Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Machines – Brushing
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-11
2003-11-25
Spisich, Mark (Department: 1744)
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Machines
Brushing
C015S088200, C134S104100, C134S184000, C134S186000, C134S199000, C134S902000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06651284
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a scrubbing assembly for a wafer-cleaning device; in particular, the invention relates to a scrubbing assembly with an extended lifespan and enhanced scrubbing ability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Production of semiconductor devices having microscopic structure requires high-precision technology. During processing, minute particles of dust on the circuits which constitute a semiconductor device may degrade the reliability of the finished semiconductor device. Even if dust contaminants produced during processing, which end up on a semiconductor wafer, do not adversely affect the circuit functions of the semiconductor device, they still may lead to fabrication difficulties. Therefore, the semiconductor device must be fabricated in a dirt-free environment, and the surface of the semiconductor wafer must be washed to remove minute particles of dust generated during processing.
The cleaning steps are carried out by sprinkling pure water on the wafer surface, or by allowing a rotary-fiber brush bearing a cleaning agent or pure water to contact the surface of the wafer. Scrubbing equipment is used to clean the surface of the wafer by removing dust contaminants with a brush and pure water.
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a conventional wafer-cleaning device
100
, using DI water, is shown. Numeral
80
represents a base. Parts of the device
100
can be disposed inside the base
80
. A bath
10
is disposed inside the base
80
. A vacuum chuck (not shown) and a rotary shaft (not shown), connected to the vacuum chuck, are disposed inside the bath
10
. A wafer
20
can be disposed on the vacuum chuck. The wafer
20
, disposed on the vacuum chuck, rotates at high speed by the action of the rotary shaft.
A first arm
61
and a second arm
62
are disposed inside the base
80
. A scrubber
16
is disposed at the front end of the first arm
61
, and can swing along a direction, as shown by arrow E. The scrubber
16
is in contact with the wafer
20
disposed on the vacuum chuck and scrubs the surface of the wafer
20
. A step motor
41
,
42
and a cylinder
43
, as shown in
FIG. 2
a
, electrically connected to the scrubber
16
, move and rotate the scrubber
16
.
A sprayer
32
is disposed at the front end of the second arm
62
. A step motor (not shown), disposed inside the second arm
62
, rotates the second arm
62
and the sprayer
32
along a direction, as shown by arrow D.
A water-supplying device
30
supplies DI water to the sprayer
32
. Then, the DI water, spraying from the sprayer
32
, cleans the surface of the wafer
20
. In the bath
10
, the wafer
20
, rotating at high speed, is sprayed by the DI water and scrubbed by the scrubber
16
simultaneously.
A conventional scrubbing assembly for a wafer-cleaning device is shown in
FIG. 2
a
and
FIG. 2
b
. The scrubber
16
connects with the first arm
61
via a third arm
65
. The first step motor
41
, for controlling the self-rotation of the scrubber
16
, is disposed inside the third arm
65
. The first arm
61
is disposed on a platform
64
. A cup
50
, the second step motor
42
and the cylinder
43
are disposed on the platform
64
. The second step motor
42
controls the rotation of the third arm
65
. The cylinder
43
controls the upward and downward movement of the third arm
65
. The cup
50
receives the scrubber
16
when the scrubber
16
does not scrub the wafer
20
, that is, the scrubber
16
locates in an idle position.
Referring to
FIG. 2
b
, the scrubber
16
is provided with a body
161
, a rotary shaft
162
and scrubbing bristles
163
. A space
164
is formed between the body
161
and the rotary shaft
162
. A tube
63
, for discharging water into the space
164
, is disposed at the third arm
65
.
After the conventional scrubber
16
scrubs a wafer, it moves to the position beyond the cup
50
from the bath
10
by the second step motor
42
. Then, the scrubber
16
moves downwardly into the cup
50
by the cylinder
43
. During the downward movement of the scrubber
16
, the first step motor
41
rotates the scrubber
16
itself while the tube
63
supplies water into the space
164
. As a result, the scrubbing bristles
163
are cleaned by the water while it rotates.
However, since the scrubbing bristles of the scrubbing assembly are simply cleaned by the water, particles adhering to the scrubbing bristles are not easy to remove. Furthermore, since the cleaning of the scrubbing bristles is not thorough, the problem of counter-contamination between wafers may occur. In addition, concurrent procedures may be affected by the particles.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to address the disadvantages of the aforementioned scrubbing assembly, the invention provides a scrubbing assembly with an extended lifespan and enhanced scrubbing ability.
Accordingly, the invention provides a scrubbing assembly for a wafer-cleaning device. The wafer-cleaning device is provided with a base. The scrubbing assembly comprises a scrubber, a cup and an oscillator. The scrubber is disposed on the base in a manner such that it can move between a first position and a second position. The scrubber scrubs a wafer when it locates in the first position. The cup, for receiving DI water, is disposed on the base. The scrubber locates inside the cup and is in contact with the DI water when it locates in the second position. The oscillator is disposed at the cup, and it vibrates the DI water when the scrubber locates inside the cup and is in contact with the DI water.
Furthermore, the cup is provided with a plurality of spraying holes that spray the DI water to the scrubber when the scrubber locates inside the cup and separates from the DI water.
Furthermore, the scrubbing assembly comprises a discharging device electrically connected with the cup, and the cup is provided with a discharging hole so that the discharging device actuates the discharging holes open to discharge the DI water after the scrubber scrubs a predetermined number of the wafers.
Furthermore, the scrubbing assembly comprises a first water-supplying device and a second water-supplying device. The first water-supplying device communicates with the spraying holes so that it sprays the DI water to the scrubber through the spraying holes when the scrubber locates inside the cup and separates from the DI water. The second water-supplying device is electrically connected with the discharging device so that it can supply the DI water after the discharging device discharges the DI water from the cup.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4476601 (1984-10-01), Oka
patent: 5636401 (1997-06-01), Yonemizu et al.
patent: 5647083 (1997-07-01), Sugimoto et al.
patent: 5685039 (1997-11-01), Hamada et al.
patent: 6141812 (2000-11-01), Matsuda et al.
patent: 6158075 (2000-12-01), Tanaka et al.
patent: 6418584 (2002-07-01), Teeny et al.
Chang Hsin Yi
Tseng Kao-Mao
Tseng Su-Ling
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Silicon Integrated Systems Corp.
Spisich Mark
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