JP3281978B2 - Cleaning and drying equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning / drying apparatus for immersing an object to be processed, such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate for LCD, in a cleaning liquid such as a chemical solution or a rinsing liquid, cleaning the object, and then drying. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, an object to be processed (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer or the like) such as a semiconductor wafer or LCD glass is washed with a chemical solution or a rinsing solution (cleaning solution).
A cleaning method of sequentially immersing in a processing tank in which a processing liquid such as the above is stored for cleaning is widely adopted. Further, in such a cleaning apparatus, a dry gas composed of a vapor of a volatile organic solvent such as IPA (isopropyl alcohol) is brought into contact with the surface of a wafer or the like after cleaning,
A drying apparatus for condensing or adsorbing the vapor of the drying gas to remove and dry the moisture of the wafer or the like is provided.

As a conventional cleaning / drying apparatus of this type, as shown in FIG. 14, for example, a chemical solution such as hydrofluoric acid or a rinse solution (cleaning solution) such as pure water is stored (contained), and the stored chemical solution is stored. A cleaning tank a (cleaning chamber) for immersing an object to be processed, for example, a semiconductor wafer W (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer), in a cleaning liquid;
A drying unit b located above the cleaning tank a;
Moving means for holding zero wafers W and moving these wafers W into the cleaning tank a and the drying section b, for example, a wafer boat c
There is known a washing / drying processing apparatus having the following.

In the cleaning / drying apparatus having the above-described structure, a cleaning liquid supply source (not shown) and a supply nozzle d selectively connected to the cleaning liquid supply source are provided in a cleaning tank a. In the drying section b, a drying gas (not shown) such as I
A drying gas supply nozzle e connected to a supply source of a mixed gas of PA and nitrogen (N2) is provided. An opening g into which a wafer transfer chuck f can be inserted is provided above the drying section b. A lid h for opening and closing the opening g is provided.

According to the cleaning / drying processing apparatus constructed as described above, the wafer boat c for waiting a plurality of wafers W, for example, 50 wafers W transferred to the drying section b by the wafer transfer chuck f, in the drying section b. The wafer boat c that has received and received the wafer W descends and moves the wafer W into the cleaning tank a to perform the chemical processing by supplying the chemical and the cleaning processing by supplying the cleaning liquid and overflowing. After completion of the chemical processing and the cleaning processing, the wafer boat c rises and the drying section b
The drying process is performed by supplying the drying gas (IPA + N2) from the drying gas supply nozzle e and bringing the drying gas into contact with the wafer W. Then, the wafer W subjected to the drying process is received by the wafer transfer chuck f that enters the drying unit b, and is carried out to perform a series of cleaning and drying processes.

[0006]

However, in this type of conventional cleaning / drying apparatus, when a wafer is transferred between the wafer transfer chuck f and the wafer boat c which enters the drying section b, the wafer transfer is performed. In order for the chuck f to switch from the wafer holding state to the wafer non-holding state, the chuck section needs to move in the lateral direction. Therefore,
It is necessary to provide a space for moving the wafer transfer chuck f in the drying section b, and the volume of the drying section b must be increased accordingly. Increasing the volume of the drying section b in this way not only leads to an increase in the size of the apparatus, but also increases the consumption of the drying gas, resulting in a problem that the drying efficiency is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to reduce the volume of a drying chamber as much as possible to reduce the size of the apparatus, to reduce the consumption of drying gas, and to improve the drying efficiency. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning / drying apparatus as described above.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.

(1) A cleaning / drying apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a cleaning chamber containing a cleaning liquid for cleaning an object to be processed, and a drying chamber disposed above the cleaning chamber.
In the drying processing apparatus, the container forming the drying chamber is formed so as to be dividable in a horizontal direction.

With this configuration, the drying chamber can be divided and expanded in the horizontal direction, and the object to be processed is carried into the drying chamber in an expanded state, and then the drying chamber is closed to perform the drying process. be able to. Therefore, the volume of the drying chamber can be reduced, and the size of the apparatus can be reduced. In addition, the consumption of the drying gas can be reduced, and the drying efficiency can be improved.

(2) A cleaning / drying apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a cleaning chamber containing a cleaning liquid for cleaning an object to be processed, and a drying chamber disposed above the cleaning chamber.
In the drying treatment apparatus, a container forming the drying chamber is formed so as to be able to be divided in a horizontal direction, and two container halves constituting the container are formed so as to be relatively movable by horizontal moving means. And

With this configuration, the container half constituting the drying chamber can be opened and closed by the horizontal moving means, so that the object to be processed in the drying chamber and the object to be processed out of the drying chamber can be carried out. The opening movement of the container half can be facilitated. Therefore, the efficiency of the drying operation can be improved.

(3) A cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention includes a cleaning chamber containing a cleaning liquid for cleaning an object to be processed, and a drying chamber disposed above the cleaning chamber.
In the drying treatment apparatus, the container forming the drying chamber is in close contact with a fixed base forming a communicating portion with the cleaning chamber via a sealing member between the fixed base and the fixed base,
It is constituted by two container halves that can be divided in the horizontal direction, wherein the container halves are formed so as to be relatively movable by horizontal moving means and vertically movable by vertical moving means. .

According to this structure, the container half can be opened and closed without impairing the sealing performance of the sealing member for maintaining the airtightness of the drying chamber. Therefore, the reliability of the drying process can be improved.

(4) The cleaning / drying apparatus according to the fourth aspect is the cleaning / drying apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the cleaning chamber is provided between the cleaning chamber and the drying chamber. And a horizontally movable shutter for blocking a communication opening of the drying chamber and the drying chamber. The shutter is formed of a shutter half that can be divided in the horizontal direction, and both shutter halves can be opened and closed by shutter opening and closing means. Is formed.

With this configuration, the shutter can be quickly opened and closed to prevent the external atmosphere from entering the cleaning chamber and the drying chamber, and the efficiency of the cleaning and drying processes can be improved. it can.

(5) The cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to the fifth aspect is the cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein a drying gas supply unit is provided in the drying chamber. Features.

With this configuration, it is possible to perform a drying process by spraying a drying gas on the object disposed in the drying chamber, thereby improving the drying efficiency.

(6) The cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to claim 6 is the cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the two half containers constituting the container forming the drying chamber are provided. The body is characterized in that one end is provided with a step covering the end of the other container half. in this case,
It is preferable to provide a seal member for blocking an external atmosphere at a portion of the step provided at one end of the container half in contact with the other container half (claim 7).

With this configuration, the airtightness of the drying chamber can be improved, and the drying efficiency can be improved.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to a semiconductor wafer cleaning processing system will be described.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a cleaning system to which the cleaning / drying apparatus of the present invention is applied, and FIG.
Is a schematic side view thereof.

The cleaning system includes a transfer unit 2 for loading and unloading a container, for example, a carrier 1 for storing a semiconductor wafer W (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer), which is an object to be processed, in a horizontal state; It mainly includes a processing unit 3 that performs a liquid process such as a cleaning liquid and a drying process, and an interface unit 4 that is located between the transfer unit 2 and the processing unit 3 and that performs transfer of the wafer W, position adjustment, and posture change. Have been.

The transport section 2 includes a carry-in section 5 and a carry-out section 6 which are provided alongside one end of the cleaning system. The carrier 1 of the loading unit 5 and the unloading unit 6
At the carry-in entrance 5a and the carry-out exit 6b, a slide-type mounting table 7 that allows the carrier 1 to enter and exit the carry-in section 5 and the carry-out section 6 is provided. In addition, the loading unit 5 and the unloading unit 6
Each of the carrier lifters 8 is provided, and the carrier lifter 8 can carry the carrier 1 between the carry-in section and the carry-out section, and can transfer the empty carrier 1 to the carrier standby section provided above the carry section 2. 9 and can be received from the carrier standby unit 9 (see FIG. 2).

The interface section 4 includes a partition wall 4c.
A first chamber 4a adjacent to the loading section 5 and a loading section 6
And a second chamber 4b adjacent to the second chamber 4b. And
In the first chamber 4a, a horizontal (X, Y direction), a vertical direction (Z direction), and a rotatable (θ direction) wafer for taking out and transporting a plurality of wafers W from the carrier 1 of the loading unit 5 are provided. A take-out arm 10, a notch aligner 11 for detecting a notch provided on the wafer W, and an interval adjusting mechanism 12 for adjusting an interval between a plurality of wafers W taken out by the wafer take-out arm 10 are provided. First attitude converter 1 for converting wafer W to a vertical state
3 are provided.

In the second chamber 4b, a plurality of processed wafers W are received from the processing section 3 in a vertical state, and are transferred and transferred. 13A for converting the horizontal state from the vertical state to the horizontal state, and a plurality of wafers W that have been converted to the horizontal state by the second A wafer storage arm 15 that can be stored in the carrier 1 in a horizontal direction (X and Y directions), a vertical direction (Z direction) and a rotatable (θ direction) is provided. The second chamber 4b is sealed from the outside, and is configured such that the inside of the second chamber 4b is replaced by an inert gas (not shown), for example, N2 gas supplied from a supply source of nitrogen (N2) gas.

On the other hand, the processing section 3 includes a first processing unit 16 for removing particles and organic contaminants adhering to the wafer W, a second processing unit 17 for removing metal contaminants adhering to the wafer W, The cleaning / drying processing device 18 and the chuck cleaning unit 19 of the present invention, which are cleaning / drying processing units for removing and drying the oxide film adhered to the wafer W, are linearly arranged. X and Y directions (horizontal direction), Z direction (vertical direction)
And a rotatable (θ) wafer transfer chuck 21.

Next, the cleaning / drying apparatus of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of the cleaning / drying processing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of a main part thereof.

The cleaning / drying processing device 18 stores (contains) a chemical solution such as hydrofluoric acid or a rinse solution (cleaning solution) such as pure water, and immerses the wafer W in the stored chemical solution or cleaning solution. 22 (cleaning chamber), a drying chamber 23 located above the cleaning tank 22, and moving means for holding a plurality of, for example, 50 wafers W and moving the wafers W into the cleaning tank 22 and the drying chamber 23, for example. It is mainly composed of a wafer boat 24.

In this case, the cleaning tank 22 includes an inner tank 22a formed of, for example, a quartz member or polypropylene, and an outer tank 22a disposed outside the upper end of the inner tank 22a to receive the cleaning liquid overflowing from the inner tank 22a. And a tank 22b. A chemical / cleaning liquid supply nozzle 25 (hereinafter, referred to as a liquid supply nozzle) for injecting a chemical liquid or a cleaning liquid onto the wafer W located in the cleaning tank 22 is provided on both lower sides of the inner tank 22a. A chemical solution or pure water is supplied from a chemical solution supply source and a pure water supply source (not shown) connected to the nozzle 25 by a switching valve, and the chemical solution or pure water is stored in the cleaning tank 22. Also, the inner tank 22a
Is provided with a discharge port, and a drain pipe 26 provided with a discharge valve 26a is connected to the discharge port. A drain pipe 27 provided with a discharge valve 27a is also connected to a discharge port provided at the bottom of the outer tank 22b. An exhaust box 28 is provided outside the outer tub 22b, and an exhaust port provided in the exhaust box 28 is connected to an exhaust pipe 29 provided with a valve 29a.

The cleaning tank 22 and the exhaust box 28 configured as described above are disposed in a cylindrical box 30 having a bottom, and an upper chamber on the cleaning tank side is partitioned by a partition plate 31 that horizontally partitions the box 30. 32a, inner tank 22a and outer tank 22b
Are connected to drain pipes 26 and 27 and a drain port of the exhaust pipe 29 and a lower chamber 32b on the exhaust port side. As a result, the atmosphere of the lower chamber 32b and the scattering of the waste liquid are prevented from entering the upper chamber 32a, and the interior of the upper chamber 32a is kept clean. The exhaust window 33 is provided on the side wall of the upper chamber 32a.
Is provided, and an exhaust window 34 is provided on an upper side wall of the lower chamber 32b.
A drain port 35 is provided on the lower side wall.

On the other hand, the drying chamber 23 is made of a quartz container 23.
A, a container 23 forming a drying chamber 23
A includes a fixed base 23b having a communication port 23a with the cleaning tank 22, as shown in FIGS.
b and two container halves 23c and 23d having a substantially fan-shaped cross section, which are in close contact with each other via a sealing member 36 such as a packing or an O-ring, and are formed so as to be dividable in the horizontal (left and right) directions. Is formed. In this case, a step 23e is provided at the end of one of the container halves 23c, 23d to cover the end of the other container halve 23d, and at the same time, for example, packing or O is used to close the gap between the two. A seal member 37 such as a ring is mounted.
By closing the container halves 23c and 23d configured in this way, the substantially chamber-shaped drying chamber 23 having airtightness is closed.
Is formed.

A direction perpendicular to the dividing direction of the two container halves 23c and 23d (a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 3).
A guide rail 38 is disposed on one side of the side.
A cylinder body 41a of a horizontal air cylinder 41, which is a horizontal moving means, is provided on two movable members 39, 39 which are slidably fitted on the guide rails 38 via connecting members 40, respectively. The piston rod 41b is connected. A vertical air cylinder 42, which is a vertical moving means, is disposed vertically above each of the movers 39, 39, and a free end of a piston rod 42a protruding above the vertical air cylinder 42 is substantially provided. The container halves 23c and 23d are connected via an L-shaped bracket 43.
Are connected. Note that guide rails 38 are provided on the other side in a direction orthogonal to the dividing direction of the container halves 23c and 23d.
An auxiliary guide rail 38a parallel to the movable guide 39 is also provided. Two movable elements 39 are slidably fitted to the auxiliary guide rail 38a, and a vertical air cylinder 42 is set on the upper part of each movable element 39 in a vertical state. A piston rod 42 arranged and projecting above the vertical air cylinder 42
The container halves 23c and 23d are connected to the free end of the container a via a substantially L-shaped bracket 43. With this configuration, the container halves 23c and 23d move up and down by driving the vertical air cylinder 42, move toward and away from the fixed base 23b, and move in the horizontal direction by driving the horizontal air cylinder 41. Is configured to move.

A drying gas supply means, for example, a drying gas supply nozzle 44 is provided on both upper sides of the drying chamber 23. As shown in FIG. 4, the dry gas supply nozzle 44 is formed of a shower nozzle having a plurality of nozzle holes provided at appropriate intervals in a pipe body.
Is connected to a dry gas generator 46 through a supply pipe 45 penetrating through. In this case, the dry gas generator 46 is connected to a supply source 60 for a liquid for dry gas, for example, IPA (isopropyl alcohol) and a supply source 61 for a carrier gas, for example, nitrogen (N2) gas. An opening / closing valve 47 is provided in the supply pipe 45, and the drying gas (I) generated by the drying gas generator 46 by the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing valve 47 is provided.
PA + N2) from the drying gas supply nozzle 44 to the drying chamber 23
It is constituted so that it can be supplied in. By stopping the supply of IPA, only the N2 gas can be supplied from the drying gas supply nozzle 44 into the drying chamber 23. In this case, the on-off valve 47 is configured to be able to open and close based on a signal from control means (not shown) such as a central processing unit (CPU). As a dry gas to be used, organic solvents such as alcohol ketones such as IPA, ethers, and polyhydric alcohols can be used. In this case, the dry gas may be either an organic solvent such as IPA alone or a mixed gas of IPA and N2.

Further, a shutter 48 for shutting off the communication part is provided at the communication part between the washing tank 22 and the drying chamber 23. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the shutter 48 includes two shutter halves 48a and 48 that can be divided in the horizontal direction similarly to the container 23A that forms the drying chamber 23.
a shutter opening / closing means, for example, a horizontal air cylinder 49 for opening / closing a shutter, which is formed in the same manner as the horizontal air cylinder 41 serving as a horizontal moving means for the container halves 23c and 23d. And the like, and are connected to a piston rod (not shown) so that the horizontal air cylinder 49 allows the two shutter halves 48a to move toward and away from each other to close the communication portion. Also, both shutter halves 48a, 4
A sealing member 50 such as a packing is attached to one of the contact portions of the shutter half 8a.
When the shutter 48 is closed, that is, when the shutter 48 is closed, airtightness is maintained.

The shutter half 48a is divided into an upper shutter body 48b and a lower shutter body 48c.
A plurality of, for example, eight cylinders 51 provided (built-in) between the shutter bodies 48b and 48c are formed so as to be capable of adjusting the distance in the contact and separation directions. Thus, the shutter half 4
8a is divided into an upper shutter body 48b and a lower shutter body 48c, and is formed so as to be adjustable in a contact / separation direction via a cylinder 51, so that the cleaning tank 22 and the drying chamber 23 are closed with the shutter half 48a closed. , It is possible to ensure that the cleaning tank 22 and the drying chamber 23 can be shut off.

On both sides of the lower shutter body 48c of the shutter half body 48a along the opening and closing movement direction, wing pieces 52 having a substantially inverted hat shape in cross section are protruded, and one of them is provided with a horizontal air cylinder 49 of the shutter 48. Are linked.
In addition, a part of the bent portion 52 a of the both wing pieces 52 is movably disposed in a state of being immersed in a sealing liquid 54 such as water stored in a gutter-shaped tank 53 provided on the upper part of the cleaning tank 22. ing.

When the bent portions 52a of the wing pieces 52 projecting to both sides of the shutter half 48a are movably housed in this manner, the gutter tank 53 and the wing pieces 52 stored in the gutter tank 53 are stored.
The liquid sealing mechanism 55 is formed by the sealing liquid 54 immersed in the bent portion 52a of FIG. The cleaning tank 22 and the outside of the cleaning tank 22 (specifically, the opening / closing means 49 of the shutter 48 and the cleaning tank 2) are formed by the liquid sealing mechanism 55 thus formed.
With respect to 2, the opening / closing means 49 and the opposite side｝ can be air-tightly sealed. Although not shown, the sealing liquid 54 is always supplied from a supply port provided at a lower portion of the gutter-shaped tank 53, and is constantly discharged from a drainage port provided on an upper side portion to constantly remove the gutter-shaped tank 53. Is filled with a sealing liquid 54.

The cleaning tank 22 and the horizontal air cylinder 4
9 is partitioned by a partition wall 56, and the partition wall 5
6 has a bent portion 5 of the wing piece 52 in the gutter tank 53.
It is immersed in the sealing liquid 54 inside 2a. Therefore, the processing unit on the cleaning tank 22 side and the horizontal air cylinder 49
The atmosphere with the side can be reliably shut off. A bent portion is formed in the connecting member 40 that connects the container halves 23c and 23d to the driving side, that is, the horizontal air cylinder 41 and the vertical air cylinder 42, similarly to the wing piece 52, and the bent portion is formed as a gutter. By forming the liquid sealing mechanism by dipping in the sealing liquid in the tank, the atmosphere in the drying section and the driving side can be reliably shut off.

In this case, the horizontal air cylinder 4
The shutter 9 and the cylinder 51 are configured to be driven based on a signal from the control means, that is, the CPU, to open and close the shutter half 48a.

Next, the operation of the cleaning / drying apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. In order to load a plurality of wafers W, for example, 50 wafers, into the cleaning / drying processing apparatus, first, as shown in FIG. 6, the vertical air cylinder 42 is driven to raise the container halves 23c and 23d to raise the fixed base 23b. Then, the horizontal air cylinder 41 is driven to move the container halves 23c and 23d away from each other (see FIG. 7). At this time, the wafer boat 2
4 to the wafer receiving position. In this state, as shown in FIG. 8, the wafer transfer chuck 21 holding a plurality of, for example, 50 wafers W moves down and passes between the opened container halves 23c and 23d to place the wafer W on the wafer boat 24. After being placed on the wafer transfer chuck 2
1 opens outward and transfers the wafer W to the wafer boat 24 (see FIG. 9).

After transferring the wafer W to the wafer boat 24, the wafer transfer chuck 21 moves the wafer W as shown in FIG.
It retreats above the drying chamber 23. Wafer transfer chuck 21
At the same time, the horizontal air cylinder 41 is driven in the reverse direction to close the container halves 23c and 23d.
The vertical air cylinder 42 is driven in the opposite direction to that described above, and the container halves 23c and 23d descend to come into close contact with the seal member 36 of the fixed base 23b. Further, the wafer boat 24 descends and moves the wafer W into the cleaning tank 22.

With the wafer W moved into the cleaning tank 22, the shutter open / close horizontal air cylinder 49 is driven to close the shutter halves 48a, 48a. In this state, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a chemical solution or a cleaning liquid, for example, pure water L is stored and overflowed to perform a cleaning process. When the chemical treatment and the cleaning treatment are performed consecutively, the cleaning liquid may be supplied from a nozzle after the chemical treatment is drained, or the chemical may be replaced with the cleaning liquid after the chemical treatment.

After the cleaning process is completed, before the pure water L in the cleaning tank 22 is discharged from the lower part of the cleaning tank 22, during the discharge (drainage), or after the discharge, the wafer boat 24 is raised and the wafer W is dried. 23, and closes the shutter half 48a. In this state, as shown in FIG. 12, the drying gas (IPA) is supplied from the drying gas supply nozzle 37 into the drying chamber 23.
When (+ N2) is supplied, the drying gas comes into contact with the surface of the wafer W to perform a drying process. After the drying process, the N2 gas is supplied instead of the drying gas to complete the drying process.

After the drying process is completed, as shown in FIG. 13, the container halves 23c and 23d are raised and separated from each other to open the upper portion of the drying chamber 23 so that the wafers W held by the wafer boat 24 are removed. Wafer transfer chuck 21
Penetrates and grasps and receives the wafer W. Thereafter, the wafer transfer chuck 21 moves backward from the drying chamber 23 and moves the wafer W to the next step.

In the above embodiment, the case where the wafer transfer chuck 21 enters the drying chamber 23 from above between the container halves 23c and 23d to be opened is described. 23c, 23
The wafer W may be delivered by invading from the side between d. In the above embodiment, the case where the cleaning / drying processing apparatus of the present invention is applied to a semiconductor wafer cleaning processing system has been described. However, it is needless to say that the cleaning / drying processing apparatus can be applied to a processing system other than the cleaning processing. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to other LCD glass substrates and the like.

[0048]

As described above, according to the cleaning / drying treatment apparatus of the present invention, the following advantages can be obtained because it is configured as described above.

(1) According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the container forming the drying chamber is formed so as to be dividable in the horizontal direction, the drying chamber can be split and expanded in the horizontal direction. The object to be processed can be carried into the drying chamber in the state, and then the drying chamber can be closed to perform the drying process. Therefore, the volume of the drying chamber can be reduced, and the size of the apparatus can be reduced. In addition, the consumption of the drying gas can be reduced, and the drying efficiency can be improved.

(2) According to the second aspect of the present invention, the drying chamber can be opened and closed by horizontally moving the two container halves constituting the drying chamber relative to each other by the horizontal moving means. The opening movement of the container half when the object to be processed is carried in the drying chamber and the object to be processed is carried out of the drying chamber can be smoothly performed. Therefore, the efficiency of the drying operation can be improved.

(3) According to the third aspect of the invention, the container half can be opened and closed without impairing the sealing performance of the sealing member for maintaining the airtightness of the drying chamber. In addition to this, the drying efficiency can be improved, and the reliability of the apparatus can be improved.

(4) According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the shutter provided between the cleaning chamber and the drying chamber is formed of a shutter half that can be divided in the horizontal direction, and both shutter halves are formed. Is formed so that it can be opened and closed by the shutter opening and closing means, so that the opening and closing operation of the shutter for preventing the intrusion of the external atmosphere into the cleaning chamber and the drying chamber can be performed quickly, and the efficiency of the cleaning processing and the drying processing is improved. be able to.

(5) According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, by providing the drying gas supply means in the drying chamber, the drying gas is sprayed on the object to be processed disposed in the drying chamber. Therefore, drying efficiency can be improved.

(6) According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the two container halves constituting the container forming the drying chamber are provided at one end with a step covering the other container half. Because it is possible to improve the airtightness of the drying room,
Drying efficiency can be improved. In this case, by providing a sealing member for shutting off the external atmosphere at a portion of the step provided at one end of the container half in contact with the other container half, the airtightness of the drying chamber is further improved. The improvement can be achieved, and the drying efficiency can be improved (claim 7).

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a cleaning / drying processing system to which a cleaning / drying processing apparatus of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the cleaning / drying processing system.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of the cleaning / drying processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of a main part of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a main part of the cleaning / drying processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state in which the container half according to the present invention is lifted.

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the opened state of the container half and the raised state of the wafer boat in the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic sectional view showing a state before delivery of a wafer.

FIG. 9 is a schematic sectional view showing a delivery state of a wafer.

FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state in which the container half is closed after delivery of the wafer.

FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view showing a cleaning state of a wafer.

FIG. 12 is a schematic sectional view showing a dry state of a wafer.

FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a taken-out state after drying.

FIG. 14 is a schematic sectional view showing a conventional cleaning / drying processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 W Semiconductor wafer (object to be processed) 22 Cleaning tank (Cleaning chamber) 23 Drying chamber 23A Container 23b Fixed substrate 23c, 23d Container half 23e Step 24 Wafer boat 36 Seal member 37 Seal member 41 Horizontal air cylinder (horizontal moving means) 42 vertical air cylinder (vertical moving means) 44 drying gas supply nozzle (dry gas supplying means) 48 shutter 48a shutter half body 49 horizontal air cylinder (shutter opening / closing means) 50 sealing member

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cleaning / drying processing apparatus comprising: a cleaning chamber for storing a cleaning liquid for cleaning an object to be processed; and a drying chamber disposed above the cleaning chamber, wherein a container forming the drying chamber includes: A cleaning / drying apparatus characterized by being formed so as to be dividable in the horizontal direction. 2. A cleaning / drying processing apparatus comprising: a cleaning chamber for storing a cleaning liquid for cleaning an object to be processed; and a drying chamber disposed above the cleaning chamber, wherein a container forming the drying chamber includes: A cleaning / drying apparatus characterized in that it is formed so as to be dividable in the horizontal direction, and the two container halves constituting the container are formed so as to be relatively movable by horizontal moving means. 3. A cleaning and drying apparatus comprising: a cleaning chamber for storing a cleaning liquid for cleaning an object to be processed; and a drying chamber disposed above the cleaning chamber, wherein a container forming the drying chamber includes: A stationary base forming a communication portion with the cleaning chamber, and two container halves which are in close contact with the fixed base via a sealing member and which can be divided in the lateral direction with each other; A cleaning / drying apparatus characterized in that the body is formed so as to be relatively movable by horizontal moving means and vertically movable by vertical moving means. 4. The cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning chamber and the drying chamber can be moved horizontally between the cleaning chamber and the drying chamber to block a communication port between the cleaning chamber and the drying chamber. A cleaning / drying processing apparatus, wherein a shutter is provided, and the shutter is formed by a shutter half that can be divided in the horizontal direction, and both shutter halves are formed so as to be able to be opened and closed by shutter opening and closing means. . 5. The cleaning / drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a drying gas supply unit is provided in the drying chamber. 6. The cleaning / drying processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein two container halves constituting a container forming the drying chamber are provided at one end and the other container half. A washing / drying treatment apparatus characterized by providing a step covering an end of a body. 7. The cleaning / drying apparatus according to claim 6, wherein an external atmosphere is shut off at a portion of the step provided at one end of the container half, which is in contact with the other container half. A washing / drying treatment apparatus, wherein a sealing member is provided.