JPH1187296A - Cleaning equipment for semiconductor wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a cleaning equipment for semiconductor wafer, in which high efficient cleaning is realized by solving the problem of installation space which has been an obstacle to practical implementation of QC (quick substitution) rinse system. SOLUTION: This cleaning equipment for semiconductor wafer comprises a pure water or chemical supply section 2 provided with a rinse tank 1 on the upper side, a water receiver 10 paired with the rinse tank 1 and provided with a lower discharge section 4, such that a downward water flow can be formed from the supply section 2 toward the discharge section 4, main piping 8 and a tank valve 7A for coupling the discharge section 4 with the water receiver 10 and discharging the liquid in the rinse tank 1 to the water receiver 10, and piping 14 and an exhaust valve 13 for coupling the water receiver 10 to vacuum or suction source side and discharging the gas which is in the water receiver 10. Liquid in the rinse tank 1 can be discharged into the water receiver 10 through the main piping 8, and the tank valve 7A from a state where a negative pressure is provided in the water receiver 10 by evacuating the water receiver 10 through the piping 14 and the exhaust valve 13 coupled with the suction source.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus which uses pure water or a chemical solution in a semiconductor manufacturing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Cleaning processes using chemicals in semiconductor manufacturing include a high-temperature mixture of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide, a high-temperature mixture of hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide, and a high-temperature mixture of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide. They are used differently depending on the type of contamination to be removed. As the etching process, etching of a silicon oxide film with dilute hydrofluoric acid or buffered hydrofluoric acid, and etching of a silicon nitride film with hot phosphoric acid are widely used. In the actual processes of cleaning and etching, chemical solutions are often used in combination. After the chemical solution cleaning and etching processes are completed, a rinsing process of washing away the chemical solution attached to the wafer with pure water is indispensable. A multi-tank cleaning system in which a plurality of chemical tanks and a rinse tank for washing out the chemical liquid are installed in pairs, and the wafer carrier containing the wafers is moved sequentially from the chemical tank to the rinse tank using a transfer robot. Has been adopted.

In the final step of chemical cleaning and etching, a final rinsing tank for rinsing with pure water is often provided in addition to a rinsing tank for washing away the adhering chemical. For this reason, conventionally, the number of rinse tanks is the same as the number of chemical tanks,
Many tanks are provided, and pure water consumption will inevitably increase,
Due to the increase in costs related to pure water production facilities, saving of pure water used is required. Conventional cleaning systems generally use an OF rinsing tank in which pure water is introduced from the lower part of the rinsing tank and overflows from the upper part. However, a large amount of pure water is consumed due to cleaning efficiency. Regarding the effect of pure water replacement by this OF rinse, see Reference 1 (Araki et al., “New IC Wafer Cleaning Principles and Their Applications”, Proceedings of the 15th Air Purification and Contamination Control Research Conference, pp. 125-1997. , At Waseda University). In Document 1, it has been theoretically proved that the concentration of a chemical solution attached to a wafer carrier and brought into the tank is exponentially reduced by pure water supplied in the case of an OF rinse tank. . However,
In fact, since the solution in the tank is trapped by the vortex generated in the OF rinse tank, and the effect of dilution with newly supplied pure water is hindered, it takes more time than the exponential decrease, It has been shown that more pure water will be consumed.

Therefore, in order to solve the problem of the pure water replacement time, as described in Document 1,
Instead of the conventionally used OF rinsing tank, pure water is supplied downward from above the rinsing tank, and replacement is performed so that the supplied pure water and the solution containing the cleaning solution in the rinsing tank are not mixed as much as possible. Quick displacement by down stream (Quick
Chenge, QC), that is, to adopt a QC rinsing tank or method.

[0005]

In the QC rinsing method described above, Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 9-163460 proposed by the present applicants.
As described in the above item, new pure water is supplied in a downward vertical laminar flow, and the solution in the rinsing tank is intermittently discharged rapidly for efficient replacement without mixing and mixing. For example, a large-capacity pulsating pump such as a fluororesin bellows pump is required as a discharge mechanism.
However, when such a large-capacity bellows pump or the like is used, the pump itself is expensive and the size of the apparatus becomes large. Are often restricted. This is a problem especially in the current cleaning line because a large installation area is required. Further, if a plurality of large pumps are installed, it becomes difficult to employ the pumps, which hinders the practical use of the QC rinsing method.

The present invention eliminates the problem of installation space by enabling the QC rinsing method to be performed without using a large-capacity pump, which is an obstacle to the practical use of the QC rinsing method. It is another object of the present invention to simultaneously solve the economical problems associated with the use of expensive pumps to enable more efficient cleaning. Other purposes will be clarified in the following description.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention, as illustrated in the drawings, comprises a supply unit 2 for pure water or a cleaning chemical, in which a rinsing tank 1 is provided on an upper side, and a lower part. In a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus having a discharge section 4 provided in the rinsing tank 1 and capable of forming a downward water flow from the supply section 2 side to the discharge section 4 side, The main pipe 8 and the tank valve 7A for connecting the part 4 and the water receiving container 10 to discharge the liquid in the rinsing tank 1 into the water receiving container 10, and connecting the water receiving container 10 to the vacuum or suction source 50 side. A pipe 14 for exhausting the gas in the water receiving container 10 and an exhaust valve 13, and the inside of the water receiving vessel 10 is previously evacuated through the pipe 14 and the exhaust valve 13 connected to the suction source 50, and a negative pressure is applied. From the state described above, the liquid in the rinsing tank 1 is It is drainable in the configuration via the tube 8 and Soben 7A.

The present invention described above is an improvement of a discharge mechanism corresponding to a large-capacity pump for discharging liquid in a tank necessary for realizing an ideal QC rinsing method so as to mainly reduce the cost and reduce the installation area. It was done. That is, Q
In the C rinsing method, in cleaning a semiconductor wafer, the liquid in the rinsing tank (residual pure water or cleaning chemical) is rapidly replaced with new pure water or chemical supplied from a supply unit to efficiently clean the wafer. In realizing the above, in particular, the harmful effects due to the eddy current generated in the conventional OF rinsing tank have been eliminated (Reference 1, JP 20131391). In the QC rinsing, a large-capacity pulsating pump such as a bellows pump or a diaphragm is required as a discharge mechanism for rapidly and intermittently discharging the liquid in the rinsing tank (Japanese Patent Application No. 9-1).
No. 63460). However, the adoption of such a pump requires a large installation space and complicates maintenance work. For this reason, the present invention has achieved a better discharge mechanism instead. The discharge mechanism of the present invention exhausts the gas in the water receiving container 10 by the suction source 5 to a negative pressure, and changes the liquid in the rinsing tank 1 according to the degree of the negative pressure in the water receiving container 10 from that state. It emits rapidly and intermittently. Then, as the QC rinsing, when the tank valve 7A is closed in the process of taking the wafer c into and out of the rinsing tank 1, the pure water or the chemical supplied from the supply unit 2 forms a one-way surface water flow. Further, in the process of replacing the liquid in the tank with the newly supplied pure water or the chemical liquid, the liquid discharge from the rinse tank 1 is changed by controlling the operation of the above-described discharge mechanism and the tank valve 7A (for example,
The tank valve 7A is opened and closed to discharge intermittently or to discharge at a flow rate corresponding to the negative pressure degree), thereby preventing the generation of a vortex of the liquid in the tank, which is likely to occur in the discharging process, and quickly and rapidly discharging the liquid in the tank. This enables efficient replacement.

The device of the present invention is preferably embodied as follows. First, while the connection between the discharge part 4 and the water receiving container 10 is being made, the liquid in the rinsing tank 1 is connected to the water receiving container 10.
It has a bypass pipe 9 and a bypass valve 11 for discharging independently from the main pipe 8. In this structure,
It is also possible to discharge the liquid from the rinsing tank 1 through the bypass pipe 11. For example, it is possible to form the mode 1 or mode 3 as in the embodiment. Secondly, a gas supply pipe 18 and a gas introduction valve 16 through which the water receiving vessel 10 introduces gas into the vessel, a drain pipe 19 connected to the lower side to drain the liquid discharged from the rinsing tank 1 to the outside, and This is a configuration having a container valve 7B. In this structure, the negative pressure state in the water receiving container 10 is released, and for example, a mode 4 state as in the embodiment can be formed. Third, by controlling the opening and closing of each of the tank valve 7A, the bypass valve 11, the exhaust valve 13, and the gas introduction valve 16, the liquid discharge state from the rinse tank 1 to the water receiving container 10 can be normally discharged or rapidly discharged. And the water receiving container 1
This is a configuration having a control unit 20 that enables drainage of the liquid of No. 0 from a drain pipe 19. In this structure, each of the modes 1 to 4 as in the embodiment can be automatically formed. Other detailed configurations will be clarified in the following embodiments.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The embodiments of the present invention described below are preferred specific examples, and are technically variously limited. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. . FIG. 1 schematically shows a semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus to which the present invention is applied. The cleaning apparatus in FIG. 1 connects the rinsing tank body 1 and the water receiving container 10 with two piping systems, and includes a control unit 20.

The rinsing tank body 1 includes a supply section 2 provided on the upper side of the tank to discharge pure water or a chemical solution, a punching plate 3 disposed on the lower side of the tank, and a discharge section provided on the bottom side in the tank. 4
And a water level gauge 5 provided above the tank, and the wafer c is taken in and out in a state where the wafer c is stored in the carrier 6 (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as the carrier 6).
A plurality of discharge ports or slit-shaped discharge ports 2a are arranged along one side of the upper portion of the tank, and pure water or a chemical solution is pressure-fed to the discharge ports 2a from a supply liquid storage facility, and is discharged horizontally into the tank. The punching plate 3 is a plate with a plurality of upper and lower holes, and is arranged at a distance from the bottom of the tank so that the liquid portion discharged from the discharge unit 4 is not locally biased, and the lower water flow in the tank is reduced. Is formed uniformly. And, from the discharge unit 4,
Pure water and chemicals in the tank are guided to the tank bottom side through the punching plate 3 and discharged through a discharge mechanism described later.

The water receiving container 10 is provided with a tank valve 7 with respect to the discharge portion 4.
A and the main pipe 8 and the tank valve 7
It is connected to a discharge section 4 on the near side of A via a bypass pipe 9 having one end connected thereto. The bypass pipe 9 is the bypass valve 1
1 and a flow control valve 12 located on the water receiving container 10 side. On the upper side of the water receiving container 10, an exhaust pipe 14 having one end connected to the inside of the container and having an exhaust valve 13 is provided.
, A pressure gauge 15 for detecting the pressure in the container, a gas introduction valve 16 connected to one end in the container, and a flow control valve 1
7 is connected to the gas supply pipe 18.
On the lower side of the water receiving container 10, a drain pipe 1 is provided via a container valve 7B.
9 is connected.

The control unit 20 receives the detection value of the water level gauge 5 via a signal line 21 to determine the liquid level state in the rinsing tank main body 1 or receives the detection value of the pressure gauge 15 via a signal line 22. To determine the remaining state of the liquid in the water receiving container 10 and use the barometer as a barometer to enable each of the modes 1 to 4 to be described later, so that the tank valve 7A, the container valve 7B, the bypass valve 11,
This is a sequence for controlling the opening and closing of each of the exhaust valve 13 and the gas introduction valve 16. Further, the control unit 20 includes a signal line 23
And the container valve 7B via the signal line 24
And the bypass valve 11 via the signal line 25 and the signal line 26
Are connected to the exhaust valve 13 via a signal line and the gas introduction valve 16 via a signal line 27, respectively, so that a control signal corresponding to the mode content can be transmitted to each valve. Mode 1 is a carrier waiting mode among the above four modes. Mode 2 is a carrier loading mode. Mode 3 is an intermittent discharge mode. Mode 4 is a rapid permutation (QC) mode formed in pairs after Mode 3. next,
The operation of the device will be clarified while detailing the contents of each mode.

In the mode 1, the carrier 6 is the rinsing tank body 1
For example, in a standby mode in which the carrier 6 containing the wafer c that has been washed with a chemical liquid is moved to the rinsing tank body 1 in a state in which the wafer c has not been entered. In this mode 1, the bypass valve 11 and the container valve 7
B is open and all other valves are controlled to be closed. Therefore, the pure water in the rinsing tank main body 1 is discharged from the bypass pipe 9 into the water receiving container 10. It is assumed that the discharge flow rate is adjusted in advance by the flow control valve 12 so as to be smaller than the amount of pure water supplied from the supply unit 2.
In the mode 1, a part of the pure water supplied from the supply unit 2 forms a horizontal surface water flow on the upper surface of the rinsing tank body 1 and overflows from the opposite side facing the discharge port 2 a. As a result, all the foreign matter floating on the water surface in the tank is washed away, and a clean water surface free of foreign matter is always formed. For this reason, when the carrier 6 enters the rinsing tank main body 1, the wafer c and the like are prevented from being contaminated by foreign matters floating on the water surface. At the same time, since the pure water stored in the rinsing tank main body 1 is discharged from the bypass pipe 9, it is prevented that the pure water stored in the rinsing tank main body 1 becomes accumulated water and the water quality is lowered.

In the mode 2, the carrier 6 is the rinsing tank body 1
This is a mode for forming a state when loaded into the camera. In this mode 2, the tank valve 7A, the bypass valve 11, the gas introduction valve 16, and the container valve 7B are closed, and the exhaust valve 13 is controlled to be open. In this state, the inside of the water receiving container 10 is exhausted to a negative pressure through the exhaust pipe 14, and all the pure water supplied from the supply unit 2 becomes a horizontal surface water flow and overflows from the opposite side of the discharge port 2a. As a result, the chemical liquid attached to the carrier 6 in the previous step is efficiently removed by this surface water flow, and is discharged to the outside of the rinsing tank body 1 together with pure water. For this reason,
In the initial stage, the amount of the chemical adhering to the wafer c and the carrier 6 and brought into the rinsing tank main body 1 can be reduced as much as possible in the initial stage, and the rinsing time can be shortened accordingly, so that pure water required for rinsing can be saved. Becomes To explain this point in detail, in the OF rinsing method, the carrier 6 is connected to the rinsing tank body 1.
When the chemical is attached to the carrier 6, a part of the chemical is attached to the rinse tank main body 1 due to overflow of the upward water flow.
Is discharged out of the tank together with the pure water supplied from above, but the remainder enters the tank and spreads throughout the tank. The overflow due to the upward water flow is, for example, as apparent from the assumption that the tank upper diameter is extremely large, of the pure water in the tank, the pure water in the tank is discharged exclusively, and the pure water in the tank is discharged to the central part of the tank. Rinsing tank body 1
It can be seen that the concentration of the residual chemical solution inside becomes higher than that of the QC rinse. This means that the amount of the chemical solution brought into the rinsing tank body 1 at the time when the carrier 6 is carried into the rinsing tank body 1 and the rinsing is started is higher in the QC rinsing method than in the rinsing method.
It is much less than a rinse. Thus, Q
In the C rinse and the OF rinse, there is a difference in the concentration of a chemical solution brought into the rinse tank from the time when the carrier 6 is put in the tank, and the OF rinse is inefficient compared to the QC rinse. In the QC rinsing, for example, when hot pure water is supplied from the discharge port 2a, the chemical solution attached to the carrier 6 is removed much more efficiently than when pure water at room temperature is supplied from the discharge port 2a. Since it is lighter than pure water at room temperature in the rinsing tank, the rate of mixing into the rinsing tank main body 1 can be reduced, and overflows from the opposite side of the discharge port 2a, flows out of the rinsing tank main body 1, and mixes into the tank. You can do less.

In the mode 3, the carrier 6 is the rinsing tank body 1
This is a mode for forming a state in which the pure water in the rinsing tank main body 1 is rapidly intermittently discharged in a state where the water is contained in the rinsing tank body 1, and is switched to the next mode 4 at regular intervals. In this mode 3, the tank valve 7A, the bypass valve 11 and the exhaust valve 13 are opened, the gas introduction valve 16 and the container valve 7B are closed, and the liquid in the rinsing vessel main body 1 is passed through the introduction pipe 8 and the bypass pipe 9. The water is rapidly discharged into the negative pressure water receiving container 10. In addition, this discharge makes it possible to discharge water more than the amount of water supplied per unit time from the discharge port 2a in a short time, and the water level in the rinsing tank main body 1 drops. 20 is performed until the next mode 4 is switched based on the detection signal.
The control unit 10 is set to switch to the mode 4 when receiving the detection value of the water level gauge 5 and judging the position of the water surface in the tank immediately before the wafer c or the carrier 6 is exposed from the water surface. I have. As described above, by using the negative pressure water receiving container 10 and the water level gauge 5 as the tank liquid discharging mechanism, the pure water in the rinsing tank main body 1 can be discharged in a short time without exposing the wafer c. can do. And with this discharge mechanism, a larger amount of drainage is possible in a short time,
For example, compared with the case of draining several times with a bellows pump mechanism, it enables a large amount of intermittent rapid drainage,
There is little vortex generated in the rinsing tank, and the discharge port 2a
Can reduce the mixing ratio of the pure water supplied to the upper part of the rinsing tank main body 1 and the liquid in the rinsing tank main body 1, and the liquid in the rinsing tank can be efficiently converted into pure water to be newly supplied. Can be replaced.

In mode 4, pure water is stored in the tank 3 in order to restore the lowered water surface of the tank in mode 3 to its original state, and the pure water supplied from the discharge port 2a to the rinsing tank body 1 is discharged. This is a mode for forming a state of rapid replacement without mixing with the solution remaining in the rinsing tank body 1. In this mode 4, the tank valve 7A, the bypass valve 11, and the exhaust valve 13 are closed, and the gas introduction valve 16 and the container valve 7B are controlled to be open, so that the gas is pressurized into the water receiving container 10 through the gas supply pipe 18. The gas is introduced, and the drainage collected inside is rapidly discharged through the drain pipe 19 by the pressure. In this embodiment, the confirmation that the drainage in the water receiving container 10 has been drained is detected by the pressure gauge 15. That is, while the liquid remains in the water receiving container 10, there is no escape for the pressurized gas introduced through the gas supply pipe 18, and the pressure in the water receiving container 10 is substantially equal to the pressure of the introduced gas. Therefore, the pressure gauge 15 also detects a value corresponding to the introduced pressure. When the liquid in the water receiving container 10 is completely drained, the pressurized gas introduced from the gas supply pipe 18 escapes through the drain pipe 19. The pressure inside will drop rapidly. The pressure gauge 15 detects the pressure in the container and transmits it to the control unit 20 as a pressure signal. The control unit 20 determines whether or not the received pressure signal is set in advance and is a value when the liquid in the container is completely drained. When the control unit 10 determines the corresponding pressure signal, the tank valve 7
A, the bypass valve 11, the container valve 7B, and the gas introduction valve 16 are closed, and the exhaust valve 13 is controlled to the open state, so that the interior of the water receiving container 10 is exhausted to a negative pressure through the exhaust pipe 14. As described above, the mode 4 is operated after the mode 3 and the rinse tank main body 1 is operated.
And the supplied pure water overflows in the surface water flow, and the drainage in the water receiving container 10 is drained, and then the pressure is again reduced to a negative pressure, and the water receiving container is removed from the rinsing tank body 1. A preparation state for discharging to 10 is formed.

An example of a rinsing procedure combining the above four modes will be further described. First, the mode is set to mode 1 and the carrier 6 that has been washed with the chemical solution is set to a standby state in which the carrier 6 is carried to the rinse tank main body 1. When the carrier 6 is carried to the rinsing tank main body 1, after the mode is shifted to the mode 2, the operation of inserting the carrier 6 into the rinsing tank main body 1 is started. The transfer of the carrier 6 and the insertion and movement of the carrier 6 into the tank are generally automatically processed by a robot mechanism.
The approach of the carrier 6 is detected by a monitoring device or a proximity sensor, and the detection signal is transmitted to the control unit 20.
Is preferably automatically switched to mode 2 based on this.

When the carrier 6 is inserted into the rinsing tank main body 1 and loaded in a fixed state, the mode is shifted from the mode 2 to the mode 3, and the pure water in the rinsing tank main body 1 is supplied with the negative pressure water receiving container 10.
When the water is rapidly discharged through the introduction pipe 8 and the bypass pipe 9 and the water level gauge 5 detects that the water level has dropped to a predetermined position, the mode 4 is automatically transmitted via the control unit 20. Move to The transition from the mode 2 to the mode 3 is performed by detecting the loaded state of the carrier 6 using a monitoring device such as a CCD or a proximity sensor and transmitting a detection signal to the control unit 20, and the control unit 20 based on the detected signal. It is preferable that the mode is automatically switched to mode 3.

In mode 4, when the water surface of the rinsing tank body 1 recovers to the initial position and overflows as a surface water flow from the opposite side of the discharge port 2a, the mode automatically returns to mode 3. Mode 4
From the mode to the mode 4 is that the water surface of the rinsing tank body 1 recovers to the tank surface and the surface water flow in the horizontal direction is detected by the water level gauge 5, and the control unit 20 sets a predetermined time based on the detection signal. Switch after elapse. When the number of repetitions of mode 3 and mode 4 reaches a predetermined number, the rinsing step of carrier 6 is terminated, and
Controls from mode 4 to mode 1. The carrier 6 is taken out of the rinsing tank main body 1 and transported to an apparatus for processing the next step, for example, a step such as spin drying.

As described above, according to the present invention, an ideal QC rinse can be realized without using a large-capacity pulsating pump as a liquid discharging mechanism from the lower portion of the rinsing tank body 1. The required volume of the water receiving container 10 is about 1/5 of the volume of the rinsing tank main body 1 or less, and there is no restriction on the shape of the container. The water receiving container 10 can be easily arranged together with the rinsing tank main body 1.

As the suction source connected to the exhaust pipe 14, an existing source can be used. For example, an exhaust duct, a vacuum cleaner, a vacuum pump, and the like provided on the semiconductor manufacturing clean room side can be used. Any mechanism such as an ejector pump capable of sucking gas at a predetermined capacity can be used. FIG. 2 schematically shows a vacuum pump-side facility used in the embodiment of the present invention as such a suction source. In the layout design shown in FIG.
, N, and a space X2 is a cleaning line area in which a plurality of semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatuses A, B,...
The vacuum pump 50 is an oil-free type, is entirely covered with a cover 51, and has a suction port connected to a pipe 52.
Is connected to the buffer tank 53 via the. Reference numeral 54 denotes a connection portion for an exhaust duct provided on the cover 51, reference numeral 55 denotes a filter provided in the middle of the pipe 52, and reference numeral 56 denotes a pressure gauge provided on the buffer tank 53. A main pipe 57 is arranged in the space X2 along each device A, B... N. This pipe 5
The branch pipes 58a, 58b,... 58n which are connected to the buffer tank 53 and which are connected to the exhaust pipes 14 constituting the devices A, B,. Have. Therefore, the pipe 57 and the branch pipes 58a, 58b,.
, The suction force of the buffer tank 53 can be used.

With such a configuration, a single vacuum pump 50 and a buffer tank 53 can supply a suction source necessary for a plurality of semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatuses A, B,. The buffer tank 53 and each of the devices A, B.
Is merely connected to the main pipe 57, and there is no other factor that restricts the arrangement of the two. For this reason, the vacuum pump 50 and the buffer tank 53 can be easily used even if they are installed in an appropriate place outside the clean room, outside the space X2, or in a dedicated space outside the clean room. In the case of installation in a dedicated space, the cover 51 for dust prevention considering use in a clean room may not be necessary.

Therefore, in the semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatuses A, B,... N of the present invention, the bellows pump is used for each of the rinsing tank main bodies 1 as a mechanism for discharging the liquid in the tank, which is one of the constituent elements. As compared with the above, the equipment cost can be kept low, and the difficulty in securing the installation space can be solved. In addition, there is no need for maintenance like a bellows pump mechanism.

In FIG. 2, in order to avoid a failure due to a sudden failure of the vacuum pump 50, two or more units are provided and the operation is performed in parallel or alternately in a known manner. Techniques are adopted as needed. Further, in the above description of the apparatus, an example using pure water has been described, but it is needless to say that the present invention is also applied to chemical cleaning. In the above description, the semiconductor wafer c is an LCD
In a broad sense, it includes a substrate. Also, in terms of cleaning method,
If necessary, in the mode 4 or 3, 4 mode, the carrier 6 may be used as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 9-163460.
May be swung or a cleaning action by ultrasonic waves may be provided.

[0026]

As described above, in the semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to the present invention, an expensive pulsating pump, which is difficult to secure an installation space, is used to realize rapid replacement by QC rinsing. Without having to do it,
Higher efficiency QC rinse can be achieved with minimum cost,
The current situation can be greatly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a preferred semiconductor wafer cleaning processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram schematically showing an example of a suction source of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

A, B... N are semiconductor wafer cleaning devices, 1 is a rinsing tank main body, 2 is a supply section, 4 is a discharge section, 5 is a liquid level gauge, 6 is a carrier, 7A is a tank valve (tank opening / closing valve), and 7B is 8 is a main pipe, 9 is a bypass pipe, 10 is a water receiving vessel, 12 is a flow control valve, 13 is an exhaust valve, 14 is an exhaust pipe (piping), 16 is a gas introduction valve, 18 is a gas supply pipe (pipe), 19 is a drain pipe, 20 is a control unit, 50 is a vacuum pump (suction source),
c is a wafer

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A rinsing tank having a supply section for pure water or a chemical solution provided on an upper side and a discharge section provided on a lower side, and forms a downward water flow from the supply section side to the discharge section side. A possible semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus, comprising: a water receiving container provided in a pair with the rinsing bath; and a main unit for connecting the discharge unit and the water receiving container to discharge a liquid in the rinsing bath into the water receiving container. A pipe and a tank valve; and a pipe and an exhaust valve for connecting the water receiving container to a vacuum or a suction source side to exhaust gas in the water receiving container, and a pipe and an exhaust valve connected to the suction source. The liquid in the rinsing tank can be discharged into the water receiving container via the main pipe and the tank valve from a state in which the inside of the water receiving container is previously exhausted to a negative pressure via the main pipe and the tank valve. Semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus. 2. A bypass pipe and a bypass pipe which connect between the discharge section and the water receiving vessel and discharge the liquid in the rinsing tank into the water receiving vessel independently of the main pipe. The semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a valve. 3. A pipe and a gas introduction valve connected to an upper portion of the water receiving container for introducing gas into the container, and a water drained from the rinse tank connected to a lower portion of the water receiving container to the outside. 3. The semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a drain pipe and a container valve. 4. A liquid discharge state from the rinsing tank to the water receiving container is normally discharged and rapidly discharged by controlling opening and closing of each of the tank valve, the bypass valve, the exhaust valve, and the gas introduction valve. 4. A control unit for switching to the like, and enabling drainage of the liquid in the water receiving container from the drain pipe.
3. The semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to item 1. 5. The semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rinsing tank has a liquid level gauge for detecting a liquid state in the tank. 6. The semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the water receiving container has a detecting means for detecting a liquid amount in the container or presence / absence of the liquid. 7. The semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bypass pipe has a flow control valve. 8. The semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a vacuum pump or an exhaust duct provided in a semiconductor clean room or the like is used as the vacuum or suction source.