JPH06163506A - Substrate cleaning equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide equipment for cleaning the surface of a semiconductor substrate or the like in which cleaning accuracy is enhanced while saving the space of clean room. CONSTITUTION:A cassette C carry-in/carry-out section 51, a substrate transfer section 60, a substrate drying section 70, and a cleaning processing section 65 are arranged sequentially from the front opposing to a clean room working area 30 toward the rear opposing to a maintenance work area 31 and a substrate carrying robot is disposed on one side thereof. The cleaning processing section 65 is constituted of a plurality of overflow type substrate cleaning tanks 1a and pickling tank 1b which perform a plurality of types of cleaning processing. This constitution decreases the number of cleaning tanks to save the space of clean room while preventing a substrate W from touching the air until the end of cleaning operation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an immersion type substrate cleaning apparatus used for cleaning the surface of a thin substrate to be cleaned (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate) such as a semiconductor substrate or a glass substrate for liquid crystal. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a clean room for manufacturing a substrate is
As shown in FIG. 8, a maintenance work area 31 (hatched portion in FIG. 8) for each process such as a lithography process, a cleaning process, an inspection process, a diffusion process, a CVD process, and a metallization process is laid out on the left and right of the central passage. The transfer path 33 of the substrate accommodating cassette C is laid out in a branched manner from the central passage toward each of the maintenance work areas 31 so that the clean room work area 30 (see FIG.
White background part) is formed. As shown in FIG. 9, a conventional cleaning device 50 for performing the above substrate cleaning process is divided into a front and a rear of the branch conveyance path 33 such as alkali cleaning, water cleaning, hydrogen fluoride cleaning, acid cleaning, water cleaning, and final rinse. A large number of cleaning tanks 1 for performing various cleaning processes are arranged in series, the substrates are sequentially immersed in this cleaning tank group, and a plurality of types of cleaning processes are performed with various cleaning liquids.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned prior art, since it is necessary to arrange the substrate cleaning tanks 1 for various cleaning processes, the work area occupied by the cleaning process is widened, and the entire clean room is effective. Can not be used for. It is a technical object of the present invention to improve the above-mentioned conventional technique and improve the utilization efficiency of the space of the clean room.

[0004]

The present invention is configured as follows to solve the above problems. That is, the invention of claim 1 includes a loading / unloading section of the substrate accommodating cassette, a substrate transfer section for removing a substrate from the cassette or loading a substrate into the cassette, and a loading / unloading section and a substrate transfer section of the cassette. A cassette transfer robot that transfers cassettes between
A cleaning processing unit for cleaning a plurality of substrates at a time, a substrate drying unit for drying a plurality of substrates at a time, a plurality of substrates taken out from the cassette by the substrate transfer unit at a time, and the cleaning processing unit and the substrate In a substrate cleaning apparatus comprising a substrate transfer robot for transferring to a drying unit, a cassette loading / unloading unit, substrate transfer unit, substrate drying from a front facing a clean room work area to a rear facing a maintenance work area. Section and the cleaning processing section are arranged in this order, and the moving section of the substrate transfer robot is arranged on one side of the substrate transfer section, the substrate drying section, and the cleaning processing section. Each of the overflow type cleaning processing units is composed of a processing unit, and a cleaning tank, a cleaning liquid supply unit that supplies a plurality of types of cleaning liquid from the lower portion of the cleaning tank, and a cleaning liquid that overflows from the cleaning tank are discharged. Made by and a cleaning liquid discharge portion for discharging into the tube, the cleaning liquid is sequentially supplied to the cleaning tank,
It is a substrate cleaning apparatus characterized in that the substrate is cleaned and then discharged to a drainage pipe.

Further, the invention of claim 2 is a carrying-in / carrying-out part of the substrate accommodating cassette, a substrate transferring part for taking out a substrate from the cassette or loading the substrate into the cassette, a carrying-in / carrying-out part of the cassette and a substrate transferring. Cassette transfer robot that transfers cassettes to and from the unit, a cleaning unit that collectively cleans multiple substrates, a substrate drying unit that collectively drys multiple substrates, and a cassette at the substrate transfer unit In a substrate cleaning apparatus comprising a substrate transfer robot that collectively holds a plurality of substrates taken out from the cleaning processing unit and the substrate drying unit, from a front facing a clean room work area to a rear facing a maintenance work area. Toward the loading / unloading section of the cassette,
The substrate transfer section, the substrate drying section, and the cleaning processing section are arranged in this order, and the moving section of the substrate transfer robot is arranged on one side of the substrate transfer section / substrate drying section / cleaning processing section. , A plurality of overflow-type cleaning processing units and an acid cleaning processing unit, and each overflow-type cleaning processing unit includes a substrate cleaning tank and a cleaning liquid supply unit that supplies a plurality of types of cleaning liquid from the bottom of the substrate cleaning tank. And a cleaning liquid discharge unit for discharging the cleaning liquid overflowing from the substrate cleaning tank to the drain pipe, and the substrate is cleaned by the cleaning liquid sequentially supplied to the substrate cleaning tank and then discharged to the drain pipe. In addition to the above, the acid cleaning treatment section includes an acid cleaning tank, an acid cleaning solution supply section for supplying an acid cleaning solution to the acid cleaning tank, and an acid cleaning solution recovery section for recovering the acid cleaning solution from the acid cleaning tank. It is A substrate cleaning apparatus characterized in that an acid cleaning processing section is placed behind the flow-type cleaning processing section, and the acid cleaning processing section is retracted to face the maintenance work area and moved away from the clean room work area. is there.

Further, the invention of claim 3 is the above-mentioned claim 1.
Alternatively, in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the third aspect, the cassette cleaning unit is arranged near the loading / unloading unit.

[0007]

[Action]

(1) The invention of claim 1 operates as follows. The cassette containing a plurality of substrates is carried into the carrying-in / carrying-out section of the cassette from the clean room work area, and is transferred to the substrate transfer section by the cassette transfer robot. The substrate taken out of the cassette in the substrate transfer unit is transferred to any one overflow type cleaning processing unit of the cleaning processing unit by the substrate transfer robot. In the overflow type cleaning processing unit, a plurality of cleaning liquids are sequentially supplied to one substrate cleaning tank to perform the substrate cleaning processing in one substrate cleaning tank. Even during this cleaning process, the substrate from the next cassette is transferred to another overflow type cleaning unit by the substrate transfer robot, and the cleaning process is performed in parallel by the plurality of overflow type cleaning units. The substrate cleaned by each overflow type cleaning unit is sequentially transferred by the substrate transfer robot to the substrate drying unit disposed adjacent to the cleaning processing unit, and immediately dried. At this time, since the time required for the drying process is shorter than the time required for the cleaning process, the substrate drying unit can be shared by the plurality of overflow type cleaning processing units.

(2) The invention according to claim 2 operates as follows. In addition to the effect of the invention of claim 2, the substrate taken out from the cassette is carried to the acid cleaning processing section by the substrate transfer robot, and the acid cleaning process is performed. The substrate after the acid cleaning is sequentially transferred by the substrate transfer robot to the plurality of overflow type cleaning processing units arranged adjacent to each other, and the cleaning process is performed in parallel by the plurality of overflow type cleaning processing units. At this time, since the time required for the acid cleaning treatment is shorter than the time required for the cleaning treatment, it is possible to share the acid cleaning treatment unit with the plurality of overflow type cleaning treatment units. At this time, since the acid cleaning processing section is separated from the clean room work area, this does not adversely affect the clean room work area.

(3) In addition to the operation of the invention of claim 1 or claim 2, the invention of claim 3 is such that, in the cassette cleaning section 80, a cassette C that has been emptied by removing the substrate W is replaced by the substrate W. Wash during the washing process. That is, the cleaning process of the substrate W and the cleaning process of the cassette C are performed in parallel.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a schematic plan view of an immersion type substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view of the same substrate cleaning apparatus, FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the same substrate cleaning apparatus, and FIG. It is a layout diagram in which a plurality is arranged. This substrate cleaning device 50
Aims to reduce the size of the entire apparatus by stopping the installation of a plurality of types of substrate processing baths and performing a series of surface treatments of a plurality of types within a single substrate processing bath.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the substrate cleaning apparatus 50 has a loading / unloading section 51 for the substrate accommodating cassette C.
And a substrate transfer section 60 for taking out the substrate W from the cassette C or loading the substrate W into the cassette C, and a cassette for transferring the cassette C between the carry-in / out section 51 of the cassette C and the substrate transfer section 60. The transfer robot 55, the immersion-type substrate cleaning processing unit 65 that collectively cleans a plurality of substrates, the draining substrate drying unit 70 for the substrates W, and the plurality of substrates W taken out of the cassette C by the substrate transfer unit 60. A substrate transfer robot 75 that holds all the wafers and transfers them to the cleaning processing unit 65 and the substrate drying unit 70, and a cassette cleaning unit 80 that removes the substrate W and cleans the empty cassette C.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the layout of the substrate cleaning apparatus 50 is such that, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the loading / unloading section 51 of the cassette C is directed from the front facing the clean room work area 30 to the rear facing the maintenance work area 31. The substrate transfer unit 60, the cassette cleaning unit 80, the substrate drying unit 70, and the cleaning processing unit 65 are arranged in order, and as shown in FIG. 1, the substrate transfer unit 60, the substrate drying unit 70, and the cleaning processing unit 65 are arranged. A moving section 77 of the substrate transfer robot 75 is formed in the front-rear direction on the right side, and a space behind the substrate transfer section 60 in these left spaces is formed as a maintenance space 90.
A plurality of pipes, valves and the like are laid on the floor 91 of the maintenance space 90.

The respective parts will be sequentially described below. Note that FIG.
1 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line EE in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is F- in the same figure.
It is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along line F. The loading / unloading section 51 is shown in FIG.
As shown by, the loader unit 51a for loading the cassette C
The cassette C, which has an unprocessed substrate and has a buffer section 51b and an unloader section 51c, is a loader section 51a.
The cassette C that has been loaded into the cassette and contains the processed substrate is configured to be unloaded from the unloader unit 51c.
Below the loader section 51a and the unloader section 51c, as shown in FIG. 2, an alignment roller 5 for aligning the orientation flats of the substrates W in the cassette C.
Two are provided. Cassette C used in this embodiment
Is provided with a substrate alignment receiving groove therein so that a plurality of substrates W can be accommodated in an upright aligned state.

A cassette transfer robot 55 is provided between the loading / unloading part 51 and the substrate transfer part 60 and the cassette cleaning part 80 behind it. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 and 5, the cassette transfer robot 55 is configured to be movable up and down, rotatable, and movable in the arrow A direction, and has been loaded into the loader section 51 a of the loading / unloading section 51. Cassette C
Is transferred onto the turntable 61 of the substrate transfer unit 60, then the substrate W is taken out by the substrate transfer unit 60, the empty cassette C is transferred to the cassette cleaning unit 80, and the cassette after cleaning is completed. It is configured such that C is transferred onto the turntable 61 again, and the cassette C containing the cleaned substrate is transferred from the turntable 61 to the carry-in / carry-out section 51.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the substrate transfer section 60 includes two turntables 61, 61 on which the cassette C is placed, and rotation motors 63, 63 for turning each turntable 61 and a turntable 61. It is provided with two lifters 64 penetrating the table 61 and the cassette C so as to be lifted and lowered. The turntable 61 rotates the direction of the cassette C placed on the turntable 90 ° so that the direction of the substrate W coincides with the direction of the cleaning process described later. The ring gear 62 is rotated by the rotary drive motor 63. It is configured to rotate. Because the cassette transfer robot 55
As a result, the cassette C transferred from the carry-in / carry-out section 51 onto the turntable 61 reverses its direction by 180 °, but the accommodation direction of the substrate W in the cassette C does not change,
This is because the direction of the substrate W in the cleaning processing unit 65, which will be described later, is orthogonal to the processing direction of the substrate W in a plan view, and therefore the direction of the substrate W needs to match the direction of the substrate W in the cleaning processing. .

The two lifters 64 are for raising them to hold the plurality of substrates W in the two cassettes C in an upright aligned state and to deliver them to the substrate transfer robot 75. The structure is as follows. Has been done. The lifter 64 is provided so as to be movable up and down by a lift drive motor 67 via a lift base 65 and a drive screw 66, and the width shifting means 68 is configured to shift the width of the two lifters 64 to each other. This is because the two groups of substrates taken out from the two cassettes C are brought close to each other to make the array pitch of the substrates W the same.

Further, the lifter 64 appropriately switches the substrate mounting portion 64a at the upper end thereof when the unprocessed substrate W is taken out from the cassette C and when the processed substrate W is stored in the cleaned cassette C. I use them properly. According to the above configuration, when the unprocessed substrate W is transferred, the substrate W is always held by one of the substrate mounting portions and the other substrate mounting portion is not touched, so that the other substrate mounting portion is not processed. It is not contaminated by the contaminants adhering to W.

The substrate transfer robot 75 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of substrates W, which are provided so as to be movable in the direction of arrow B and received from the lifter 64 of the substrate transfer unit 60, are held by the substrate chuck 76, and the moving unit 77 is used.
It is configured so as to be sequentially transported into the cleaning processing unit 65 and the substrate drying unit 70 along. The pair of substrate chucks 76 of the substrate transfer robot 75, as shown in FIG.
Substrate alignment holding grooves 76a having the same pitch as the substrate alignment accommodating grooves of the cassette C are provided on the pair of opposed surfaces and on the back surfaces thereof, respectively, and by rotation of the arm rotation shaft 78,
The pair of opposing surfaces and the back surfaces thereof are configured to be switchable to an inverted C-shaped substrate holding posture. That is, when carrying the unprocessed substrate W, the pair of facing surfaces of the substrate chuck 76 face each other,
When transporting the processed substrate 9, the substrate chuck 76
The back surfaces of the two should face each other. Accordingly, when the unprocessed substrate W is transferred, the substrate W is held between the opposite surfaces thereof, and when the processed substrate W is transferred, the substrate W is held between the other back surfaces thereof, so that the processed substrate W is contaminated. Is prevented.

The cassette cleaning unit 80 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG.
A cassette lifter 82; an ultrasonic cleaner 84 provided at the bottom of the cassette cleaning tank 81; an opening / closing lid 85; a drying heater 87 attached to the opening / closing lid 85; A water supply pipe 88 and a drain pipe 89 for supplying water D _W are provided. In the figure, reference numeral 83 is a lifting drive means for the cassette lifter 82, 86 is an opening / closing drive means for the opening / closing lid 85, 88a is a water supply opening / closing valve, and 89a is a drainage opening / closing valve.

The cassette lifter 82 receives the empty cassette C from the cassette transfer robot 55 at the elevated position shown by the phantom line in FIG. 6, immerses it in the cassette cleaning tank 81 for a predetermined time, and opens and closes the lid 85. Close and wash cassette C. When the cleaning time of the cassette C is finished, the cassette C is drained, and the drying heater 87 provided in the opening / closing lid 85 is turned on to dry the cassette C. In order to promote drainage of the cassette C after drainage, the cassette mounting table 82a of the cassette lifter 82 is, as shown by a phantom line in FIG.
It is configured to have a forward leaning posture.

When the cleaning process of the cassette C is completed, the opening / closing lid 85 is opened, the cassette lifter 82 is raised, and the cassette C is handed over to the cassette transfer robot 55. Thereby, the cleaning process of the substrate W and the cleaning process of the cassette C can be performed in parallel. The cassette transfer robot 55
In order to accommodate the substrate W that has undergone the cleaning process, the cassette C is transferred onto the turntable 61 again. At this time,
The direction of the cleaned cassette C is changed from the posture shown by the solid line in FIG. 6 by 90 ° in the turntable 61 to match the direction held by the substrate transfer robot 75.

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 and FIG. 7, the above-mentioned immersion type cleaning processing unit 65 includes an overflow type cleaning processing unit 65a and an acid cleaning processing unit 65b which performs acid cleaning without overflow. It consists of a separate processing unit. 7. FIG. 7 is a schematic system diagram of the substrate cleaning processing unit 65 of the substrate cleaning apparatus 50. The substrate cleaning tank 1 of each of the cleaning processing units 65 a and 65 b is provided with a substrate holder 66 that can be moved up and down, and the plurality of substrates W received from the substrate transfer robot 75 are held by the substrate holder 66 and the inside of the cleaning tank 1 is held. It is configured to be immersed in.

The above-mentioned cleaning unit 65a of the overflow type is
As shown in FIG. 7A, two substrate cleaning tanks 1a, 1a for collectively cleaning the surface of the substrate W by immersing a plurality of substrates W in the cleaning liquid, and a plurality of substrate cleaning tanks 1a and 1a from the bottom of each substrate cleaning tank 1a. A cleaning liquid supply unit 4 for supplying a cleaning liquid of a seed and a cleaning liquid discharge unit 4 for discharging the cleaning liquid overflowing from each substrate cleaning tank 1a.
It comprises 0 and. As shown in FIG. 7 (A), this overflow type substrate cleaning tank 1a is made of quartz glass and is formed into a substantially V shape in a side view and a substantially rectangular shape in a plan view, and a pure water supply pipe 3 is connected to the lower portion thereof. The substrate cleaning tank 1a is configured as an overflow tank capable of forming a uniform upward flow of the cleaning liquid to surface-treat the substrate W and quickly replace the cleaning liquid with each cleaning treatment of a plurality of types. .

The substrate cleaning tank 1a is not limited to quartz glass. For example, when hydrofluoric acid or the like that corrodes quartz glass is used as the cleaning liquid, it is made of a resin such as tetrafluoroethylene resin having corrosion resistance. It may be formed of a material. In addition, the substrate processing bath 1a includes a cleaning liquid discharge unit 40.
An overflow liquid recovery unit 41 constituting the above is additionally provided, and the overflowed cleaning liquid is configured to flow down to the drain drain 43 through the drain pipe 42.

As shown in FIG. 7B, the acid cleaning processing unit 65b is provided with one acid cleaning tank 1b for collectively cleaning a plurality of substrates W with acid, and an acid cleaning solution from a lower portion of the acid cleaning tank 1b. An acid cleaning liquid supply unit 4b for supplying and an acid cleaning liquid recovery unit 40b for recovering the acid cleaning liquid from the acid cleaning tank 1b are provided. However, the substrate cleaning tank 1a of the overflow type processing unit 65a
Is not limited to a combination of two cleaning tanks in series,
It may be composed of three or more. Acid cleaning unit 6
The substrate cleaning tank 1b of 5b is not limited to a single tank, and may be a plurality of tanks.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a cleaning liquid supply / discharge pipe chamber 20 is provided below the three substrate cleaning tanks 1 of the cleaning processing section 65, and a cleaning liquid supply / discharge pipe chamber 20 is provided below the cleaning liquid supply / discharge pipe chamber 20. As shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a moving unit 77 of the substrate transfer robot 75 is provided on the right side of the substrate transfer unit 60, the substrate drying unit 70, and the cleaning processing unit 65.
Are formed in the front-rear direction, and a space behind the substrate transfer section 60 is formed as a maintenance space 90 in these left spaces.

That is, in this embodiment, in the substrate cleaning apparatus 50, the substrate cleaning tank 1 of the cleaning processing section 65, the supply / discharge piping chamber 20, and the cleaning chemical liquid storage container 6 are stacked in three layers. By laying out in the vertical direction, the maintenance space 90 is secured in the area facing the left side of these three-stage stacking portions. In other words, various work blocks such as the cleaning processing unit 65 and the substrate transfer unit 60 are arranged in an L shape in a plan view, and the surplus space in the substrate cleaning apparatus 50 serves as a maintenance space 90.

Therefore, the present embodiment (see FIG. 7) which adopts the cleaning liquid replacement method is basically different from the conventional substrate cleaning apparatus (see FIG. 9) in which a large number of cleaning tanks 1 are arranged in series to perform various cleaning. The entire apparatus can be improved compactly, and moreover, by mainly stacking the cleaning unit 65 vertically, the space saving of the entire clean room can be achieved more effectively. This means that as the number of substrate cleaning devices 50 installed increases, the effective use efficiency of the space in the clean room improves.

The substrate drying unit 70 is rotated by a centrifugal force about the center of the main plane of the substrate as a rotation center, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-255227 proposed by the present applicant. It is composed of a drying processing tank 71 for cutting and drying. In the substrate drying unit 70, the transported substrate W is received by a lifter (not shown), accommodated in a substrate accommodation boat (not shown) in the drying treatment tank 71, and drained and dried. Instead of the centrifugal type substrate drying unit 70, a solvent may be used to accelerate the drying, or a depressurization method may be used to accelerate the drying.

Regarding the layout of the substrate cleaning tank 1 and the substrate drying unit 70 of the cleaning processing unit 65, FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, from the back side facing the maintenance work area 31 toward the front side facing the clean room work area 30, one acid cleaning tank 1b and two overflow type substrate cleaning tanks 1a are provided.
The 1a and the drying processing section 70 are arranged in this order, and the drying processing section 70 faces the substrate transfer section 60. Normal,
Since acid that has been heated is used for the acid cleaning treatment, acid vapor and mist are likely to be generated.
Since b is arranged on the far side farthest from the clean room work area 30, adverse effects on the clean room work area 30 can be prevented and work safety can be ensured.

Since the substrate drying unit 70 is located between the cleaning processing unit 65 and the substrate transfer unit 60, the cleaned substrate W is dried as quickly as possible and returned to the cassette C to carry in / out. It can be efficiently carried out from 51. On the other hand, the substrate drying step is not so strongly restricted by the time required for returning to the cassette C, and a waiting time can be taken between the completion of the drying process and the returning to the substrate transfer unit 60, so that the adjacent substrates are provided adjacently. The obtained substrate drying unit 70 can also serve as a buffer for the substrate transfer unit 60 in the work process.

On the other hand, with respect to the cleaning treatment except the acid cleaning,
Since a relatively long time is required for the processing, the two overflow type substrate cleaning tanks 1a and 1a are shared to perform a plurality of types of cleaning processing. It does not slow down. Moreover, since the acid cleaning process is shared by one acid cleaning tank 1b, the cleaning process efficiency and space saving are further improved in addition to the common substrate drying unit 70.

On the other hand, the overflow type cleaning processing section 65a
In the above, since the cleaning liquid is configured to overflow from the upper portion of the substrate cleaning tank 1a, the cleaning liquid can be replaced for each of a plurality of types of cleaning processes without discharging all the cleaning liquid in the substrate cleaning tank 1a. Substrate W until processing is completed
Does not touch the air. Therefore, there is no risk that an oxide film will be formed on the substrate surface or that impurities in the air will adhere. Further, the substrate W can be loaded and unloaded without discharging all the cleaning liquid in the substrate cleaning tank 1.

The overflow type cleaning processing section 65a.
As shown in FIG. 7A, the cleaning liquid supply unit 4 of is connected to the pure water supply pipes 3 respectively connected to the lower portions of the substrate cleaning tanks 1a and the pure water supply pipes 4 via the introduction valve connection pipes 16, respectively. A plurality of chemical liquid introduction valves 8 and a chemical liquid pressure feeding means 2 for each chemical liquid introduction valve 8 respectively.
A plurality of chemical liquid storage containers 6 connected via 5 are provided, and each chemical liquid introduction valve 8 is selectively opened / closed to introduce a predetermined chemical liquid into the pure water supply pipe 3.

The pure water supply pipe 3 is provided with a supply / discharge liquid switching valve 13, a static mixer 14, an introduction valve connecting pipe 16, an open / close valve 27, etc., which are sequentially installed upstream from the substrate processing tank 1a. And is configured as a main passage of pure water for supplying the pure water D _W that has been heated to room temperature or a predetermined temperature.
The pure water D _W is more preferably deoxidized in order to prevent surface oxidation of the substrate. The supply / discharge liquid switching valve 13 always supplies the pure water D _W or the processing liquid to the substrate processing tank 1a, and if necessary, the processing liquid in the substrate processing tank 1a to the drain drain 43 via the drain pipe 42. It is configured to discharge. The static mixer 14 has a perforated torsion plate (not shown) fixed in the mixer pipe line, and is configured to uniformly mix the pure water D _W and the chemical liquids Q _{A to} Q _E. still,
Other mixers may be used instead of this static mixer, and if the pipe line is sufficiently long, such mixer can be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 7 (C), the chemical liquid introducing valves 8 _A to 8 _E are fixed to an introducing valve connecting pipe 16 arranged on the upstream side of the static mixer 14, and the introducing valve connecting pipe 16 is provided.
And is connected to the pure water supply pipe 3 through. This chemical liquid introduction valve 8 was proposed by the applicant in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-93634, and a chemical liquid introduction chamber 81 and a valve drive chamber are provided in the valve body 80.
(Not shown) is defined and formed, penetrates the valve shaft 83 over the chemical liquid introducing chamber 81 and the valve drive chamber, connects the chemical liquid supplying pipe 7 of the chemical liquid pressure feeding means 25 to the chemical liquid introducing chamber 81, and also the chemical liquid introducing chamber 81. Inside, a valve seat 84 in which a valve body 84a is fixed to the tip end portion of the valve shaft 83 and the valve body 84a is formed in the introduction valve connecting pipe 16
The valve body 84a is opened and closed with respect to the valve seat 84b by a combination of compressed air and a compression spring that is received by b and is sent into the valve drive chamber, and the chemical solution Q is pumped into the pure water supply pipe 3 by a predetermined amount. Composed.

In this embodiment, the valve body 84a is received by the valve seat 84b formed in the introduction valve connecting pipe 16 so that the space between the valve body 84a and the pure water supply pipe 3 is eliminated.
(That is, the distance from the valve seat 84b to the pure water passage is reduced to substantially eliminate the dead water area). Therefore, when each of the chemical liquid introduction valves 8 _A to 8 _E is closed, the chemical liquid Q runs out easily, and the unnecessary chemical liquid is not mixed in the pure water supply pipe 3 for a long time, and the pure water D _W is supplied. it can be formulated to a predetermined chemical concentration and accurately control the supply amount of the chemical liquid Q _a to Q _E to the amount. Further, when pure water is continuously supplied after the chemical solution is supplied, the problem of deterioration of the purity of pure water is eliminated, and the surface cleaning quality of the substrate W is improved. Moreover, pure water does not stay and bacteria are not generated. However,
The chemical liquid introduction valves 8 _A to 8 _E are not limited to those operated by compressed air, and electromagnetic opening / closing valves or the like can be used as appropriate.

Each chemical liquid pressure-feeding means 25 in the cleaning liquid supply unit 4 of the overflow type cleaning processing unit 65a is shown in FIG.
(A), the pumping pump 15 of the chemical one provided, is branched chemical supply pipe 7 _A discharge side of the feed pump 15 to one type of chemical storage container 6 chemical liquid supply pipe 7 was derived from _{A A} , branched respective chemical liquid supply pipe 7 _a · 7 the plurality of substrate cleaning tank 1a · 1 downstream portion through the respective said chemical introducing valve 8 _a of _a
The pressure detector 26 (specifically, a pressure gauge) is provided on the discharge side of the pressure feed pump 15 and upstream of the branch portion 18 of the chemical liquid supply pipe 7 _A. A chemical liquid pressure feed control means 12 for controlling the rotation speed of the pressure feed pump 15 based on a detection signal is provided, and the pressure detector 26 detects excess or deficiency with respect to a predetermined set pressure, and the control means 1
By driving and controlling the drive source 19 of the pressure-feeding pump 15 via 2, the chemical solution is pressure-fed to each of the plurality of substrate cleaning tanks 1a at a predetermined set pressure.

That is, the control means 12 which receives the pressure detected by the pressure detector 26 controls the rotation speed of the pressure feed pump 15 to increase or decrease in accordance with the preset carrier pressure. This allows
Whether the chemical solution is supplied to both of the overflow type two substrate cleaning tanks 1a and 1a or the chemical solution is supplied to only one of the two, it is always kept constant by the single pressure pump 15. It is possible to supply a predetermined amount of chemical solution at a flow rate. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 (A), it has been described chemical pumping means 25 according to one type of chemical solution Q _A introduced from the chemical introducing valve 8 _A, other types of chemical Q _B, Q _C ,
The chemical liquid pressure-feeding means relating to Q _D and Q _E are similarly configured. Accordingly, it is sufficient to arrange one set of a plurality of types of chemical liquid storage containers for the plurality of substrate cleaning tanks 1a and 1a, and there is no need to arrange them in duplicate.

The operation of the apparatus of this embodiment will be described below. First, two cassettes C containing a plurality of unprocessed substrates W are stored.
Is placed on the loader unit 51a of the carry-in / carry-out unit 51. The cassette transfer robot 55 transfers the two cassettes C onto the turntable 61 of the substrate transfer section 60. After the turntable 61 rotates 90 °, the lifter 64 moves up to take out the substrate W from the cassette C. At this time, as described above, the substrate mounting portion 64a at the upper end of the lifter is selectively used for the unprocessed substrate and the processed substrate to prevent the processed substrate from being contaminated.

The substrate transfer robot 75 receives the unprocessed substrate W taken out of the cassette C and transfers it to the cleaning processing section 65. At this time, in order to prevent the processed substrate from being contaminated, the substrate chuck 76 of the substrate transfer robot 75 is selectively used for the unprocessed substrate and the processed substrate as described above. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention can also be applied as a pretreatment cleaning apparatus for an oxidation diffusion step, in which case the already cleaned substrate will be cleaned.
The substrate is clean to some extent and there is no cross contamination, so rather than preventing contamination,
That is, the substrate chuck 76 can be selectively used for holding a dry substrate and holding a wet substrate.

In the cleaning processing section 65, the substrate transfer robot 7
The substrate W transported in 5 is received by the substrate holder 66, and sequentially dipped in a predetermined substrate cleaning tank 1 for surface treatment. That is, first, the acid cleaning processing unit 65b performs the acid cleaning processing, and then the overflow type cleaning processing unit 6 adjacently arranged.
A cleaning process is performed at 5a. The acid cleaning processing unit 65b
Is isolated from the clean room work area 30,
This does not adversely affect the clean room work area. The cleaned substrate W is transferred to the substrate drying unit 70 by the substrate transfer robot 75. In the substrate drying unit 70,
The transported substrate W is received by a lifter (not shown), accommodated in a substrate accommodation boat in the drying treatment tank 71, and dried.

On the other hand, while cleaning the substrate, the cassette transfer robot 55 conveys the two empty cassettes C to the cassette cleaning unit 80. In the cassette cleaning unit 80, the two cassettes C that have been conveyed are received by the cassette lifter 82 and immersed in the cassette cleaning tank 81 for cleaning processing.
To dry. That is, by performing the cleaning process of the substrate W and the cleaning process of the cassette C in parallel, the cleaning efficiency as a whole is improved. The cassette transfer robot 55
The dried cassette C is transferred again onto the turntable 61 of the substrate transfer section 60. The dried substrate W is transferred to the substrate transfer section 60 by the transfer robot 75.
In the substrate transfer unit 60, the cleaned substrate W is transferred via the lifter 64.
Are housed in the cleaned cassette C. The cassette transfer robot 55 conveys the two cassettes C containing the substrate W to the unloader unit 51c of the carry-in / carry-out unit 51. With that, a series of operations is completed.

[0044]

【The invention's effect】

(1) The effect of the invention described in claim 1 is as follows. Since the cleaning liquid can be replaced in each of the plurality of overflow type cleaning processing units and a plurality of types of cleaning processing are repeated, compared to the above-described conventional technology in which a plurality of cleaning tanks of a plurality of types are arranged in series. The work area of the process can be made compact and the space in the clean room can be effectively used. Since the plurality of overflow type cleaning processing units share the cleaning processing, the processing speed does not decrease as compared with the conventional technique. Since the cleaning unit uses the overflow method, all cleaning processes can be performed in the tank without contact with air, and there is a risk that an oxide film will be formed on the substrate surface or impurities in the air will adhere. There is no. Since the substrate drying unit is arranged between the cleaning processing unit and the substrate transfer unit, the cleaned substrate can be efficiently discharged from the loading / unloading unit. On the other hand, the substrate drying section adjacent to the substrate transfer section can be secured as a working space like a buffer. Since the substrate drying unit is commonly used for a plurality of overflow type cleaning processing units, the space saving of the cleaning processing apparatus can be further enhanced.

(2) The effect of the invention described in claim 2 is as follows. Since the acid cleaning tank is commonly used for a plurality of overflow type cleaning processing units, the cleaning processing efficiency and space saving of the cleaning processing apparatus can be further enhanced. Since the acid cleaning unit is kept away from the clean room work area, it is possible to prevent the adverse effects of acid vapor and mist on the clean room work area and ensure work safety.

(3) In the invention described in claim 3, since the cleaning process of the substrate and the cleaning process of the cassette can be performed in parallel, the cleaning efficiency is improved as a whole, and the substrate after the cleaning process is returned to the cassette again. When stored, it is possible to prevent reattachment of contaminants from the cassette to the substrate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an immersion type substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view of the substrate cleaning apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the substrate cleaning apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a layout diagram in which a plurality of the substrate cleaning apparatuses are arranged.

5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line EE in FIG.

6 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line FF in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a schematic system diagram of a substrate cleaning processing unit of the cleaning apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a layout diagram of a clean room.

FIG. 9 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Substrate cleaning tank, 1a ... Overflow type cleaning tank, 1b ... Acid cleaning tank, 2 ... Cleaning liquid 4, 4a ... Cleaning liquid supply part, 4b ... Acid cleaning liquid supply part, 6 ... Chemical liquid storage container, 7 ... Chemical liquid supply pipe, 20 ... Supply / discharge piping room, 30 ... Clean room work area, 31 ... Maintenance work area,
40, 40a ... Cleaning liquid discharge part, 40b ... Acid cleaning liquid recovery part, 51 ... Loading / unloading part, 55 ... Cassette transfer robot, 60 ... Substrate transfer part, 65 ... Cleaning processing part,
65a ... Overflow type cleaning processing unit, 6
5b ... Acid cleaning treatment section, 70 ... Substrate drying section, 7
5 ... Substrate transfer robot, 77 ... Moving part of substrate transfer robot 75, 80 ... Cassette cleaning unit, D
_W ... pure water, Q _A ~Q _E ... a chemical solution, W ... substrate, C ... cassette.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cassette for loading and unloading a substrate accommodating cassette, a substrate transfer unit for removing a substrate from the cassette or loading a substrate into the cassette, and a cassette between the import and export unit of the cassette and the substrate transfer unit. A cassette transfer robot for transferring, a cleaning unit for cleaning a plurality of substrates at a time, a substrate drying unit for drying a plurality of substrates at a time, and a plurality of substrates taken out of the cassette by the substrate transfer unit. A substrate cleaning apparatus comprising a substrate transfer robot which holds the substrates all at once and transfers them to the cleaning section and the substrate drying section, in which the cassette is loaded from the front facing the clean room work area to the rear facing the maintenance work area. The carry-out section, the substrate transfer section, the substrate drying section, and the cleaning processing section are arranged in order, and
The moving part of the substrate transfer robot is arranged on one side of the substrate transfer part / substrate drying part / cleaning processing part, and the cleaning processing part is composed of a plurality of overflow type cleaning processing parts. The processing section
It is equipped with a cleaning tank, a cleaning liquid supply unit for supplying a plurality of types of cleaning liquid from the lower portion of the cleaning tank, and a cleaning liquid discharge unit for discharging the cleaning liquid overflowing from the cleaning tank to a drain pipe, which is sequentially supplied to the cleaning tank. A substrate cleaning apparatus, characterized in that the substrate is cleaned with the cleaning liquid and then discharged to a drain pipe. 2. A carrying-in / carrying-out section of the substrate accommodating cassette, a substrate transferring section for taking out a substrate from the cassette or loading a board into the cassette, and a cassette between the carrying-in / carrying-out section of the cassette and the substrate transferring section. A cassette transfer robot for transfer, a cleaning unit for cleaning multiple substrates at once, a drying unit for drying multiple substrates at once, and a plurality of substrates taken out of the cassette at the substrate transfer unit at once A substrate cleaning apparatus comprising a substrate transfer robot which holds and transfers the cassette to the cleaning processing section and the substrate drying section, in which the cassette is loaded and unloaded from the front facing the clean room work area to the rear facing the maintenance work area. Section, substrate transfer section, substrate drying section, cleaning processing section are arranged in order,
The moving part of the substrate transfer robot is arranged on one side of the substrate transfer part / substrate drying part / cleaning processing part, and the cleaning processing part is composed of a plurality of overflow type cleaning processing parts and an acid cleaning processing part. Each of the overflow type cleaning processing units includes a substrate cleaning tank, a cleaning liquid supply unit that supplies a plurality of types of cleaning liquid from the bottom of the cleaning tank, and a cleaning liquid discharge unit that discharges the cleaning liquid overflowing from the cleaning tank to a drain pipe. The substrate is cleaned with a cleaning liquid that is sequentially supplied to the cleaning tank and then discharged to a drain pipe, and the acid cleaning processing unit includes an acid cleaning tank and a cleaning tank. An acid cleaning liquid supply unit for supplying an acid cleaning liquid and an acid cleaning liquid recovery unit for recovering the acid cleaning liquid from the acid cleaning tank are provided, and the acid cleaning processing unit is disposed behind the overflow type cleaning processing unit. , The acid cleaning unit A substrate cleaning device that is moved backward so as to face the maintenance work area and moved away from the clean room work area. 3. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a cassette cleaning unit is arranged near the loading / unloading unit.