KR20050082323A - Semiconductor wafer cleaning system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer cleaning system comprising a priming cleaning station for spraying pure water to first remove particles on a wafer, and friction-rotating a pair of brushes arranged to be in contact with the surface and back side of the wafer. In addition, the primary cleaning station for primary cleaning of the residual particles by spraying the chemical, the primary rinse station for spraying and rinsing the cleaning liquid to the primary cleaned wafer, and the same as the primary cleaning station by spraying the chemical Secondary cleaning station for cleaning particles remaining on the surface and back side of the wafer by structure and method, secondary rinse station for spraying and rinsing the cleaning liquid on the secondary cleaned wafer, and rotating the rinsed wafer at high speed A drying station for drying the residual cleaning liquid by centrifugal force It is characterized by. Accordingly, the present invention can minimize the waiting time to enter each cleaning station by allowing each of the cleaning and rinsing operations of the surface polished wafer to be separately separated and processed by the cleaning station and the rinse station. Therefore, there is an effect that can significantly improve product productivity by eliminating the phenomenon of the overall process.

Description

Semiconductor wafer cleaning system

The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer cleaning system. In particular, the cleaning and rinsing operations of surface-polished wafers can be separately processed in stations independently provided, thereby minimizing the waiting time to enter each cleaning station. Therefore, the present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer cleaning system that can improve product productivity by eliminating congestion in the entire process.

In general, semiconductor wafer manufacturing processes include a surface polishing process of a wafer using a chemical-mechanical polishing equipment (CMP equipment) and the like, and a wafer cleaning process for removing particles generated in the wafer surface polishing process.

The wafer cleaning process is performed in various ways by applying various types of semiconductor wafer cleaning systems proposed to date, but pure water (DIW) after cleaning by spraying a predetermined chemical onto the wafer surface in one cleaning station It is common practice to rinse the wafer, repeat this process several times as it moves to the subsequent cleaning station, and then put the wafer into the drying station for final drying. In other words, chemical cleaning and rinsing with pure water are performed in one station.

Therefore, in the conventional semiconductor wafer cleaning system, since the wafer cleaning and rinsing process must be performed in one cleaning station, a lot of time is required in a single cleaning station, and the cleaning and rinsing process is performed in a plurality of subsequent stations. In the same process repeated several times, the required time is further increased and delayed, which causes a process stagnation as the wafer polished on the platen of the polishing module waits for a considerable time to enter the cleaning system. Due to this, the flow of the entire process could not be maintained smoothly, there was a problem that reduces the product productivity.

In other words, when performing a cleaning process using two or more chemicals in one cleaning station, inevitably parallel to a rinsing process for neutralizing the pH shock due to the difference in chemical components between the cleaning processes, A structure of a method in which a cleaning brush made of a moist sponge is disposed on both sides of the wafer and rotated and rubbed, and pure water for cleaning and rinsing are alternately supplied through each brush axis of the pair of brushes. In the initial stage of the replacement of the cleaning, which is supplied with another chemical, the concentration of the chemical that is already moistened in the brush cannot be maintained accurately for a certain period of time, thereby degrading the cleaning effect. Because of this, you have to keep the cleaning time long. It will cause acid degradation.

In the conventional cleaning system, wafers with a high degree of contamination after the polishing process are directly injected into the cleaning station by the brush as described above without any preliminary preliminary cleaning process, thereby immediately cleaning the brushes, thereby deepening the contamination of the brushes. In addition to reducing the cost, the service life was shortened, resulting in frequent replacement and consequent maintenance of the device, as well as an increase in process costs.

In addition, in the drying station for drying the wafer by rotating the wafer at a high speed after several cleaning and rinsing through each cleaning station, the grip structure for holding and rotating the wafer is provided by four grip fingers simultaneously operated in the radial direction. In the case of a flat zone type wafer, when the flat zone position is not aligned correctly, the wafer grip state between the grip fingers is non-uniform, which increases the possibility of wafer breakage at high speed rotation. There is a problem that the alignment operation of the wafer is absolutely necessary, and the operation is delayed by the alignment operation time of the wafer, thereby causing the congestion of the entire process to further reduce the product productivity.

On the other hand, the conventional semiconductor wafer cleaning system has a large device structure in which each cleaning and rinsing station and a drying station are arranged in a line, so that a corresponding large space must be secured in order to install and apply such a cleaning system. there was.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and its object is to independently process the cleaning and rinsing operations of the wafer to minimize the waiting time to enter each cleaning station, thereby reducing the congestion of the entire process. It is to provide a semiconductor wafer cleaning system that can be solved to improve product productivity.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor wafer cleaning system capable of improving product productivity by improving the cleaning effect by shortening the supply structure of chemical and pure water and reducing the time required for cleaning.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to maximize the cleaning ability by minimizing the contamination of the brush by performing a full cleaning process by a brush in a state in which the wafer having a high degree of contamination after the polishing process has been purified to some extent. In addition, it is to provide a semiconductor wafer cleaning system that can reduce the process cost according to the extension of the life of the brush.

Further, another object of the present invention is to improve the wafer grip structure in the drying station for drying the wafer by rotating the wafer so that the grip state is maintained uniformly regardless of the wafer feeding direction, and the wafer is broken even at high speed. It is not only possible to realize a stable structure without worry, it can be used for general purpose regardless of wafer type, and since it does not require a separate wafer alignment operation, a semiconductor wafer cleaning system that can improve product productivity by shortening the process time is required. In providing.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor wafer cleaning system capable of maximizing space efficiency by minimizing the installation space of equipment by improving the compact structure of each station for cleaning, rinsing and drying. Is in.

The semiconductor wafer cleaning system according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a rubbing station for first spraying pure water to remove particles on the wafer, and a pair of brushes arranged to contact the surface and the back side of the wafer A primary cleaning station for primary cleaning of residual particles by rotating the chemicals through a separate chemical sprayer, a primary rinse station for spraying and rinsing the cleaning liquid onto the first cleaned wafer, and a separate By spraying the chemical through the chemical injector and the second cleaning station for cleaning the particles remaining on the surface and the back side of the wafer by the same structure and method as the first cleaning station, and spraying the cleaning liquid to the second cleaned wafer A second rinse station for rinsing and rotating the rinsed wafer at high speed It is characterized in the yirueojim including a drying station for drying the residual cleaning liquid.

Here, the primary rinse cleaning station further includes a redirection transfer device for transferring by shifting the traveling direction to the subsequent process by 90 degrees with respect to the direction in which the primary cleaned wafer enters the interior of the primary rinse station. It is preferable that it is made by.

In addition, the direction change transfer device, the lifting plate which is arranged in the vertical direction and is operated by a predetermined linear motion device unit and fixedly installed in the same horizontal direction at a predetermined interval with respect to one side wall of the lifting plate, respectively. A plurality of roller brackets arranged therebetween so as not to interfere with each other between transfer conveyors for transferring wafers from a preceding process, and arranged inside the roller brackets, respectively, between both sidewalls of the elevating plate and the ends of the roller brackets. It is preferable that the plurality of rotational feed rollers are each supported to be rotatable.

In addition, the pristine cleaning station, a support plate formed with a lifting guide rail in the vertical direction, the lifting plate coupled to the lifting guide rail to be guided by the lifting guide rail, and the lifting plate to operate the lifting plate A plurality of cylinders telescopically moved in a vertical direction and simultaneously lifted and operated together with the lifting and lowering plate so as not to interfere with the wafer during loading and unloading of the wafer while being simultaneously rotated by one or more driving sources to hold and rotate the wafer. A wafer grip and a rotating device including a guide roller; And a pure water injector installed on the wafer and sprayed in the form of a water film during high pressure pure water supply to mainly remove coarse particles.

In addition, the primary and secondary cleaning stations are in contact with both surfaces of the wafer to clean the wafer, and the moisture-absorbing sponge to be supplied with only pure water through the pure water supply flow path inside the device when idle idling process It is preferable that a pair consisting of a brush made of a second, and a chemical injector which is installed symmetrically toward both sides of the wafer so that only the chemical can be distributed and sprayed.

In addition, the drying station, the central rotary shaft for rotating the power received from the drive unit provided in the lower portion is extended to the upper, the upper portion of the central rotary shaft is cut in the axial direction at equal intervals along the outer periphery of the central rotary shaft An incision groove is formed, and the actuating levers protrude in the radial direction through the respective incision grooves so as to move up and down along the incision grooves, respectively, the same lengths, and hinges to be interlocked according to the movement of the actuation lever. Finger arms coupled in a rotatable state at a distal end of each of the actuating levers via pins are respectively installed in a vertical direction, and a grip finger having a groove for accommodating an edge portion of the wafer is provided on an upper side of the finger arm. It is formed integrally with each of the finger arm, the connection between the hinge pin upper side of the finger arm and the grip finger Above, is mounted at the rotational center axis as a chukpin for performing the relative turning movement between the mounting plate and is connected to the finger arm and the grip finger, respectively beneath this combination of the wafer is preferably made.

Hereinafter, a semiconductor wafer cleaning system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 9 illustrate a semiconductor wafer cleaning system C according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 schematically shows the arrangement structure of each part of the cleaning system C, and also includes a polishing module P and wafer storage. 2 is a schematic view showing a connection state with a peripheral device such as a module F in a plan view. FIG. 2 is a pristine cleaning for first removing coarse particles by a water film type pure water sprayer 18 applied to the cleaning system C. FIG. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a primary view of a brush 21 made of a moisture-absorbing sponge applied to the present cleaning system C. Perspective view showing the main structure of the secondary cleaning station (20) (40), Figure 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing a pure flow structure of the brush 21 applied to the primary and secondary cleaning station (20) (40) FIG. 6 is disposed between the primary and secondary rinse stations 20 and 40 for the primary rinse. A perspective view showing the main structure of the primary rinse station 30 which can perform the rinsing process after cleaning by the station 20 and also change the conveying direction of the wafer 1, FIGS. 7A to 7C. A plan view and a side view for sequentially explaining the principle of redirection transfer of the wafer 1 by the secondary rinse station 30, and FIG. 8 is a secondary rinse for performing a rinsing process after the secondary rinsing station 40 by cleaning. 9 is a perspective view showing the main structure of the station 50, Figure 9 shows a perspective view showing the main structure of the drying station 60 using the centrifugal force applied to the present invention, respectively.

Typically, the cleaning module C of the present invention is a polishing module P having one or more CMP equipment for precisely polishing the wafer 1, as shown in FIG. 1. ) And a wafer front end module (F) capable of stacking and storing a plurality of wafers (1).

In the polishing module P, the wafer 1 to be polished is moved (loaded) on the platen 2 of each CMP apparatus or subsequent cleaning of the polished wafer 1 on the platen 2 is performed. One or more loading devices 3 are provided for moving (unloading) towards the system C. The holding system C is held after holding the wafer 1 from the loading device 3 in connection thereto. After the wafer 1 is transferred from the cassette stage 4 of the wafer storage module F to the inside of the cleaning station 10 or by a separate robot arm (not shown), the loading device ( Robot arm 5 is provided for the transfer to 3) side.

The semiconductor wafer cleaning system (C) according to the present invention comprises a pristine cleaning station (10) for spraying pure water to first remove coarse particles on the wafer (1), and arranged to be in contact with the surface and the back side of the wafer (1). To rinse by spraying a cleaning solution on the primary cleaning station 20 and the primary cleaned wafer 1 for rubbing the pair of brushes 21 and spraying chemicals to primaryly clean residual particles. The secondary rinse station 30 for cleaning the particles remaining on the surface and back side of the wafer 1 by the same structure and method as the primary rinse station 20 by spraying chemicals. 40, the secondary rinse station 50 for spraying and rinsing the cleaning liquid onto the secondary cleaned wafer 1, and the rinsed wafer 1 for high speed rotation to dry the remaining cleaning liquid by centrifugal force. Dry stay It consists of the option 60.

The wafer transfer between the stations of the present invention is performed by respective transfer conveyors (see transfer conveyor 70 of FIGS. 6 and 8) installed through the partition wall between each station.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the prismatic cleaning station 10 is a preliminary cleaning process for firstly removing heavy particles on the wafer 1 by spraying pure water. 16 is a device portion for holding and rotating the wafer 1 and spraying high pressure pure water from the pure water injector 18 provided on the wafer 1 in the form of a water film to remove particles.

The pure water injector (DIW Knife) 18 is installed in a vertical downward direction on one side of the device, the one side is formed with a pure water supply hole (18a) for receiving pure water from the outside, the pure water supply hole ( When the high pressure pure water is supplied through 18a), the pure water is sprayed in the form of a water screen through a spray hole formed in a long hole shape and pushes the particles toward the edge of the wafer 1, By doing so, the particle removal effect can be maximized. In some cases, the chemical reaction may be performed by spraying the chemical prior to the initial cleaning with pure water, followed by a rinsing process using the pure water injector 18.

Each of the guide rollers 16 is configured to rotate the wafer 1 by keeping the edge portion around the wafer 1 in close contact with each groove, and into the first cleaning station 10. As the wafer 1 enters and exits, the lifting and lowering movement of the wafer 1 may be performed slightly so that interference due to the guide rollers 16 may not occur. That is, the support plate 11 having a through hole formed at an appropriate position is vertically fixed to one side of the device portion, and the lifting guide rail 11a is integrally formed along the vertical direction on the outer surface of the support plate 11. On the elevating guide rail (11a), the elevating plate (13) which is operated in accordance with the elevating operation is coupled, and the cylinder 12 of the cylinder (12) is fixed to the lower portion of the support plate (11) in the vertical direction The lower end portion of the elevating plate 13 is integrally connected to an end of the elevating plate 13 so that the elevating plate 13 is elevated by the driving of the cylinder 12, and the roller shaft of each of the guide rollers 16 is rotated. One end of the casing 17 for accommodating 16a is fixed integrally with the elevating plate 13 through a through hole of the support plate 11 and is capable of being elevated at the same time. At this time, the upper cover of the casing 17 is coupled to the cover (17a) that can be opened to maintain the maintenance, the inside of the roller shaft (16a) is accommodated to support the rotatable by the bearing (16d) On each roller shaft 16a, driven pulleys 16c are fixed to each other to form a structure fastened by a belt 15b so as to be interlocked therebetween. In addition, a motor 14 is fixed to one side of the elevating plate 13, and a driving pulley 14a formed at an end of the motor shaft is provided at one of the roller shafts 16a of the guide roller 16. By engaging the driven pulley 16b with the belt 15a, each said guide roller 16 can rotate simultaneously with the rotation of the said drive pulley 14a.

Therefore, according to the operation of the cylinder 12, the lifting plate 13, the casing 17 and each guide roller 16, and the motor 14 is a structure in which the lifting operation.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 4, the primary cleaning station 20 frictionally rotates a pair of brushes 21 arranged to contact the surface and the back side of the wafer 1 and a pair provided separately. As a full-scale cleaning process for primarily cleaning the residual particles by spraying the chemical through the chemical injector (26), a pair of guide rollers (23) for supporting and rotating one edge of the wafer (1), It is an apparatus part consisting of the pair of brushes 21 and the pair of chemical injectors 26.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the brush 21 is made of a moisture-absorbing sponge, that is, a porous PVA, and a myriad of fine contact protrusions 21a are formed on the outer circumference thereof. The rotary motion by direct contact of the medium particles (Small Particles) and fine particles (Small Particles) and the like on the wafer 1 by the physical force to perform a function, and the wafer (23) toward the guide roller 23 1) is rotated in a predetermined direction to have a tendency to move, it is a structure capable of adjusting the spacing between each brush (21). In addition, the brush 21 forms a cylindrical shape such that the brush shaft 22 is inserted through the hollow portion, and both ends of the brush shaft 22 are installed on both side walls of the apparatus so as to be rotatable. Inside the shaft 22, a pure water supply passage 22a is formed, and in the radial direction, a myriad of pure water discharge holes 22b are formed, respectively, through the pure water supply passage 22a and the pure water discharge hole 22b. Pure water is supplied to the brush 21. However, the pure water supply through the brush 21 is used as a means for wetting the brush 21 in a proper state during idling.

Each of the guide rollers 23 has a roller shaft 23a accommodated inside the casing 25 as shown in FIG. 3 in the structure of the guide roller 16 of the priming cleaning station 10. A stopper that is fastened so as to be interlocked with the roller movement pivot 24 and supports an edge portion of the wafer 1 with respect to the forward movement of the wafer 1 due to the rotation of the brush 21. It also functions as a (Stpper). In addition, the roller movement pivot 24 has a mechanism for swinging each guide roller 23 left and right (or both sides) by a predetermined angle so that the guide roller 23 does not interfere with the movement of the wafer 1.

In addition, the chemical injector 26 has a cylindrical shape, a chemical supply passage 26a is formed inside the hollow portion, and a plurality of injection nozzles 26b are formed on the outer circumference thereof. 26 is disposed symmetrically with respect to both sides of the wafer (1).

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 6, the primary rinse station 30 is used to spray and rinse (rinse) a cleaning liquid (for example, pure water, etc.) to the first cleaned wafer 1. ) Is a device portion consisting of a conveying conveyor 70 and a pair of cleaning liquid injectors 37 for advancing forward in the advancing direction.

The conveying conveyor 70 is a conveyor pulley (71) (71a) arranged in parallel on both sides at a predetermined interval, the conveyor belt 72 fastened between the conveyor pulley (71) (71a), and the conveyor pulley (71). Consists of a conveyor bracket (73) for supporting (71a). At this time, the conveyor pulley (71a) has a slight structural difference from the remaining conveyor pulley (71), which is to be divided into a bisected structure in a short form to prevent interference with the direction of the transfer device to be described later It's just a design change.

The cleaning liquid injector 37 is not different from the structure of the chemical injector 26 of the primary cleaning station 20 described above. That is, the cleaning liquid injector 37 has a cylindrical shape, and the cleaning liquid supply passage 37a is formed inside the hollow portion, and a plurality of injection nozzles 37b are formed on the outer circumference thereof.

In addition, in the present invention, in addition to the structure of the primary rinse station 30, the wafer to the subsequent cleaning process after the wafer 1 in the primary rinse station 30 by the transfer conveyor 70 and the rinse process. (1) A right angle transfer (RAT) was added as a structure for changing the direction of movement by 90 ° during movement. This is applied to the entire equipment including the cleaning system by changing the arrangement of each station from the existing line state to the 'L'-shape arrangement and linking it with peripheral parts such as the polishing module P and the wafer storage module F. The compact structure provides a structure to maximize the efficiency of the device occupied space.

That is, in the direction switching roller device, a lifting plate 33 which is lifted and operated by a predetermined linear motion (for example, the lifting device in the pristine cleaning station 10) is arranged in the vertical direction, and the lifting plate A plurality of roller brackets 32 are fixedly installed in the same horizontal direction at predetermined intervals with respect to one side wall of 33, and are arranged inside each of the roller brackets 33 to form one of the lifting plates 33. A plurality of redirection feed roller 31 is supported so that both ends are rotatable between the side wall and the end of the roller bracket 32. Each of the direction transfer rollers 31 is arranged without mutual interference between the conveyor pulleys 71a of the transfer conveyor 70.

Therefore, the redirection feed roller 31 is moved up and down together with the lifting movement of the lifting plate 33 without interference between the transfer conveyor 70, the wafer 1 by the redirection transfer device Turning in accordance with the principle of redirection transfer in accordance with the accompanying drawings sequentially as follows.

First, as shown in the plan view shown in FIG. 7A, the wafer 1 having completed the primary cleaning station 20 rides on the conveyor belt 72 of the conveying conveyor 70 of the primary rinse station 30. After entering the interior, the rinsing process by pure water injection of the cleaning liquid injector 37 is performed. Subsequently, as shown in the side view shown in FIG. 7B, the direction transfer roller 31 located below the conveyor belt 72 of the transfer conveyor 70 is disposed between the transfer conveyors 70. As the lifting plate 33 is raised, the wafer 1, which has been seated on the conveyor belt 72, is lifted up slightly up from the position of the conveyor belt 72. In this state, as shown in the plan view shown in FIG. 7C, as the direction change transfer roller 31 rotates in the forward transfer direction, the secondary direction of the wafer 1 placed thereon is shifted by 90 °. It is transferred to the inside of the washing station (40).

On the other hand, the secondary cleaning station 40 is the same structure (see FIGS. 4 and 5) and the same method as the primary cleaning station 20 by spraying the chemical of the same or different components as in the primary cleaning station 20 This is an apparatus part for cleaning the particles remaining on the surface and back side of the wafer 1 again, and the detailed description thereof is omitted, and no separate reference is given to the primary cleaning station 20.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, the secondary rinse station 50 is used for final rinsing by spraying a cleaning liquid (for example, pure water or the like) onto the secondary cleaned wafer 1. It is a device portion consisting of the transfer conveyor 70 as described above and the cleaning liquid sprayer 51 as described above installed on the wafer 1 to spray pure water toward the surface of the wafer 1. Reference numeral 51b denotes a spray nozzle, and in some cases, an additional ultrasonic device (Mega-sonic) may be additionally installed to further activate the final cleaning effect on the fine particles in parallel with the cleaning process by the ultrasonic action. have.

In addition, the second rinse station 50 allows the wafer 1 to be sufficiently rinsed independently, thereby making the rinse process more efficient than the conventional rinse process performed in parallel in the subsequent drying station 60. Of course, it can be performed, as well as the effect that can shorten the process time required of the drying station 60, which has been pointed out as a major congestion phenomenon in the entire cleaning process to date.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 9, the drying station (SRD; Spin Rinse Dry) 60 rotates the rinsed wafer 1 at high speed to dry the residual cleaning liquid such as pure water by centrifugal force. This is an apparatus part which consists of a finger grip apparatus which grasps the wafer 1 and rotates at high speed.

The finger grip device is a device for rotating the high speed after gripping the edges of the wafer 1 at equal intervals, and the central rotation shaft 65 that rotates by receiving power from the driving part 66 provided at the bottom thereof is extended upward. In the upper portion of the center rotation shaft 65, five incision grooves are formed in the axial direction at equal intervals along the outer periphery of the center rotation shaft 65, and the incision grooves are moved up and down along the incision grooves. The actuating lever 64 in the radial direction through the protruding and maintaining the same length, respectively, through the hinge pin (64a) so as to be interlocked according to the movement of the actuating lever (64) each of the actuating lever (64) Finger arms 62 rotatably coupled in a rotatable state at the distal end of the head) are installed in the vertical direction, and a grip finger having a groove for accommodating the edge of the wafer 1 on the upper side of the finger arm 62. 61 is formed integrally with the finger arm 62, and at the connecting portion between the upper portion of the hinge pin 64a of the finger arm 62 and the grip finger 61, the wafer 1 is mounted. It is connected to each of the seating plate supporting it to form a structure in which the central axis pin 63 as a pivot axis for performing the relative pivoting movement between the finger arm 62 and the grip finger 61.

The grip finger 61 has an operation structure similar to that when a person grips an edge of a disc or the like with a fingertip in a state where the distance between the fingers is evenly spread.

According to the above structure, the wafer 1 mounted on the seating plate is firmly gripped by five grip fingers 61, so that the central rotation shaft 65 can rotate at the same time as it rotates. At the time of unloading the wafer 1, the operation lever 64 is contracted toward the center of the central rotation shaft 65 by mechanical operation from the driving unit 66 to pull the finger arm 62 toward the lower end. As a result, the upper end of the grip finger 61 having the pivot point 63 as the pivot point opens in the radial direction, thereby releasing the wafer 1. In addition, when the grip (grip) of the wafer 1 is operated in the reverse of the above description will be omitted a separate description.

In addition, the five grip fingers 61 are arranged at equal intervals in the circumference, so that the intervals between them are maintained at 72 °, and in particular, at least four effective grips, even if the flat zone type wafer 1 is inserted without alignment operation. The finger 61 envelops 216 ° much more than 180 ° with respect to the wafer circumference to maintain a firm grip. This is an unstable grip when the flat zone type wafer 1 is inserted without alignment operation in the case of the existing structure in which four grip fingers are applied. As a result, at least three effective grip fingers wrap only 180 ° around the wafer. It is possible to realize equipment stability that is significantly superior to the state.

Therefore, in the present invention, the grip structure of the wafer is improved in the form of five grip fingers 61 so that the grip state is maintained uniformly regardless of the direction in which the wafer 1 is inserted, so that the wafer is not damaged even at high speed. You can implement the structure.

For reference, the grip fingers 61 may be designed by varying the number depending on whether the wafer is a flat zone type wafer or a notch type wafer. That is, five grip fingers 61 may be applied to a flat zone type wafer, and three to four grip fingers 61 may be applied to a notched type wafer, respectively. Regardless of the type of the wafer 1, all of the wafers 60 may be applied, and the wafer 1 may be directly loaded and operated without a separate wafer alignment operation such as wafer center alignment. In order to do this, the structure by five grip fingers 61 is aimed at.

In addition, if necessary, further comprising a pure water and nitrogen gas injector 67 for spraying the pure water (or nitrogen gas) before the drying process to the upper side of the drying station 60 to perform the final rinsing process. It may be. In this case, the finger grip device is sprayed with pure water during the low speed rotation operation to perform a rinse process, and then the nitrogen gas is injected during the high speed rotation operation of the finger grip device to react with oxygen in the air. With the anti-oxidation treatment of the drying performance can be improved.

According to the semiconductor wafer cleaning system of the present invention as described above, the cleaning and rinsing operations of the surface-polished wafers can be separately separated and processed by the cleaning station and the rinse station, respectively. It is possible to minimize the waiting time, thereby eliminating the congestion in the overall process has the effect of significantly improving the product productivity.

In addition, according to the present invention, the supply structure of chemical and pure water is dualized to improve the cleaning effect and to shorten the time required for cleaning at each station, thereby improving product productivity. In other words, the duality of the chemical supply through the chemical sprayer and the pure water supply through the brush allows the pH due to the difference in the components between the different chemicals even when the cleaning process using two or more chemicals is performed in one cleaning station. There is no fear of shock, and the concentration of chemicals can be maintained accurately, thereby maximizing the cleaning effect, thus shortening the cleaning time and improving product productivity.

In addition, according to the present invention, before performing a full-scale cleaning process by a brush, a brush for cleaning the highly contaminated wafer with a degree of purification by providing a pristine cleaning station capable of performing a separate preliminary cleaning process to a brush By performing the cleaning process by using the brush to minimize the contamination of the brush can be maximized, as well as its life is extended to reduce the process cost and thereby can maintain the advantages of maintenance of the device. .

Further, according to the present invention, the wafer grip structure in the drying station for drying the wafer by rotating it into five grip fingers forms the grip state uniformly regardless of the wafer feeding direction, so that even at high speed rotation. It is possible not only to realize a stable structure without worrying about wafer breakage, but also to generalize it regardless of the type of wafer such as flat zone type or notch type. Since it is not necessary, there is an effect that the product productivity can be improved by shortening the process time.

In addition, according to the present invention, by installing a redirection transfer device at any one of the stations for cleaning, rinsing and drying to improve the 'L' shaped arrangement structure to minimize the installation space of the equipment to maximize the space efficiency There is an effect that becomes possible.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, this may be regarded as exemplary, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may conceive various modifications and equivalent embodiments therefrom. It should be understood that such equivalent embodiments are also included within the claims of the present invention. Therefore, the true scope of protection of the present invention should be determined only by the appended claims.

1 is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement structure of each part of the semiconductor wafer cleaning system according to the present invention and a plan view showing a connection state with peripheral devices such as a polishing module and a wafer storage module in a plan view.

2 is a perspective view showing the main structure of the priming cleaning station for first removing the coarse particles by the water film type pure water sprayer applied to the cleaning system of the present invention.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the main structure of the primary and secondary cleaning station by the brush of the moisture-absorbing sponge applied to the cleaning system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a pure flow structure of a brush applied to the primary and secondary cleaning stations.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a main structure of a primary rinse station disposed between the primary and secondary rinsing stations so as to perform a rinsing process after the rinsing by the primary rinsing station and to change a wafer transfer direction. to be.

7a to 7c are for explaining the principle of the transfer direction of the wafer by the primary rinse station,

7A is a plan view schematically illustrating a state in which a wafer cleaned through the primary cleaning station enters the inside of the primary rinse station by a transfer conveyor;

FIG. 7B is a side view schematically illustrating a state in which a turning transfer roller is lifted between the conveying conveyors to lift the wafer from the conveying conveyor; FIG.

FIG. 7C is a plan view schematically illustrating a state in which the direction of movement of the wafer loaded thereon is transferred to the inside of the secondary cleaning station as the direction transfer roller rotates.

8 is a perspective view showing the main structure of a secondary rinse station for performing a rinse process after cleaning by the secondary washing station.

9 is a perspective view showing the main structure of a drying station using a centrifugal force applied to the present invention.

<Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawings>

C; Cleaning system F; Wafer Storage Module

P; Polishing Module 1; wafer

1a; Flat Zone 2; Platen

3; Loading device 4; Cassette Stage

5; Robot arm 10; Initial cleaning station

11; Support plate 11a; Lift Guide Rail

12; Cylinder 12a; Cylinder rod

13; Lifting plate 14; Motor

14a; Drive pulleys 15a and 15b; belt

16; Guide roller 16a; Roller Shaft

16b, 16c; Driven pulleys 16d; bearing

17; Casing 17a; cover

18; Pure spray machine 18a; Pure water supply

20; Primary cleaning station 21; brush

21a; Contact projection 22; Brush axis

22a; Pure feed channel 22b; Pure air discharge

23; Guide roller 23a; Roller Shaft

24; Roller travel pivot 25; Casing

26; Chemical injectors 26a; Chemical Supply Euro

26b; Injection nozzle 30; 1st rinse station

31; Turning feed roller 32; Roller Bracket

33; Lifting plate 37; Cleaning Liquid Sprayer

37a; Washing liquid supply flow passage 37b; Spray nozzle

40; Secondary cleaning station 50; 2nd rinse station

51; Washing liquid injector 51b; Spray nozzle

60; Drying station 61; Grip Finger

62; Finger arm 63; Center shaft pin

64; Operating lever 64a; Hinge pin

65; Center axis 66; Driving part

67; Pure water and nitrogen gas injectors 70; Conveyor

71, 71a; Conveyor pulley 72; Conveyor belt

73; Conveyor Bracket

Claims (6)

A pristine cleaning station for spraying pure water to first remove particles on the wafer; A primary cleaning station for frictionally rotating a pair of brushes disposed to be in contact with the surface and the back side of the wafer, as well as spraying the chemical through a separate chemical injector to primarily clean the remaining particles; A primary rinse station for spraying and rinsing a cleaning liquid onto the wafer cleaned at the primary cleaning station; A second cleaning station for spraying chemicals onto the wafer rinsed in the first rinsing station through a separate chemical sprayer to clean particles remaining on the surface and back side of the wafer by the same structure and method as the first cleaning station. ; A secondary rinse station for spraying and rinsing a cleaning liquid onto the second cleaned wafer in the secondary cleaning station; And And a drying station for rotating the wafer rinsed at the secondary rinse station at a high speed to dry the residual cleaning liquid by the centrifugal force thereof. The method of claim 1, The primary rinse cleaning station further includes a redirection transfer device for transferring the first cleaned wafer by 90 ° with respect to the direction in which the primary cleaned wafer enters the interior of the primary rinse station. A semiconductor wafer cleaning system, characterized in that. The method of claim 2, The redirection transfer device is placed in the vertical direction and the lifting plate which is lifted and operated by a predetermined linear motion device unit, and fixedly installed in the same horizontal direction with a predetermined interval with respect to one side wall of the lifting plate, respectively, the preceding step And a plurality of roller brackets arranged therebetween so as not to interfere with each other between transfer conveyors for transferring wafers from each other, and arranged inside the respective roller brackets so that both ends between the side walls of the elevating plate and the ends of the roller brackets, respectively. A semiconductor wafer cleaning system comprising a plurality of redirection feed rollers rotatably supported. The method of claim 1, The initial cleaning station, A support plate having a lifting guide rail formed in a vertical direction, a lifting plate coupled to the lifting guide rail so as to be guided by the lifting guide rail, and a cylinder extending and contracted in the vertical direction to operate the lifting plate. And a plurality of guide rollers, which are simultaneously rotated by one or more driving sources to hold and rotate the wafer, and which are lifted and operated together with the lifting plate so as not to interfere with the wafer during loading and unloading of the wafer. And a rotating device unit; And And a pure water injector installed on the wafer and sprayed in the form of a water film upon supplying pure water at high pressure to mainly remove coarse particles. The method of claim 1, The primary and secondary cleaning stations are made of a moist sponge to physically contact both sides of the wafer to clean the wafer and to receive only pure water through a pure water supply passage therein when the device is idle. A semiconductor wafer cleaning system comprising a pair of brushes and a chemical sprayer disposed symmetrically toward both surfaces of the wafer to distribute and spray only the chemical. The method of claim 1, The drying station has a central rotating shaft which rotates by receiving power from a driving unit provided at the bottom thereof and extends upwardly, and five incision grooves cut in the axial direction at equal intervals along the outer circumference of the central rotating shaft at an upper portion of the central rotating shaft. Is formed, and the operation levers are projected in the radial direction through each of the incision grooves so as to move up and down along the incision grooves, respectively, maintaining the same length, the hinge pin to be interlocked according to the movement of the operation lever Finger arms coupled to each other in a rotatable state at a distal end of each of the operating levers are installed in the vertical direction, and a grip finger having a groove for accommodating an edge portion of the wafer on an upper side of the finger arm is provided with the finger arm. And are formed integrally with each other, and are connected to an upper portion of the hinge pin of the finger arm and the grip finger. The semiconductor wafer cleaning system according to claim 1, wherein a central shaft pin is connected to a seating plate supporting the wafer when the wafer is mounted, and a pivot pin as a pivot axis for performing a relative pivoting motion between the finger arm and the grip finger.