KR20090039553A - Compliance tester for cleaning parts for substrate cleaning equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

An inspection apparatus capable of determining suitability of cleaning components for a substrate cleaning apparatus is disclosed. The inspection apparatus includes a cleaning unit for receiving a test object to form a test environment for the test object, a pure water line for supplying pure water to the cleaning unit, and a test unit for detecting particles contained in the pure water overflowing from the cleaning unit. It includes. Since the particles contained in the pure water are particles generated by the inspected object, it is possible to simply and accurately determine whether the inspected object is suitable for cleaning. In addition, it is possible to determine the suitability of the inspected object even if it is not manufactured with the cleaning parts used in the actual cleaning device, thereby reducing the cost and time required for the inspection.

Description

Compatibility check device for cleaning parts for substrate cleaning equipment {APPARATUS FOR TESTING SUITABILITY OF PARTS OF WET CLEANING APPARATUS}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus for a substrate, and more particularly, to an apparatus for checking the suitability of a cleaning component for determining the influence of the material of the cleaning component used in the cleaning apparatus in the cleaning process.

In general, a semiconductor device is manufactured by repeatedly performing unit processes such as deposition, photolithography, etching, chemical mechanical polishing, cleaning, and drying on a semiconductor substrate.

During each unit process, contaminants such as foreign matter or unnecessary films may be attached to the surface of the semiconductor substrate. Since such contaminants adversely affect the yield and reliability of the product, a cleaning process for removing contaminants attached to the substrate is performed in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Recently, as the pattern formed on the semiconductor substrate is miniaturized and the aspect ratio of the pattern increases, the importance of the cleaning process is gradually increased.

The apparatus for performing the cleaning process is divided into a batch type cleaning apparatus for simultaneously cleaning a plurality of semiconductor substrates and a sheet type cleaning apparatus for cleaning semiconductor substrates in sheet units.

For example, a wet station performing a cleaning process may be formed by immersing a plurality of semiconductor substrates in a cleaning tank containing various cleaning liquids for removing various contaminants such as particles, organic pollution, natural oxide films, and ionic impurities. The cleaning process is performed.

Here, each of the cleaning parts constituting the wet cleaning device should be selected as a material that does not generate particles during the cleaning process. When particles are generated in the cleaning component, the particles are contaminated by the particles and the cleaning effect is reduced. Moreover, the particles are attached to the substrate, causing defects in subsequent semiconductor manufacturing processes.

That is, an inspection is necessary to determine whether the cleaning component can be applied to the cleaning apparatus and the material of a suitable cleaning component. Conventionally, as a test method for determining whether a material of the cleaning component is suitable for a cleaning apparatus, a cleaning component is manufactured from a material to be inspected to actually perform a cleaning process on a substrate in the cleaning apparatus to which the manufactured cleaning component is applied. There was a method of inspecting particles on the surface of the substrate on which the cleaning was completed.

However, according to the inspection method, the particles detected on the surface of the substrate are not only affected by the cleaning component but also affected by the processes performed before the cleaning process on the substrate. Therefore, the conventional inspection method has a problem that it is difficult to accurately determine the influence and suitability of the parts to be evaluated.

In addition, in order to perform the conventional inspection method, it is necessary to make an actual cleaning component using the material to be inspected and apply it to the cleaning device and the cleaning process. Therefore, the existing inspection method has a problem that the cost and time for the inspection is greatly consumed. In addition, when the inspection result is bad, there was a problem that the cost of the waste was wasted because the cleaning parts that were the inspection target is discarded.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and to provide a device for checking the suitability of a cleaning component which can directly inspect the suitability of the cleaning component in the cleaning apparatus without producing the actual cleaning component.

In addition, the present invention is to provide an apparatus for checking the suitability of a cleaning component capable of inspecting only the effect of the cleaning component.

According to embodiments of the present invention for achieving the above object of the present invention, a cleaning unit for forming an inspection environment similar to the working environment in which the inspected object is actually used, and the pure water provided in the cleaning unit to be discharged from the cleaning unit. It includes a test unit for detecting the particles contained in. According to this embodiment, by detecting the particles contained in the pure water passing through the test object, it is possible to determine whether the test object is generated during the actual cleaning process, through which the test object is a cleaning component of the cleaning device It can be used to determine whether it can be used or not.

In an embodiment, the cleaning unit is connected to the pure water line and the pure water is continuously introduced, the inner tank for receiving the pure water and the inspected object to be immersed in the pure water, and provided on the outer side of the inner tank from the inner tank It is made of a tub that contains pure water that overflows.

In an embodiment, the inspection unit is a particle counting device for detecting particles contained in the pure water. That is, the inspection unit is connected to the outer tank, the inspection volume for receiving the pure water introduced from the outer tank, the light source unit for irradiating light to the inspection volume and the detection unit for detecting the particles using the light detected in the inspection volume It includes. For example, the light source unit is a laser capable of detecting particles of a predetermined size. The detection unit detects scattered light in which light emitted from the light source unit is scattered by particles included in the inspection volume. In detail, the detector converts the intensity of the detected scattered light into the size of particles and converts the detection frequency of the scattered light into the number of particles.

According to the present invention, first, it is possible to inspect the suitability of the cleaning part directly in the cleaning device by using any test object formed of a material to be inspected without producing an actual cleaning part. Therefore, the cost and time for manufacturing a cleaning component can be saved.

Second, instead of inspecting the surface of the substrate, since the particles contained in the pure water passed through the test object is measured, the influence of the process other than the cleaning process can be excluded. In addition, only the influence of the cleaning process can be inspected, thereby improving the accuracy and reliability of the inspection results.

Third, the inspection unit is provided in-line in the washing apparatus, so that the structure of the apparatus is simplified. In addition, since the inspection can be performed directly in the cleaning apparatus, the time required for the inspection can be saved.

As described above, although described with reference to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art various modifications and variations of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the claims below I can understand that you can.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited or restricted by the embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a suitability inspection apparatus of a component for a cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the inspection unit of FIG. 1.

1 and 2, the inspection apparatus for the conformity test is composed of a cleaning unit 100 accommodated with the inspected object 10 and an inspection unit 130 provided in the cleaning unit 100.

The cleaning unit 100 is an apparatus for forming an inspection environment under the same conditions as a working environment in which the inspected object 10 is actually used. For example, the cleaning unit 100 may be a wet cleaning apparatus for a semiconductor substrate. Hereinafter, a wet cleaning apparatus will be described as an example of the cleaning unit 100.

However, the cleaning unit 100 is not limited to the cleaning device, and any device capable of forming the same environment as that of pure water is used.

The inspected object 10 is an object to be inspected and is, for example, a cleaning component used in a wet cleaning apparatus for a semiconductor substrate. However, the inspected object 10 does not have to be made of a cleaning component used in an actual cleaning device, and has any shape as an object having the same material as the cleaning component.

In detail, the cleaning unit 100 includes an inner tank 110, an outer tank 120, and a pure water line 111.

The inner tank 110 accommodates the inspected object 10 and provides an inspection environment under the same conditions as a working environment in which the inspected object 10 is to be used. For example, in the inner tank 110, pure water 101 is accommodated, and the inspected object 10 is immersed in the pure water 101.

Here, since it is a test for determining the influence of the inspected object 10, only the inspected object 10 and the pure water 101 are accommodated in the inner tank 110.

One side of the inner tank 110 is connected to the pure water line 111 and the pure water supply unit 115 for supplying the pure water 101 to the inner tank 110, the pure water 101 is continuously supplied into the inner tank 110. do. The pure water 101 fills the inner tank 110, and the pure water 101 that overflows the capacity of the inner tank 110 is accommodated in the outer tank 120.

The outer tub 120 is provided outside the inner tub 110 to accommodate the pure water 101 that overflows from the inner tub 110. For example, the outer tub 120 is formed along the circumference of the inner tub 110 to accommodate the pure water 101 that overflows in the inner tub 110.

In addition, the outer tub 120 is formed to have a smaller volume than the inner tub 110 and is provided on the inner tub 110 so that the pure water 101 may be accommodated. For example, the outer tub 120 and the inner tub 110 are formed at the upper end of the same plane.

The inspection unit 130 is connected to the outer tub 120, it is formed so that a predetermined amount of pure water 101 flows from the outer tub 120. In addition, an inspection line 141 connecting the inspection unit 130 and the outer tub 120 is provided. For example, the inspection line 141 is connected to the lower portion of the outer tub 120.

The inspection unit 130 detects particles P generated from the inspected object 10 by detecting particles P included in the pure water 101 that has passed through the inspected object 10, and detects the particles. Based on the results, it may be determined whether the test object 10 is suitable for cleaning.

That is, the inspected object 10 is an object made of a material of a cleaning component used in the cleaning device, and the particles P are immersed in the pure water 101 in the same state as the environment in which the inspected object 10 is to be used. Should not occur. Particle P is generated in the inspected object 10 when the cleaning component is manufactured using the inspected object 10 and applied to an actual cleaning device. Particle P is generated in the cleaning process. Therefore, by checking the number of particles (P) generated in the inspected object 10, it is possible to determine the suitability of the inspected object (10).

The test unit 130 is generated from the test object 10 by sampling a predetermined amount of pure water 101 from the cleaning unit 100 and detecting particles P included in the pure water 101. Inspect the particle (P). For example, the inspection unit 130 is a particle counter (LPC) that counts the number of particles P included in a predetermined inspection volume CV.

In detail, the inspection unit 130 includes an inspection volume CV, a light source unit 131, and a detection unit 135.

The inspection volume CV is connected to the cleaning unit 100 to receive the pure water 101 flowing from the cleaning unit 100.

The light source unit 131 irradiates light to the inspection volume CV. For example, the light source unit 131 is a laser. In this embodiment, a laser capable of detecting particles P having a size of 0.05 to 0.1 μm is used.

The light source unit 131 may be a light source for irradiating white light.

The detection unit 135 detects particles P introduced into the inspection volume CV through light detected by the inspection volume CV.

Here, the inspection unit 130 detects the particle P by using light emitted from the inspection volume CV and scattering the light by the particle P.

On the other hand, one side of the inspection unit 130 is provided with an exhaust line 142 for discharging the pure water 101 introduced into the inspection unit 130. In addition, the exhaust line 142 may be provided with an exhaust valve 143 for selectively opening and closing the exhaust line 142. In addition, the inspection line 141 may be provided with a valve (not shown) for opening and closing the inspection line 141 so that the pure water 101 can be selectively introduced into the inspection unit 130.

Looking at the method for detecting the particle (P) in the inspection unit 130 as follows.

First, the test object 10 formed of the target material to be tested is introduced into the inner tank 110. The inner tank 110 is filled with pure water 101, and as the pure water 101 continuously flows, the pure water 101 fills the inner tank 110 and overflows to the outer tank 120.

Here, in order to improve the accuracy of the test results by the inspected object 10, the conformity test according to the present embodiment is filled with only the pure water 101 in the cleaning unit 100 before the inspected object 10 is injected. In this state, it is preferable to perform the preliminary inspection to confirm the particles P by overflowing the pure water 101. That is, the preliminary inspection may improve the accuracy and reliability of the inspection by checking whether there is any particle P present in the state in which only the pure water 101 is overflowed in the cleaning unit 100. have.

In addition, there is an effect of cleaning the particles (P) and the like present in the cleaning unit 100 by overflowing the pure water 101 for the preliminary inspection.

In the inner tank 110, a predetermined particle (P) is generated from the inspected object (10) by the pure water (101), the particle (P) is diffused into the inner tank (110), It flows out into the outer tank 120 along the flow of the pure water 101.

The pure water 101 overflowed into the outer tub 120 is introduced into the inspection unit 130 through the inspection line 141 in the outer tub 120. In addition, the inspection volume CV includes the pure water 101 introduced from the outer tank 120 and the particles P included in the pure water 101.

When light is irradiated to the inspection volume CV, scattering occurs due to the particles P in the inspection volume CV.

The light scattered as described above may be detected by the detection unit 135 to detect the number of particles P in the inspection volume CV. In detail, the detector 135 detects light scattered from the inspection volume CV and generates an electrical signal in proportion to the intensity of the scattered light detected as described above. The intensity of the electrical signal is converted to the size of the particle P, and the frequency at which the electrical signal appears is converted to the number of particles P.

Figure 3 is a graph showing the test results using the test apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a result of detecting particles having a size of 0.05 μm and 0.10 μm by the above-described inspection method using the inspection apparatus.

According to the present invention, the process of manufacturing the inspected object 10 as an actual cleaning component and applying it to an actual cleaning device can be omitted. Therefore, it is possible to save time and cost required to check the suitability of the inspected object 10. In addition, since the inspection can be performed inline in the cleaning unit 100 and the inspection result can be known, the inspection can be performed quickly.

In addition, since the inspection is performed using the pure water 101 that overflows in the cleaning unit 100 accommodated only the inspected object 10, the particle P detected as a result of the inspection is a particle generated in the inspected object 10. Only (P) is detected. Therefore, the test result 10 may determine whether the test object 10 generates particles in the actual cleaning process. In addition, the inspection object 10 can determine the suitability as the cleaning component through the inspection result.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an apparatus for checking suitability of cleaning components for a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a block diagram for explaining the inspection unit of FIG.

Figure 3 is a graph for explaining the test results of the suitability of the cleaning component for cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: test object 100: cleaning unit

101: pure 110: inner

111: pure water line 115: pure water supply

120: outer tank 130: inspection unit

131: light source unit 135: detection unit

141: inspection line 142: exhaust line

143: inspection line valve

CV: Inspection volume P: Particles

Claims (7)

A cleaning unit accommodating a test subject and forming a test environment for the test subject; Pure water line for supplying pure water to the cleaning unit; A inspection unit connected to the washing unit to detect particles contained in pure water flowing from the washing unit; Appropriate inspection apparatus for cleaning components for substrate cleaning apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 1, The cleaning unit, An inner tank connected to the pure line to receive pure water and the inspected object; An outer tub provided outside the inner tub to accommodate pure water overflowing from the inner tub; Appropriate inspection apparatus for cleaning components for substrate cleaning apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 2, The inspection unit, An inspection volume connected with the outer tank to receive the pure water introduced from the outer tank; A light source unit irradiating light onto the inspection volume; And A detector for detecting particles using light detected in the inspection volume; Appropriate inspection apparatus for cleaning components for substrate cleaning apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 3, The detection unit detects scattered light detected in the inspection volume The method of claim 4, wherein And the detection unit converts the detected scattered light intensity into a particle size and converts the detected frequency of the scattered light into a number of particles. The method of claim 3, And the light source unit is a laser. The method of claim 1, And a valve for selectively blocking pure water flowing into the inspection unit.

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