to each other while keeping the distance between the suction nozzle and an arbitrary surface region of the surface of the object to be cleaned. .. Therefore, there is a drawback in that the vacuum suction force acting on the dust and fine particle dust adhering to the surface of the object to be purified cannot be maximized, and the dust and dust firmly adhered cannot be removed.

However, if the tip of the suction nozzle touches the object to be cleaned by mistake during the dust removal operation,
There is a fear that the surface of the object to be purified may be newly polluted or damaged in some cases. In this,
In view of the above conventional problems, the present invention removes dust and fine particles that are firmly attached to the surface of the object to be purified, and in any surface area, dust that is removed and purified without causing any new contamination or damage. It is intended to provide a removal device.

[0006]

The solution to the above-mentioned problems can be achieved by adopting the novel characteristic construction means enumerated below by the present invention. That is, the first feature of the present invention is a vacuum type dust remover that suctions and removes dust adhering to the surface of an object to be purified while a tapered suction nozzle connected to a vacuum generator by a vacuum pipe sucks outside air at a high speed. In the device, the nozzle support base that supports the suction nozzle and the fixing jig that faces the suction nozzle tapered mouth and fixes the object to be purified by appropriate means can be relatively close to each other and can be moved in parallel. Is a dust removing device provided with a measuring device that is disposed so as to face each other and measures an approach distance between the suction nozzle tapered mouth and the surface of the object to be purified fixed to the fixing jig.

A second feature of the present invention is that the means for fixing the object to be purified of the fixing jig in the first feature is a vacuum chuck means by a vacuum suction force of a vacuum pipe connected to a vacuum generator. It is a dust removing device.

[0008]

Since the present invention has taken the above-mentioned means, dust and fine particles adhering to the surface of the object to be purified, which is mounted and fixed on the fixing jig which can be moved in the horizontal and longitudinal directions by an appropriate means such as a vacuum chuck. When removing dust, while measuring the distance to the fixing jig or the surface of the object to be purified by an appropriate means such as a scale plate, the nozzle support table that is vertically movable up and down is moved down to move the dust on the fixing jig. After approaching the suction nozzle tapered mouth that supports the surface of the object to be purified, while operating the vacuum generator that connects to the suction nozzle with a vacuum pipe while maintaining the approach distance, the fixing jig is moved horizontally and horizontally. In the horizontal direction, the object to be purified is moved in the horizontal, front, rear, left and right directions under the suction nozzle, and dust and fine particles on the surface of the object to be purified are sucked and removed evenly.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 1
FIG. 3 is a device configuration diagram of the present embodiment. In the figure, A is a dust removing device, B is a device frame, 1 is a suction nozzle, 2 is a jig for fixing an object to be cleaned, which has a horizontal movement mechanism X fore and aft mounted on a table Ba of the device frame B, 3 Is a nozzle support base that vertically mounts the suction nozzle 1 and that has a vertical guide Bc projectingly extended on the vertical guide surface Bb of the apparatus frame B and that has a vertically moving mechanism (not shown) that operates in the vertical vertical direction.
Is a rotary handle for operating a vertical lifting mechanism (not shown) that moves the nozzle support base 3 in the vertical direction.

Numerals 5 and 6 are attached to a saddle X1 and a guide face plate X2 of a front-rear and left-right horizontal movement mechanism X for operating the fixing jig 2 in the horizontal direction in the left-right direction and the front-rear direction, respectively. Is a rotary handle for sliding each in the left-right direction, 7 is a scale plate for measuring the height of the tapered mouth 1a of the suction nozzle 1 attached to the vertical guide surface Bb of the apparatus frame B, and 8 is not shown as the suction nozzle 1. Vacuum pipe of suction nozzle 1 for connecting a vacuum generator, 9 is a fixing jig 2
The vacuum pipe of the fixing jig 2 for connecting the vacuum chuck of FIG. The object to be purified in this example is a flat sample α.

The specifications of the present embodiment show such a concrete embodiment, and the operation procedure and its operation will be described. First, a plate-shaped sample α, which is an object to be purified (not shown), is placed on the fixing jig 2, connected to a vacuum generator (not shown) that has been operated via a vacuum pipe 9, and is exposed on the upper surface of the fixing jig 2. It is adsorbed and fixed by the vacuum chuck 2a.

Next, the suction nozzle 1 is vertically lowered integrally with the nozzle support base 3 along the vertical guide Bc through the vertical moving mechanism by rotating the rotary handle 4 to move the suction nozzle 1 to the tapered mouth 1a. A specified value for the distance between the flat plate samples α (the most suitable distance for the suction nozzle 1 to suck dust)
Stop when it becomes. Considering the overlapping value of the scale 3a attached to the side surface of the nozzle support base 3 supporting the suction nozzle 1 and the scale plate 7 and the thickness of the flat sample α fixed on the fixing jig 2, It is easy to bring the suction nozzle 1 close to the flat sample α by the designated distance.

In this way, the suction nozzle 1 is appropriately brought close to the flat sample α, and then the vacuum pipe 8 is placed.
By operating a vacuum generator (not shown) connected with the suction nozzle 1, the dust in the surface region immediately below the suction nozzle 1 tapered mouth 1a is sucked and removed. At this time, it has been confirmed that if the distance between the suction nozzle 1 and the flat sample α is set to 1 mm or less, the dust removal capability is significantly improved.

Next, while maintaining the above distance, the rotary handles 5 and 6 are operated to move the flat sample α under the suction nozzle 1 in the front-back and left-right directions integrally with the fixing jig 2 in a horizontal plane. Since the rotating handles 5 and 6 move the fixing jig 2 relative to each other at right angles, the fixing jig 2 can be efficiently operated by alternately operating both rotating handles 5 and 6.
It suffices to move horizontally in the front-back, left-right direction.

By this operation, the surface of the flat plate sample α located immediately below the tapered mouth 1a of the suction nozzle 1 is sequentially changed, and the dust in an arbitrary area is removed by relatively scanning while facing the tapered mouth 1a. I can. That is, the suction nozzle 1 scans the entire surface of the flat sample α,
Needless to say, dust on all surfaces can be removed by operating the fixing jig 2 in the horizontal, front-rear, and left-right directions.

In the case of the present embodiment, the suction nozzle 1 is provided with a mechanism in which it operates vertically and vertically, and the fixing jig 2 operates in horizontal, front-rear and left-right directions. 2 and the function of operating the front, rear, left, and right directions in the horizontal direction is added to the suction nozzle 1 as long as the relative positional relationship between the suction nozzle 1 and the fixing jig 2 can be changed in the same manner as in the present embodiment. The suction nozzle 1 and the fixing jig 2 may be responsible for either vertical or horizontal movement.

Although both the suction nozzle 1 and the fixing jig 2 are manually operated, they are automatically operated under program control by using an electric movement mechanism that is generally used in machine tools. If the operation method is adopted, the distance between the suction nozzle 1 and the surface of the object to be purified mounted and fixed on the fixing jig 2 is measured by a highly accurate measuring device such as a laser displacement meter. It can approach up to 1 micron.

Although the vacuum chuck method is used for fixing the object to be purified, any fixing means such as a leaf spring, a magnetic force, a screw or the like may be used. In order to enhance the suction effect of the suction nozzle 1, changing the suction operation of the vacuum generator with time is also an effective means.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to remove the dust or fine particle dust adhering to the surface of the object to be purified in a non-contact manner while keeping the optimum distance, so that the surface of the object to be purified is not damaged. There is no danger of giving new pollution by contact or contact. Therefore, the present invention is applied to the surface of an object such as a semiconductor crystal plate, a photomask or a disk-shaped storage medium used in the manufacture of integrated circuits, or a surface analysis sample, which must strictly avoid surface contamination and damage. It is particularly effective in removing the attached dust or fine particle dust.

In particular, a semiconductor crystal plate for an integrated circuit or the like undergoes a number of processing steps before the integrated circuit is formed in the surface region thereof, and if dust adheres to the surface in each processing step. However, since there is a risk of lowering the non-defective rate, the non-defective rate can be remarkably improved by removing the dust using the dust removing apparatus of the present invention prior to each processing step. Further, if the container for accommodating the semiconductor crystal plate or the like and the dust removing device of the present invention are connected by a dedicated closed transfer device and the dust removing process is performed without exposing the semiconductor crystal plate or the like to the atmosphere, a good product rate can be obtained. It has various usefulness such as further improvement expected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a device configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A ... Dust remover B ... Device frame Ba ... Table Bb ... Vertical guide surface Bc ... Vertical guide 1 ... Suction nozzle 1a ... Tapered mouth 2 ... Fixing jig 2a ... Vacuum chuck 3 ... Nozzle support 3a ... Scale 4 ... Nozzle support Table rotation handle 5,6 ... Fixing jig rotation handle 7 ... Scale plate 8,9 ... Vacuum pipe X ... Front-rear and left-right horizontal movement mechanism X1 ... Saddle X2 ... Guide face plate α ... Flat plate sample

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum type dust removing device, wherein a tapered suction nozzle connected to a vacuum generator by a vacuum pipe sucks outside air at high speed and sucks and removes dust adhering to the surface of an object to be purified, A nozzle support base that supports the suction nozzle and a fixing jig that faces the suction nozzle tapered mouth and fixes the object to be purified by appropriate means are arranged to face each other so as to be relatively close to each other and movable in parallel. A dust removing device comprising a measuring device for measuring the approach distance between the suction nozzle tapered mouth and the surface of the object to be purified fixed to the fixing jig. 2. A means for fixing an object to be purified of a fixing jig,
2. The dust removing device according to claim 1, wherein the dust removing device is a vacuum chucking device using a vacuum suction force of a vacuum pipe connected to a vacuum generating device.