JPH10163144A - Spin cleaning method and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To clean works with a cleaning liq. involved radially inward in a cleaning brush by feeding the cleaning liq. at a position where the rotation of the works involves the liq. in the brush. SOLUTION: A nozzle 35 is set at a tilt angle θ1 at which it directs to the contact zone of a semiconductor wafer 22 and cleaning brush 31a and at a horizontal angle so that it sprays the cleaning liq. forwards in the revolving direction of the arm 33 near the radially outwards of the brush 31a and at the upstream side in the rotating direction of the wafer 22 from the brush 31a. Thus the cleaning liq. sprayed on the wafer from the nozzle 35 collides against the brush 31a before diffusing over the wafer owing to the revolution of the arm 33 and rotation of the wafer 22. As a result, the liq. is involved radially inwards in the brush 31a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spin cleaning method and a spin cleaning method for cleaning an object to be cleaned such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate for liquid crystal using a cleaning brush while rotating the object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a liquid crystal manufacturing apparatus, there is a lithography process for forming a circuit pattern on a semiconductor wafer or a liquid crystal glass substrate as an object to be cleaned. In this lithography process, as is well known, a resist is applied to an object to be cleaned, and the resist is irradiated with light through a mask on which a circuit pattern is formed. The above-mentioned circuit pattern is transferred by repeating a series of steps of removing the irradiated portion) and developing, peeling or etching the removed portion several tens of times.

In each of the above-described series of steps, it is determined that the semiconductor wafer or the glass substrate for liquid crystal is contaminated by a circuit pattern.
Cannot be formed precisely, which may cause defective products. Therefore, in each process, the circuit pattern
When forming the semiconductor wafer, the semiconductor wafer and the liquid crystal glass substrate are cleaned in a clean state in which fine particles such as resist and dust do not remain.

[0004] As the apparatus for cleaning the object to be cleaned, there are a batch type in which a plurality of semiconductor wafers are immersed in a cleaning tank containing a cleaning liquid for cleaning, and a method for rotating one object to be cleaned, and There is a single-wafer type in which a cleaning liquid is sprayed on an object to perform cleaning, and a single-wafer type having a high cleaning effect tends to be used as an object to be cleaned becomes larger.

A single-wafer cleaning apparatus includes a spin cleaning apparatus for cleaning an object to be cleaned while rotating the object. In this spin cleaning apparatus, in order to further enhance the cleaning effect, the object to be cleaned which is rotationally driven is cleaned. Bring the cleaning brush into contact with the top surface,
Cleaning is performed by supplying a cleaning liquid to the contact portion.

The supply of the cleaning liquid is performed by a nozzle body. As the nozzle body, a resin pipe made of a fluorine resin or the like is used. The nozzle body is inserted into an arm provided with the cleaning brush, and has a tip protruding from the arm toward the cleaning brush. The arm is pivotally driven parallel to the plate surface of the object to be rotated and along the radial direction of the object to be cleaned. Therefore, the entire surface of the object to be cleaned is cleaned by the cleaning brush.

When the cleaning liquid is simply sprayed from the nozzle body toward the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning brush, the cleaning liquid is diffused on the plate surface of the cleaning object due to the rotation of the cleaning object, and the diameter of the cleaning brush is increased. It hardly gets inside the direction. Therefore, the brush cleaning is performed in a state where the cleaning liquid hardly intervenes in the contact portion between the cleaning brush and the object to be cleaned, so that a sufficient cleaning effect cannot be obtained.

Further, since the nozzle body is formed of a bendable member such as a resin pipe, the jet direction of the cleaning liquid is set by bending the pipe. Therefore, not only can the jetting direction of the cleaning liquid from the nozzle body not be set with high accuracy, but also the direction of the arm body can be changed by use, which also causes the cleaning liquid to pass through the diameter of the cleaning brush. In some cases, it is difficult to clean the object to be cleaned by making it surely penetrate inward.

[0009]

As described above, since the cleaning liquid has conventionally been simply sprayed toward the cleaning brush, the cleaning liquid is introduced into the cleaning brush radially inward to efficiently clean the object to be cleaned. I couldn't do that.

In addition, since the direction of the nozzle body cannot be set with high accuracy or the set state cannot be reliably maintained, the cleaning liquid can be reliably jetted in a desired direction. There were things that I couldn't do.

An object of the present invention is to provide a spin cleaning method in which a cleaning liquid is introduced into a cleaning brush in a radial direction to clean an object to be cleaned.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a spin cleaning apparatus capable of accurately positioning the direction of a nozzle body in a predetermined direction, and further reliably maintaining the direction of the positioned nozzle body. is there.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a cleaning brush rotating in a radial direction on the object to be cleaned is brought into contact with the object to be cleaned which is driven to rotate, and a cleaning solution is applied to the object to be cleaned. In the spin cleaning method of supplying and cleaning,
The cleaning liquid is supplied to a position where the cleaning liquid is wound around the cleaning brush by the rotation of the cleaning object.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the cleaning liquid is supplied near the outer peripheral portion of the cleaning brush and forward in the turning direction of the cleaning brush.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spin cleaning apparatus for cleaning a rotating cleaning object by contacting the cleaning brush with the cleaning object and supplying a cleaning liquid to the cleaning object from a nozzle body. An arm body disposed substantially parallel to the object to be cleaned and having the cleaning brush provided at a tip thereof with a rotation axis substantially perpendicular to the arm, and an nozzle body provided at a tip of the arm body. A first member fixed to the arm body, and a second member provided on the first member so as to be horizontally adjustable in angle. And a third member in which a base end is provided on the second member so as to be adjustable in rotation angle about a vertical mounting position and a horizontal axis, and the nozzle body is held at a front end. It is characterized by becoming.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the cleaning liquid is supplied to the cleaning brush at the supply position, the cleaning liquid enters the cleaning brush radially inward, so that the distance between the object to be cleaned and the cleaning brush is reduced. The object to be cleaned is brush-cleaned with the cleaning liquid interposed therebetween.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the cleaning liquid is supplied from the front side in the turning direction of the cleaning brush near the outer peripheral portion of the cleaning brush, so that the cleaning liquid is not diffused on the plate surface of the object to be cleaned. Then, the swirling of the cleaning brush and the rotation of the object to be cleaned collide with the cleaning brush and enter the cleaning brush radially inward.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the nozzle body is provided so that the horizontal angle, the vertical position, and the vertical angle can be adjusted by the first to third members of the holder. Therefore, the direction is accurately set in a predetermined direction, and the set state is reliably maintained.

[0018]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a spin processing apparatus A according to the present invention. The spin processing device A has a spin cup 1. This spin cup 1 comprises a bottomed cup 1a having an open upper surface, and an upper cup 1b provided slidably with respect to the lower cup 1a and having an upper end portion of a peripheral wall inclined radially inward. The upper cup 1b can be lowered by a drive mechanism (not shown) as shown by a chain line in the figure.

At the bottom of the lower cup 1a, one end of each of a plurality of exhaust pipes 2 is connected to the periphery, and an insertion hole 4 whose periphery is surrounded by a flange 3 is formed at the center. The support shaft 5 is inserted through the insertion hole 4. The upper part of the support shaft 5 projects into the inside of the spin cup 1, and the lower end thereof has a base plate 6 disposed below the spin cup 1.
It is fixed to. The exhaust pipe 2 is connected to a suction pump via a steam separator (not shown). Exhaust pipe 2
When the cleaning liquid, mist, and gas are sucked in, the water and gas are separated by the water / water separator, and the water is discharged to a waste liquid tank (not shown).

A rotary chuck 11 is rotatably provided on the support shaft 5. The rotary chuck 11 has a disk-shaped base 12 having a through hole 12a formed in the center. At the lower surface of the base 12, that is, at a position corresponding to the through hole 12a, a cylindrical support portion 13 is vertically provided. The support portion 13 is externally fitted to the support shaft 5, and the upper and lower portions are rotatably supported by bearings 14, respectively.

A driven pulley 15 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the lower end of the support portion 13. The base plate 6 has a metal
A motor 16 is provided, and a driving pulley 17 is fitted on a rotating shaft 16a of the motor 16. This drive pulley 17
A belt 18 is stretched between the driven pulley 15 and the driven pulley 15. Therefore, when the motor 16 operates, the rotary chuck 11 is driven to rotate integrally with the support portion 13.

On the upper surface of the base 12, four pillars 19 are erected at intervals of 90 degrees in the circumferential direction. A support pin 21a and an engagement pin 21b outside the support pin 21a and taller than the support pin 21a protrude from the upper end of each of the columns 19.

At the upper end of the support column 19, for example, a semiconductor wafer 22 as an object to be cleaned
1a, and is detachably held by engaging the outer peripheral surface with the engaging pin 21b. Therefore, the semiconductor wafer 22 is driven to rotate integrally with the rotary chuck 11.

The support shaft 5 is provided at its upper end with a conical head 5a having a diameter larger than that of the support shaft 5. The support shaft 5 has a gas supply path 30 of an inert gas such as N ₂ having a tip opened to the upper surface of the head 5a, and a tip opened to the upper surface of the head 5a through a nozzle hole 32a. The cleaning liquid supply path 30a thus formed is formed along the axial direction. The gas supply path 30 communicates with a gas supply source (not shown), and the cleaning liquid supply path also communicates with a supply source of a cleaning liquid (not shown).

The inert gas supplied to the gas supply path 30 and the cleaning liquid supplied to the cleaning liquid supply path 30a are:
Each is jetted toward the lower surface of the semiconductor wafer 22.

On the upper surface side of the semiconductor wafer 22 held by the rotary chuck 11, a cleaning tool 31 for cleaning the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 22 is arranged. The cleaning tool 31 has a cleaning brush 31a as shown in FIG. This cleaning brush 31a is a chuck 31
b is detachably attached. A mounting shaft 31c is provided on the chuck 31b, and the mounting shaft 31c is connected to a rotating shaft 31e of a rotating motor 31d via a coupling 31f.

The cleaning brush 31a is turned by a turning mechanism 32 in the radial direction of the semiconductor wafer 22. That is, the turning mechanism 32 has a hollow cylindrical arm body 33 composed of an arm rod 33a and a cover 33b. A rotating motor 31d of the cleaning tool 31 has a rotating shaft 31e in the tip of the arm body 33.
Is vertically fixed to the bracket 33c.

The mounting shaft 31c is rotatably supported by a bearing 34a provided in the tip of the arm 33. The bearing 34a is mounted on a block 34b provided in the tip of the arm 33.

A nozzle body 35 connected to a cleaning liquid supply source (not shown) is inserted through the arm body 33. The tip of the nozzle body 35 is led downward from the tip of the arm 33 and held by a holder 61 described later, and the tip is directed to the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning brush 31a.

That is, the vertical angle θ1 (shown in FIG. 2A) of the nozzle body 35 is set to the angle toward the contact portion between the semiconductor wafer 22 and the cleaning brush 31a, and the horizontal angle θ2 is As shown in FIG. 6 (a), an arc indicated by an arrow X in FIG.
The angle is set so that the cleaning liquid can be sprayed forward with respect to the rotation direction of the semiconductor wafer 22 as indicated by the arrow Y in the figure when the cleaning brush 31a is used as a reference, in the front of the rotating direction of the memory body 33.

Therefore, the cleaning liquid sprayed from the nozzle body 35 toward the semiconductor wafer 22 is supplied to the arm body 33.
Due to the swirling motion of the semiconductor wafer 22 and the rotational motion of the semiconductor wafer 22, the semiconductor wafer 22 collides with the cleaning brush 31a before diffusing on the plate surface, and therefore enters the cleaning brush 31a radially inward.

The base end of the arm 33 is connected to the upper end of a pivot 36 whose axis is perpendicular. This turning axis 3
The lower end of 6 projects downward from a through hole 6a formed in the base plate 6.

The lower end of the turning shaft 36 is rotatably supported by a support 37 provided to be vertically movable. The support 37 has a hollow box shape, and has an upper wall formed with an insertion hole 38 for inserting the turning shaft 36 therein, and inside the turning shaft 36 inserted through the insertion hole 38.
A bearing 39 is provided to rotatably support the lower end of the housing. The lower end of the turning shaft 36 projects from the bearing 39, and a driven pulley 40 is fitted therein.

A pair of guides 41 are provided on one side surface of the support 37 at predetermined intervals along the vertical direction, and the guides 41 are slidably engaged with the rails 43. The rail 43 is provided on one side surface of a mounting plate 42 suspended from the lower surface of the base plate 6 along the vertical direction.

The mounting plate 42 is provided with a vertical drive cylinder 44 as a vertical drive source. The rod 44a of the vertical drive cylinder 44 is connected to the support 37 via a bracket 45 at the lower end surface. Therefore,
When the vertical drive cylinder 44 operates, the arm 33 is vertically driven within a predetermined range via the support 37.

That is, the arm body 33 descends, and the cleaning brush 31a is moved radially outward in a state where the cleaning brush 31a comes in contact with the radial center of the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 22 held by the rotary chuck 11 at a predetermined pressure. The semiconductor wafer 22 is repeatedly swiveled in such a manner that when the semiconductor wafer 22 is disengaged from the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 22, it rises, returns to the center in the radial direction, and descends.

On the other side of the support 37, there is provided an oscillating drive 46 which constitutes a drive means with the vertical drive cylinder 44. The swing drive unit 46 has a storage box 47 attached to the other side surface of the support 37. A motor 48 is provided on the lower surface of the storage box 47. The rotation shaft 48a of the motor 48 projects into the storage box 47, and is connected to a speed reduction portion 49 provided inside the storage box 47. A drive pulley 52 is fitted on the output shaft 51 of the speed reducer 49.

An internal space between the support 37 and the storage box 47 is communicated by an opening 53. A timing belt 50 stretched between the driving pulley 52 and the driven pulley 40 is inserted through the opening 53.

Therefore, when the motor 48 is operated and the output shaft 51 of the speed reducer 49 is driven in the forward and reverse directions,
Since the rotation is transmitted to the turning shaft 36 via the timing belt 53, the arm body 33 and the turning shaft 36 are transmitted together.
The cleaning brush 31a provided at the tip of the semiconductor wafer 22 swings on the surface of the semiconductor wafer 22.

The turning angle of the turning shaft 36 is set by a control device 54 for controlling the operation of the entire apparatus. In addition, as shown in FIG.
An annular suction path 56 is formed below the bearing 34a of the block 34b provided at the distal end of the block 3. A suction pipe 57 communicates with the suction path 56. Thereby,
The particles generated at the bearing 34a are prevented from flowing toward the cleaning brush 31a along the mounting shaft 31c of the chuck 31b.

The holding member 61 holding the nozzle body 35 on the arm 33 comprises first to third members 62 to 64 shown in FIGS. The first member 62 is shown in FIG.
(A) As shown in (b), it has a block shape having a concave curved surface 62a formed on the upper surface, and the concave curved surface 62a is bonded and fixed to the lower surface of the arm rod 33a constituting the arm body 33. It is provided. The first member 62 has a pair of first screw holes 62b formed at predetermined intervals along the curved direction of the concave curved surface 62a.

The second member 63 is shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B.
As shown in the figure, the L-shaped piece 63a includes a fan-shaped piece 63b provided at a right angle to one end of the L-shaped piece 63a. A first elongated hole 63c along the vertical direction is provided in the other piece of the L-shaped piece 63a.
The fan-shaped piece 63b has a second long hole 63d extending in the horizontal direction and a through hole 63e formed at a predetermined interval.

This second member 63 is similar to that shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), a pair of first screws 65 are passed through the second long holes 63d and the through holes 63e of the fan-shaped piece 63b, and are passed through the pair of first screw holes 62b of the first member 62. Installed by screwing. Therefore, the second member 63
Can be rotated in the horizontal direction with one of the first screws 65 passed through the through hole 63e as a fulcrum.

The third member 64 is shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B.
As shown in FIG. 5, a slit 64a is formed at one end of the prism, and a second screw hole 64b is formed at the other end.
Are formed. The slit 64a has a distal end opened to one end surface of the third member 64, and a proximal end provided with the nozzle body 35.
A mounting hole 64c is formed to pass through the front end of the mounting hole 64c.

Further, an idiot hole 64d and a screw hole 64e are formed at one end of the third member 64 with the slit 64a interposed therebetween. Therefore, if the tip of the nozzle body 35 is inserted into the mounting hole 64c and the second screw 66 (shown in FIG. 2B) is screwed from the fool hole 64d into the screw hole 64e, the slit 64a is formed. That is, the tip of the nozzle body 35 is fixed by being deformed in the closing direction.

The third member 64 is connected to the second member 63
2A and 2B are attached to the first long hole 63c so as to be substantially horizontal and the rotation angle can be adjusted.

Therefore, the angle θ 1 shown in FIG. 2A can be adjusted by changing the rotation angle of the third member 64 at the tip of the nozzle body 35 held by the third member 64. By rotating the second member 63 in the horizontal direction with respect to the first member 62, the angle θ2 shown in FIG.
The height of the third member 64 can be adjusted in accordance with the vertical mounting position of the second member 63 with respect to the first long hole 63c of the second member 63. It can be set.

That is, the first to third members 62 to 6
The mounting direction of the tip of the nozzle body 35 can be adjusted in a three-dimensional direction by the holding tool 61 made of 4, and can be securely fixed at the mounting position.

Next, a case where the semiconductor wafer 22 is cleaned by the spin processing apparatus A having the above configuration will be described. First, the angle of the cleaning liquid sprayed from the tip of the nozzle body 35 by the holder 61 is set. That is, the vertical angle of the nozzle body 35 is set to an angle θ1 at which the cleaning liquid can be sprayed to the contact portion between the semiconductor wafer 22 and the cleaning brush 31a as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6 (a), near the radial outer side of the cleaning brush 31a, on the downstream side in the turning direction of the arm body 33 indicated by the arrow X in FIG. Is set to an angle .theta.2 at which the cleaning liquid can be sprayed on the upstream side with respect to the rotation direction of the semiconductor wafer 22 indicated by the arrow Y in the figure.

Next, the rotating chuck 11 is rotated at a low speed, and the cleaning brush 31a is brought into contact with the radial center of the semiconductor wafer 22 rotating in the arrow Y direction by the rotating chuck 11, and the cleaning liquid is ejected from the nozzle body 35. The arm 33 is turned in the direction of the arrow X while moving the arm.
At this time, the cleaning brush 31a is also rotated. The rotation direction of the cleaning brush 31a may be either the same direction as the semiconductor wafer 22 or the opposite direction.

When the cleaning brush 31a is located at the radial center of the semiconductor wafer 22, the nozzle 35
From FIG. 6, the cleaning liquid on the semiconductor wafer 22 shown in FIG.
At the position indicated by 1, that is, in the vicinity of the outer peripheral portion of the cleaning brush 31 a, it is sprayed forward in the turning direction of the arm 33.

The cleaning liquid sprayed to the position of S1 causes the semiconductor wafer 22 to rotate and the arm 33 to turn, thereby causing the cleaning liquid between the semiconductor wafer 22 and the cleaning brush 31a as shown by S2 in FIG. 6B. It will get caught in the contact part.

That is, the cleaning liquid supplied to the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 22 does not diffuse on the upper surface but sufficiently enters the contact portion between the semiconductor wafer 22 and the cleaning brush 31a. The semiconductor wafer 22 can be efficiently and reliably cleaned by the synergistic effect.

The tip of the nozzle body 35 for injecting the cleaning liquid is held by a holder 61. This holder 6
Reference numeral 1 denotes first to third members 62 to 64, and the tip of the nozzle body 35 held by the third member 64 can be positioned in a three-dimensional direction.

Therefore, the tip of the nozzle body 35 can be surely directed in a desired direction. That is, the cleaning liquid sprayed from the nozzle body 35 can be reliably sprayed to the position where the cleaning liquid is wound around the cleaning brush 31a.

Further, since the positioned tip of the nozzle body 35 is securely held and fixed by the holder 61,
The position does not shift during use. Therefore, the cleaning liquid can be reliably supplied to a desired position for a long time. In the above-described embodiment, the semiconductor wafer is described as an object to be cleaned. However, the present invention can be applied to a case where a liquid crystal glass substrate is cleaned.

[0057]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the cleaning liquid is supplied to the cleaning brush at the position where it is wound around the cleaning brush, the cleaning liquid enters the cleaning brush in the radial direction. The object to be cleaned is brush-cleaned with the cleaning liquid interposed therebetween. That is, since the cleaning liquid supplied to the object to be cleaned can be interposed between the object to be cleaned and the cleaning brush without being diffused, the cleaning effect can be sufficiently enhanced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the front side in the turning direction of the cleaning brush in the vicinity of the outer peripheral portion of the cleaning brush, so that the cleaning liquid is cleaned before diffusing on the plate surface of the cleaning object. It collides with the brush and penetrates radially inward.

Therefore, when the object to be cleaned is washed with a brush,
Since the cleaning liquid works effectively, the cleaning effect can be improved. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the nozzle body for injecting the cleaning liquid is arced through the holder through which the horizontal angle, the vertical position, and the vertical angle can be adjusted by the first to third members. On the body.

As a result, the direction of the nozzle body can be adjusted with respect to the three-dimensional direction, so that the direction of the cleaning liquid sprayed from the nozzle body can be accurately and reliably set in a desired direction. The setting state can be reliably maintained so as not to shift.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a spin cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 (a) is a cross-sectional view of the arm tip,
(B) is sectional drawing which follows the II-II line | wire of (a) similarly.

FIG. 3A is a front view of a first member of the holder similarly.
(B) is a side view.

FIG. 4A is a plan view of a second member of the holder similarly.
(B) is a front view.

FIG. 5 (a) is a front view of a first member of the holder.
(B) is a side view.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram when a cleaning liquid is supplied to the semiconductor wafer for cleaning.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference numeral 22: semiconductor wafer (object to be cleaned) 31a: cleaning brush 33: arm body 35: nozzle body 61: holder 62: first member 63: second member 64: third member

Claims (3)

[Claims] In a spin cleaning method, a cleaning brush rotating in a radial direction on an object to be cleaned is brought into contact with the object to be rotated, and a cleaning liquid is supplied to the object to be cleaned. A spin cleaning method, wherein the cleaning liquid is supplied to a position where the cleaning liquid is wound around the cleaning brush by rotation of the cleaning object. 2. The spin cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning liquid is supplied near the outer peripheral portion of the cleaning brush and forward of the cleaning brush in the turning direction. 3. A spin cleaning apparatus for bringing a cleaning brush into contact with an object to be cleaned which is rotationally driven, and for supplying a cleaning liquid to the object to be cleaned from a nozzle body to clean the object. An arm body disposed substantially parallel to the object to be cleaned and having the cleaning brush provided at the tip thereof with the rotation axis substantially perpendicular thereto; and a holder provided at the tip of the arm body for holding the nozzle body. The holder comprises: a first member fixed to the arm body; a second member provided on the first member so as to be adjustable in angle in the horizontal direction; And a third member having a base end portion provided so as to be capable of adjusting a rotation angle around a vertical mounting position and a horizontal axis, and the nozzle body being held at a front end portion. Spin cleaning equipment.