KR20080063943A - Wet-station equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

Wet station equipment is provided to improve the efficiency of a chemical process and a rinse process with respect to a wafer by supplying chemicals or deionized water to the whole surface of wafers. Wafers are selectively located in a bath(100) to be slopped. A spraying unit(200) is arranged on an upper portion of the bath to spray chemicals. A chemical supplying unit(300) is communicated with the spraying unit to supply the chemicals to the spraying unit. A chemical circulating unit(400) stores the chemicals passing through the bath. The chemical circulating unit filters the chemicals to supply them to the spraying unit. The wafers are connected to a sloping guidance unit. The guidance unit has a wafer guide(151), an elevator, a motor, and a motor controller(154). The elevator is installed on an end of the wafer guide to elevate the wafer guide. The motor connects the wafer guide to the elevator to rotate the wafer guide. The motor controller drives the motor.

Description

Wet station equipment {WET-STATION EQUIPMENT}

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a chemical liquid circulation method in the conventional wet station equipment.

2 is a cross-sectional view showing the wet station equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing the inclination guide unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the spray unit shown in FIG. 2.

5 is a cross-sectional view showing a wet station equipment according to another embodiment of the present invention.

** Description of symbols for the main parts of the drawing **

100 bath

200: injection unit

300: chemical supply unit

400: chemical circulation part

420: chemical reservoir

440 filter

The present invention relates to a wet station apparatus, and more particularly, to a wet station apparatus capable of performing chemical treatment and rinsing on wafers in one bath and improving the efficiency thereof.

In general, a semiconductor device is manufactured by repeatedly or selectively performing unit processes such as a diffusion process, a deposition process, a photolithography process, an etching process, an ion implantation process, and a cleaning process.

In more detail, a thin film of a predetermined thickness is deposited on the wafer in the deposition process. In the photolithography process, a photoresist, which is a photosensitive material having a predetermined thickness, is coated on the wafer on which the thin film is deposited. Further, in the photolithography process, the photorest is exposed to have the same shape as that of the predetermined circuit pattern by reducing and projecting light passing through a reticle having a predetermined circuit pattern formed on the photoresist-coated wafer. Subsequently, when etching along the exposed photoresist in an etching process, the predetermined circuit pattern is formed on the thin film. Subsequently, residual photoresist after the circuit pattern is formed by using a developer in a developing process is removed.

In the semiconductor device manufacturing process as described above, a series of patterns are processed. In addition, after the pattern processing and etching are performed, the wafer is subjected to post-processing such as cleaning, rinsing, and drying to remove foreign substances present on the wafer.

In general, the wet station equipment in the semiconductor manufacturing process is a facility in which the post-treatment operations such as cleaning, rinsing, and drying are performed.

Conventional wet station equipment includes a loader for transporting a wafer carrier loaded with a plurality of wafers (W) to a working position, a plurality of baths for etching or cleaning, a spin dryer for drying wafers, and a wafer for which work is completed. And an unloader for transferring.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a chemical liquid circulation method in the conventional wet station equipment.

With reference to Figure 1 will be described a conventional chemical circulation method in the bath.

The bath 10 includes an outer bath 10b and an inner bath 10a positioned inside the outer bath 10b. The outer bath 10b and the inner bath 10a are connected to each other using a pipe 12. The pipe 12 has a pump 14 and a filter 16.

Therefore, the chemical 18 stored in the outer bath 10b is pumped by the pump 14 and supplied to the inner bath 10a after passing through the filter 14. Subsequently, the chemical 18 supplied into the inner bath 10a flows through the upper end of the inner bath 10a after being reacted with the wafers W and is stored in the outer bath 10b. Subsequently, the chemical 18 transferred to the outer bath 10b is repeatedly circulated as described above.

Therefore, in the related art, since the bath 10 is composed of the outer bath 10b and the inner bath 10a to process the wafer W, there is a problem in that the size of the facility is increased.

In addition, since the wafer carrier for loading a plurality of wafers W is impregnated with the chemical 18 stored in the inner bath 10a, the chemical 18 or the deionized water is conventionally used. There is a problem in that the chemical treatment and rinse processing for the wafer W are not normally performed since the wafers W are not evenly supplied to the entire surface of the wafers W. Accordingly, the foreign matter 22 remains on the wafer W as it is. .

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a wet station equipment to selectively perform the chemical treatment and rinse treatment for the wafer in one bath.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of chemical treatment and rinsing treatment on the wafer by allowing the chemical or deionized water to be easily removed evenly after being supplied to the front surface and evenly supplied to the wafers located inside the bath. To provide wet station equipment.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a wet station equipment.

The wet station apparatus may include a bath in which wafers are selectively inclined therein, an injection unit disposed on an upper portion of the bath to inject a chemical solution, and a chemical solution supply unit in communication with the injection unit to supply the chemical liquid to the injection unit; And a chemical liquid circulation unit for storing the chemical liquid passing through the bath and filtering the chemical liquid and supplying the chemical liquid to the injection unit.

Here, the wafers are preferably connected to the inclined guide means.

The inclined guide means includes a wafer guide having an outer circumferential surface supported thereon with the wafers standing thereon, an elevator installed at one end of the wafer guide to elevate the wafer guide, and one end of the wafer guide connected to the elevator, It is preferable to include a motor for rotating the wafer guide at a predetermined angle with respect to the bottom of the bath, and a motor controller for driving the motor at the predetermined angle with the angle preset.

The motor may be swing operated.

The chemical liquid circulating unit may include a chemical liquid storage device for storing the chemical liquid that has passed through the bath, a level measuring device for measuring a water level value of the chemical liquid stored in the chemical liquid storage device, and a chemical liquid stored in the chemical liquid storage device. A pump pumping to a dead zone, a filter positioned between the pump and the injection unit to filter the pumped chemical liquid, and when the measured level value is equal to a predetermined level value, the pump is driven and the measurement When the level value is equal to the minimum level value may be provided with a pump controller for stopping the drive of the pump.

On the other hand, the chemical solution supply unit may be made of a plurality of so as to independently supply the chemical liquid having different chemical properties.

Here, the plurality of chemical solution supply unit preferably further includes an on-off valve for selectively opening and closing the path of the chemical liquid supplied to the injection portion, and a valve controller for transmitting the open and close signal to the on-off valve.

On the other hand, the injection unit is preferably made of an injection arm which is connected to the chemical supply unit and the injection hole formed with a plurality of injection holes toward the outer peripheral surface of the wafer.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be described a wet station equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view showing the wet station equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the inclination guide means shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the spray unit shown in FIG. 2. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a wet station equipment according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the wet station apparatus of the present invention includes a bath 100 in which wafers W are selectively inclined therein, and an injection unit disposed on the bath 100 to inject a chemical liquid. And a chemical liquid supply part 300 communicating with the injection part 200 and the supply pipe 210 to supply the chemical liquid to the injection part 200, and the chemical liquid passing through the bath 100. The chemical liquid circulation part 400 is stored and supplied to the injection part 200 by filtering the chemical liquid.

This will be explained in more detail.

The top of the bath 100 is opened, a predetermined space is formed therein, and is connected to the drain line DR at the bottom thereof. The first valve V1 is installed on the drain line DR.

In addition, the predetermined space of the bath 100 is a space in which the wafers W are inclined in an upright position. The wafers W are connected to the inclination guide means 150 to be inclined as described above.

As shown in FIG. 3, the inclined guide means 150 is provided with a wafer guide 151 having an outer circumferential surface supported thereon with the wafers W standing thereon, and installed at one end of the wafer guide 151. An elevator 152 for elevating the guide 151, one end of the wafer guide 151 and the elevator 152 are connected to each other, and the wafer guide 151 is fixed based on the bottom surface of the bath 100. A motor 153 for rotating the angle and a motor controller 154 for driving the motor 153 at the predetermined angle with the predetermined angle are provided.

The wafer guide 151 is formed with a guide groove 151a in which the wafers W are erected to support the outer circumferential surface thereof.

The wafer guide 151 is connected to the elevator 152. The elevator 152 is composed of a cylinder shaft 152a and a driver 152b that expands and contracts the cylinder shaft 152a. One end of the cylinder shaft 152a is connected to the wafer guide 151.

Here, one end of the cylinder shaft 152a and the wafer guide 151 are connected by a motor 153. The motor 153 receives the driving signal from the motor controller 154 and rotates the wafer guide 151 so that a predetermined angle is formed based on the bottom surface of the bath 100. The motor 153 is residuely connected to the motor controller 154. The predetermined angle is preset in the motor controller 154, and the motor controller 154 transmits a driving signal to the motor 153 to rotate at the predetermined angle.

Referring to FIG. 4, the injection unit 200 is connected to the chemical supply unit 300 and the supply pipe 210, and has injection holes 201 formed with injection holes 201 facing a plurality of locations on the outer circumferential surface of the wafers W. Referring to FIG. (injection arm). The injection hole 201 is used as a hole in which the chemical liquid flowing through the supply pipe 210 is injected. The hole may be formed to gradually increase in diameter toward the inside of the bath 100.

In addition, a predetermined angle range may be preset in the motor controller 154. The motor controller 154 may transmit a driving signal to the motor 153 to cause the motor 153 to reciprocate within the predetermined angle range. Thus, the motor 153 may be swinged within the predetermined angle range.

In addition, the chemical liquid circulation unit 400 is a chemical liquid reservoir 410 is stored the chemical liquid passing through the bath 100, and a water level meter for measuring the level value of the chemical liquid stored in the chemical liquid reservoir 410 ( 420, a pump 430 for pumping the chemical liquid stored in the chemical reservoir 410 to the injection unit 200, and positioned between the pump 430 and the injection unit 200 to be pumped. A filter 113 for filtering the chemical liquid and a pump controller 450 for driving the pump 430 when the measured water level value is received from the water level meter 420 and becomes a predetermined water level value.

The chemical reservoir 410 is connected to the first pipe 111 in communication with the first valve (V1).

The level gauge 420 is disposed inside the nutrient solution reservoir 410. Since the level gauge 420 in the present invention is a technology generally adopted by those skilled in the art, a description of the configuration will be omitted.

The pump 430 and the chemical reservoir 410 are in communication with each other through a second pipe (112). The pump 430 communicates with the supply pipe 210 through the third pipe 113. The second valve V2 is installed on the third pipe 113. The filter 440 is installed on the third pipe 113.

The opening and closing of the first valve V1 and the second valve V2 mentioned above are controlled by a separate controller 460.

It will be described the operation and effect of the wet station according to an embodiment of the present invention having the configuration as described above.

Referring to FIG. 2, in a state where the wafer guide 151 is positioned on the top of the bath 100, the plurality of wafers W are supported by the guide hole 151a whose outer circumferential surface is formed in the wafer guide 151. And are loaded side by side.

Subsequently, the elevator 152 positions the wafer guide 151 inside the bath 100. That is, the driver 152b extends the cylinder shaft 152a downward to a predetermined length. Therefore, the wafer guide 151 is located inside the bath 100, so that the wafers W loaded on the wafer guide 151 are located inside the bath 100 in an upright state.

The motor controller 154 drives the motor 153 provided on the wafer guide 151 at a predetermined angle. Accordingly, the wafer guide 151 connected to the motor 153 is rotated and positioned at the angle with respect to the bottom surface of the bath 100. For example, if the angle is rotated upward 10 degrees with respect to the bottom surface of the bath 100, the wafers W may be inclined 10 degrees to the right with respect to one surface of the wafer in a state before being rotated. .

In addition, the rotation angle range of the wafer guide 151 is preset in the motor controller 154. Accordingly, the motor controller 154 may drive the motor 153 to swing within the rotation angle range.

Therefore, the wafer guide 151 on which the wafer W is standing may be swing-operated within the range of the preset rotation angle by the reciprocating motion of the motor 153.

At this time, the chemical liquid supply unit 300 supplies the chemical liquid through the supply pipe 210. The chemical liquid flows to the injection part 200 through the supply pipe 210. The chemical liquid flowing into the injection unit 200 is injected through the plurality of injection holes 201. In this case, since the injection holes 201 are disposed toward the outer circumferential surfaces of the inclined wafers W, the chemical liquid injected through the injection holes 201 may be uniformly supplied to the entire surface of the wafer W. Can be.

Therefore, the chemical liquid injected through the plurality of injection holes 201 can be easily supplied between the wafers W that are erected and inclined in the wafer guide 151, and thus the entirety of the wafers W It can be supplied evenly to the outer surface.

As such, the chemical liquids having the chemical treatment or the rinse treatment with respect to the outer surfaces of the wafers W accumulate on the bottom surface of the bath 100. The detained chemical liquid flows to the drain line DR communicated to the bottom of the bath 100, and flows to the chemical liquid reservoir 410 through the first pipe 111, and gradually to the chemical liquid reservoir 410. Stored. In this case, the first valve V1 may be a three-way valve that opens the flow path to the first pipe 111 and closes the flow path to the drain line DR.

When the chemical liquid is gradually stored in the chemical reservoir 410 as described above, the level sensor 420 installed in the chemical reservoir 410 measures the level value of the chemical liquid stored in real time. The measured water level value is transmitted to the pump controller 450. The pump controller 450 drives the pump 430 when the measured water level value is equal to the preset water level value, and the other control unit 460 controls the second valve V2 installed in the third pipe 113. To open. That is, the predetermined level value may be a level value detected by the first level detector 421.

Therefore, the chemical liquid stored in the chemical reservoir 410 is guided to the second and third pipes 112 and 113 through the pumping operation of the pump 430 and is supplied to the supply pipe 210. At this time, the chemical liquid passing through the third pipe 113 passes through the filter 440 installed in the third pipe 113, and thus foreign substances contained in the chemical liquid are filtered and supplied to the supply pipe 210.

In this way, the chemical liquid supplied to the supply pipe 210 may be combined with the chemical liquid supplied from the chemical liquid supply unit 300 and supplied to the injection unit 200.

On the other hand, as soon as the pump 430 is operated, the pump controller 450 may stop the operation of the chemical liquid supply unit 300 so that only the chemical liquid filtered through the filter 440 may be supplied to the bath 100. In this case, the pump controller 450 stops the operation of the pump 430 when the chemical liquid reaches a predetermined low level value in the chemical liquid reservoir 410, and the other controller 460 stops the second valve V2. ) Closes. In addition, the operation of the chemical supply unit 300 may be advanced. Therefore, the chemical liquid of the chemical liquid supply unit 300 may be supplied to the bath 100 again.

As such, the chemical liquid circulation unit 400 according to the present invention repeats the above process, and supplies the chemical liquid to the interior of the bath 100.

Next, to describe the wet station equipment according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 5, in the wet station equipment according to another embodiment of the present invention, the chemical solution supply unit 300 may be made of a plurality to independently supply chemicals having different chemical properties.

That is, the wet station equipment according to another embodiment of the present invention is different from the branch supply pipes 210 ', 210 "branched from the supply pipe 210 of the configuration of the embodiment. ) And the branch supply pipes (210 ', 210 ") has a third valve (V3) that can change the flow path of the chemical liquid. The third valve V3 is electrically connected to another controller 460 to control its opening and closing operation.

In addition, the chemical liquid of the first chemical liquid supply unit 310 connected to the first branch supply pipe 210 'branched from the supply pipe 210 is deionized water and is connected to the second branch supply pipe 210 ". The chemical liquid of the two chemical liquid supply unit 320 is different from the chemical.

As such, the type of chemical liquid supplied to the bath 100 may be selectively controlled by the opening and closing operation of the third valve V3.

As described above, the present invention has the effect of selectively performing the chemical treatment and the rinse treatment for the wafers in one bath.

In addition, the present invention by tilting the wafers positioned inside the bath or swinging within a range of a constant rotation angle, evenly supply the chemical or deionized water to the front of the wafer, thereby chemical processing and rinsing the wafer There is an effect that can improve the efficiency of the treatment.

Claims (7)

A bath in which the wafers are positioned to selectively tilt; An injection unit disposed on an upper portion of the bath to inject a chemical solution; A chemical solution supply unit communicating with the injection unit and supplying the chemical solution to the injection unit; And Wet station facilities for storing the chemical liquid passed through the bath, and the chemical liquid circulating unit for filtering and supplying the chemical liquid to the injection unit. The method of claim 1, The wafers are connected to the inclined guide means, The inclined guide means includes a wafer guide having an outer circumferential surface supported thereon with the wafers standing thereon, an elevator installed at one end of the wafer guide to elevate the wafer guide, and one end of the wafer guide connected to the elevator, And a motor for rotating the wafer guide at a predetermined angle with respect to the bottom of the bath, and a motor controller for driving the motor at the predetermined angle with the angle preset. The method of claim 2, And the motor is swing-operated. The method of claim 1, The chemical liquid circulation unit stores a chemical liquid reservoir that stores the chemical liquid that has passed through the bath, a level meter for measuring a water level value of the chemical liquid stored in the chemical liquid reservoir, and pumps the chemical liquid stored in the chemical liquid reservoir to the injection unit. A pump, a filter disposed between the pump and the injection unit to filter the chemical liquid being pumped, and when the measured level value is equal to a predetermined level value, the pump is driven and the measured level And a pump controller for stopping the driving of the pump when the value is equal to the lowest water level value. The method of claim 1, The chemical solution supply unit wet station equipment, characterized in that consisting of a plurality of so as to independently supply the chemical liquid having different chemical properties. The method of claim 5, The plurality of chemical supply units Wet station equipment characterized in that it further comprises an on-off valve for selectively opening and closing the path of the chemical liquid supplied to the injection unit, and a valve controller for transmitting the opening and closing signal to the on-off valve. The method of claim 1, The injection unit is connected to the chemical liquid supply unit and the wet station equipment, characterized in that the injection arm is formed with the injection holes formed in the plurality of the outer peripheral surface of the wafer.

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