JP2890915B2 - Wafer brush cleaning equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a brush cleaning device provided in a leaf-type automatic cleaning device for automatically cleaning wafers one by one.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, impurities adhering to the surface of a semiconductor wafer adversely affect the performance of the semiconductor device.

[0003] Therefore, the manufacturing process of a semiconductor wafer includes a cleaning process. In this cleaning process, the wafer is cleaned by various methods. The method of cleaning a wafer is roughly classified into a physical cleaning method. There is a chemical cleaning method.

[0004] As the former physical cleaning method, a method of directly removing impurities adhered to the wafer surface using a cleaning brush or the like, a method in which a pressurized fluid is jetted from a jet nozzle toward a part or the whole of the wafer, Thus, there are a method of removing impurities, a method of immersing a wafer in a liquid and applying ultrasonic waves to the wafer to remove impurities attached to the wafer (ultrasonic cleaning method), and the like.

[0005] The latter chemical cleaning methods include:
There is a method of chemically decomposing and removing impurities attached to the wafer surface by various chemicals, enzymes and the like. Incidentally, a physical cleaning method and a chemical cleaning method may be used in combination.

[0006]

In the field of semiconductor manufacturing, semiconductor wafers have become larger in diameter with the recent trend toward higher integration of semiconductor devices, and a plurality of wafers are accommodated in a carrier for cleaning. According to the conventional method, a great deal of labor is required.

[0007] In addition, if a method is adopted in which a wafer is accommodated in a carrier and transported, there is also a problem that particles or the like adhere to the wafer due to contact between the wafer and the carrier and the wafer is contaminated.

Further, if the polished wafer is temporarily stored until the next cleaning step, there is a problem that the surface of the wafer is dried and impurities attached to the surface cannot be removed.

Therefore, a wafer-by-wafer automatic cleaning apparatus for cleaning wafers one by one by vertically supporting the wafers one by one and sequentially immersing the wafers in a cleaning solution in a plurality of cleaning tanks has been proposed.

[0010] By the way, particles are attached to the polished wafer, and when these particles are removed by brush cleaning, the above-mentioned automatic cleaning apparatus of each leaf type uses the brush cleaning in a state where the wafer is vertically erected. It is necessary to do.

The present invention has been made on the basis of the above circumstances, and the object thereof is to provide a wafer-type automatic wafer cleaning apparatus, in which both surfaces of a vertically standing wafer are simultaneously coated.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a wafer brush cleaning apparatus capable of efficiently performing brush cleaning.

[0012]

Means for Solving the Problems] This in order to achieve the above object
Invention (see in particular FIG. 5) is a device for brush cleaning at the same time both sides of this by clamping the wafer erected vertically between a pair of rotary brushes, the horizontal and rotatably pair of rotation disposed Brushes 74, 75, and the rotating brushes 74,
Brush driving means 87 and 88 for driving the rotation of
Support the wafer and center it at right angles to the surface of the wafer
And a wafer driving means for rotating and driving around the wafer
And the rotary brushes 74 and 75 and the brush drive
The moving means 87, 88 are separately provided with the base members 85,
86, and the base members 85 and 86 are fixed
Connected to an actuator 94 installed on a base 93.
The rotation of the rotating brush at right angles to the axis
Move in opposite directions and in opposite directions
And the base members 85 and 86 are split
Urged in the direction away from each other by
The stopper support member 10 is provided on the fixed base 93.
0, 100 are erected, and the stopper support members 100, 1
At 00, the movement amount of the base members 85 and 86 is regulated.
Stoppers 101, 101 are screwed forward and backward
And its features that it is.

[0013]

According to the present invention, the rotating brushes 74 and 75 are
Separated from each other by the elastic force of rings 99 and 99
, The wafer is vertically positioned between the rotating brushes 74 and 75
Is inserted, and its outer peripheral portion is
Supported by the moving rollers 60, 61). Then,
By driving the tutor 94, the springs 99, 99
The rotating brushes 74 and 75 approach each other against the resilience
The wafer is held between these. In this state the way
C With driving means (for example, a driving roller
The wafer is rotated at a predetermined speed (by rotation of 60, 61).
Drive and drive the brush driving means 87 and 88
To rotate the rotating brushes 74 and 75 in directions opposite to each other.
For example, the wafer held between the rotating brushes 74 and 75 is
Of both sides are cleaned by rotating brushes 74 and 75
Particles and the like attached to the surface are mechanically removed. this
In the cleaning operation, the stopper support members 100
The positions of screwing of the stoppers 101, 101
Rotation can be set by setting the material appropriately
Pressure for pressing the brushes 74 and 75 against the cleaning surface of the wafer
Can be controlled to an appropriate value.
Efficient removal of dirt without damaging
can do.

[0014]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 are a front view, a plan view, and a side view of an automatic wafer cleaning apparatus provided with a brush cleaning apparatus according to the present invention. The automatic cleaning apparatus includes a loader section A and a wafer receiving tank B. , A preliminary cleaning tank C, a brush cleaning tank D, cleaning tanks E, F, G, H, and I, two preliminary tanks J and K, a drying tank L, and an unloader section M.

The wafers W whose surfaces have been mirror-polished in the preceding polishing step are carried into the loader unit A one by one as shown in FIG.
The wafer is sent into the wafer receiving tank B along the flow of pure water.

The wafer receiving tank B is provided with a wafer raising device (not shown), and the wafer W carried into the wafer receiving tank B is vertically raised by the wafer raising device. Then, the wafer W that has been set up vertically is vertically supported by the transfer robot 20 and is automatically transferred from the wafer receiving tank B to the pre-cleaning tank C. In the pre-cleaning tank C, the wafer W is immersed in the cleaning liquid and is immersed in the back surface. The attached wax is removed.

The wafer W from which the wax has been removed in the pre-cleaning tank C is again handled by the transfer robot 20 and sent to the brush cleaning tank D. In the brush cleaning tank D, both surfaces are simultaneously brushed. Washed.

Here, the configuration of the brush cleaning device 50 provided in the brush cleaning tank D will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a cutaway side view of the brush cleaning device 50, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a view in the direction of arrow d in FIG.
4 is a sectional view taken along line ee in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a view in the direction of arrow f in FIG.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, reference numeral 51 denotes a ball screw which is vertically rotatably supported, and a slider 53 which moves up and down along guides 52, 52 is screwed into the ball screw 51. A base member 54 is supported by the slider 53. A gear 55 is connected to the upper end of the ball screw 51, and the gear 55 meshes with a gear 57 connected to the output shaft end of the drive motor 56.

As shown in FIG. 3, two rotation shafts 58 and 59 are horizontally and rotatably supported on the base member 54. Are connected to drive rollers 60 and 61. The plate 62 attached to the tip of the rotating shafts 58 and 59 has 2
Four guide rollers 63, 64 are rotatably supported. These guide rollers 63, 64 and the driving rollers 60, 61 are formed in an arc shape to support the outer peripheral portion of the wafer W as shown in FIG. It is arranged in.

A drive motor 65 is mounted on the base member 54. As shown in FIG. 2, a drive motor 65 is connected to a pulley 66 connected to an output shaft end of the drive motor 65 and the rotary shaft 58. A belt 68 is wound between the attached pulleys 67. Another pulley 69 is connected to an intermediate portion of the rotary shaft 58, and a belt 71 is wound between the pulley 69 and the pulley 70 connected to the rotary shaft 59. 2, a predetermined tension is applied to the belt 71 by a tension pulley 73 that rotates around a shaft 72.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
Two rotating brushes 74, 75 are rotatably arranged in a direction orthogonal to the axial directions of the rotating shafts 8, 59, and these rotating brushes 74, 75 are arranged in the axial direction of the rotating shafts 58, 59 (the left and right in FIG. 3). Direction). That is, the rotating shafts 76, 77 supporting the rotating brushes 74, 75 are rotatably supported by bearing members 79, 79, 80, 80 which are movable along guide rails 78, 78 laid in parallel. ing. The rotation shafts 76 and 77 are urged in one direction by springs 81 and 82 compressed around their outer circumferences, and pulleys 83 and 84 are respectively connected to one ends thereof.

On the base members 85, 86 supporting the one bearing members 79, 80, drive motors 87,
88 are provided respectively, and these drive motors 87,
Pulleys 89 and 90 are connected to the ends of the output shafts 88. Belts 91 and 92 are wound between the pulley 89 and the pulley 83 and between the pulley 90 and the pulley 84, respectively.

Further, as shown in FIG.
An actuator 94 is provided on the upper side, and rods 95 extending right and left of the actuator 94 are connected to the base member 8 via joints 96, 96, 97, 97.
5,86 are connected. In addition, each base member 85, 8
6 are urged in directions away from each other by springs 99, 99 interposed between the respective joints 96, 96 and retainers 98, 98 erected on the fixed base 93. The stopper support member 10 is provided on the fixed base 93.
0 and 100 are provided upright, and stoppers 101 and 101 for restricting the amount of movement of the base members 85 and 86 are screwed to these stopper support members 100 and 100 so as to be able to advance and retreat.

The operation of the brush cleaning device 50 will now be described with reference to FIG.
A description will be given with reference to FIG.

In the brush cleaning device 50, before the wafer W is loaded, the rods 95 of the actuator 94 shown in FIG. Numerals 75 are separated from each other as shown by a chain line in FIG. 1, and a predetermined gap is formed between them.

The wafer W handled by the transfer robot 20 (see FIGS. 1 to 3) is vertically fitted into the gap between the rotating brushes 74 and 75, and the outer periphery of the lower half thereof is covered with the driving roller 60. , 61 and guide rollers 63, 64.

Thereafter, when the actuator 94 is driven and the rods 95 are contracted, the rotating brushes 74 and 75 approach each other and hold the wafer W between them.

When the drive motor 65 is driven in the above state, the rotation is transmitted to the rotary shaft 58 via the pulley 66, the belt 68 and the pulley 67, and further, the rotary shaft is transmitted via the pulley 69, the belt 71 and the pulley 70. The rotation is driven by the rotation shafts 58 and 59, and the wafer W supported by the rotation shafts is rotated at a predetermined speed. At this time, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the wafer W.

When the drive motors 87 and 88 are driven,
These rotations are transmitted to the rotating shafts 76 and 77 via pulleys 89 and 90, belts 91 and 92 and pulleys 83 and 84, and the rotating shafts 76 and 77 and the rotating brushes 74 and 75 respectively supported by the rotating shafts are opposite to each other. (The direction in which the wafer W is pressed against the driving rollers 60 and 61 and the guide rollers 63 and 64).
4, 75 to remove particles. During the brush cleaning, the drive motor 56 is driven forward and reverse periodically to rotate the gear 5.
7 and 55, the ball screw 51 is transmitted to the ball screw 51, and the forward / reverse rotation of the ball screw 51 causes the slider 53 screwed thereto to move up and down together with the base member 54, so that the driving rollers 60 and 61 and the guide rollers 63 and 64 and The wafer W supported by the wafer W also moves up and down integrally, and the center of the wafer W is also cleaned by the rotating brushes 74 and 75 without unevenness.

The wafer W that has been brush-cleaned as described above is handled by the transfer robot 20 and sequentially transferred to the next cleaning tanks E, F, G, H, and I to be subjected to the cleaning process.

Then, the wafer W cleaned by the pre-cleaning tanks C to I is transferred to the drying tank L by the transfer robot 20 to be quickly dried, and finally transferred to the unloader section M for storage. .

As described above, the automatic wafer cleaning apparatus according to the present embodiment is of a leaf-to-wafer type, and the wafers W are supported and transferred one by one by the transfer robot 20 and are continuously processed. The conventionally used carrier becomes unnecessary, so-called carrierless can be realized,
The problem of contamination of the wafer W accompanying the transfer by the carrier is solved, and labor saving is realized.

[0035]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention relates to the present invention .
In a brush cleaning device for a wafer , a vertically rising wafer is sandwiched between a pair of rotating brushes, and both surfaces of the wafer are brush-cleaned simultaneously. , a brush drive means for rotationally driving the rotary brush is configured to include a wafer drive means for rotating this by supporting the wafer around the perpendicular center axis to the plane of the wafer, said each rotary brush
The brush driving means for rotating this is separately provided
Are mounted on the base members, and these base members are fixed.
The rotary bracket is set by the actuator installed on the fixed base.
Move integrally in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the
The base member is
The rings are urged away from each other,
A stopper support member is erected on the fixed base, and the stopper is
In order to regulate the amount of movement of the base member,
The stoppers are screwed forward and backward so that the wafer can be cleaned vertically and efficiently without damaging the wafer cleaning surface simultaneously on both sides of the wafer. Is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cutaway side view of a brush cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view in the direction of arrow d in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cutaway plan view of the brush cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line ee of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view in the direction of arrow f in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the automatic wafer cleaning apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the automatic wafer cleaning apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the automatic wafer cleaning apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 50 brush cleaning device 51 ball screw (ball screw mechanism) 56 drive motor (ball screw mechanism) 60, 61 drive roller (wafer drive means) 65 drive motor (wafer drive means) 74, 75 rotating brush 85, 86 base members 87, 88 drive motor (Brush driving means) 93 Fixed base 94 Actuator (moving means) 99 Spring 100 Stopper support member 101 Stopper W Wafer

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshiharu Kimura 150 Odakura Osaikura, Nishigo-mura, Nishishirakawa-gun, Fukushima Prefecture Inside the Semiconductor Shirakawa Research Laboratory, Shin-Etsu Semiconductor Co., Ltd. No. 150 Shin-Etsu Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Semiconductor Shirakawa Laboratory (56) References JP-A-60-143634 (JP, A) JP-A-61-179529 (JP, A) JP-A-2-135777 (JP, A) Opened 2-2-63437 (JP, A) Opened 51-84371 (JP, U) Opened 2-142527 (JP, U) Opened 63-119236 (JP, U)

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A device for holding a vertically standing wafer between a pair of rotating brushes and simultaneously brush-cleaning both surfaces thereof, comprising: a pair of rotating brushes which are horizontally and rotatably arranged; a brush drive means for rotating the brush, and a wafer drive means for rotating this by supporting the wafer around the perpendicular center axis to the plane of the wafer including
And each of the rotating brushes and the rotating brush are driven.
The brush driving means are provided on separate base members, respectively.
These base members are mounted on a fixed base.
In the direction perpendicular to the axis of the rotating brush
Physically and in the opposite direction,
And the base members are separated from each other by a spring.
The fixed base is urged in the direction away from
A stopper support member is erected, and the stopper support member
The stopper for regulating the amount of movement of the base member moves back and forth
A brush cleaning device for a wafer, wherein the brush cleaning device is screwed . 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wafer driving means is provided outside the wafer.
A driving roller for supporting the peripheral portion, and the driving roller is rotationally driven.
A drive motor comprising
The apparatus for cleaning a brush of a wafer according to claim 1. 3. The wafer driving means includes a vertically moving means.
Therefore, it is possible to move up and down periodically.
3. The apparatus for cleaning a brush of a wafer according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The wafer moving means according to claim 1, wherein
Ball screw mechanism for moving a step up and down, and the ball screw mechanism
Is configured to include a drive motor that periodically rotates the
The brush cleaning of a wafer according to claim 3, wherein
apparatus.