KR100724696B1 - Wet cleaning apparatus with steam dispensing type - Google Patents

Abstract

A wet cleaning apparatus with an improved cleaning performance is provided to reduce the cleaning time and costs of the apparatus by using steam spraying at an initial cleaning process. A nozzle assembly includes a deionized water spraying nozzle for spraying deionized water onto an object to be cleaned and steam spraying nozzles installed in front of the deionized water spraying nozzle for spraying steam of predetermined pressure before the deionized water is sprayed. A shaft(43) penetrates a chamber in a longitudinal direction. A nozzle base(46) is connected to a movable bracket, and a nozzle body(47) and a tip(48) are provided on a lower end of the nozzle base. An adjusting handle(42) is disposed to an exposed upper end of the shaft.

Description

Wet cleaning apparatus with steam dispensing type with improved cleaning ability in advanced industrial manufacturing facilities

1 is a block diagram of a steam jet wet cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a side cross-sectional view showing in detail the cleaning process performed in the cleaning chamber of FIG.

3 is a front cross-sectional view showing a direction perpendicular to the cleaning direction with respect to FIG.

4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating adjustment of the nozzle adjusting unit in FIG. 2;

5 is a flow chart showing a sequence of cleaning operations according to an embodiment of the present invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus used as an advanced industrial manufacturing facility, and more particularly, to a steam jet wet cleaning apparatus having an improved cleaning capability and a wet cleaning method thereof.

In general, a flat panel display (FPD) glass used in the manufacture of liquid crystal or plasma display devices belonging to the high-tech industrial manufacturing field or semiconductor wafers for manufacturing a large amount of semiconductor integrated circuit devices may cause process defects even in fine particles. It is managed in a clean room and requires cleaning during the various manufacturing processes.

에칭 프로세스(Wet Etching Process):(Metal, Dielectric, Silicon, etc), 및 포토레지스트 제거 프로세스(PR removing Process); (Polymer Removing)를 들 수 있다.The list of possible manufacturing processes for the wet process includes a wafer or glass cleaning process,

Wet Etching Process: (Metal, Dielectric, Silicon, etc), and PR removing process; (Polymer Removing) is mentioned.

Particles or harmful substances generated in various manufacturing processes of the high-tech industry have a great influence on the production yield of the product, so the cleaning process, that is, the cleaning operation is one of the very important work processes. In particular, in the cleaning process before and after the ultrapure water clean, rinse after etching, rinse after strip, and deposition process during semiconductor and FPD processes, it is necessary to secure organic matters and secure cleaning power.

In general, since the size of particles that may affect the performance of the device is 1/10 or more of the size of the circuit pattern, particles of such size become the main management object in the cleaning operation.

As is known in the art, the source of particle generation is the entire environment including the production equipment and the operator, and all parts other than glass or wafer can be regarded as the source of particle generation. Proper front and back control of particle generation is an important issue, but similarly, the removal of particles through cleaning is also an important challenge for manufacturers.

프로세스가 수십 번에서 수백 번까지 들어가는 경우가 있다. 그러므로 이러한

프로세스에서의 청정도 유지 및 최적화된 케미컬 사용이 없다면 그 공정에서의 수율은 크게 떨어질 수 밖에 없다.For a basic CMOS process these

The process can go from tens to hundreds of times. Therefore these

Without cleanliness and optimized use of chemicals in the process, yields in the process are bound to drop significantly.

In addition, after the wet etch process or strip is subjected to DI rinse again, the rinse 2, rinse 3 in order to gradually replace the ultra-pure water of high purity to complete the process. At this time, if the substitution is not made completely and the chemical flows into the rinse 2 and rinse 3, causing the flow rate and tank contamination, quality degradation may occur.

Moreover, there are cases where a common problem occurs in the rinse process after strip and all chemical treatments. Since all current processes are substituted at room temperature, the cleaning power needs to be further enhanced. In other words, the glass or wafer subjected to the process is higher than room temperature and the temperature of ultrapure water and rinsing is room temperature, so the bonding state of the crystal is unstable. Therefore, since the generation of stains and foreign matter at the time of substitution, the cleaning operation for the removal of the generated stains or foreign matter is required.

Conventionally, a cleaning tool using various airflows such as a high-temperature pure water shower, a Bobble Jet, an AA Jet Hipper Mix, etc. is known, but it is difficult to secure higher cleaning power than expected, and it is not environmentally friendly because various chemicals are essential for cleaning. .

In addition, UV organic glass cleaning has been used in the EPD field, which requires periodic replacement of the UV lamp, which may affect the human body, and damage or contaminate the object to be cleaned in case of lamp breakage. There has been a problem.

As described above, the conventional method requires a lot of time and cost for cleaning, and it is not easy to remove various particles and bacteria, as well as environmentally friendly cleaning.

Therefore, there is an urgent need in the art for improved cleaning tools to further increase hydrophilicity and debris removal.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a wet cleaning apparatus that can solve the above problems of the prior art.

Another object of the present invention to provide a wet cleaning apparatus that can reduce the time and cost required for cleaning.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a steam spray type wet cleaning apparatus that can facilitate the removal of various particles and bacteria as well as environmentally friendly cleaning.

In order to achieve the above objects, a wet cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a chamber in which a cleaning object is loaded; A water injection unit installed in the chamber to perform cleaning by spraying water on a cleaning target site of the cleaning target; It is provided in the chamber in the vicinity of the water injection unit, and before the water is injected into the cleaning target is provided with a steam injection unit for injecting steam having a pressure set on the cleaning target site of the cleaning target to perform the initial cleaning.

Preferably, the steam injection unit may include first and second steam injection nozzles installed to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance in the same direction as the direction in which the cleaning target is loaded. In addition, a transfer unit installed in the chamber for transferring the cleaning target in the loading direction may be further provided in the wet cleaning device.

In the wet cleaning apparatus, the cleaning target may be a glass for forming a display panel or a wafer for forming a semiconductor integrated circuit.

Preferably, the water injected from the water injection unit may be ultrapure water having a temperature of about 70 degrees or more. In addition, an air knife may be further provided at the rear of the water jetting unit to remove surface moisture or foreign matter of the cleaning target. The first and second steam injection nozzles are independently connected to the output line of the steam generator, and may have an ejection pressure of about 15 kg / cm 2 to 40 kg / cm 2. The lower part of the chamber may be further provided with a drain connected to the water supply for recovering the water, the pump output end of the water supply may be further provided with a filter for filtering the pollutant.

According to another exemplary aspect of the present invention, a method for wet cleaning a cleaning object loaded into a chamber for cleaning includes: horizontally transferring the cleaning object; Injecting steam having a jet pressure set at a cleaning target site of the transported cleaning target; Spraying water having a temperature of at least a room temperature to a region to be cleaned at a predetermined pressure; And wiping off the water-injected cleaning target site.

Here, the step of injecting steam may include performing a primary injection through a first steam injection nozzle and performing a secondary injection through a second steam injection nozzle spaced a predetermined distance from the first steam injection nozzle. Can be.

According to the apparatus method configuration of the present invention described above, since the use of high-pressure steam injection in the initial cleaning process, the overall time and cost required for the cleaning is greatly reduced. In addition, it is easy to remove various particles and bacteria, as well as the use of harmful chemicals, there is an advantage that the environmentally friendly cleaning is made.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The descriptions in the present embodiment are merely illustrated and limited without any other intention, except for the purpose of helping a more thorough understanding of the invention made by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains, and therefore, the scope of the invention. It should not be used as a limitation.

1 is a block diagram of a steam jet wet cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to the drawings, the wet cleaning apparatus includes a chamber 100 loaded with cleaning objects such as glass or wafers. The chamber 100 constituting the cleaning bath is made of stainless steel (SUS) or PVC (PVC). The steam injector 10 for injecting steam and the water injector 20 for injecting water into a washing target portion of the cleaning target are installed in the chamber 100.

The water sprayed from the water sprayer 20 is ultra pure water (DIW) having a temperature of about 90 degrees or more. The water injection unit 20 serves to clean particles, organic matter, or foreign matters dissociated from the surface of the cleaning target object 2 by the high temperature and high pressure steam through an ultrapure water high pressure shower. The number or pressure of the shower nozzles can be arbitrarily added or changed. Here, DI water (Deionized water) is 18 M ohm of ultra pure water.

The steam injector 10 serving as an important configuration in an embodiment of the present invention is installed in the chamber 100 in the vicinity of the water injector 20, and water is injected into the cleaning target 2. It performs a role of performing initial cleaning by injecting steam having a pressure previously set in the cleaning target site of the cleaning target. The steam injection unit may include first and second steam injection nozzles 10 and 10a installed to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance in the same direction as the direction in which the cleaning target is loaded. The first and second steam injection nozzles 10 and 10a are independently connected to the output lines L1 and L2 of the steam generator 40 and have a ejection pressure of about 15 kg / cm 2 to 40 kg / cm 2. The number of the steam injection nozzles may be added or subtracted according to the size, characteristics, and process types of the cleaning target 2, and the injection pressure, the injection height, and the opening size of the nozzle may be directly or programmatically adjusted by the user according to the application. It is supposed to be.

The conveying unit 4 composed of a plurality of conveyor rollers is installed in the chamber 100 and serves to convey the cleaning target 2 in the loading direction.

In addition, the rear side of the water injection unit 20 is further provided with an air knife 30 for removing surface moisture and foreign matter buried in the cleaning target (2). The air knife 30 serves to lower the surface temperature of the cleaning object 2 and serves as a curtain to prevent impurities from flowing into the cleaning object being cleaned. The air pressure provided through the air supply line L4 is about 70 kg / cm 2.

The lower portion of the chamber 100 is further provided with a drain portion 80 connected to the water supply portion 65 for the recovery of the water injected into the cleaning target (2).

The water supply unit 65 includes first and second tanks 50 and 51 for storing hot ultrapure water and a magnetic pump 60 for pumping the ultrapure water stored in the tank at high pressure. The tank is operated in either no stop mode or local change mode and one of the two tanks functions as a heating and standby tank.

The pump output portion of the water supply unit 65 may be further provided with filters (71, 70) for filtering the pollutant contained in the recovered water. The filter unit composed of the primary filter 71 and the secondary filter 70 may cause a decrease in flow rate of the water spray nozzle when the dissociated foreign matter circulates into the tank, thereby filtering the dissociated foreign matter.

The steam generator 40 serves to generate ultrapure water steam by heating the supplied ultrapure water and to supply the generated steam to steam injection nozzles.

The wet cleaning apparatus configured as shown in FIG. 1 may be used, for example, before or after initial cleaning, predeposition cleaning, pre-lithography cleaning, PR-strip or etching process when applied in a process of FPD.

The use of steam spray for the initial cleaning as shown in Figure 1 is not limited to the glass of the FPD process, it can be applied through various modifications (Modify) in the wafer cleaning and post-process of the semiconductor process, of course. As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning using steam spray makes the surface state of the cleaning target uniform, helping to secure uniformity in drying and uniform adhesion in film formation (or PR coating) after cleaning.

스테이션(wet station)에서 도 1의 장치는 처리 조(Etching Bath)의 전후에 설치 가능한 세정 조(quick drain and rinse; QDR)로서 사용된다. 통상적인 세정공정에서는 공정 프로세스 후에 변성이 되어 버린 파티클의 제거가 쉽지 않으므로 피라나(Piranha)를 사용하거나 산소 플라즈마(02 Plasma)나, 에싱(Ashing)공정을 이용하여 제거하였으므로 케미컬이 발생된다. 또한, LCD 세정기의 전처리 및 후처리의 유기를 제거 시 엑시머(Excimer) UV 파장을 사용해왔던 종래의 기술에 비해, 도 1과 같은 본 발명의 습식세정 장치는 빠른 세정 처리 및 저 비용 세정을 구현할 수 있으므로 제품원가를 낮게 할 수 있다. 또한, 케미컬(Chemical)을 사용함이 없이 초순수의 스팀을 이용하여 세정을 행하기 때문에 공정 프로세스의 단순화 및 친환경적인 세정 구현이 이루어진다.

In a wet station, the apparatus of FIG. 1 is used as a quick drain and rinse (QDR) that can be installed before and after an etching bath. In the general cleaning process, since the particles which have been denatured after the process process are not easily removed, chemicals are generated because they are removed by using Piranha, oxygen plasma (02 Plasma), or ashing process. In addition, the wet cleaning apparatus of the present invention as shown in FIG. 1 can implement a fast cleaning process and a low cost cleaning, compared to the conventional technology that has used Excimer UV wavelengths for removing the organics of the pre- and post-treatment of the LCD cleaner. Therefore, the product cost can be lowered. In addition, since cleaning is performed using ultra pure water without using chemical, the process is simplified and eco-friendly cleaning is realized.

Referring to FIG. 2, a cross-sectional side view of the cleaning process performed in the cleaning chamber 100 of FIG. 1 is shown in detail. 3 is a front sectional view showing a direction perpendicular to the cleaning direction with respect to FIG. 2. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating adjustment of the nozzle adjusting unit in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a cleaning operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the nozzle assembly 25 includes steam injection nozzles 10 and 10a and ultrapure water injection nozzle 20, and a feed roller 4 is shown inside the chamber 100. The sphere of the nozzle adjustment part A of FIG. 2 is shown in FIG. 4 shows a detailed arrangement for adjusting the height of the nozzles. When the knob 41 of the adjusting handle 42 is turned, the shaft 43 fixed to the bracket 44 rotates. The up-and-down movement bracket 45, which is moved up and down by being coupled with a male screw (for example, a trapezoidal screw) formed in the shaft 43, is connected to the nozzle base 46. Since the nozzle base 46 integrally forms the nozzle body 47 and the tip 48, eventually, the nozzle of the nozzle assembly 25 by rotating the handle 41 clockwise or counterclockwise. Are moved up and down so that the injection position is adjusted as desired.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a front cross section of a wet cleaning device constructed as 1300 mm wide, 1100 mm long, 3 mm thick, and 900 mm high. In Fig. 3, reference numeral 80 denotes a drain region, reference numeral 108 denotes an insulating support, 106 denotes a support frame, 110 denotes a chamber support member, 112 denotes an under support, and 114 denotes a data support member. Reference numeral 104 is a roller, and reference numerals 105 and 106 are guide members. Reference numerals not described in FIG. 3 are previously described in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 5, an embodiment of the operation of the wet cleaning device configured as shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail.

First, when the glass, which is a cleaning object, is injected into the chamber 100, a detection signal is transmitted to the main controller by a sensing operation of the detection sensor. When the detection signal is transmitted, the steam purge and the transfer roller drive in the standby state of the 500th step. Here, steam purge is performed for about 3 seconds. In operation 501, the glass 2, which is the object of cleaning, is introduced into the chamber 100 by driving the feed roller. In operation 502, steam injection through the first steam injection nozzle 10 is performed. In operation 503, steam injection through the second steam injection nozzle 10a is performed. By the first and second steam injection, parasitic debris and foreign matter on the surface are dissociated or removed from the surface of the glass, and bacteria, which are organic matters, are easily eradicated by high temperature and high pressure steam. This provides a faster process flow compared to conventional methods of removing organics through ultraviolet lamps. The glass whose steam cleaning is completed is continuously moved to the water spray nozzle 20 located at the rear. When hot ultrapure water is sprayed in step 504, the suspended matter and particles remaining on the surface of the glass 2 are removed. Thereafter, when the air knife operation is performed in operation 505, hot moisture and particles on the surface are finally removed. After the operation, the ultrapure water is recovered through the drain 80 in step 506, pumped by the water supply unit 65, and filtered by a filter. The filtered ultrapure water is again supplied to the water spray nozzle 20. In addition, the steam generator 40 receives the power used to generate ultra-pure water to generate steam to continuously supply steam through the lines (L1, L2). The total time taken for the glass 2 to be introduced into the chamber 100 to complete the cleaning operation is set to about 30 seconds. However, if matters are different, it is of course possible to adjust the time by adjusting the speed of the feed roller of the feed unit.

In this way, according to the cleaning method of the present invention, which generates high pressure steam using a small amount of DI and sprays the cleaning base material first, and then performs high pressure rinsing with heated pure water, the existing equipment bath is only slightly modified. The application is also possible by. Therefore, it was confirmed that the maintenance cost and the maintenance cost were superior to the conventional cleaning apparatus.

According to the cleaning method of the present invention as described above, the size of the cleaning device is minimized and the cleaning time is shortened due to the high cleaning effect. It is possible to implement low cost device by maximizing maintenance cost and efficiency of production equipment. The use of ultrapure water eliminates chemicals and harmful substances, resulting in environmentally friendly cleaning. The cleaning power is remarkably improved because the effect of removing the foreign substances on the parasitic sediment and the surface is excellent and the bacterium is eradicated by the sterilization effect of steam. In addition, COC (Cost of Consumable), that is, not only can dramatically reduce the cost of entering the unit process, but also has the advantage of easy management later.

Therefore, if the technique of the present invention is used in various ways in the FPD and semiconductor cleaning processes, a drastic change in the cleaning process can be expected.

As described above, according to the wet cleaning apparatus of the present invention, since the steam spray is used in the initial cleaning process, the overall time and cost required for the cleaning are greatly reduced, and various particles and bacteria are easily removed, as well as harmful chemicals. Since there is no use of environmentally friendly cleaning is effected.

Claims (12)

In wet cleaning devices: A chamber into which a cleaning object is loaded; The water injection unit for spraying water to the cleaning target portion of the cleaning object in the chamber and the water spraying unit is installed on the basis of the forward and backward direction in which the cleaning target is loaded in the chamber, and water is sprayed on the cleaning target. Consists of a nozzle assembly including a steam injection unit for performing an initial cleaning by injecting steam of a predetermined pressure before being made, The nozzle assembly, A shaft formed through the chamber in an upper longitudinal direction; A nozzle base connected to the movable bracket coupled to the shaft, the nozzle base extending from one side of the shaft in a traveling direction of the cleaning object; A nozzle body and a tip provided at a lower end of the nozzle base; Wet cleaning device comprising an adjustment handle provided on the exposed upper end of the shaft, by adjusting the distance to spray the steam and water to the cleaning object by moving the nozzle body and the tip up and down by the operation of the adjustment handle. . The method of claim 1, And a transfer part installed in the chamber to transfer the cleaning target in the loading direction. The method of claim 1, The cleaning object is a wet cleaning device, characterized in that the wafer for forming a glass or semiconductor integrated circuit for forming a display panel. The method of claim 1, Wet cleaning apparatus further comprises an air knife for removing surface moisture and foreign matters on the back side of the water jetting unit. The method of claim 1, The steam injection unit is connected to the output line of the steam generator and the wet cleaning device, characterized in that having a blowout pressure of 20kg / ㎠. The method of claim 1, Wet cleaning device, characterized in that the lower portion of the chamber is further provided with a drain connected to the water supply for recovering the water. The method of claim 1, Wet cleaning device, characterized in that the pumping output stage of the water supply unit is further provided with a filter for filtering the pollutant. delete delete delete delete delete

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