JPH08162435A - Spin cleaning and drying equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent water drops from attaching to the ceiling of a cleaning chamber, by compulsorily discharging mist from a discharging means in the lower part of the cleaning chamber, and making the outside air flow into the chamber from the holes on the upper part of the cleaning chamber. CONSTITUTION: When mist in a cleaning chamber 2 is compulsorily discharged by a discharging means 6, the outside air flows into the chamber, from the holes 2b. The outside air flows along the inner surface of the ceiling 2c of the cleaning chamber 2, flows down in the vicinity of an opening door 2a, and is sucked through a suction port 6a and discharged outside of the cleaning chamber 2 by a discharging means 6. After this spin cleaning is finished, the supply of cleaning fluid is stopped. While high pressure gas is supplied from a nozzle 5a of a high pressure gas supply means 5, a spinner table 3 is rotated at a high speed. Thus a wafer or the like is spin-dried.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spin cleaning / drying apparatus for cleaning and drying wafers and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional spin cleaning / drying apparatus rotates a spinner table holding a wafer or the like at high speed,
The cleaning liquid is supplied from the nozzle of the cleaning liquid supply means to spin-clean the wafer and the like, and after completion of the spin cleaning, high-pressure gas such as air and N ₂ gas (3 Kgf / cm ² ) is supplied to the surface of the wafer and the like to spin-dry. It is a thing.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional spin cleaning / drying apparatus, a transparent cleaning chamber is provided on the upper part of the apparatus to prevent the cleaning liquid from splashing around during the spin cleaning. Water droplets adhering to the surface may fall on the surface of a dried wafer or the like and cause contamination, which sometimes necessitates recleaning. In addition, in order to solve such a problem, a cylindrical cover without a ceiling may be provided, but a new problem that the mist scatters from the upper part and pollutes the clean room, and the spinner table rotates at a high speed of about 3000 rpm. Therefore, when the suction force is reduced due to a failure or the like, the wafer is scattered, which causes a new problem.
The present invention has been made to eliminate such conventional inconveniences, and an object of the present invention is to provide a spin cleaning / drying apparatus in which water droplets do not adhere to the ceiling surface of a cleaning chamber.

[0004]

As a means for technically solving the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is directed to a spinner table that rotates while suction-holding a wafer or the like, and a spinner table that is disposed so as to face the spinner table. A cleaning chamber including at least a cleaning liquid supply unit and a high-pressure gas supply unit is disposed, a discharge unit for forcibly discharging mist is formed in the lower portion of the cleaning chamber, and an outside air is arranged in an upper portion of the cleaning chamber. The outside air inflow hole to let in is formed,
The main point is spin cleaning and drying equipment.

[0005]

[Operation] During spin cleaning, the mist in the cleaning chamber is forcibly discharged by the discharge means provided in the lower part of the cleaning chamber, and the outside air flows in through the outside air inflow hole provided in the upper part of the cleaning chamber. It flows along the ceiling surface of the cleaning chamber, and therefore water droplets can be prevented from adhering to the ceiling surface of the cleaning chamber.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of a spin cleaning / drying apparatus, which is provided with a transparent cleaning chamber 2 on an upper portion thereof, and an opening / closing door 2a which moves up and down is formed on a front surface thereof so that wafers and the like can be taken in and out. Further, a plurality of outside air inflow holes 2b are formed in the upper part of the back surface.

A spinner table 3 for suction-holding a wafer or the like and rotating at a high speed in the central portion of the cleaning chamber 2
The cleaning solution supply means 4 and the high-pressure air supply means 5 are provided opposite to the spinner table 3, and the discharge means 6 for forcibly discharging the mist is attached to the lower rear portion.

The cleaning liquid supply means 4 has a nozzle 4a at the tip thereof so that the cleaning liquid can be supplied from the nozzle 4a to the surface of the wafer or the like held on the spinner table 3, and the nozzle 4a is attached. Arm 4b
Can swing to the left and right.

The high-pressure gas supply means 5 has a nozzle 5a at its tip so that high-pressure gas can be jetted from the nozzle 5a onto the surface of a wafer or the like, and a supply pipe 5b having a nozzle 4a attached thereto supplies the cleaning liquid. Arm 4b of means 4
It is supported integrally with.

The discharge means 6 has a suction port 6 at its tip.
This suction port 6a is introduced into the cleaning chamber 2 and attached thereto, and the bellows hose 6b side is connected to a suction source (not shown) so that the mist in the cleaning chamber 2 can be forcibly discharged. I am doing it.

The spin cleaning / drying apparatus according to the present invention is constructed as described above, and the opening / closing door 2a of the cleaning chamber 2 is opened and closed to suck and hold a wafer or the like, which is a workpiece, on the spinner table 3. Wafers and the like can be washed and dried while rotating the table 3 at high speed.

In the spin cleaning, while rotating the spinner table 3 at about 800 rpm, pure water containing CO ₂ in order to prevent static electricity from being accumulated on the pure water or the wafer from the nozzle 4a of the cleaning liquid supply means 4, Spraying on the surface of a wafer or the like on the spinner table 3 (pressure 120
Kgf / cm ² ) and spin cleaning is performed. At the time of this spin cleaning, the cleaning liquid supply means 4 is swung in the left-right direction so that the cleaning liquid is evenly supplied to the surface of the wafer or the like. Therefore, the cleaning chamber 2 is filled with mist. Therefore, it is necessary to discharge the mist during cleaning. When the discharge means 6 forcibly discharges the mist in the cleaning chamber 2, the outside air flows in from the outside air inflow hole 2b, the outside air flows along the inner surface of the ceiling 2c of the cleaning chamber 2, and flows down near the opening / closing door 2a. Then, it is sucked from the suction port 6a and discharged to the outside of the cleaning chamber 2 by the discharging means 6.

After the completion of the spin cleaning, the supply of the cleaning liquid is stopped and the nozzle 5a of the high pressure gas supply means 5 is stopped.
While the high-pressure gas is supplied to the surface of the wafer or the like from above, the spinner table 3 is rotated at a high speed at about 3000 rpm to spin-dry the wafer or the like.

Since the outside air flowing in from the outside air inflow hole 2b flows along the inner surface of the ceiling 2c of the cleaning chamber 2 as described above, it is possible to prevent water droplets from adhering to the inner surface of the ceiling 2c during spin cleaning. Can be done. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation in which water drops drop on the surface of a wafer or the like and are contaminated after spin drying. Also, the cleaning chamber 2
Since convection occurs inside and the mist in the cleaning chamber 2 is forcibly discharged by the discharging means 6, spin drying can be efficiently performed.

It should be noted that a thin slit (not shown) may be used instead of the outside air inlet 2b of the above embodiment.
Also, the air in the cleaning chamber 2 may be discharged by the discharging means 6 even during spin drying.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the outside air inflow hole is provided in the upper part of the cleaning chamber of the spin cleaning / drying device, the outside air flowing in from the outside air inflow hole during the spin cleaning flows along the ceiling surface of the cleaning chamber, and water droplets are prevented from adhering to the ceiling surface. It can be prevented. This prevents water droplets from falling on the surface of wafers and other contaminants after spin-drying, eliminating the need for re-cleaning and improving work efficiency, and forcing convection in the cleaning chamber to improve spin-drying efficiency. It has an excellent effect such as In addition, since the cleaning chamber has a ceiling, mist does not scatter from the top and contaminates the inside of the clean room. Furthermore, even when the spinner table rotates at high speed, the suction force decreases due to a failure or the like, and the wafer scatters. Does not injure workers.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a spin cleaning / drying apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Main body 2 ... Washing chamber 2a ... Opening / closing door 2
b ... outside air inflow hole 2c ... ceiling 3 ... spinner table 4 ... cleaning liquid supply means 4a ... nozzle 4b ... arm 5 ... high pressure gas supply means 5a ... nozzle 5b ... supply pipe 6 ... discharge means 6a ... suction port 6b ... bellows hose

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning chamber is provided that includes at least a spinner table that rotates while sucking and holding a wafer and the like, and a cleaning liquid supply unit and a high-pressure gas supply unit that are arranged so as to face the spinner table. In the spin cleaning / drying apparatus, a discharge unit for forcibly discharging mist is formed in a lower portion of the cleaning chamber, and an outside air inflow hole for introducing outside air is formed in an upper portion of the cleaning chamber.