JPH09260322A - Cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a brush from gathering foreign matters and staining a wafer and thereby increase a washing efficiency at the time of washing a wafer with a brush. SOLUTION: A washing brush 6, being rotated, is brought into contact with a wafer which is being rotated, to scan the wafer 1. Many fine hairs 11 of the brush 6 are so formed that they may become shorter toward the periphery of the brush and be projecting most at the center to form a nearly cone-like brush. At the center of the brush, a suction nozzle 12 for sucking processing liquid and foreign matters is installed. By the suction nozzle 12, the foreign mattress removed from on the wafer 1 can be swept out of the fine hairs 11 of the brush efficiently. By sucking the washings including the foreign matters by the suction nozzle 12, the washings and the foreign matters are prevented from being gathered at the center of the fine hairs 11 of the brush and the flow rate of the washings at a contact section between the fine hairs 11 of the brush and the wafer 1 can be increased and thereby a washing efficiency can be improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning device for removing foreign matters, dirt and the like on a semiconductor substrate in a semiconductor manufacturing process with a cleaning brush.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows a conventional example of a cleaning apparatus for removing foreign matters and dirt on a semiconductor wafer in a semiconductor manufacturing process. In FIG. 3, the wafer 21 is held on the wafer support 22 and the processing liquid nozzle 2 is rotated while the wafer 23 is rotated by the motor 23.
4, the cleaning liquid is supplied onto the wafer 21. In this state, the cleaning brush 26 supported by the arm 25 is brought into contact with the surface of the wafer 21 while rotating, and the movement of the arm 25 causes the brush 26 to scan in the outer peripheral direction from the center of the wafer 21 so that the brush 26 removes foreign matter. Remove.

FIG. 4 shows the cleaning brush 2 in the cleaning device.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of FIG. The brush 26 has a circular brush base 27.
And a plurality of fine bristles 28 having a uniform length, and the tip side of the fine bristles 28 contacting the surface of the wafer 1 are aligned so as to be a flat surface as a whole.

[0004]

In the conventional semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus described above, the center of the wafer 21 to be rotated is rotated while the brush 26 having the fine bristles 28 having a uniform length and having the tip ends evenly aligned is rotated. Therefore, the brush 26 is moved in the peripheral direction to clean the same. At this time, since the tip end side of the brush bristles 28 is entirely in contact with the wafer 21, the foreign matter removed from the wafer 21 is caught while being dragged by the brush bristles 28, and there is a problem that the cleaning effect is deteriorated.

Further, since a force that presses the wafer 21 uniformly within the surface of the tip end of the brush bristles 28 acts, foreign matter taken in the center direction of the brush bristles 28 is absorbed.
There is a problem that it is difficult to be swept out of the wafer and the foreign matter is pressed against the wafer 21 and remains. Further, the brush bristles 28 are removed from the wafer 21 at the start and end of cleaning.
There is also a problem that foreign matter accumulated in the brush bristles 28 adheres to the wafer 21 when they are brought into contact with and separated from each other. It should be noted that the wafer 2 is so arranged that foreign matter is discharged from the brush bristles 28.
If the water flow of the cleaning liquid supplied to the upper part of 1 is raised too much, the brush bristles 28 will float above the surface of the wafer 21.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and prevents foreign matter from accumulating on the brush when cleaning the semiconductor substrate with the cleaning brush, and at the same time. An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device capable of improving the cleaning effect.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cleaning device for removing foreign matters, dirt, etc. on a semiconductor substrate with a cleaning brush, wherein the fine bristles constituting the cleaning brush are centered on the brush. It is characterized in that the length is changed from the central portion of the brush toward the outer peripheral portion of the brush so that the portion is longest and the outer peripheral portion is shortest. Further, the cleaning apparatus is characterized in that the cleaning brush is provided with a through hole at a brush central portion thereof, and suction means for sucking the processing liquid and the foreign matter through the through hole.

[0008]

In the present invention, the cleaning brush is provided with the brush bristles whose length becomes shorter from the central portion to the outer peripheral portion of the cleaning brush, so that the cleaning brush is scanned in a certain direction on the substrate for cleaning the semiconductor substrate. In this case, the force of the brush bristles pressing the foreign matter on the substrate becomes weaker from the center of the brush toward the outer periphery, and at this time, the component of the force for sweeping the foreign matter in the scanning direction is toward the outer periphery of the brush bristles. Due to the uniformity, foreign matter can be swept out efficiently. Further, by sucking the cleaning liquid containing the foreign matter removed from the substrate through the through hole at the center of the brush, the cleaning liquid and the foreign matter are prevented from staying at the center of the brush bristles, and at the same time, the contact portion between the brush bristles and the substrate. It is possible to increase the flow rate of the cleaning liquid in the above step and improve the cleaning effect.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram and schematic perspective view of the apparatus,
FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the brush portion.

In FIG. 1, a wafer 1 which is a semiconductor substrate
Is held on a wafer support base 2 made of, for example, fluororesin, and the wafer support base 2 is rotationally driven by a motor 3. A cleaning treatment liquid is placed above the wafer 1.
A treatment liquid nozzle 4 for supplying the entire surface of the treatment liquid nozzle. Further, an arm 5 which is horizontally rotatable and vertically movable is arranged above the wafer 1, and a cleaning brush 6 which is rotationally driven is supported at the tip of the arm 5. The arm 5 is rotated by the scan motor 7, so that the brush 6 scans the wafer 1 in a substantially radial direction.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning brush 6 is
A circular brush stand 10 and a large number of fine bristles 11 planted on it
And the fine bristles 11 are formed so that the length thereof decreases from the central portion of the brush toward the outer peripheral portion. That is, the tip ends of the many fine bristles 11 contacting the surface of the wafer 1 are aligned so that the brush center portion is most protruded and the whole is a substantially conical slope. In this embodiment, the brush 6 has an outer diameter of about 15 to 20 mm, and the fine bristles 11 have a diameter of 0.1 mm and are made of nylon. The length of the fine bristles 11 was 10.0 mm at the innermost peripheral portion and 8.5 mm at the outermost peripheral portion.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a suction nozzle 12 is provided at the center of the brush 6, and the suction nozzle 12 is provided.
Is projected at the portion of the fine hair 11. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, a suction mechanism 8 for sucking the processing liquid and the foreign matter from the suction nozzle 12 is provided.

Next, an example of the cleaning method by the apparatus of this embodiment will be described. First, the wafer 1 is fixed on the wafer support base 2 by, for example, vacuum suction, and the motor 3 is set to 500.
Rotated at ~ 1500 rpm. Then, the treatment liquid, for example, pure water, was continuously supplied onto the wafer 1 from the treatment liquid nozzle 4 at 0.8 liter / min.

In this state, the brush 6 was brought into contact with the surface of the wafer 1 while rotating at 500 rpm, and the arm 5 was scanned a plurality of times from the central portion of the wafer 1 toward the outer peripheral portion to remove and clean the foreign matter. At this time, the treatment liquid and the foreign matter were sucked from the suction nozzle 12 of the brush 6 by the suction mechanism 8.

In this way, when the brush 6 is scanned on the wafer 1 in a certain direction, the length of the brush bristles 11 is shorter from the central portion to the outer peripheral portion. The force by which the fine bristles 11 press the foreign matter on the wafer 1 becomes weak. At this time, since the component of the force for sweeping the foreign matter in the scanning direction is uniform toward the outer peripheral direction of the brush bristles 11, the foreign matter could be swept efficiently.

Further, the cleaning liquid containing the foreign matter removed from the wafer 1 is sucked by the suction nozzle 12 at the center of the brush to prevent the cleaning liquid and the foreign matter from staying at the center of the brush bristles 11, and at the same time It was possible to increase the flow rate of the cleaning liquid at the contact portion between 11 and the wafer 1 and improve the cleaning effect.

After the desired foreign matter is removed, the brush 6 is separated from the wafer 1, the supply of the processing liquid from the processing liquid nozzle 4 is stopped, the motor 3 is rotated at 3500 rpm to dry the wafer 1, and the cleaning is performed. Completed.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various effective modifications and applications are possible based on the technical idea of the present invention. For example, it goes without saying that the tip end side of the brush bristles can be appropriately set depending on the size and pushing amount of the brush, the length and material of the bristles, and the like.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The foreign matter can be efficiently swept out of the brush bristles by the brush bristles whose length decreases from the central portion to the outer peripheral portion of the cleaning brush. Further, by sucking the cleaning liquid containing the foreign matter removed from the substrate from the suction nozzle in the center of the brush, the cleaning liquid and the foreign matter are prevented from staying in the center of the brush, and at the same time, the flow velocity of the cleaning liquid at the contact area between the brush and the substrate. Can be raised. As a result, the brush can be prevented from accumulating foreign matter and being contaminated, and the cleaning effect can be significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a schematic configuration diagram and (b) is a schematic perspective view.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a brush portion of the cleaning device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a brush portion in the conventional cleaning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Wafer 2 Wafer Support 3 Motor 4 Processing Liquid Nozzle 5 Arm 6 Cleaning Brush 7 Scan Motor 8 Suction Mechanism 10 Brush Stand 11 Brush Hair 12 Suction Nozzle

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning device for removing foreign matters, dirt, and the like on a semiconductor substrate with a cleaning brush, wherein the fine bristles forming the cleaning brush have a long brush center and a short outer brush center. A cleaning device, wherein the cleaning device is formed so that the length changes from the portion toward the outer peripheral portion of the brush. 2. The cleaning device according to claim 1, further comprising: a suction unit that has a through hole in the brush center portion of the cleaning brush and that sucks the processing liquid and the foreign matter through the through hole.