Vertical wafer cleaning and drying system
First Claim
1. A method for cleaning and drying a semiconductor wafer having a first planar surface and a second planar surface opposite said first planar surface and having a midplane parallel to and equidistant between said first and second planar surfaces, comprising the steps of:
- placing a wafer in a wafer drive assembly;
rotating said wafer about a rotation axis in said wafer drive assembly with said planar surfaces of said wafer oriented in a vertical plane and with said rotation axis aligned perpendicular to said planar surfaces;
cleaning said wafer with first and second wafer cleaning brushes disposed symmetrically with respect to said midplane of said wafer, said first and second wafer cleaning brushes comprising, respectively, first and second substantially tubular sponges rotatable beltwise about respective brush axes parallel to said planar surfaces, said first wafer cleaning brush comprising a first brush shaft and a second brush shaft, said first and second brush shafts being rotatable about mutually parallel axes and spaced laterally from each other, said first and second brush shafts being mounted within a lumen of said first substantially tubular sponge;
rotating said first sponge in a first direction while said first sponge is in contact with said first planar surface of said wafer, and rotating said second sponge in a second direction opposite said first direction while said second sponge is in contact with said second planar surface of said wafer, said cleaning step being performed concurrently with said rotating step; and
removing said wafer from said wafer drive assembly.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A wafer cleaning and drying apparatus comprises a vertical wafer drive assembly providing two-sided wafer cleaning by symmetrically disposed brushes. Each wafer brush comprises two parallel rotatable shafts within the lumen of a substantially tubular sponge, with an adjustable distance between the two shafts, which is narrowed to facilitate insertion into the sponge and widened to stretch the sponge into a substantially oval cross-sectional shape, thereby improving traction. One or more nonrotating perforated fluid delivery tubes are mounted within the lumen of the sponge in the space between the two shafts. The apparatus further comprises a minimal volume rinse/dry enclosure that conserves water and process chemicals; and a wafer transport assembly configured to transfer multiple wafers simultaneously between multiple process stations.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method for cleaning and drying a semiconductor wafer having a first planar surface and a second planar surface opposite said first planar surface and having a midplane parallel to and equidistant between said first and second planar surfaces, comprising the steps of:
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placing a wafer in a wafer drive assembly; rotating said wafer about a rotation axis in said wafer drive assembly with said planar surfaces of said wafer oriented in a vertical plane and with said rotation axis aligned perpendicular to said planar surfaces; cleaning said wafer with first and second wafer cleaning brushes disposed symmetrically with respect to said midplane of said wafer, said first and second wafer cleaning brushes comprising, respectively, first and second substantially tubular sponges rotatable beltwise about respective brush axes parallel to said planar surfaces, said first wafer cleaning brush comprising a first brush shaft and a second brush shaft, said first and second brush shafts being rotatable about mutually parallel axes and spaced laterally from each other, said first and second brush shafts being mounted within a lumen of said first substantially tubular sponge; rotating said first sponge in a first direction while said first sponge is in contact with said first planar surface of said wafer, and rotating said second sponge in a second direction opposite said first direction while said second sponge is in contact with said second planar surface of said wafer, said cleaning step being performed concurrently with said rotating step; and removing said wafer from said wafer drive assembly. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification