JPH02110929A - Vapor dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent any foreign matters or water mark from sticking to the surface of an object due to the bumping of alcohol thereby enabling the object to be dried up by a method wherein the title vapor dryer is respectively equipped with a specific evaporator, a thermal evaporator, a vapor reservoir and a nozzle. CONSTITUTION:The title vapor dryer is equipped with an evaporator to heat alcohol 2 fed from a canistor 1 in an evaporation vessel 3 for evaporating the vapor, a thermal evaporator 13 to heat the vapor in a vapor piping 17 extending from the evaporator 12 for evaporating the vapor, a vapor reservoir 14 to heat and temporally accumulate the vapor after the heating and evaporation and a nozzle 15 to spray the vapor jetted from the vapor reservoir 4 over an object to be dried up. As for said alcohol 2, e.g., isopropyl alcohol(IPA) is applicable. Through these procedures, any bubbles, etc., due to bumping of IPA 2 are not contained in the heated vapor jetted from the nozzle 15 so that any foreign matters or water mark may be prevented from sticking to the surface of the object to be dried up due to the conventional bumping of IPA 2.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention involves washing an object, such as a wafer, with water after performing a certain treatment, and washing the object with alcohol vapor such as isopropyl alcohol to remove moisture. The present invention relates to a vapor drying device that dries the object, and more particularly to a vapor drying device that dries the object while preventing foreign matter from adhering to the surface of the object or watermarking due to bumping of the alcohol.

[Conventional technology]

As shown in FIG. 3, a conventional vapor drying device of this type includes a canister 1 that contains alcohol such as isopropyl alcohol (hereinafter referred to as "rIPA"), and heats IPA 2 supplied from the canister 1. It was comprised of a steam tank 3 for generating steam, and a heater 4 provided at the bottom of the steam tank 3 for heating the IPA 2. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 5 is an air pipe that supplies nitrogen gas (N) for pressurization, 6 is a supply pipe that supplies IPA2 from the canister 1 into the steam tank 3, 7 is an air valve, and 8 is an air pipe. The check valve 9 is a filter.

Then, IPA2 is supplied from the canister 1 into the steam tank 3, and about 2 IPA2 accumulated in the steam tank 3 is removed by the heater 4.
Heat to 00°C to generate steam. Into the steam tank 3 filled with the steam of IPA 2 in this manner, a dry object 1, for example, a wafer 10, which has been subjected to a treatment in the previous step and has been washed with water, is placed.

Then, since the surface temperature of the wafer 10 is lower than the steam temperature of the IPA2 (approximately 82°C), the steam of the IPA2 condenses on the surface of the wafer 10, gradually becoming droplets, and forming a third droplet.
It flows down as shown by arrow B in the figure. As a result, moisture adhering to the surface of the wafer 10 is washed away. after that,
When the surface temperature of the wafer 10 rises in the atmosphere of the IPA 2 vapor and becomes equal to or higher than the vapor temperature, dew condensation stops, and the moisture that had been attached and the IPA 2 that had been condensed until then are dried. This dried the wafer 10 after washing with water.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in such conventional vapor drying equipment,
After washing away the moisture adhering to the surface of the wafer 10 as described above, in order to sufficiently dry the moisture, the fourth
As shown in the figure, the wafer 10 is left in the steam bath 3 for a while. At this time, bubbles 11,11. ... came out to the liquid surface, splashed up, and sometimes adhered to the surface of the wafer 10. And these bubbles 11, 11. ...By crushing, IPA
Foreign matter contained in the wafer 10 may sometimes adhere to the surface of the wafer 10 or cause minute water marks. Therefore, the dried wafer 10 is transferred to the subsequent process with foreign matter attached to it, resulting in a decrease in product quality and yield.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vapor drying device that can solve these problems.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the vapor drying apparatus according to the present invention includes a steam generating section that heats alcohol supplied from a canister in a steam tank to generate steam, and a vapor drying device that generates steam in a steam pipe extending from the steam generating section. A heated steam generating section that heats and vaporizes the heated steam, a steam reservoir that temporarily stores the heated and vaporized steam while heating it, and a nozzle that sprays the steam ejected from the steam reservoir onto the object to be dried. It consists of

[For production]

In the vapor drying device configured in this way, a steam generating section heats alcohol supplied from a canister in a steam tank to generate steam, and a heated steam generating section generates steam in a steam pipe extending from the steam generating section. is heated and vaporized,
The steam after heating and vaporization is temporarily stored in the steam reservoir while being heated, and the nozzle operates to spray the steam ejected from the steam reservoir onto the object to be dried.

Thereby, it is possible to dry the object while preventing the adhesion of foreign matter and water marks to the surface of the object due to bumping of alcohol.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a vapor drying apparatus according to the present invention. This vapor drying device performs a certain treatment on an object such as a wafer, washes it with water, and then dries the object by washing away the moisture with alcohol vapor such as IPA, as shown in Figure 1. , a steam generator 12, a heated steam generator 13, a steam reservoir 14, and a nozzle 15.
It consists of:

The steam generating section 12 is supplied with I from the canister 1.
It heats PA2 to generate steam, and the IPA is supplied from the canister 1 through the supply vibro, air valve 7, check valve 8, and filter 9.
It consists of a steam tank 3 for heating the IPA 2 to generate steam, and a heater 4 provided at the bottom of the steam tank 3 for heating the IPA 2. Note that the upper end of the steam tank 3 is closed with a lid 16. The canister 1 accommodates the IPA 2 therein, and is connected to an air pipe 5 for supplying pressurized nitrogen gas (N2) to supply the IPA 2 into the steam tank 3.

A heated steam generating section 13 is provided in the middle of the steam pipe F extending from the steam generating section 12.

The heated steam generating section 13 heats and completely vaporizes the IPA 2 steam sent through the steam pipe 17, and includes, for example, a plurality of block heaters 18, 18...
..., and these block heaters 18, 18 . ...
The steam pipe 17 is spirally wound around the steam pipe 17.

A steam reservoir 14 is provided at the rear end of the steam pipe 17 extending from the heated steam generating section 13.

This steam reservoir 14 temporarily stores the steam after heating and vaporization by the heated steam generating section 13 while continuing to heat it, and consists of a box with an appropriate volume. 19°... is provided,
The steam inside is prevented from condensing. In addition, the code|symbol 20 is a pressure gauge.

A nozzle 15 is provided at the tip of the steam pipe 21 extending from the steam reservoir 14.

This nozzle 15 is connected to the I jetted from the steam reservoir 14.
The vapor of PA2 is sprayed onto the surface of the wafer 10 as the object to be dried. Note that an air valve 22 and a filter 23 are provided in the middle of the steam pipe 21.

Next, the operation of the vapor drying device configured as described above will be explained. First, the steam PA2 supplied from the canister 1 and accumulated in the steam tank 3 of the steam generating section 12 is heated to about 200°C by the heater 4 to generate steam.Next, in the steam tank 3 of the steam generating section 12, The generated IPA2 vapor is
It reaches the heated steam generating section 13 via a steam pipe 17. And block heaters 18, 18 . While the steam sequentially passes through the steam pipe 17 wrapped around the block heater 18, which is heated to approximately 200°C.
The steam is heated and vaporized by .... At this time, due to the bumping of the IPA 2 in the steam tank 3, bubbles 11, 11. ... enters the steam pipe 17, the block heaters 18, 1
8. Since it is heated by..., the above bubble 11
, 11. ... is vaporized by adhering to the inner wall of the steam pipe 17 and collapsing. Therefore, heating steam generation section 1
In the steam pipe 17 at the rear end of the steam pipe 3, the steam is completely vaporized and sent out. Thereafter, the heated steam of IPA2 completely vaporized in this way is temporarily stored in the steam reservoir 14. This is to prevent pulsation of the heated steam blown out from the nozzle 15. In addition, at this time, the heater 1 installed around the inside so that the internal steam does not condense
9,19. It is heated by... The heated steam ejected from the steam reservoir 14 by operating the air valve 22 is blown out from the nozzle 15 via the filter 23 and sprayed onto the surface of the wafer 10. At this time 1
For example, while moving the wafer 10 in a two-dimensional direction, heated steam is sprayed over the entire surface of the wafer 10. Then, since the surface temperature of the wafer 10 is lower than the IPP2O vapor temperature (approximately 82° C.), the IPA2 vapor condenses on the surface of the wafer 10 and gradually flows down in the form of droplets. As a result, moisture adhering to the surface of the wafer 10 is washed away. Thereafter, the surface temperature of the wafer 10 is increased by the spraying of the heated steam of IPA2, and when it becomes equal to or higher than the steam temperature, dew condensation stops, and the moisture that had adhered and the IPA2 that had been condensed until then is dried. . Thereby, the wafer 10 after being washed with water is dried.

Note that the heated steam generating section 13 is not limited to the structure shown in FIG. good.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the steam generation section 12
The IPA2 steam generated can be heated in the steam pipe 17 of the heated steam generating section 13 to completely vaporize it. Therefore, I in the heated steam blown out from the nozzle 15
Bubbles and the like caused by bumping of PA2 are no longer included, and it is possible to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the surface of the object (wafer 10) and watermarks from being caused by bumping of IPA2 as in the prior art. From this, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the object after drying, improve the quality of the product, and
Yield can also be improved. Further, since the steam temperature of the IPA 2 can be maintained at a high temperature, the throughput of drying the object (wafer 10) by spraying the heated steam can be improved. Therefore, work efficiency can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the vapor drying device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of heating and vaporization in the steam piping, and Fig. 3 is a configuration diagram showing the conventional vapor drying device. A schematic diagram, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the conventional problems. 1... Canister, 2... IPA, 3...
・Steam tank. 4... Heater, 10... Wafer, 12...
・Steam generation section, 13...Heating steam creation section, 14
...Steam reservoir, 15...Nozzle, 17...Steam piping, 18...Block heater, 19...
·heater. Applicant: Hitachi Electronics Engineering Co., Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A steam generating section that heats alcohol supplied from a canister in a steam tank to generate steam, a heated steam generating section that heats and vaporizes the steam in the steam piping extending from the steam generating section, and this heated steam. A vapor drying device characterized by comprising a steam reservoir for temporarily storing vapor after heating and a nozzle for spraying the steam ejected from the steam reservoir onto an object to be dried.