KR20020017401A - Apparatus for treating thin object - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus for processing a thin plate is provided to improve efficiency of a fabricating process by simplifying a structure of a transporting portion. CONSTITUTION: A rotary etching apparatus(1) is formed with a vessel, a rotating shaft(4), the first nozzle member, the second nozzle member, and a support(5). The second nozzle portion is arranged on an upper portion of the second nozzle portion. The vessel is formed with a vessel body(2) fixed to a frame(15) and a cover. The support(5) is used for fixing a semiconductor wafer. The rotating shaft(4) is a hollow shaft. The rotating shaft(4) is used for transferring a rotary power of a rotating shaft drive portion(26) to the support(5). The first nozzle portion is formed with a conduit for supplying treatment fluid(8) and the first nozzles(19). The support(5) has a multitude of holders(6).

Description

Sheet Metal Processing Equipment {APPARATUS FOR TREATING THIN OBJECT}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating a thin plate with a liquid processing liquid. In particular, the present invention relates to an etching process for removing a portion of the surface of a wafer during a photo process of forming a pattern on the surface of a semiconductor wafer. It relates to a thin plate processing apparatus to be applied.

An etching process refers to a manufacturing process of removing a portion of a top layer of a wafer according to the shape of a photoresist formed on an upper surface of a semiconductor wafer. Chemical etching, plasma etching, ion beam and reactive ion etch are used in the etching process. Chemical etch is one of the most economical and productive etching methods that is widely used in production. Chemical etch is a simple beaker process where wafers are loaded onto boats and immersed in acid beakers. Unlike the immersion process, there is a spray etching method, which refers to spraying and etching a chemical liquid while the wafer is rotating. However, spray etching has problems such as damage of the spray etch apparatus, and despite the advantages, immersion etching has been used in the field. However, recent semiconductor manufacturing equipment companies are introducing a new rotary etching apparatus that compensates for the disadvantages of the spray etch, and this equipment is being applied to the semiconductor manufacturing line.

US Patent No. 4,903,717 relates to a device for performing a photo process by spraying a chemical liquid or the like on a top while rotating a semiconductor wafer. This patent invention is an invention created so that a support for rotating a semiconductor wafer can be moved up and down inside a tank to perform a photographic process, in particular an etching process. According to the present invention, the tank is divided into a plurality of spaces, and each annular duct has a predetermined chemical liquid to be treated, and is configured to vertically transfer the support to a position corresponding to the type of chemical liquid. In particular, the present invention has a structure in which the chemical liquid is supplied from the top, the wafer is fixedly supported by an air cushion formed of compressed gas injected from the annular nozzle. In particular, the use of an air cushion has the characteristics of preventing the conventional chemical liquid from penetrating the wafer back surface. However, there are some problems in applying this patent invention to the field. That is, this patent invention has a structure in which the support is transported up and down. However, the support has a complicated mechanical structure consisting of a drive system such as a shaft for rotating it, supply pipes of compressed gas injected to make an air cushion, and a stopper drive device for fixing the wafer. Therefore, direct transfer of the support is not only easy, but also requires a lot of power and is uneconomical. In the etching process, the back side needs to be cleaned after etching. Since the present invention can process only the top surface of the wafer, the wafer needs to be loaded and unloaded so as to spray the rinse liquid on the back side. This loading and unloading process has an adverse effect on the yield by increasing the process preparation time in the etching process, such as moving the nozzle of the upper. In addition, it is difficult to maintain the level of the wafer when the air cushion is used (actually can not exceed 3000rpm) has a disadvantage that the uniformity of the etching degree over the entire surface of the wafer is not good.

An object of the present invention is to construct a thin plate processing apparatus capable of spraying a chemical liquid on the back surface of a thin plate.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a thin plate processing apparatus having a simple structure of a conveying unit to improve the efficiency of the process.

And it is an object of the present invention to provide a thin plate treatment apparatus that can be sprayed at various positions in the chemical liquid from the upper surface.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing a rotatable etching apparatus which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of the rotatable etching apparatus shown in FIG. 1; FIG.

3 is a plan view of the rotatable etching apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

4 is a plan view of a rotary etching apparatus in the case of using a "T" shaped nozzle arm; And

5a to 5c is a view showing the operation of the blocking portion and the blocking portion engaging jaw.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

1: rotary etching apparatus

2: vessel body 3: cover

4: rotating shaft 5: support

6: holder

8: conduit for supplying treatment fluid

9: transporting shaft

10: reciprocal driving device

11: gripping member

12: stopping step section for cover

13: driving device for rotating nozzle

14: nozzle arm 15: frame

16: barrier member

17: stopping step section for barrier member

18: stopping plate 19: first nozzle

20: wafer

22: circular plate section

23: second nozzle 26: rotating shaft drive unit

a: direction of nozzle arm rotation b: direction of wafer loading and unloading

c: holding part moving direction d: chemical liquid inlet part of first nozzle part

According to a feature of the invention, a thin plate processing apparatus comprises a support having a vessel, a rotating shaft, a support and a plurality of first nozzles. First nozzles are arranged on the support to inject the chemical into the back of the thin plate.

According to another feature of the invention, the container of the sheet processing apparatus consists of a vessel body and a movable cover fixed to a frame of the equipment. And the sheet processing apparatus includes moving means for driving this cover. When the cover is made of a plastic material, compared with the conventional support transport method, the cover can be simply transported.

According to another feature of the present invention, the thin plate processing apparatus has a characteristic of injecting the chemical liquid or moving across the thin plate and injecting the chemical liquid across the thin plate. This configuration can uniformly control the amount of sprayed on the upper surface of the thin plate to improve the efficiency of the process.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the configuration and operation of a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. The present invention is applicable to all the facilities for treating the thin plate with a liquid processing liquid. As a preferred embodiment among such embodiments, a rotary etching apparatus used in a semiconductor etching process will be described as an example, and the embodiment is not limited to the etching apparatus.

1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a rotatable etching apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the rotatable etching apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

1 and 2, the rotary etching apparatus 1 includes a vessel, a rotating shaft 4, a first nozzle member, and a second nozzle part. member) and support (5). In the wet etching process, an acid solution is used to remove a film on the surface of the semiconductor wafer, and thus a vessel is required to protect the peripheral equipment. As the etching proceeds, a second nozzle portion for supplying a chemical liquid to the surface of the wafer is disposed above the container. The vessel consists of a vessel body 2 fixed to a frame 15 of the plant and a cover 3 that can move up and down depending on the type of treatment chemical. The support 5 fixes the semiconductor wafer, and the rotating shaft 4 is a hollow shaft having an empty inside, and transmits the rotational force of the rotating shaft driver 26 to the support 5. The first nozzle portion consists of a chemical for supplying treatment fluid 8 and a plurality of first nozzles 19 passing through a hollow section of the rotary shaft 4. At this time, the first nozzles 19 are connected to the chemical liquid supply line 8 and are exposed to the central portion of the support 5 so as to spray deionized water or nitrogen on the back surface of the wafer 20 to perform cleaning and drying. Can be. The support 5 includes a plurality of holders 6 holding edge portions of the wafer 20 so that the wafer 20 is spaced apart from the support 5 at a predetermined interval. In this way, when the gap is maintained between the wafer 20 and the support 5, the chemical liquid injected from the first nozzles 19 may be easily dispersed from the rear center to the edge.

Looking at the operation of the rotary etching device configured as described above in detail as follows. Acid treatment liquids such as hydrofluoric acid (HF), phosphoric acid (H ₃ PO ₄ ), sulfuric acid (H ₂ SO ₄ ), hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ), and hydrochloric acid (HCl) may be used depending on the process conditions such as the type of membrane to be removed. The nozzle portion is sprayed onto the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer to etch the upper surface, and the rinse water is sprayed onto the rear surface of the wafer to prevent the above-mentioned chemicals from penetrating the semiconductor back surface. When the etching process is completed, nitrogen gas is injected to the second nozzle unit to dry the wafer. When the chemical liquid is injected from the first nozzle unit, the cleaning liquid is always sprayed to the second nozzle unit to effectively prevent the chemical liquid from penetrating to the rear surface. In addition, as the etching progresses, the cleaning solution is continuously sprayed, and when the etching is completed, the drying gas is sprayed directly to the rear without turning the wafer upside down (about 20 to 30 seconds), thereby saving process time.

The rotary etching device, which is an embodiment of the present invention, includes a transporting means composed of a transporting shaft 9, a reciprocal driving device 10, and a gripping member 11. It includes more. The conveying means is disposed on the side of the container as shown in FIG. 2, and the force transmitted by the reciprocating drive device 10, such as a hydraulic device, is held by the feed shaft 9 by the feed shaft 9. The cover 3 is conveyed in the c direction by engaging with a stopping step section for cover 12 protruding from the upper circumference of the cover. 3 is a plan view of the rotatable etching apparatus shown in FIG. 1, in which the cover 3, the container body 2 and the support 5 are circular in shape according to the shape of the wafer. The gripping portion 11 is partially but ring-shaped. The cover 3 has two circular plate sections 22 stacked at predetermined intervals as shown in FIG. The cover is moved up and down so that the parts 22 can be positioned according to a predetermined chemical liquid. The cover 3 may transmit the driving force to the cover by the grip 11 and the cover engaging jaw 12 without the fastening element 11 and the cover using the fastening element by its own weight. As described above, the rotary etching apparatus of the present invention fixes the support 5, which is cumbersome to drive, and transfers the cover 3 up and down to simplify the driving thereof.

On the other hand, the second nozzle portion is a component that injects the chemical liquid from the upper portion of the wafer 20 is configured to be evenly sprayed on the wafer surface in order to improve the uniformity (uniformity) of the etching (uniformity). As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rotary etching apparatus 1 of the present invention includes a driving device for rotating nozzle 13 and a nozzle arm 14 such as a motor. And a plurality of second nozzles 23. The nozzle arm 14, one end of which is connected to the nozzle rotation driving unit 13, rotates in the a direction as shown in FIG. 3 so that the second nozzles 23 disposed at the other end move in the radial direction of the wafer 20. By doing so, the uniformity of etching can be improved.

4 is a plan view of a rotary etching device showing the application of a "T" shaped nozzle arm.

In the rotary etching apparatus of the present invention, the components for injecting the chemical liquid from the upper surface of the wafer may be configured as a third nozzle member. The third nozzle part 24 is formed with a plurality of holes 25 that are “T” shaped and engaged with a plurality of third nozzles. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the third nozzle is disposed across the radial direction of the wafer 20 so that the etching chemical is evenly sprayed onto the upper surface of the wafer when the etching process is performed.

The rotary etching device 1 of the present invention further includes a barrier member 16 such as a bowl, which is placed on the upper portion of the cover 3. The blocking part 16 may move up and down like a cover, and the blocking part 16 is formed with a stopping step section for barrier member 17 protruding circumferentially. In addition, a stopping plate 18 is disposed around the container so that when the cover 3 and the blocking part 16 move below a certain position, only the blocking part restricts the movement so that the cover and the blocking part are separated. .

Blocking plate 16 configured as described above serves to block the chemical liquid discharged to the outside in the open portion of the cover 3 when the etching process is in progress. However, the rotary etching apparatus of the present invention is configured to be loaded and unloaded by moving the wafer loading in one degree of freedom from the side. 5A, 5B and 5C show the operation of the blocking portion 16 and the cover holder. The operation thereof will be described in detail with reference to these drawings. The movable position is determined by the number of the blocking portion 16, the cover 3, and the annular panel portion 22. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, when the number of the annular panel portions is two, it may move to three positions as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C. 5A, 5B, and 5C show the case of the upper, middle, and lower positions, respectively. In the upper position and the middle position, the etching process is processed with different chemical liquids, and the lower position is separated from the blocking portion 16 and the cover 3 as shown in FIG. 5C to transfer the wafer in the b direction to support the support 5. ) Can be loaded.

Although the present invention has been described in detail only with respect to the described embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations are possible within the technical scope of the present invention, and such modifications and modifications are within the scope of the appended claims. For example, the annular panel portion is not limited to two as in the above-described embodiment, but may be configured to three or more depending on the type of chemical liquid to be treated. In addition, since the third nozzle portion defined by the “T” shape may be formed in such a manner that the chemical liquid may be evenly sprayed on the front surface of the thin plate, other shape nozzle portions may be applied.

Applying the thin plate treatment apparatus of the present invention to a rotary etching apparatus, the following positive effects are expected. First, since the cleaning liquid can be sprayed from the back of the thin plate, it is possible to save the time of loading and unloading the thin plate for cleaning, thereby saving the processing time.The chemical liquid is sprayed on the upper surface and the lower surface is sprayed on the rear surface. This can prevent the infiltration of chemicals. Second, the processing unit may be evenly sprayed on the upper surface of the wafer by moving or multi-point spraying the nozzle unit located in the upper portion, thereby maintaining the etching of the entire surface of the wafer uniformly. Third, by providing a structure capable of loading and unloading the semiconductor wafer from the side, it is expected that not only the moving distance of the semiconductor loading robot is reduced but also the loading and unloading time can be reduced.

Claims (14)

In a thin plate processing apparatus for treating a thin sample with a liquid: Vessel; Rotation axis; Rotation according to the driving force of the rotating shaft and disposed in the container, including a support for supporting the thin plate, The support is provided with a first nozzle portion in the center thin plate processing apparatus, characterized in that for spraying the processing liquid on the back surface of the thin plate. The method of claim 1, The sheet processing apparatus further includes a plurality of holders on the surface of the support, And the holders fix an edge of the thin plate so that the thin plate is not separated from the support when the support is rotated. The method of claim 2, The shaft is a hollow shaft, there is at least one chemical liquid supply passage therein, wherein the chemical liquid supply passage is connected to the first nozzle portion. The method of claim 1, The container, Container body; And It consists of a cover having at least two annular panels stacked at predetermined intervals, The thin plate processing apparatus further comprises a conveying means capable of moving the cover with respect to the support. The method of claim 4, wherein The conveying means, Feed shaft; A reciprocating drive device which drives the feed shaft to reciprocate; And It is fixed to the conveyance shaft and consists of a gripping portion for guiding the cover to reciprocate, And the cover held by the transfer shaft by the reciprocating driving device can be reciprocally conveyed. The method of claim 5, The container body and the cover has a cylindrical shape to process a circular thin plate, A first locking step is formed on the side of the cover, the gripping portion thin plate processing apparatus, characterized in that formed in accordance with the outer peripheral shape of the cover to be caught on the first locking step. The method according to claim 1 or 5, The thin plate processing apparatus, the thin plate processing apparatus further comprises a second nozzle portion which can be moved and sprayed on the upper portion of the thin plate. The method of claim 7, wherein The second nozzle unit, Nozzle rotation drive unit; A nozzle arm connected to the nozzle rotation driver; And Consists of a plurality of nozzles installed at one end of the nozzle arm, And said nozzle arm rotates along the rotational center line of said drive unit when said thin plate is processed so that said nozzles move across the surface of said thin plate and inject said liquid. The method according to claim 1 or 5, The thin plate processing apparatus further comprises a third nozzle portion having a multi-point injection structure that can be sprayed to a plurality of positions on the upper portion of the thin plate. The method of claim 9, The third nozzle unit, Nozzle arm; And Consists of a plurality of nozzles installed in the nozzle arm, And the nozzles are evenly arranged on the surface of the thin plate. The method of claim 10, And said nozzle arm is "T" shaped, said nozzle arm is arranged to cross the surface of said thin plate, and said nozzles are arranged to cross said nozzle arm at regular intervals. The method of claim 5, The thin plate processing apparatus further includes a blocking unit disposed on the cover to prevent the processing liquid for treating the thin plate from being discharged to the outside, The cut-off unit is a thin plate processing apparatus, characterized in that conveyed as the cover reciprocates as the top of the cover is guided. The method of claim 12, The blocking portion has a second locking step is formed around the, The thin plate processing apparatus further includes a locking plate which is caught by the second locking step of the blocking unit to limit the transfer of the blocking unit. When the blocking portion and the cover moves in a predetermined direction, the blocking portion is not caught by the latching plate, the thin plate processing apparatus, characterized in that the cover and the blocking portion is spaced apart. The method of claim 13, The container body, the cover and the blocking portion has a cylindrical shape to process a circular thin plate, the locking plate is characterized in that it is formed in accordance with the outer circumferential shape of the blocking portion to be stably caught on the second locking jaw of the blocking portion Lamination processing device.