JPH09321005A - Spin cleaning processing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To clean both upper and lower surface of a work without transferring the work by inverting a work whose top surface is cleaned with an inverting mechanism provided near the rotating table. SOLUTION: A first driving part 32 of an inverting mechanism 31 is assembled with a second driving part 36 via an inverting shaft 35 having a horizontal axis. The second driving part 36 can invert the first driving part 32 by 180 degrees via the inverting shaft 35. Therefore whet the first driving part 32 is rotated by 180 degree under the condition that a pair of hands 33 hold a semiconductor wafer, the upper and the lower surfaces of the semiconductor wafer held by the hands 33 can be inverted of 180 degrees of the first driving part 32 under the condition that the semiconductor wafer 33 is held by the hands 33. By this means both the upper and the lower surfaces of the work are orderly cleaned on the same rotating table, simplification of the constitution and efficiency of cleaning work can be obtained and dried stain of the work during transfer can be prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spin cleaning processing apparatus for cleaning a work such as a semiconductor wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display device, a film forming process or a photo process for forming a circuit pattern on a semiconductor wafer or a rectangular glass substrate as a work. There is. In these processes, the work and cleaning of the above work are repeated.

In order to wash the above work, this work
A so-called spin cleaning apparatus is used, in which a cleaning liquid is sprayed onto the above-described work while the cleaning table is held on a rotating table and the rotating table is rotated at a high speed.

The above-mentioned work is contaminated not only on the upper surface but also on the rear surface. If the back surface of the work is contaminated, when the cleaned work is stacked and stored in a stocker, etc., dirt such as dust adhering to the back surface of the work may be transferred to another work. is there. Therefore, the work held on the rotary table may require cleaning not only on the upper surface but also on the lower surface.

Usually, the above spin cleaning device has a rotary table, and while holding a work on the rotary table to rotate at a high speed, a cleaning nozzle arranged on the upper surface side of the rotary table is used. The upper surface of the work is cleaned by injecting the cleaning liquid toward the work.

By arranging a cleaning nozzle also on the lower surface side of the rotary table and injecting the cleaning liquid not only on the upper surface side of the work but also on the lower surface side of the work, the upper and lower surfaces of the work are simultaneously cleaned. can do.

However, when the cleaning nozzle is arranged on the lower surface side of the rotary table and the cleaning liquid is sprayed on the lower surface of the work, most of the cleaning liquid sprayed from the cleaning nozzle rotates at a high speed. Sometimes the bottom surface of the work cannot be reliably and efficiently cleaned because it is blocked by the bull and hardly reaches the bottom surface of the work.

In particular, when cleaning the above-mentioned work with a cleaning brush or ultrasonic cleaning, it is a space-like arrangement to dispose these cleaning brushes and ultrasonic cleaning nozzles on the lower surface side of the work. Due to the limitation, it was difficult to wash the upper and lower surfaces of the work at the same time.

Therefore, when cleaning the upper and lower surfaces of the above-mentioned work, conventionally, two cleaning devices have been used. That is, first, the work is supplied to the rotary table of one of the cleaning devices by the first robot, and one surface on the upper surface side of this work is cleaned. Then, the work is taken out from the rotary table by the first robot and transferred to the reversing mechanism, and the reversing mechanism reverses the upper and lower surfaces of the work.

When the upper and lower surfaces of the work are inverted, the inverted work is received by the second robot, and this work is turned by the second robot into the rotary table of the other cleaning device. It was done by supplying and cleaning the other side which was not cleaned.

However, in the structure in which the upper and lower surfaces of the work are cleaned in this manner, two cleaning devices are required, which may result in an increase in the size of the entire device, or the work may be Since it has to be transported from one cleaning device to the other cleaning device, the transportation may take time. Moreover, if the transportation takes a long time, the cleaning liquid for cleaning one surface may be dried before being dried, and in that case, the dried portion may become a stain.

[0012]

As described above, conventionally,
When cleaning both the upper and lower sides of a work, two cleaning devices are used, and one of the cleaning devices is used to invert the work whose upper surface is cleaned and to supply it to the other cleaning device. However, there have been cases in which the overall configuration is increased, and it takes time to convey the work from one device to the other.

The present invention has been made under the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a spin cleaning processing unit capable of cleaning both upper and lower surfaces of a work without transporting the work.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a word processor.
In a spin cleaning processing unit that performs cleaning processing while rotating a rotary table, a rotary table that is rotationally driven by holding the above work on the upper surface side and an upper surface of the work held by this rotary table are provided. It is characterized by comprising a cleaning means for cleaning and a reversing mechanism which is arranged in the vicinity of the rotary table and inverts the work whose upper surface is cleaned so that the upper and lower surfaces thereof are reversed.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the reversing mechanism is a first mechanism for opening and closing a pair of hands.
Drive unit, a second drive unit that rotationally drives the first drive unit, and a third drive unit that vertically drives the second drive unit.

A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the present invention, the rotating table, the cleaning means and the reversing mechanism are arranged in a cleaning chamber. According to the invention of claim 1, a reversing mechanism for reversing the upper and lower surfaces of the work held by the rotary table is arranged in the vicinity of the rotary table for holding and rotating the work. The upper and lower surfaces of the work can be sequentially washed on the same rotary table.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the reversing mechanism for reversing the upper and lower surfaces of the work has a simple structure, and the movement can be simplified. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the rotation table, the cleaning means and the reversing mechanism are arranged in the cleaning chamber, so that they can be unitized, so that the overall configuration can be downsized and the handling can be facilitated.

[0018]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The spin cleaning processing unit of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 has a cleaning chamber 1. An opening 3 opened and closed by a shutter 2 is formed on one side surface of the cleaning chamber 1.

A cleaning device 4 is provided in the cleaning chamber 1. The cleaning device 4 has a base plate 5 which is installed substantially horizontally in the cleaning chamber 1. This base
A bearing 6 whose axis is substantially vertical is provided on the plate 5, and a rotary shaft 7 is rotatably supported by the bearing 6. The upper part of the rotary shaft 7 projects into the inner space of the lower cup 8 and the upper cup 9 forming the processing container, and the rotary table 11 is attached to the upper end thereof.

The lower end portion of the rotating shaft 7 has the bearing 6
Of the driven plug (not shown)
The rotary shaft 7 is rotated at high speed by a drive motor (not shown) via the driven pulley.

On the periphery of the upper surface of the rotary table 11, for example, six holding members 12 are arranged at intervals of 90 degrees in the circumferential direction.
Is erected. A peripheral portion of, for example, a semiconductor wafer 13 as a work is detachably held on the upper end of each holding member 12.

The upper cup 9 has an open top surface and is vertically movable with respect to the lower cup 8. When cleaning the semiconductor wafer 13, the semiconductor wafer 13 is held at the elevated position and covers the periphery of the semiconductor wafer 13, and after cleaning, the semiconductor wafer 13 is inverted or carried out as described later, and is positioned lower than the semiconductor wafer 13. It is designed to be lowered to.

A first cleaning arm 15 is horizontally arranged on one side of the cleaning chamber 1, and a second cleaning arm 16 is horizontally arranged on the other side thereof. Each arm 1
One ends of the reference numerals 5 and 16 are connected to the upper ends of rotating shafts 17a and 17b, respectively, which are arranged with their axes vertical. The lower ends of the rotary shafts 17a and 17b are rotatably supported by bearings 18a and 18b. Each of the bearings 18a and 18b is attached to the upper surface of a support plate 19 and
A driven pulley 21 is fitted to the lower end protruding toward the lower surface of the.

A motor 22 is arranged on each support plate 19,
The drive shaft 23 of each motor 22 projects to the lower surface side of the support plate 19, and the drive pulley 24 is fitted to the projecting end.
A belt 25 is stretched around the drive pulley 24 and the driven pulley 21, whereby the rotary shafts 17a and 17b are driven to rotate.

At the tip (free end) of the first cleaning arm 15, a cleaning brush 27, which is rotationally driven by the motor 26, is provided with its axis of rotation being vertical, and the second cleaning arm 16 is provided.
An ultrasonic nozzle 28 incorporating an ultrasonic vibrator (not shown) is provided at the tip of the. A cleaning liquid is supplied to the ultrasonic nozzle 28 to apply ultrasonic vibration. The cleaning liquid to which ultrasonic vibration is applied is jetted from the ultrasonic nozzle 28 toward the semiconductor wafer 13 held on the rotary table 11.

Therefore, when the first cleaning arm 15 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 1, the semiconductor wafer 13 held on the rotary table 11 by the cleaning brush 27 which is rotationally driven. The entire upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 13 can be brush-cleaned, and the second cleaning arm 16 can be rotated in the direction shown by the arrow B to ultrasonically clean the entire upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 13.

Further, in the cleaning chamber 1, a reversing mechanism 31 for reversing the upper and lower surfaces of the semiconductor wafer 13 held by the rotary table 11 in the chamber 1 by 180 degrees is arranged. As shown in FIG. 3, the reversing mechanism 31 has a pair of hands 33 that are opened and closed by a first drive unit 32.

The hand 33 is formed in an L shape, and the holding member 3 is formed with an engaging groove 34a for engaging with the outer peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer 13 on the inner surface of the tip portion thereof.
4 are provided. Therefore, by opening and closing the pair of hands 33 at the same height as the semiconductor wafer 13 held on the rotary table 11 by the first drive unit 32, the engagement grooves 34a of the pair of holding members 34 are formed in the semiconductor. It can be engaged with and disengaged from the peripheral portion of the wafer 13.

The first drive unit 32 is attached to the second drive unit 36 via an inversion shaft 35 whose axis is horizontal. The second drive unit 36 is capable of reversing the first drive unit 32 by 180 degrees via the reversing shaft 35. Therefore, the pair of hands 3
When the first drive unit 32 is rotated 180 degrees while the semiconductor wafer 13 is held by the semiconductor wafer 13, the upper and lower surfaces of the semiconductor wafer 13 held by the hand 33 can be inverted.

The second drive section 36 is provided on the upper end of the column 41. The column 41 is slidably held in the vertical direction by a linear guide (not shown), and is vertically driven by the third drive unit 42.

That is, the pair of hands 33 are opened and closed by the first drive unit 32, rotated by the second drive unit 36, and moved up and down by the third drive unit 42.

As a result, the pair of hands 33 are
The semiconductor wafer 13 is held by being driven from the open state to the closed state at the same height as the semiconductor wafer 13 held on the rotary table 11. The pair of hands 33 holding the semiconductor wafer 13 are raised to a predetermined height and rotated by 180 degrees, so that the upper and lower surfaces of the semiconductor wafer 13 are inverted. Then, the semiconductor wafer 13 is returned to the rotary table 11 by descending and opening. That is, the semiconductor wafer 13 can be turned upside down in the cleaning chamber 1 by the turning mechanism 31.

A scalar as a supply / discharge mechanism for supplying / discharging the semiconductor wafer 13 to / from the rotary table 11 of the cleaning chamber 1 is provided outside the one side of the cleaning chamber 1 where the opening 3 is formed. A robot 45 is provided. The SCARA robot 45 has a hand 46. The hand 46 has a plurality of arms 48 which are rotationally driven by a drive source 47, and are horizontally driven by the arms 48.

A first cassette stage 51 is provided on the side of the SCARA robot 45, and a second cassette stage 51 is provided on the side deviated from the first cassette stage 51 by 90 degrees in the circumferential direction. -A 52 is provided. The first cassette stage 51 is supplied with the first cassette 53a in which the uncleaned semiconductor wafers 13 are stacked and accommodated, and the second cassette stage 52 is cleaned with the semiconductor wafers cleaned in the cleaning chamber 1. The second cassette 53b from which 13 is collected is supplied.

Therefore, the SCARA robot 45 takes out the uncleaned semiconductor wafer 13 from the first cassette 53a with its hand 46, supplies it to the rotary table 11 in the cleaning chamber 1, and at the same time, the cleaning chamber 1 The semiconductor wafer 13 cleaned inside can be taken out and stored in the second cassette 53b.

Next, an operation of cleaning the semiconductor wafer 13 using the cleaning processing unit having the above structure will be described. First, the SCARA robot 45 operates to take out the uncleaned semiconductor wafer 13 from the first cassette 53 a, and the semiconductor wafer 13 is supplied to the rotary table 11 through the opening 3 of the cleaning chamber 1. At this time, the reversing mechanism 31
The hand 33 of (1) stands by above the rotary table 11 so as not to interfere with the hand 46 of the SCARA robot 45.

When the uncleaned semiconductor wafer 13 is supplied to the rotary table 11, the rotary table 11 is rotated at a high speed, and first, the first cleaning arm 15 is moved in the direction of arrow A. Cleaning brush 2 that is rotated and provided at the tip
The upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 13 is brush-cleaned by 7.

Then, the second cleaning arm 16 is indicated by the arrow B.
Is rotated in the direction. Thereby, the ultrasonic nozzle 2
Ultrasonic cleaning is applied to the entire upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 13 by the cleaning liquid to which ultrasonic waves are applied.

The semiconductor wafer 13 may be subjected to only one of brush cleaning and ultrasonic cleaning depending on the required cleaning degree. When the cleaning of one surface on the upper surface side of the semiconductor wafer 13 is completed, the pair of hands 33 of the reversing mechanism 31 are opened and the semiconductor wafer 1
3, the hand 33 is driven in the closing direction by the first drive section 32 thereof. As a result, the hand 33 holds the semiconductor wafer 13. Then, when the third drive unit 42 is activated and the hand 33 is raised to a predetermined height, the second drive unit 36 is activated to rotate the hand 33 by 180 degrees. Thereby,
The semiconductor wafer 13 is inverted so that the cleaned upper surface becomes the lower surface and the uncleaned lower surface becomes the upper surface.

When the semiconductor wafer 13 is turned upside down, the hand 33 is lowered by the third driving unit 42, and then the first driving unit 32 is operated to be driven in the opening direction,
The inverted semiconductor wafer 13 is returned to the rotary table 11. In this state, the other surface (original lower surface) of the uncleaned upper surface side of the semiconductor wafer 13 is cleaned by at least one of brush cleaning and ultrasonic cleaning. That is, the upper and lower surfaces of the semiconductor wafer 13 are cleaned.

When the cleaning of the upper and lower surfaces of the semiconductor wafer 13 is completed in this way, the hand 46 of the SCARA robot 45 is completed.
Enters the cleaning chamber 1 to receive the semiconductor wafer 13 and then retracts to house the semiconductor wafer 13 in the second cassette 53b.

As described above, according to the above structure, the semiconductor wafer 13 whose upper surface (one surface) is cleaned in the cleaning chamber 1 is provided with the reversing mechanism 3 in the cleaning chamber 1.
The upper and lower surfaces can be inverted by 1 and the other surface, which was the lower surface first, can be cleaned.

Therefore, since the upper and lower surfaces of the semiconductor wafer 13 can be cleaned in one cleaning chamber 1, if one surface is cleaned, the other surface can be cleaned before the other surface is dried.

That is, since both sides of the semiconductor wafer 13 can be cleaned without having to transfer the semiconductor wafer 13 from one cleaning device to another cleaning device as in the conventional case, the cleaning can be carried out efficiently and first It can be done without causing a dry stain on the surface.

[0045]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the work held on the rotary table is provided in the vicinity of the rotary table for holding and rotating the work. Since the reversing mechanism for reversing the lower surface is arranged, the upper and lower surfaces of the work can be sequentially cleaned on the same rotary table.

That is, since one cleaning device can clean both upper and lower surfaces of the work, if two cleaning devices are prepared as in the conventional case and one surface of the work is cleaned by one cleaning device. That is, the work need not be carried out to the outside, inverted, and conveyed to the other cleaning device to clean the other surface. This has the advantages of simplifying the structure, improving the efficiency of cleaning work, and preventing dry stains on the work during transportation.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the reversing mechanism for reversing the work is provided with the first drive section for opening and closing the pair of hands and the second drive section for rotationally driving the first drive section. Since it is composed of the drive unit and the third drive unit that drives the second drive unit up and down, the configuration and movement thereof can be simplified.

According to the invention of claim 3, the rotary table,
Since the cleaning means and the reversing mechanism are arranged in the cleaning chamber and these are unitized, the overall configuration can be downsized and the handling can be facilitated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the cleaning device also accommodated in the cleaning chamber.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the reversing mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 ... Rotation table 13 ... Semiconductor wafer (work) 15 ... First cleaning arm (cleaning means) 16 ... Second cleaning arm (cleaning means) 27 ... Cleaning brush (cleaning means) 28 ... Ultrasonic nozzle (cleaning means) 31 ... Inversion mechanism

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A spin cleaning processing unit for cleaning a work while rotating the work, wherein a rotary table driven to rotate while holding the work on an upper surface side.
Table, a cleaning means for cleaning the upper surface of the work held by the rotary table, and the above-mentioned work arranged near the rotary table and having its upper surface cleaned, and the upper and lower surfaces are reversed. And a reversing mechanism for reversing as described above. 2. The reversing mechanism includes a first drive unit for opening and closing a pair of hands, a second drive unit for rotationally driving the first drive unit, and a vertical drive for the second drive unit. The spin cleaning processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the spin cleaning processing apparatus comprises a third driving unit. 3. The spin cleaning processing unit according to claim 1, wherein the rotating table, the cleaning means and the reversing mechanism are arranged in a cleaning chamber.