JPH05217975A - Semiconductor wet processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To process a wafer without readhering dust to the processed wafer with few adhering dust. CONSTITUTION:Transfer parts 6a, 6b transfer an empty carrier for transfer and a box to an unloader part 3, and cleaning chambers 9a, 9b. The cleaning chambers 9a, 9b and dry chambers 10a, 10b are provided in the middle on the way of the transfer parts 6a, 6b. When the processed wafer is shifted from a processing carrier, the carrier for transfer and a box 8 are cleaned.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor wet processing apparatus for processing a semiconductor device with a chemical solution, and more particularly to a semiconductor wet processing apparatus for processing a semiconductor substrate by immersing a processing carrier containing a plurality of semiconductor substrates in the chemical solution. ..

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a conventional semiconductor wet processing apparatus. Conventionally, a semiconductor wet processing apparatus of this type, as shown in FIG. 4, has a processing unit 2 for processing a wafer, which is a semiconductor substrate, by immersing it in a chemical solution, a loader unit 1 arranged on both sides of the processing unit 2, An unloader unit 3, a carrier transfer unit 5 that transfers a processing carrier that stores wafers to be processed, and a transfer machine 4a that transfers wafers from the transfer carrier to the processing carrier.
And a box changing device 4b for transferring the wafers from the processing carrier to the carrying carrier, a box 8 for housing the carrying carrier, and a box carrying section 6 for carrying the box 8. In addition, robots 7a to 7i that organically connect the respective parts and operate are provided.

Next, the operation of this semiconductor wet processing apparatus will be described. First, when the box 8 containing the carrier for transporting the wafer is placed at the position A, the robot 7a opens the lid. Next, the robot 7c takes out the carrying carrier from the box 8 and places it at the position B. Next, the upright machine 4a transfers the wafer from the carrier for transportation to the carrier for processing. Next, the robot 7f conveys the processing carrier to the position C of the processing unit 2 and places it at the position C of the carrier transfer unit 5. Next, the carrier transport unit 5
The processing carrier is immersed in the chemical solution of the processing unit 2 to process the wafer, and the processing carrier is transported to the position D. Next, the robot 7i moves the processing carrier from the position D to the standing machine 4b.
Reprint. Next, the escaping machine 4b transfers the wafer from the processing carrier to the carrying carrier. The wafer was processed in this way.

Further, this apparatus performs the following operations simultaneously with the wet processing. First, the robot 7c conveys the empty carrier to the position A and stores it in the box R. Next, the lid opening / closing robot 7a closes the lid of the box 8, and the robot 7b conveys the box 8 to the unloader unit 3 side. Next, the robot 7c conveys the box 8 to the position G. Then, the robot 7b opens the lid of the box, the robot 7d takes out the carrier for transportation to the position E, and waits for the transfer of the wafer after the wet processing is completed.

Next, returning to the description again, when the wet processing of the wafer is completed, the escaping machine 4b transfers the wet-processed wafer to the transport carrier waiting at the position E. After that, the robot 7 e carries the carrying carrier containing the wafer to the carrying box position E of the unloader unit 3 and stores it in the box 8. Then, the robot 7d closes the lid of the box 8, and the box 8 is transported from the device to another device.

On the other hand, after the transfer device 4b on the unloader side completes the transfer of the wafers, the apparatus carries out the following operations simultaneously with the operation of storing the transport carrier containing the wafers in the box 8. The robot 7i carries the emptied processing carrier to the position D, passes the carrier carrying section 5, and carries it to the position C. Next, the robot 7f carries the empty processing carrier carried to the position C to the position H, and waits for the next wafer transfer.

As described above, the operation of transporting, processing, and transporting the wafer again is automatically performed by the robot.

[0008]

However, in the conventional wafer processing apparatus, a robot or the like is used to transfer or transfer the wafers between the carrier and the processing carrier so that dust does not adhere to them. However, the dust adhered to the carrier and the box when the carrier is taken from the outside of the equipment adheres to the wafer after the wet processing, and the quality in the post-process of the wafer is remarkably improved. There was a problem of blocking.

An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor wet processing apparatus capable of processing a processed wafer without causing redeposition of dust.

[0010]

In a semiconductor wet processing apparatus of the present invention, a box for accommodating a carrier for accommodating a semiconductor substrate, a box for storing the carrier for transportation, and a container for carrying the carrier in and out of the box are provided. A robot, a first upright machine for transferring the semiconductor substrate from the carrying carrier to a processing carrier, a processing unit for processing the semiconductor substrate by immersing the processing carrier in a chemical solution, and a processing unit parallel to the processing unit. A carrier transporting section for transporting the processing carrier, a second rectifier for transferring the semiconductor substrate processed by the processing carrier to the transporting carrier, the empty transporting carrier and an empty carrier. And a transport unit that transports the box, and an empty carrier and an empty transport carrier that are provided on the way of the transport unit. And a cleaning chamber and the drying chamber to clean the box.

[0011]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a semiconductor wet processing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. This semiconductor wet processing apparatus has an empty box 8 as shown in FIG.
The transport unit 6a for transporting the carrier and the transport unit 6b for transporting the empty carrier are arranged in parallel in parallel with the processing unit 2, and the box and the carrier for transport are washed in the transport route of these transport units 6a, 6b. Washing chambers 9a and 9b and drying chamber 1
0a and 10b are provided. Otherwise, it is the same as the conventional example.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing a cleaning chamber and a drying chamber of the carrier of FIG. 1 in section. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning chamber and the drying chamber for cleaning the box and the carrier for transporting, as shown in FIG. Nozzles 11a and 11b, which are arranged above and below in the cleaning chamber and eject the cleaning liquid, and the cleaning liquid
1a, 11b cleaning liquid supply device, and a drying nozzle 14a for spraying dry nitrogen above and below the drying chamber,
14b and.

Further, the cleaning liquid supply device includes a layer 18 for storing the cleaning liquid, a pump 16 for pumping the cleaning liquid from the layer 18,
A filter 15 for filtering the cleaning liquid and a valve 17 for opening and closing
a, a pipe for returning the cleaning liquid from the cleaning chamber, and a valve 17c for draining the cleaning liquid from the layer 18. On the other hand, the dry nitrogen sprayed is supplied to the drying nozzles 14a, 1
It is supplied from the outside by opening the valve 17b of the pipe connected to 4b.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

Next, the operation of the semiconductor wet processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. First, as shown in FIG. 1, when the transfer of wafers is completed by the transfer device 4a of the loader unit and the box 8 is at the position A, the box 8
The carrying carrier that has returned to the inside is carried on the carrier carrying section 6b by the robot 7b and carried. Next, in the robot 7b, the box 8 at the position A is turned upside down with the lid open and placed on the carrying section 6a for carrying. Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the shutter 13 at the entrance of the cleaning chambers 9a and 9b opens,
The carrying carrier 19 and the box 8 shown in FIG.
It is transported to the washing chamber while being placed on the No. 2. Then, the carrier 19 for transportation and the box 8 are cleaned with the cleaning liquid sprayed from the nozzles 11a and 11b. When the cleaning is completed, the shutter 13 of the drying chamber is opened and the carrier 12 and the box for transporting the belt 12 are dried by the belts 12.
Is loaded into the drying room. The reason for inverting the box 8 in the vertical direction is to prevent the cleaning liquid from remaining in the box. Next, the carrier and the box carried into the drying chamber are dried by the dry nitrogen sprayed from the drying nozzles 14a and 14b. Then, after drying, the carrier and the box are carried out of the drying chamber, and the robot 7c puts the box 8 upside down with the lid open at the position G. Further, the robot 7c stores the dried carrier for transportation in the box 8 at the position G.

Thus, when the carrier for which the wafer is empty is returned to the unloader side when the carrier for which the carrier is empty is returned to the unloader side, the adhered dust is roughly removed by cleaning the carrier completely. Therefore, dust is not attached when the cleaned wafer is stored by the upright machine 4b.

In this embodiment, if a hole for draining the cleaning liquid is provided at the bottom of the box 8, the box 8 will be opened as shown in FIG.
Does not need to be flipped vertically. In this case, there is an advantage that the mechanisms of the robot 7b and the robot 7c are simple. Further, cleaning and drying may be performed with the carrier for transportation stored in the box. In the case of this method, there is an advantage that the cost of the apparatus can be reduced because the one line consisting of the transfer section, the cleaning chamber and the drying section can be omitted.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, a carrier for accommodating a processed wafer having less dust adhered after the wet processing and a cleaning means for cleaning the box in advance are provided in the middle of the path of the transfer section. There is an effect that dust is not attached when the processed wafer is stored in the carrier and the box for transportation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of a semiconductor wet processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the inside of a cleaning chamber and a drying chamber of FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of a conventional semiconductor wet processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 loader part 2 processing part 3 unloader part 4a, 4b reversing machine 5 carrier transfer part 6a, 6b transfer part 6 box transfer part 7a-7i robot 8 box 9a, 9b washing room 10a, 10b drying room 11a, 11b nozzle 12 belt 13 Shutters 14a, 14b Drying Nozzle 15 Filter 16 Pump 17a-17b Valve 18 Tank

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A box for storing a carrier for storing a semiconductor substrate, a box for storing the carrier, a robot for loading and unloading the carrier from the box, and a processing of the semiconductor substrate by the carrier. First transfer machine for transferring the processing carrier to a carrier for processing, a processing section for processing the semiconductor substrate by immersing the processing carrier in a chemical solution, and a carrier transfer section for transferring the processing carrier in parallel with the processing section. A second transfer device for transferring the semiconductor substrate processed from the processing carrier to the transportation carrier; a transportation unit for transporting the transportation carrier that is empty and the box that is empty; And a washing chamber and a drying chamber for washing the empty carrier and the empty box, which are provided in the middle of the path of the part. Characteristic semiconductor wet processing equipment.