JPH08213352A - Wafer cleaning equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To eliminate contaminant adhering on the surface, the back and the side of the wafer outer periphery, by clamping the wafer outer periphery with an upper brush plate and a lower brush plate, rotaing a spinner table while cleaning fluid is supplied, and making the upper and the lower brush plates rotate following the table. CONSTITUTION: The outer periphery of a wafer W is clamped with the filling parts 6a, 7a of an upper brush plate 6 and a lower brush plate 7. When a spinner table 1 is rotated with a motor 3, the upper brush plate 6 and the lower brush plate 7 rotate following the table. Cleaning fluid is supplied to the filling parts 6a, 7a, and the outer periphery of the wafer W is cleaned. Contaminant adhering to the outer periphery at the time of grinding in the preceeding process can be eliminated. Further, the surface, the back and the side of the outer periphery of the wafer W can be cleaned.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer cleaning device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in the process of processing a semiconductor wafer, a cleaning and drying process is performed after the surface of the wafer is ground. Wafer grinding is performed by, for example, a surface grinding apparatus P as shown in FIG. 3, a wafer W as a workpiece is unloaded from a cassette C by loading / unloading means B, and after centering by a centering apparatus M, it is transferred. It is transported to the first chuck table E by the unit D, where the first chuck table E
Rough-grinding is performed by the spindle unit F, then is transferred to the second chuck table G, and is then finish-ground by the second spindle unit H. The cleaning and drying of the wafer is performed by the spinner cleaning device S mounted on the surface grinding device P, that is, after the finish grinding of the second spindle unit H, the wafer W is transferred to the spinner cleaning device S for cleaning and drying. It

[0003]

In the spinner cleaning apparatus S, the wafer W is suction-fixed by the spinner table 1 as shown in FIG.
While spraying the cleaning liquid from the spray nozzle 2a of the motor 3
Thus, the spinner table 1 is rotated to perform spinner cleaning. After cleaning, the spinner table 1 is rotated at a high speed and air is blown from the jet nozzle 4a of the air supply means 4 to perform drying. However, a large amount of contamination (grinding powder) is generated during the grinding process of the wafer W, and this contamination is mixed in the grinding water supplied during grinding, and is often present on the front and back surfaces and side surfaces of the outer peripheral portion of the wafer fixed by vacuum. Adhere to. For this reason, even if the wafer is cleaned by the spinner cleaning device S after grinding, contamination remains on the outer peripheral portion of the wafer (especially the back surface and the side surface) and cannot be removed cleanly. The present invention has been made to solve such conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a wafer cleaning apparatus capable of cleanly removing contaminants adhering to the outer peripheral portion of a wafer.

[0004]

As a means for technically solving the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is directed to a spinner table that rotates while holding a wafer by suction, and a brush disposed adjacent to the spinner table. The gist is a wafer cleaning apparatus configured by means. Further, the brush means includes an upper brush plate and a lower brush plate, and holds the upper and lower outer peripheral surfaces of the wafer held by the spinner table, and cleans the outer peripheral portion of the wafer under rotation of the spinner table and supply of the cleaning liquid. The upper brush plate and the lower brush plate are circular in shape, and are rotated together with the rotation of the spinner table.

[0005]

[Operation] The upper brush plate and the lower brush plate sandwich the outer peripheral portion of the wafer, and when the spinner table is rotated while the cleaning liquid is supplied, the upper and lower brush plates rotate together and the front and back surfaces of the outer peripheral portion of the wafer and Contamination adhering to the side surface can be removed cleanly.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings (the same members as those in the prior art are designated by the same reference numerals). In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a spinner table mounted in the spinner cleaning device S, and brush means 5 is arranged adjacent to the spinner table 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the brush means 5 has a circular upper brush plate 6 and a circular lower brush plate 7, which are opposed to each other with the bristles 6a, 7a facing inward, and the tip of the revolving arm 8 is provided. The hairs 6a and 7a are rotatably and rotatably supported to each other via a support shaft 9, and the tips of the hairs 6a and 7a are arranged so as to be in contact with each other or to maintain a minute gap.

The swivel arm 8 has its base end attached to the rotary shaft 10a of the drive motor 10 and is swung to an appropriate angle by the forward and reverse rotations of the drive motor 10 to move to an operating position A and a retracted position Z. It is positioned.

Although not shown in the drawings, brushes 6a, 7a are provided with brush cleaning liquid supply means (the cleaning liquid supply means 2 may also be used) so that the cleaning liquid is supplied from the inside or the outside, and the upper part. The brush plate 6 and the lower brush plate 7 may be configured to be forcedly rotated. Further, the upper brush plate 6 and the lower brush plate 7 may be configured to be separated / approached from each other, or only one of them may be configured.

In the spinner cleaning device S, a cleaning liquid supply means 2 and an air supply means 4 are arranged in association with the spinner table 1 as in the conventional case, and spray nozzles 2a and 4a are provided at the tips thereof. ing.

Reference numeral 11 is a side cover, which is a cylinder 1.
It is moved up and down by 2 and a flange portion 11a is formed on its upper edge so that it can be closely attached to the upper cover 13.

The wafer cleaning apparatus according to the present invention is constructed as described above. When the wafer W, which is the object to be cleaned, is first conveyed to the spinner table 1 and suction-fixed, the side cover 11 moves up and the upper cover 13 is held. To form a housing.

Next, the revolving arm 8 is revolved by the drive motor 10 from the retracted position Z to the operating position A, and the bristle portions 6a and 7a of the upper and lower brush plates 6 and 7 clamp the outer peripheral portion of the wafer W. (In the case where the upper brush plate 6 and the lower brush plate 7 are configured to be separated / approached from each other, when the swivel arm 8 swivels from the retracted position Z to the operating position A, the swivel arm 8 is set to the disengaged state and the operating position A When the spinner table 1 is rotated by the motor 3, the upper and lower brush plates 6 and 7 can be safely held. And the cleaning liquid is supplied to the bristles 6a and 7a, and the outer peripheral portion of the wafer W can be cleaned. Therefore, it is possible to cleanly remove the contaminants adhering to the outer peripheral portion of the wafer W during the grinding in the previous step, and also to clean the front and back surfaces and side surfaces of the outer peripheral portion of the wafer W.

After this brush cleaning, the swivel arm 8 is swung from the operating position A to the retracted position Z and stopped, and the cleaning water is sprayed from the spray nozzle 2a of the cleaning liquid supply means 2 to spinner-clean the surface of the wafer W. . However, the spinner cleaning may be performed before the brush cleaning or at the same time as the brush cleaning.

After the cleaning, while the spinner table 1 is rotated at a high speed, air is jetted from the jet nozzle 4a of the air supply means 4 to dry the surface of the wafer W.

After this drying, the rotation of the spinner table 1 is stopped, the side cover 11 is lowered to open the housing, the suction of the spinner table 1 is released, and the suction means (not shown) having a suction pad is used. The processed wafer W is taken out.

After unloading, the next wafer is again loaded onto the spinner table 1, the side cover 11 is raised to form a hermetically sealed housing, and brush cleaning, spinner cleaning and air drying are performed therein. On the other hand, the processed wafer that has been carried out is carried into the accommodation cassette J by the carrying-in / carrying-out means B shown in FIG.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Brush means with a simple structure is added to the spinner cleaning device, the outer peripheral part of the wafer is sandwiched between the upper brush plate and the lower brush plate, and the spinner table is rotated under the supply of the cleaning liquid, so that the outer periphery of the wafer during the grinding process This has the effect of cleanly removing contaminants adhering to the front and back surfaces and side surfaces of the part.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of brush means.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a surface grinding apparatus equipped with a wafer cleaning apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional spinner cleaning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Spinner table 2 ... Cleaning liquid supply means 2
a ... injection nozzle 3 ... motor 4 ... air supply means 4a ... injection nozzle 5 ... brush means 6 ... upper brush plate 6a ... bristles 7 ... lower brush plate 7a ... bristles 8 ... swivel arm 9 ... support shaft
10 ... Drive motor 10a ... Rotating shaft 11 ... Side cover 11a ... Flange 12 ... Cylinder
13 ... Top cover

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A wafer cleaning apparatus comprising a spinner table for rotating a wafer while sucking and holding the wafer, and brush means arranged adjacent to the spinner table. 2. The brush means includes an upper brush plate and a lower brush plate, holds the upper and lower outer peripheral surfaces of the wafer held by the spinner table, and cleans the outer peripheral portion of the wafer while rotating the spinner table and supplying the cleaning liquid. Claim 1
The wafer cleaning apparatus described. 3. The upper brush plate and the lower brush plate are circular, and are rotated by the rotation of the spinner table.
The wafer cleaning apparatus according to claim 2.