JPH11204483A - Cleaning device and cleaning - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning device of a structure, wherein the contact pressure of a cleaning body to the surface of a material to be cleaned, is easily set to as to prevent giving scratches on the surface of the material to be cleaned and at the same time, even of a deviation, nonunieformity is density or the like is generated in the cleaning body, the cleaning body copes with it to clean the surface of the material to be cleaned with its good follow-up power as it maintains the prescribed contact pressure. SOLUTION: A material W to be cleaned is held in such a way that the surface of an object of cleaning of the material W is made to face to a cleaning body 51, the cleaning body 51 is rotatably supported by an arm member 21, which can be freely whirled and elevated, and the body 51 is supported by the arm member 21 in a vertically movable state. The material W and the cleaning body 51 are relatively moved in a state that the cleaning body 51 is brought into contact with the surface of the object of cleaning of the material W at a prescribed contact pressure to clean the surface o the object of cleaning of the material W.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, taking a semiconductor device manufacturing process as an example, the surface of a semiconductor wafer on which semiconductor devices such as LSIs are formed must maintain extremely strict cleanliness during the process. Therefore, before and after various manufacturing and processing processes, the surface of the semiconductor wafer may be cleaned as needed, and such cleaning is indispensable in, for example, a photolithography process.

As a conventional technique for performing such cleaning, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
A so-called scrub cleaning method disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 259,947 is commonly used. In this scrub cleaning method, a rotating brush or sponge is brought into contact with the surface to be cleaned of the semiconductor wafer to scrub foreign substances adhering to the surface.

In the prior art, when a cleaning body such as a brush is brought into contact with the surface of a processing target such as a semiconductor wafer, a mechanism similar to a mechanism used for adjusting the stylus pressure of a record needle or the like is used. The mechanism is adopted. That is, a balance weight is arranged at one end of an arm supporting a cleaning body such as a brush, and the weight of the balance weight is set to be lighter than the total weight of the support arm side, so that a contact pressure is obtained by the weight difference. It was.

[0005]

In the case of cleaning by bringing such a brush or the like into contact with the surface of a semiconductor wafer,
The value of the contact pressure is extremely important. This is because if the contact pressure is too high, the surface of the semiconductor wafer will be damaged, which will immediately lower the yield. Therefore, when bringing a cleaning body such as a brush into contact with the surface of a semiconductor wafer, there is a problem of how to set the contact pressure.

[0006] In this regard, in the above prior art in which the contact pressure is adjusted by the balance weight provided on the support arm, it is extremely difficult to adjust the contact pressure. As the number of washings increases, the elasticity of brushes and sponges deteriorates, causing unevenness, "habiting", and unevenness, making it impossible to maintain the initially set contact pressure. Becomes Therefore, in that case, it is necessary to adjust the contact pressure as appropriate. However, in this regard, in the prior art, since the contact pressure is adjusted by the balance weight provided on the support arm, the fulcrum distance from the balance weight is adjusted each time. And required extremely difficult work.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to easily set a contact pressure so as not to damage the surface of an object to be cleaned and to bias the above-mentioned cleaning body. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device and a cleaning method which can cope with the occurrence of unevenness or density and maintain the predetermined contact pressure with good followability.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the cleaning object and the object to be cleaned are arranged so that the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned faces the cleaning object. A holding member for holding the cleaning member, a cleaning member supporting means for rotatably supporting the cleaning member, an arm member to which the cleaning member supporting means is attached, an arm turning means for turning the arm member, and the arm member. An arm elevating means for elevating and lowering the washing body supporting means for elevating the washing body support means, wherein the object to be cleaned is contacted with the washing body at a predetermined contact pressure with the surface to be washed; A cleaning apparatus is provided for relatively moving the cleaning body to clean the surface to be cleaned of the cleaning target body.

The term "cleaning body" as used in the present invention refers to a means such as a brush or a sponge for removing foreign substances adhering to the surface to be cleaned by bringing the surface into contact with the surface to be cleaned with appropriate elasticity. According to the verification by the inventors, when the contact pressure between the cleaning object and the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned is 60 gf or less, particularly 50 gf or less, the cleaning object damages the object to be cleaned such as a semiconductor wafer. Has not been confirmed. Therefore, for example, when a semiconductor wafer is taken as an example of the object to be cleaned, the contact pressure when cleaning the device forming surface side is set to 50 or less, for example, around 30 gf. Good results are obtained. In addition, even if the washing body is uneven,
By maintaining the contact pressure at a predetermined value, the followability is improved. By the way, for example, when a semiconductor wafer is taken as the object to be cleaned, there is no problem even if the back side other than the device forming surface is cleaned with a relatively high contact pressure. That is, when there is a difference in the required degree of cleaning, the tolerance of scratches, and the like on the front and back surfaces of the object to be cleaned, it is not always necessary to perform cleaning with the same contact pressure as in the above case. For example, when the back surface of the semiconductor wafer, that is, the non-device-formed surface is to be cleaned, the contact pressure with the cleaning body is set to 200 gf or more.
It may be set to 1 kgf. In this case, more preferably,
The cleaning may be performed in a contact pressure range of 200 gf to 400 gf, especially around 300 gf.

In the cleaning apparatus of the first aspect, as described in the second aspect, a means for detecting a contact pressure of the cleaning body with respect to the surface to be cleaned may be further provided. By detecting the contact pressure in this manner, the contact pressure can be set and maintained at a value of 50 gf or less, for example, about 30 gf.

Further, as described in claim 3, the apparatus may further comprise means for detecting the position of the cleaning body.
The position of the cleaning body is detected, and the vertical range of the cleaning body
When the diameter is set to be equal to or less than mm, good rotation can be realized when a rotary brush and a rotary sponge are used for the cleaning body and a rotary drive is applied through a pulley and a belt. Claim 4
As described in the above, a means for preventing dust from adhering to the surface to be cleaned may be provided.

[0012] As described in claim 5, the washing body lifting / lowering means is, for example, a cylinder for moving a piston by a fluid. If the cylinder structure having a friction loss of about 1 gf or less is used, accurate adjustment can be realized when finely adjusting the contact pressure between the cleaning object and the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned.

Further, as set forth in claim 6, the apparatus may further comprise means for maintaining the predetermined contact pressure. For example, in the case where a semiconductor wafer is taken as an example of the object to be cleaned, it is more preferable that the contact pressure when cleaning the device forming surface side is set to 50 or less, for example, about 30 gf. Is obtained. For example, when the back surface of the semiconductor wafer, that is, the surface on which the device is not formed is to be cleaned, the contact pressure with the cleaning body is set at 20.
It may be set to 0 gf to 1 kgf. In this case, more preferably, 200 gf to 400 gf, especially 300 gf
It is good to wash within the range of the contact pressure in the vicinity.

Further, as set forth in claim 7, a means for cleaning the cleaning body in the retracted state may be further provided. For example, after cleaning is completed, before the next cleaning is performed, the cleaning body itself may be washed with an appropriate cleaning liquid at a position evacuated from the cleaning target object, so that a clean cleaning body is always provided at the time of cleaning. You can do this with

According to the eighth aspect, the object to be cleaned is held such that the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned faces the cleaning body, and the object to be cleaned is placed on the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned. In the cleaning method of contacting and cleaning the surface to be cleaned,
A first step of moving the cleaning body to a predetermined position on the cleaning target surface in a state where the cleaning body is separated from the cleaning target surface of the cleaning target body, and contacting the cleaning body with a predetermined position on the cleaning target surface And a third step of relatively moving the cleaning body and the cleaning target body to clean the surface to be cleaned of the cleaning target body with a predetermined contact pressure. Is provided.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the object to be cleaned is held so that the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned faces the object to be cleaned, the object to be cleaned is rotated, and the object to be cleaned is rotated. In a cleaning method for cleaning a cleaning target surface by contacting the cleaning target surface of the cleaning target body, a predetermined position on the cleaning target surface in a state where the cleaning body is separated from the cleaning target surface of the cleaning target body A first step of moving the cleaning body to a predetermined position on the surface to be cleaned, and a second step of lowering the cleaning body until the cleaning body comes into contact with a predetermined position on the surface to be cleaned. And a cleaning method including a third step of cleaning the surface to be cleaned by bringing the cleaning body into contact with the surface to be cleaned at a predetermined contact pressure.

In the cleaning method according to claims 8 and 9,
As set forth in claim 10, the contact pressure of the cleaning body with respect to the surface to be cleaned of the cleaning target body may be set before the third step. As described in claim 11, the contact pressure of the cleaning body with respect to the surface to be cleaned of the cleaning target body may be programmed in advance. As described in claim 12, the contact pressure of the cleaning body with respect to the surface to be cleaned of the cleaning target body may be kept constant during the third step. According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the contact pressure of the cleaning object with respect to the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned may be changed according to the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned. As described in claim 14, the contact pressure of the cleaning body with respect to the surface to be cleaned of the cleaning target body may be constantly measured or detected.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is directed to cleaning for performing a so-called scrub cleaning on the surface of a semiconductor wafer to be cleaned. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a cleaning apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, and is a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a cleaning target).
The “wafer” W is held on a spin chuck 2 that rotates at a relatively low speed by a rotation drive device (not shown) such as a separate motor, for example, by vacuum suction or a Bernoulli chuck method. ing. A cup 3 is provided below the spin chuck 2 to prevent the cleaning liquid from scattering outside the apparatus when cleaning the wafer W.

A cleaning mechanism 10 including a cleaning body for cleaning the wafer W is disposed near one side of the spin chuck 2. As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the cleaning mechanism 10 includes a bracket 1 on a lower surface of a base 11 fixed to the main body of the cleaning device 1.
2 is fixed, elevating cylinder 13, further the sliding portion 13a is vertical slide as reciprocating arrow A ₁ in FIG.
Are fixed to the bracket 12. The vertical movement (reciprocating arrow A ₁ ) of the sliding portion 13 a causes the motor 14 and the like to vertically move (reciprocating arrow A ₂ ) the entire support plate 15 disposed on the upper surface thereof.

In order to stably and smoothly move the support plate 15 up and down, a guide (not shown) is provided between the support plate 15 and the bracket 12 in the vertical direction. A casing 16 slidable on the outside of 14 is fixed to the bracket 12.

The motor 14 is of a type having a timing mechanism, and its rotation is controlled by a transmission member 1 such as a belt.
7, the speed reducer 18 provided on the support plate 15
And the rotational force from the speed reducer 18 is
It is configured to be transmitted to the shaft 19. Thus, the positive reversal of the rotation shaft of the motor 14, the shaft 19 is adapted to positive inverted as shown in reciprocating rotation arrow B ₁ in FIG.

An upper portion of the shaft 19 penetrates the base 11, and a lower end of an appropriate support column 20 is attached near the upper end thereof. The vicinity of one end of the arm member 21 is fixed. The outer peripheries of the shaft 19 and the support column 20 are covered with a cylindrical cover 22 attached to the lower surface of one end of the arm member 21. A flexible cylindrical cover 23 is located, and the lower end of the cover 23 is fixed to the upper surface of the base 11. Accordingly, the forward / reverse rotation of the shaft 19 (reciprocating rotation arrow B ₁ ) causes the arm member 21 to move with the cover 22 together with the reciprocating rotation arrow B in FIG.
_As shown in Fig. _2, it turns. Further, the arm member 21 is configured to be capable of turning in a predetermined range on the wafer W, for example, in the range of the reciprocating rotation arrow X in FIG. 1 according to a program previously stored in a program memory or the like. .

The arm member 21 has a frame 21a and a cover 21b. A motor 24 for rotating and driving a cleaning body 51 described later is provided on the lower surface of the cover 21b of the arm member 21. As shown in FIG. 3, a support member 31 is fixed on the frame 21a near the other end of the arm member 21, and one side of the support member 31 is One end of a sliding body 32 which is mounted so as to be vertically movable is mounted. The lower surface of the sliding member 32 is configured to abut against a pressure sensor S provided on the upper surface of a support member 33 provided on the frame 21a so that the downward pressing force of the sliding member 32 can be measured. I have.

On the other hand, the arm 2 has a frame 2
An air cylinder 34 fixed to 1a is provided, and a sliding member 35 for moving the sliding body 32 up and down is provided on a lower surface of the air cylinder 34. The thrust of the sliding member 35 is freely controlled by the supply of air from the supply unit 36 and the discharge of air from the exhaust unit 37. Therefore, the vertical movement of the sliding member 35, sliding body 32 is to move up and down as shown in reciprocating arrow C ₁ in FIG. Further, the sliding member 35 of the air cylinder 34
Is 1 gf or less. The distal end of the sliding member 35 may be configured to be in contact with the sliding body 32 and to press the sliding body 32 downward at a constant pressure.

The other end of the sliding body 32 has a shaft 4
The upper end of the shaft 41 is rotatably supported, and the lower end of the shaft 41 projects below the arm member 21. A driven pulley 42 is fixed near the upper end of the shaft 41, and a belt 44 is stretched between the driven pulley 43 fixed to the shaft of the motor 24 and the driven pulley 42. Have been. Therefore, the rotational force of the motor 24 is transmitted to the shaft 4 via the belt 49.
1 so that the shaft 41 rotates at a relatively high speed.

A shaft cover 45 is disposed on the outer periphery of the protruding portion of the shaft 41. A ball bearing 47 is disposed inside the shaft cover 45 via a spacer 46 to support the outer periphery of the shaft 41. doing. The lower end of the shaft 41 is provided with a dustproof body 4.
8, a cleaning member 50 is detachably provided via the mounting member 49.

The dustproof body 48 has an open upper surface.
Dust and particles generated in the shaft cover 45 are prevented from falling down as it is, and the vertical movement range of the shaft 41 is restricted between the shaft cover 45 and the lower end surface.

In the present embodiment, the cleaning member 50 attached to the lower portion of the mounting member 49 has a substantially cylindrical sponge material as a cleaning body 51 on the lower surface thereof. Of course, depending on the object to be cleaned, instead of such sponge material,
It is possible to appropriately select a hard brush such as a nylon brush having a hard bristle or a soft brush having a soft bristle such as a mohair brush as the cleaning body 51 as appropriate.

With the above configuration, the air cylinder 3
When the sliding member 32 moves up and down (reciprocating arrow C _{1 in} FIG. 3) due to 4, the cleaning member 50 moves up and down as shown by the reciprocating arrow C ₂ in FIG. In the present embodiment, the vertical movement range is set to be 5 mm or less.

The base 11 below the cleaning member 50
A cleaning container 52 having an open upper surface is provided on the upper surface of the container. In the normal state, that is, in the state shown in FIGS.
A portion of the cleaning body 51 on the lower surface of the cleaning member 50 enters the cleaning container 52, and in this state, an appropriate cleaning liquid, for example, pure water is supplied from an ejection port 53 formed on the side wall of the cleaning container 52. The cleaning liquid is jetted from a separately provided cleaning liquid jetting device (not shown) to the cleaning body 51 through the jetting port 53. The lower surface of the cleaning body 51 in the state shown in FIG.
The height is set to be 2-3 mm lower than the upper surface of the wafer W held thereon. That is, in FIG.
mm.

The cleaning apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is configured as described above. Next, using this cleaning apparatus 1, the upper surface of the wafer W held on the spin chuck 2, ie, the device formation The method of scrub cleaning the surface will be described.
3, the sliding portion 13a is pulled up, the arm member 21 is raised, the cleaning member 50 is pulled up from the cleaning container 52, and then the motor 14 is operated as it is to rotate the arm member 21. Then, the wafer W is moved to a predetermined position on the wafer W, for example, to the center.

Next, the motor 24 is operated to operate the cleaning member 5.
0 is rotated at a high speed, the sliding portion 13a of the vertically moving cylinder 13 is lowered to a predetermined position to bring the cleaning body 51 of the cleaning member 50 into contact with the surface of the wafer W, and the air cylinder 3 is rotated.
4, a predetermined contact pressure of the cleaning body 51 against the surface of the wafer W is obtained as shown in FIG. in this case,
The contact pressure is controlled by controlling the air cylinder 34, and specifically, is set to, for example, 30 gf. In such a case, by controlling the air cylinder 34 by the detection signal of the pressure sensor S,
The setting of the contact pressure is automatically performed.

For example, in FIG. 2, when the sliding portion 13a is lowered and is in a standby state, the pressure of the sliding body 32 in the lowered state is measured by the pressure sensor S. This measured value is the sum of the weight of the sliding body 32 and the pressing force of the air cylinder 34, that is, it corresponds to the contact pressure. Therefore, by controlling the pressing force of the air cylinder 34, a predetermined contact pressure can be set.

The setting of such a contact pressure is automatically performed by lowering the cleaning member 50 by programming in advance using a dummy wafer. Thereafter, the contact pressure is constantly detected by the pressure sensor S during standby. , Only the fine adjustment may be appropriately performed.

Then, the cleaning body 51 having the contact pressure thus set is rotated at a high speed, and the arm member 21 is moved to the position X in FIG.
By supplying an appropriate cleaning liquid, for example, pure water to the cleaning body 51 while reciprocating in the range, the surface of the wafer W is scrub-cleaned over the entire area. During cleaning, the sliding member 32, that is, the cleaning member 50,
As shown by the arrow C1, the contact pressure is always set to be constant because the pressing force of the air cylinder 34 is constant even if the cleaning member 50 moves up and down as shown by the arrow C1. Becomes possible. In this case, since the contact pressure between the cleaning body 51 and the surface of the wafer W is set to 30 gf, there is no possibility that the cleaning body 51 will damage the surface of the wafer W, and a sufficient cleaning effect can be obtained.

When washing is completed in such a manner,
By the operation of the vertical movement cylinder 13, the arm member 21 is raised, and then by the operation of the motor 14, the arm member 21 is turned and retracted, and the cleaning member 50 returns to above the cleaning container 52, and then descends as it is. The cleaning body 51 is located in the cleaning container 52. In this state, a cleaning liquid such as pure water is jetted from the separately provided cleaning liquid jetting device (not shown) to the cleaning body 51, and the cleaning body 51 itself is subjected to cleaning to be cleaned. Therefore, even when cleaning is performed on the next wafer W, the cleaning can be performed with the cleaning body 51 that is always in a clean state.

In the meantime, the cleaned wafer W is transferred by a separate transfer device (not shown), and the next wafer W to be cleaned is held on the spin chuck 2.
Thereafter, the same procedure as the above-described cleaning process is repeated, and the wafers W to be cleaned are sequentially cleaned.

When the number of times of the cleaning process is increased in this manner, the elasticity of the cleaning body 51 is reduced because a predetermined load is applied to the cleaning body 51, and the contact pressure fluctuates as it is. The intended cleaning effect may not be obtained, or an excessive contact pressure may be applied to the wafer W to damage the wafer W.

However, according to the cleaning device 1 of the present embodiment, since the contact pressure is constantly monitored by the pressure sensor S, the air cylinder 34 that realizes the predetermined contact pressure is replaced with the pressure sensor S. By controlling the contact pressure to a predetermined value based on the detection signal from S, the contact pressure is always constant, and even if the elastic restorability described above decreases, the contact pressure is always maintained under the predetermined contact value. Thus, it is possible to achieve the desired cleaning effect. Therefore, even if the number of times of cleaning is increased, the wafer W to be cleaned is not damaged, and a cleaning process with a very high yield can be performed.

By the way, the number of times of cleaning is increased, and the elastic restoring property of the cleaning body 51 is remarkably reduced.
When the predetermined contact pressure cannot be obtained, it is desirable to replace the cleaning body 51 itself. However, if a device that detects this and issues a predetermined warning signal is provided, the cleaning body 51 can be replaced. The replacement time and the maintenance time can be known in advance, and the occurrence of an unexpected situation can be prevented. For example, by detecting that the elasticity of the cleaning body 51 is reduced and the sliding body 32 is lowered during cleaning and comes into contact with the pressure sensor S, the above-described measures can be taken. Note that a position sensor PS such as a photoelectric sensor may be arranged on the side of the sliding body 32 to detect that the sliding body 32 is lowered too much during cleaning.

The cleaning apparatus 1 according to the above embodiment
In the above, the sliding body 32 supporting the shaft 41 is
Since the sliding range is set to 5 mm or less, even if the sliding member 35 of the air cylinder 34 is appropriately slid for adjusting the contact pressure, the positional relationship between the belt 44 and the driven pulley 42 is excessive. The rotation of the shaft 41 does not fluctuate due to displacement, and the rotational force without loss is transmitted to the shaft 41 extremely efficiently. Therefore, even if the number of times of processing is increased, uniform cleaning processing can be performed without any individual difference between the cleaning target bodies and always maintaining a constant quality.

In the above embodiment, the contact pressure was set to 30 gf because the surface to be cleaned was the surface of the wafer W to be cleaned, that is, the device forming surface. When the cleaning body 51 is a PVA sponge, the contact pressure is changed in the case of the back surface of the wafer W, that is, in the case of the device non-forming surface, for example, 200 gf to 1 kgf.
Preferably 200 gf to 400 gf, especially 300 gf
By setting it near f, a sufficient cleaning effect can be obtained without damaging the back surface.

In general, for example, for a wafer to be cleaned, depending on the type of pretreatment, it is necessary to clean both the front and back surfaces of the wafer, that is, both the device forming surface and the device non-forming surface. However, as described above, in the case of cleaning in this case, if the setting of the contact pressure between the cleaning body 51 and the surface to be cleaned is changed depending on the front and back surfaces of the wafer, effective cleaning without damage can be obtained. Can be

Therefore, for example, two types of cleaning devices are provided in which the setting of the contact pressure is previously distinguished between the device forming surface and the non-forming surface. In one cleaning device, only the device forming surface is cleaned. In other cleaning apparatuses, a so-called hybrid-type composite cleaning apparatus that cleans only the non-device-formed surface can be extremely efficiently and effectively cleaned. Can be implemented. In such a case, for example, if a transport device that transports the object to be cleaned upside down during transport is provided between the holding devices in the individual cleaning devices, for example, the spin chucks in the above-described embodiment, the transport device is continuously mounted. A cleaning device capable of cleaning the front and back of the cleaning processing body can be provided.

The air cylinder 34 in the cleaning device 1 according to the above-described embodiment is pressed against the sliding body 32 whose sliding portion 35 is located at a lower portion from above, so to speak, by a predetermined amount. Although the contact pressure has been obtained, the configuration shown in FIG. 5 may be used instead of this configuration.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, the sliding portion 35 '
Is provided with an air cylinder 34 'positioned above,
The appropriate pressed part 61 integrated with the sliding part 3 is
It is configured to be raised and lowered by 5 '. According to such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 6, the contact pressure of the cleaning body 51 with respect to the wafer can be obtained only by adjusting the vertical thrust of the sliding portion 35 'of the air cylinder 34'. That is, in principle, it has a floating configuration as shown in FIG. Therefore, when a predetermined contact pressure is obtained, the cleaning member 50 including the sliding body 32 and the driven pulley 42 is used.
A thrust obtained by subtracting a desired predetermined contact pressure load from the own weight may be obtained by the air cylinder 34 ', so that the control is easy and the fine adjustment is easier. Therefore, it is suitable for cleaning a so-called device forming surface having a small contact pressure.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the object to be cleaned is a semiconductor wafer. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to an LCD substrate. Also, as described in the embodiment of the present invention described above,
Focusing on the function and effect of the present invention, that is, performing a damage-free cleaning by bringing a brush, a sponge, or the like into contact with the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned, not only a simple cleaning but also, for example, a predetermined liquid material is processed. The present invention can also be applied to a coating method and a coating device when coating on the body surface.

[0048]

According to the cleaning apparatus of the first, second, third, and sixth aspects, the cleaning object does not damage the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned. It is suitable for cleaning against. In addition, even if the cleaning body is uneven, uneven, or uneven, the contact pressure is always maintained at a predetermined value, so that it is possible to perform cleaning with good followability and stable cleaning. No separate adjustment is required. In addition, there is no possibility that the cleaning body is damaged on the device forming surface. It is also suitable for cleaning the surface on which no device is formed, and can perform necessary and sufficient cleaning without damaging the surface.

According to the cleaning apparatus of the fourth aspect, it is possible to reduce the adhesion of dust to the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned. Claim 5
According to this, if a cylinder having a friction loss of about 1 gf or less is used, accurate adjustment can be realized when finely adjusting the contact pressure between the cleaning object and the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned. According to the seventh aspect, the cleaning can always be performed with a clean cleaning body, and a uniform cleaning effect can be obtained for the cleaning target body. In this regard, the yield can be improved.

Claims 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1
According to the cleaning methods 3 and 14, cleaning can be performed without damaging the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned. For example, when the object to be cleaned is a semiconductor wafer, it is suitable for cleaning the device forming surface. In addition, it is biased toward the washing body,
Even if the density is uneven, the contact pressure is always maintained at a predetermined value, so that it is possible to carry out stable cleaning with good followability, and it is not necessary to separately adjust the contact pressure each time. In addition, there is no possibility that the cleaning body is damaged on the device forming surface. It is also suitable for cleaning the surface on which no device is formed, and can perform necessary and sufficient cleaning without damaging the surface.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view of a cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory longitudinal sectional view of a cleaning mechanism in the cleaning device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory longitudinal sectional view of a main part of the cleaning mechanism of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory side view showing a contact state between the cleaning body and the wafer when the wafer is being cleaned.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a vertical section of a main part of a cleaning mechanism configured to obtain a contact pressure by a floating method.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an operation of the cleaning mechanism of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the principle of the cleaning mechanism of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 cleaning device 2 spin chuck 10 cleaning mechanism 13 up-down moving cylinder 14 motor 19 shaft 21 arm member 24 motor 34 air cylinder 41 shaft 42 driven pulley 43 drive pulley 44 belt 50 cleaning member 51 cleaning member S pressure sensor W wafer

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning body, a holding member that holds the cleaning target so that a surface to be cleaned of the cleaning target faces the cleaning body, and a cleaning body that rotatably supports the cleaning target. Support means, an arm member to which the cleaning body supporting means is attached, an arm turning means for rotating the arm member, an arm lifting / lowering means for raising / lowering the arm member, and a cleaning body lifting / lowering means for raising / lowering the cleaning body supporting means. Means for cleaning the body to be cleaned by relatively moving the body to be cleaned and the body to be cleaned while the body to be cleaned is in contact with the surface to be cleaned at a predetermined contact pressure. A cleaning device that cleans the target surface. 2. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for detecting a contact pressure of the cleaning body with respect to the surface to be cleaned. 3. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for detecting a position of the cleaning body. 4. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for preventing dust from adhering to the surface to be cleaned. 5. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cleaning body lifting / lowering means is a cylinder for moving a piston by a fluid. 6. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a means for maintaining the predetermined contact pressure. 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for cleaning the cleaning body in a retracted state. 8. The object to be cleaned is held by holding the object to be cleaned so that the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned faces the object to be cleaned, and bringing the object to be cleaned into contact with the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned. A cleaning method for cleaning a surface; a first step of moving the cleaning body to a predetermined position on the cleaning target surface in a state where the cleaning body is separated from the cleaning target surface of the cleaning target body; A second step of lowering the surface to be contacted with a predetermined position on the surface, and relatively moving the cleaning body and the object to be cleaned to clean the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned with a predetermined contact pressure. A cleaning method comprising a third step of performing. 9. The cleaning target is held and the cleaning target is rotated so that the surface to be cleaned of the cleaning target faces the cleaning target, and the cleaning target is rotated by the cleaning target. In a cleaning method for cleaning a surface to be cleaned by contacting the surface to be cleaned, a first step of moving the cleaning body to a predetermined position on the surface to be cleaned while being separated from the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned. A second step of lowering the cleaning body until it comes into contact with a predetermined position on the surface to be cleaned; and moving the cleaning body on the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned while moving the cleaning body. A cleaning method including a third step of cleaning the surface to be cleaned by bringing the surface to be cleaned into contact with a predetermined contact pressure. 10. The cleaning method according to claim 8, wherein a contact pressure of the cleaning body with respect to the surface to be cleaned of the cleaning target body is set before a third step. 11. A contact pressure of the cleaning body with respect to a cleaning target surface of the cleaning target body is programmed in advance.
The cleaning method according to claim 8, 9 or 10. 12. The cleaning according to claim 8, wherein the contact pressure of the cleaning body with respect to the surface to be cleaned of the cleaning target body is kept constant during the third step. Method. 13. The cleaning object according to claim 8, wherein a contact pressure of the cleaning object with respect to the surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned is changed according to a surface to be cleaned of the object to be cleaned. The washing method according to any one of the above. 14. A contact pressure of the cleaning body with respect to a cleaning target surface of the cleaning target body is constantly measured or detected.
The cleaning method according to any one of claims 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13.