Cleaning device and electroplating device

Abstract

The present application discloses a cleaning device and an electroplating device. The cleaning device is configured to clean an electroplating chuck, and comprises a tank body and a pipe assembly; the tank body comprises an inner tank and an outer tank, the inner tank is configured to contain a cleaning liquid, and the outer tank is provided at the periphery of the inner tank and is configured to collect the cleaning liquid overflowing from the inner tank; the pipe assembly comprises a liquid inlet pipe and a liquid outlet pipe, the liquid inlet pipe is connected to the inner tank and is configured to supply the cleaning liquid to the inner tank, and the liquid outlet pipe is connected to the outer tank and is configured to discharge the cleaning liquid from the outer tank. The electroplating chuck has a first portion to be cleaned, and said first portion is located at the bottom of the electroplating chuck. When the electroplating chuck is cleaned, said first portion is located at the opening of the inner tank, so that the cleaning liquid overflowing from the inner tank cleans said first portion under the action of surface tension. By means of the surface tension of the cleaning liquid overflowing from the inner tank, the electroplating chuck is cleaned efficiently, and splashing and dripping of the cleaning liquid into an electroplating chamber of the electroplating device are effectively reduced or even avoided.

Description

Cleaning device and electroplating device

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411140793.7, filed on August 19, 2024, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and in particular, to a cleaning device and an electroplating device. BACKGROUND

[0003] In the semiconductor manufacturing process, wafer electroplating process is being increasingly widely used. In the current electroplating device, a chuck is usually used to hold the wafer. The chuck includes a conductive pin in contact with the wafer and a sealing element. The conductive pin should uniformly contact the surface of the wafer to be electroplated, and at the same time cannot directly contact the electroplating solution. Therefore, the sealing element is needed to isolate the electroplating solution from reaching the edge of the surface of the wafer to be electroplated. Otherwise, the edge of the surface of the wafer to be electroplated will be plated with metal, resulting in the uniformity of the metal film deposited on the wafer becoming very poor.

[0004] After the electroplating is completed, there are often residues on the sealing element, such as residual electroplating solution and metal impurities, etc. This part of the residues will contaminate the chuck, affecting the process of the wafer, such as causing uneven electric field distribution of the wafer, wafer sealing failure, etc.

[0005] If the chuck is disassembled for cleaning after each electroplating is completed, the electroplating efficiency will be greatly reduced, affecting the production capacity. If the frequency of cleaning the chuck is reduced, it is difficult to effectively remove the residues on the chuck. In the existing solutions, a nozzle is usually used to spray cleaning liquid to clean the chuck. Although this solution does not need to disassemble the chuck, the cleaning range of the nozzle is small, the cleaning efficiency is low, and the cleaning liquid is easy to splash during spraying, thereby contaminating the electroplating chamber or affecting the concentration and composition of the electroplating solution in the electroplating chamber, affecting the subsequent electroplating effect. Therefore, how to efficiently clean the chuck becomes a technical problem to be solved. SUMMARY

[0006] In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings of the prior art, the purpose of the present application is to provide a cleaning device configured to clean an electroplating chuck to solve the technical problem of difficult efficient cleaning in the existing electroplating device.

[0007] To achieve the above object and other related objects, in one aspect, the present application provides a cleaning device configured to clean an electroplating fixture, comprising a tank body comprising an inner tank and an outer tank, the inner tank is configured to contain cleaning liquid, the outer tank is disposed at the periphery of the inner tank and is configured to collect the cleaning liquid overflowed from the inner tank; a pipeline assembly comprising a liquid inlet pipeline and a liquid outlet pipeline, the liquid inlet pipeline is connected with the inner tank and is configured to supply cleaning liquid to the inner tank, the liquid outlet pipeline is connected with the outer tank and is configured to discharge the cleaning liquid in the outer tank; wherein the electroplating fixture has a first part to be cleaned, the first part to be cleaned is located at the bottom of the electroplating fixture, and when the electroplating fixture is cleaned, the first part to be cleaned is located at the tank opening of the inner tank, so that the cleaning liquid overflowed from the inner tank cleans the first part to be cleaned under the action of surface tension.

[0008] In some embodiments, further comprising a driving assembly configured to drive the tank body to move between a standby position and a cleaning position, and when the electroplating fixture is cleaned, the tank body is located at the cleaning position.

[0009] In some embodiments, further comprising a connecting arm, the tank body is fixed to one end of the connecting arm, the liquid inlet pipeline and the liquid outlet pipeline are at least partially located inside the connecting arm respectively, and the driving assembly is configured to drive the connecting arm to move so as to make the tank body move between the standby position and the cleaning position.

[0010] In some embodiments, further comprising a liquid storage device and a liquid inlet pump, the liquid storage device is configured to store cleaning liquid, the liquid storage device is connected with the liquid inlet pipeline and the liquid outlet pipeline respectively, and the liquid inlet pump is disposed in the liquid inlet pipeline, wherein the liquid storage device, the liquid inlet pipeline, the tank body and the liquid outlet pipeline form a cleaning liquid circulation loop.

[0011] In some embodiments, further comprising a filtering device disposed on the cleaning liquid circulation loop.

[0012] In some embodiments, the inner tank comprises a first sidewall, the first sidewall is provided with a second liquid inlet opening, the second liquid inlet opening is connected with the liquid inlet pipeline and is higher than the rest of the sidewall of the inner tank by a first height; the electroplating fixture comprises a chuck, the first part to be cleaned is located at the bottom of the chuck, and the first height is less than or equal to the height of the chuck; and / or, the first sidewall is provided with a third liquid inlet opening, the third liquid inlet opening is connected with the liquid inlet pipeline and is higher than the rest of the sidewall of the inner tank by a second height, wherein the second height is greater than the height of the chuck; and wherein when the tank body cleans the electroplating fixture, the first sidewall is located radially outside the chuck.

[0013] In some embodiments, the outer tank comprises a second sidewall corresponding to the outer side of the first sidewall, and the second sidewall is higher than the rest of the sidewalls of the outer tank

[0014] In some embodiments, the liquid inlet pipeline comprises a liquid inlet branch configured to connect with the third liquid inlet, wherein the liquid inlet branch is configured with an independent flow control device.

[0015] In some embodiments, a temperature adjusting device is further included and configured to adjust the temperature of the cleaning liquid contained in the inner tank.

[0016] In some embodiments, the inner tank and / or the outer tank is a square tank; or the inner tank and / or the outer tank is a fan-shaped ring tank.

[0017] In some embodiments, when the electroplating fixture is cleaned, a predetermined gap is provided between the first part to be cleaned and the tank opening, and the predetermined gap is less than or equal to the height of the cleaning liquid above the tank opening when the cleaning liquid overflows from the inner tank.

[0018] Another aspect of the present application provides an electroplating device comprising an electroplating cavity, an electroplating fixture, and a cleaning device as described above.

[0019] As described above, the present application provides a cleaning device and an electroplating device, which at least have the following effects:

[0020] 1) During the overflow of the cleaning liquid from the tank opening, the liquid surface of the cleaning liquid is slightly higher than the tank opening due to the surface tension of the cleaning liquid. Therefore, when the first part to be cleaned of the electroplating fixture is located at the tank opening, the contaminants on the first part to be cleaned can be removed by the continuously overflowing cleaning liquid from the tank opening, thereby achieving effective cleaning of the first part to be cleaned.

[0021] 2) The cleaning by the overflow of the tank opening can effectively increase the cleaning area and thus improve the cleaning efficiency. At the same time, the splashing of the cleaning liquid during the cleaning process can be reduced or even avoided. The outer tank is used to receive the cleaning liquid overflowing from the inner tank, thereby avoiding the falling of the cleaning liquid into the electroplating cavity to affect the composition and concentration of the electroplating liquid.

[0022] 3) The liquid storage device, the liquid inlet pipeline, the tank body, and the liquid outlet pipeline form a cleaning liquid circulation loop, which can recycle the cleaning liquid and effectively save the amount of cleaning liquid.

[0023] 4) By providing the second liquid inlet and / or the third liquid inlet, the cleaning range of the electroplating fixture can be increased, and more comprehensive cleaning can be achieved.

[0024] SUMMARY

[0025] The features and performances of the present application are further described by the following examples and drawings.

[0026] Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an electroplating device according to an embodiment of the present application, which is provided with a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the electroplating device of Fig. 1 from a top view;

[0028] Fig. 3a shows a schematic diagram of a part of the cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present application when cleaning an electroplating fixture;

[0029] Fig. 3b shows a schematic diagram of the cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present application when cleaning an electroplating fixture;

[0030] Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the electroplating device after the tank has been moved horizontally from a standby position;

[0031] Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the movement trajectory of the tank according to some embodiments of the present application;

[0032] Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a cross section of the tank according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of the tank according to an embodiment of the present application from a top view;

[0034] Fig. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a part of the cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present application when cleaning an electroplating fixture; and

[0035] Fig. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a cross section of the tank according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0036] Preferred embodiments of the present application

[0037] The present application is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to certain embodiments thereof. It is to be understood that the embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles of the present application and that other embodiments can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present application. The scope of the present application should therefore be limited only by the claims and equivalents thereof.

[0038] It is to be understood that the drawings are to be used only as a schematic basis for understanding the basic concept of the present application, and that the actual implementation of the present application may, in terms of the number, shape and size of the components, be a matter of arbitrary adjustment, and that the layout of the components may also be more complex.

[0039] The following description refers to the accompanying drawings. Unless otherwise noted, same or similar elements in the figures have same or similar reference numbers. The following description of exemplary embodiments is not representative of all possible embodiments consistent with the present application. Instead, they are merely examples of apparatus consistent with some aspects of the present application as detailed in the appended claims.

[0040] The terminology used in the description of the application herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. As used in the description of the application and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It also will be understood that the term "and / or" as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0041] In the description of the application, unless otherwise specified and limited, it needs to be explained that the terms "mounting", "connecting", "connection" should be understood broadly, for example, it can be mechanical connection or electrical connection, it can be the internal communication of two elements, it can be direct connection or indirect connection through intermediate medium, and the specific meaning of the above terms can be understood by the person skilled in the art according to the specific circumstances.

[0042] It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. can be used in this application to describe various information, these information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another.

[0043] In the description of the application, it needs to be understood that the terms "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc. indicating the orientation or positional relationship are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the indicated device or element must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the application.

[0044] Embodiment one

[0045] The first embodiment of the present application proposes a cleaning device configured to clean an electroplating fixture. In combination with FIGS. 1 to 3b, FIG. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of an electroplating device configured with the cleaning device of the first embodiment of the present application, FIG. 2 is a top view schematic diagram of the electroplating device in FIG. 1, FIG. 3a is a partial structural schematic diagram of the cleaning device of the first embodiment of the present application when cleaning an electroplating fixture, and FIG. 3b is a schematic diagram of the cleaning principle of the cleaning device in the first embodiment of the present application.

[0046] The electroplating device 10 comprises a cleaning device 100, an electroplating clamp 101 and an electroplating cavity 102. Exemplarily, the electroplating clamp 101 is located above the electroplating cavity 102, and the cleaning device 100 is arranged outside the electroplating cavity 102. The cleaning device 100 comprises a tank body 1 and a pipeline assembly 2. The tank body 1 comprises an inner tank 11 and an outer tank 12, the inner tank 11 is configured to contain cleaning liquid, and the outer tank 12 is arranged outside the inner tank 11 and is configured to collect the cleaning liquid overflowing from the inner tank 11. The pipeline assembly 2 comprises a liquid inlet pipeline 21 and a liquid outlet pipeline 22, the liquid inlet pipeline 21 is connected with the inner tank 11 and is configured to supply the cleaning liquid to the inner tank 11, and the liquid outlet pipeline 22 is connected with the outer tank 12 and is configured to discharge the cleaning liquid in the outer tank 12. The electroplating clamp 101 has a first part S to be cleaned, and the first part S to be cleaned is located at the bottom of the electroplating clamp 101. When the electroplating clamp 101 is cleaned, the first part S to be cleaned is located at the tank opening 110 of the inner tank 11, i.e. the first part S to be cleaned is substantially flush with the tank opening 110, but there is a certain gap between them, so that the cleaning liquid overflowing from the inner tank 11 can clean the first part S to be cleaned under the action of surface tension. It should be understood that the cleaning liquid will be slightly higher than the tank opening 110 under the action of surface tension when overflowing from the inner tank 11, and the first part S to be cleaned is substantially flush with the tank opening 110 in order to enable the cleaning liquid overflowing from the tank opening 110 to clean the first part S to be cleaned, and there is a certain gap between them in order to avoid the first part S to be cleaned directly colliding with the tank opening 110 and to facilitate the cleaning liquid overflowing from the tank opening 110. In other words, when the electroplating clamp 101 is cleaned, the first part S to be cleaned and the tank opening 110 have a predetermined gap, and the predetermined gap is less than or equal to the height of the cleaning liquid above the tank opening 110 when overflowing from the inner tank 11.

[0047] Further, the cleaning device 100 comprises a driving assembly 3 configured to drive the tank body 1 to move between a standby position and a cleaning position, wherein the tank body 1 is located at the cleaning position when the electroplating clamp 101 is cleaned.

[0048] When the electroplating process is performed, the electroplating clamp 101 is lowered to arrange the wafer held thereby in the electroplating cavity 102 for electroplating. Exemplarily, in the present embodiment, the electroplating clamp 101 comprises a chuck 1010 and a connecting frame 1011, the chuck 1010 is located at the lower part of the electroplating clamp 101, the first part S to be cleaned is located at the bottom of the chuck 1010, and the connecting frame 1011 extends upward from the chuck 1010 and is configured to be connected with a clamp driving device (not shown). It should be understood that in known electroplating devices, the electroplating clamp is usually connected with the clamp driving device, and then can realize actions such as lifting and rotating under the driving of the clamp driving device to meet the requirements of the electroplating process, and the implementation mode and specific structure of the clamp driving device of the electroplating clamp 101 will not be described herein.

[0049] After the electroplating is completed, the wafer held by the electroplating fixture 101 is transferred to other areas, and the cleaning device 100 performs cleaning on the electroplating fixture 101. Specifically, in combination with FIGS. 3a and 3b, the inlet pipeline 21 continuously supplies the cleaning liquid 13, such as deionized water (DIW), to the inner tank 11, and the cleaning liquid 13 continuously accumulates in the inner tank 11 and continuously overflows from the tank opening 110 and flows into the outer tank 12, and then is discharged from the outer tank 12 through the outlet pipeline 22. During the overflow of the cleaning liquid 13 from the tank opening 110, the liquid surface of the cleaning liquid 13 is slightly higher than the tank opening 110 of the inner tank 11 under the surface tension of the cleaning liquid 13. Therefore, when the first to-be-cleaned part S is located at the tank opening 110, the continuously overflowing cleaning liquid 13 from the tank opening 110 can carry away the contaminants on the first to-be-cleaned part S, thereby achieving cleaning of the first to-be-cleaned part S. It should be understood that a person skilled in the art can reasonably set the cleaning frequency according to actual needs, and the electroplating fixture 101 can be cleaned after each wafer is electroplated, or the electroplating fixture 101 can be cleaned after multiple wafers are electroplated. In some possible embodiments, the tank body 1 can be fixed, and the electroplating fixture 101 can be moved to move the first to-be-cleaned part S to the tank opening 110.

[0050] Exemplarily, in the present embodiment, the bottom of the inner tank 11 is provided with a first liquid inlet 11a, the first liquid inlet 11a is connected with the inlet pipeline 21, and the cleaning liquid 13 supplied by the inlet pipeline 21 enters the inner tank 11 from the first liquid inlet 11a. In other embodiments, the cleaning liquid 13 can also enter the inner tank 11 from other parts of the inner tank 11, which will be exemplarily described in other embodiments hereinafter. In addition, the bottom of the outer tank 12 is provided with a first liquid outlet 12a, the first liquid outlet 12a is connected with the outlet pipeline 22, and the cleaning liquid 13 overflowing into the outer tank 12 flows into the outlet pipeline 22 from the first liquid outlet 12a, and then flows out of the outer tank 12.

[0051] It should be noted that the term “standby position” is reasonably set by a person skilled in the art according to actual application scenarios, and the standby position should at least meet the following conditions: when the tank body 1 is located at the standby position, the cleaning device 100 does not affect the normal execution of the electroplating process by the electroplating device 10. As shown in FIG. 2, a dashed box F schematically shows an example of a standby position. When the electroplating device 10 performs the electroplating process, the tank body 1 is located at the standby position, and the cleaning device 100 is located outside the horizontal direction of the electroplating cavity 102. Such a design can avoid interference of the cleaning device 100 with the normal operation of the electroplating fixture 101 when the electroplating device 10 performs the electroplating process.

[0052] The term "cleaning position" is defined by the relative position between the tank 1 of the cleaning device 100 and the first part S to be cleaned of the electroplating fixture 101. The tank 1 is at the cleaning position when the first part S to be cleaned of the electroplating fixture 101 is at the slot opening 110 of the inner tank 11. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3a, the tank 1 is at the cleaning position and the first part S to be cleaned is at the slot opening 110 of the inner tank 11, i.e. the first part S to be cleaned is substantially flush with the slot opening 110, but there is a gap between the first part S to be cleaned and the slot opening 110. The first part S to be cleaned will be described in detail later.

[0053] Exemplarily, the chuck 1010 is cup-shaped and has a penetrating receiving space 1012 for receiving and holding a wafer. As shown in FIG. 3a, a wafer W is schematically shown in dashed line, which is placed in the receiving space 1012 of the chuck 1010. The lower end of the sidewall of the chuck 1010 extends horizontally inward to form a support portion 1013, which supports the wafer W when the wafer W is placed in the receiving space 1012. In the present embodiment, the support portion 1013 is covered with a sealing member 1014, which can protect the support portion 1013 from contacting the chemical liquid (e.g. electroplating liquid) and being corroded by the chemical liquid, and can form a seal between the support portion 1013 and the wafer W when the wafer W is supported by the support portion 1013, so as to prevent the electroplating liquid from leaking along the wafer W and affecting the electroplating process. It should be understood that the coverage of the sealing member 1014 in the present embodiment is only exemplary, and in other embodiments, the coverage of the sealing member 1014 can be different from that in the present embodiment, e.g. the sealing member 1014 can extend from the support portion 1013 to cover the entire area of the bottom surface 1015 and part or all of the outer surface 1016 of the chuck 1010.

[0054] Specifically, in the embodiment, the chuck 1010 includes, in sequence from the inside to the outside in the radial direction, an inner pressure ring 1010a, an intermediate skeleton 1010b, and an outer pressure ring 1010c. The inner pressure ring 1010a is locked to the inner circumferential surface of the intermediate skeleton 1010b, and the outer pressure ring 1010c is locked to the outer circumferential surface of the intermediate skeleton 1010b. The outer pressure ring 1010c is made of an insulating material and can directly contact the electroplating solution in the electroplating process, so that there is no problem of electric leakage. In addition, the outer pressure ring 1010c has a certain hardness so as to support other components. The lower part of the intermediate skeleton 1010b extends radially inward to form a mounting table 10101, and the end of the mounting table 10101 extends obliquely inward to form a support part 1013 of the chuck 1010. As an example, the surfaces of the mounting table 10101 and the support part 1013 are covered with a sealing member 1014. The side surface of the outer pressure ring 1010c away from the receiving space 1012 (see the receiving space 1012 of FIG. 1) forms an outer surface 1016 of the side wall of the chuck 1010, the lower surface of the outer pressure ring 1010c and the lower surface of the intermediate skeleton 1010b form a bottom surface 1015 of the chuck 1010, and the side surface of the inner pressure ring 1010a close to the receiving space 1012 and the side surface of the support part 1013 close to the receiving space 1012 form an inner surface 1017 of the side wall of the chuck 1010.

[0055] Continuing to refer to FIG. 3a, in the embodiment, the first part to be cleaned S of the electroplating jig 101 includes the bottom surface 1015 of the chuck 1010. On the one hand, compared with other positions, the bottom surface 1015 will be in full contact with the electroplating solution when the electroplating device 10 performs the electroplating process, and the contact area is large, so that contaminants are more likely to be left; on the other hand, in a common electroplating process, during the entry stage of electroplating, the bottom surface 1015 will generate a certain impact force when it contacts the electroplating solution, and metal particle impurities may exist in the residual contaminants, which may damage the part of the sealing member 1014 located on the bottom surface 1015 under the action of the impact force, thereby possibly causing the sealing failure of the sealing member 1014. Therefore, cleaning the bottom surface 1015 of the chuck 1010 is very important.

[0056] When the electroplating device 10 performs the electroplating process, the tank body 1 is located at the standby position. When the first part S to be cleaned needs to be cleaned, the driving assembly 3 drives the tank body 1 to move from the standby position to the cleaning position, and the first part S to be cleaned is located at the slot opening 110 of the inner tank 11. In combination with FIGS. 3a and 3b, the arrow A schematically shows the flow direction of the cleaning liquid 13. The cleaning liquid 13, for example, deionized water (DIW), is continuously supplied to the inner tank 11 from the liquid inlet pipeline 21 and continuously overflows from the slot opening 110 (see the slot opening 110 in FIG. 1) to the outer tank 12, and then is discharged from the outer tank 12 via the liquid outlet pipeline 22. During the overflow of the cleaning liquid 13 from the slot opening 110, the liquid surface of the cleaning liquid 13 is slightly higher than the slot opening 110 of the inner tank 11 due to the surface tension of the cleaning liquid 13. Therefore, when the first part S to be cleaned is located at the slot opening 110, the continuously overflowing cleaning liquid from the slot opening 110 can carry away the contaminants on the first part S to be cleaned, thereby achieving the cleaning of the first part S to be cleaned. During the cleaning process, the electroplating fixture 101 rotates under the driving of the fixture driving device, so that each region of the first part S to be cleaned can pass through the slot opening 110 and thus be cleaned.

[0057] In addition, the sealing member 1014 extends upward from the bottom surface 1015 of the chuck 1010 to form a side sealing member 10141, which is part of the sealing member 1014 and has a certain height. During the cleaning of the bottom surface 1015 of the chuck 1010, the liquid surface of the cleaning liquid 13 is slightly higher than the slot opening 110 of the inner tank 11 due to the surface tension of the cleaning liquid 13. In some embodiments, the side sealing member 10141 can also be within the cleaning range of the cleaning liquid 13. In other words, in these embodiments, the first part S to be cleaned includes the bottom surface 1015 of the chuck 1010 and the side sealing member 10141.

[0058] During the cleaning process, the continuously overflowing cleaning liquid 13 from the slot opening 110 effectively cleans the first part S to be cleaned. Since the slot opening 110 has a certain coverage, the cleaning area can be effectively increased, thereby improving the cleaning efficiency. At the same time, the overflow cleaning method can reduce or even avoid splashing of the cleaning liquid 13 during the cleaning process. The outer tank 12 receives the overflowing cleaning liquid 13 from the inner tank 11, so that the cleaning liquid 13 basically does not fall into the electroplating cavity 102. This can effectively prevent the cleaning liquid 13 from contaminating the electroplating cavity 102, and can also prevent the cleaning liquid 13 from affecting the composition and concentration of the electroplating liquid in the electroplating cavity 102, thereby affecting the subsequent electroplating process.

[0059] Optionally, in the embodiment, the driving assembly 3 comprises a horizontal driving component configured to drive the horizontal movement of the tank 1. The horizontal driving component is configured to drive the horizontal movement of the tank 1 in the plane of the standby position. Referring to FIG. 4, which is a structural schematic diagram of the electroplating device after the tank 1 is horizontally moved from the standby position, at this time, the first part to be cleaned S is located directly above the slot 110 of the inner tank 11, and the electroplating clamp 101 needs to be lowered so that the first part to be cleaned S is located at the slot 110 of the inner tank 11. In the embodiment, the lifting of the electroplating clamp 101 is achieved by the driving of the clamp driving device of the electroplating clamp 101, and the tank 1 only needs to be horizontally moved to reach the cleaning position, which can effectively simplify the structure of the cleaning device 100 and improve the stability of the cleaning device 100.

[0060] In some embodiments, the driving assembly 3 further comprises a lifting driving component configured to drive the lifting of the tank 1. Referring to FIG. 5, which is a schematic diagram of the movement trajectory of the tank 1 in some embodiments, wherein the black dot represents the tank 1, P1 represents the standby position, P2 represents the transfer position, and P3 represents the cleaning position.

[0061] The driving assembly 3 is configured to drive the movement of the tank 1 between the standby position P1, the transfer position P2, and the cleaning position P3. Referring to the movement trajectory represented by the dotted line in FIG. 5, under the driving of the horizontal driving component, the tank 1 moves from the standby position P1 to the transfer position P2, and then the tank 1 can be lifted to the cleaning position P3 under the driving of the lifting driving component, so that the first part to be cleaned S of the electroplating clamp 101 is located at the slot 110 of the inner tank 11. By providing the lifting driving component, the part to be cleaned of the electroplating clamp 101 can be located at the slot 110 of the inner tank 11 without driving the electroplating clamp 101 to lower. In addition, in some embodiments, the movement trajectory of the tank 1 is not limited, and the driving assembly 3 is configured to drive the tank 1 to move between the standby position P1 and the cleaning position P3 (or between the standby position P1 and the transfer position P2) with any possible movement trajectory. For example, referring to the movement trajectory represented by the dashed line in FIG. 5, the tank 1 can move from the standby position P1 to the cleaning position P3 along a straight line, thereby shortening the movement distance and improving the work efficiency.

[0062] As shown in FIG. 2, in the embodiment, the inner tank 11 and the outer tank 12 are both square tanks, which are convenient for production and processing. It should be understood that the shape of the inner tank 11 and the outer tank 12 is not limited in the present application. In some embodiments described below, as shown in FIG. 7, the inner tank 11 and the outer tank 12 are both fan-shaped rings, which can increase the cleaning area and improve the cleaning efficiency. In other possible embodiments, the inner tank 11 and the outer tank 12 can also be other shapes, such as circular, polygonal, and other regular or irregular shapes, and the shapes of the inner tank 11 and the outer tank 12 can also be different.

[0063] Continuing to refer to FIG. 1, preferably, in the embodiment, the cleaning device 100 further comprises a connecting arm 4. The tank 1 is fixed to one end of the connecting arm 4, and the liquid inlet pipeline 21 and the liquid outlet pipeline 22 are at least partially located inside the connecting arm 4, respectively. The driving assembly 3 is configured to drive the connecting arm 4 to move, so that the tank 1 moves between the standby position and the cleaning position. As shown in FIG. 1, exemplarily, the connecting arm 4 is substantially in the shape of an upside-down L, with a horizontal extension part located at the upper side and referred to as an upper arm 41, and a vertical extension part located at the lower side and referred to as a lower arm 42, the upper arm 41 extending from the lower arm 42 in a horizontal direction. The tank 1 is fixed to one end of the upper arm 41, and the end is away from the lower arm 42.

[0064] Continuing to refer to FIG. 1, in the embodiment, the cleaning device 100 further comprises a liquid storage device 5 and a liquid inlet pump 51. The liquid storage device 5 is configured to store cleaning liquid, and the liquid storage device 5 is connected to the liquid inlet pipeline 21 and the liquid outlet pipeline 22, respectively. The liquid inlet pump 51 is arranged in the liquid inlet pipeline 21. Among them, the liquid storage device 5, the liquid inlet pipeline 21, the tank 1 and the liquid outlet pipeline 22 form a cleaning liquid circulation loop. The cleaning liquid in the liquid storage device 5 flows into the inner tank 11 through the liquid inlet pipeline 21 under the action of the liquid inlet pump 51, overflows from the inner tank 11 to the outer tank 12, and then flows back to the liquid storage device 5 through the liquid outlet pipeline 22. Exemplarily, the liquid storage device 5 is installed below the electroplating cavity 102, and the liquid inlet pipeline 21 and the liquid outlet pipeline 22 are partially located in the connecting arm 4 and partially located between the liquid storage device 5 and the connecting arm 4. In some application scenarios, the cleaning frequency of the electroplating fixture 101 is high, for example, the electroplating device needs to electroplate thousands of wafers every day, so it may need to clean the electroplating fixture 101 up to thousands of times a day, which will consume a large amount of cleaning liquid resources. The inventors of the present application have found through research that the liquid storage device 5 can be arranged to recycle the cleaning liquid, and the cleaning liquid in the liquid storage device 5 can be updated regularly or irregularly, which can save cleaning liquid resources while ensuring the cleaning effect. Exemplarily, the cleanliness of the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid circulation loop can be detected regularly or irregularly during actual use, and then it can be determined whether the cleaning liquid needs to be updated according to the cleanliness detection result.

[0065] Preferably, in order to improve the number of times of recycling the cleaning liquid, in some embodiments, the cleaning device 100 further comprises a filtering device 6 arranged on the cleaning liquid circulation loop to filter the pollutants generated during the recycling of the cleaning liquid. As shown in FIG. 1, exemplarily, the filtering device 6 is arranged on the liquid outlet pipeline 22.

[0066] Preferably, in some embodiments, the cleaning device 100 further comprises a temperature adjusting device 7 configured to adjust the temperature of the cleaning liquid contained in the inner tank 11. Since in some application scenarios, the temperature of the cleaning liquid has certain influence on the cleaning effect, the temperature adjusting device can be provided in the cleaning device 100, for example, a heating device or a cooling device, to adjust the temperature of the cleaning liquid contained in the inner tank 11. The setting position of the temperature adjusting device 7 can be various, for example, provided on the liquid inlet pipeline 21 and / or in the inner tank 11. In the embodiment with the liquid storage device 5 as described above, the temperature adjusting device 7 can also be provided in the liquid storage device 5, as shown in FIG. 1.

[0067] Embodiment Two

[0068] Embodiment Two

[0069] Compared with Embodiment One, in Embodiment Two, the inner tank 11 comprises a first side wall 111, and the first side wall 111 is provided with a second liquid inlet 11b, which is connected with the liquid inlet pipeline 21 and is higher than the rest of the side wall 112 of the inner tank 11 by a first height h1, wherein the first height h1 is less than or equal to the height H of the chuck 1010. Wherein, when the tank 1 is cleaning the electroplating clamp 101, the first side wall 111 is located radially outside the chuck 1010. In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, in Embodiment Two, both the inner tank 11 and the outer tank 12 are fan-shaped rings, which can increase the cleaning area and improve the cleaning efficiency. In other possible embodiments, the inner tank 11 and the outer tank 12 can also be other shapes, for example, circular, polygonal, and other regular or irregular shapes, and the shapes of the inner tank 11 and the outer tank 12 can also be different.

[0070] In the second embodiment, the electroplating fixture 101 also has a second part to be cleaned, which is the outer surface 1016 of the sidewall of the chuck 1010. Specifically, since the chuck 1010 of the electroplating fixture 101 is immersed in the electroplating solution during the electroplating process, the outer surface 1016 of the sidewall of the chuck 1010 can also be contaminated. In the second embodiment, the inner tank 11 no longer has the first liquid inlet 11a (see the first liquid inlet 11a in FIG. 3a), and the second liquid inlet 11b is connected to the liquid inlet pipeline 21. During the cleaning of the electroplating fixture 101, the cleaning liquid enters the inner tank 11 from the second liquid inlet 11b through the liquid inlet pipeline 21, and can clean the outer surface 1016 of the sidewall of the chuck 1010 in addition to overflowing from the tank opening 110 to clean the first part to be cleaned S. Specifically, the first sidewall 111 has a liquid inlet channel 1110 inside, and during the liquid inlet process, the cleaning liquid enters the liquid inlet channel 1110 through the liquid inlet pipeline 21, and then enters the inner tank 11 from the second liquid inlet 11b along the outer surface 1016 of the sidewall of the chuck 1010, thereby cleaning the outer surface 1016 of the sidewall of the chuck 1010.

[0071] During the cleaning process, the first part to be cleaned S is located at the tank opening 110. As shown in FIG. 8, the first part to be cleaned S is substantially flush with the remaining sidewalls 112 except the first sidewall 111, and thus the height of the second liquid inlet 11b affects the cleaning range of the outer surface 1016 of the sidewall of the chuck 1010. Preferably, in order to sufficiently clean the outer surface 1016 of the sidewall of the chuck 1010, in the present embodiment, the first height h1 is substantially the same as the height H of the chuck 1010, so that the cleaning liquid flowing out of the second liquid inlet 11b can cover the entire area of the outer surface 1016 of the sidewall of the chuck 1010 from top to bottom during the cleaning process. It should be understood that in some embodiments, the first height h1 can also be less than the height H of the chuck 1010, and those skilled in the art can reasonably set the size of the first height h1 according to actual needs. In addition, in some embodiments, the inner tank 11 can also include both the first liquid inlet 11a and the second liquid inlet 11b.

[0072] Preferably, in the embodiment, the outer groove 12 comprises a second side wall 121, which corresponds to the outer side of the first side wall 111, and the second side wall 121 is higher than the rest of the side walls 122 of the outer groove 12. In the process of cleaning the electroplating fixture 101, the electroplating fixture 101 rotates under the driving of the fixture driving device, and thus the cleaning liquid flowing through the outer surface 1016 of the chuck 1010 side wall can be thrown outward due to the centrifugal force. In the embodiment, the outer side of the first side wall 111 is correspondingly provided with the second side wall 121, which can shield the cleaning liquid thrown on the outer surface 1016, thereby reducing the splashing of the cleaning liquid to the outside of the outer groove 12. Preferably, the end of the second side wall 121 extends radially inward by a portion to form an extension wall 1210, which can not only improve the shielding effect of the second side wall 121, but also avoid interfering with the cleaning of the chuck 1010 by the inner groove 11 (the inner side of the first side wall 111 needs to provide space to accommodate the chuck 1010).

[0073] In addition, in some embodiments, the electroplating fixture 101 also has a third to-be-cleaned part, which is the inner surface 1017 of the side wall of the chuck 1010. FIG. 9 is a perspective sectional view of a groove body of another embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 9 and referring to FIGS. 1, 3a, and 3b, the first side wall 111 further comprises a third liquid inlet 11c, which is connected with the liquid inlet pipeline 21 and is higher than the rest of the side walls 112 of the inner groove 11 by a second height h2, wherein the second height h2 is greater than the height H of the chuck 1010. The third liquid inlet 11c is connected with the liquid inlet pipeline 21, and when the cleaning device 100 cleans the electroplating fixture 101, the third liquid inlet 11c is located above the chuck 1010, and the cleaning liquid partially flows out of the third liquid inlet 11c and flows into the outer groove 12 along the inner surface 1017 of the side wall of the chuck 1010 from above the chuck 1010. During the electroplating process performed by the electroplating device 10, the seal 1014 forms a seal with the wafer W, and the electroplating liquid generally does not enter the chuck 1010 side wall from the edge of the wafer W to contaminate the inner surface 1017 of the chuck 1010 side wall. However, during the electroplating process, the chuck 1010 is in a rotating state, and thus a small amount of electroplating liquid can splash onto the inner surface 1017 of the chuck 1010 side wall from the upper end of the chuck 1010, causing the inner surface 1017 of the chuck 1010 side wall to be contaminated. By providing the third liquid inlet 11c, when the cleaning device 100 cleans the electroplating fixture 101, the cleaning liquid partially enters the inner groove 11 from the second liquid inlet 11b through the liquid inlet channel 1110, and in addition to overflowing from the groove 110 to clean the first to-be-cleaned part S, the cleaning liquid can also clean the outer surface 1016 of the chuck 1010 side wall; and the cleaning liquid partially flows out of the third liquid inlet 11c from the liquid inlet channel 1110, and flows into the outer groove 12 along the inner surface 1017 of the chuck 1010 side wall from the upper end of the chuck 1010, thereby cleaning the inner surface 1017 of the chuck 1010 side wall.

[0074] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the inner tank 11 includes the second liquid inlet 11b and the third liquid inlet 11c. It should be understood that in other embodiments, the inner tank 11 can include the first liquid inlet 11a and the third liquid inlet 11c, but not the second liquid inlet 11b. In these embodiments, the cleaning liquid partially enters the inner tank 11 from the first liquid inlet 11a, overflows from the tank opening 110 to clean the first to-be-cleaned part S, and partially flows out from the third liquid inlet 11c, flows along the inner surface 1017 of the chuck 1010 sidewall from the upper end of the chuck 1010 into the outer tank 12, and then cleans the inner surface 1017 of the chuck 1010 sidewall. In some embodiments, the inner tank 11 can include the first liquid inlet 11a, the second liquid inlet 11b, and the third liquid inlet 11c. In these embodiments, the cleaning liquid partially enters the inner tank 11 from the first liquid inlet 11a and the second liquid inlet 11b, overflows from the tank opening 110 to clean the first to-be-cleaned part S and the outer surface 1016 of the chuck 1010 sidewall, and partially flows out from the third liquid inlet 11c, flows along the inner surface 1017 of the chuck 1010 sidewall from the upper end of the chuck 1010 into the outer tank 12, and then cleans the inner surface 1017 of the chuck 1010 sidewall.

[0075] Optionally, in some embodiments provided with the third liquid inlet 11c, the liquid inlet pipeline 21 includes a liquid inlet branch (not shown) configured to be connected with the third liquid inlet 11c, wherein the liquid inlet branch is independently configured with a flow control device (e.g., a valve). As described above, the seal 1014 forms a seal with the wafer, and the electroplating liquid generally does not enter the inner surface 1017 of the chuck 1010 sidewall from the edge of the wafer. Therefore, compared with the first to-be-cleaned part S, the inner surface 1017 of the chuck 1010 sidewall is relatively less frequently cleaned. The liquid inlet branch is independently configured with the flow control device, which can reduce the flow of the liquid inlet branch or shut off the liquid inlet branch when the inner surface 1017 of the chuck 1010 sidewall does not need to be cleaned, so as to neither affect the cleaning of the first to-be-cleaned part S nor save the cleaning liquid.

[0076] Embodiment Three

[0077] The third embodiment provides a plating device. Referring to FIG. 1, the plating device 10 includes a cleaning device 100, a plating fixture 101, and a plating chamber 102. The plating fixture 101 is disposed above the plating chamber 102, and the cleaning device 100 is disposed outside the plating chamber 102. During a plating process, the plating fixture 101 is lowered to dispose a wafer (not shown) held thereby in the plating chamber 102 for plating. After the plating is completed, the wafer held by the plating fixture 101 is transferred to another area, and the plating fixture 101 is cleaned by the cleaning device 100. The structure and operation of the plating device 10 are fully and clearly described above, and thus will not be repeated here.

[0078] The above embodiments are only illustrative of the principles and effects of the present application, and are not configured to limit the present application. Any person skilled in the art can modify or adjust the above embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Therefore, all equivalent modifications or adjustments completed by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and technical ideas disclosed by the present application should be covered by the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A cleaning apparatus configured to clean an electroplating fixture, characterized by, The cleaning device comprises: a tank body, comprising an inner tank and an outer tank, the inner tank is configured to contain cleaning liquid, and the outer tank is arranged at the periphery of the inner tank and is configured to collect the cleaning liquid overflowing from the inner tank; a pipeline assembly, comprising a liquid inlet pipeline and a liquid outlet pipeline, the liquid inlet pipeline is connected with the inner tank and is configured to supply the cleaning liquid to the inner tank, and the liquid outlet pipeline is connected with the outer tank and is configured to discharge the cleaning liquid in the outer tank; wherein the electroplating fixture has a first part to be cleaned, the first part to be cleaned is located at the bottom of the electroplating fixture, and when the electroplating fixture is cleaned, the first part to be cleaned is located at the tank opening of the inner tank, so that the cleaning liquid overflowing from the inner tank cleans the first part to be cleaned under the action of surface tension.

2. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein Further comprising a driving assembly configured to drive the tank body to move between a standby position and a cleaning position, wherein when the electroplating fixture is cleaned, the tank body is located at the cleaning position.

3. The cleaning apparatus of claim 2, wherein Further comprising a connecting arm, one end of the tank body is fixed to the connecting arm, the liquid inlet pipeline and the liquid outlet pipeline are at least partially located inside the connecting arm respectively, and the driving assembly is configured to drive the connecting arm to move, so that the tank body moves between the standby position and the cleaning position.

4. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein Further comprising a liquid storage device and a liquid inlet pump, the liquid storage device is configured to store cleaning liquid, the liquid storage device is connected with the liquid inlet pipeline and the liquid outlet pipeline respectively, and the liquid inlet pump is arranged in the liquid inlet pipeline, wherein the liquid storage device, the liquid inlet pipeline, the tank body and the liquid outlet pipeline form a cleaning liquid circulation loop.

5. The cleaning apparatus of claim 4, wherein Further comprising a filtering device arranged on the cleaning liquid circulation loop.

6. The cleaning device according to claim 1 or 4, wherein: the inner tank comprises a first side wall, the first side wall is provided with a second liquid inlet opening, the second liquid inlet opening is connected with the liquid inlet pipeline and is higher than the remaining side walls of the inner tank by a first height; the electroplating fixture comprises a chuck, the first part to be cleaned is located at the bottom of the chuck, and the first height is less than or equal to the height of the chuck; and / or, the first side wall is provided with a third liquid inlet opening, the third liquid inlet opening is connected with the liquid inlet pipeline and is higher than the remaining side walls of the inner tank by a second height, wherein the second height is greater than the height of the chuck; wherein when the tank body cleans the electroplating fixture, the first side wall is located radially outside the chuck.

7. The cleaning device according to claim 6, wherein: the outer tank comprises a second side wall, the second side wall corresponds to the outer side of the first side wall and is higher than the remaining side walls of the outer tank.

8. The cleaning device according to claim 6, wherein: the liquid inlet pipeline comprises a liquid inlet branch, the liquid inlet branch is configured to be connected with the third liquid inlet opening, wherein the liquid inlet branch is configured with an independent flow control device.

9. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein: further comprising a temperature adjusting device configured to adjust the temperature of the cleaning liquid contained in the inner tank.

10. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein: The inner groove and / or the outer groove is a square groove; or the inner groove and / or the outer groove is a fan ring groove.

11. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein, When the electroplating fixture is cleaned, a predetermined gap is formed between the first part to be cleaned and the notch, and the predetermined gap is less than or equal to the height of the cleaning liquid above the notch when the cleaning liquid overflows from the inner groove.

12. An electroplating device, comprising: an electroplating cavity, an electroplating fixture, and the cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

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