JPS6084823A - Device for etching semiconductor wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To contrive miniaturization of an immerse tank and to compose a whole device on a small-scale by providing a wafer moving device for transporting wafers one by one in order, etching tanks, a water-cleaning tank and a drying part for immersing, water-cleaning and drying the transported wafers in order. CONSTITUTION:Wafers 2 are put on a loading stage 7 by a loader 11 arranged outside and a vertical rotation shaft 5 lowers with clamping clicks 3 open. The clamping clicks shut at a lowering dead point to hold the wafers horizontally. The held wafers 2 are lifted up and moved to the next treatment tanks 8 by rotation. After that, the vertical rotation shaft 5 lowers again to immerse the wafers 2 in the treatment tanks 8. The clicks 3 opens and the shaft 5 rotates in an inverse direction after rising to return to the original position. To the vertical rotation shaft 5, plural arms 1 and clamping clicks 3 are attached and rotation of the vertical rotation shaft 5 moves plural wafers 2 at the same time from a loading stage 7 to the etching tanks 8, a wafer cleaning tank and a drying part 10 which are adjacent respectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an immersion etching apparatus for semiconductor wafers (hereinafter referred to as wafers).

[Prior art]

Conventionally, in this type of wafer immersion etching apparatus, etching was carried out by storing 20 to 25 wafers in a special carrier and sequentially immersing them in an etching chemical bath and a water washing bath.

However, in recent years, the diameter of wafers has become larger, and with this, the size of the wafer dedicated to wafers has also become larger, and as a result, the size of the immersion tank and, furthermore, the size of the entire apparatus have become larger. Therefore, if a large number of various etching apparatuses were prepared depending on the process, a huge amount of floor space would be required.

On the other hand, in semiconductor manufacturing factories, in order to improve the yield of semiconductors, a large amount of money is spent on air conditioning management such as making the air inside the factory dust-free and controlling temperature and humidity.

Therefore, there was a drawback that an increase in floor space led to an increase in factory operating costs.

In addition, in the conventional method described above, dedicated carriers are sequentially machined.

Because the carrier is immersed in an etching tank, the solution from the previous etching tank adheres to the carrier and enters the next tank, causing changes in the concentration and temperature of the solution, making it impossible to perform stable etching.

Furthermore, even in the washing tank where the chemical solution is washed away, although the original purpose is to wash the wafers, the carrier must also be washed at the same time, which requires extra water and is difficult to wash. The disadvantage was that it took time.

[Summary of the invention]

This invention was made in order to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional devices as described above, and includes a wafer moving device that sequentially transfers wafers one by one, and a device that sequentially immerses, washes, and washes the transferred wafers.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor wafer etching apparatus in which the immersion tank can be downsized by providing an etching tank for drying, a washing tank, and a drying section, and the apparatus body can be constructed compactly.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show a semiconductor wafer etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figures, 20 is a wafer moving device that sequentially transports wafers, and the wafer moving device 2
0, 5 is a vertical rotation axis for vertical and challenging rotation;
Reference numeral 6 indicates a drive unit for driving the vertical rotation shaft 5; 1 indicates a plurality of arms having one end fixed at the upper end of the vertical rotation shaft 5 and arranged to protrude horizontally and radially from the rotation center of the vertical rotation shaft 5; A clamper 4 is supported by the other end of the arm 1 and includes a plurality of clamp claws 3 that clamp the periphery of the wafer 2 and hold and transport the wafer 2 horizontally by opening and closing.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a loader stage for receiving the loaded wafer 2, and a loader 11 is installed separately outside the etching apparatus.
Accordingly, the wafer 2 is placed on the loading stage 7. 8 is a plurality of etching tanks filled with etching liquid;
9 is a washing tank for washing the wafer 2 after etching, IO is a drying section for drying the wafer after washing, and the above components 7 to 10 are on the same circumference with respect to the center of rotation of the vertical rotation shaft 5 It is arranged below the stop position of the clamper 4. Reference numeral 12 denotes an unloader provided outside the etching apparatus for taking out the wafer 2 after washing and drying from the drying section 10.

FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the washing tank 9. The wafer 2 is placed in the washing tank 9.
At the same time, the water jet nozzle 1 is held and rotated by a chuck 14 which is provided to protrude inward from the center of the bottom and is rotationally driven by a spin motor 13 provided outside the bottom.
The front and back surfaces of the wafer 2 are cleaned by the cleaning water spouted from the wafer 5.

Note that 16 is a washing water outlet provided at the bottom of the washing tank 9.

FIG. 4 shows a cross section of the drying section 10. Similar to the washing tank 9 in FIG. 3, the wafer 2 is held by a chuck 18 and rotated by a spin motor 17, so that the water adhering to the wafer 2 is removed and dried by centrifugal force.

Note that 19 is a drain port provided at the bottom of the drying section 10.

Fig. 6 shows a cross section taken along the line AA' in Fig. 2. Fifth
The figure shows the state where the clamper 4 is raised and the clamp claw 3 is open.
FIG. 6 shows the state in which the wafer 2 is immersed in the etching bath 8. As shown in FIG.

Next, the operation will be explained using FIG. 2, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6. First, in FIG. 2, when the wafer 2 is placed on the loader stage 7 by the loader 11 installed outside the etching apparatus, the vertical pivot shaft 5 is lowered with the clamp claw 3 open as shown in FIG. 1 at bottom dead center. The clamp claws 3 close and clamp the wafer 2 horizontally. The clamped wafer 2 is lifted from the loader stage 7 by the rise of the vertical rotation axis 5, and is moved by the arrow B of the vertical rotation axis 5.
It is rotated and moved above the adjacent processing tank 8 in the direction shown in . Thereafter, the vertical rotation shaft 5 is lowered again, and the wafer 2 is immersed in the processing bath 8. In this state, the clamp claw 3 opens, and the vertical pivot shaft 5 rises and then pivots in the direction opposite to arrow B and returns to its original position. Through this series of cyclic operations, the wafer 2 placed on the loading stage 7 is moved into the adjacent processing tank 8 and sequentially immersed in the etching solution.

On the other hand, a plurality of arms 1 and clamp claws 3 are attached radially to the vertical rotation shaft 5, and the structure is such that they can rotate up and down at the same time, so that a plurality of wafers 2 move in one cycle of the vertical rotation shaft 5. 8. At the same time, the adjacent low gain gas stack and esoching tanks 8. Washing tank9. Drying section 10
move between.

Therefore, by repeating the above-mentioned cycle operation, the wafer loaded into the loading stage 7 is subjected to processing in the order of immersion in the etching tank, washing with water, and drying.

In this way, in this embodiment, since wafers are handled one by one, the shape of the etching tank is small, the amount of etching solution used is small, and the time required for draining and supplying the etching solution is short even when replacing the wafer. Further, since a dedicated wafer storage container is not used, there is less chance of mixing of chemicals between etching baths, and since there is no need to wash the storage container with water, there are advantages such as a reduction in the amount of water used. Furthermore, since the shape of the processing tank is small, the entire device is small, and the floor area occupied is small, which has the effect of reducing running costs.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a wafer moving device that sequentially transports wafers one by one, and an etching tank, a rinsing tank, and a drying section that sequentially immerse, wash, and dry the transported wafers. This has the effect that the immersion tank can be downsized and the entire device can be configured compactly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 is a perspective view of a semiconductor wafer etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the washing tank shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the drying section of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are explanatory views of the wafer moving operation of the apparatus of FIG. 1. . In the figure, 20 is a wafer moving device, 1 is an arm, 2 is a wafer, 3 is a clamp claw, 5 is a vertical rotation axis, 8 is an etching tank, 9 is a washing tank, and 10 is a drying section. Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or equivalent parts. Agent Masuo Oiwa Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A vertical pivot shaft that moves up and down and rotates, a plurality of arms with one end fixed to the vertical pivot shaft and arranged radially with respect to the pivot center of the shaft, and the arms supported by the other end to hold the wafer. 1IvA or a plurality of etching devices arranged below the clamp claw on a circle centered on the rotation axis, corresponding to each of the rotation stop positions of the plurality of arms; A semiconductor wafer etching apparatus characterized by comprising a tank, a washing tank, and a drying section.