KR20070073128A - Wet washing apparatus for semiconductor wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

A wet washing apparatus for cleaning a semiconductor wafer is provided to prevent defects of a semiconductor wafer due to particles by cleaning smoothly a semiconductor wafer part contacting first slots. A cleaning bath(30) includes an internal reception space for receiving a cleaning solution. A wafer is loaded into the internal reception space of the cleaning bath. A wafer guide includes a lower surface supporting unit(22) having a plurality of first slots to support an erect state of the wafer, a lower surface supporting unit having a plurality of second slots to support the wafer, and a pair of lateral supporting units(24) facing the lower surface supporting unit. A central supporting unit(10) is formed at an inner wall of the cleaning bath. The central supporting unit includes a nozzle for injecting the cleaning solution into the cleaning bath.

Description

Wet Washing Apparatus for Semiconductor Wafer

1 is a side view of a semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus according to a conventional embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of region 'A' of FIG. 1.

3 is a perspective view of a semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a side cross-sectional view of the semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the central support of the semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of region 'B' of FIG. 4.

7 is a partial perspective view of the side support of the semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus of FIG. 3.

8 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a central support of the semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

1: semiconductor wafer wet cleaning device 10: center support

12: cleaning liquid supply pipe 14: nozzle

20: wafer guide 22: lower surface support

24: side support 26: transfer handle

30: washing tank 32: holding tank

34: cleaning liquid

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus, and more particularly, to a semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus having an increased cleaning ability for semiconductor wafers.

When fabricating a semiconductor wafer into an integrated circuit, a cleaning process for cleaning the semiconductor wafer is required to remove residual chemicals, small particles, contamination, and the like, which occur during various manufacturing processes. In particular, when manufacturing highly integrated integrated circuits, a cleaning process for removing fine contaminants adhering to the surface of a semiconductor wafer is very important.

 The cleaning process is very similar to the etching process in that it removes material on the semiconductor wafer surface, except that the object removes contaminants present on the wafer surface.

Wet cleaning of semiconductor wafers can be divided into chemical solution processing (chemical processing), water washing and drying. Chemical solution treatment process is a process of processing semiconductor wafers using high purity and high concentration chemicals, and washing process is a process of washing the chemical solution treated semiconductor wafer with pure water (DIW, De-Ionized Water), drying process Is a process of drying the washed semiconductor wafer.

Wet scrubbers can organize a plurality of process baths in sequence to remove various cleaning objects such as particles, organic pollution, natural oxide film, ionic impurities, heavy metal contamination, etc. On the other hand, the equipment becomes larger. In addition, with the recent increase in the size of semiconductor wafers, each process bath has become larger, but each chemical, pure water (DIW) and purified air must be consumed in large quantities. Smaller process baths are advantageous in terms of energy consumption and cost savings.

Therefore, the recent wet cleaning apparatus protects and maintains a wafer called a wafer guide without using a conventional wafer cassette, which takes up a large area in a processing tank without any need to cope with the enlargement described above. The semiconductor wafer is cleaned in the wet cleaning apparatus using the conveying means.

The wafer guide has a support formed with a plurality of slots, so that the process is performed on the plurality of semiconductor wafers at once. Recently, half pitch (half pitch) is applied to reduce the space between slots from 10mm to 5mm to process 50 semiconductor wafers in a conventional 25-sheet cleaning bath.

1 is a side view of a semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of region 'A' of FIG. 1. As shown in the drawing, the semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus 101 according to the related art has a cleaning tank in which a cleaning liquid 134 is accommodated and a semiconductor wafer W is accommodated in the accommodation space. 130, a lower surface support 122 for supporting a lower end of the semiconductor wafer W by providing a first slot 121, and a second slot 123 provided in a position corresponding to the first slot 121. A pair of side supports 124 for supporting both sides of the (W) is provided.

The lower surface support 122 is provided with a plurality of first slots 121 along the longitudinal direction of the lower support 122 so that the semiconductor wafer W does not move, and the upper surface of the lower surface support 122 of the semiconductor wafer W is provided. Is put on. The lower support 122 provided with the first slot 121 substantially supports the weight of the semiconductor wafer W. The cross-sectional shape of the first slot 121 is provided in the shape of an English letter Y, and a portion of the semiconductor wafer W contacting the first slot 121 is inserted into the first slot 121 by a predetermined depth. do. Therefore, the semiconductor wafer W and the first slot 121 are in surface contact. Since the semiconductor wafer W is inserted into the first slot 121 by a predetermined depth and is in surface contact, the semiconductor wafer W is separated from the semiconductor wafer W during the wet cleaning process or blocked from contacting the semiconductor wafer W before and after.

By the way, in the conventional semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus, since the semiconductor wafer is inserted into the first slot by a predetermined depth, the fixing force is increased, but the generation of particles due to the surface contact between the semiconductor wafer and the first slot is significantly increased. In addition, the cleaning liquid is not circulated at the surface contacted portion, so that the cleaning of the semiconductor wafer is not performed smoothly.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention, in order to solve such a problem in the prior art, it is possible to smooth the cleaning of the semiconductor wafer portion in contact with the first slot to increase the cleaning efficiency, as well as defects in the semiconductor wafer due to particles It is to provide a semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus that can be prevented.

According to the present invention, there is provided a cleaning tank having a cleaning space therein, the cleaning tank in which the semiconductor wafer is accommodated in the receiving space; A plurality of first support slots capable of supporting the semiconductor wafer in a standing state, the plurality of first slots being formed at regular intervals, and a plurality of first slots disposed on substantially the same plane as the first slots to support the semiconductor wafer together with the first slots; A wafer guide having two pairs of second slots formed at predetermined intervals and having a pair of side supports spaced apart from the bottom support so as to face each other; And a central support coupled to the inner wall of the cleaning tank on the upper side of the side support, the central support having a nozzle for injecting a cleaning liquid into the cleaning tank.

In this case, the first slot may have a V shape.

The center support may include a plurality of third slots disposed on substantially the same plane as the first slot and the second slot to support the semiconductor wafer together with the first slot and the second slot. It is preferable to form.

In addition, the outlet of the nozzle is preferably directed toward the first slot.

The central support can be made of polytetra fluoroethylene (PTFE, PolyTetra Fluoro Ethylene).

An object of the present invention, the cleaning tank has a receiving space in which the cleaning liquid is accommodated, the semiconductor bath is accommodated in the receiving space; A plurality of first V-shaped slots capable of supporting the semiconductor wafer in an upright state are formed on a plurality of planes at a predetermined interval, and are substantially coplanar with the first slots to support the semiconductor wafer together with the first slots. A wafer guide having a plurality of second slots disposed on the wafer guides, the wafer guides having a pair of side supports spaced apart from the bottom support and provided to face each other; And mutually coupled to the inner wall of the cleaning tank on the upper side of the side support, and substantially coplanar with the first slot and the second slot to support the semiconductor wafer together with the first slot and the second slot. It is also achieved by a semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus, characterized in that it comprises a pair of central supports formed at regular intervals with a plurality of third slots disposed therein.

At this time, the second slot and the third slot is preferably characterized in that the V (V) shape.

In addition, the central support can be made of polytetra fluoroethylene (PTFE, PolyTetra Fluoro Ethylene).

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a perspective view of a semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view of the semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a center of the semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus of FIG. 3. Partially cut perspective view of the support. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of region 'B' of FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view of the side support of the semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus of FIG. 3. As shown in these figures, the semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention fills the cleaning liquid 34 for cleaning the semiconductor wafer W therein and accommodates the semiconductor wafer W therein. In order to clean the semiconductor wafer W, the wafer guide 20 which accommodates and moves the semiconductor wafer W to the cleaning tank 30, and the inner wall surface of the cleaning tank 30 are provided. A central support 10 provided with a nozzle 14 for spraying the cleaning liquid 34 is provided.

The cleaning tank 30 is filled with a cleaning liquid 34 for performing a cleaning process on the semiconductor wafer W, and has an upper portion open to allow the wafer guide 20 containing the semiconductor wafer W to enter and exit. It's a fish tank. The cleaning bath 30 is provided with a size enough to accommodate the cleaning liquid 34 to allow the wafer guide 20 to enter and exit through the upper portion, as well as to facilitate the cleaning of the semiconductor wafer W. . The cleaning tank 30 includes a cleaning liquid supply unit (mido) for supplying the cleaning liquid 34 to advance the cleaning process for the semiconductor wafer W, and the cleaning liquid 34 supplied to the cleaning tank 30 includes a semiconductor wafer ( In the case where the wafer guide 20 containing W) overflows due to the entry and exit of the wafer guide 20, a receiving tank 32 is provided. The washing liquid 34 overflowing into the receiving tank 32 passes through an aqueous solution rectifying unit (not shown) for removing residual substances, particles, contaminants, and the like, and is then supplied to the washing tank 30 again.

In the wafer guide 20, a plurality of first slots 21 are spaced at regular intervals so that a plurality of semiconductor wafers W, which need cleaning, may be simultaneously transferred to the cleaning tank 30 by a transfer device (not shown). A pair of side support members 24 provided with a plurality of second slots 23 provided at a position corresponding to the first slots 21 at a predetermined distance from the provided lower supporters 22, the lower supporters 22, and It is provided with a transfer handle 26 is connected to the support 22 and the side support 24 is connected to a transfer device (not shown).

The lower surface support 22 is provided with a first slot 21 in which the semiconductor wafer W is accommodated in the longitudinal direction of the wafer guide 20. The cross section of the first slot 21 provided in the lower surface support 22 has the central support 10 provided so that the load of the semiconductor wafer W is distributed and the storage of the first slot 21 is more stable than in the related art. It is provided in the form (V). Since the cross-sectional shape of the first slot 21 is provided in the shape of an English letter V, the edges of the semiconductor wafer W are in contact with the first slot 21 so that the semiconductor wafer W and the first slot 21 are formed. Line contact with each other. Therefore, the generation of particles in the contact portion is reduced as well as the cleaning efficiency is improved by eliminating the portion that the cleaning liquid 34 could not contact due to the conventional surface contact.

The side support 24 is provided on both sides of the lower support 22 to be spaced apart from the lower support 22 by a predetermined distance. The side support 24 is provided with a second slot 23 at a position corresponding to the first slot 21 so that the semiconductor wafer W is stably supported when the semiconductor wafer W is transported or cleaned. The cross section of the second slot 23 has an English letter V shape such that contact between the semiconductor wafer W and the second slot 23 can be minimized.

The transfer handle 26 is connected to the lower support 22 and the side support 24 so that the semiconductor wafer W loaded on the wafer guide 20 is completely inside the cleaning tank 30 containing the cleaning liquid 34. Even if locked, the length can be exposed to the outside of the cleaning tank 30, the transfer handle 26 is the wafer guide 20 is transferred by a transfer device (not shown) or the operator can move the wafer guide 20 When it is a support means.

The central support 10 is provided on both sides of the inner wall surface of the cleaning tank 30, and particles (particles) are not easily adhered to the durable polytetra fluoroethylene (PTEE, PolyTetra Fluoro Ethylene) is made of. The central support 10 is provided with a nozzle 14 for injecting the cleaning liquid 34 supplied from the cleaning liquid supply pipe 12 and the first wafer 21 and the second slot 23 on substantially the same plane to provide a semiconductor wafer. A third slot 15 on which (w) is supported is provided.

The nozzle 14 is formed at the lower end of each third slot 15 provided in the central support 10. The nozzle 14 maintains pressure from a cleaning liquid supply unit (not shown) and is provided to spray the cleaning liquid 34 supplied through the cleaning liquid supply pipe 12 toward the first slot 21 provided in the support 22. When the cleaning liquid 34 is subjected to a strong pressure through the nozzle 14, the cleaning liquid 34 is injected toward the first slot 21 provided in the support 22, so that the natural circulation of the cleaning liquid 34 is not smooth. The cleaning efficiency for the semiconductor wafer W positioned at is increased.

The third slot 15 is provided on substantially the same plane as the first slot 21 and the second slot 23 to accommodate the semiconductor wafer W. The semiconductor wafer W is additionally supported by the pair of third slots 15, unlike the conventional support of the lower surface support 22 and the pair of side supports 24. The cross section of the first slot 21 positioned on the lower support 22 may be shaped like an English letter V to be more stably supported and the load of the semiconductor wafer W is distributed.

With this configuration, the operation of the semiconductor wafer cleaning apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The semiconductor wafer W to be cleaned in the lower surface support 24 and the side support 24 provided in the wafer guide 20 is accommodated. When the semiconductor wafer W is accommodated, a transfer device (not shown) moves the wafer guide 20 to the cleaning tank 30.

When the wafer guide 20 is positioned inside the cleaning tank 30, cleaning of the surface of the semiconductor wafer W is performed by the cleaning liquid 34. As the above cleaning process is performed on the semiconductor wafer W, the cleaning liquid 34 supplied through the cleaning liquid supply pipe 12 is ejected through the nozzle 14. Since the cleaning liquid 34 ejected through the nozzle 14 has a constant pressure, it extends to the first slot 21 provided in the lower support 22. The portion of the first slot 21 is located at the lower portion of the cleaning tank 30 so that the cleaning liquid 34 is not circulated smoothly so that the cleaning efficiency is relatively low, or the cleaning liquid is circulated at a strong pressure through the nozzle 14 to be cleaned. Work progress smoothly.

In addition, unlike the related art, since the cross-section of the first slot 21 is in the shape of an English letter V, the semiconductor wafer W is in linear contact with the first slot 21, so that the first slot 21 and the semiconductor wafer W are in the same shape. Particles (particles) due to the contact of the fundamentally reduced, as well as relatively large area is cleaned compared to the conventional.

FIG. 8 is a cutaway perspective view of a central support of a semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and only a portion different from the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. The same parts are referred to by the same reference numerals, and the changed parts are referred to by the reference numerals with 'a'.

As shown in FIG. 8, the central support 10a according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes only the third slot 15. Therefore, unlike the first embodiment, the cleaning liquid 34 (see FIG. 3) is not ejected, but the semiconductor wafer W (see FIG. 3) is more stably supported and the semiconductor wafer ( Since the load of W (see FIG. 3) may be distributed, the first slot 21 (see FIG. 6) may be formed in an English letter V shape. As a result, particle generation is fundamentally reduced, and since the semiconductor wafer W (see FIG. 6) and the first slot 21 (see FIG. 6) are in line contact with each other, the cleaning liquid 34 (see FIG. 3) is used. Cleaning is smooth.

In the above-described embodiments, a case in which one wafer guide is applied to one cleaning tank has been described. However, a plurality of wafer guides may be applied to one cleaning tank to clean the semiconductor wafer.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, such modifications or variations will have to be belong to the claims of the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to smoothly clean the portion of the semiconductor wafer in contact with the first slot to increase the cleaning efficiency and to prevent the defect of the semiconductor wafer due to particles.

Claims (8)

A cleaning tank having an accommodating space therein and containing a semiconductor wafer in the accommodating space; A plurality of first support slots capable of supporting the semiconductor wafer in a standing state, the plurality of first slots being formed at regular intervals, and a plurality of first slots disposed on substantially the same plane as the first slots to support the semiconductor wafer together with the first slots; A wafer guide having two pairs of second slots formed at predetermined intervals and having a pair of side supports spaced apart from the bottom support so as to face each other; And And a central support coupled to the inner wall of the cleaning tank on the upper side of the side support, the central support having a nozzle for injecting a cleaning liquid into the cleaning tank. The method of claim 1, And the first slot has a V shape. The method of claim 1, The center support may include a plurality of third slots disposed at substantially the same plane as the first slot and the second slot so as to support the semiconductor wafer together with the first slot and the second slot at regular intervals. The semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus, characterized in that the. The method of claim 1, And the outlet of the nozzle is directed toward the first slot. The method of claim 1, The central support is a semiconductor wafer wet cleaning device, characterized in that made of polytetra fluoroethylene (PTFE, PolyTetra Fluoro Ethylene). A cleaning tank having an accommodating space therein and containing a semiconductor wafer in the accommodating space; A plurality of first V-shaped slots capable of supporting the semiconductor wafer in an upright state are formed on a plurality of planes at a predetermined interval, and are substantially coplanar with the first slots to support the semiconductor wafer together with the first slots. A wafer guide having a plurality of second slots disposed on the wafer guides, the wafer guides having a pair of side supports spaced apart from the bottom support and provided to face each other; And Coupled to the inner wall of the cleaning tank on the upper side of the side support, and is substantially coplanar with the first slot and the second slot to support the semiconductor wafer together with the first slot and the second slot. The semiconductor wafer wet cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of third slots are arranged to include a pair of central supports formed at predetermined intervals. The method of claim 6, The second wafer and the third slot is a semiconductor wafer wet cleaning device, characterized in that the V (V) shape. The method of claim 6, The central support is a semiconductor wafer wet cleaning device, characterized in that made of polytetra fluoroethylene (PTFE, PolyTetra Fluoro Ethylene).

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