JPH11301849A - Wafer chucking device and wafer washing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify a conveying mechanism, to miniaturize a device in size and to reduce the device cost by making the conveying/holding mechanism of a wafer a vacuum chuck type, and rockably fitting a chuck member protrusively outward to an opening section formed at the tip section of a substrate section. SOLUTION: A substrate section 16 is constituted of an upper plate 16a formed with a long groove 14a serving as an air passage 14 on the lower face and a lower plate 16b screwed to the upper plate 16a to close the long groove 14a, and an opening section 18 is bored on the surface of the tip section of the upper plate 16a. A suction hole 24 communicated with the air passage 14 is formed at the center section of a tubular main body 22, and a circular packing member 28 fitted into a circular groove 26 at the outer peripheral section of the tubular main body 22 is supported on the support step section 32 of a base ring member 30 to form a chuck member 20. The air passage 14 and the suction hole 24 are set to a decompressed state by the action of an air sucking means 38 communicated and connected to a suction hole 36 formed on the surface of the rear end section of the upper plate 16a, and a wafer is sucked to the suction hole 24.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer chuck device capable of simplifying a transfer mechanism, reducing the size of the device, and reducing particle contamination due to dust generation.

[0002]

2. Related Art In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, impurities and foreign substances attached to the surface of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as a wafer) (for example, chemical impurities and particles are attached to a polished wafer). ) Adversely affects the performance of the semiconductor device.

[0003] Therefore, a cleaning process is incorporated in a wafer manufacturing process for the purpose of removing various impurities and foreign substances attached to the wafer surface. In this cleaning step, the wafer is cleaned by various methods.
Wafer cleaning methods are roughly classified into physical cleaning methods and chemical cleaning methods.

[0004] As the physical cleaning method, for example, a method of directly mechanically removing dirt using a cleaning brush or the like, or a method in which a pressurized fluid is jetted toward a part or the whole of the object to be cleaned by a jet nozzle, A method of mechanically removing dirt by the jet pressure, or a method of immersing an object to be cleaned in liquid and using ultrasonic energy generated by a vibrator installed in the liquid to mechanically remove dirt. A sonic cleaning method and the like are mentioned.

As the above-mentioned chemical cleaning method, for example, a method of chemically decomposing and removing dirt attached to the wafer surface with various chemicals, enzymes and the like can be mentioned. The physical cleaning method and the chemical cleaning method may be used in combination.

On the other hand, when carrying out the above-mentioned cleaning method, a method of transporting wafers to each cleaning means includes a method of transporting a plurality of wafers at once in a plastic carrier cassette (carrier method). There is also known a method of transporting a wafer while holding both sides of the wafer with a robot hand or the like (carrierless method).

[0007] In the carrier type cleaning apparatus,
Due to the contact between the wafer and the carrier cassette etc., there is a problem that particles etc. adhere to the wafer and the wafer is contaminated, but processing of wafers with different diameters is difficult.
There is an advantage that the cleaning can be performed by one cleaning device by replacing the carrier cassette according to the diameter.

In the field of manufacturing semiconductor devices, a semiconductor wafer has been increased in diameter in accordance with the recent trend toward higher integration of semiconductor devices, and a conventional method has been employed in which a plurality of wafers are accommodated in a carrier for cleaning. If this is the case, a large-sized device and a great deal of labor are required.

On the other hand, in a carrierless type cleaning apparatus, there is no problem of wafer contamination caused by the carrier cassette as described above. However, processing of wafers having different diameters by one cleaning apparatus is difficult. It was very difficult due to the structural limitations of the wafer holder in the tank and the robot hand for wafer transfer.

In addition, the carrier-less method has a problem that the transfer mechanism is increased in size as the diameter of the wafer is increased, resulting in an increase in apparatus size and apparatus cost. Further, in terms of quality, there is a problem of particle contamination due to generation of dust from a sliding portion that sandwiches the wafer.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has been made capable of simplifying a transport mechanism and reducing the size of an apparatus, thereby suppressing an increase in apparatus cost, and It is an object of the present invention to provide a wafer chuck device capable of reducing particle contamination due to dust generation at the time.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a wafer chuck apparatus according to the present invention comprises a base having an air passage formed therein and an opening formed at an end formed at the tip of the base. A chuck member swingably mounted on the base portion so as to protrude toward the base, a suction hole provided in a central portion of the chuck member so as to open outward, and communicating with the air flow path; A suction hole that is opened at the rear end of the portion and communicates with the air flow path; and an air suction unit that communicates with the suction hole.

The chuck member is provided with a cylindrical chuck member main body having a suction hole communicating with the air flow path formed in a central portion so as to open outward and an annular groove provided in an outer peripheral portion; It is preferable to comprise an annular elastic packing member to be fitted, and a base ring member provided with a supporting step on the inner peripheral portion and inserting and supporting the annular elastic packing member on the supporting step.

If the annular elastic packing member is formed of silicone rubber or fluorine-based elastomer, there is an advantage that the durability is improved and the swinging operation is performed smoothly.

As the air suction means, a vacuum pump,
A water sealing pump or aspirator is preferably used.

The wafer handling apparatus according to the present invention comprises the above-mentioned wafer chuck apparatus mounted at an appropriate position of a robot means, for taking out a wafer from a cassette supply tank filled with pure water, and for rinsing after brush cleaning. It is suitably used when rinsing in a tank.

[0017] The wafer cleaning system of the present invention comprises a first robot means for discharging and transporting wafers stored in a cassette, a brush cleaning unit for cleaning wafers transported by the first robot means, and a brush cleaning unit. A rinsing section for rinsing the wafer washed in step 1, a drying section for drying the rinsed wafer, and a wafer cleaning system for accommodating the dried wafer in a cassette. The above-mentioned wafer chuck device is used as a wafer suction part.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing one embodiment of the wafer chuck device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the essential parts of the same, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a main part showing a state where the base ring member is combined, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the wafer chuck apparatus of FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory view showing one example of the vacuum system of FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 12 denotes a wafer chuck device according to the present invention. The wafer chuck device 12 has a base portion 16 in which an air flow path 14 is formed (FIG. 5). The base portion 16 includes an upper plate 16a and a lower plate 16b.
And are fixed to each other by fixing means such as screws. The air passage 1 is provided on the lower surface of the upper plate 16a.
4, a long groove 14a is formed. The base plate 1
An opening 18 is formed in the surface of the tip of 6a (FIGS. 2 and 3).

Reference numeral 20 denotes a chuck member having a cylindrical chuck member main body 22. At the center of the cylindrical chuck member main body 22, a suction hole 24 that opens outward and communicates with the air flow path 14 is formed. Reference numeral 26 denotes an annular groove provided on the outer peripheral portion of the cylindrical chuck member main body 22.

Reference numeral 28 denotes an annular elastic packing member fitted into the annular groove 26. The annular elastic packing member 28 has chemical resistance like silicone rubber or fluorine-based elastomer,
It is formed of an elastic material having excellent heat resistance.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a base ring member having a support step 32 formed on an inner peripheral portion thereof, and the annular elastic packing member 28 is inserted and supported on the support step 32. Reference numeral 34 denotes a slit intermittently provided at the lower end of the base ring member 30 and is configured to allow the air sucked from the suction hole 24 to pass therethrough.

An annular elastic packing member 28 is fitted to the outer peripheral portion of the chuck member main body 22 through the annular groove 26, and the annular elastic packing member 28 is supported by the supporting step 32 of the base ring member 30. Chuck member 20
Is configured (FIG. 3).

The chuck member 20 is placed on the upper surface of the lower plate 16b, and the upper portion of the chuck member body 22 is
The upper plate 16a and the lower plate 16b are fixed with a fixing member such as a screw in a state where the chuck member 20 is protruded upward from the upper plate 8 to fix the chuck member 20 between the upper plate 16a and the lower plate 16b (FIG. 4 and FIG. 5). At this time, the diameter of the opening 18 is larger than the diameter of the chuck member main body 22, and the upper portion of the chuck member main body 22 is inserted into the opening 18 via a swingable gap. ing.

Reference numeral 36 denotes a suction hole formed in the surface of the rear end portion of the base plate 16a.
It communicates with 4. Wafer chuck device 12 of the present invention
As shown in FIG. 6, the wafer handling device 44 is usually mounted at an appropriate position on the robot means 42 or the like.
Used as This wafer handling device 44
Is suitably used when taking out a wafer from a cassette supply tank filled with pure water or rinsing in a rinsing tank after brush cleaning in a wafer cleaning system or the like to be described later.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 38 denotes an air suction means which communicates with the suction hole 36. By turning on the air suction means 38 and sucking air from the suction holes 36, the air flow path 14 and the suction holes 24 are in a reduced pressure state. It is sucked and chucked by the suction hole 24.

When the air suction means 38 is turned off, the suction force of the wafer W chucked by the suction hole 24 disappears, so that the wafer W can be removed. FIG.
In the figure, reference numeral 40 denotes a pressure sensor for checking the pressure of a pipe or the like.

As the air suction means 38, a vacuum pump, a water sealing pump, an aspirator, or the like can be used. However, it is necessary to perform an operation of immersing the wafer W in a chemical bath or a pure water bath while chucking the wafer W. A water-sealing pump or an aspirator, which does not cause any trouble even when pure water is sucked together with air, is preferably used. In the case of a vacuum pump, it can be used by providing a buffer tank or a trap means.

With the above arrangement, when the air suction means 38 is turned on, the air flow path 14 and the suction holes 24 are in a reduced pressure state. It is chucked by suction.
At this time, since the chuck member 20 is swingable, that is, the chuck member body 22 is swingably supported via the annular elastic packing member 28, the suction surface of the chuck member body 22 and the wafer W surface are at the time of suction. Even if they are not necessarily facing each other, there is a margin for adsorption.

Further, once the wafer W is adsorbed on the suction surface, it is immersed in a chemical bath or a pure water bath with a water flow, so that the chuck member main body 22 can swing even when a force due to the water flow is applied to the wafer W. Therefore, there is an advantage that it is possible to avoid a situation in which the wafer comes off the suction surface or the wafer itself is broken.

As described above, the wafer chuck device 12 of the present invention is attached to the tip of the robot means and is used as a wafer handling device. By using this wafer handling device, a new wafer cleaning system is constituted. can do. FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a wafer cleaning system using the wafer handling apparatus of the present invention.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 120 denotes a wafer cleaning system having first robot means 121. The first robot means 121 stores a wafer W and a cassette 122 in a cassette supply tank 123 filled with pure water.
The wafers W are taken out one by one from the
4 is supplied. This first robot means 121
Suction unit or suction hand 1 provided at the tip of
The wafer chuck device 12 of the present invention is used as 21a.

Reference numerals 126 and 140 denote rinsing cleaning units for rinsing and cleaning the wafer W cleaned by the brush cleaning unit 124. The rinsing units 126 and 140 are configured in one or more stages as necessary.

The rinsed wafer W is dried in a drying unit 30 provided with an IR lamp 28. The dried wafer W is stored in the cassette 136 in the cassette removal tank 134 by the second robot unit 132. The wafer chuck unit 12 of the present invention is used as the wafer suction unit 132a provided in the second robot unit 132.

A hand cleaning unit 138 is provided for cleaning the wafer suction hand 121a of the first robot means 121.

As described above, in the wafer cleaning system 120, it is inevitable that a chemical solution or pure water is sucked when the wafer W is sucked, but if the wafer chuck device 12 of the present invention is used, there is no problem. There is an advantage that the wafer W can be sucked.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, by using a vacuum chuck system for the wafer transfer and holding mechanism, it is possible to simplify the transfer mechanism and reduce the size of the apparatus, thereby suppressing an increase in apparatus cost. And on top of that,
This achieves an effect that particle contamination due to dust generation during transport can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing one embodiment of a wafer chuck device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the same.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a main part showing a state where the chuck member main body, the annular elastic packing member, and the base ring unit of FIG. 2 are combined.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part showing a state where the wafer is chucked by suction on the chuck member main body;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the wafer chuck device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 shows a vacuum system 1 of the wafer chuck device of the present invention.
It is a schematic explanatory view showing an example.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing an example of the wafer cleaning system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

12: Wafer chuck device, 14: Air flow path, 14
a: long groove, 16: base, 16a: upper plate, 16b: lower plate, 18: opening, 20: chuck member, 22: cylindrical chuck member main body, 24: suction hole, 26: annular groove, 28:
Annular elastic packing member, 30: base ring member, 3
2: support step, 34: slit, 36: suction hole, 38:
Air suction means, 40: pressure sensor, 42: robot means, 44: wafer handling device, 120: wafer cleaning system, 121: first robot means, 121
a: wafer suction unit or suction hand, 123: cassette supply tank, 122, 136: cassette, 124: brush cleaning unit, 126, 140: rinsing cleaning unit, 128: IR lamp, 130: drying unit, 132: second robot Means 1
32a: wafer suction part, 134: cassette removal tank,
138: Hand cleaning tank, W: wafer.

Claims (6)

[Claims] A base member having an air flow path formed therein; a chuck member swingably mounted on the base portion so as to protrude outward from an opening formed at a front end of the base portion. ,
A suction hole provided at a central portion of the chuck member so as to open outward and communicating with the air flow path, a suction hole formed at a rear end of the base portion and communicating with the air flow path, A wafer chuck device having an air suction means communicating with a hole. 2. A cylindrical chuck member main body, wherein the chuck member is provided with a suction hole communicating with the air flow path so as to open outward in a central portion and has an annular groove in an outer peripheral portion;
An annular elastic packing member fitted in said annular groove, and a base ring member provided with a supporting step on an inner peripheral portion thereof for inserting and supporting said annular elastic packing member on said supporting step. Item 2. A wafer chuck device according to Item 1. 3. The wafer chuck device according to claim 2, wherein said annular elastic packing member is formed of silicone rubber or fluorine-based elastomer. 4. The air suction means is a vacuum pump, a water sealing pump or an aspirator.
The wafer chuck device as described in the above. 5. A wafer handling apparatus comprising the wafer chuck apparatus according to claim 1 attached to robot means. 6. A first robot means for discharging and transporting wafers stored in a cassette, a brush cleaning unit for cleaning the wafer transported by the first robot means, and a wafer cleaning unit for cleaning the wafer transported by the brush cleaning unit. A rinsing cleaning section for rinsing, a drying section for drying the rinsed wafer, and a wafer cleaning system for storing the dried wafer in a cassette, wherein the wafer suction section of the first robot means and the second robot means is claimed. Item 5. A wafer cleaning system using the wafer chuck device according to any one of Items 1 to 4.