Cleaning/drying station and production line for semiconductor devices

• US 6,336,463 B1
• Filed: 03/30/1999
• Issued: 01/08/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Renesas Electronics Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Ohta, Nahomi
• Primary Examiner(s): Stinson, Frankie L.
• Application Number:
  US09/280,702
• Time in Patent Office: 1,015 Days
• Field of Search: 134/61, 134/95.2, 134/102.3, 134/147, 134/153, 134/902, 134/100.1, 134/102.1, 134/102.2, 134/95.3, 34/58, 34/59, 343/15, 343/17, 343/18, 343/23, 343/26
• US Class Current: 134/61
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67028 for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 134/902 Semiconductor wafer

Abstract

A production line includes a centralized cleaning/drying station for cleaning a wafer by using an HF cleaning solution or a non-HF cleaning solution and subsequently drying the wafer based on the desired cleaning/drying conditions, and a transport system for transporting the wafer between each processing station and the centralized cleaning/drying station. The production line has a large flexibility for selecting the cleaning/drying conditions for the wafer with a reduced system size.

Claims

1. A cleaning/drying system comprising a first cleaning device for cleaning a wafer by using an HF cleaning solution, a second cleaning device for cleaning a wafer by using a non-HF cleaning solution, a high-performance drying device for drying a wafer, and a high-speed drying device for cleaning a wafer at a higher-speed and with a lower degree of drying by said high-performance drying device, said first cleaning device or said second cleaning device being selected based on desired conditions for cleaning, said high-performance drying device or said high-speed drying device being selected based on desired conditions for drying.

2. The cleaning/drying system as defined in claim 1, wherein said high-performance drying device and said high-speed drying device is selected based on whether the wafer is cleaned by said first cleaning device or said second cleaning device.

3. A production line comprising:

a series of processing stations each for processing a wafer in the production line based on a desired treatment;

a cleaning/drying station including a first cleaning device for cleaning a wafer by using an HF cleaning solution, a second cleaning device for cleaning a wafer by using a non-HF cleaning solution, a high-performance drying device for drying a wafer, a high-speed drying device for drying a wafer at a higher speed and with a lower degree of drying than said high-performance drying device, said first cleaning device or said second cleaning device being selected based on desired conditions for cleaning, said high-performance drying device or said high-speed drying device being selected based on desired conditions for drying; and

a wafer transport system for transporting a wafer between each of said processing stations and said cleaning/drying station.

4. A production line comprising:

a series of processing stations each for processing a wafer in the production line based on a desired treatment;

at least one first cleaning/drying station including a first cleaning device for cleaning a wafer by using an HP cleaning solution and a high-performance drying device for drying the wafer cleaned by said first cleaning device;

at least one second cleaning/drying station including a second cleaning device for cleaning a wafer by using a non-HF cleaning solution and a high-speed drying device for drying the wafer cleaned by said second cleaning device; and

a wafer transport device for selectively transporting a wafer between each of said processing stations and said first cleaning/drying station or said second cleaning/drying device based on desired conditions for cleaning/drying.

5. The production line as defined in claim 4, wherein said first cleaning/drying station and said second cleaning/drying station are both centralized stations for the production line.

6. The production line as defined in claim 4, wherein said at least one first cleaning/drying station is a centralized station, and said at least one second cleaning station includes a plurality of distributed stations each disposed between two of said processing stations.

7. The production line as defined in claim 4, wherein said at least one first cleaning/drying station includes a plurality of distributed stations each disposed between two of said processing stations, and said at least one second cleaning station is a centralized station.

8. The production line as defined in claim 4, wherein said transport device transports a wafer between said processing station and said first cleaning/drying station via said second cleaning/drying station.