JPS59189276A - Steam drier - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a steam drying apparatus.

Due to the miniaturization of constituent elements, thin plates (wafers) used as semiconductor substrates in semiconductor manufacturing processes must be cleaned to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the wafers before each processing step. As one of these cleaning technologies, the applicant has already developed the first
We have developed a complete steam drying device as shown in the figure.

This steam drying device consists of a tall closed type steam chamber 1 and a drying chamber 2 which is open at the bottom and is located at the upper side of the steam chamber 1.
The steam chamber 1 and the drying chamber 2 are connected to each other via a communication passage 3 at the upper part thereof. This is made of a material that is chemical-resistant and resistant to vapor contamination, such as quartz.

A drying medium 4, such as a fluorinated solvent, is placed in the lower part of the steam chamber 1. This fluorine-based solvent 4 is heated by a heating mechanism (heater) 5 provided at the lower part of the steam chamber 1 and becomes steam (the direction in which the steam flows is shown by a solid line arrow). Further, this steam is sequentially supplied to the upper part of the drying chamber 2 through the communication path 3.

The drying chamber 2 is provided with a stage 6 that moves up and down in the center thereof. The stage 6 is supported by a support shaft 7, and the support shaft 7 is raised and lowered by a commonly known lifting device (not shown) located below the drying chamber 2. Since the stage 6 is out of the drying chamber 2 when it is in the lowered position, the material to be dried 8 is carried in and out of the stage 6 in this state. Specifically, the object to be dried 8 refers to a large number of wafers 1° accommodated in a cartridge 9. When the stage 6 is in the raised position, the stage 6 is located in the drying chamber 2, and is cleaned by the steam sent from the steam chamber 1 and dried by the heat from the lid side. Waste liquid 11 generated during washing and drying
falls onto the stage 6, passes through the support shaft 7, and is discharged.

In addition, a steam chamber 1. Drying room 2.
A pipe 12 (a pipe for flowing water in a spiral manner) made of the same material as the communication path 3 is provided, and a fluorinated solvent liquid 1 condenses on the surface of the pipe 12 on the wall of the drying chamber below.
A side groove 15 is provided to receive the drop 14 which has become 3.

Further, the side gutter 15 communicates with a return hole 16 communicating with the steam chamber 1, so that the entire fluorine-based solvent liquid 13 in the side gutter 15 is returned to the steam chamber 1.

However, in this device, a large amount of the steam that has entered the drying chamber 2 descends on the communication path 3 side, and the amount of steam decreases as it moves toward the reaction side. As a result, the entire object to be dried 8 is uniformly cleaned. It turned out that it was dry and dry. It was also found that because a large amount of steam descends through the inner wall surface on the communication path 3 side of the drying chamber 2, there is a large amount of steam that does not participate in cleaning and drying, and the efficiency of the drying process is low.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a complete steam drying apparatus that can perform uniform processing and has high processing efficiency.

The present invention will be explained below with reference to examples.

FIG. 2 shows the main parts of a steam drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The sectional view shown in FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. 2.

This steam drying apparatus is substantially similar to the apparatus shown in FIG. That is, this device consists of a tall closed type steam chamber 1 and a downwardly open drying chamber 2 disposed at the upper side of the steam chamber 1. are connected to each other through a communication passage 3' at the upper part. Therefore, they are engraved from chemically resistant and vapor-free materials.

A drying medium 4, such as a fluorinated solvent, is placed in the lower part of the steam chamber 1. This fluorine-based solvent is heated by a heating mechanism (heater) 5 in the lower part of the steam chamber 1 to form steam, and is sequentially supplied to the upper part of the drying chamber 2 through the communication path 3 as shown by the arrow.

The drying chamber 2 is provided with a stage 6 that moves up and down in the center thereof. The stage 6 is supported by a hollow support shaft 7, and is raised and lowered by a generally known lifting device (not shown) disposed below the drying chamber 2. The material to be dried 8 is carried into and out of the stage 6 under the condition that the stage 6 is lowered and removed from the drying chamber 2, and then ascends to the drying chamber 2.
Cleaning and drying with fluorinated solvent vapor are carried out under the same conditions. The object to be dried 8 specifically refers to a large number of wafers 10 housed in a cartridge 9, for example. The fluorine-based solvent that has been subjected to washing and drying and condensed into a liquid falls onto the stage 6 as a waste liquid 11, passes through the support shaft 7, and is discharged.

Furthermore, a guide plate 17 made of the same material as the communication path 3 is provided in the upper part of the drying chamber 2. This guide plate 17 is provided with an opening 18 located above the stage 6 at a position fl-1 and approximately corresponding to the outer dimensions of the object 8 to be dried. It is fixed at a position slightly above several meters to several meters above the object to be dried 8 which is in the raised position. Further, a resistance wall 19 projecting upward is provided at the opening edge of the guide plate 17. This can be done by sufficiently filling the guide plate 17 around the opening 18 with the vapor of the fluorinated solvent, allowing the steam to overflow from the entire circumference of the opening edge, and making sure that the steam falls uniformly over the entire area of the opening 18. It plays a role in evenly supplying steam to the entire dry product. Note that FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the planar state of the guide plate 17, and since there is a resistance wall 19, steam is
The entire periphery of the opening 1B is reached as shown by the arrow.

On the other hand, a pipe 12 through which cooling water flows spirally is disposed on the inner wall surface of the lower part of the drying chamber 2, and a liquid 13 of fluorine-based solvent condenses on the surface of the pipe 12 on the inner wall portion of the drying chamber below. A side groove 15 is provided to receive all of the drops 14. Further, the side gutter 15 communicates with a return hole 16 communicating with the steam chamber 11, so that the alcohol liquid 13' in the side gutter 15 is returned to the steam chamber 1. This recovery mechanism is
The steam that has reached the vicinity of the inner circumferential wall of the drying chamber 2 without being subjected to drying is recovered by being condensed and liquefied by cooling. i
*This recovery prevents the fumes of the highly flammable and harmful to the human body from leaking out of the total drying chamber 2.

It should be noted that the object to be dried 8 is fully supported by a plurality of six protruding support pieces 20 of the stage, and a jetty 21 is provided at the periphery to prevent the waste liquid 11 from flowing out.

In this kind of steam drying apparatus, the material to be dried 8 on the stage 6 is fed from the steam chamber 1 and
The object to be dried 8, that is, the wafer 1, is cleaned and dried by the uniform flow of steam descending from the
0 is thoroughly washed and dried to improve the yield.

In addition, the steam is directly poured onto the material 8 to be dried, and the material 8 to be dried is
Not much steam is supplied between the zero peripheral surface and the inner wall surface of the drying chamber 2. As a result, steam is used effectively, and the processing time can be extended or shortened by increasing the processing effect.

However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. for example,
As shown in FIG. 4, the resistance wall 19 of the opening 18 of the guide plate 17 has a height fa on the side where the flow of steam is large, that is, on the side of the communication path 3, and has a height fa on the opposite side, and has a low height b on the opposite side. The height of the resistance wall 19 is gradually lowered from a to b at the side where the walls connect, and the resistance to the flow of steam to the opening 18 at each point is changed, so that the resistance across the entire opening 18 is lowered. The amount of steam falling may be made uniform to further improve the uniformity of processing of the material to be dried 8. Further, since the vapor descending from the opening 18 diffuses and descends from the gas, even if the dimension of the opening 18 is smaller than the dimension of the object 8 to be dried, a sufficiently uniform treatment can be performed.

Further, the drying medium 4 in the steam chamber 1 is not limited to a fluorine-based solvent, but may also be an alcohol or a chlorinated solvent.

The present invention can also be applied to cleaning and drying articles other than wafers used in manufacturing live conductor devices.

Like loam, the present invention can provide a complete steam drying apparatus that can perform uniform treatment and improve yield.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, 1 cJ of steam used for washing and drying
'Iff Since the water is poured only onto the dry material, steam can be used effectively, reducing processing time and reducing the amount of steam used. As a result, processing costs can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the main parts of a steam drying device developed by the present applicant, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the central part of a steam drying device according to the invention 11rJJ Leri, and Fig. 3 is a FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in the figure, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a guide plate portion according to another implementation [). 1... Steam room, 2... Drying room, 3... Communication passage, 4
. . . Drying medium, 5. Heating mechanism, 6. Stage, 8. Object to be dried, 10. Wafer, 13. Fluorine solvent, 17. Guide plate, 18. ...Aperture, 1
9...Resistance wall. Figure 1 Figure 2 JP-A'] R59-189276 (4) Figure 3? Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A closed type steam chamber that accommodates a dry sand body in the lower part, a heating mechanism that heats the dryer f and vaporizes it, and a communication passage cage provided in the upper part of the steam chamber. In the steam drying device, which has a box-shaped drying chamber with only the lower part open, which is connected to the drying chamber and which houses the heated object, the drying chamber space slightly above the object to be dried is occupied by the drying chamber. A steam drying device characterized by the fact that the upper and lower sections are all divided by guide plates with openings only in the area that corresponds to the air. 2. The steam drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the opening edge of the guide plate has a resistance wall projecting upward.