JPH0669176A - Wafer cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a wafer cleaner which can effectively clean a wafer with a small amount of cleaning water. CONSTITUTION:A supporting plate 8 for supporting a carrier plate 12 in inclined condition is erected at the bottom of a tank 2 wherein the carrier plate 12 to which a water is stuck can be accommodated, and a spray nozzle 16 for spraying shower of pressure water toward the face to be cleaned of the carrier plate 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer cleaning apparatus for cleaning a surface of a wafer having a back surface to be polished attached to a carrier plate after mechanochemical polishing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For mechanochemical mirror polishing of silicon wafers, a plurality of wafers are attached to a disk-shaped carrier plate by sticking the back surface of the surface to be polished with wax or the like.
The entire carrier plate is attached to a polishing apparatus, and mechanochemical polishing is performed a predetermined number of times while dropping colloidal silica as an abrasive in an alkaline solution.

At this time, before the wafer polished by the polishing apparatus is sent to the next secondary or final polishing apparatus, or before the polishing by the final polishing apparatus is finished and the wafer is recovered, the wafer is removed from the carrier plate. The surface to be polished of the wafer is washed with pure water immediately after polishing in the undried state as it is adhered to the surface of the wafer to completely remove the alkali, the polishing agent, and the polishing product remaining on the surface to be polished. To form a natural oxide film.

Conventionally, when cleaning a wafer attached to this carrier plate, a large-capacity water tank is filled with pure water, the carrier plate is submerged in the water tank, and then the carrier plate is washed. The method of pulling up was used.

[0005]

In the conventional cleaning method as described above, a large amount of pure water is required for cleaning, and it is required to reduce the amount of pure water used in terms of cost and energy required for producing pure water. It was being done.

Further, in the conventional cleaning method, in a large carrier plate in which a plurality of large-diameter wafers such as 8-inch wafers are stuck, a very active polished surface immediately after polishing is uniformly formed with a natural oxide film. Difficult to do,
There is a problem in that a non-uniform portion of the oxide film called alkali-etched stain or haze is formed on the polished surface.
The present invention is intended to solve the above problems.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a wafer cleaning apparatus for cleaning a surface to be polished of a wafer having the rear surface of the surface to be polished adhered to a carrier plate, wherein the carrier plate can be housed. A water tank, a plate support portion that is erected at the bottom of the water tank and supports the carrier plate, and a plane that is provided on the water tank and that includes the surface to be cleaned of the carrier plate that is supported by the plate support portion. And a spray nozzle for injecting shower-like pressured water in a tilted state.

[0008]

In the wafer cleaning apparatus having the above structure,
The carrier plate is supported by the plate support part with the surface to be cleaned facing the spray nozzle side, and in this state, shower-like pressure water is jetted, and the surface to be polished of the wafer is cleaned by the pressure water. To be done.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 3 show a wafer cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a side view, FIG. 2 is a plan view, and FIG. 3 is a front view.

In these drawings, reference numeral 2 denotes a water tank in which a predetermined number of carrier plates 12 to be described later are formed so as to be able to be housed, and a tank body 4 having an open upper part and a lower part of the tank body 4 are attached. The gantry 6 is roughly configured.

A semicircular cut 8 is formed in the bottom of the tank body 4.
Support plates (corresponding to plate support portions) 8 on which a (see FIG. 3) are formed are erected parallel to each other and at an angle of about 5 ° with respect to the vertical direction in a side view. These support plates 8 ... Are carrier plates 12 ... As shown in FIG.
Is supported on the bottom of the tank body 4 in a state of being inclined at an angle of about 5 ° with respect to the vertical plane. A plurality of wafers 1 are provided on one surface (cleaning surface) of the carrier plate 12.
0 is attached to the back surface of the surface to be polished by wax or the like.

Further, a hose-shaped cushioning member 14 is laid on a portion of the bottom of the tank body 4 with which the outer peripheral portion of the carrier plate 12 abuts.

A pair of left and right spray nozzles 1 are provided at both ends in the width direction (left and right direction in FIG. 3) of the upper portion of the tank body 4.
A plurality of 6, 6 are provided along the length direction of the tank body 4 (the left-right direction in FIG. 1). This spray nozzle 16
It is for injecting pure water supplied from a water conduit (not shown) in a shower-like manner from its tip end with a constant pressure. The pair of left and right spray nozzles 16 and 16 are in a state in which the axes of both tip ends are in the same vertical plane and are oriented substantially at the center of the carrier plate 12 supported by the support plate 8 with each other. . In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the angle formed by the axis of the spray nozzle 16 and the horizontal direction is 45 degrees.

A valve 18 for draining water is provided below the tank body 4.

In the wafer cleaning apparatus having the above structure, the polished carrier plate 12 is carried in from the upper portion of the tank body 4, and is supported by the support plate 8 with the surface to be polished of the wafers 10 facing the shower nozzle 16. Excuse me. Thereafter, shower-shaped pressure water is alternately jetted from the pair of left and right spray nozzles 16 and 16 to spray the surface to be polished of the wafer. The pure water that has come into contact with the surface to be polished of the wafer 10 and has flowed down is guided from the valve 18 to the lower portion of the water tank 2 and collected.

Wafer 1 using the above wafer cleaning apparatus
In cleaning 0 ..., it is not necessary to fill the entire water tank 2 with pure water, and the minimum amount of water required for cleaning the wafers 10 may be sprayed from the spray nozzles 16. The amount of water can be significantly reduced, the manufacturing cost of the wafers 10 can be reduced, and the energy required for manufacturing pure water used as pressure water can be saved.

Further, since the dirt removed from the surface to be polished of the wafer 10 flows down to the bottom of the water tank 2 together with the pressure water, alkali remains or particles are generated on the wafer 10.
It does not adhere to ... and has a high wafer cleaning effect.

Further, in the above-described conventional wafer cleaning method, it was not possible to lift the carrier plate 12 by using the vacuum chuck when carrying the carrier plate 12 into the water tank. This is because pure water in the water tank is sucked when the carrier plate 12 is loaded. On the other hand, in the above wafer cleaning apparatus, since the water tank 2 is not filled with pure water before and after cleaning, a vacuum chuck can be used to carry in the carrier plate 12, resulting in a great work efficiency. Have the advantage of improving.

[0019]

As described above, according to the wafer cleaning apparatus of the present invention, the amount of water required for cleaning the wafer can be significantly reduced, the wafer manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the pure water used as the pressure water can be reduced. The energy required for manufacturing can be saved.

Further, the alkali or the like removed from the surface to be polished of the wafer flows down to the bottom of the water tank together with the pressure water, so that it is uniformly exposed to the air and a uniform natural oxide film is formed and particles adhere to the wafer. And the wafer cleaning effect is high.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a wafer cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the wafer cleaning apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the wafer cleaning apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of part A of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a carrier plate to which a wafer is attached.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Water tank 8 Plate support 10 Wafer 12 Carrier plate 16 Spray nozzle

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A wafer cleaning apparatus for cleaning a surface to be polished of a wafer having a back surface to be polished adhered to a carrier plate, wherein a water tank in which the carrier plate can be housed and a bottom portion of the water tank are provided. A shower support in a state of being inclined with respect to a plane including a plate support portion that stands upright and supports the carrier plate, and a carrier plate that is provided above the water tank and that is supported by the plate support portion and that includes a surface to be cleaned of the carrier plate. A wafer cleaning apparatus comprising: a spray nozzle for spraying pressurized water.