阅读说明：本技术 清洗装置、清洗方法以及计算机存储介质 (Cleaning device, cleaning method, and computer storage medium ) 是由 児玉宗久 于 2018-12-26 设计创作，主要内容包括：用于清洗被处理体的清洗装置具有：旋转体,其以所述被处理体的清洗面的径向为中心轴线旋转；以及多个清洗工具,该多个清洗工具设于所述旋转体,用于清洗所述清洗面,所述多个清洗工具在所述旋转体的表面沿轴向延伸且沿该旋转体的周向排列配置。(A cleaning device for cleaning an object to be processed includes: a rotating body that rotates around a radial direction of a cleaning surface of the object to be processed as a central axis; and a plurality of cleaning tools provided on the rotating body for cleaning the cleaning surface, the plurality of cleaning tools extending in an axial direction on a surface of the rotating body and arranged in a row in a circumferential direction of the rotating body.)

1. A cleaning apparatus for cleaning an object to be processed,

the cleaning device is provided with:

a rotating body that rotates around a radial direction of a cleaning surface of the object to be processed as a central axis; and

a plurality of cleaning tools provided on the rotating body for cleaning the cleaning surface,

the plurality of cleaning tools extend in the axial direction on the surface of the rotating body and are arranged in a row in the circumferential direction of the rotating body.

2. The cleaning device of claim 1,

the object to be processed includes a substrate having a protective member provided on a surface thereof,

the cleaning surface is the protection member provided on the surface of the substrate,

the plurality of cleaning tools include a substrate cleaning tool that supplies a cleaning liquid to the cleaning surface and that cleans the cleaning surface by contacting the cleaning surface.

3. The cleaning device according to claim 2,

the plurality of cleaning tools include a substrate drying tool that supplies a gas to the cleaning surface to dry the cleaning surface.

4. The cleaning device according to claim 2,

the cleaning apparatus further includes a cleaning liquid tank that stores the cleaning liquid and supplies the cleaning liquid to the substrate cleaning tool.

5. The cleaning device of claim 1,

the object to be processed includes a transfer tray that holds a substrate having a protective member provided on a surface thereof and transfers the substrate,

the cleaning surface is a holding surface of the transfer tray for holding the substrate,

the plurality of cleaning tools include a disk cleaning tool that is brought into contact with the cleaning surface to clean the cleaning surface.

6. The cleaning device of claim 5,

the object to be processed includes a substrate having a protective member provided on a surface thereof,

the cleaning surface includes the protective member provided on the surface of the substrate as a2 nd cleaning surface,

the cleaning device is provided with:

a substrate cleaning tool which is provided independently of the rotating body, and which is brought into contact with the 2 nd cleaning surface in a state where a cleaning liquid is contained, thereby cleaning the 2 nd cleaning surface; and

and a substrate drying tool which is provided independently of the rotating body and supplies a gas to the 2 nd cleaning surface to dry the 2 nd cleaning surface.

7. The cleaning device of claim 1,

the cleaning tool extends in the axial direction on the surface of the rotating body over at least half the length of the cleaning surface in the radial direction.

8. The cleaning device of claim 1,

the object to be treated and the cleaning tool are relatively rotated with a direction orthogonal to the cleaning surface as a central axis.

9. A cleaning method for cleaning an object to be processed,

using a cleaning apparatus comprising a rotating body that rotates around a radial direction of a cleaning surface of the object to be treated as a central axis, and a plurality of cleaning tools that extend in an axial direction on a surface of the rotating body and are arranged in a circumferential direction of the rotating body,

selecting one of the plurality of cleaning tools according to the object to be processed,

the one cleaning tool is disposed to face the cleaning surface by rotating the rotating body, and the cleaning surface is cleaned by the one cleaning tool.

10. The cleaning method according to claim 9,

the object to be processed includes a substrate having a protective member provided on a surface thereof,

the cleaning surface is the protection member provided on the surface of the substrate,

the cleaning liquid is supplied from the one cleaning tool to the cleaning surface, and the cleaning surface is cleaned by bringing the one cleaning tool into contact with the cleaning surface.

11. The cleaning method according to claim 10,

and supplying a gas to the cleaning surface from a cleaning tool different from the one cleaning tool to dry the cleaning surface.

12. The cleaning method according to claim 9,

the object to be processed includes a transfer tray that holds a substrate having a protective member provided on a surface thereof and transfers the substrate,

the cleaning surface is a holding surface of the transfer tray for holding the substrate,

the cleaning tool is brought into contact with the cleaning surface to clean the cleaning surface.

13. The cleaning method according to claim 12,

the object to be processed includes a substrate having a protective member provided on a surface thereof,

the cleaning surface includes the protective member provided on the surface of the substrate as a2 nd cleaning surface,

cleaning the 2 nd cleaning surface by bringing another cleaning tool provided independently of the rotating body into contact with the 2 nd cleaning surface while containing a cleaning liquid,

the 2 nd cleaning surface is dried by supplying gas to the 2 nd cleaning surface from another cleaning tool provided independently of the rotating body.

14. The cleaning method according to claim 9,

when the cleaning surface is cleaned by the one cleaning tool, the object to be processed and the one cleaning tool are relatively rotated with a direction orthogonal to the cleaning surface as a central axis.

15. A computer storage medium storing a program for executing a cleaning method for cleaning an object to be processed by a cleaning apparatus, the program being run on a computer that controls a control section of the cleaning apparatus and being readable, wherein,

the cleaning method uses a cleaning apparatus including a rotating body that rotates around a radial direction of a cleaning surface of the object as a central axis, and a plurality of cleaning tools that extend in an axial direction on a surface of the rotating body and are arranged in a circumferential direction of the rotating body,

selecting one of the plurality of cleaning tools according to the object to be processed,

the one cleaning tool is disposed to face the cleaning surface by rotating the rotating body, and the cleaning surface is cleaned by the one cleaning tool.

Technical Field

(cross-reference to related applications)

The present application claims priority based on japanese patent application No. 2018-000981 filed in japan on 2018, 1, 9, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus for cleaning an object to be processed, a cleaning method using the cleaning apparatus, and a computer storage medium.

Background

In recent years, in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer) having a plurality of devices such as electronic circuits formed on a front surface thereof is subjected to a process of grinding a back surface of the wafer to thin the wafer.

The grinding of the back surface of the wafer is performed using a grinding apparatus (machining apparatus) described in patent documents 1 to 3, for example. The grinding apparatus is provided with a cleaning unit for cleaning a front surface of a wafer, a wafer suction surface of a transfer tray for transferring the wafer, and the like, in addition to a grinding unit for grinding a back surface of the wafer.

For example, patent document 1 discloses a cleaning unit as a unit for cleaning a surface of a wafer, the cleaning unit including: a cleaning brush mechanism for cleaning the surface of the wafer by abutting the brush against the surface; and a brush cleaning liquid supply mechanism for supplying the cleaning liquid to the front surface of the wafer when the brush cleaning mechanism is in contact with the front surface. For example, patent document 2 also discloses a brush cleaning device for cleaning the surface of a wafer by bringing a brush into contact with the surface of the wafer.

Further, for example, patent document 3 discloses a cleaning unit including a cleaning brush which comes into contact with the suction surface to clean the suction surface, as a unit for cleaning the suction surface of the conveyance tray.

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

The cleaning units disclosed in the above-mentioned patent documents 1 to 3 are used for cleaning either the surface of the wafer or the suction surface of the transfer tray, but in the case where both are cleaned in the grinding apparatus, a plurality of cleaning units are required in this case. In addition, there are cases where the surface of the wafer and the suction surface of the transfer tray are cleaned by a plurality of cleaning units. In addition, in the case where a plurality of cleaning units are provided in the grinding apparatus as described above, a space required for the cleaning units needs to be provided, but the conventional grinding apparatus does not consider securing such a space. Therefore, the conventional grinding apparatus has room for improvement.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to save space in a cleaning apparatus including a plurality of cleaning tools when cleaning an object to be processed using the plurality of cleaning tools.

Means for solving the problems

In order to solve the above problems, a cleaning apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is a cleaning apparatus for cleaning an object to be processed, the cleaning apparatus including: a rotating body that rotates around a radial direction of a cleaning surface of the object to be processed as a central axis; and a plurality of cleaning tools provided on the rotating body for cleaning the cleaning surface, the plurality of cleaning tools extending in an axial direction on a surface of the rotating body and arranged in a row in a circumferential direction of the rotating body.

In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning method for cleaning an object to be treated, including the steps of selecting one of a plurality of cleaning tools according to the object to be treated, rotating a rotating body that rotates about a radial direction of a cleaning surface of the object to be treated as a central axis, and cleaning the cleaning surface using the one cleaning tool, the one cleaning tool being disposed so as to face the cleaning surface by rotating the rotating body.

In addition, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing a program for running on a computer that controls a control unit of a cleaning apparatus to execute the cleaning method by the cleaning apparatus.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention, since a plurality of cleaning tools are provided in one rotating body when a plurality of cleaning tools are used to clean an object to be processed, a space of a cleaning apparatus including the plurality of cleaning tools can be saved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing system including a2 nd cleaning unit according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 2 is a side view showing a schematic structure of a wafer.

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the inside of the 2 nd cleaning unit.

Fig. 4 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of the inside of the 2 nd cleaning unit.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the cleaning mechanism.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing the main steps of wafer processing.

Fig. 7 is an explanatory view showing a state where the surface of the wafer is cleaned by the 2 nd cleaning unit.

Fig. 8 is an explanatory view showing a state where the holding surface of the conveyance tray is cleaned by the 2 nd cleaning unit.

Fig. 9 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the inside of the 2 nd cleaning unit according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 10 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the inside of the 2 nd cleaning unit according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 11 is an explanatory view showing how the surface of a wafer is cleaned by the 2 nd cleaning unit according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 12 is an explanatory view showing how the holding surface of the conveyance tray is cleaned by the 2 nd cleaning unit according to embodiment 3.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present specification and the drawings, elements having substantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description thereof is omitted.

< substrate processing System >

First, the structure of the substrate processing system according to the present embodiment will be described. Fig. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing system 1. In the following, in order to clarify the positional relationship, an X-axis direction, a Y-axis direction, and a Z-axis direction orthogonal to each other are defined, and the positive Z-axis direction is set to be a vertically upward direction.

The substrate processing system 1 of the present embodiment thins the wafer W as a substrate shown in fig. 2. The wafer W is a semiconductor wafer such as a silicon wafer or a compound semiconductor wafer. Devices (not shown) are formed on the front surface W1 of the wafer W, and a protector, for example, a protective tape P for protecting the devices is bonded to the front surface W1. Then, the wafer W is thinned by performing a predetermined process such as grinding on the back surface W2 of the wafer W.

The substrate processing system 1 has a structure in which the following devices are connected: a loading station 2 for receiving wafers W before processing in the cassette C and loading the wafers W from the outside into the substrate processing system 1 in cassette units; a delivery station 3 that receives the processed wafers W in the cassette C and delivers a plurality of wafers W from the substrate processing system 1 to the outside in units of cassettes; a processing apparatus 4 for processing and thinning the wafer W; a post-processing device 5 for performing post-processing of the processed wafer W; and a transfer station 6 for transferring the wafer W among the loading station 2, the processing apparatus 4, and the post-processing apparatus 5. The carry-in station 2, the transfer station 6, and the processing device 4 are arranged in the Y-axis direction in this order on the X-axis negative direction side. The delivery station 3 and the post-processing apparatus 5 are arranged in the X-axis positive direction in this order along the Y-axis direction.

(delivery station)

The loading station 2 is provided with a cassette mounting table 10. In the illustrated example, a plurality of, for example, two cassettes C are mounted on the cassette mounting table 10 in a row in the X-axis direction.

(delivery station)

The outbound station 3 also has the same configuration as the inbound station 2. The delivery station 3 is provided with a cassette mounting table 20, and two cassettes C are mounted on the cassette mounting table 20 in a row in the X-axis direction. The loading station 2 and the unloading station 3 may be combined into one loading/unloading station, and in this case, a common cassette mounting table may be provided in the loading/unloading station.

(processing apparatus)

The processing apparatus 4 performs processing such as grinding and cleaning on the wafer W. The processing apparatus 4 includes a rotating table 30, a conveying unit 40, an adjusting unit 50, a1 st cleaning unit 60, a2 nd cleaning unit 70, a rough grinding unit 80, a middle grinding unit 90, and a finish grinding unit 100.

The rotary table 30 is configured to be rotatable by a rotation mechanism (not shown). The turntable 30 is provided with four chucks 31 for sucking and holding the front surface W1 of the wafer W through the protective tape P. The chucks 31 are arranged equally, i.e., at intervals of 90 degrees, on the same circumference as the rotary table 30. The four chucks 31 are rotated by the rotary table 30 and can be moved to the delivery position a0 and the processing positions a1 to A3.

In the present embodiment, the delivery position a0 is a position on the X-axis positive direction side and the Y-axis negative direction side of the turntable 30, and the 2 nd cleaning unit 70, the adjustment unit 50, and the 1 st cleaning unit 60 provided inside the washing tank 33 are arranged in line on the Y-axis negative direction side of the delivery position a 0. The conditioning unit 50 and the 1 st cleaning unit 60 are stacked in this order from above. The 1 st processing position a1 is a position on the X-axis positive direction side and the Y-axis positive direction side of the turntable 30, and the rough grinding unit 80 is disposed at the 1 st processing position a 1. The 2 nd machining position a2 is a position on the X-axis negative direction side and the Y-axis positive direction side of the turntable 30, and the middle grinding unit 90 is disposed at the 2 nd machining position a 2. The 3 rd machining position A3 is a position on the X-axis negative direction side and the Y-axis negative direction side of the turntable 30, and the finish grinding unit 100 is disposed at the 3 rd machining position A3.

The chuck 31 is held by a chuck base 32. The chuck 31 and the chuck base 32 are configured to be rotatable by a rotation mechanism (not shown).

The conveying unit 40 is an articulated robot having a plurality of, for example, three arms 41 to 43. The three arms 41 to 43 are connected by a joint (not shown), and the 1 st arm 41 and the 2 nd arm 42 are each configured to be rotatable about a base end portion by the joint. Among the three arms 41 to 43, the 1 st arm 41 located at the tip is mounted with a transfer tray 44 for suction-holding the wafer W. The transfer tray 44 has a circular shape having a diameter longer than the diameter of the wafer W in plan view, and is used to suction and hold the back surface W2 of the wafer W. The conveyance tray 44 is configured to be rotatable by a rotating unit (not shown) provided in the 1 st arm 41. Further, the 3 rd arm 43 positioned at the base end among the three arms 41 to 43 is attached to a vertical movement mechanism 45 for moving the arms 41 to 43 in the vertical direction. The transport unit 40 having this configuration can transport the wafer W to the delivery position a0, the adjustment unit 50, the 1 st cleaning unit 60, and the 2 nd cleaning unit 70. In the present embodiment, the 2 nd cleaning unit 70 constitutes the cleaning apparatus of the present invention.

The adjustment unit 50 adjusts the orientation of the wafer W before the grinding process in the horizontal direction. The position of the notch portion of the wafer W is detected by a detection unit (not shown) while the wafer W held by, for example, a spin chuck (not shown) is rotated, and the orientation of the wafer W in the horizontal direction is adjusted by adjusting the position of the notch portion.

In the 1 st cleaning unit 60, the rear surface W2 of the wafer W after the grinding process is cleaned, more specifically, by spin cleaning. The cleaning liquid is supplied from the cleaning liquid nozzle (not shown) to the back surface W2 of the wafer W while rotating the wafer W held by, for example, a spin chuck (not shown). Then, the supplied cleaning liquid spreads over the rear surface W2, and cleans the rear surface W2.

In the 2 nd cleaning unit 70, the front surface W1 of the wafer W in a state where the wafer W after the grinding process is held on the conveyance tray 44, in other words, the protective tape P joined to the front surface W1 is cleaned, and the holding surface of the conveyance tray 44 that holds the wafer W is cleaned. The configuration of the 2 nd cleaning unit 70 will be described later.

In the rough grinding unit 80, the back surface W2 of the wafer W is rough ground. The rough grinding unit 80 includes a rough grinding portion 81, and the rough grinding portion 81 includes a ring-shaped rough grinder (not shown) that is rotatable. The rough grinding unit 81 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction along the support column 82. Then, the chuck 31 and the rough grinding tool are rotated while the back surface W2 of the wafer W held by the chuck 31 is brought into contact with the rough grinding tool, respectively, to perform rough grinding on the back surface W2 of the wafer W.

The middle grinding unit 90 performs middle grinding on the back surface W2 of the wafer W. The middle grinding unit 90 includes a middle grinding portion 91, and the middle grinding portion 91 includes a middle grinder (not shown) having an annular shape and rotatable. The middle grinding portion 91 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction along the support column 92. In addition, the grain size of the abrasive grains of the medium grinding tool is smaller than that of the abrasive grains of the rough grinding tool. Then, the back surface W2 of the wafer W held by the chuck 31 is brought into contact with the middle grinder, and the chuck 31 and the middle grinder are rotated to perform middle grinding on the back surface W2.

In the finish grinding unit 100, the back surface W2 of the wafer W is finish ground. The finish grinding unit 100 includes a finish grinding portion 101, and the finish grinding portion 101 includes a finish grinding wheel (not shown) having an annular shape and rotatable. The finish grinding portion 101 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction along the support column 102. In addition, the grain size of the abrasive grains of the fine grinding tool is smaller than that of the abrasive grains of the medium grinding tool. Then, in a state where the back surface W2 of the wafer W held by the chuck 31 is brought into contact with the finish grinding tool, the chuck 31 and the finish grinding tool are rotated, respectively, to finish grind the back surface W2.

(post-treatment apparatus)

The post-processing apparatus 5 performs post-processing on the wafer W processed by the processing apparatus 4. As the post-processing, for example, mounting processing for holding the wafer W on a dicing frame via a dicing tape, separation processing for separating the protective tape P joined to the wafer W, and the like are performed. Then, the post-processing apparatus 5 conveys the wafer W, which is post-processed and held by the dicing frame, to the cassette C of the delivery station 3. A known apparatus is used for the mounting process and the peeling process performed by the post-processing apparatus 5.

(transfer station)

The transfer station 6 is provided with a wafer transfer area 110. The wafer transfer area 110 is provided with a wafer transfer device 112 that is movable on a transfer path 111 extending in the X-axis direction. The wafer transfer device 112 includes a transfer fork 113 and a transfer tray 114 as a wafer holding portion for holding the wafer W. The transfer fork 113 has two branches at its tip end for sucking and holding the wafer W. The conveyance fork 113 conveys the wafer W before the grinding process. The transfer tray 114 has a circular shape having a diameter longer than the diameter of the wafer W in a plan view, and is used for sucking and holding the wafer W. The carrier tray 114 carries the wafer W after the grinding process. The transport fork 113 and the transport tray 114 are configured to be movable in the horizontal direction, in the vertical direction, about the horizontal axis, and about the vertical axis, respectively.

(control section)

The substrate processing system 1 is provided with a control unit 120. The control unit 120 is, for example, a computer and has a program storage unit (not shown). A program for controlling the processing of the wafer W by the substrate processing system 1 is stored in the program storage unit. Further, the program storage unit also stores a program for controlling the operation of the drive systems of the various processing apparatuses, the transport apparatus, and the like described above to realize the wafer processing of the substrate processing system 1, which will be described later. The program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium H such as a computer-readable Hard Disk (HD), a Flexible Disk (FD), a Compact Disk (CD), a magneto-optical disk (MO), or a memory card, and loaded from the storage medium H to the control unit 120.

< embodiment 1 >

Next, the configuration of the 2 nd cleaning unit 70 of the processing apparatus 4 will be described. As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the 2 nd cleaning unit 70 has a processing container 200. A transfer tray 44 for transferring the transfer unit 40 and a transfer port 201 for transferring the wafer W held by the transfer tray 44 are formed on a side surface of the processing container 200. An opening/closing shutter (not shown) is provided at the delivery port 201.

In the illustrated example, the processing container 200 is a casing, but the shape of the processing container 200 is not limited thereto. For example, the processing container 200 may have a shape in which the inlet/outlet port 201 is omitted and an upper surface thereof is opened. The processing container 200 itself may be omitted. In this case, a cleaning mechanism 210, a rotation mechanism 220, and a cleaning liquid tank 230, which will be described later, are provided inside the washing tank 33.

The processing container 200 is provided with: a cleaning mechanism 210 for cleaning the front surface W1 (protective tape P) of the wafer W and the holding surface 44a of the transfer tray 44 for holding the wafer W; a rotating mechanism 220 that rotates the cleaning mechanism 210; and a cleaning liquid tank 230 for storing a cleaning liquid for cleaning the surface W1 of the wafer W. In the present embodiment, the wafer W and the transfer tray 44 constitute the object to be processed of the present invention, and the front surface W1 and the holding surface 44a constitute the cleaning surface of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 4, the cleaning mechanism 210 has a structure in which a plurality of, for example, four cleaning tools 212 to 215 are attached to the surface of a rotating body 211. The rotary body 211 rotates around the radial direction (X-axis direction) of the front surface W1 of the wafer W, that is, the radial direction (X-axis direction) of the holding surface 44a of the conveyance tray 44. The rotating body 211 has, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped shape.

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, cleaning mechanism 210 (rotary body 211) is attached to rotary mechanism 220. The rotating mechanism 220 includes: a shaft 221 connected to both end portions of the rotating body 211 in the axial direction (X-axis direction); a driving unit 222 provided on one shaft 221 and rotating the rotating body 211; and a support portion 223 provided on the other shaft 221 and supporting the rotating body 211. The driving unit 222 incorporates, for example, an actuator (not shown) and can rotate the rotating body 211 via the shaft 221.

As shown in fig. 5, the four cleaning tools 212 to 215 include a sponge cleaning tool 212 as a substrate cleaning tool, an air cleaning tool 213 as a substrate drying tool, a stone cleaning tool 214 as a tray cleaning tool, and a brush cleaning tool 215 as a tray cleaning tool. The cleaning tools 212 to 215 extend on the surface of the rotating body 211 in the axial direction (X-axis direction). The cleaning tools 212 to 215 are provided on the four surfaces of the rotating body 211, in other words, are arranged in a row in the circumferential direction of the rotating body 211.

The sponge cleaning tool 212 is used to clean the surface W1 (protective tape P) of the wafer W. The sponge cleaning tool 212 has, for example, a sponge extending longer than the diameter of the surface W1. The cleaning liquid tank 230 shown in fig. 3 and 4 is used to supply a cleaning liquid such as pure water to the sponge cleaning tool 212. Then, the sponge of the sponge cleaning tool 212 contains a cleaning liquid, and the sponge cleaning tool 212 supplies the cleaning liquid to the front surface W1 of the wafer W and contacts the same to clean the front surface W1.

The cleaning liquid tank 230 is provided below the cleaning mechanism 210. A liquid supply unit 231 for supplying the cleaning liquid to the inside of the cleaning liquid tank 230 and a liquid discharge unit 232 for discharging the cleaning liquid from the inside of the cleaning liquid tank 230 are connected to the cleaning liquid tank 230. Then, the cleaning liquid is supplied from the liquid supply unit 231 and discharged from the liquid discharge unit 232, so that the cleaning liquid is always stored in the cleaning liquid tank 230. Alternatively, the cleaning liquid may be allowed to overflow from the upper surface of the cleaning liquid tank 230, and the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid tank 230 may be discharged all the time.

The cleaning liquid tank 230 is configured to be movable up and down by an elevating mechanism 233. Further, as long as the cleaning liquid tank 230 and the rotating body 211 (sponge cleaning tool 212) can be relatively lifted, the rotating body 211 may be lifted, or both the cleaning liquid tank 230 and the rotating body 211 may be lifted. Further, the cleaning liquid tank 230 and the rotating body 211 may be fixed separately. In this case, the cleaning tools 212 to 215 provided in the rotating body 211 can be always cleaned by the cleaning liquid stored in the cleaning liquid tank 230, and the wafer W and the target object, which is the transfer tray 44, can be cleaned.

In this case, when the sponge cleaning tool 212 is used to clean the front surface W1 of the wafer W, first, the cleaning liquid tank 230 is raised with the sponge cleaning tool 212 positioned on the lower surface of the rotating body 211, and the sponge cleaning tool 212 is immersed in the cleaning liquid. Thereby, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the sponge cleaning tool 212. Thereafter, the rotary body 211 is rotated, and the sponge cleaning tool 212 containing the cleaning liquid is brought into contact with the front surface W1 of the wafer W in a state where the sponge cleaning tool 212 is disposed on the upper surface of the rotary body 211. In this state, the sponge cleaning tool 212 supplies the cleaning liquid to the front surface W1 while rotating the wafer W by the transfer tray 44 and abuts against the front surface W1, thereby cleaning the entire front surface W1.

The air cleaning tool 213 dries the surface W1 of the wafer W cleaned by the sponge cleaning tool 212. Specifically, as shown in fig. 5, the air cleaning tool 213 includes, for example, a nozzle 213a for ejecting air onto the surface W1. Then, the rotary body 211 is rotated, and the air cleaning tool 213 is disposed on the upper surface of the rotary body 211. Thereafter, the wafer W is rotated by the transfer tray 44, and air is ejected from the nozzle 213a of the air cleaning tool 213 toward the front surface W1, thereby drying the entire front surface W1. In the illustrated example, the nozzle 213a has a circular shape, but the shape of the nozzle 213a is not limited thereto. For example, the nozzle may have a slit shape extending in the longitudinal direction (X-axis direction) of the air cleaning tool 213.

The stone cleaning tool 214 is used to clean the holding surface 44a of the transfer tray 44. The stone cleaning tool 214 has, for example, a grindstone extending longer than the diameter of the holding surface 44 a. Then, the rotating body 211 is rotated, and the stone cleaning tool 214 is disposed on the upper surface of the rotating body 211. Thereafter, the stone cleaning tool 214 is brought into contact with the holding surface 44a while the wafer W is rotated by the transfer tray 44, and the entire holding surface 44a is cleaned.

The brush cleaning means 215 is used to clean the holding surface 44a of the conveyance tray 44. The brush cleaning tool 215 has, for example, a brush extending longer than the diameter of the holding surface 44 a. Then, the rotating body 211 is rotated, and the brush cleaning tool 215 is disposed on the upper surface of the rotating body 211. Thereafter, the brush cleaning tool 215 is brought into contact with the holding surface 44a while the wafer W is rotated by the transfer tray 44, and the entire holding surface 44a is cleaned.

< wafer treatment >

Next, a wafer process performed by using the substrate processing system 1 having the above-described structure will be described.

First, a cassette C containing a plurality of wafers W is placed on the cassette mounting table 10 of the loading station 2. In order to suppress deformation of the protective tape, the wafer W is housed in the case C such that the surface of the wafer W to which the protective tape is attached faces upward.

Subsequently, the wafer W in the cassette C is taken out by the transport fork 113 of the wafer transport apparatus 112 and transported to the processing apparatus 4. At this time, the front and back surfaces of the wafer W are reversed so that the back surface faces upward by the conveyance fork 113.

The wafer W conveyed to the processing apparatus 4 is delivered to the adjustment unit 50. Then, the adjustment unit 50 adjusts the orientation of the wafer W in the horizontal direction (step S1 in fig. 6).

Subsequently, the wafer W is transferred from the adjustment unit 50 to the transfer position a0 by the transfer unit 40, and is transferred to the chuck 31 at the transfer position a 0. The surface W1 of the wafer W is held by the chuck 31. Thereafter, the chuck 31 is moved to the 1 st processing position a 1. Then, the rough grinding unit 80 rough grinds the back surface W2 of the wafer W (step S2 in fig. 6).

Next, the chuck 31 is moved to the 2 nd processing position a 2. Then, the back surface W2 of the wafer W is ground by the middle grinding unit 90 (step S3 of fig. 6).

Next, the chuck 31 is moved to the 3 rd processing position a 3. Then, the back surface W2 of the wafer W is finish-ground by the finish-grinding unit 100 (step S4 of fig. 6).

Next, the chuck 31 is moved to the joining position a 0. Here, the back surface W2 of the wafer W is roughly cleaned with the cleaning liquid by using the cleaning liquid nozzle (not shown) (step S5 in fig. 6). In step S6, the rear surface W2 is cleaned to remove stains to some extent.

Subsequently, the wafer W is transferred from the transfer unit 40 to the 2 nd cleaning unit 70 from the transfer position a 0. In the 2 nd cleaning unit 70, first, as shown in fig. 7 (a), the cleaning liquid tank 230 is raised with the sponge cleaning tool 212 positioned on the lower surface of the rotating body 211, and the sponge cleaning tool 212 is immersed in the cleaning liquid L. Thereby, the cleaning liquid L is supplied to the sponge cleaning tool 212. Thereafter, as shown in fig. 7 (b), the rotary body 211 is rotated, and the sponge cleaning tool 212 containing the cleaning liquid L is brought into contact with the front surface W1 in a state where the sponge cleaning tool 212 is disposed on the upper surface of the rotary body 211, in other words, in a state where the sponge cleaning tool 212 is disposed to face the front surface W1 of the wafer W. Then, the sponge cleaning tool 212 supplies the cleaning liquid to the front surface W1 while rotating the wafer W by the transfer tray 44 and abuts against the front surface W1, thereby cleaning the entire front surface W1 (protective tape P) (step S6 in fig. 6).

Thereafter, as shown in fig. 7 (c), the rotary 211 is rotated, the air cleaning tool 213 is disposed on the upper surface of the rotary 211, and the wafer W is raised by the transfer tray 44. Then, in a state where the air cleaning tool 213 is disposed to face the front surface W1 of the wafer W, air is ejected from the air cleaning tool 213 to the front surface W1 while the wafer W is rotated by the transfer tray 44, and the entire front surface W1 is dried (step S7 in fig. 6).

In the above steps S6 and S7, before the wafers W are held by the transfer tray 44, the transfer tray 44 is cleaned by the stone cleaning tool 214 and the brush cleaning tool 215 of the 2 nd cleaning unit 70 (step T1 in fig. 6). Specifically, as shown in fig. 8 (a), in a state where the stone cleaning tool 214 is disposed on the upper surface of the rotating body 211, in other words, in a state where the stone cleaning tool 214 is disposed to face the holding surface 44a of the transfer tray 44, the entire holding surface 44a is cleaned by bringing the stone cleaning tool 214 into contact with the holding surface 44a while rotating the wafer W by the transfer tray 44. As shown in fig. 8 (b), in a state where the brush cleaning tool 215 is disposed on the upper surface of the rotating body 211, in other words, in a state where the brush cleaning tool 215 is disposed to face the holding surface 44a, the entire holding surface 44a is cleaned by bringing the brush cleaning tool 215 into contact with the holding surface 44a while rotating the wafer W by the transfer tray 44.

The cleaning of the transfer tray 44 may be performed by either the stone cleaning tool 214 or the brush cleaning tool 215, or both of them. The cleaning of the conveyance tray 44 is performed at an arbitrary timing before step S6.

Subsequently, the wafer W is transferred from the 2 nd cleaning unit 70 to the 1 st cleaning unit 60 by the transfer unit 40. Then, in the 1 st cleaning unit 60, the rear surface W2 of the wafer W is cleaned with the cleaning liquid by using the cleaning liquid nozzle (not shown) (step S8 in fig. 6). In this step S8, the back surface W2 is cleaned to a desired cleanliness and dried.

Thereafter, the wafer W is transferred from the first cleaning unit 60 to the post-processing apparatus 5 by the wafer transfer apparatus 112. The post-processing apparatus 5 performs post-processing such as mounting processing for holding the wafer W on the dicing frame, and separation processing for separating the protective tape P joined to the wafer W (step S9 in fig. 6).

Thereafter, the wafers W subjected to all the processes are conveyed to the cassette C of the cassette mounting table 20 of the delivery station 3. Thus, the series of wafer processes of the substrate processing system 1 is completed.

As described in the above embodiment, in the 2 nd cleaning unit 70, a plurality of cleaning tools 212 to 215 are required for cleaning the front surface W1 of the wafer W and the holding surface 44a of the transfer tray 44. In this case, as in the case of the cleaning mechanism 210 of the present embodiment, since the plurality of cleaning tools 212 to 215 are attached to the surface of the rotating body 211, the space saving of the 2 nd cleaning unit 70 can be realized. Further, by simply rotating the rotary body 211, an appropriate cleaning tool 212 to 215 can be selected, and the front surface W1 of the wafer W or the holding surface 44a of the transfer tray 44 can be cleaned properly.

In addition, as described in the present embodiment, in the 2 nd cleaning unit 70, the cleaning mechanism 210 is disposed so as to extend in the X-axis direction from the feeding/discharging port 201. Here, for example, in the case where the four cleaning tools 212 to 215 are arranged in a row in a plan view, the occupied area of the 2 nd cleaning unit 70 is large, but according to the present embodiment, the occupied area of the 2 nd cleaning unit 70 can be reduced. Further, the cleaning mechanism 210 may be disposed to extend in the Y-axis direction.

< embodiment 2 >

In the above embodiment, the structure of the 2 nd cleaning unit 70 is not limited to the above structure.

In cleaning mechanism 210 of the above embodiment, rotary body 211 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, but the shape of rotary body 211 is not limited to this. For example, the rotator 211 may have a triangular prism shape, and a sponge cleaning tool 212, a stone cleaning tool 214, and a brush cleaning tool 215 may be provided on the surface of the rotator 211. In this case, as shown in fig. 9, the air cleaning tool 213 is disposed on the side of the sending-in/out port 201 of the cleaning mechanism 210 so as to extend in the Y-axis direction. When the wafer W held on the transfer tray 44 passes through the air cleaning tool 213, air is ejected from the air cleaning tool 213 to the front surface W1, and the front surface W1 is dried.

Further, the air cleaning tool 213 may not have a shape extending in the Y axis direction, but may be a single nozzle that ejects air, for example. In this case, it is preferable that the nozzle of the air cleaning tool 213 is movable in the Y-axis direction by a moving mechanism (not shown). Then, while the wafer W is rotated by the transfer tray 44, air is blown from the nozzles of the air cleaning tool 213 to the front surface W1, and the front surface W1 is dried.

The rotating body 211 may have a polygonal prism shape with a side shape of at least a pentagon. In this case, a cleaning tool for cleaning the back surface W2 of the wafer W may be provided on the side surface of the rotating body 211 in addition to the four cleaning tools 212 to 215.

In the cleaning mechanism 210 of the above embodiment, the rotary body 211 and the cleaning tools 212 to 215 are extended longer than the diameter of the holding surface 44a of the transfer tray 44 (the diameter of the surface W1 of the wafer W), but the axial length of the cleaning tools 212 to 215 is not limited to this. As described above, in steps S6 and S7, the front surface W1 of the wafer W is cleaned while the wafer W is rotated. Therefore, if the sponge cleaning tool 212 and the air cleaning tool 213 are each at least half the diameter of the surface W1, the entire surface W1 can be cleaned and dried. Similarly, in step T1, since the cleaning of the holding surface 44a of the feed tray 44 is performed while rotating the feed tray 44, the entire holding surface 44a can be cleaned as long as the stone cleaning tool 214 and the brush cleaning tool 215 are each at least half the diameter of the holding surface 44 a.

In the above embodiment, the carrier tray 44 is rotated about the vertical axis when the front surface W1 of the wafer W and the holding surface 44a of the carrier tray 44 are cleaned, but the carrier tray 44 may be rotated relative to the cleaning mechanism 210. For example, the cleaning mechanism 210 may be rotated about the vertical axis by a rotation mechanism (not shown), or both the conveyance tray 44 and the cleaning mechanism 210 may be rotated about the vertical axis.

In the above embodiment, the cleaning liquid is supplied from the cleaning liquid tank 230 to the sponge cleaning tool 212, but the method of supplying the cleaning liquid to the sponge cleaning tool 212 is not limited to this. For example, the sponge cleaning tool 212 may have a cleaning liquid nozzle (not shown) incorporated therein, and the cleaning liquid may be supplied from the cleaning liquid nozzle to the sponge of the sponge cleaning tool 212.

In the above embodiment, the protective tape P for protecting the device is bonded to the front surface W1 of the wafer W, but the device protector is not limited to this. For example, a support substrate such as a support wafer or a glass substrate may be bonded to the front surface W1 of the wafer W, and the present invention can also be applied to this case.

< embodiment 3 >

In cleaning mechanism 210 of the above embodiment, cleaning tools 212 to 215 are provided on the side surfaces of rotating body 211, respectively, but the configuration of cleaning mechanism 210 is not limited to this.

As shown in fig. 10, according to embodiment 3, in the cleaning mechanism 210, the workpiece drying tool 300, the chuck cleaning tool 301, and the workpiece cleaning tool 302 are arranged in this order along the Y-axis direction.

The workpiece drying tool 300 is provided with an air cleaning tool 213, and the air cleaning tool 213 blows air to the front surface W1 of the wafer W to dry the front surface W1. The workpiece drying tool 300 is configured to be movable in the X-axis direction inside the 2 nd cleaning unit 70 by the moving mechanism 303.

The chuck cleaning tool 301 is provided with a rotating body 211, and at least a stone cleaning tool 214 and a brush cleaning tool 215 are provided on the surface of the rotating body 211. The stone cleaning tool 214 includes, for example, a grindstone extending in the X-axis direction longer than the diameter of the holding surface 44a, and the brush cleaning tool 215 includes, for example, a brush extending in the X-axis direction longer than the diameter of the holding surface 44 a.

The workpiece cleaning tool 302 is provided with a sponge cleaning tool 212, a sponge cleaning nozzle 304, and a sponge cleaning roller 305. The sponge cleaning tool 212 is attached to a rotation mechanism (not shown) having an actuator (not shown) therein, and is configured to be rotatable via a shaft (not shown). The workpiece cleaning tool 302 is configured to be vertically movable by a vertical movement mechanism (not shown), and when cleaning the front surface W1 of the wafer W, the workpiece cleaning tool 302 is controlled to protrude upward from the upper end portion of the chuck cleaning tool 301. The sponge cleaning tool 212 has a sponge extending in the X-axis direction and longer than the diameter of the front surface W1 of the wafer W, for example.

Next, a cleaning method for cleaning the front surface W1 of the wafer W as a target object and the holding surface 44a of the conveyance tray 44 using the cleaning mechanism 210 according to embodiment 3 will be described.

When the front surface W1 of the wafer W is cleaned, first, a cleaning liquid L (e.g., pure water) is supplied from the sponge cleaning nozzle 304 to the sponge cleaning tool 212. Thereafter, as shown in fig. 11 (a), the work cleaning tool 302 is raised by the elevating mechanism while the sponge cleaning tool 212 and the sponge cleaning roller 305 are rotated, and the sponge cleaning tool 212 containing the cleaning liquid L is brought into contact with the front surface W1 of the wafer W. Then, the sponge cleaning tool 212 is brought into contact with the front surface W1 while the wafer W is moved in the Y-axis direction by the transfer tray 44, and the entire front surface W1 (protective tape P) is cleaned.

At this time, since the sponge cleaning tool 212 contains the cleaning liquid L, the stains on the front surface W1 of the wafer W can be removed properly. Further, the dirt removed by the sponge cleaning tool 212 is properly removed from the sponge cleaning tool 212 by the sponge cleaning roller 305.

Further, when the front surface W1 is cleaned, the wafer W may be rotated by the transfer tray 44.

Thereafter, as shown in fig. 11 (b), the wafer W is moved upward of the workpiece drying tool 300 by the transfer tray 44. As shown in fig. 11 c, in a state where the air cleaning tool 213 is disposed to face the front surface W1 of the wafer W, air is ejected from the air cleaning tool 213 toward the front surface W1 while the wafer W is rotated by the transfer tray 44, and the air cleaning tool 213 is moved in the X-axis direction in this state, whereby the entire front surface W1 (protective tape P) is dried.

When the surface W1 (protective tape P) of the wafer W is to be cleaned, the conveyance tray 44 is cleaned using the chuck cleaning tool 301 before the wafer W is held on the conveyance tray 44. Specifically, as shown in fig. 12 (a), in a state where the stone cleaning tool 214 is disposed on the upper surface of the rotating body 211, in other words, in a state where the stone cleaning tool 214 is disposed to face the holding surface 44a of the transfer tray 44, the entire holding surface 44a is cleaned by bringing the stone cleaning tool 214 into contact with the holding surface 44a while rotating the transfer tray 44. As shown in fig. 12 (b), in a state where the brush cleaning tool 215 is disposed on the upper surface of the rotating body 211, in other words, in a state where the brush cleaning tool 215 is disposed to face the holding surface 44a, the entire holding surface 44a is cleaned by bringing the brush cleaning tool 215 into contact with the holding surface 44a while rotating the conveyance tray 44.

When the transfer tray 44 is cleaned, a cleaning liquid (e.g., pure water) may be supplied from a cleaning liquid supply line (not shown) connected to the holding surface 44a of the transfer tray 44. The cleaning liquid supply line is connected so as to be switchable with the suction line of the wafer W inside the transfer tray 44, for example, and is switched from the suction line to the cleaning liquid supply line when the transfer tray 44 is cleaned. By supplying the cleaning liquid to the feed tray 44 in this manner, the dirt on the holding surface 44a of the feed tray 44 can be removed properly.

The cleaning of the transfer tray 44 may be performed by either the stone cleaning tool 214 or the brush cleaning tool 215, or both of them. The cleaning of the transfer tray 44 is performed at an arbitrary timing before the cleaning of the front surface W1 of the wafer W.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the examples. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims, and these are also within the scope of the present invention.

Description of the reference numerals

1. A substrate processing system; 2. a delivery station; 3. a delivery station; 4. a processing device; 5. a post-processing device; 6. a delivery station; 40. a conveying unit; 44. a delivery tray; 44a, a holding surface; 70. a2 nd cleaning unit; 120. a control unit; 210. a cleaning mechanism; 211. a rotating body; 212. a sponge cleaning tool; 213. an air purge tool; 214. making a cleaning tool by using stone; 215. brushing the cleaning tool; 220. a rotation mechanism; 230. a cleaning liquid tank; 300. a workpiece drying tool; 301. a chuck cleaning tool; 302. a workpiece cleaning tool; l, cleaning fluid; p, a protective belt; w, a wafer; w1, surface; w2, back side.