JPH05206092A - Method of automatically washing semiconductor wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To wash a wafer without stopping the entire device upon occurrence of trouble in one treating tub by a method wherein a wafer is carried and cast into the treating tub in an optional washing step or carried and cast into the treating tub in the other optional washing step through the treating tub in the optional washing step. CONSTITUTION:A wash treating tub 3 and a rinse treating tub 7 are denoted as a washing step S1, a wash treating tub 4 and a rinse treating tub 8 as a washing step S2, a wash treating tub 5 and a rinse treating tub 9 as a washing step S3, and a wash treating tub 6 and a rinse treating tub 10 as a washing step S4. After each semiconductor wafer is washed in the wash treating tub, a rinse treatment is performed in the rinse treating tub. When a wafer carrier can be cast into any wash treating tub within the washing steps S1 to S4 to automatically wash the semiconductor wafer, a wafer carrier K1 set to a loader 2 is carried and cast into the treating tub in the washing step which can be cast. Thus, even upon occurrence of any trouble in the treating tub during any washing step, each treatment can be performed by the treating tub of the other washing step.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic cleaning method for semiconductor wafers which can be cleaned without stopping the entire apparatus even when any cleaning tank cannot be used due to a trouble.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, since impurities have adhered during the manufacture of semiconductor wafers, cleaning is performed by immersing them in a chemical bath and removing them. In the case of automatically cleaning a semiconductor wafer, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, it is usually carried out by a transfer system called a tact system. 5 to 8 show an automatic cleaning apparatus 1 for semiconductor wafers.
2 is a loader for supplying semiconductor wafers, 3, 4, 5,
Reference numeral 6 is a cleaning treatment tank, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are rinse tanks, 11 is a drying section, and 12 is an unloader for collecting semiconductor wafers. The processing tanks 3 to 6 are cleaning processing tanks that perform the same cleaning. In the automatic cleaning apparatus of FIGS. 5 to 8, a series of tank arrays from the loader to each tank and the unloader are arranged in two rows. It has been configured. Further, transfer robots 13 and 14 which can move along the direction of a series of tank arrangements are provided. One of the transfer robots 13 chucks the wafer carriers K1 to K4 containing semiconductor wafers from the loader 2 to the drying section 11 and the other transfer robot 14 from the drying section to the unloader 12 to move them vertically and horizontally. It has a function that can.

In order to automatically clean semiconductor wafers, when the cleaning tank 3 can be cleaned, the transfer robot 13 first sets the wafer carrier K1 set in the loader 2 as shown in FIG. Then, the cleaning treatment tank 3 is charged. When the processing time in the cleaning processing tank 3 ends,
The transfer robot 13 transfers and loads the cleaning processing tank 4 into the next cleaning processing tank 4. Further, the next wafer carrier K2 set in the loader 2 is transferred into the empty cleaning processing tank 3 as shown in FIG. Similarly, when the processing time in the cleaning processing tank 4 ends, the wafer carrier K2 of the cleaning processing tank 3 is transferred to the next cleaning processing tank 5 and is loaded into the empty cleaning processing tank 4.
Are carried in as shown in FIG. As described above, in the tact type transfer method, the wafer carriers K1 to K4 are used.
Are sequentially charged into all the tanks for cleaning.

In addition, in FIGS.
Four tanks and rinse tanks are arranged in the wafer carrier transfer direction. This is because a plurality of tanks of the same type are arranged in relation to the processing time of each tank so that the transfer robot cannot play. It is a thing.

[0005]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional cleaning method, it is necessary to sequentially transfer and introduce each wafer carrier into all the baths. Therefore, for example, the temperature raising means for one processing bath is used. If the cleaning condition fails and the cleaning conditions are no longer satisfied, it cannot be transferred to the next processing tank even after the processing time in the previous processing tank ends, and eventually the entire system will stop. However, it had the drawback that production would stop unless the processing tank in which the trouble occurred was restored.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic cleaning method for a semiconductor wafer which can be cleaned without stopping the entire apparatus even when a trouble occurs in any of the processing tanks.

[0007]

An automatic cleaning method for semiconductor wafers according to the present invention is an automatic cleaning method for semiconductor wafers in which impurities in the semiconductor wafer are removed by immersing them in a processing tank. A plurality of sets of a cleaning process consisting of, etc. are arranged in the semiconductor wafer transfer direction, and a transfer charging means for transferring and charging semiconductor wafers into the processing bath of the cleaning step and a control means for driving and controlling this transfer charging means are provided, The semiconductor wafer is transferred by the control means to the processing tank of an arbitrary cleaning step among the processing tanks of the plurality of cleaning steps via the transfer inputting means. Further, when the semiconductor wafer is transferred into the processing tank, it is configured to pass an arbitrary cleaning step among the plurality of cleaning steps and to transfer it into the processing tank of another cleaning step.

[0008]

When the semiconductor wafer is transferred into the processing tank, the control means transfers the semiconductor wafer to a processing tank of an arbitrary cleaning step among the processing tanks of the multiple cleaning steps, Of the processing tanks, it passes the processing tank of any cleaning process and is transferred to the processing tank of the other cleaning process, so even if a trouble occurs in the processing tank of one of the cleaning processes, the processing of the other cleaning process is performed. Since the treatment is performed in the bath, the washing treatment can be performed without stopping the entire apparatus.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the same parts as those of the related art will be described with the same numbers. 1 to 4 show an automatic cleaning apparatus 20 for semiconductor wafers according to the present embodiment, in which 2 is a loader for supplying a semiconductor wafer, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are cleaning processes for performing the same cleaning process. Tanks 7, 8, 9, 10 are rinse treatment tanks for performing the same rinse treatment, 11 is a drying unit, 12 is an unloader for collecting semiconductor wafers, and the treatment tanks 3 to 10 have a series of two tank arrays. It is arranged in a distributed manner. Further, in this embodiment, the cleaning treatment tank 3 and the rinse treatment tank 7 are a set of the cleaning step S1, the cleaning treatment tank 3 and the rinse treatment tank 7 are a set of the cleaning step S2, and the cleaning treatment tank 4 and the rinse treatment tank 8 are a set. Cleaning step S3, cleaning processing tank 5 and rinse processing tank 9 as one set of cleaning step S4, and each cleaning step S1
To S4 are sequentially arranged in the carrying direction, and each cleaning process S1 to S4 is performed.
In No. 4, after washing in each washing treatment tank, rinsing treatment is performed in each rinsing treatment tank. Furthermore, a transfer robot (transfer means) that can move along the arrangement direction of each tank
13 and 14, a control means (not shown) for automatically driving and controlling the transfer robots 13 and 14, and a trouble detection means (not shown) for detecting a trouble in each processing tank are provided. One transfer robot 13 chucks the wafer carriers K1 to K4 in which semiconductor wafers are stored from the loader 2 to the drying unit 11 and the other transfer robot 14 moves from the drying unit to the unloader 12 vertically and horizontally. It has a function that can.

In order to automatically clean a semiconductor wafer by such an automatic cleaning device 20, when the wafer carrier can be loaded into any one of the cleaning processing tanks of the cleaning steps S1 to S4, the transfer robot 13 causes the loader to load. The wafer carrier K1 set to 2 is transported and loaded into the processing bath of the cleaning process in which it can be loaded.

For example, when the cleaning step S4 becomes possible, the wafer carrier K1 set in the loader 2 is moved by the transfer robot 13 as shown in FIG.
It is put into the cleaning treatment tank 6. Further, when the cleaning step S2 becomes possible, the wafer carrier K2 set in the loader 2 is charged into the cleaning processing tank 4 as shown in FIG. Next, when the cleaning of the wafer carrier K1 in the cleaning processing tank 6 in the cleaning step S4 is completed and the cleaning step S1 can be put in, as shown in FIG. 4, the same cleaning of the wafer carrier K1 in the cleaning processing tank 6 is performed. The wafer carrier K3 set in the loader 2 is transferred to the rinsing tank 10 in the step S4, and the wafer carrier K3 set in the loader 2 is the cleaning tank 3 in the cleaning step S1.
It is transported to and fed into. Then, the wafer carrier K1 which has been rinsed in the rinse tank 10 in the cleaning step S4.
Is transported to the drying unit 11 by the transport robot 13 and subjected to a drying process. When the drying process is completed, it is taken out by the transfer robot 14 and transferred to the unloader 12, and the cleaning process is completed. Other wafer carriers K2
The cleaning process is similarly performed on K4.

Further, in such a cleaning process, for example, when the trouble detecting means detects that the cleaning step S3 cannot be used due to some trouble, the control means passes the cleaning step S3 and the remaining steps are performed. Control using the cleaning steps S1, 2, 4 is performed. Therefore, even if a trouble occurs in the processing tank of any of the cleaning steps, the processing is performed in the processing tanks of the other cleaning steps, so that the cleaning processing can be performed without stopping the entire apparatus, which reduces the production of semiconductor wafers. It can be prevented.

In this embodiment, four cleaning steps S1 to S4 are performed.
Although the formula is used, the formula is not limited to this and may be any formula. Also,
Although the number of tanks in each cleaning step is two tanks including the cleaning tank and the rinse tank, any number of tanks may be used.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, it can be transferred to and charged into a treatment tank of an arbitrary cleaning step among a plurality of treatment tanks of a cleaning step, or an arbitrary treatment tank of a plurality of cleaning steps. Since it passes through the processing tanks of different cleaning processes and is transferred to the processing tanks of other cleaning processes, even if a problem occurs in the processing tank of one of the cleaning processes, each processing can be performed by the processing tanks of the other cleaning process. Since the cleaning process is performed, the cleaning process can be performed without stopping the entire apparatus, and the reduction in the production of semiconductor wafers can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an automatic cleaning apparatus for semiconductor wafers according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing an automatic cleaning apparatus for semiconductor wafers.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing an automatic cleaning apparatus for semiconductor wafers.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing an automatic cleaning apparatus for semiconductor wafers.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing an automatic cleaning apparatus for semiconductor wafers according to a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view showing an automatic cleaning apparatus for semiconductor wafers.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing an automatic cleaning apparatus for semiconductor wafers.

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view showing an automatic cleaning apparatus for semiconductor wafers.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3, 4, 5, 6 Cleaning treatment tank 7, 8, 9, 10 Rinsing treatment tank 13, 14 Transfer charging means K1 to K4 Wafer carrier S1 to S4 Cleaning process

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automatic cleaning method for a semiconductor wafer, which comprises removing impurities from a semiconductor wafer by immersing the semiconductor wafer in a processing tank, wherein a plurality of cleaning steps including a cleaning processing tank and a rinse processing tank are provided in a semiconductor wafer transfer direction. Then, a transfer charging means for transferring and charging the semiconductor wafer into the processing tank of the cleaning step and a control means for driving and controlling this transfer charging means are provided, and the semiconductor wafer is transferred by the control means through the transfer charging means to the above-mentioned plural types. An automatic cleaning method for a semiconductor wafer, which is characterized in that the semiconductor wafer is transferred into a processing tank of an arbitrary cleaning step among the processing tanks of the cleaning step. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the semiconductor wafer is transferred into the processing tank, it passes through any cleaning step of the plurality of cleaning steps and is transferred into the processing tank of another cleaning step. Automatic cleaning method for semiconductor wafers.