JPH06140318A - Remover for resist on surface of wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simply and quickly peel and remove the needless resist on the surface of a wafer. CONSTITUTION:This remover is equipped with the first table 7, which sucks and holds a wafer W in specified posture, an adhesive tape sticking mechanism 8, which sticks adhesive tapes on sheet by one sheet from a continuous separator S to the surface of the wafer on this first adhesive tape 7, a second table 11, which sucks and holds the wafer W, to where an adhesive tape is stuck, in specified posture, and a tape peeing mechanism 12, which tares off a continuous peeling tape HT after sticking it to the adhesive tape of the wafer on this second table 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing unnecessary resist on the surface of a semiconductor wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor manufacturing process, a circuit pattern or wiring is formed by forming a resist pattern on a semiconductor wafer, etching a thin film using the resist pattern as a mask, or implanting impurity ions into a specific region of a substrate. Is forming. Then, the unnecessary resist pattern is removed after the etching step and the ion implantation step. Such unnecessary resist is generally removed from the wafer by ashing (ashing), and the ashing method includes a method using oxygen plasma and a method using ultraviolet light and ozone.

[0003]

However, in the conventional ashing technique, impurities such as sodium and heavy metals contained in the resist remain on the wafer after ashing, and these impurities diffuse into the wafer by the subsequent heat treatment. There was a problem that the characteristics of the device deteriorated. Further, since this ashing process takes time and labor, it takes a lot of time to remove the unnecessary resist many times during the wafer manufacturing process, which is one of the causes of lowering workability.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to enable the unnecessary resist on the wafer surface to be removed easily and quickly.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following constitution. That is, the present invention is a device for removing unnecessary substances on the surface of a wafer by applying an adhesive tape on the surface of the wafer and peeling off the adhesive tape.
A table, an adhesive tape attaching mechanism for attaching one adhesive tape from a continuous separator to the surface of the wafer on the first table, a wafer transfer mechanism for transferring the wafer to which the adhesive tape is attached, A continuous strong adhesive tape was attached to the second table for adsorbing and holding the wafer transferred by the wafer transfer mechanism in a predetermined posture, and the back surface of the adhesive tape attached to the surface of the wafer on the second table. After that, a tape peeling mechanism for peeling off the adhesive tape on the wafer via the peeling tape is provided.

[0006]

According to the structure of the present invention, first, the continuous separator 1 is peeled off from the surface of the wafer on the first table.
A piece of adhesive tape is attached, then the wafer on which the adhesive tape is attached is transferred to a second table that adsorbs and holds the wafer in a predetermined posture, where a continuous strong adhesive release tape is attached to the adhesive tape of the wafer. By peeling off the peeling tape, the adhesive tape is peeled off from the wafer. At this time, unnecessary resist on the surface of the wafer is peeled off by the adhesive tape.

[0007]

1 is a plan view of an embodiment of a wafer resist stripping apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a wafer supply table, 2 is a processing wafer collection table, 3 and 4 are robot arms for wafer transfer, 5 and 6 are alignment stages for aligning wafers, and 7 is used for sticking adhesive tape. 1 table, 8 adhesive tape attachment mechanism, 9 heating table, 10 ultraviolet irradiation mechanism, 11
Is a second table used for peeling the adhesive tape, and 12 is a mechanism for peeling the adhesive tape.

The detailed structure and operation of each part will be described below. The wafers W to be processed are stacked and stored in the cassette C in a horizontal posture with the surface to be processed facing upward, and loaded on the wafer supply table 1. The wafer supply table 1 is configured to be rotatable by a cylinder 13, and the attitude of the wafer take-out port of the cassette C is changed so as to face the robot arm 3.

The robot arm 3 is rotatable about a fulcrum P and is movable back and forth in the longitudinal direction of the arm, and holds one wafer W from the cassette C of the wafer supply table 1 in an opposed posture. Take it out.

The taken-out wafer W is transferred onto the alignment stage 5 by advancing and retracting and rotating the robot arm 3, and the wafer W is aligned based on the detection of the orientation flat of the wafer W.

The wafer W aligned in a predetermined posture is again supported by the robot arm 3 and supplied onto the first table 7. As shown in FIG. 2, at the center of the first table 7, a suction pad 15 that is moved up and down by a cylinder 14 is provided.
And the supplied wafer W is the suction pad 1
Adsorbed at 5 and held on the table. Further, the entire first table is configured to be rotatable around the horizontal axis X by the motor 16, and can be switched between a horizontal posture and a vertical posture.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the adhesive tape attaching mechanism 8 includes a tape supply roll 17 and an adhesive tape T for feeding out a continuous separator S in which the adhesive tape T punched out in a substantially wafer shape is attached at a constant pitch. It is composed of a peeling mechanism 18 for peeling the tapes from the separator S one by one, a tape support 19 for sucking and holding the peeled adhesive tape T from its non-adhesive surface, a recovery roll 20 of the separator S, and the like.

The peeling mechanism 18 comprises a peeling piece 21 having a sharp tip and a movable table 23 equipped with a pair of guide rollers 22 which is moved back and forth by a motor 24 and a feed screw 25. Is moved forward (moved to the right in FIGS. 3 and 4) to suck the adhesive tape T attached on the separator S to the vacuum suction portion 19a formed on the front surface of the tape support 19, and then, as shown in FIG. As shown in a), the movable table 23 is moved backward (moved to the left in the figure).
By doing so, only the separator S is wound and collected while the non-adhesive surface of the adhesive tape T attached to the separator S is adsorbed and held on the front surface of the tape support base 19.

The tape support base 19 is the first table 7 described above.
In the hood 27 provided in the movable frame 26 that can move toward and away from each other, a cylinder 28 supports the movable frame 26 so as to be able to move forward and backward in the movable frame moving direction. As shown in FIG. 8B, the tape support 1 is attached to the first table 7 which is switched to the vertical posture.
9 are opposed to each other in parallel. Like this first
By configuring the table 7 to be vertically switchable, it is possible to prevent dust from falling and adhering onto the wafer W during the adhesive tape attaching process. In this respect, the second table 11 is also the same.

Next, by moving the tape support 19 and the movable frame 26 closer to the first table 7 which holds the wafer W and is switched to the vertical posture, as shown in FIG. 8C. The adhesive tape T adheres to the surface of the wafer W. At this time, the hood 27 is first brought into close contact with the first table 7, and the air between the adhesive tape T and the wafer W is evacuated by suctioning and exhausting the hood 27 to a negative pressure in this state. Next, the adhesive tape T can be attached to the wafer W without bubbles.

When the sticking of the adhesive tape onto the wafer W is completed, the tape support 19 and the movable frame 26 are retracted and returned, the first table 7 is returned to the horizontal posture, and the wafer W having the sticky tape T stuck on the upper surface thereof is removed. It is transferred onto the heating table 9 via the robot arm 3.

As shown in FIG. 5, the heating table 9 is heated by an internal heater 29, and above the heating table 9,
A wafer supporting member 30 whose lower surface is formed as a suction surface is arranged so as to be able to move up and down by a cylinder 31, and a wafer W carried in via a robot arm 3 is held by the wafer supporting member 30 and descends, so that the heating table Press on 9. As a result, the adhesive of the adhesive tape T is softened and enters the unevenness of the resist pattern of the wafer W, and the resist on the surface of the wafer W is surely adhered to the adhesive of the adhesive tape T.

The wafer W, which has been subjected to the heating and pressing process, is carried into the ultraviolet irradiation mechanism 10 through the robot arm 4 which is rotatable about the fulcrum Q and is movable back and forth in the arm longitudinal direction, and is irradiated with the ultraviolet light. As shown in FIG. 6, the ultraviolet irradiation mechanism 10 is equipped with a suction pad 33 that is rotationally driven by a belt interlocked with a motor 32, a processing chamber 34 in which the suction pad 33 is installed, and an eccentric position above the processing chamber 34. Further, an ultraviolet ray generator 35 and the like are provided. As shown in FIG. 8D, the wafer W carried in through the opening 36 of the processing chamber 34 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays while being supported and rotated by the suction pad 33, so that the adhesive strength between the resist and the adhesive of the adhesive tape T can be adjusted. Try to increase. In addition, the cylinder 3 is provided in the opening 36 of the processing chamber 34
A shutter 38 that is opened and closed by 7 is provided. Further, during the irradiation of ultraviolet rays, the inside of the processing chamber 34 may be made an inert atmosphere with nitrogen gas or the like.

The wafer W, which has been irradiated with ultraviolet rays, is sent onto the second table 11 via the robot arm 4,
The tape peeling process is performed by the adhesive tape peeling mechanism 12. The second table 11 has the same structure as that of the first table 7 described above. It can be switched to and.

As shown in FIG. 7, the adhesive tape peeling mechanism 12 is equipped with a sticking unit 42 and a peeling unit 43 which can be driven and moved along a guide rail 41.
The narrow stripping tape HT sent from the tape roll 46 is wound around the pasting roller 44 provided in the pasting unit 42 and the stripping roller 45 provided in the stripping unit 43, and is wound around the recovery roll 47. Is configured.

The pasting unit 42 and the peeling unit 43 are arranged so as to face the second table 11 in the vertical posture in parallel, and as shown in FIG. 9A, the second table in the vertical posture. Wafer W held by 11
The peeling tape HT is stuck to the adhesive tape T stuck to the wafer W via the sticking roller 44 by moving the sticking unit 42 forward in parallel with. Then, FIG.
As shown in (b), the peeling unit 43 moves forward in the same manner, so that the peeling tape H passes through the peeling roller 45.
As T is turned off, the adhesive tape T is peeled off from the wafer W, and the resist firmly bonded to the adhesive of the adhesive tape T is peeled off from the wafer W. The peeling angle at this time is, as shown in FIG.
It can be set arbitrarily and optimal conditions can be set.

When the resist removal is completed, the second table 11 is returned to the horizontal posture, the wafer W is transferred onto the alignment stage 6 via the robot arm 4 to correct the position, and then the wafer W is transferred via the robot arm 4. Stored in the cassette C of the recovery table 2. The recovery table 2 is also rotatable by the cylinder 48, and receives the processed wafer W in a direction facing the robot arm 4.

In the above embodiment, the heating table 9 and the ultraviolet irradiator 10 were used to firmly adhere the adhesive tape T and the resist on the wafer surface, but the adhesive strength of the adhesive tape used is If the adhesive strength of the resist is strong or relatively weak on the wafer surface, it is not always necessary to use the heating table 9 or the mechanism 10 for irradiating the ultraviolet-sensitive adhesive tape T with ultraviolet rays.

[0024]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the apparatus of the present invention, by sticking the adhesive tape on the wafer, sticking the peeling tape on it, and turning off the peeling tape in order, The resist on the wafer surface can be removed easily and quickly, the processing time required for resist removal can be shortened, and the workability can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall plan view of an embodiment of a wafer resist stripping apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional front view of a first table.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an adhesive tape attaching mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional plan view showing a main part of the adhesive tape joining mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway side view of the heating table.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional side view of an ultraviolet irradiation mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the adhesive tape peeling mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a process chart of the apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a process chart of the apparatus of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 ... 1st table 8 ... Adhesive tape attaching mechanism 11 ... 2nd table 12 ... Adhesive tape peeling mechanism S ... Separator T ... Adhesive tape HT ... Release tape W ... Wafer

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Masayuki Yamamoto 1-2 1-2 Shimohozumi, Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture Nitto Denko Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for removing unwanted matter on a wafer surface by applying an adhesive tape on a wafer surface and peeling off the adhesive tape, comprising: a first table for adsorbing and holding a wafer in a predetermined posture; Adhesive tape attaching mechanism for attaching adhesive tapes one by one from a continuous separator on the surface of the wafer on one table, a wafer transfer mechanism for transferring the wafer to which the adhesive tape is attached, and a wafer transfer mechanism for transferring A second table for adsorbing and holding the thus formed wafer in a predetermined posture, and a continuous strong adhesive peeling tape attached to the back surface of the adhesive tape attached to the surface of the wafer on the second table, and then the release tape And a tape peeling mechanism for peeling off the adhesive tape on the wafer via the resist removing device on the wafer surface. Place