KR101194697B1 - Decive for cleaning buffer zone in wet station - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a buffer zone cleaning apparatus for wet cleaning equipment, comprising: a wet cleaning zone for wet treating a substrate and a buffer zone for waiting for a substrate to be introduced into the wet cleaning zone, wherein the buffer zone includes: A buffer of the wet cleaning equipment, comprising: a housing provided to receive the plurality of substrates therein; a substrate support provided in the housing to support the plurality of substrates; and a cleaning material to clean the interior of the housing and the substrate support. Provide zone cleaning device. According to the present invention, since the inside of the buffer zone is kept clean, substrate contamination is prevented in the buffer zone, thereby improving the overall substrate cleaning efficiency.

Wet cleaning, buffer zones, wet cleaning zones, substrates, cleaning materials

Description

Buffer zone cleaning device for wet cleaning equipment {Decive for cleaning buffer zone in wet station}

1 is a plan view showing a conventional wet cleaning equipment.

Figure 2 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the buffer zone cleaning apparatus of the wet cleaning equipment according to the present invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a buffer zone cleaning apparatus for wet cleaning equipment according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is a side cross-sectional view schematically showing a buffer zone cleaning apparatus of the wet cleaning equipment according to the present invention.

Description of the Related Art [0002]

100 housing 110 substrate support

120: drain port 200: cleaning substrate

210: injection means 211: wet nozzle

212: dry nozzle 220: driving means

221: Guide 222: Slider

900: chemical supply zone 910: chuck cleaner

920: buffer zone 930: wet cleaning zone

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a buffer zone cleaning apparatus for wet cleaning equipment, and more particularly, to a buffer zone cleaning apparatus for wet cleaning equipment for cleaning a buffer zone which is an atmosphere of a substrate to be wet treated with a chemical liquid.

In general, a semiconductor substrate used for manufacturing a semiconductor device, for example, a silicon wafer may be contaminated by various particles, metal impurities, organic matters, and so on, so that the yield and reliability of a product may be seriously degraded. A cleaning process is performed to remove the above contaminants.

In particular, as the design rule of the semiconductor device circuit pattern is refined, the cleaning process for removing such contaminants becomes more important. As such a method of cleaning a semiconductor substrate, a dry cleaning method by plasma treatment or ultraviolet irradiation, and a wet cleaning method using a cleaning solution have been proposed.

The dry cleaning method has advantages such as excellent uniformity for cleaning the substrate, less potential for reattachment of contaminants, and continuity with other dry processes.

However, the dry cleaning method is not suitable for removing a large amount of contaminants, is not advantageous for removing particles, and has limitations such as not being able to completely eliminate the fear of secondary pollution.

In addition, the dry cleaning method is inconvenient that a situation such as a wet cleaning process or a rinse treatment process using pure water may be performed again after the process treatment.

On the other hand, the wet cleaning method is a semiconductor process because it has the advantages of low equipment cost and excellent throughput, simultaneous removal of various kinds of contamination, and simultaneous batch and front and rear cleaning depending on the installation method. In the mainstream.

In particular, in the cleaning of the photomask substrate for reduction projection exposure to which the design rule is generally applied five times or more larger than that of the semiconductor substrate, the above-described wet cleaning method is mainly adopted.

1 is a plan view showing a conventional wet cleaning equipment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional wet cleaning equipment is a front type device having, for example, a loading unit 11 on which a substrate is loaded and an unloading unit 12 on which a substrate is unloaded. A part 11 is installed and the unloading part 12 is installed on the other side, and a plurality of wet cleaning zones 23 to 28 provide a wet process progressing direction in a section between the loading part 11 and the unloading part 12. And a chemical liquid supply zone 20 installed at the rear side of the wet cleaning zones 23 to 28 to supply the chemical liquid for wet cleaning.

For example, a load F (foub), in which 25 sheets of substrates are pre-loaded, is loaded on the loading part 11, and the substrate inside the pull F is loaded in various loading means (not shown) in the loading part 11. It is carried out to the outside of the pull (F) by, for example, is gripped by the substrate transport robot 30 in units of 50, the pull (F) is transferred to the unloading unit 12 to receive the cleaned substrate again.

As described above, the substrate group having 50 substrates as one unit is sequentially wet-cleaned by dipping in the wet cleaning zones 23 to 28 in the state of being held by the substrate transfer robot 30, and finally unloading. It is conveyed to the part 12.

For example, the wet cleaning zones 23 to 28 may store various types of cleaning solutions, respectively, and wet or rinse the substrate with the cleaning solution.

When the substrate F is taken out, the F is transferred to the unloading unit 12 through a separate conveying path and is in a standby state, and when the wet-cleaned substrate group is transferred to the unloading unit 12, the unloading unit 12 Is accommodated by various storage means (not shown) in

On the other hand, between the wet cleaning zone 28 and the unloading portion 12 may include a dry zone 29 for the final dry processing of the substrate, the loading rate between the loading portion 11 and the wet cleaning zone (23) A buffer zone 21 for waiting at least one unit of substrate for improvement and a chuck cleaner 22 for cleaning the substrate transfer robot 30 are provided.

Unlike the wet cleaning zones 23 to 28, the buffer zone 21 is not provided with a separate cleaning device even though it is a place where the substrate is waiting.

Therefore, the buffer zone 21 may be introduced by the fume generated in the wet clean zones 23 to 28 when the cover (not shown) of the wet clean zones 23 to 28 is opened and closed, and the wet clean zone ( Particles and the like may be transferred from the substrate transport robot 30 reciprocating 23 to 28, and the substrate may be contaminated together when the substrate is stored in a state in which the inside is contaminated by contaminants such as fumes and particles. There was a problem.

In addition, the buffer zone 21 has a water for detecting a substrate and a light emitting sensor (not shown) installed therein. The pollutants may be vaporized by nitrogen gas for purifying the water and the light emitting sensor, thereby further increasing the degree of contamination. There was a problem.

As such, when the buffer zone 21 is contaminated and contaminants are vaporized and diffused to other electric field parts, there is a disadvantage of promoting aging of the equipment.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a buffer zone cleaning apparatus for wet cleaning equipment that cleans the inside of a buffer zone in which a substrate is waiting to prevent the cause of substrate contamination.

The present invention for achieving the above object, a wet type comprising a plurality of wet cleaning zones, a buffer zone for the substrate to be put into the wet cleaning zone, and a chemical liquid supply zone for supplying the chemical liquid to the wet cleaning zone. A cleaning apparatus comprising: a housing installed in the buffer zone to receive a plurality of substrates therein; a substrate support for supporting the plurality of substrates in the housing; and a substrate support and the inside of the housing while traveling inside the housing. And a cleaning substrate to be cleaned.

The cleaning substrate includes injection means for injecting a cleaning fluid into the housing and the substrate support, and driving means for driving the injection means within the housing.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the following embodiments are provided to those skilled in the art to fully understand the present invention, and may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention is limited to the embodiments described below. It is not. Wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

Figure 2 is a plan view showing one embodiment of the buffer zone cleaning device of the wet cleaning equipment according to the present invention, Figure 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment schematically showing the buffer zone cleaning device of the wet cleaning equipment according to the present invention Figure 4 is a side cross-sectional view schematically showing an embodiment of the buffer zone cleaning apparatus of the wet cleaning equipment according to the present invention.

2 to 4, the buffer zone cleaning apparatus of the wet cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed in the buffer zone 920 and the housing 100 for receiving a plurality of substrates therein, and And a substrate support 110 installed in the housing 100 to support a plurality of substrates, and a cleaning substrate 200 for cleaning the interior of the housing 100 and the substrate support 110.

As described above in the related art, the buffer zone 920 may be installed between the chuck cleaner 910 and the wet cleaning zone 930, and the wet cleaning zone 930 may be rearward to receive the chemical liquid. The chemical supply zone 900 may be further installed.

The housing 100 is a component that is installed in the buffer zone 920 and has a space in which an upper surface thereof is opened to accommodate a substrate therein. For example, the substrate support 110 may be installed in the internal space of the housing 100 so that the substrate may be vertically supported, and the substrate support 110 may vertically support the substrate by several units.

For example, the substrate support 110 vertically supports one unit of the substrate in a face-to-face manner, that is, a pair of two substrates are alternately arranged so that the pattern forming surfaces face each other.

When contaminants are included in the substrate support 110 and the housing 100, the contaminant may be transferred to the substrate waiting to enter the buffer zone 920. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a cleaning substrate 200 for removing contaminants of the housing 100 and the substrate support 110 is provided.

In the above, the cleaning substrate 200 is the injection means 210 for injecting the cleaning fluid to the interior of the housing 100 and the substrate support 110, and the injection means 210 to run in the housing 100 It is preferable to include the driving means 220.

Therefore, the substrate support 110 and the housing 100 are cleaned by a cleaning fluid, and in particular, the injection means 210 travels inside the housing 100 and injects fluid, so the inside of the housing 100 and the substrate support ( Each portion of 110) has the advantage that it can be cleaned without omission.

In the above, the injection means 210 preferably comprises a wet nozzle 211 for injecting a cleaning liquid, and a dry nozzle 212 for injecting a drying gas.

For example, the wet nozzle 211 injects a cleaning liquid such as deionized water or pure water, and the dry nozzle 212 injects a cleaning gas such as nitrogen gas (N ₂ gas). More preferred.

Therefore, the inside of the housing 100 and the substrate support 110 may be wet-cleaned by the wet nozzle 211. After the wet-cleaning process is completed, the drying process is performed by the dry nozzle to quickly remove the residual cleaning liquid. There is an advantage that the time required for can be significantly shortened.

Meanwhile, in the present exemplary embodiment, the injection means 210 is provided with the wet nozzle 211 and the dry nozzle 212, respectively, but the injection means 210 includes a single nozzle and the cleaning liquid is disposed on the nozzle. Of course, it can be configured to supply only the injection or to supply only the cleaning gas for injection. In addition, the method of switching and supplying the type of supply fluid to the nozzle, for example, may be considered to be configured to supply and spray the cleaning gas after supplying and spraying the cleaning liquid.

As such, the injection means 210 has an advantage that the equipment can be further simplified by alternately spraying the cleaning liquid or the drying gas to the single nozzle by alternately supplying the cleaning liquid or the drying gas.

In the above, the driving means 220 is a guide 221 is installed in a direction crossing the inside of the housing 100, the slider 222 coupled to the injection means 210 and linearly reciprocating along the guide 221 It is preferable to include.

The slider 222 should be configured to be linearly reciprocated along the guide 221. For example, the guide 221 may be a conventional LM guide 221. As described above, various driving methods for linearly reciprocating the slider 222 on the guide 221 may be applied. For example, a stator (not shown) may be installed on one side of the slider 222 along the driving direction of the slider 222, and the slider 222 may be disposed on the guide 221. A linear motor driving method of installing a mover (not shown) corresponding to the stator to linearly reciprocate the slider 222 on the guide 221 may be applied.

In another example, the slider 222 may be considered to be a linear reciprocating drive to the guide 221 in a ball screw method, and thus, the slider 222 and the guide 221 may be variously used in a linear reciprocating driving method in a general industry. Of course, the driving method can be applied.

As such, the injection means 210 sprays the cleaning fluid across the inside of the housing 100 by the traveling means 220 having a relatively simple structure, and thus uniformly injects the cleaning fluid into the housing 100 and the substrate support 110. There is an advantage to improve the cleaning efficiency.

In the above, the injection means 210 coupled to the slider 222 preferably waits in the chemical supply zone 900.

Specifically, the guide 221 extends across the inside of the housing 100 of the buffer zone 920 to the chemical liquid supply zone 900, the wet of the injection means 210 coupled to the slider 222 The nozzle 211 and the dry nozzle 212 may be configured to stand by in the chemical supply zone 900.

Therefore, the wet nozzle 211 and the dry nozzle 212 of the injection means 210 retreat on the transfer path of the transfer robot 30 (see FIG. 1) and stand by in the chemical liquid supply zone 900, so that mutual interference may be avoided. There are advantages to it.

Since the chemical liquid supply zone 900 is a space in which piping facilities, such as a pipe, a valve, and a pump, are provided for supplying the chemical liquid to the wet cleaning zone 930, there is a considerable free space. It can be used as a normal standby position of.

For example, the injection means 210 is normally in the state of waiting in the chemical liquid supply zone 900, when the cleaning of the buffer zone 920 is advanced to the buffer zone 920 side and the liquid for cleaning in the wet nozzle (211) Spray and wait for a predetermined time at the maximum forward position (hidden line in FIG. 2) to remove the cleaning liquid and the contaminants of the inner wall surface of the housing 100 and the substrate support 110 by mutual reaction.

As such, when the contaminants of the inner wall surface of the housing 100 and the substrate support 110 are removed by the cleaning liquid, the injection means 210 is retracted and restored to the chemical supply zone 900 at the maximum forward position. The drying gas is sprayed to remove residual liquid in the buffer zone 920.

In the above, the housing 100 is preferably formed such that the bottom surface is inclined to one side further includes a drain port 120 at the bottom end. Therefore, there is an advantage that the cleaning liquid injected from the injection means 210 can be quickly discharged through the drain port 120 without being stagnated in the housing 100.

Although the present invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and the general knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs without departing from the concept of the present invention. Various changes and modifications are possible by the person having it.

As described above, the present invention maintains a clean state inside the buffer zone, thereby preventing substrate contamination inside the buffer zone, thereby improving the overall substrate cleaning efficiency.

In addition, the present invention has the effect that the injection means can travel in the housing and clean the inside of the housing and the substrate support without missing.

In addition, the present invention has the advantage that the drying process is performed by the drying nozzle after the wet cleaning process is completed, so that the residual cleaning liquid is quickly removed, so that the drying time after the wet cleaning process can be significantly shortened.

In addition, the present invention has the advantage that the mutual interference phenomenon can be avoided because the injection means is retracted on the transport path of the transport robot and waiting in the chemical liquid supply zone.

In addition, the present invention has the effect that the cleaning liquid injected from the injection means can be quickly discharged through the drain port without stagnant in the housing.

Claims (7)

In a wet cleaning apparatus comprising a wet cleaning zone for wet-processing a substrate, and a buffer zone in which the substrate to be put into the wet cleaning zone stands by, A housing installed in the buffer zone to accommodate a plurality of substrates therein; A substrate support installed in the housing to support a plurality of substrates; And And a cleaning substrate for cleaning the inside of the housing and the substrate support. The method of claim 1, The cleaning material, Injection means for injecting a cleaning fluid into the housing and the substrate support; And The buffer zone cleaning device of the wet cleaning device comprising a driving means for driving the injection means in the housing. 3. The method of claim 2, The injection means, A buffer zone cleaning apparatus for wet cleaning equipment including a single nozzle for alternately supplying cleaning liquid or drying gas to be alternately supplied. 3. The method of claim 2, The injection means, A wet nozzle for spraying a cleaning liquid; And Buffer zone cleaning device for wet cleaning equipment comprising a dry nozzle for injecting a drying gas. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, The driving means, A guide installed in a direction crossing the inside of the housing; And The buffer zone cleaning apparatus of the wet cleaning equipment comprising a slider coupled to the injection means and the linear reciprocating along the guide. The method of claim 5, The wet cleaning equipment further includes a chemical liquid supply zone to the rear to supply the chemical liquid to the wet cleaning zone, And the spraying means coupled to the slider waits in the chemical supply zone. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, The housing, The bottom surface is formed to be inclined to one side, the buffer zone cleaning device of the wet cleaning equipment further comprises a drain port at the lower end.

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