TWI792146B - Wafer soaking and cleeaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

A wafer soaking and cleaning device including a soaking tank, a lifting mechanism, and an agitation mechanism is provided. When a wafer cassette of the lifting mechanism moves toward the soaking tank disposed below, a plurality of wafers carried by a plurality of grooves of the wafer cassette are completely immersed in a chemical liquid in the soaking tank, and a lifting platform of the agitation mechanism is suitable for supporting a bottom of each wafer. The lifting platform then moves upward a specific distance to drive the wafers to move upward the specific distance, so that each wafer is free from a limitation of each wafer cassette groove, and the agitation mechanism drives the lifting platform so that the lifting platform drives the wafers for a reciprocating agitation.

Description

Wafer immersion cleaning device

The present invention relates to a wafer device; in detail, it relates to a wafer soaking and cleaning device.

With the miniaturization of semiconductor components and the continuous increase in the pattern density of wafer wire connections (interconnection), the wires gradually develop in the direction of smaller line width and line spacing (fine line width and space), which makes semiconductor cleaning and etching The manufacturing process is facing more severe challenges.

Currently, wafers or substrates usually require multiple cleaning and etching processes in order to ensure the final cleaning and etching effect and meet the process specification requirements of components.

At this stage, wafer cleaning is still dominated by wet cleaning. Wet cleaning is usually divided into immersion cleaning and single wafer spin spray cleaning.

Immersion cleaning can process multiple wafers at the same time, and has high cleaning efficiency. However, with the shrinking of the critical dimensions of semiconductor components, immersion cleaning has become increasingly unable to meet the requirements of wet cleaning. One of the reasons is that the removal rate of pollutants in immersion cleaning is limited to a certain extent. This is because even if high-purity chemical reagents and deionized water are used in cleaning, the pollutants cleaned from the wafer will still exist in the cleaning solution and cause secondary pollution to the substrate. In order to avoid secondary contamination of wafers, single-wafer spin spray cleaning is gradually replacing immersion cleaning.

Or, as shown in the "Wafer Wet Processing Workstation" patent (Certificate No.: TW I1710017B) issued by the applicant in this case, multiple wafers can be processed by immersion cleaning first, and then the multiple wafers can be processed after cleaning. The wafer is flipped 90 degrees so that multiple wafers are placed horizontally, and then taken out one by one to complete the follow-up treatment with single-wafer spin spray cleaning, so as to avoid secondary pollution while still improving the overall wafer quality. Round cleaning efficiency.

When performing immersion cleaning, in addition to completely immersing the wafer boat carrying multiple wafers into the soaking tank, the wafer boat must be controlled to lift and vibrate in the soaking tank so that the multiple wafers in the wafer boat can be aligned with the soaking tank. The chemical liquid inside is fully functional to achieve the effect of cleaning the wafer surface. In addition, when the wafer is carried in the wafer boat, in order to avoid the wafers from colliding with each other, the wafer will be correspondingly arranged in the wafer boat groove of the wafer boat. In this way, when the wafers in the wafer boat When a plurality of wafers are lifted and oscillated synchronously with the wafer boat, the oscillation movement of each wafer will always be limited by the groove of each wafer boat, which makes the flow field of the chemical liquid in the immersion tank when cleaning the wafers. Affected by the groove of the wafer boat, the flow field is hindered, and the two sides of the wafer near the groove of the wafer boat cannot fully or completely contact with the chemical liquid, thereby seriously affecting the cleaning effect.

In view of this, how to provide a wafer immersion cleaning device so that when the wafer is placed in the chemical liquid in the immersion tank for oscillation, the chemical liquid can completely contact the two sides of the wafer near the groove of the wafer boat, This is a problem that the industry needs to solve urgently.

One object of the present invention is to provide a wafer immersion and cleaning device. When the plurality of crystal boat grooves of the wafer boat carry multiple wafers and are completely immersed in the chemical liquid in the immersion tank, the jacking platform of the oscillation mechanism is suitable for lifting Holding a bottom of each wafer, the jacking platform then moves upward for a certain distance to drive the plurality of wafers to move upward for the certain distance, thereby exposing two sides of the wafer that were originally close to the groove of the wafer boat. The two sides of the wafer are exposed behind the groove of the wafer boat, and the oscillation mechanism drives the jacking platform, so that the jacking platform synchronously drives multiple wafers to reciprocate and oscillate, so that the chemical liquid can fully and completely contact the place close to the groove of the wafer boat The two sides of the wafer can improve the cleaning effect of the wafer.

To achieve the above purpose, the present invention discloses a wafer immersion cleaning device, comprising:

a soaking tank, the inner side of the soaking tank is used to hold a chemical liquid;

a lifting mechanism, arranged above the soaking tank, the lifting mechanism has a crystal boat, and the crystal boat has a plurality of crystal boat grooves to carry a plurality of wafers; and

An oscillating mechanism, adjacent to the immersion tank, the oscillating mechanism has a jacking platform connected to it, and the lifting platform is immersed in the chemical liquid in the immersion tank;

Wherein, when the wafer boat moves toward the dipping tank below, after the plurality of wafers carried by the plurality of wafer boat grooves are completely immersed in the chemical liquid, the jacking platform can be held on a bottom of each wafer, and the jacking platform then moves toward the bottom of each wafer. Move up a specific distance to drive a plurality of wafers to move up the specific distance, so that each wafer is free from the restriction of each wafer boat groove, and the oscillation mechanism drives the jacking platform, so that the jacking platform drives multiple wafers to perform a reciprocating oscillation .

In the wafer immersion cleaning device of the present invention, a plurality of wafer boat grooves are equidistant from each other.

In the wafer immersion cleaning device of the present invention, the wafer boat groove supports the wafer from the side and below the side of the wafer.

In the wafer immersion cleaning device of the present invention, when the lifting platform is arranged in the soaking tank, the lifting platform does not contact with a bottom of the soaking tank.

In the wafer immersion cleaning device of the present invention, the jacking platform has a plurality of jacking platform grooves, and each jacking platform groove is supported on the bottom of each wafer.

In the wafer immersion cleaning device of the present invention, the specified distance is between 5 mm and 10 mm.

In the wafer immersion cleaning device of the present invention, when the platform is lifted to drive a plurality of wafers for reciprocating oscillation, the frequency of reciprocating oscillation is between 30 rpm and 100 rpm.

In the wafer immersion cleaning device of the present invention, the reciprocating oscillation is oscillation up and down along a vertical direction.

In the wafer cleaning device of the present invention, a plurality of wafers are inserted into the grooves of the plurality of wafer boats along a vertical direction or a horizontal direction.

In the wafer cleaning device of the present invention, when the plurality of wafers are sent to the wafer immersion cleaning device by a horizontal transmission mechanism, the plurality of wafers are inserted into the grooves of the plurality of wafer boats along a horizontal direction, Then the crystal boat can be turned vertically by using the flip function of the lifting mechanism, so that the plurality of wafers are placed in a vertical direction, and then the crystal boat is immersed in the chemical liquid in the immersion tank downwards.

In the wafer cleaning device of the present invention, when the wafer boat moves toward the dipping tank below to completely immerse the plurality of wafers carried in the grooves of the plurality of wafer boats into the chemical liquid, the wafer boat remains fixed.

The present invention relates to a wafer immersion cleaning device, which is an improvement based on the patent (Certificate No.: TW I1710017B) previously granted to the applicant of this case for "Wafer Wet Processing Workstation". In the "Wafer Wet Processing Workstation" patent, a plurality of wafers loaded in the wafer boat are immersed in the cleaning solution vertically to the liquid surface of the cleaning solution in the immersion tank. After completing the cleaning process of the soaking tank, the wafer boat is raised to allow multiple wafers to leave the soaking tank, and the wafer boat is turned 90 degrees through the flipping part, so that the wafers that were originally set vertically are turned over to wafers that are set horizontally, and then Use the robotic arm to take out multiple wafers one by one for single wafer spin cleaning. In other words, the applicant's previous patent on "Wafer Wet Processing Workstation" is a one-stop "Soaking & Sing Wafer Spin Equipment" that combines immersion cleaning and single wafer spin spraying to improve overall wafer cleaning efficiency.

The wafer immersion cleaning device of the present invention is optimized and improved when the wafer is in the immersion cleaning stage. When a plurality of wafers are in immersion cleaning, the lifting platform of the wafer immersion cleaning device of the present invention can move upward for a specific distance to drive the plurality of wafers upward to move the specific distance, thereby revealing the Two sides of the wafer at the groove. After the two sides of the wafer are exposed to the groove of the wafer boat, the oscillating mechanism drives the jacking platform, so that the jacking platform drives a plurality of wafers to reciprocate and oscillate, so that the chemical liquid can fully and completely contact the surface that was originally close to the groove of the wafer boat. The two sides of the wafer improve the cleaning effect of the wafer.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the wafer immersion cleaning device 100 of the present invention includes a immersion tank 200 , a lifting mechanism 300 and an oscillating mechanism 400 . The inner side of the soaking tank 200 is used to accommodate a chemical liquid 500 . The lifting mechanism 300 is arranged above the immersion tank 200, the lifting mechanism 300 has a wafer boat 310, and the wafer boat 310 has a plurality of wafer boat grooves 312 to carry a plurality of wafers 600 (only a single wafer 600 is shown in the figure for convenience of illustration) ). The oscillating mechanism 400 is adjacent to the immersion tank 200 . The oscillating mechanism 400 has a jacking platform 410 connected thereto, and the jacking platform 410 is immersed in the chemical liquid 500 of the immersion tank 200 .

Use the flip function of the lifting mechanism 300 to flip the wafer boat 310 vertically (i.e. 90° flip), so that the plurality of wafers 600 are placed in a vertical direction, and then dip the wafer boat 310 downwards into the chemical liquid 500 in the soaking tank 200 .

When the plurality of wafers 600 are transferred to the top of the wafer soaking and cleaning device 100 by a horizontal transmission mechanism (not shown), the plurality of wafers 600 are first inserted into the plurality of wafer boat grooves 312 along a horizontal direction. . Then, referring to FIG. 2 , the wafer boat 310 is vertically flipped (i.e., 90-degree flip) by using the flip function of the lifting mechanism 300, so that the plurality of wafers 600 are placed in a vertical direction, and then the wafer boat 310 is immersed in the soaking tank downwards. 200 of the chemical liquid 500 , the plurality of wafers 600 carried by the plurality of wafer boat grooves 312 are completely immersed in the chemical liquid 500 .

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 (for the convenience of illustration, the drawing of the immersion tank 200 and the chemical liquid 500 has been omitted), when the plurality of wafers 600 are completely immersed in the chemical liquid 500, the jacking platform 410 is suitable for supporting each wafer A bottom 610 of 600. As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 , the jacking platform 410 then moves upward for a specific distance D to drive the plurality of wafers 600 upward for a specific distance D, so that each wafer 600 is free from the restriction of each wafer boat groove 312, The oscillating mechanism 400 drives the jacking platform 410 so that the jacking platform 410 synchronously drives a plurality of wafers 600 to perform a reciprocating oscillation.

In this embodiment, the plurality of wafer boat grooves 312 are equidistant from each other, and when the plurality of wafer boat grooves 312 of the wafer boat 310 carry a plurality of wafers 600, the wafer boat grooves 312 are formed from the side 620 of the wafer 600 And the lower side 622 supports the wafer 600 .

In a preferred embodiment, when the lifting platform 410 is disposed in the soaking tank 200 , the lifting platform 410 does not contact the bottom 210 of the soaking tank 200 . In other words, the lifting platform 410 is disposed above the bottom 210 of the soaking tank 200 . The purpose of this setting is to make the wafer boat 310 fully immersed in the soaking tank 200 and when the lifting platform 410 is supported on the bottom 610 of each wafer 600, the bottom 610 of the wafer 600 may not touch the bottom 210 of the soaking tank 200, The possible damage caused by the bottom 610 of the wafer 600 due to improper contact with the bottom 210 of the soaking tank 200 is avoided.

Please refer to FIG. 3 again. In the wafer immersion cleaning device 100 of the present invention, the lifting platform 410 further has a plurality of lifting platform grooves 412. When the plurality of wafers 600 carried by the plurality of wafer boat grooves 312 are completely immersed in the chemical liquid After 500, the bottom 610 of each wafer 600 can be supported by the lifting platform groove 412 of the lifting platform 410 .

In the wafer immersion cleaning device 100 of the present invention, the specific distance D that the lifting platform 410 drives the plurality of wafers 600 to move upward is between 5 mm˜10 mm. When the lifting platform 410 drives a plurality of wafers 600 to reciprocate up and down (that is, to oscillate up and down in a vertical direction), the frequency of the reciprocating oscillation is between 30 rpm and 100 rpm, and the amplitude of the reciprocating oscillation is is 4 mm.

Since the lifting platform 410 drives the plurality of wafers 600 to move upward for a specific distance D, the side 620 and the lower side 622 of each wafer 600 will be separated from the restrictions of the wafer boat grooves 312, so the wafers 600 are originally close to each other. The two sides 620 at the crystal boat groove 312 will be exposed from the crystal boat groove 312, so that the chemical liquid 500 can fully and completely contact the two sides 620 close to the crystal boat groove 312, preventing the chemical liquid 500 from being produced. The obstruction of the flow field improves the overall cleaning effect of the wafer 600.

It should be noted that although the lifting platform 410 drives the plurality of wafers 600 to move upwards for a specific distance D, the side 620 and the lower side 622 of each wafer 600 will be separated from the restriction of each wafer boat groove 312, but because The bottom 610 of each wafer 600 has been supported by the plurality of jacking platform grooves 412 of the jacking platform 410 at this time, and the arrangement of the plurality of jacking platform grooves 412 corresponds to the plurality of crystal boat grooves 312, and also has In this way, even if the wafers 600 are driven by the lifting platform 410 to reciprocate and vibrate, the wafers 600 will not collide with each other during the reciprocating oscillation.

In this embodiment, the plurality of wafers 600 are inserted into the plurality of wafer boat grooves 312 of the wafer boat 310 along a vertical direction, but it is not limited thereto. In other words, the plurality of wafers 600 can also be inserted in the plurality of wafer boat grooves 312 of the wafer boat 310 along a horizontal direction, and then the wafer boat 310 is turned over by the lifting mechanism 300 so that the plurality of wafers 600 are vertically arranged. After immersing in the chemical liquid 500 of the immersion tank 200 downwards.

In addition, when the wafer boat 310 moves toward the dipping tank 200 below to completely immerse the plurality of wafers 600 carried by the plurality of wafer boat grooves 312 into the chemical liquid 500 , the position of the wafer boat 310 remains fixed. In other words, during the period when the lifting platform 410 drives the plurality of wafers 600 to move upward for a specific distance D, and then drives the plurality of wafers 600 to reciprocate and oscillate, the wafer boat 310 is in a fixed state.

To sum up, after the wafer immersion cleaning device 100 of the present invention completely immerses the plurality of wafers 600 in the chemical liquid 500 of the immersion tank 200, the plurality of wafers 600 move upward for a certain period of time through the action of the lifting platform 410 The distance D is used to expose the two sides 620 of the wafer 600 that are originally close to the groove 312 of the wafer boat. After the two sides 620 of the wafer 600 are exposed in the groove 312 of the wafer boat, the oscillation mechanism 400 drives the jacking platform 410, so that the jacking platform 410 synchronously drives a plurality of wafers 600 to carry out the reciprocating oscillation of lifting type, so that the chemical liquid 500 can fully And completely contact the two sides 620 of the wafer 600 that are close to the groove 312 of the wafer boat, so as to improve the cleaning effect of the wafer 600 .

On the other hand, since the oscillating mechanism 400 of the present invention is set independently of the lifting mechanism 300, when the oscillating mechanism 400 performs the driving step, it only needs to consider the weight of the lifting platform 410 and the weight of the plurality of wafers 600. Compared with the driving force of synchronously lifting and oscillating the crystal boat in the prior art, the driving force can be further reduced, thereby helping to reduce power consumption and improve energy saving effect.

The above-mentioned embodiments are only used to illustrate the implementation of the present invention and explain the technical features of the present invention, and are not used to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Any changes or equivalence arrangements that can be easily accomplished by those familiar with the technology fall within the scope of the present invention, and the protection scope of the present invention should be based on the scope of the patent application.

100: Wafer immersion cleaning device 200: soak tank 210: bottom 300: lifting mechanism 310: crystal boat 312: crystal boat groove 400: Oscillating mechanism 410: Jack up the platform 412: Jack up platform groove 500: chemical liquid 600: Wafer 610: bottom 620: side 622: Below the side D: specific distance

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wafer cleaning device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the wafer boat completely immersed in the chemical liquid in the immersion tank included in the lifting mechanism of the wafer cleaning device of the present invention. 3 is a perspective view of the lifting platform of the oscillating mechanism of the wafer cleaning device of the present invention supported on the bottom of the wafer. FIG. 4 is a front view of the lifting platform of the oscillating mechanism of the wafer cleaning device of the present invention supported on the bottom of the wafer. 5 is a perspective view of the jacking platform of the oscillation mechanism of the wafer cleaning device of the present invention moving upward for a specific distance to drive the wafer upward for the specific distance. 6 is a front view of the jacking platform of the oscillation mechanism of the wafer cleaning device of the present invention moving upward for a specific distance to drive the wafer upward for the specific distance.

100: Wafer immersion cleaning device

200: soak tank

210: bottom

300: lifting mechanism

310: crystal boat

312: crystal boat groove

400: Oscillating mechanism

410: Jack up the platform

412: Jack up platform groove

500: chemical liquid

600: Wafer

Claims (10)

A wafer immersion cleaning device, comprising: a immersion tank, the inner side of the immersion tank is used to accommodate a chemical liquid; a lifting mechanism, arranged above the immersion tank, the lifting mechanism has a crystal boat, and the crystal boat has a plurality of crystal boats a groove to carry a plurality of wafers; and an oscillating mechanism adjacent to the immersion tank, the oscillating mechanism has a jacking platform connected to it, and the jacking platform is immersed in the chemical liquid of the immersion tank; wherein , when the crystal boat moves toward the dipping tank below, so that the plurality of wafers carried by the plurality of crystal boat grooves are completely immersed in the chemical liquid, the lifting platform is supported on a bottom of each of the wafers, the The jacking platform then moves upwards for a specific distance to drive the plurality of wafers to move upwards for the specific distance, and after each of the wafers is freed from the restriction of each of the crystal boat grooves, the oscillation mechanism drives the jacking platform so that the The jacking platform drives the plurality of wafers to perform a reciprocating oscillation; wherein, the height of the jacking platform is lower than the height of the top of the wafer boat after the top of the jacking platform moves upward for the specific distance, so that the wafer is lifted by the jacking platform After the platform is lifted, it is still located in the crystal boat and the soaking tank. The wafer immersion cleaning device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of wafer boat grooves are arranged equidistantly from each other, and the wafer boat grooves support the wafer from the side and below the side of the wafer. The wafer immersion cleaning device as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the lifting platform is set in the soaking tank, the lifting platform is not in contact with a bottom of the soaking tank. The wafer immersion cleaning device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the jacking platform has a plurality of jacking platform grooves, and each of the jacking platform grooves supports the bottom of each wafer. The wafer immersion cleaning device as described in Claim 1, wherein the specific distance is between 5 mm and 10 mm. The wafer immersion cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein when the lifting platform drives the plurality of wafers to perform the reciprocating oscillation, the frequency of the reciprocating oscillation is between 30rpm~100rpm. The wafer immersion cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the reciprocating oscillation is an up and down oscillation along a vertical direction. The wafer immersion cleaning device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of wafers are inserted into the grooves of the plurality of wafer boats along a vertical direction or a horizontal direction. The wafer immersion cleaning device as described in claim 1, wherein when the plurality of wafers are sent to the wafer immersion cleaning device by a horizontal transmission mechanism, the plurality of wafers are inserted into the plurality of wafer boats along a horizontal direction In the groove, the wafer boat can be turned vertically by using the flip function of the lifting mechanism, so that the plurality of wafers are in the vertical direction, and then the wafer boat is immersed in the chemical liquid in the immersion tank downwards. The wafer immersion cleaning device as described in Claim 1, wherein when the wafer boat moves toward the dipping tank below, after the plurality of wafers carried by the grooves of the plurality of wafer boats are completely immersed in the chemical liquid, the wafer boat Stay still.

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