JPH0851092A - Processing and cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To protect the treated surfaces of works located at both the ends of a row works against contamination when the works are treated. CONSTITUTION:When wafers W each having a treated front surface and an untreated rear surface are cleaned in a chemical cleaning treatment tank 25 as they are arranged in a row, a row of wafers W is separated at its center to be grouped into two groups W1 and W2, and the wafer groups W1 and W2 are cleansed making the treated front surfaces of the wafers confront inwards each other. Even if contaminants are present near the inner wall of the chemical cleaning treatment tank 25, the two wafers located at both the ends of the row of wafers are held making their untreated rear surfaces confront the wall, so that their treated front surfaces are protected against contamination.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A cleaning process in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device such as an LSI will be described as an example. Conventionally, contamination of particles, organic contaminants, metal impurities, etc. on the surface of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as "wafer") is prevented. A cleaning device is used to remove the particles. Among them, the wet type cleaning device can remove particles effectively and can perform batch processing.
Widely used.

In such a cleaning apparatus, a loading mechanism for delivering a predetermined number of wafers, for example, 25 wafers in carrier units, and a transporting apparatus for transporting, for example, 50 wafers each for two carriers loaded by the loading mechanism. And a plurality of processing tanks arranged so as to collectively clean the wafers transferred by the transfer device, and an unload mechanism for unloading the wafers cleaned by the processing tanks. .

The carrier carried into the apparatus is moved from the carry-in position to a first predetermined position by an appropriate moving device, and from the first predetermined position to another second predetermined position, for example, the above-mentioned load. It is transferred to a certain position of the mechanism by a transfer device and then, for example, by a push-up device,
Only the wafer is taken out, held by a holding device such as a wafer chuck in the transfer device, and transferred to the processing bath.

By the way, the wafer has a smooth processed surface on which a device is formed, and usually has a mirror-like appearance. Wafers are housed in the carrier with all the processing surfaces facing in one direction (usually the handle side of the carrier). For example, all wafers loaded into the cleaning device together with the carrier by a transfer robot are in front of the device. The processing surface is oriented in the direction. Therefore, not only the processes in the transfer device, the push-up device, and the wafer chuck described above, but also in the processing tank, all the wafers have been subjected to cleaning with their processing surfaces oriented in the same direction.

[0006]

For cleaning in the treatment tank, for example, a chemical solution such as sulfuric acid is supplied into the treatment tank from the bottom of the treatment tank and overflows from the upper portion of the treatment tank.
This is performed by immersing the wafer in this chemical flow. However, depending on the form of the flow of the chemical solution, particles are often contaminated on the outside of the wafers located at both ends, that is, on the portion facing the inner wall of the processing tank, in the aligned wafer group.

As described above, since the wafers are cleaned in such a state that their processing surfaces are all directed in the same direction, there is a problem with the wafers having the non-processing surface of the back surface facing the inner wall of the processing tank among the wafers at both ends. However, with respect to the remaining wafers, that is, the wafers whose processing surface faces the inner wall of the processing tank, the processing surface is contaminated, and the yield immediately decreases accordingly. Therefore, as a countermeasure against that, among the 50 wafers, one wafer at the end of which the processing surface is directed to the inner wall of the processing tank was cleaned from the beginning by using a dummy wafer.

However, although this is a cleaning apparatus originally designed to be able to process 50 wafers in one batch, the number of dummy wafers is practically small.
Only 49 sheets per batch can be processed, resulting in a decrease in throughput.

Further, the present invention has been made in view of the above point, and the method of performing the processing in a state where the processing surfaces of the objects to be processed are all aligned in one direction and aligned, for example, the objects to be aligned are halved. It is possible to improve the yield and the throughput by separately treating the treated surfaces so that the treated surfaces face each other or vice versa so that the treatment and cleaning can be performed in the state where the non-treated surfaces face each other. That is the purpose.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, an object to be processed is taken out from an accommodating member accommodating a plurality of substrates to be processed and transferred to a jig for mounting in a processing container. In a processing device having a transfer device and configured to perform a predetermined process on a substrate to be processed mounted on a mounting jig in the processing container, the front and back surfaces of the substrate to be processed (each storage member or the There is provided a processing apparatus characterized in that a reversing mechanism for reversing only a processing substrate) is provided before the transfer step to the mounting jig.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a moving device for moving the housing member housing a plurality of objects to be processed from the position carried into the device to the first predetermined position, and the moving device for moving the first predetermined position to another position. A transfer device for transferring the storage member to a second predetermined position, a processing object take-out device for taking out the processing target object from the storage member at the second predetermined position, and a holding object for holding the processing target object taken out. In a cleaning device equipped with a transfer device for transferring the storage member and a processing tank for cleaning an object to be processed transferred by the transfer device in the tank, the rotating mechanism for rotating the storage member by at least 180 ° in the horizontal direction is moved. A cleaning device is provided, which is provided in the device.

In this case, as in claim 3, two moving devices are provided, and the storage member is at least 18 horizontally.
The rotating mechanism that rotates 0 ° may be a cleaning device provided in at least one of these two moving devices.

Further, in the cleaning device configured as described above, as described in claim 4, the storage member may be rotated by the rotating mechanism while being moved by the moving device.

Further, as described in claim 5, in the vicinity of the in-apparatus carry-in position in each of the cleaning devices, and as described in claim 6, the presence or absence of the object to be processed in the storage member is detected in the moving device. You may provide the detection device which does.

Further, as described in claim 7 or claim 8, a storage member fixing device capable of fixing the storage member is provided at the first predetermined position and / or the second predetermined position. Good.

It is more preferable that the storage member fixing device in these cases is provided with a pressing mechanism capable of pressing the storage member to the one guide member as described in claim 9, and in such a case, further. As described in 10,
With respect to the storage member fixing device provided at the first predetermined position, if a material having a large frictional resistance, such as silicon, is used for the contact portion of the pressing mechanism with the storage member, further preferable operational effects can be obtained.

With respect to the storage member fixing device provided at the second predetermined position, as described in claim 11, a material having a small frictional resistance, such as Teflon or Delrin, is attached to the contact portion of the pressing mechanism with the storage member. With
More preferable. In this case, as for the guide member, as described in claim 12, it has guide corners for receiving both end portions of the storage member on both sides, and the guide corner is opened in a taper shape toward the pressing mechanism side. You may make it have a form.

Further, as described in claim 13, a number detecting device for detecting the number of processed objects taken out from the storage member may be provided at the second predetermined position.

Further, according to the present invention, as described in claim 14, between the space near the second predetermined position in each cleaning device configured as described above and the space where the processing tank is located. There is provided a cleaning device including a first atmosphere blocking device capable of blocking an atmosphere. Further, according to claim 15, a cleaning device comprising a second atmosphere blocking device capable of blocking an atmosphere between a space near the second predetermined position and a transfer area of the transfer device. Will be provided. Further, according to claim 16, a third atmosphere blocking device is provided, which is capable of blocking the atmosphere between the upper space of the processing tank and the upper space of another processing tank adjacent to this processing tank. , A cleaning device is provided. The first, second, and third atmosphere blocking devices in these cases may be, for example, opening / closing shutters configured to be vertically movable, and further air curtains.

[0020]

According to the processing apparatus of the present invention, the reversing mechanism for reversing the front and back surfaces of the substrate to be processed together with the storage member or only the object to be processed is provided before the transfer step to the mounting jig in the processing container. Since it is equipped, when transferring to a mounting jig,
For example, the substrates are divided into groups with the center as the boundary, and it is possible to mount the substrates to be processed in each group with the processed surface facing the center or the non-processed surface facing the center. Therefore, a plurality of substrates to be processed that are mounted in an aligned state can be arranged and processed such that the processing surfaces face each other with the center as a boundary. In this case, the processing substrates located at both ends are all processing surfaces. Since it is directed toward the center, that is, the inside, even if there is a contaminating element such as a particle generation region outside both ends, the treatment surface is not directly affected. Of course, conversely, it is also possible to perform processing with the non-processed surfaces facing inward with the center as the boundary.

According to the cleaning device of the second aspect, since the moving mechanism is provided with the rotating mechanism for rotating the storage member at least 180 ° in the horizontal direction, the storage members carried into the device are successively transferred to the first device. When moving the storage members to a predetermined position, for example, by rotating every other one by 180 ° and moving the storage members, it is necessary to collectively process the objects to be processed of the two storage members. It is possible to carry out the subsequent process by making the processing surfaces of the processing body face each other, or conversely, making the non-processing surfaces face each other.

In the third aspect of the present invention, since two moving devices are provided and at least one of the two moving devices is provided with the rotating mechanism, two storage members are simultaneously carried into the device. It can be dealt with in any case.

Further, as described in claim 4, when the storage member is rotated by the rotating mechanism during the movement by the moving device, the efficiency is higher than the case where the rotation and the movement are performed individually. Well, it is possible to improve the throughput accordingly.

As described in claim 5 or 6, if the moving device is provided with a detecting device for detecting the presence or absence of the object to be processed in the storage member in the vicinity of the carry-in position in the device or in the moving device, the first predetermined value is obtained. It is possible to detect the presence or absence of the object to be processed in the storage member before moving it to the position, and it is possible to prevent wasteful processing, unexpected situations, etc. before and at the earliest point.

If a storage member fixing device capable of fixing the storage member is provided at the first predetermined position and / or the second predetermined position as described in claims 7 and 8, for example, Since the storage member does not wobble when performing orientation flat alignment when the processing object is a semiconductor wafer,
A stable orientation flat adjustment can be performed. Further, when it is provided at the second predetermined position, when the operation of taking out the object to be processed from the storage member is carried out at the second predetermined position, the storage member is stably fixed, so that the removal work without error can be performed. It can be carried out.

According to the ninth aspect of the invention, when the storage member fixing device is provided with the pressing mechanism capable of pressing the storage member against the one guide member, the storage member is firmly fixed. In this case, regarding the storage member fixing device at the first predetermined position, as described in claim 10, if a material having a large frictional resistance, such as silicon, is used for the contact portion of the pressing mechanism with the storage member, for example, If the processing object is a wafer,
When the orientation flat is aligned, there is no positional deviation due to the rising of the storage member, and accurate fixing by pressing is possible.

According to the eleventh and twelfth aspects, even if the storage member is slightly displaced during pressing, it can be easily received between the guide corners.

According to the thirteenth aspect, if a sheet number detecting device for detecting the number of processing objects taken out from the storage member is provided at the above-mentioned second predetermined position, the stage immediately before cleaning in the processing tank can be performed. Since it is possible to confirm the number of objects to be processed, it is easy to know that the object to be processed is falling during cleaning by comparing with the number of objects to be processed after the processing.

By the way, since the atmosphere in the space near the second predetermined position in the cleaning device does not involve a chemical process like the space with a processing tank, in view of mutual atmospheric pollution due to chemical mist, particles, etc. It is preferable that the atmosphere is different from that of the space. In this respect, according to claim 14, the atmospheres in the space near the second predetermined position and the space in which the processing tank is provided are shut off by the first atmosphere shut-off device, so that the processing in each space is mutually performed. Affected by pollution is suppressed.

According to the fifteenth aspect, the atmosphere between the space near the second predetermined position and the transportation area where particles are likely to be generated during the transportation is blocked by the second atmosphere blocking device. Therefore, mutual pollution of these spaces can be suppressed.

Regarding the cleaning treatment itself in the treatment tank, for example, it is divided into a chemical solution treatment tank and a pure water treatment tank, and the chemical solution treatment tank also has different treatment tanks such as hydrofluoric acid and sulfuric acid. Considering that the mist of each chemical floats, it is desirable to shut off the atmosphere between the upper spaces of these processing tanks. In this respect, according to claim 16,
Since a third atmosphere blocking device that can shut off the atmosphere between the upper space of the processing tank and the upper space of another processing tank adjacent to this processing tank is provided, the above-mentioned processing tank upper space can be mutually isolated. The atmosphere pollution of is suppressed.

[0032]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. This embodiment is an example applied to a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as "wafer") cleaning apparatus. The entire cleaning apparatus will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning apparatus 1 includes a carry-in section 2 for loading a wafer before cleaning processing in carrier units, and a cleaning processing section 3 for cleaning a wafer. And a carry-out section 4 for taking out the wafer after the cleaning processing in carrier units, in total, three zones.

A carrier C containing a predetermined number of uncleaned wafers, for example 25, is carried into the carry-in section 2.
A mounting unit 5 for mounting and a transfer device 7 for transferring the mounted carriers C to the alignment unit 6 are provided. Further, in the cleaning processing unit 3, three transfer devices 11, 12, 13 are arranged on the front side (front side in FIG. 1), and the wafers corresponding to these transfer devices 11, 12, 13 respectively. Chuck 14, 15, 16 are provided.
The wafer chuck 14 of the transfer device 11 is configured to hold two carrier wafers (for example, 50 wafers) from the alignment section 6 and then transfer these wafers to a cleaning processing tank described later. .

Further, also in the carry-out section 4, a placing section 8 having substantially the same configuration as the placing section 5, an aligning section (not shown) having the same configuration as the aligning section 6, and the transfer device 7 are provided. Transfer devices (not shown) having the same configuration are provided respectively.

In the cleaning processing section 3, a chuck cleaning / drying processing tank 21 for cleaning and drying the wafer chuck 14 of the transfer device 11 in order from the mounting section 5 side, organic contaminants on the wafer surface, metal impurities, Chemical solution cleaning processing tank 22 for cleaning impurities such as particles with a chemical solution, two water cleaning cleaning processing tanks 23, 24 for cleaning wafers cleaned in the chemical solution cleaning processing tank 22 with, for example, pure water, the chemical solution cleaning processing tank 22. A chemical cleaning treatment tank 25 for performing a cleaning treatment with a chemical different from the chemical in 22; two water cleaning treatment tanks 26, 27 for cleaning the wafers cleaned in the chemical cleaning treatment tank 25 with, for example, pure water; The chuck cleaning / drying processing bath 28 for cleaning and drying the wafer chuck 16 of the above, and the wafer from which the impurities have been removed are subjected to, for example, IPA (isoprene). Drying tank 29 for causing the steam dried pills alcohol) or the like, are respectively disposed.

Next, the details of each zone will be described.
First, the mounting portion 5 has a stage 31 on the upper surface of which the carrier C is directly mounted, as shown in FIGS. Then, stations 32, 33, 34, and 35 formed by openings are set on the stage 31 in order from the front direction along the Y direction. Further, these stations 32, 33, 34, 35 are communicated with each other by passage portions 36, 37, 38 formed by narrow openings having a width through which columns of a moving member described later can pass. The carrier C is then connected to each station 32, 33, 34,
The peripheral edge of the lower surface is placed on the peripheral edge of the opening in 35, so that it can be placed at a predetermined position of each station 32, 33, 34, 35.

A moving member 41 for moving the placed carrier C is provided inside the placing portion 5. This moving member 41, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4,
A moving table 42 for directly supporting the carrier C on the upper part thereof
A rotary mechanism 43 for rotating the moving table 42 by 180 degrees in the horizontal direction, and the moving table 4
Lifting mechanism 44 for vertically moving 2 together with rotating mechanism 43
In addition, the entire moving member 41 is moved in the mounting portion 5 in the Y direction by an appropriate driving mechanism (not shown).
That is, the stations 32, 33, 34, and 35 are movable along the arrangement direction.

The moving table 42 has, for example, a substantially H shape in a plane, and grooves 45 for receiving the peripheral edge of the lower surface of the carrier C are formed at a total of four positions at each protruding corner portion.
Therefore, when the moving member 41 moves the carrier C up and down by the elevating mechanism 44, rotates 180 degrees by the rotating mechanism 43, or moves the carrier C together with the moving member 41 to another station,
The lower edge of the moving table is moved in a state of being received by the groove 45 of the moving table 42. An optical wafer sensor (not shown) is provided on the stage 31, and the carrier C placed on the moving table 42 is mounted on the stage 31.
The presence / absence of the wafer W therein is detected.

At the periphery of the openings of the stations 34 and 35, carrier fixing devices 51 and 51 as shown in FIG.
Is provided. The carrier fixing device 51 includes a guide member 52 fixed on the stage 31 and a pressing mechanism 53 that can press the guide member 52.

The guide member 52 receives guide corners 54, 5 for receiving one end portions (corners) of the lower portion of the carrier C.
5 and each of these guide corners 54, 55
Has a planar shape in which it opens in a tapered shape toward the pressing mechanism 53 side. Therefore, carrier C
When the carrier C is pressed by the pressing mechanism 53 as it is when the carrier C is slightly displaced, the guide corner 5
It is possible to guide to a predetermined position by means of 4, 55.

The pressing mechanism 53 is composed of a pressing portion 56 and a support portion 57 which supports the pressing portion 56 so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction. On the front surface (on the side of the guide member 52) of the pressing portion 56, contact members 58 that are in direct contact with the carrier when the lower portion of the carrier C is pressed against the guide member 52 are fixed at two locations. As a material of the contact member 58, a material having a large friction coefficient and a small amount of particles generated, for example, silicon is suitable. By adopting such a material, it is possible to realize a reliable pressing without positional deviation.

Further, the pressing portion 56 of the pressing mechanism 53.
An appropriate elastic member, for example, a coil spring 59 is interposed in the space between the support part 57 and the support part 57. The lower part of the carrier C is evenly pressed by the contact member 58 in cooperation with the rotation support. It is configured to do. The support part 57 has a link mechanism 60 installed in the mounting part 5.
By driving the actuator 61 via the
As indicated by the reciprocating arrow A in FIG.
Can be pressed freely.

Further, orientation flat aligning devices 71, 71 for aligning the orientation flats of the wafers W in the carrier C fixed by the carrier fixing device 51 are installed below the stations 34, 35, respectively. This orientation flat aligning device 71 has a rotary drive roller 7 which is vertically movable as shown by a reciprocating arrow B in FIG.
2, the rotary driving roller 72 is raised toward the inside of the opening formed on the lower surface of the carrier C and comes into contact with the lower surface of the wafer W, and then the rotary driving roller 72 is rotated. The orientation flats of the wafers W in the carrier C are aligned in one direction.

Next, the details of the aligning section 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. The upper surface of the aligning section 6 can be lowered relative to the upper surface of the main body of the aligning section 6 (broken line arrow in FIG. 7). A movable stage 81 is provided. Further, the movable stage 81 further includes wafer holding devices 82 and 83.
Openings 84 and 85 through which the carrier can pass are formed, and carrier fixing devices having a configuration slightly different from that of the above carrier fixing device 51 are installed at the peripheral portions of these openings 84 and 85, respectively. The guide member 52 and the pressing mechanism 53 face each other across the openings 84 and 85. Therefore, the two carriers transferred by the above-mentioned transfer device 7 are moved by the carrier fixing device 51 to predetermined positions on the movable stage 81, that is, the lower surface openings of the carriers and the openings 84 and 85. Are fixed at the corresponding positions.

The wafer holding device 82 has a holding groove 86 for receiving and holding the lower end peripheral portion of the wafer W on its upper surface.
Are formed under a predetermined interval, for example, a predetermined number of 25, and are supported by the movable support columns 87. Further, the movable support column 87 is movable toward the wafer holding device 83 side. The wafer holding device 83 also has a holding groove 8 on its upper surface.
A predetermined number of, for example, 25, 8 are formed under a predetermined interval, and the wafer holding device 83 is supported by a fixed support column (not shown).

A wafer counter 91 is installed on the upper surface of the main body of the aligning section 6. This wafer counter 91 is
The guide member 92 is set along the direction, and the sensor member 93 is movable along the guide member 92. Further, the sensor member 93 is provided with a light emitting portion 94 and a light receiving portion which are arranged to face each other. 95 is provided. The light emitted from the light emitting portion 94, for example, laser light is received by the light receiving portion 95, and counting is performed depending on the presence or absence of light reception.

And normally, it is retracted to the end position,
The wafer W is relatively pushed up from the carrier C by the wafer holding devices 82 and 83, and the movable supporting column 87 is used.
When the wafer W is aligned and the wafers W are aligned after completion of so-called biasing, the sensor member 93 causes the guide member 9 to move.
Move along 2. At the time of such movement, as shown in FIG. 7, the light emitting portion 94 and the light receiving portion 95 face each other with the peripheral edge portion of each wafer W interposed therebetween, and when the peripheral edge portion of each wafer W is passed, the light emitting portion 94 is present. The light is blocked by the peripheral portion of the wafer W, so that the light receiving unit 95 cannot receive the light, so that the presence of the wafer W is detected and the number of wafers W is counted.

A light emitting sensor 97 and a light receiving sensor 98 are arranged on the upper surface of the main body of the aligning section 6 so as to face each other in the Y direction with the movable stage 81 interposed therebetween. Luminescence sensor 97
The light receiving sensor 98 receives the light from the above, for example, laser light. And the optical axis at that time is P in FIG.
It is set to the position shown by. Therefore, the wafer W relatively pushed up from the carrier C by the wafer holding devices 82 and 83 is not in the aligned state, and, for example, a certain wafer is held by the wafer holding devices 82 and 83 in the holding grooves 86 and 8.
If the light is not received by the light emitting device 8 and is jumping out (so-called jump slot state), the light from the light emitting sensor 97 is blocked by the protruding wafer and cannot be received by the light receiving sensor 98, so that the wafers are aligned. The suitability of the state can be detected, and the deviation of the orientation flat angle can also be detected.

Further, in the cleaning apparatus 1, as shown in FIG. 3, the aligning section 6 and the chuck cleaning / drying processing tank 2 are arranged.
1 and ascend to clean these alignment parts 6 and chucks.
A shutter 101 that can shut off the atmosphere in each upper space of the drying treatment tank 21 is installed, and the shutter between the aligning section 6 and the area where the above-described transport device 11 moves can be vertically moved to shut off. 102 is also installed. Further, in the present embodiment, between the above-mentioned processing tanks, for example, chuck cleaning /
Similar to the shutter 101, shutters 103 are provided between the dry processing tank 21 and the chemical cleaning processing tank 22 so as to be able to rise and block the atmosphere in each upper space.

The main part of the cleaning apparatus 1 according to this embodiment is constructed as described above. Next, a wafer cleaning process using this cleaning apparatus 1 will be described.
As shown in (a), when the carrier C ₁ is placed on the station 32 of the placing section 5 by the transfer robot (not shown), the moving table 42 of the moving member 41 rises and the carrier C 1 ₁ as it is by the movement member 41, i.e., while the handle Z is facing forward direction, and moves to the innermost station 35, where the moving table 42 is lowered, the carrier C ₁ is station 35
The carrier fixing device 51 is set at a predetermined position. Then, after being set as such, the moving member 41 returns to the station 32 again. As mentioned above, Stage 3
1 is provided with a wafer sensor for detecting the presence / absence of the wafer W in the carrier C. Therefore, if it is confirmed that the wafer W does not exist at the time of mounting, an appropriate warning or the like is issued at this time. Be done.

Next, the second carrier C ₂ is shown in FIG.
When placed on the station 32 as shown in (b), the 180 ° moving table 42 is moved by the rotating mechanism 43 of the moving device 41, as shown in FIG. It rotates and is rotated by 180 ° with respect to the state at the time of loading, that is, the handle Z of the carrier C ₂ is moved to the station 34 in the direction of the back, that is, the direction of the station 35, and moves to the station 34. The carrier fixing device 51 is set at a predetermined position (FIG. 8 (e)).

After that, after the carriers C ₁ and C ₂ are fixed by the carrier fixing devices 51 and 51 of the stations 34 and 35, the rotary drive roller 72 of the orientation flat aligning device 71 is used.
Rises and rotates, and each wafer W in each carrier C ₁ , C ₂
, The rotary drive roller 72 is further raised and rotated by about 180 °, so that the orientation flats of the wafers W are all aligned to the upper side. After the orientation flat alignment is completed in this way, each carrier fixing device 51, 51
Is fixed.

Next, the carriers C ₁ and C ₂ are transferred to the aligning section 6 by the above-mentioned transfer device 7, and the movable stage 81 is moved.
Is placed at a predetermined position. After that, each carrier C is fixed by each carrier fixing device 51, 51 at the periphery of each opening 84, 85.
_1, after the C ₂ is fixed, the movable stage 81 is lowered, the wafer W in the wafer holding device each carrier C _1, the C ₂ by 82 and 83, as each protrudes from the carrier C _1, C ₂ It is held by the holding grooves 86 and 88. In this way, the carrier fixing devices 51, 51 enable the carriers C ₁ , C ₂
Since the wafer is locked at a predetermined position of the movable stage 81, the wafer can be taken out safely and surely by the protrusion. At this time, the light emitting sensor 97 and the light receiving sensor 98 also detect the positional deviation of the jump slot of the wafer W and the orientation flat.

Next, this time, the sensor section 93 of the wafer counter 91 scans the peripheral edge of each wafer W and counts the number thereof. Further, the light emitting sensor 97 and the light receiving sensor 98
By using, it is also confirmed whether all the wafers W are held in an aligned state. After that, the wafer holding device 82 moves to the wafer holding device 83 side, and the intervals of the wafers W are all aligned at the same predetermined interval.

When this process is completed, the wafer chuck 14 of the transfer device 11 transfers 50 wafers W in an aligned state to the respective processing tanks, and the wafers W are immersed therein and sequentially subjected to predetermined cleaning processing. Normally, the wafer W is housed in the carrier C with its processing surface (generally a mirror surface) facing the handle Z side. Thus, FIG. 3, as shown in FIG. 8 (e), in the state in which the handle Z of each carrier C _1, C ₂ are opposed, and the wafer group W ₁ in the carrier C _1, the carrier C ₂ The wafer group W ₂ is in a state in which the processing surfaces face each other and face each other.

Therefore, with respect to the wafer W conveyed by the wafer chuck 14, the processing surfaces of the wafer group W ₁ and the wafer W group ₂ are opposed to each other with the boundary between the 25th wafer and the 26th wafer from the edge. I am letting you. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, as a matter of course, even when the wafer W is immersed in the processing tank, for example, the chemical cleaning processing tank 25 and subjected to the cleaning processing, each wafer W is divided into two at the center, The wafer W of the wafer group W ₁ and the wafer W group ₂ are subjected to cleaning with the processing surfaces facing each other with the center as a boundary.

Normally, as shown in FIG. 9, this type of cleaning is performed by supplying the chemical liquid supply ports 111 and 11 at the bottom of the processing tank.
The chemical liquid flow supplied from 2 is the flow hole 11 of the diffusion plate 113.
This is done by passing through 4 and flowing between the wafers. However, with respect to the wafer W located at the end, there is a possibility that particles may adhere to and contaminate the surface facing the inner wall of the processing tank because it faces the inner wall of the processing tank.

However, in the present embodiment, as described above, the wafer W in the processing tank is divided into two at the center, and the wafer W of the wafer group W ₁ with the center as a boundary,
The processing surface of the wafer W group ₂ is opposed to the wafer W group _2, and the non-processing surface of each of the wafers W located at the end faces the inner wall of the processing bath. Therefore, even if particles or the like adhere to the surface facing the inner wall of the processing tank, it is not the processing surface.
It does not reduce the yield, and it has 1 edge as in the past.
There is no need to use dummy wafers. Therefore, cleaning can be performed more efficiently than before.

When the wafer W is stored in the carrier C and carried out from the cleaning apparatus 1 after the cleaning in each processing tank is completed, the carrier C to be moved is 180 as in the case of the mounting unit 5. Since the mounting unit 8 having a mechanism for rotating by ° is installed in the carry-out unit 4, the carrier C carried out is
All of the handles Z are directed to the front side, and naturally, all the wafers W housed in the carrier C also have their processing surfaces directed in the same direction, which hinders the subsequent transportation and processing. It won't come.

In the cleaning apparatus 1 described above, the wafer sensor 46 in the mounting portion 5 confirms the presence / absence of the wafer W in the carrier C, the light emitting sensor 97, and the light receiving sensor 98.
By detecting the jump slot by, it is possible to prevent accidents and unexpected situations. Further, since the number of wafers W immediately before being subjected to processing can be confirmed by the wafer counter 91, a similar wafer counter is installed in the carry-out section 4, the number of wafers W after cleaning is detected, and both are compared. By doing so, it is possible to detect the falling of the wafer W being processed. Therefore, it is possible to carry out an extremely safe cleaning process.

Further, in the cleaning apparatus 1, shutters are installed not only between the processing tanks but also between the alignment section 6 and the processing tank, and between the alignment section 6 and the transfer area of the transfer device 11. Therefore, the atmosphere in the upper space of each of these places is blocked, and chemical mistakes, particles generated during transportation, and the like diffuse into the apparatus to mutually contaminate the apparatus atmosphere or contaminate the wafer W itself. It is possible to prevent contamination of various devices existing in the alignment section 6 by the chemical solution mist as much as possible.

Although the description of the embodiment of the present invention is finished, in view of the gist of the present invention, a plurality of objects to be processed having a processing surface on one side surface and a non-processing surface on the other side surface are aligned and processed. In a cleaning method of cleaning in a tank, the plurality of objects to be processed are divided into two parts at the center, and the processed surface of the object to be processed located on one side of the center and the object to be processed located on the other side. A cleaning method characterized by cleaning in a state where the surfaces are opposed to each other, or a plurality of objects having a processing surface on one side surface and a non-processing surface on the other side surface are arranged in the processing tank in an aligned state. In the cleaning method for cleaning, the plurality of objects to be processed are divided into two at the center, and the non-processed surface of the object to be processed located on one side with the center as a boundary and the non-processed surface of the object to be processed located on the other side. It is also possible to propose a cleaning method, which is characterized in that cleaning is performed in a state where they are opposed to each other.

In the case of the former cleaning method, when cleaning a plurality of objects to be processed in the processing tank, the plurality of objects to be processed are divided into two groups at the center and the processing surfaces are opposed to each other. Since the cleaning is performed in the state, even if there is a contaminating element such as a particle generation region outside both ends, the processing surface is not directly affected by the influence. In the case of the latter cleaning method, on the contrary, cleaning is performed with the non-treated surfaces facing each other, so when the contaminated element exists in the center,
The processing surface of each object is not directly affected.

Furthermore, the present invention can be applied not only to the above-mentioned cleaning process but also to other processes. That is, in view of the gist of the present invention, a mounting jig on which a plurality of substrates to be processed having a processed surface on the front surface and a non-processed surface on the rear surface are mounted in an aligned state is delivered into a processing container, and When performing a predetermined process on the mounted substrate to be processed, the plurality of substrates to be processed are divided into two at the center, and the processed surface of the substrate to be processed located on one side with the center as a boundary and the other side. The processing surface of the target substrate to be processed is mounted on the mounting jig in a state of being opposed to each other for processing, or conversely, the plurality of target substrates are divided into two at the center, and the center is used as a boundary. It is also possible to propose a processing method in which the non-processed surface of the target substrate located on one side and the non-processed surface of the target substrate located on the other side face each other and are mounted on the mounting jig for processing.

According to the former processing method, even if there are contaminating elements that contaminate the processing surface of the substrate to be processed on both sides of the plurality of substrates to be processed in the aligned state, each of the to-be-processed substrates is processed. Since the processed surface of the substrate is not directly affected by it, it is possible to prevent the yield from decreasing. Further, according to the latter processing method, when a contaminating element exists in the center of a plurality of substrates to be processed in an aligned state, the processing is performed without directly affecting the processing surface of each substrate to be processed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a decrease in yield.

[0066]

According to the processing apparatus described in claim 1,
When transferring the substrate to be processed to the mounting jig, for example, the substrates are divided into groups with the center as the boundary, and the substrates to be processed in either group are mounted with the treated surface facing the center or the non-treated surface facing the center. It becomes possible to do. Therefore,
A plurality of substrates to be processed that are mounted in an aligned state can be arranged and processed such that the processing surfaces face each other or the non-processing surfaces face each other with the center as a boundary. Therefore, for example, even if there is a contaminating element such as a particle generation region outside both ends, the processing surface is not directly affected by it, so that it is possible to prevent a decrease in yield. Of course, as described above, it is also possible to perform processing in the opposite manner with the non-processed surfaces facing inward with the center as the boundary.

According to the cleaning device of the second, third, and fourth aspects, a plurality of objects to be processed having a processing surface on one side surface and a non-processing surface on the other side surface are aligned and cleaned in the processing tank. In the cleaning method, the plurality of objects to be processed are divided into two parts at the center, and the processed surface of the object to be processed located on one side with the center as a boundary,
It is possible to wash with the treated surface of the object to be treated on the other side facing each other, or conversely, with the non-treated surfaces facing each other with the center as a boundary. become. Therefore, when cleaning a plurality of objects to be processed in an aligned state in the processing tank, even if there is a contaminating element or the like on the outside of both ends or in the center, the processing surface of each object directly affects the effect. Since it is not received, cleaning with high yield can be performed. In particular, according to claim 3, it is possible to carry out the cleaning method regardless of the direction in which the objects to be processed are stored in the two storage members carried into the apparatus. Further, according to the fourth aspect, the storage member can be rotated during the movement by the moving device, so that the throughput can be improved.

According to the cleaning apparatus of the fifth and sixth aspects, useless processing, unexpected situations, etc. can be prevented in advance and at the earliest stage in the apparatus.

According to the cleaning apparatus of the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth aspects, for example, when the object to be processed is a semiconductor wafer, the semiconductor wafer can be reliably and accurately taken out by aligning the orientation flat or pushing up. It can be carried out. In that case, in particular, according to claim 8, the fixing of the storage member is strong, and further according to claims 9 and 10, there is no positional deviation during pressing, and accurate pressing and fixing can be performed. According to this, even when the storage member is slightly displaced during the pressing, it is possible to reliably receive it between the guide corners and press and fix it.

According to the cleaning apparatus of the thirteenth aspect,
It is possible to confirm the number of objects to be processed at the stage immediately before the cleaning in the first processing tank. For example, by comparing it with the number of objects to be processed after processing, the objects to be processed can be removed during cleaning. It is easy to know etc.

According to the fourteenth aspect, the atmosphere between the second vicinity of the predetermined position and the space in which the processing tank is located is shut off,
It is possible to suppress mutual contamination in each space and perform cleaning with high yield. According to claim 15, the second
It is possible to cut off the atmosphere between the space in the vicinity of the predetermined position and the transfer area, suppress contamination of these spaces, and improve the yield. According to the sixteenth aspect, it is possible to suppress the atmospheric pollution between the upper spaces of the adjacent processing tanks and improve the yield.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overview of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a mounting portion in the cleaning apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory plan view of a carry-in section in the cleaning apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of a mounting portion of FIG.

5 is an explanatory plan view of the carrier fixing device installed on the mounting portion of FIG. 2. FIG.

6 is a perspective view of an alignment unit in the cleaning apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram of the alignment portion of FIG.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a flow of carriers in the mounting unit of FIG.

9 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a state of cleaning a wafer in a chemical cleaning treatment tank in the cleaning apparatus of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cleaning apparatus 2 Loading section 5 Loading section 6 Alignment section 11, 12, 13 Transfer apparatus 14, 15, 16 Wafer chuck 25 Chemical cleaning process tank 31 Stage 41 Moving member 42 Moving table 43 Rotating mechanism 51 Carrier fixing device 52 Guide member 53 Pressing Mechanism 82, 83 Holding Device 91 Wafer Counter 101, 102, 103 Shutter

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A transfer device for picking up an object to be processed from an accommodating member accommodating a plurality of substrates to be processed and transferring it to a mounting jig inside the processing container, the device being mounted on the mounting jig inside the processing container. In a processing apparatus configured to perform a predetermined process on a substrate to be processed, a reversing mechanism for reversing the substrate to be processed is provided before a transfer step to the mounting jig. Processing equipment. 2. A storage member storing a plurality of objects to be processed,
A moving device that moves the device from the position loaded into the device to a first predetermined position, a transfer device that transfers the storage member from the first predetermined position to another second predetermined position, and a second transfer device.
At a predetermined position, a processing object take-out device for taking out the processing object from the storage member, a carrying device for holding and carrying the taken-out processing object, and a to-be-processed object carried by the carrying device in a tank. A cleaning device comprising a processing tank for cleaning, wherein the moving device is provided with a rotation mechanism for rotating the storage member at least 180 ° in a horizontal direction.
Cleaning device. 3. A storage member storing a plurality of objects to be processed,
A moving device that moves the device from the position loaded into the device to a first predetermined position, a transfer device that transfers the storage member from the first predetermined position to another second predetermined position, and a second transfer device.
At a predetermined position, a processing object take-out device for taking out the processing object from the storage member, a carrying device for holding and carrying the taken-out processing object, and a to-be-processed object carried by the carrying device in a tank. In a cleaning device provided with a processing tank for cleaning, at least one of the moving devices is provided with a rotating mechanism having two of the moving devices and rotating the storage member by at least 180 ° in a horizontal direction. A cleaning device. 4. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the storage member is configured to be rotated by the rotating mechanism during movement by the moving apparatus. 5. The cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein a detection device for detecting the presence or absence of the object to be processed in the storage member is provided near the loading position in the device. 6. The moving device is provided with a detection device for detecting the presence or absence of the object to be processed in the storage member.
The cleaning device according to claim 2, 3 or 4. 7. The cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein a storage member fixing device capable of fixing the storage member is provided at the first predetermined position. 8. The cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein a storage member fixing device that can fix the storage member is provided at the second predetermined position. . 9. The cleaning device according to claim 7, wherein the storage member fixing device includes a pressing mechanism capable of pressing the storage member against the guide member on one side. 10. The storage member fixing device comprises a pressing mechanism capable of pressing the storage member against a guide member on one side, and a material having a large frictional resistance is used for a contact portion of the pressing mechanism with the storage member. The cleaning device according to claim 7, wherein the cleaning device is used. 11. The storage member fixing device comprises a pressing mechanism capable of pressing the storage member against a guide member on one side, and a material having a small frictional resistance is used for a contact portion of the pressing mechanism with the storage member. The cleaning device according to claim 8, wherein the cleaning device is used. 12. The guide member has guide corners on both sides for receiving both ends of the storage member, and the guide corner has a form opened in a taper shape toward the pressing mechanism side. The cleaning device according to claim 11, which is: 13. A number detecting device for detecting the number of processed objects taken out from a storage member is provided at the second predetermined position. ,
The cleaning device according to 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12. 14. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a first atmosphere shutoff device capable of shutting off an atmosphere between a space near the second predetermined position and a space in which the processing tank is provided.
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 or 1
The cleaning device according to item 3. 15. A second atmosphere shutoff device capable of shutting off an atmosphere between a space in the vicinity of the second predetermined position and a transfer area of the transfer device. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,
The cleaning device according to 13 or 14. 16. A third atmosphere shutoff device capable of shutting off the atmosphere between the upper space of the processing bath and the upper space of another processing bath adjacent to the processing bath. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 1
The cleaning device according to 2, 13, 14 or 15.