KR100680104B1 - Washing/Drying Apparatus for Semiconductor Substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to obtain a semiconductor substrate cleaning / drying apparatus for drying a lower portion of a semiconductor substrate in an efficient manner in a short time as in the upper portion of the semiconductor substrate, while suppressing particle adhesion and watermark generation.

In a semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus using a volatile organic solvent, a water discharge metering pump 13 is provided in a slow dump rinse drain 1 of an internal pure water tank 7 (cleaning tank), and a water discharge metering pump (13) is controlled to control the contact speed between the gas-liquid boundary phase 11 and the surface of the semiconductor substrate 9 to be constant.

Semiconductor substrate, pure water tank, gas-liquid boundary, semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying device

Description

Semiconductor Substrate Cleaning and Drying Equipment {Washing / Drying Apparatus for Semiconductor Substrate}

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The side view for demonstrating the semiconductor substrate washing | cleaning and drying apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view for explaining a conventional batch type semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

1: Slow Dump Rinse Drain

3: drain for quick dump rinse

5: flow control valve

7: pure water tank part

9: semiconductor substrate

11 gas phase boundary

13: metering pump for drainage

15: drying tank part

17: drain pipe for slow dump rinse

30: batch type semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a substrate cleaning and drying technique. In particular, a semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus and a semiconductor substrate which dry the bottom of the semiconductor substrate efficiently in a short time as well as the upper portion of the semiconductor substrate, and suppress the adhesion of fine particles and watermark generation. It relates to a washing and drying method.

In the batch type semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus, the area where the surface of the semiconductor substrate is in contact with pure water is gradually reduced by using a method such as raising the semiconductor substrate immersed in a pure water tank (cleaning bath) or lowering the pure liquid level. While reducing, isopropyl alcohol (IPA), which is one of volatile organic solvents, is introduced into a pure water tank (cleaning bath) by vaporizing or spraying, and a method and apparatus for cleaning and drying a semiconductor substrate have been generalized.

Fig. 2 is a side view for explaining a pure water tank (cleaning bath) of a conventional batch type semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus for cleaning and drying a semiconductor substrate using a small amount of an organic solvent. In Fig. 2, reference numeral 1P denotes a drain for slow dump rinse (SDR), 3P denotes a drain for quick dump rinse (QDR), 5P denotes a flow adjustment valve, and 7P denotes a pure water tank (cleaning tank). ), 9P is a semiconductor substrate, 11P is a gas-liquid boundary, 15P is a drying (processing) tank, 30P has shown the batch type semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus.

Referring to Fig. 2, the batch type semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus 30P includes a pure water tank 7P (cleaning bath) and a drying (processing) bath 15P. The pure water tank 7P (cleaning tank) is equipped with the drain dump port 3P for quick dump rinse and the slow dump rinse drain port 1P which can adjust the flow volume by the flow control valve 5P near a lower bottom surface.

As shown in Fig. 2, there are two kinds of drains provided in the pure water tank 7P (cleaning tank). That is, one is the drain port for quick dump rinse 3P, and the other is the slow dump rinse drain 1P.

Although the slow dump rinse drain 1P is provided with a flow rate adjusting valve 5P, it is only for adjusting the opening diameter to the last.

However, in the batch type semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus 30P of the prior art, although the slow dump rinse drain 1P is provided with the valve 5P for flow rate adjustment, it is only for adjustment of the opening diameter to the last, The problem that the slow dump rinse drain flow volume (= drainage linear velocity) changes with the quantity of the pure water in a pure water tank 7P (cleaning tank) has arisen. Specifically, when the gas-liquid boundary phase 11P comes into contact with the lower portion of the semiconductor substrate 9P, the dropping speed of the gas-liquid boundary phase 11P is slower than the dropping speed at the top of the semiconductor substrate 9P, and the fine particles are fine. It is known empirically that there is a problem in that adhesion easily occurs. As a result of this problem, the dry state of the lower portion of the semiconductor substrate 9P is worse than that of the upper portion of the semiconductor substrate 9P, and as a result, problems such as easy attachment of fine particles, abundant watermarks, etc. Was causing problems.                         

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems. The semiconductor substrate is cleaned and dried, which allows the lower part of the semiconductor substrate to be dried efficiently and efficiently in a short time, similarly to the upper part of the semiconductor substrate, and to suppress the adhesion of particles and the generation of watermarks. An object is to obtain an apparatus and a method for cleaning and drying a semiconductor substrate.

The semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus according to the invention of claim 6 includes a cleaning tank for cleaning the semiconductor substrate with pure water introduced from the outside and mounted in a vertically arranged state, and the pure water after washing the semiconductor substrate. To the drain pump for slow dump rinse installed in the cleaning tank for drainage, and the drain pump for maintaining a constant speed of the drain flowing through the slow dump rinse drain pipe It is made up by.

In the semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the slow dump rinse drain pipe is located downstream of the drainage metering pump and a valve for adjusting the flow rate is provided.

In the semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus according to the invention of claim 8, the cleaning tank is configured to introduce a volatile organic solvent together with a nonvolatile gas in a state of evaporating or atomizing the pure water after cleaning the semiconductor substrate. have.

In the semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus according to the invention of claim 9, a drain port for quick dump rinse is provided at a position different from the slow dump rinse drain pipe at the bottom side of the cleaning tank.

In the semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus according to the invention of claim 10, when the pure water in the cleaning tank is drained to the outside from the slow-dump rinse drain pipe through a drainage metering pump, the surface falling rate of the pure water in the cleaning tank is 2.5 mm. It is set larger than / sec.

In the semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus, a volatile organic solvent is used while gradually reducing the area of contact between the surface of the semiconductor substrate and pure water by using a method such as raising the semiconductor substrate immersed in the cleaning tank or lowering the pure liquid level. Background Art A method and apparatus for cleaning and drying a semiconductor substrate have been generalized by introducing isopropyl alcohol into a cleaning tank by vaporizing or spraying it.

Based on such a technical background, the present invention aims to suppress the generation of watermarks and the adhesion of fine particles to semiconductor substrates after chemical cleaning and drying, and to provide a cleaning tank in a semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus using a volatile organic solvent. Discharge metering pump is installed in the drain dump rinse drain, and the contact speed between the gas-liquid boundary and the surface of the semiconductor substrate is constant so as to draw the Marangoni effect by controlling the pump for drainage regardless of the amount of pure water remaining in the washing tank. It is characterized in that it is configured to perform control to hold, in other words, control to keep the slow dump rinse drainage flow rate (= drainage linear velocity) of the slow dump rinse drain of pure water for forming a gas-liquid boundary phase.

As a result, the lower portion of the semiconductor substrate can be dried efficiently and efficiently in the same time as the upper portion of the semiconductor substrate, and thus the fine particles adhere to the lower portion of the semiconductor substrate and the generation of watermarks can be suppressed, and the drying time of the semiconductor substrate can be shortened. (High efficiency of the drying process of the semiconductor substrate) can be achieved, and the time of the drying process, which takes a lot of time in the manufacturing process of the semiconductor component, can be shortened, thereby improving production efficiency and reducing the manufacturing cost of the semiconductor component. It becomes possible to plan. EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiment of this invention is described based on drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a side view for demonstrating the washing tank of the semiconductor substrate washing / drying apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. In Fig. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a drain for slow dump rinse (SDR), 3 denotes a drain for quick dump rinse (QDR), 5 denotes a flow control valve, and 7 denotes a pure water tank in a washing tank. The part, 9 is a semiconductor substrate, 11 is a gas-liquid boundary, 13 is a drainage pump, 15 is a drying tank part in a washing tank, 17 is a slow-dump rinse drain pipe, 30 shows a batch type semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus. have. In addition, although the washing tanks 7 and 15 consist of the pure water tank part 7 and the drying tank part 15, it is one tank and the boundary changes with water level of pure water.

Referring to Fig. 1, the semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus 30 includes at least piping (not shown) for introducing pure water, a pure water tank portion 7 for storing the introduced pure water, and a drying tank portion 15. have. The pure water tank part 7 is equipped with the drain port 3 for quick dump rinse, and the drain port 1 for slow dump rinse near a lower bottom surface. A slow dump rinse drain pipe 17 is connected to the bottom bottom surface of the pure water tank portion 7, and a flow rate adjustment valve 5 is connected to the downstream side via a drainage metering pump 13 so that the flow rate can be adjusted. I'm supposed to.

More specifically, embodiment of this invention is described. Referring to Fig. 1, in this embodiment, the semiconductor substrate 9 is placed in a vertical arrangement, in other words, the semiconductor substrate 9 is mounted in the cleaning tanks 7 and 15 in a state in which the semiconductor substrate 9 is placed perpendicular to the gas-liquid boundary 11. In order to improve the drying efficiency of the lower part of the semiconductor substrate 9 at the time, as shown in FIG. 1, the flow rate adjusting valve 5 and the drainage metering pump 13 are attached to the slow dump rinse drain pipe 17. In this configuration, control is performed to keep the slow dump rinse drain flow rate (= drainage linear velocity), which is the drain flow rate from the slow dump rinse drain 1. With such a configuration and control, the slow dump rinse drain flow rate (= drainage linear velocity) is kept constant even when the pure water level is lowered to the middle or lower of the semiconductor substrate 9, and the lower part of the semiconductor substrate 9 also has fine particles. It becomes possible to dry efficiently so that it may not adhere.

The peripheral part of the holding mechanism of the semiconductor substrate 9 (not shown) is performed by performing the semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying method of the present invention with such a semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus 30 to clean and dry the semiconductor substrate 9. The particles and watermarks can be significantly reduced.

Next, the operation of the semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus 30 will be described. Referring to FIG. 1, in the semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus 30 of the present embodiment, first, when the semiconductor substrate 9 is dried, the semiconductor substrate 9 is first washed with water in the pure water tank portion 7. Thereafter, the water level of pure water is lowered or the semiconductor substrate 9 is lifted up to reduce the contact area of the pure water with the semiconductor substrate 9, while simultaneously evaporating or spraying isopropyl alcohol (IPA in the drawing). By introducing into the drying tank portion 15 together with nitrogen gas (N ₂ in the drawing), pure water adhering to the surface of the semiconductor substrate 9 is replaced with isopropyl alcohol (IPA in the drawing) and isopropyl The drying process of drying the semiconductor substrate 9 is performed by vaporizing alcohol (IPA in drawing).

In the semiconductor substrate cleaning / drying apparatus 30 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the flow rate adjustment valve 5 is added to the slow dump rinse drain pipe 17 when the drying process is executed. A control for installing the drainage metering pump 13 and controlling the drainage metering pump 13 to maintain a constant contact speed between the surface of the gas-liquid boundary 11 and the surface of the semiconductor substrate 9 to draw out the Marangoni effect. Is running. Accordingly, the slow dump rinse drain flow rate (= drainage linear velocity) of the slow dump rinse drain port 1 of pure water for forming the gas-liquid boundary phase 11 is kept constant and the drying efficiency of the lower portion of the semiconductor substrate 9 is maintained. In addition, the drying time is shortened.

Next, the semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying method of the present embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, the upper lid is closed when the semiconductor substrate 9 on which the chemical liquid and water washing treatment process (even if the water washing treatment is not performed) is conveyed to the washing tanks 7 and 15 (also, this embodiment It is also possible to newly perform chemical liquid treatment with the semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus 30 of the embodiment.

Next, the pure water washing process of the semiconductor substrate 9 is performed for a predetermined time. After washing, the supply of pure water is stopped, and the drainage metering pump 13 starts to operate and drainage starts, and as a result, the level of pure water is lowered. At this time, the slow dump rinse drain flow rate (= drainage linear velocity) is preferably 2.5 mm / sec or more.

Following the pure water cleaning process, only a predetermined amount of isopropyl alcohol (IPA in the figure), which is vaporized or sprayed, is introduced into the drying tank portion 15 from the discharge hole of the upper lid portion together with nitrogen gas (N ₂ in the figure). Thus, the gas-liquid boundary phase 11 is generated, and the surface of the semiconductor substrate 9 is dried by causing a marangoni effect on the surface of the semiconductor substrate 9.

At this time, as the number of semiconductor substrates 9 mounted in the cleaning tanks 7 and 15 is large and small, the opening ratio of the flow regulating valve 5 is changed, and the slow dump rinse irrespective of the number of the semiconductor substrates 9. It is also possible to assemble a system (semiconductor substrate cleaning / drying device 30) that maintains a constant drain flow rate (= drainage linear velocity).

Further, the discharge hole of the mixture (IPA + N ₂ in the drawing) of isopropyl alcohol (IPA in the drawing) and nitrogen gas (N ₂ in the drawing) in the lower (lower bottom) direction in the drying tank part 15 is opened. When formed, the lower part of the semiconductor substrate can be dried efficiently as well as the upper part of the semiconductor substrate for a shorter time, and furthermore, the adhesion of fine particles and the generation of watermark can be further suppressed.

In summary, in the semiconductor substrate cleaning / drying apparatus of the present embodiment, the cleaning tanks 7 and 15 are mounted inside the semiconductor substrate 9 in a vertically disposed state and clean the semiconductor substrate 9 by pure water introduced from the outside. ). In addition, in order to drain the pure water after cleaning the semiconductor substrate 9, in the middle of the drain pipe 17 for the slow dump rinse and the drain pipe 17 for the slow dump rinse provided in the cleaning tanks 7 and 15. It is provided with the metering pump 13 for drainage which maintains the speed of the drainage which flows through the slow-dump rinse drainage pipe 17 constant. Further, the slow dump rinse drain pipe 17 is preferably provided on the downstream side of the metering pump 13 for drainage and is provided with a valve 5 for adjusting the flow rate.

Moreover, this embodiment aims at suppressing watermark generation and microparticle adhesion to the semiconductor substrate 9 after chemical liquid washing and drying, and the internal pure water in a semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus using a volatile organic solvent. The drainage metering pump 13 is installed in the slow dump rinse drain 1 of the tank portion 7, and the metering pump 13 for drainage is controlled regardless of the amount of pure water remaining in the tank portion 7. Control to maintain a constant contact speed between the gas-liquid boundary 11 and the surface of the semiconductor substrate 9 so as to draw out the Marangoni effect, in other words, control to maintain a constant gas slow dump rinse drain flow rate (= drainage linear velocity) It is characterized in that it is configured to perform.

As a result, the lower portion of the semiconductor substrate 9 can be dried efficiently and in a short time as in the upper portion of the semiconductor substrate 9, so that it is possible to suppress the adhesion of particulates and the generation of watermarks in the lower portion of the semiconductor substrate. It is possible to shorten the drying time of the substrate (higher efficiency of the drying process of the semiconductor substrate 9), and to shorten the time of the drying process, which takes a lot of time in the manufacturing process of the semiconductor component, thereby improving production efficiency. And the manufacturing cost of the semiconductor component can be reduced.                     

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It is clear that embodiment can be changed suitably within the range of the technical idea of this invention. In addition, the number, position, shape, etc. of the said structural member are not limited to the said embodiment, It can be set as the suitable number, position, shape, etc. in implementing this invention. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same component in each figure.

Since this invention is comprised as mentioned above, the effect shown below can be acquired.

First, the 1st effect is that by providing the drain pump for drainage which has a flow volume adjustment function in the slow-dump rinse drain piping, it becomes possible to suppress the microparticle adhesion and watermark generation of the lower part of a semiconductor substrate. The second effect is to shorten the drying time of the semiconductor substrate by using the semiconductor substrate cleaning / drying apparatus or the semiconductor substrate cleaning / drying method of the present invention. The third effect is to shorten the time of the drying process, which takes a great deal of time in the manufacturing process of the semiconductor component, by the second effect, so that the production efficiency can be improved and the manufacturing cost of the semiconductor component can be reduced. .

Claims (5)

A cleaning tank for cleaning the semiconductor substrate with pure water introduced from the outside, the semiconductor substrate being mounted in a vertical arrangement therein; A drain pipe for slow dump rinse provided in the cleaning tank for draining pure water after cleaning the semiconductor substrate; A metering pump for drainage provided in the middle of the drain pipe for slow dump rinse to maintain a constant speed of the water flowing through the slow dump rinse drain pipe; And a drain hole for quick dump rinse provided in the cleaning tank. The semiconductor substrate cleaning / drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the slow dump rinse drain pipe is disposed downstream of the drain metering pump and provided with a valve for adjusting the flow rate. The said cleaning tank is a structure which introduce | transduces with a nonvolatile gas in the state which vaporized or atomized the volatile organic solvent, when draining the pure water which wash | cleaned the said semiconductor substrate, The said cleaning tank is characterized by the above-mentioned. A semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus. delete The water fall rate of the pure water in the cleaning tank is 2.5 mm / sec when the pure water in the cleaning tank is drained to the outside from the slow dump rinse drain pipe through the water discharge pump. It is set larger than the semiconductor substrate cleaning and drying apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.

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