JPH11307495A - Brush cleaning device and work-cleaning system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a brush cleaning device and a work-cleaning system having this brush cleaning device by which brush cleaning time is reduced, the cleaning system can be downsized because a rotary mechanism for a wafer is not required, and the residue of contaminants is easily removed because a wafer can be held vertically. SOLUTION: A brush cleaning device comprises an upper brush cleaning means 12, an upper stopper means 14, a lower brush cleaning means 16 and a lower stopper means 18. The upper brush cleaning means 12 has a pair or pairs of upper rotary brushes 12a which are opposed to each other horizontally and cleans a discoid work which is transferred vertically between a pair or pairs of upper rotary brushes 12a. The upper stopper means 14 is provided below the brush cleaning means 12 and performs the stoppage and unloading of the work. The lower brush cleaning means 16 is provided below the upper stopper means 14, comprises a pair or pairs of lower rotary brushes 16a which are opposed to each other horizontally, and cleans the work which is transferred vertically between a pair or pairs of lower rotary brushes 16a. The lower stopper means 18 is provided vertically movably and stops, supports, and vertically moves the work.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a brush cleaning apparatus capable of efficiently cleaning a disk-shaped work, for example, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as a wafer), and a work cleaning using the brush cleaning apparatus. About the system.

[0002]

2. Related Art In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, impurities and foreign substances adhering to the surface of a semiconductor wafer (for example, chemical impurities and particles adhere to a polished wafer) adversely affect the performance of the semiconductor device.

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

[0004] Examples of the former include, for example, a method of mechanically removing dirt directly using a cleaning brush or the like, and a method in which a processing fluid is jetted toward a part or the entirety of an object to be cleaned by a jet nozzle. Ultrasonic cleaning method in which the dirt is mechanically removed by using the ultrasonic energy generated by the vibrator placed in the liquid, immersing the object to be cleaned in the liquid, and mechanically removing the dirt. And so on.

On the other hand, examples of the latter include, for example, a method of chemically decomposing and removing dirt with various chemicals, oxygen and the like. The physical cleaning method and the chemical cleaning method are also 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 arises a problem that particles and the like adhere to the wafer due to contact between the wafer and the carrier and the wafer is contaminated.

Furthermore, if the polished wafer is temporarily stored in water until the next cleaning step, the surface of the wafer such as clouding and pits is etched due to the etching action of the polishing slurry adhering to the wafer surface. And is susceptible to metal contamination during storage in water.

In view of the above, there has been proposed a leaf-type 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.

[0010] By the way, particles are attached to the polished wafer, and brush cleaning is effective for removing impurities such as particles adhered to the surface of the wafer. Brush cleaning is effective in the wafer cleaning process. Is widely used.

In the case of removing these particles by brush cleaning, it is necessary to perform brush cleaning in a state in which the wafer is vertically erected in the above-mentioned automatic cleaning apparatus of every leaf type.

In view of such circumstances, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-47724, the applicant of the present application has disclosed a pair of rotating brushes that are horizontally and rotatably arranged, and a brush that rotationally drives the rotating brushes. A brush cleaning apparatus for a wafer, comprising a driving means and a wafer driving means for supporting a wafer and rotating the wafer about a central axis perpendicular to the surface of the wafer, has been proposed.
However, when the wafer is rotated in this way, or when the brush is washed by a rotating brush, the time in which the wafer and the brush come into contact with each other is shorter in the outer peripheral portion of the wafer, and the brush cleaning time is longer in order to clean the outer peripheral portion. ,
Since a wafer rotation mechanism is required, there is a problem that a cleaning apparatus is enlarged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and can reduce the brush cleaning time, and can reduce the size of the cleaning apparatus because a rotating mechanism of the wafer is not required. It is an object of the present invention to provide a brush cleaning device which is configured to be held vertically so as to facilitate removal of contaminants remaining on a wafer, and a work cleaning system using the brush cleaning device.

[0014]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a brush cleaning apparatus according to the present invention includes a pair or a plurality of pairs of upper rotating brushes provided to face each other in a horizontal direction. Upper brush cleaning means for cleaning a disk-shaped work conveyed vertically between a pair of upper rotating brushes, and upper stopper means provided below the upper brush cleaning means for stopping and discharging the disk-shaped work And a pair or a plurality of pairs of lower rotating brushes provided below the upper stopper means and provided to face each other in the horizontal direction, and are vertically conveyed between the pair or the plurality of lower rotating brushes. A lower brush cleaning means for cleaning the disk-shaped work; and a lower stopper means provided below the lower brush cleaning means so as to be movable up and down, for stopping and supporting the disk-shaped work and for moving up and down. And

The upper stopper means comprises a pair of upper stopper rods that can be opened and closed, and stops the work when the pair of upper stopper rods is closed or when the pair of upper stopper rods is opened smaller than the diameter of the work. Preferably, the workpiece is gradually advanced by opening the workpiece, and when the workpiece is opened more than the diameter of the workpiece, the workpiece is discharged downward.

As the lower stopper means, it is preferable to use a vertically movable support member for supporting the lower end of the disk-shaped work.

A method for cleaning a work according to the present invention is a method for cleaning a disk-shaped work using the above-described brush cleaning apparatus, wherein the work is moved downward by gradually opening a pair of upper stopper rods. When the entire surface of the work is cleaned and the pair of stopper rods is opened larger than the diameter of the work and discharged downward, the work discharged downward is supported by the lower stopper means and moved up and down, and the upper brush cleaning means and the lower brush It is characterized in that it can be washed by a washing means.

Further, the work cleaning system of the present invention comprises:
First robot means for discharging and transporting a disk-shaped work accommodated in a cassette, a brush cleaning unit for cleaning the work conveyed by the first robot means, and rinsing and cleaning the work cleaned by the brush cleaning unit A rinsing cleaning unit
In a work cleaning system having a drying section for drying the rinsed work and a second robot means for housing the dried work in a cassette, the above-described brush cleaning device is used as the cleaning section. .

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing essential parts of a brush cleaning device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional side view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view of the brush cleaning device of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a side view for continuously illustrating the cleaning operation by the brush cleaning device, and FIG. 5 is a front view for continuously illustrating the cleaning operation by the brush cleaning device of the present invention. In the following embodiments, a wafer will be described as an example of a disk-shaped workpiece to be cleaned.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a brush cleaning device of the present invention. The brush cleaning device 10 includes a pair of upper rotating brushes 12 that are provided so as to face each other in the horizontal direction (the horizontal direction in FIG. 2).
The upper brush cleaning means 12 composed of a and 12b is provided. The interval between the upper rotating brushes 12a and 12b is configured to be changeable as needed, such as the thickness of the wafer W and other factors. Although one or a plurality of the upper brush cleaning means 12 is provided, the illustrated example shows a case where one is provided.

An upper stopper means 14 for stopping and discharging the wafer W is provided below the upper brush cleaning means 12. The upper stopper means 14 comprises a pair of upper stopper rods 14a, 14b. The upper stopper rods 14a and 14b are configured to be laterally moved by a stopper rod opening / closing mechanism (not shown) so that they can be opened and closed.

A lower brush cleaning means 16 is provided below the upper stopper means 14. The lower brush cleaning means 16 is composed of a pair of lower rotating brushes 16a and 16b provided to face each other in the horizontal direction (the horizontal direction in FIG. 2). The interval between the lower rotating brushes 16a and 16b is configured to be changeable as needed, such as the thickness of the wafer W and other factors. Although one or more lower brush cleaning means 16 are provided, the illustrated example shows a case where one is provided.

A lower stopper means 18 for stopping and supporting the wafer W and for vertically moving the wafer W is provided below the lower brush cleaning means 16. The lower stopper means 18 is constituted by a vertically movable support member for supporting the lower end of the wafer W.

With the above configuration, the wafer W is first
It is set vertically between a pair of upper rotating brushes 12a and 12b. Then, the wafer W is conveyed in the rotating direction of the upper rotating brushes 12a, 12b, that is, downward while the both surfaces of the wafer W are cleaned by the rotation of the upper rotating brushes 12a, 12b.

The transferred wafer W is initially in a state where the upper stopper means 14 is closed, that is, the upper stopper rod 1
If the wafers 4a and 14b are smaller than the diameter of the wafer W, they will not be carried down. However, the upper stopper means 14 is open, that is, the upper stopper rods 14a and 14b are larger than the wafer W. When the wafer W is separated, the wafer W is unloaded downward, and the lower stopper 1
8 is supported. In this state, if the lower stopper means 18 is moved up and down, the wafer W is also moved up and down, and both surfaces of the wafer W are sufficiently cleaned by the upper brush cleaning means 12 and the lower brush cleaning means 16. Further, since the wafer is not rotated, there is no difference in the contact time with the brush in the wafer surface, and the cleaning can be performed in a minimum necessary time.

The cleaning time of the wafer W can be freely set by adjusting the time for supporting the wafer W by the lower stopper means 18, that is, the time for vertically moving the wafer W.

The above-described brush cleaning apparatus 10 is generally used in a system for cleaning a work such as a wafer. Hereinafter, an example in which the brush cleaning device is incorporated in a work cleaning system will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 20 denotes a work cleaning system having first robot means 21. The first robot means 21 stores the wafers W, takes out the wafers W one by one from the cassettes 22 in the cassette supply tank 23 filled with pure water, and supplies the wafers W to the brush cleaning unit 24. The brush cleaning unit 10 described above is installed in the brush cleaning unit 24.

Reference numerals 26 and 40 denote rinsing cleaning units for rinsing and cleaning the wafer W cleaned by the brush cleaning unit 24. The rinsing units 26 and 40 are configured in one or more stages as necessary. The rinsed wafer W is dried in a drying unit 30 provided with an IR lamp 28. The dried wafer W is stored in the cassette 36 in the cassette removal tank 34 by the second robot means 32.

A hand cleaning unit 38 is provided for cleaning the wafer suction hand of the first robot means 21.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the brush cleaning time can be shortened, and the cleaning device can be downsized because the rotating mechanism of the wafer is not required, and the wafer can be held vertically. With such a configuration, a large effect of easily removing contaminants remaining on the wafer can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a main part of a brush cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view of a brush cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory side view showing a continuous cleaning operation by the brush cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front explanatory view continuously showing a cleaning operation by the brush cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view showing an example in which the brush cleaning device of the present invention is incorporated in a work cleaning system.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: brush cleaning device, 12: upper brush cleaning means, 12
a, 12b: upper rotating brush, 14: upper stopper means,
14a, 14b: upper stopper rod, 16: lower brush cleaning means, 16a, 16b: lower rotary brush, 18: lower stopper means, 20: work cleaning system, 23: first
Robot means, 21: cassette supply tank, 22, 36: cassette, 24: brush cleaning section, 26, 40: rinse cleaning section, 28: IR lamp, 30: drying section, 32: second robot means, 34: cassette removal Tank, 38: hand cleaning unit, W: wafer.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A disk-shaped work having a pair or a plurality of pairs of upper rotating brushes provided to face each other in a horizontal direction and being vertically conveyed between the pair or a plurality of pairs of upper rotating brushes. An upper brush cleaning means, an upper stopper means provided below the upper brush cleaning means for stopping and discharging the disc-shaped work, and provided below the upper stopper means and horizontally opposed to each other. A lower brush cleaning means having a pair of or a plurality of pairs of lower rotating brushes for cleaning a disk-shaped work conveyed in a vertical state between the pair of or a plurality of lower rotating brushes; And a lower stopper means movably provided to stop and support the disc-shaped work and to move the disc-shaped work up and down. 2. The upper stopper means comprises a pair of upper stopper rods that can be opened and closed, and stops the work when the pair of upper stopper rods is closed or when the pair of upper stopper rods is opened smaller than the diameter of the work. 2. The brush cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece is gradually advanced by gradually opening the workpiece, and the workpiece is discharged downward when the workpiece is opened larger than the diameter of the workpiece. 3. The brush cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said lower stopper means is a vertically movable supporting member for supporting a lower end portion of said disk-shaped work. 4. A method for cleaning a disk-shaped work using the brush cleaning device according to claim 3, wherein the whole surface of the work is cleaned while moving the work downward by gradually opening a pair of upper stopper rods. When the pair of stopper rods is opened larger than the diameter of the work and discharged downward, the work discharged downward is supported by the lower stopper means, moved up and down, and cleaned by the upper brush cleaning means and the lower brush cleaning means. A method for cleaning a work, characterized in that: 5. A first robot means for discharging and transporting a disk-shaped work accommodated in a cassette, a brush cleaning unit for cleaning the work transported by said first robot means,
A work cleaning system comprising: a rinse cleaning unit that rinses the work cleaned by the brush cleaning unit; a drying unit that dries the rinsed work; and a second robot unit that stores the dried work in a cassette. A workpiece cleaning system, wherein the brush cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is used as the cleaning unit.