TWI359049B - Brush assembly and apparatus for cleaning a substr - Google Patents

Description

1359049

• I

'F^e: TW5074F. VI. Description of the Invention: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a substrate cleaning apparatus, and more particularly to a substrate cleaning apparatus and a brush assembly therefor. [Prior Art] The integrated circuit device, for example, a semiconductor device, a flat display device, and other devices are generally manufactured by various processes. For example, φ a series of unit processes, such as a deposition process, an etching process, a cleaning process, and other processes, are performed on a substrate such as a semiconductor substrate or a glass substrate. In particular, the cleaning process is performed to remove contamination on the substrate. For example, the apparatus for performing the cleaning process may include a brush to remove impurities from the substrate. Impurities are, for example, particles, organic contaminants, and others - , , f. The brush is disposed on the rotating shaft 'to be driven to directly contact one surface of the substrate' to clean the substrate. Generally, the brush includes a plurality of bristles made of nylon. However, • When the brush is driven in its dry state to directly contact the surface of the substrate, the brush and substrate may be damaged. In particular, damaged brushes may create marks on the substrate. In order to solve the above problems, a cleaning agent is supplied to the brush. In this case, the detergent can be used as a lubricant between the brush and the substrate so that the brush and the substrate can be prevented from being damaged. However, the cleaning agent supplied to the brush may flow along the axis of rotation and may leak out of the cavity of the substrate for the cleaning process. In this case, the leaking cleaning agent may contaminate the driving part that drives the rotation of the rotating shaft, and may be 3 1359049

' ^File: TW5074F, bearings and other devices that rotatably support the rotating shaft. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention provides a brush assembly that prevents a cleaning agent supplied to a brush from flowing along a rotating shaft. Further, embodiments of the present invention provide a substrate cleaning apparatus having a brush assembly. The brush assembly prevents the detergent supplied to the brush from flowing along the axis of rotation. Win According to one aspect of the invention, a brush assembly is provided that includes a swivel, a moving shaft, a brush, and a blowing unit. A brush is disposed on the central portion of the rotating shaft to clean a substrate. The brush is driven to contact one of the surfaces of the substrate and a cleaning agent is applied to the brush. The air blowing unit generates an air flow to prevent the detergent supplied to the brush from flowing along the rotating shaft to one end of the rotating shaft when the substrate is cleaned. According to an embodiment of the invention, the air blowing unit comprises a cylindrical hub and a plurality of spiral blades. The cylindrical hub is fixed to a portion of the rotating shaft. The spiral blade is disposed on a surface surrounding one of the cylindrical hubs to generate an air flow. According to an embodiment of the invention, the cylindrical hub has the shape of a truncated cone that is inclined toward the brush. According to an embodiment of the invention, the brush assembly further includes another blowing unit fixed to the other end of the rotating shaft to generate another air flow toward the brush. According to another aspect of the present invention, a substrate cleaning apparatus is provided, including a process chamber, a brush assembly, and a drive portion. The process chamber provides a clean space to clean the substrate. The brush assembly includes a rotating shaft and a brush

F*ile: TW5074F and a blowing unit. The rotating shaft is disposed in the processing chamber. A brush is disposed on a central portion of the rotating shaft to clean the substrate. The brush is brought into contact with one of the surfaces of the substrate, and a cleaning agent is supplied to the brush. The air blowing unit generates a flow of air to prevent the cleaning agent supplied to the brush from flowing along the rotating shaft toward one end of the rotating shaft when cleaning the substrate. The drive portion is coupled to the rotating shaft ' of the brush assembly to drive the brush set to rotate. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the rotational axis extends to traverse a side wall of the process-cavity. The Jr drive can be coupled to the end of the rotating shaft located outside of the process chamber. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus further includes two collection cavities disposed in the process chamber to accommodate the blowing unit and collect the cleaning agent dripping from the rotating shaft. According to an embodiment of the invention, the air blowing unit comprises a cylindrical hub and a plurality of helical blades. The cylindrical hub is fixed to a portion of the rotating shaft. A spiral vane is disposed on a surface surrounding one of the cylindrical hubs to generate an air flow. According to an embodiment of the invention, the cylindrical trough has a truncated cone shape & is inclined towards the brush. According to still another aspect of the present invention, a substrate cleaning apparatus is provided, including a process chamber, an upper brush assembly, a lower brush assembly, and a drive portion. The process chamber provides a clean space to clean the substrate. The upper brush assembly and the lower brush assembly are arranged one above the other and extend horizontally and disposed in parallel with each other in the process chamber to clean the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate. Here, each brush assembly includes a rotating shaft, a brush, and a blowing unit. The brush is disposed on a central portion of the rotating shaft to clean the substrate. The brush is driven to engage the substrate' and a cleaning agent is applied to the brush. 1359049

IJile: TW5074F, the air blowing unit generates an air flow to prevent the detergent supplied to the brush from flowing along the rotating shaft to one end of the rotating shaft when cleaning the substrate. The air blowing unit of the brush assembly is disposed on the outer side compared to the air blowing unit of the upper brush assembly. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the brush assembly includes a helium gas crucible to create an air flow to prevent the cleaning agent provided to the brush from flowing along the axis of rotation. Therefore, the leakage of the detergent along the rotating shaft to the outside of the process chamber can be avoided, and the driving portion that drives the rotation of the brush assembly, the bearing that rotatably supports the rotating shaft, and other components can be avoided. In order to make the above description of the present invention more comprehensible, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. A more complete disclosure of the present invention is not limited thereto. The invention may be embodied in a variety of different embodiments and is not limited to the embodiments described below. The following is the actual SB book: Ming TECH _ invention, Tu Wang understand this month. In order to explain this more clearly. (3) and the size and relative size of the area may be exaggeratedly drawn or the component is connected to the component J. 2 appears as "one component is on the other component" or is connected to another component. >& 4 4 上 疋 可 可 可 可 可 可 可 介于 介于 介于 介于 介于 介于 介于 介于 介于 介于 介于 介于 介于 「 「 「 「 「 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ When directly located at another point directly connected to another component, 6 1359049

' , File: TW5074F . There are no other components or intermediate layers between the two. Similar components are labeled with similar symbols. The phrase "and/or" used herein includes any and all combinations of the listed items. Although the first, second, third or other description may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or portions, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or portions are not limited thereto. These statements are only used to distinguish between different elements, components, regions, layers and/or portions. Therefore, a first element, component, region, layer or portion may be described as a second element, component, region, layer, or portion, without departing from the spirit of the invention. The space relative terms, such as "lower" or "upper" or the like, may be used to simply describe a component as depicted in the drawings, or a feature and another component or feature. relationship. It can be understood that these spatially relative terms are used to include descriptions of other orientations and are not limited by the orientation in the drawings. For example, in the drawings, when the device is turned upside down, the recitation of "a component is under another component or feature" means "a component is above another component or feature." Therefore, the words "below" include "upper" and "lower". The elements can be oriented in other directions (rotated 90 degrees or toward other directions), and the space used herein is interpreted correspondingly to the words. The words used herein are merely illustrative of the embodiments of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention. The singular forms of "a" and "the" are used in the s The features, integers, steps, operations, components or components described in the "include" and "include" are not intended to exclude other features, integers, steps, operations, components, components or combinations thereof. 7 1359049

', File: TW5074F. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning meaning In addition, unless otherwise defined, the terms defined by the ordinary dictionary used herein are consistent with the meaning of the terms used in the related art, and are not intended to be idealized or overly formal. The embodiments of the present invention are described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred embodiments (and intermediate structures) of the invention. Thus, differences from the shapes of the drawings, for example, which are caused by manufacturing techniques and/or errors, are contemplated. The embodiments of the present invention should not be construed as limiting the shape of the particular region, but should include, for example, differences in the shape of the manufacture. The regions illustrated in the figures are only schematic and are not intended to depict the actual shapes of the regions of the device and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Brush Assembly Figure 1 is a perspective view of a brush assembly in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the brush assembly of Figure 1. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a brush assembly 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is used to clean a semiconductor substrate, such as a flat display device or other device, a wafer or a glass substrate. For example, the brush assembly 100 cleans the substrate by brushing the substrate. In other words, the brush assembly 100 is brought to directly contact one of the surfaces of the substrate to remove impurities. The brush assembly 100 includes a rotating shaft 110, a brush 120, and a blowing unit 130. The rotating shaft 110 is rotatably disposed in a process cavity (not shown) 8 1359049

</ F11e: TW5074F ', the substrate is in the process chamber for a cleaning process. For example, the rotating shaft 110 can extend horizontally within the process chamber and is rotatably supported by a bearing (not shown). Further, a driving portion connected to one end portion of the rotating shaft 110 is used to drive the rotating shaft 110 to rotate. The drive portion can include a motor. The brush 120 is disposed at a central portion of the rotating shaft 110 and is driven to rotate by the driving portion. In particular, when the brush 120 is driven to rotate by the driving portion, the brush 120 directly contacts one surface of the substrate to clean the substrate. That is, the brush I20 is disposed on a peripheral surface of the central portion of the rotating shaft 110 and is directly driven to contact the surface of the substrate by being driven by the rotating rotating shaft 110. Therefore, the surface of the substrate is brushed by the brush 120, and impurities can be removed from the substrate. At the same time 'When the brush 120 is driven to directly contact the substrate in its dry state, the brush 120 may damage the substrate. In order to solve the above problem, a detergent supply unit (not shown) supplies a cleaning agent to the brush 120. As a result, the brush 120 is driven so that it directly contacts the surface of the substrate when the cleaning agent is in a wet state, and the substrate can be prevented from being damaged. This is because the cleaning agent can be used as a lubricant between the brush 12 and the substrate. The brush 120 includes a plurality of bristles made of synthetic resin such as nylon. Alternatively, the brush 120 may be made of a synthetic resin such as a sponge. In particular, the brush 120 can be made of a polyethylene glycol (p〇i y Viny 1 ai c〇h〇)_, pva) sponge. Further, the brush 12A can surround the central portion of the rotating shaft 110 and has a shape extending along the rotating shaft 11A. Or a disc brush 120 having a hole for the rotating shaft 110 to pass through can also be applied to 9 1359049 /

' iile: TW5074F, this. In this case, a plurality of disc brushes may be fixed to the rotating shaft 110. The blowing unit 130 can be used to prevent the detergent supplied to the brush 120 from flowing along the rotating shaft 11〇 toward the end of the rotating shaft 11〇 when the substrate is cleaned. The blowing unit 130 may be coupled to the end of the rotating shaft U0 in a manner coaxial with the rotating shaft 110, and rotates with the rotating shaft 110. In particular, the air blowing unit 130 generates an air flow around the rotating shaft 11〇, and the air current flows from the end of the rotating shaft 11〇 toward the central portion of the rotating portion 110. Therefore, the cleaning agent supplied to the brush 120 by the φ air flow β is prevented from flowing to the end of the rotating shaft 11 °. The blowing unit 130 includes a cylindrical hub 134 and a plurality of spiral blades 132. The cymbal hub cymbal 34 is fixed to the rotating shaft 11 〇 adjacent to a portion of the brush 120. The spiral blade 132 is used to generate an air flow. As shown in the figure, a plurality of buckets are used as the spiral blades 132. Alternatively, the curved panel can also be used as the spinner blade 132. At the same time, the direction in which the air flow is generated needs to be φ wrong with the central axis of the rotating shaft 110 to effectively block the cleaning agent. The peripheral surface of the cylindrical hub 134 may be inclined toward the central portion of the rotating shaft 110, i.e., the brush 120, to align the air flow with the central axis of the rotating shaft 110. In other words, the cylindrical hub 134 has the shape of a truncated cone and is inclined toward the brush 120. According to another embodiment of the present invention, a fan or a propeller can also be used as the fluorine blowing unit 130. As described above, the 'brush assembly 100 can generate the airflow around the rotating shaft 110 by the air blowing unit 130 and the cleaning agent supplied to the brush 120 can be prevented from flowing to the end of the rotating shaft 120. In this way, the cleaning agent can be avoided. 1359049

' File:TW5074F . The direction of the direction extends. Further, although not shown in the drawings, a substrate transport portion may be disposed in the process chamber 200 to transport the substrate G along the extending direction of the process chamber 200. The substrate transport portion includes a plurality of transport rollers for supporting and transporting the substrate G. The apparatus for cleaning the substrate may further include a collection chamber 220 disposed within the process chamber 200. In particular, as shown in FIG. 3, the collection chamber 220 can be disposed on one of the side walls of the process chamber 200. The collection chamber 220 houses the blowing unit 130 of the brush set member 100, and 5 is a cleaning agent that collects from the rotating shaft 110 of the brush assembly. In particular, the rotating shaft 110 of the brush assembly 100 can extend along a horizontal direction to pass through one side wall of the collecting cavity 220, and the collecting cavity has a space for accommodating the blowing unit 130 and a rotating shaft. 110 through the hole. The rotating shaft 110 of the brush assembly 100 is rotatably disposed within the process chamber 200 by bearings 210. The brush 120 is disposed on a central portion of the rotating shaft 110 and is driven to directly contact the surface of the substrate G to remove impurities from the base plate G. The air blowing unit 130 may be fixed to a portion adjacent to the rotating shaft 110 of the brush 120 and generate an air flow. The air flow is used to prevent the cleaning agent supplied to the brush 120 from flowing along the rotating shaft 110 to one end of the rotating shaft 110 when the cleaning process is performed. In particular, the blowing unit 130 can be disposed within the collection chamber 220, and the cleaning agent flowing along the rotating shaft 110 can be blocked by the air flow in the collection chamber 220. Still further, although not shown in the drawings, a discharge line can be coupled to the collection chamber .220 to collect the cleaning agent. As shown in Fig. 3, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a pair of brush sets 12 1359049 .

The '.File: TW5074F' piece 100 can be arranged up and down and horizontally and parallel to each other. In this case, the substrate G is transported between the pair of brush assemblies 100 by the substrate transport portion. That is, when the substrate G is transported by the substrate transport portion, the upper surface and the lower surface of the substrate G can be separated by the two pairs. The brush assembly 100 is cleaned. The blowing unit of the lower brush assembly may be disposed at an outer position than the blowing unit of the upper brush assembly. In this way, it is avoided that the detergent dripping from the upper brush assembly leaks out of the process chamber 200 along the lower brush assembly. • The detergent supply portion 300 can include a plurality of nozzles disposed within the process chamber 200 to provide a cleaning agent to the brush 12 of the brush assembly. Further, although not shown in the drawings, when the upper brush assembly 1〇〇 and the lower brush assembly 1 are disposed in the process chamber 200, a plurality of nozzles may be disposed under the lower brush assembly 1 To provide a cleaning agent to the lower brush assembly 100. Deionized water (DIW) can be used here as a cleaning agent. The driving portion 400 is disposed outside the processing chamber 200. The pivoting shaft 110 of the brush assembly 100 extends to traverse the side walls of the process chamber 200 and the collection chamber 220 for connection to the drive portion 400. The drive unit 400 can include a motor for providing rotational power. At the same time, the driving portion 400 drives the brush assembly 1 to rotate, so that the brush 120 comes into contact with the substrate g in a direction opposite to the conveying direction of the substrate to improve the cleaning efficiency. According to the above embodiment of the invention, the brush assembly includes a blowing unit for generating an air flow to prevent the detergent supplied to the brush from flowing along the rotating shaft. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the detergent from leaking out along the rotating shaft to the outside of the process chamber, 13 1359049

* Iiile: TW5074F . And it can avoid soiling the drive part that drives the brush assembly to rotate, the bearing that rotatably supports the rotating shaft, and other similar devices. In the above, the present invention has been disclosed in the above preferred embodiments, but it is not intended to limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

14 1359049

'File: TW5074F ^ BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a brush assembly in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the brush assembly of Figure 1. Fig. 3 is a schematic view showing a substrate cleaning apparatus having the brush assembly of Fig. 1. [Main component symbol description] 100: Brush assembly * 110: Rotary shaft 120: Brush 130: Air blowing unit 132: Spiral blade 134. Cylindrical wheel valley 200: Process chamber 210: Bearing • 220: Collection chamber 300: Cleaning agent Providing portion 400: driving portion G: substrate 15

Claims (1)

1359049 • Seven August 31, 100 amendments to the replacement page 丨? Month) 丨曰修 (more) is replacing the page _. _ Patent application scope: 1. A brush assembly comprising: a rotating shaft; a brush disposed on a central portion of the rotating shaft to clean a substrate, the a brush is driven to contact a surface of the substrate, and a cleaning agent is provided to the brush; and a blowing unit is coupled to the rotating shaft for rotating the rotating shaft as the rotating shaft rotates An air flow is generated to prevent the cleaning agent supplied to the brush from flowing along the rotating shaft toward one end of the rotating shaft when cleaning the substrate. 2. The brush assembly of claim 1, wherein the air blowing unit comprises: a cylindrical hub fixed to a portion of the rotating shaft; and a plurality of spiral blades disposed on the cylindrical hub On the surrounding surface to create the gas stream. 3. The brush assembly of claim 2, wherein the ® cylindrical hub has the shape of a truncated cone that slopes toward the brush. 4. The brush assembly of claim 2, further comprising: another blowing unit fixed to the other end of the brush to create another air flow toward the brush. 5. A substrate cleaning apparatus comprising: a process chamber for providing a cleaning space for cleaning the substrate; a brush assembly comprising: a rotating shaft disposed in the processing chamber; a brush disposed on the On one of the central axes of the rotating shaft, clear 16 1359049 JI. * ' · August 3rd, 3rd, 100th revised replacement page. · Clean the substrate, the brush is driven to contact one surface of the substrate, and cleaned a spraying system is provided to the brush; and a blowing unit is coupled to the rotating shaft for generating an air flow as the rotating shaft rotates to prevent the blade from being supplied to the brush when cleaning the substrate The cleaning agent flows along the rotating shaft toward one end of the rotating shaft; and a driving portion is coupled to the rotating shaft of the brush assembly to drive the brush assembly to rotate. 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the rotating shaft extends to traverse a side wall of the process chamber, and the driving portion is coupled to one end of the rotating shaft outside the processing chamber . 7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising: a collection chamber disposed in the processing chamber to receive the blowing unit, and collecting the cleaning agent dripping from the rotating shaft . 8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the air blowing unit comprises: a cylindrical hub fixed to a portion of the rotating shaft; and a plurality of helical blades disposed on the cylindrical hub On the surrounding surface to create the gas stream. 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the cylindrical hub has the shape of a truncated cone that slopes toward the brush. 10. A substrate cleaning apparatus comprising: a process chamber for providing a cleaning space for cleaning the substrate; an upper brush assembly and a lower brush assembly, arranged vertically and horizontally, and substantially mutually Parallelly disposed in the process chamber 17 1359049 · ·, on August 31, 100, to replace the replacement page, to clean the upper surface and the lower surface of the substrate; wherein each of the upper brush assembly and the lower brush assembly The method includes: a rotating shaft disposed in the processing chamber; a brush disposed on a central portion of the rotating shaft to clean the substrate, the brush is driven to contact the substrate, and a cleaning agent is provided to And a blowing unit for generating an air flow to prevent the cleaning agent supplied to the brush from flowing along the rotating shaft to one end of the rotating shaft when cleaning the substrate; wherein the lower brush The blowing unit of the assembly is disposed outside of the blowing unit of the upper brush assembly. 18