WO2013024741A1

WO2013024741A1 - Wafer separation device and wafer manufacturing method using same

Info

Publication number: WO2013024741A1
Application number: PCT/JP2012/070051
Authority: WO
Inventors: 明生早川; 清秀一見; 榊原　健二
Original assignee: 株式会社安永
Priority date: 2011-08-12
Filing date: 2012-08-07
Publication date: 2013-02-21
Also published as: JP2014207250A; TW201324602A

Abstract

This invention is provided with: a liquid flow injection nozzle (50) for laterally injecting a liquid flow towards a wafer group (W) comprising multiple wafers loaded horizontally as layers in a liquid tank and obtained by cutting a silicon ingot; and a bubble discharge device (60) for discharging bubbles below the liquid flow injection nozzle and between the liquid flow injection nozzle and the wafer group (W), and causing the bubbles to rise.

Description

Wafer separation apparatus and wafer manufacturing method using the same

The present invention relates to a wafer separating apparatus and a wafer manufacturing method using the same, and to a technique for separating a plurality of wafers obtained by cutting a silicon ingot into pieces.

In recent years, various power generation technologies using natural energy have been developed to reduce the environmental impact during power generation, and solar power generation is one of them.
In general, silicon wafers for solar cells are used for solar power generation, and the demand for silicon wafers for solar cells is increasing with the spread of solar power generation.
Similar to conventional silicon wafers for semiconductors, solar cell silicon wafers are manufactured by cutting a silicon ingot into a thin plate with a wire saw and turning it into single sheets.

By the way, when the silicon ingot is cut, chips and the like are attached to the silicon ingot. For example, a large number of wafer groups immediately after being cut, or a large number of wafers arranged in a standing state after being cut into single wafers. A wafer group is immersed in a liquid tank containing a liquid, and chips and the like are washed away with the liquid. In addition, various types of wafers such as chips adhering to the liquid using fine bubbles are washed away (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
However, while it is preferable to manufacture the silicon wafer for solar cells as thin as possible like the silicon wafer for semiconductors, it is preferable to have a large light receiving area. If the wafers that are in close contact with each other after being soaked are separated and separated one by one, there is a problem that the wafers are easily broken because the contact force is large in proportion to the area and the separation is difficult.

In view of this, a device has been developed in which fine bubbles are included in the liquid in the liquid tank between wafers arranged in a single wafer, thereby improving the separability of multiple wafer groups that have passed the liquid ( (See Patent Document 3).

JP 2003-100703 A JP 2006-310456 A WO2010 / 082567

By the way, in the apparatus described in Patent Document 3, when the wafer group arranged in an upright state is sent to the next process, the entire arranged wafer group is once placed horizontally and placed above the liquid surface. Thus, the wafers are sequentially sent from the uppermost wafer to the conveyor by rollers.
However, when the vertically aligned wafer group is placed horizontally and placed above the liquid level, many of the included fine bubbles are pushed out to the outside due to the weight of the wafer, especially between lower wafers. There is a problem that there is a high possibility of being dissipated. In this regard, in

Patent Documents

1 and 2 described above, there is no clear description of transport, but if the same transport as in Patent Document 3 is performed, the same problem may occur.

If the fine bubbles between the wafers are diffused and reduced as described above, the adhesion between the wafers increases as a result, and the wafers may not be sufficiently separated, which is not preferable.
The present invention has been made to solve such problems. The object of the present invention is to reliably separate a large number of wafer groups obtained by cutting a silicon ingot into individual wafers after passing a liquid. Then, it is providing the wafer separation apparatus which can be supplied to the following process, and the manufacturing method of a wafer using the same.

In order to achieve the above object, the wafer separating apparatus according to claim 1 is configured such that a plurality of wafer groups obtained by cutting a silicon ingot are stacked horizontally and stacked in layers, and the mounting table is detachable. A liquid tank containing liquid, a lifting device for raising and lowering the loading base support member in at least the liquid tank, and one end of the liquid tank located at the upper opening of the liquid tank. The wafer group loaded on the loading table, which is provided so as to be immersed and lifted together with the loading table support member by the lifting device, is sucked to the transport belt at the one end in order from the uppermost wafer. A liquid flow injection device configured to inject a liquid flow in a lateral direction toward the wafer group which is provided so as to be immersed in a liquid in the liquid tank and is horizontally placed on the loading table in a layered manner. Nozzle and said liquid jet Nozzle of provided below, characterized in that it comprises a bubble discharging device for discharging bubbles as bubble between the liquid flow injection nozzle and the wafer group is increased.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the wafer separating apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the bubble discharge device is configured to discharge bubbles having different sizes.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the wafer separating apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the liquid jet nozzles are arranged on the left and right with respect to the wafer group and jetted from the left and right liquid jet nozzles toward the wafer group, respectively. The liquid flows are provided so as to have a predetermined depression angle.

According to a wafer separation apparatus of a fourth aspect, in any one of the first to third aspects, the liquid flow injection nozzle injects a liquid flow toward a wafer group higher than the central layer in the wafer group. Features.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the wafer separating apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the liquid jet nozzle is composed of two upper and lower stages of a lower jet nozzle and an upper jet nozzle.
The wafer separating apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the wafer separating apparatus according to the fifth aspect, wherein the lower injection nozzle injects a liquid flow with an injection intensity equal to or higher than a predetermined force, and the upper injection nozzle generates a liquid flow with an injection intensity lower than the predetermined force. It is characterized by spraying.

The wafer separating apparatus according to claim 7 is characterized in that, in claim 5 or 6, the lower injection nozzle injects a liquid flow at an injection strength of a predetermined force or more capable of blowing off a broken and broken wafer. To do.
A wafer separation apparatus according to claim 8, wherein, in any one of claims 1 to 7, the liquid separation nozzle is provided so as to be immersed in a liquid in the liquid tank, and obliquely upward toward the wafer group. A second liquid flow injection nozzle for injecting a liquid flow is provided.

A wafer manufacturing method using the wafer separating apparatus according to claim 9 is a wafer manufacturing method using the wafer separating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the wafer group is placed horizontally on the loading table. The loading table is supported by the loading table support member, and the loading table support member is raised by the lifting device toward the transfer device while passing the liquid in the liquid tank. The bubbles are ejected so that the bubbles rise between the liquid jet nozzle and the wafer group by the bubble ejection device while jetting a liquid flow laterally toward the wafer group by the flow jet nozzle. And

According to the wafer separating apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid flow injection nozzle for cutting a silicon ingot and injecting a liquid flow in a horizontal direction toward a plurality of wafers stacked horizontally in a layered manner. Since a bubble discharge device is provided below the liquid flow injection nozzle to discharge and raise bubbles between the liquid flow injection nozzle and the wafer group, it is easy to push the bubbles between each wafer in the wafer group with a liquid flow. The wafer can be easily peeled off. Therefore, after passing through the liquid in the wafer group, the wafers can be reliably separated one by one and supplied to the next process. Moreover, the cleaning action of each wafer can be promoted by pushing bubbles between the wafers in a liquid flow.

According to the wafer separating apparatus of claim 2, since the bubble discharge device is configured to be able to discharge bubbles of different sizes, bubbles of different sizes are generated simultaneously from coarse ones having a large diameter to fine ones having a small diameter. It is easy to widen the gap between the wafers by pushing small bubbles between the wafers in the lower layers of the wafer group, which makes it difficult to widen the gap between the wafers by its own weight due to the liquid flow by the liquid jet nozzle. A large diameter coarse bubble can be pushed in between each upper layer wafer, and the wafer can be more easily peeled off.
According to the wafer separating apparatus of the third aspect, since the liquid jet nozzles are arranged on the left and right, the wafer can be more easily peeled off more stably and the posture of the wafer can be stabilized.

According to the wafer separating apparatus of the fourth aspect, since the liquid flow is ejected toward at least the wafer group higher than the center layer in the wafer group, bubbles can be efficiently pushed between the wafers in a range close to the transfer device. it can.
According to the wafer separating apparatus of the fifth aspect, since the liquid flow injection nozzle is composed of the upper and lower stages of the lower injection nozzle and the upper injection nozzle, the liquid flow injected from the lower injection nozzle and the upper injection nozzle are injected. The injection strength can be adjusted and numerical control can be performed with the liquid flow.

According to the wafer separating apparatus of the sixth aspect, the lower injection nozzle injects the liquid flow with an injection strength greater than or equal to a predetermined force, and the upper injection nozzle injects the liquid flow with an injection intensity lower than the predetermined force. First, a gap can be formed between each wafer of the wafer group by a strong liquid flow from the injection nozzle, and bubbles are pushed into the gap between the formed wafers uniformly by a gentle liquid flow injected from the upper injection nozzle 52. The gap between each wafer can be gradually enlarged.
According to the wafer separating apparatus of the seventh aspect, since the wafer broken and broken by the lower injection nozzle can be blown away, it is possible to prevent the apparatus from being stopped by jamming and to improve the operating rate of the apparatus. Can do.

According to the wafer separating apparatus of the eighth aspect, since the second liquid flow injection nozzle for injecting the liquid flow obliquely upward toward the wafer group is provided separately from the liquid flow injection nozzle, the second liquid flow injection nozzle is used for injection. The uppermost wafer of the wafer group is lifted obliquely by the liquid flow so as to be peeled off very smoothly and smoothly transferred to the inclined transfer device, so that the wafers can be separated more reliably.
According to the method for manufacturing a wafer using the wafer separating apparatus according to claim 9, bubbles are liquefied between the wafers of the wafer group loaded on the loading table while the loading table is raised by the lifting device toward the transfer device. The wafer can be pushed in by a flow, and the wafer can be easily peeled off. Therefore, after passing through the liquid in the wafer group, the wafers can be reliably separated one by one and supplied to the next process. Moreover, the cleaning action of each wafer can be promoted by pushing bubbles between the wafers in a liquid flow.

1 is a front view of a wafer separating apparatus showing an overall configuration of the wafer separating apparatus according to the present invention. It is a side view of the wafer separation apparatus seen from the arrow A direction of FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view of the wafer separating apparatus along the line BB in FIG. 1. It is the C section enlarged view of FIG. It is a top view of a basket. It is a front view of a basket. It is a side view of a basket. It is a schematic diagram which expands and shows a flow injection nozzle, a bubble discharge device, and a wafer group placed on a basket. It is a schematic diagram which expands and shows the 2nd liquid-flow injection nozzle, the 1st conveyor, and the wafer group mounted in the basket. It is a figure which shows other embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view of a wafer separating apparatus showing the overall configuration of the wafer separating apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the wafer separating apparatus viewed from the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view of the wafer separating apparatus taken along line BB in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of part C in FIG.
The wafer separating apparatus according to the present invention is an apparatus for cutting a silicon ingot and laminating a plurality of wafers stacked in layers, and then separating the wafers one by one and supplying them to the next process. As shown in FIG. 1, roughly, a liquid tank 2 in which a cleaning liquid is stored, an elevating device 10 that moves up and down a large number of wafer groups W in the liquid tank 2, and a wafer group W that has been raised by the elevating apparatus 10 are arranged at the top. The belt conveyor (conveyance device) 20 conveys the wafers in order from the wafer at the position, and the storage device 30 that stores the wafer group W that is moved up and down by the lifting device 10.

The cleaning liquid stored in the liquid tank 2 is, for example, water (tap water, pure water, etc.), and it is possible to wash away the chips generated on the silicon ingot and adhered to the wafer. The liquid tank 2 is provided with a dirt sensor 3 for detecting the dirt of the cleaning liquid. Based on information from the dirt sensor 3, the degree of dirt of the cleaning liquid can be monitored.
Here, the wafer group W is stacked horizontally in a layered manner on a basket (loading table) 40 having a unified standard. Specifically, the wafer group W is processed into a quadrangular shape with the periphery cut off, and FIGS. 4 and 5 show a plan view of the basket 40, FIG. 6 shows a front view of the basket 40, and FIG. As shown in the side view, the basket 40 has a right side wall 41, a left side wall 42, and a rear side wall 43 extending in the stacking direction of the wafer group W, and can position the square wafer group W appropriately. Standards are unified so that the sides and top are open. Thus, the wafer group W can be loaded into the basket 40 from one side and from above, and the wafer group W loaded on the basket 40 can be approached from one side and from above. The basket 40 is also provided with a right handle 44 and a left handle 45.

More specifically, the right side wall 41 is made of a plate member having a relatively wide width, while the left side wall 42 is made of a member having a width narrower than the width of the right side wall 41 (for example, about half the width of the right side wall 41). , Arranged on one side of the opened side. Further, the rear side wall 43 is made of a member having a width narrower than the width of the left side wall 42 (for example, approximately half the width of the left side wall 42), and is arranged on the right side. That is, the left side wall 42 and the rear side wall 43 are arranged such that the distance between the left side wall 42 and the rear side wall 43 is sufficiently larger than the distance between the right side wall 41 and the rear side wall 43. Further, the right handle 44 is composed of an inverted U-shaped bar member, while the left handle 45 is composed of an F-shaped bar member whose rear is opened.
In this way, the space between the left side wall 42 and the rear side wall 43 is widened, and the rear side of the left side handle 45 is opened, so that the broken wafer is opened as shown in the direction of the arrow in the figure and described in detail later. It is possible to eliminate by passing through the space.

As shown in FIG. 2, the elevating device 10 includes a pair of left and right elevating

units

11, 12, and each of the pair of left and right elevating

units

11, 12 can elevate the basket 40 on which the wafer group W is loaded. The elevating

units

11 and 12 can be raised and lowered by rotating a ball screw with a stepping motor, for example. Specifically, the lifting

units

11 and 12 are provided with basket support members (loading table support members) 13 and 14 integrally with the lifting

units

11 and 12, and the lifting

units

11 and 12 are provided on the

basket support members

13 and 14. The basket 40 is supported on the wafer group W, and the wafer group W together with the basket 40 can be moved up and down independently.

Further, the elevating device 10 is also provided with

slide units

15 and 16 so that the elevating

units

11 and 12 can be independently moved from the storage device 30 side to the belt conveyor 20 side or in the opposite direction. The

slide units

15 and 16 can also be operated by rotating a ball screw with a stepping motor, for example.
As a result, the elevating

units

11 and 12 can move the wafer group W together with the basket 40 in the liquid tank 2 independently in the biaxial directions as indicated by the arrows in FIG.

The belt conveyor 20 includes a first conveyor 21 and a second conveyor 22. The first conveyor 21 travels in a pair of endless belts, a vacuum unit 23 is provided from one end to a predetermined range between the pair of endless belts, and one end is predetermined with respect to the horizontal so that one end is immersed in the liquid. Inclined at an angle of (greater than 0 °). As a result, the first conveyor 21 can suck the wafer at the uppermost position of the wafer group W in the liquid by the vacuum unit 23, press the wafer against the belt, and transfer it to the second conveyor 22 at the other end. .
The liquid tank 2 has an uppermost position sensor 4 for detecting the height position of the uppermost wafer so that the uppermost wafer of the wafer group W loaded on the basket 40 is in the vicinity of one end of the first conveyor 21. Is provided. For example, a photoelectric sensor is employed as the uppermost position sensor 4. As a result, the first conveyor 21 can satisfactorily suck the wafer at the uppermost position of the wafer group W by the vacuum unit 23.
Similarly, the second conveyor 22 is inclined so that a pair of endless belts travel, and the wafer received from the first conveyor 21 can be further transferred to the next process.

The storage device 30 is configured such that a stepping motor 33 can rotate a turntable 31 on which a plurality of L-shaped arm members 32 that support the basket 40 are suspended. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the arm members 32 are, for example, six pieces, and are arranged at equal intervals of 60 ° so that one side of the basket 40 that is opened is radiated and faces outward. Has been.
In the wafer separating apparatus according to the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a liquid jet nozzle 50 is provided so as to be spaced apart from the opened side of the basket 40. .

The liquid jet nozzle 50 is composed of upper and lower two stages of a lower jet nozzle 51 and an upper jet nozzle 52, and jets a liquid flow from the lateral direction toward one side surface of the wafer group W loaded on the basket 40, respectively. Is configured to do. The lower injection nozzle 51 and the upper injection nozzle 52 are connected to a liquid flow generator 54. Actually, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the lower injection nozzle 51 and the upper injection nozzle 52 are provided in one of the rectangular wafer groups W with respect to the wafer group W higher than the central layer of the wafer group W. The liquid flow is arranged to be ejected obliquely toward one side corner.
Specifically, the lower injection nozzle 51 is set so as to strongly inject a liquid flow with an injection intensity equal to or higher than a predetermined force, while the upper injection nozzle 52 has an injection port extending in the vertical direction and smaller than the predetermined force. The liquid flow is set to be jetted gently at the jetting intensity.

Further, below the liquid jet nozzle 50, there is provided a bubble discharge device 60 for discharging the bubbles so that the bubbles rise between the liquid jet nozzle 50 and the wafer group W. The bubble discharge device 60 is connected to the bubble generation device 62. Specifically, the bubble discharge device 60 is configured to be able to generate bubbles of different sizes at the same time. For example, the bubble discharge device 60 is configured by combining two or more types of bubble discharge devices with different amounts of gas to be introduced. As a result, the bubble discharge device 60 is a bubble having a different size from a coarse one having a large diameter (for example, a maximum diameter of 0.3 mm to 2 mm) to a fine one having a small diameter (for example, a maximum diameter of 0.03 mm to less than 0.3 mm). Can be generated and mixed at the same time. Further, for example, the bubble discharge device 60 may be configured to include two or more types of bubble discharge nozzles having different opening areas in one bubble discharge device. Even in this case, the bubble discharge device 60 can simultaneously generate and mix bubbles having different sizes from a coarser one with a large diameter to a fine one with a small diameter from each bubble discharge nozzle.

In addition to the liquid flow injection nozzle 50, a pair of second liquid flow injection nozzles 70, so as to inject a liquid flow obliquely upward toward one side surface of the wafer group W loaded on the

basket

40, 70 is provided. A pair of second liquid

flow jet nozzles

70, 70 are also connected to the liquid flow generator 54.
Although not shown, the wafer separation device includes a control device, and the lifting device 10, the belt conveyor 20, the storage device 30, the liquid flow generation device 54, and the bubble generation device 62 are the contamination sensor 3, the uppermost position. Based on output signals from sensors such as the sensor 4, the operation is appropriately controlled by a control device.
Hereinafter, the operation of the wafer separating apparatus according to the present invention configured as described above, that is, a wafer manufacturing method using the wafer separating apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

When the wafer group W is loaded on the basket 40 by an operator, the basket 40 loaded with the wafer group W is carried by the operator with the

handles

44 and 45 so that the L-shaped arm member of the storage device 30 is transported. 32.
The storage device 30 is configured such that the arm member 32 rotates and stops in the direction of the arrow by 60 ° at the position shown in FIG. 3, and with the arm member 32 stopped, the elevating unit 11 and the elevating unit 11 of the elevating device 10 are stopped. The unit 12 operates to alternately receive the baskets 40 placed on the arm members 32. Thereby, the basket 40 is sequentially supported by the basket support member 13 of the lift unit 11 and the basket support member 14 of the lift unit 12, respectively.

The elevating unit 11 and the elevating unit 12 that have received the basket 40 move the basket 40 in the liquid as indicated by an arrow in FIG. While cleaning, the basket 40 is positioned so that the height position of the uppermost wafer in the wafer group W is in the vicinity of one end of the first conveyor 21 based on information from the uppermost position sensor 4.
As a result, the wafer at the uppermost position of the wafer group W is sequentially sucked by the vacuum unit 23 and transferred to the second conveyor 22 by the first conveyor 21.
By the way, when the basket 40 is positioned such that the uppermost wafer of the wafer group W is in the vicinity of one end of the first conveyor 21, the bubbles are discharged from the bubble discharging device 60 from a large diameter to a small diameter. The bubbles are discharged in a mixed manner, and the bubbles rise between the liquid jet nozzle 50 and the wafer group W. At this time, the liquid flow is jetted from the liquid jet nozzle 50 toward the wafer group W.

Referring to FIG. 8, the liquid jet nozzle 50, the bubble discharge device 60, and the wafer group W placed on the basket 40 are schematically shown in an enlarged manner, and are jetted from the bubbles and the liquid jet nozzle 50. The action of the liquid flow will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
As shown in the figure, the bubbles rise between the liquid jet nozzle 50 and the wafer group W, and the liquid flow from the lower jet nozzle 51 and the upper jet nozzle 52 which are the liquid jet nozzles 50 as indicated by arrows. When sprayed toward the wafer group W, the bubbles P are pushed between the wafers in the wafer group W by the liquid flow. Specifically, the wafer group W is easy to widen the gap between the wafers by the liquid flow in the upper layer, but it is difficult to widen the gap between the wafers by its own weight as it becomes the lower layer even in the liquid. The small diameter bubbles P are preferentially pushed in between the wafers by the liquid flow from the lower injection nozzle 51 in order from the finest, and the liquid flow from the upper injection nozzle 52 is inserted between the wafers of the upper layer. A relatively large diameter coarse bubble P is pushed in.
At this time, since the injection nozzle is composed of upper and lower two stages of the lower injection nozzle 51 and the upper injection nozzle 52, the liquid flow injected from the lower injection nozzle 51 and the liquid flow injected from the upper injection nozzle 52 Thus, adjustment of the injection intensity and numerical management can be performed.

The liquid flow injected from the lower injection nozzle 51 is set so as to strongly inject the liquid flow with an injection intensity equal to or greater than a predetermined force. Accordingly, a gap is easily formed between the wafers of the wafer group W by the liquid flow from the lower injection nozzle 51, and the small-sized fine bubbles P are favorably pushed between the wafers.
In particular, here, the liquid flow injected from the lower injection nozzle 51 is set to an injection strength that is equal to or higher than a predetermined force capable of blowing off a damaged and broken wafer. Therefore, if there is a damaged wafer at this time, the wafer thus broken and divided is no longer regulated by the right side wall 41, the left side wall 42, and the rear side wall 43, and the liquid jetted from the lower jet nozzle 51. The air is blown out rearward through the open space behind the left side wall 42, the rear side wall 43 and the left side handle 45, and is eliminated. Thus, since the damaged wafer can be easily removed, it is possible to prevent the apparatus from being stopped due to jamming, and to improve the operation rate of the apparatus.

On the other hand, the liquid flow injected from the upper injection nozzle 52 is set to inject the liquid flow with an injection strength smaller than a predetermined force. Even by such a gentle liquid flow injected from the upper injection nozzle 52, a gap larger than that of the lower layer is easily formed between the wafers in the upper layer of the wafer group W as described above. Since the small-sized fine bubbles P are pushed in first, the large-sized coarse bubbles P are well pushed into the gaps between the wafers formed by the liquid flow from the lower injection nozzle 51 and are evenly arranged. The gap between each wafer is gradually enlarged.
In particular, since the lower injection nozzle 51 and the upper injection nozzle 52 inject the liquid flow toward the wafer group W that is at least higher than the center layer in the wafer group W, the bubbles are efficiently produced in a range close to the first conveyor 21. P can be pushed between the wafers.

As described above, the bubbles P are sufficiently pushed into the gaps between the wafers, so that the wafer can be lifted by the presence of the bubbles P and easily peeled off. As a result, the uppermost wafer can be smoothly peeled off and pressed against the belt by suction of the vacuum unit 23, and the wafers can be reliably separated one by one and transported to the next process.
Referring to FIG. 9, the second liquid jet nozzle 70, the first conveyor 21, and the wafer group W placed on the basket 40 are schematically shown in an enlarged manner. The action of the jetted liquid flow will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

In the state where the bubbles P are pushed into the gaps between the wafers as described above, the wafers are easy to peel off due to the presence of the bubbles P in the gaps between the wafers. When the liquid flow is jetted obliquely upward from the flow jet nozzle 70, the wafer is largely separated on the second liquid jet nozzle 70 side by the liquid flow from the second liquid jet nozzle 70, that is, the wafer is It inclines so that the 2nd liquid-flow injection nozzle 70 side may become high with an elevation angle larger than 0 degree. At this time, since the first conveyor 21 is inclined at a predetermined angle (greater than 0 °) with respect to the horizontal so that one end is immersed in the liquid, the wafer easily follows the inclined belt of the first conveyor 21. So close. Thereby, only the wafer at the uppermost position of the wafer group W is smoothly sucked by the vacuum unit 23 and pressed against the belt, and is sequentially transferred to the second conveyor 22 by the first conveyor 21.

That is, since there are many large-diameter coarse bubbles P pushed by the liquid flow injected from the upper injection nozzle 52 in the gap between the uppermost wafer and the wafer immediately below, the second liquid injection nozzle 70. The uppermost wafer is further floated and peeled off very smoothly by the liquid flow ejected from the wafer, and pressed against the belt by suction of the vacuum unit 23, and the wafers are separated more reliably one by one for the next process. Can be transported.
Further, the cleaning action of each wafer can be promoted by injecting the liquid flow by the lower injection nozzle 51 and the upper injection nozzle 52 and pushing the bubbles P between the wafers.
Each time the wafer is delivered to the first conveyor 21, the lifting unit 11 and the lifting unit 12 are operated based on the information from the uppermost position sensor 4 so that the basket 40 is raised by the thickness of the wafer. As a result, the position of the uppermost wafer in the wafer group W can always be maintained at a position near one end of the first conveyor 21.

In addition, the liquid flow from the second liquid flow injection nozzle 70 may be intermittently performed at a constant period in accordance with, for example, the traveling speed of the belt of the first conveyor 21, and thereby the first wafer is timed. It can be delivered to the conveyor 21.
In the above embodiment, the lower injection nozzle 51 and the upper injection nozzle 52 which are the liquid flow injection nozzles 50 are arranged so as to inject the liquid flow obliquely toward one corner on one side of the rectangular wafer group W. Are arranged one by one, and one bubble discharge device 60 is arranged in accordance with this, but as another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, a lower injection nozzle 51 and an upper injection nozzle 52 is further directed to not only one side of the wafer group W but also to the other corner so that the liquid flow is ejected obliquely with a predetermined depression angle (for example, 20 ° to 180 °). Two of them may be arranged symmetrically, and two bubble discharge devices 60 may be arranged according to this.

As a result, more bubbles can be present in the gaps between the wafers, and the wafers can be floated more stably and easily peeled off. In addition, since the liquid flow is ejected toward the wafer group W from two diagonal directions, the posture of the wafer can be stabilized.
Although the description of the wafer separating apparatus and the method for manufacturing a wafer using the same according to the present invention has been completed above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the bubble discharge device 60 is configured by combining two or more types of bubble discharge devices having different amounts of gas to be introduced, or includes two or more types of bubble discharge nozzles having different opening areas. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the bubble discharge device 60 includes a bubble discharge device main body that generates bubbles of a certain size and a bubble shearing device provided above the bubble discharge device main body. You may make it mix from a large diameter coarse bubble to a small diameter fine bubble by dividing | segmenting part of the bubble which generate | occur | produced in the discharge device main body finely with a bubble shearing device.
Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the liquid injection nozzle 50 is comprised by the lower injection nozzle 51 and the upper injection nozzle 52, even if there is only one liquid injection nozzle 50, the effect of this invention is acquired. be able to. Even in this case, the bubbles are favorably pushed between the wafers in order from the small diameter bubbles from the lower layer to the upper layer of the wafer group W, and the same effect as described above can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, the pair of second

liquid jet nozzles

70 and 70 are provided, but the effect of the present invention can be obtained even if there is only one second liquid jet nozzle 70. .
Further, since the wafer can be easily lifted and peeled only by the liquid jet nozzle 50, the second liquid jet nozzle 70 is not necessarily provided, and even in this case, the effect of the present invention can be obtained.

2 Liquid tank 10

Lifting device

13, 14 Basket support member (loading table support member)
20 Belt conveyor (conveyor)
40 baskets
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 50 Liquid jet nozzle 51 Lower jet nozzle 52 Upper jet nozzle 54 Liquid flow generator 60 Bubble discharge apparatus 62 Bubble generator 70 Second liquid jet nozzle

Claims

A loading table on which a large number of wafers formed by cutting a silicon ingot are horizontally stacked and stacked in layers;
A loading table support member that removably supports the loading table;
A liquid tank containing a liquid;
An elevating device for elevating and lowering the loading table supporting member at least in the liquid tank;
The uppermost layer of the wafer group loaded on the loading table, which is positioned at the upper opening of the liquid tank and inclined at one end so as to be immersed in the liquid and raised together with the loading table support member by the lifting device A transfer device that sucks the transfer belt at one end in order from the wafer and transfers it to the other end;
A liquid flow injection nozzle that is provided so as to be immersed in the liquid in the liquid tank, and injects a liquid flow in a lateral direction toward the wafer group that is horizontally stacked on the mounting table;
A bubble ejection device that is provided below the liquid ejection nozzle and ejects the bubbles so that the bubbles rise between the liquid ejection nozzle and the wafer group;
A wafer separating apparatus comprising:
The wafer separation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bubble discharge device is configured to discharge bubbles of different sizes.
The liquid jet nozzles are arranged on the left and right with respect to the wafer group, and the liquid streams jetted from the left and right liquid jet nozzles toward the wafer group are provided so as to have a predetermined depression angle. The wafer separating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wafer separating apparatus is characterized.
4. The wafer separation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid flow injection nozzle injects a liquid flow toward at least a wafer group higher than a central layer in the wafer group.
5. The wafer separation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid flow spray nozzle is composed of upper and lower two stages of a lower spray nozzle and an upper spray nozzle.
The said lower side injection nozzle injects a liquid flow with the injection intensity | strength more than predetermined force, The said upper side injection nozzle injects a liquid flow with the injection intensity smaller than predetermined force, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Wafer separation device.
The wafer separating apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the lower injection nozzle injects a liquid flow with an injection intensity equal to or higher than a predetermined force capable of blowing a broken and broken wafer.
In addition to the liquid flow injection nozzle, a second liquid flow injection nozzle that is provided so as to be immersed in the liquid in the liquid tank and that injects the liquid flow obliquely upward toward the wafer group is provided. A wafer separating apparatus according to claim 1.
A method for manufacturing a wafer using the wafer separating apparatus according to claim 1,
The wafer group is horizontally stacked on the loading table in a layered manner, the loading table is supported by the loading table supporting member, and the loading table supporting member is directed to the transfer device while passing the liquid in the liquid tank. Lift with the lifting device,
The bubbles are ejected by the bubble ejecting device so that the bubbles rise between the fluid ejecting nozzle and the wafer group while ejecting a liquid flow laterally toward the wafer group by the liquid ejecting nozzle. A method for producing a wafer using a wafer separating apparatus.