JPH0357218A - Vaporizer and vapor drying apparatus using same - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to steam (vapor) generation technology, particularly to vapor generation technology.
Regarding the Hepa drying technology that uses 1 for drying and cleaning,
For example, it relates to techniques that can be effectively used to dry wafers after washing with water in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices. [Prior Art] In the II manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, an organic solvent such as iso-propyl alcohol is stored at the bottom of a vapor tank as a device for drying wafers after washing with water, and this organic solvent is heated to dry the wafer. Vapor is generated, multiple wafers are held in a jig and immersed in this vapor atmosphere, and the temperature difference between the wafers and the vapor replaces water with the organic solvent in the form of vapor droplets. There are vapor drying devices that are designed to dry wafers by evaporating a solvent.

Incidentally, examples that describe the Hepa drying device include Lum Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-168072 and Japanese Utility Model Application No. 59-1382.
There is a publication No. 32.

[The invention aims to solve a! Title]

In such vapor drying equipment, vapor is generated by boiling the organic solvent, so if you try to generate a large amount of hepa, the organic solvent that is the source of the vapor will boil, and during this boiling Due to the bursting of the bubbles, fine particles in the organic solvent get mixed into the baker, and as a result, the wafers are
The present inventors have revealed that there is a problem of r3 staining.

An object of the present invention is to provide a steam generator capable of generating highly clean steam, and a barber drying ft using the same to realize highly clean drying. The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present invention and the accompanying drawings.

[Means to solve the problem]

An overview of typical inventions disclosed in this application is as follows. That is, it is provided with a porous member in which microscopic spaces are formed, a liquid supply means for supplying and impregnating the porous member with a liquid serving as a vapor source, and a heating means for heating the porous member. ．． [Operation] According to the above-described means, the liquid impregnated into the porous member is vaporized inside the heated porous member, and is ejected as vapor from the micropores on the surface of the porous member. At this time, since the fine particles contained in the liquid cannot pass through the fine pores of the porous member, they do not mix into the vapor. Therefore, the steam emitted from this steam generator can maintain a high level of cleanliness. Therefore, in a vapor drying apparatus in which this steam generating apparatus is used, contamination of the processed material by vapor (steam) can be prevented.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a vapor drying apparatus in which a steam generator according to an embodiment of the present invention is used.

In this embodiment, the steam generating device according to the present invention is configured to be included in a vapor drying device to generate vapor of an aqueous solvent, and this vapor drying device 1 is made of quartz glass or the like and is approximately a box Vapor tank 2 with a well-defined shape
It is equipped with An entrance/exit 3 is provided in the upper part of the vapor tank 2 for taking in and out a cartridge nozzle serving as a jig for holding objects to be processed, and a door 4 is attached to this entrance/exit 3 so as to be openable and closable. Steam generator 5 used in this vapor dryer
The apparatus is equipped with a sintered metal member 6 as a porous member in which microscopic spaces are formed, and the sintered metal member 6 is one commonly used in filters for filtering impurities in liquid. In other words, the entire sintered alloy part 6 is larger than the molecules of the i-containing solvent described later, and contains more particles than fine particles that adhere to wafers as objects to be processed in the pre-process of the semiconductor device manufacturing process. Small pores are also formed in the wafer, and when the organic solvent enters these pores, it is possible to filter out particulates that may become foreign to the wafer from the organic solvent. A hollow body 7 for impregnating with a solvent is buried inside this sintered alloy member 6, and a large number of small holes 8 are opened in this hollow body 7 and are arranged substantially uniformly throughout the hollow body 7. ing. A liquid supply path 9 is inserted into the hollow body 7 and connected to the sintered metal member 6 in a submerged manner. Fluidly connected to lO. For example, the tank 10 contains iso-
An organic solvent 11 such as probil alcohol (rPA), trichlene or methanol alcohol is stored, and this organic solvent 11 is supplied to the hollow body 7 through the liquid supply path 9, and the sintered alloy member 6 is filled with the small holes 8. It is designed to be impregnated with One end of a return canal 12 is fluidly connected to the tank 10, and the other end of the ii2i path L2 is fluidly connected to the bottom of the vapor tank 2 via a bomb L3. In other words, the 8 liter solvent 11 accumulated at the bottom of the Baber fri2 is pumped up by the bomb 13, and the reflux path 1
2, the water is refluxed to tank IO. In addition, the steam generator 5 is equipped with a heat block 4 as a heating means for heating the sintered alloy member 6, and the heat block 14 is constructed by having a sheathed heater embedded in a certain block made of iron, aluminum, etc. and the sintered metal member 6
It is arranged and buried inside the hollow body 7 at a position above it. This heat block 14 is configured to heat the organic solvent 11 impregnated into the sintered metal member 6 to forcibly evaporate it to generate vapor 15. Next, the effect will be explained. The organic solvent l1 stored in the tank 10 is supplied to the hollow body 7 through the liquid supply path 9 due to its potential energy, and is forcibly impregnated into the inside of the sintered alloy member 6 through the group of small holes 8. The organic solvent 11 contained in the sintered metal member 6 is vaporized when the sintered metal member 6 is heated by the heat block 4, so that the vapor 15 is removed from the entire surface of the sintered metal member 6 into the vapor tank. It is generated uniformly within 2. At this time, the organic solvent 11 passes through the extremely narrow passages of the sintered alloy member 6, so even if fine particles as foreign matter are mixed into the organic solvent 1, the fine particles will pass through the fine passages. It is captured by. In other words, organic solvent 1
1 removes foreign matter with the sintered metal member 6 i! passed. Therefore, the vapor 15 generated from the sintered metal member 6 does not contain any foreign matter, and the vapor I5 maintains an extremely high level of cleanliness. Furthermore, by increasing the supply of the organic solvent 11 to the sintered alloy member 6 and the heating power of the heat block 4, the amount of vapor 5 generated from the sintered alloy member 6 is increased. However, since the vaporization of the vapor 15 occurs inside the sintered alloy member 6, the bumping phenomenon due to boiling of the organic solvent 11 does not occur. Therefore, the occurrence of occurrence due to the bumping phenomenon
1, the vapor bubbles of the solvent 11 did not burst, and no foreign matter was scattered due to the bursting. When the inside of the vapor tank 2 becomes a complete vapor atmosphere,
A wafer L6 as an object to be processed is carried into the vapor tank 2 through the entrance/exit 3 while being held in a cartridge nozzle 17 as an object holding jig. Cartridge l7 containing a plurality of wafers l6 (usually about 25 wafers) is vapor 2.
It is suspended in a predetermined position within the interior. At the time of loading, the wafer 16 and the cartridge 1 have been washed with water in the previous process, so they are wet with water and at a low temperature. When the wafer (6) and the cartridge (17), which have been brought into a low temperature state, are immersed in a vapor atmosphere, vapor (5) condenses and adheres to their surfaces. The condensed organic solvent (1 liter) gradually replaces the moisture on the surfaces of the wafer 16 and the cartridge 17, and when the surface temperature of the wafer 16 and cartridge 17 becomes equal to the vapor temperature, The replacement ends. On the other hand, the water that has replaced the Il-containing solvent flows down the surface together with any foreign matter remaining on the surface, collects at the bottom of the vapor tank 2, and is discharged to the outside through the return channel 12. When the replacement is completed, the cartridge 17 is transferred to the vapor tank 3.
be lifted up from At this time, since the cartridge 17 and the wafer 16 are heated in the vapor atmosphere and their temperature increases, the organic solvent adhering to these surfaces in the form of drops will vaporize while taking away the temperature. When the organic solvent is completely vaporized, the cartridge 17 and the wafer 16 are dried. The vaporized organic solvent is sucked by a ventilator (not shown) on the main body 1 and is prevented from spreading elsewhere. According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. (1) By impregnating the porous member with an organic solvent and by heating the porous member to vaporize the impregnated organic solvent, the method can be achieved! Since foreign substances in the solvent can be captured and filtered by the porous member, it is possible to generate a highly clean heba. (2) By impregnating the porous member with an organic solvent and vaporizing the impregnated organic solvent by heating the porous member, vaporization of the vapor is caused inside the porous member, thereby preventing bumping. Since the occurrence of the phenomenon can be avoided, even if the amount of vapor generated is increased, it is possible to prevent foreign substances caused by the bumping phenomenon from scattering.

(3) According to (1) and (2) above, contamination of the wafer, which is the object to be processed, can be prevented in the wafer vapor drying apparatus. Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically explained above based on Examples, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the Examples and can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof. Nor. For example, the porous member is not limited to a sintered alloy member, but may also be a ceramic or the like. The means for heating the porous member is not limited to the method of embedding a heat bronch inside the porous member, but also the method of heating the porous member from the outside using a lamp or microwave. good. In the above explanation, the invention made by the present inventor was mainly applied to a wafer vapor drying apparatus, which is the field of application that formed the background of the invention, but is not limited to this, and is not limited to the application of the invention made by the present inventor to photomasks, optical lenses, etc. It can be applied to all types of vapor drying equipment. Moreover, although the case where the steam generator is applied to a vapor drying device has been described, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the steam generator according to the present invention can also be applied to uses such as distillation of alcohol.

〔Effect of the invention〕

A brief explanation of the effects obtained by typical inventions disclosed in this application is as follows. By impregnating the porous member with the organic solvent and vaporizing the impregnated organic solvent by heating the porous member, foreign substances in the organic solvent can be captured and filtered by the porous member. It is possible to generate a high level of cleanliness.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a vapor drying apparatus in which a steam generator according to an embodiment of the present invention is used. l...vapor drying device, 2...vapor tank, 3...
Entrance/exit, 4...door, 5...steam generator, 6...
Sintered alloy member (porous member), 7... Hollow body, 8...
・Small hole, 9...Liquid channel, ]O...tank, ]]...
・Organic solvent (liquid), L2... Return path, 13... Pump, L4... Heat polymer (heating means), 15
... vapor (steam), ]6 ... wafer (processed object)
, l7...Cart reno. 196

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A porous member in which fine spaces are formed, a liquid supply means for supplying and impregnating the porous member with a liquid that becomes a vapor source, and a heating means for heating the porous member. A steam generator characterized by comprising: 2. A sintered metal member is used as the porous member, and a heat block is used as the heating means,
2. The steam generator according to claim 1, wherein the heat block is embedded in a sintered metal member. 3. A vapor drying device in which the object to be processed is dried by being put into a vapor tank while being held by a jig, and a vapor dryer is provided at the bottom of the vapor tank. A porous member in which microscopic spaces are formed is provided, and
A vapor drying apparatus characterized in that a liquid supply means is connected to the porous member for supplying and impregnating the porous member with a liquid serving as a vapor source, and further includes a heating means for heating the porous member.