Brush wheel structure

Abstract

The invention provides a brush wheel structure. The brush wheel structure comprises a foaming body, a central channel, a micropore area and a plurality of through holes, the foaming body comprises a flow channel formed by a plurality of staggered holes, and the average aperture of the holes ranges from 300 micrometers to 500 micrometers. The central channel is arranged in the foaming body and is communicated with the flow channels. The micropore area is located on the surface layer of the foaming body and provided with a plurality of micro holes, and the hole diameter of the micro holes is smaller than the average hole diameter of the holes of the foaming body. The plurality of through holes are arranged on the outer surface of the foaming body, the depth of the through holes is between 50 micrometers and 300 micrometers, and the total area of the through holes accounts for 10%-90% of the total area of the outer surface of the foaming body. According to the brush wheel structure, the penetration rate of fluid passing through the interior of the foaming body can be increased, and the flow and the flow speed of the fluid flowing through the brush wheel structure can be regulated and controlled.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a brush wheel structure, in particular to a brush wheel structure with high fluid flux and uniformity and capable of adjusting the flow rate of the fluid passing through the brush wheel in the radial direction. Background Art

[0002] In the modern society where information technology is developing rapidly, the related electronic industry is also developing rapidly, and semiconductor technology is an indispensable part of the electronic industry.

[0003] In semiconductor manufacturing, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) can achieve global planarization on the surface of precision components such as wafers. However, during the CMP process, organic residues, microparticles, and corrosion defects are easily generated on the wafer surface. Therefore, the wafer must be cleaned after CMP to facilitate subsequent processes and improve wafer quality.

[0004] The process of cleaning the wafer is carried out with water, cleaning liquid, etc. and a cleaning roller, so as to remove foreign matter on the surface of the wafer through the movement of water, cleaning liquid and the cleaning roller. Under the premise of not scratching the surface of the wafer, the part of the cleaning roller that contacts the surface of the wafer must use a brush wheel made of soft foam material. In addition, in order to achieve a full cleaning effect, the cleaning roller must also have a hard axis structure to withstand the pressure, water pressure and rotation speed under a certain intensity applied to the cleaning roller without causing the cleaning roller to deform. The cleaning roller is mostly located at the water outlet, and the amount of water required to reach each contact point between the cleaning roller and the wafer is usually regulated by the flow channel in the hard axis of the cleaning roller. However, when water passes through the foaming brush wheel in the cleaning roller, the pore size and hole distribution pattern inside the foaming brush wheel will affect the flux and flow direction of the water, resulting in the inability to flow out smoothly from the surface of the foaming brush wheel and overflow loss, resulting in too low effective water output rate or inconsistent water output at each contact point of the wafer, and the requirements of the cleaning process cannot be met.

[0005] Therefore, how to provide a brush wheel structure that can adjust the water output and uniformity in the radial direction and reduce the consumption of cleaning liquids such as water to improve the efficiency of wafer cleaning has become a goal that technicians in this field have been committed to developing. Summary of the invention

[0006] One embodiment of the present invention is to provide a brush wheel structure, comprising a foam body, comprising a plurality of flow channels formed by a plurality of holes interlaced with each other, and the average pore size of the holes is between 300μm and 500μm; a central channel is arranged in the foam body and connected to the flow channels; a microporous area is located on the surface of the foam body, the microporous area has a plurality of micropores, and the pore size of the micropores is smaller than the average pore size of the foam body holes; and a plurality of through holes are arranged on the outer surface of the foam body; wherein the depth of the through holes is between 50μm and 300μm, and the total area of ​​the through holes accounts for 10% to 90% of the total area of ​​the outer surface of the foam body.

[0007] According to an embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the pore diameters of the micro holes in the micro hole area are between 1 μm and 100 μm.

[0008] According to an embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the microporous area is located on the surface layer of the foam body and has a thickness ranging from 30 μm to 200 μm.

[0009] According to an embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the depth of the through holes is greater than the thickness of the micro-porous area.

[0010] According to one embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the through holes located on the outer surface of the foam body are circular, elliptical, elongated or a combination thereof, and the through holes are evenly distributed on the outer surface of the foam body or gathered into areas distributed on the outer surface of the foam body.

[0011] According to an embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the total area of ​​the through holes accounts for 20% to 70% of the total area of ​​the outer surface of the foam body.

[0012] According to an embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the porosity of the foam body is between 70% and 95%.

[0013] According to an embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the width of the central channel is between 9 mm and 30 mm.

[0014] In another embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the outer surface of the foam body further includes at least one protrusion.

[0015] According to an embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the height of the protrusion is between 4 mm and 6 mm.

[0016] According to an embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the bottom width of the protrusion is between 7 mm and 13 mm, and the top width of the protrusion is between 6 mm and 11 mm.

[0017] According to an embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the material of the foam body includes cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol.

[0018] The brush wheel structure of the present invention helps to increase the penetration rate of the fluid through the foam body, and is beneficial to regulating the flow rate and flow rate of the fluid flowing through the brush wheel structure, so that different types of objects to be cleaned can be cleaned. This not only helps to improve the efficiency of the cleaning process, but also reduces the use of chemicals used for cleaning and the waste of water resources. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] In order to make the above and other objects, features, advantages and embodiments of the present invention more clearly understood, the accompanying drawings are described as follows:

[0020] Figure 1a is a schematic diagram illustrating a brush wheel structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 1b is a cross-sectional view in the thickness direction of the surface layer of the brush wheel structure of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a brush wheel structure according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 3 The electron microscope image at 60 times magnification shows the surface of the foam body and the surface layer of the brush wheel structure of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 4a is a 60-fold electron microscope image showing the surface through-hole pattern of an embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention; and

[0025] Figure 4b The electron microscope image at 60 times magnification shows the surface through-hole morphology of another embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention.

[0026] The reference numerals are described as follows:

[0027] 100, 200: Brush wheel structure

[0028] 110, 210: Foam

[0029] 120: Holes

[0030] 320: Holes

[0031] 121: Runner

[0032] 321: Runner

[0033] 130: Central channel

[0034] 140: Micropore area

[0035] 141: Micropores

[0036] 340: Microporous area

[0037] 341: Micropore

[0038] 150: Through hole

[0039] 450a: Through hole

[0040] 450b: Through hole

[0041] 260: Bump

[0042] P: Width

[0043] T1: Thickness

[0044] T2: Depth

[0045] D1: Axis direction

[0046] D2: Radial direction

[0047] W1: bottom width

[0048] W2: Top width

[0049] H: Height DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] The following will discuss various embodiments of the present invention in more detail. However, this embodiment can be an application of various inventive concepts and can be specifically implemented in various specific scopes. The specific embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and are not limited to the scope of the disclosure. In addition, in order to simplify the drawings, some conventional structures and elements will be shown in the drawings in a simple schematic manner, and repeated or identical elements may be represented by the same number.

[0051] The "average pore size" in this article is expressed as the pore size range that accounts for 50% of the number of median values ​​in the pore size-number distribution. The pore size-number distribution is obtained by cutting the foam into 1-inch test pieces, measuring the pore size and number with an electron microscope according to the ASTM-D3576 method, and then calculating the statistics.

[0052] Figure 1a and Figure 1bA schematic diagram of a brush wheel structure 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention and a cross-sectional view of its surface along the thickness direction are respectively shown. The brush wheel structure 100 includes a foam body 110, which includes a plurality of flow channels 121 formed by a plurality of holes 120 interlaced with each other, and the average pore size of the holes 120 is between 300μm and 500μm; a central channel 130, which is arranged in the foam body 110 and connected with the flow channels 121; a microporous area 140, which is located on the surface of the foam body 110, and the microporous area 140 has a plurality of micropores 141, and the pore size of the micropores 141 is smaller than the average pore size of the holes 120 of the foam body 110; and a plurality of through holes 150, which are arranged on the outer surface of the foam body 110; wherein the depth T2 of the through holes 150 is between 50μm and 300μm, and the total area of ​​the through holes 150 accounts for 10% to 90% of the total area of ​​the outer surface of the foam body 110, and the through holes 150 are connected to the flow channels 121.

[0053] When the brush wheel structure 100 of the present invention is used to clean wafers or other objects to be cleaned, the brush wheel structure 100 is sleeved on a brush wheel axis (not shown) with the central channel 130 , and cleaning liquid is dispersed from the brush wheel axis into the brush wheel structure 100 . Since the flow channel 121 is formed by a plurality of holes 120 with an average pore size between 300 μm and 500 μm, the flow channel 121 formed by the holes within this average pore size range can maintain a certain liquid flux, so the amount of liquid input will not overflow and be lost due to being much higher than the amount of liquid that the brush wheel structure 100 can output, and because the surface layer of the foam body 110 has a microporous area 140, the liquid will not directly flow out of the outer surface of the foam body 110 in large quantities through the radial direction D2 of the brush wheel structure 100, but can be quickly transmitted to various locations of the brush wheel structure 100 along the axial direction D1 and the radial direction D2 uniformly and with low resistance through the central channel 130, and then the water flow is guided out through the plurality of through holes 150 to clean the surface of the wafer and the like.

[0054] Furthermore, the total area of ​​the through holes 150 accounts for 10% to 90% of the total area of ​​the outer surface of the foam body 110, preferably between 20% and 70%. For cleaning equipment with different water output and / or objects to be cleaned with different cleaning water pressure strength requirements, the brush wheel structure 100 with a total area ratio of the through holes 150 can be selected appropriately to achieve the best cleaning efficiency and cleanliness.

[0055] According to an embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the pore size of the micropores 141 of the micropore area 140 is between 1 μm and 100 μm. Because the pore size of the micropores 141 is smaller than the average pore size of the pores 120 of the foam 110, the flow rate and flow velocity of the cleaning liquid passing through the micropore area 140 are lower than the flow channel 121 in the foam 110, so the foam 110 can more easily reach a state of being saturated with the cleaning liquid. Furthermore, the micropore area 140 is located on the surface layer of the foam 110 and has a thickness T1 of 30 μm to 200 μm. The depth T2 of the through holes 150 located on the outer layer of the foam 110 is greater than the thickness T1 of the micropore area 140, so that the cleaning liquid can be smoothly discharged from the foam 110.

[0056] According to one embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the shape, number and position of the through holes 150 on the outer surface of the foam body 110 are not particularly limited. For example, they can be evenly dispersed or non-equidistantly distributed according to the strength of the water pressure, etc. It is only necessary that the cleaning liquid entering the brush wheel structure 100 can be smoothly discharged and evenly rinse the surface of the object to be cleaned, such as a wafer. The through holes 150 on the outer surface of the foam body 110 can form a circular, elliptical, long strip or a combination thereof. According to one embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the through holes can be continuous or discontinuous circular, elliptical, long strip or a combination thereof, or a region formed by a combination thereof, and they are evenly distributed on the outer surface of the foam body or gathered into a region distributed on the outer surface of the foam body.

[0057] According to one embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the porosity of the foam 110 is between 70% and 95%. The appropriate porosity helps to increase the amount of cleaning liquid that the brush wheel structure 100 can contain, and at the same time has appropriate softness and sufficient resilience, so as to efficiently clean wafers or other precision components without easily damaging their surfaces.

[0058] According to an embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the width P of the central channel 130 is between 9 mm and 30 mm.

[0059] According to another embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the outer surface of the foam body of the brush wheel structure may further include at least one protrusion, and these protrusions may be flat cones or cylinders protruding from the outer surface of the foam body. The top shapes of these protrusions include but are not limited to circles or rectangles, and the side shapes of these protrusions include but are not limited to rectangles or trapezoids. Figure 2Schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, wherein the outer surface of the foam body 210 of the brush wheel structure 200 further includes a plurality of columnar protrusions 260. In one embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the height H of the protrusion 260 is between 4 mm and 6 mm, the bottom width W1 of the protrusion 260 is between 7 mm and 13 mm, and the top width W2 of the protrusion 260 is between 6 mm and 11 mm, so as to provide the protrusion 260 with sufficient lateral support force and better cleaning force when contacting the object to be cleaned.

[0060] The foam of the brush wheel structure of the present invention can be a foam of a cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol. The material of the brush wheel structure can be obtained by foaming a reaction solution made of PVA or other foaming materials. In a specific embodiment, the foaming material, the cross-linking agent, the catalyst and the solvent can be evenly mixed to form a reaction solution, and filled with a gas with a volume percentage of 21% to 50% relative to the reaction solution. Then pour the reaction solution with the mixed dispersed gas into the mold, adjust the appropriate aging temperature to control the pore formation speed and distribution, and a foam with a porosity of 70% to 95% suitable for the present invention can be formed.

[0061] According to one embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the cross-linking agent used in the foam body can be selected from the group consisting of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, glyoxal, propionaldehyde, butyraldehyde, succinaldehyde and glutaraldehyde. The solvent can be selected to make PVA and the like easy to dissolve and disperse, such as water. The gas filled in can be air, or a low-activity gas such as nitrogen and helium can be selected to form bubbles in the foaming material when it is mixed to form a reaction solution, without chemically reacting with other components. Thereby, the effect of the existing solid pore-forming agent that is difficult to regulate the pore size and distribution position can be achieved, and the problem of the solid pore-forming agent that is not completely dissolved and removed affecting the cleaning liquid flux in the brush wheel structure and remaining on the surface of the object to be cleaned can be avoided.

[0062] According to an embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the catalyst can be selected from the group consisting of hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid and nitric acid.

[0063] According to an embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the reaction solution for forming the foam body may further include a surfactant to maintain the bubble content in the reaction solution and prevent the bubbles from collapsing during the process. Suitable surfactants may be diglycerol polypropylene glycol ether, stearic acid polyoxyethylene ester, polyethylene glycol octyl phenyl ether or sodium alkylbenzene sulfonate.

[0064] The method of forming the through holes on the outer surface of the foam of the brush wheel structure of the present invention includes laser elimination, tool scraping, chemical etching or grinding, etc. In a preferred embodiment, laser elimination can be used to form through holes of a certain depth in the surface microporous area, and reduce the damage and residues to the internal holes and flow channel structure. In one embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention, the minimum width of each through hole is greater than 50μm and preferably not greater than 450μm, and the depth is greater than the thickness of the microporous area to increase the diversion effect. Furthermore, the laser elimination method can form through holes of various shapes and / or areas where through holes of various shapes are gathered on the outer surface of the brush wheel structure, such as generating dot-shaped through holes by a single-point laser method, or forming continuous or discontinuous circles, ellipses, strips or combinations thereof, or areas formed by combinations thereof, composed of through holes by a single-point laser method combined with laser elimination direction and frequency, and the like are evenly distributed on the outer surface of the foam or gathered into areas distributed on the outer surface of the foam.

[0065] In the embodiment of the brush wheel structure of the present invention including the convex structure, the through holes formed by the laser elimination method are not affected by the ups and downs of the outer surface of the foam body, and the microporous area on the outer surface of the foam body around the top, side or bottom of the convex structure can be eliminated to facilitate the distribution of the through holes on the outer surface of the foam body and enhance the diversion effect. The power of the laser elimination method applicable to the brush wheel structure of the present invention can be less than 80W, and the wavelength of a laser light of the laser elimination method can be 8000nm to 12000nm, or 800nm ​​to 1200nm.

[0066] The brush wheel structure of the present invention has excellent fluid permeability, which is conducive to the passage of cleaning liquid, can effectively clean wafers or other precision components, and avoid overflow loss due to excessive flow channel resistance in high water volume cleaning processes. Figure 3 The electron microscope image of the surface and partial cross section of the foam body of the brush wheel structure of the present invention at 60 times magnification is shown. Since the surface layer of the foam body of the brush wheel structure has a microporous area 340 of a certain thickness, and the apertures of the micropores 341 of the microporous area 340 are much smaller than the average aperture of the foam body holes 320 or the flow channels 321 formed by them, the input cleaning liquid is not easy to directly flow out of the outer surface in a large amount through the radial direction of the brush wheel structure, but can be uniformly and quickly transmitted to various parts of the brush wheel structure along the axial direction and radial direction with low resistance.

[0067] Furthermore, the porosity of the brush wheel structure foam of the present invention is between 70% and 95% and the average pore size is between 300 μm and 500 μm, which can provide a pressure greater than or equal to 60 g / cm 2 To less than or equal to 100g / cm 2Compressive stress is suitable for cleaning wafers or other precision components. When the compressive stress of the brush wheel structure is higher than the lower limit, the resilience can make the brushing efficiency meet expectations, and when the compressive stress of the brush wheel structure under the condition of a predetermined compression ratio is lower than the upper limit, it can avoid damage to the object to be cleaned due to excessive stress during the brushing process.

[0068] Figure 4a and Figure 4b 60x electron microscope images of the surfaces of two different embodiments of the brush wheel structure of the present invention. Figure 4a The through holes 450a are arranged in a long strip area formed on the surface of the brush wheel structure. Figure 4b The through holes 450b are formed in the shape of dots on the surface of the brush wheel structure, but the through hole form of the brush wheel structure of the present invention is not limited to these two embodiments. In other embodiments of the brush wheel structure, the through hole can also be a region formed by a combination of a circle, an ellipse, or a strip. The brush wheel structure of the present invention can provide the brush wheel with a local water flow direction, pressure fine-tuning, etc. through the different shape regions and arrangement distribution of the surface through holes, and can be applied to various precision components to achieve a better cleaning state.

[0069] In summary, the brush wheel structure of the present invention helps to increase the penetration rate of the fluid through the foam body, and is conducive to regulating the flow rate and flow rate of the fluid flowing through the brush wheel structure, so that different types of objects to be cleaned can be cleaned, which not only helps to improve the efficiency of the cleaning process, but also reduces the use of chemicals used for cleaning and the waste of water resources. Therefore, the brush wheel structure of the present invention can be applied to the cleaning process of the electronics industry and has application potential in related markets.

[0070] Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention shall be determined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A brush wheel structure, characterized in that: Include: A foam body, comprising a plurality of flow channels formed by a plurality of holes interlaced with each other, wherein the plurality of holes have an average pore size ranging from 300 μm to 500 μm; a central channel disposed in the foam body and communicating with the plurality of flow channels; A microporous region is located on the surface of the foam body, the microporous region has a plurality of micropores, and the pore diameters of the plurality of micropores are smaller than the average pore diameter of the plurality of pores of the foam body; as well as A plurality of through holes are arranged on the outer surface of the foam body; The depth of the plurality of through holes is between 50 μm and 300 μm, and the total area of ​​the plurality of through holes accounts for 10% to 90% of the total area of ​​the outer surface of the foam.

2. The brush wheel structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The pore sizes of the micropores in the micropore area are between 1 μm and 100 μm.

3. The brush wheel structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The microporous region has a thickness of 30 μm to 200 μm.

4. The brush wheel structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The depth of the plurality of through holes is greater than the thickness of the microporous region.

5. The brush wheel structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The multiple through holes are continuous or discontinuous circles, ellipses, strips or combinations thereof, or regions formed by combinations thereof, and the multiple through holes are evenly distributed on the outer surface of the foam or gathered into regions distributed on the outer surface of the foam.

6. The brush wheel structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The total area of ​​the plurality of through holes accounts for 20% to 70% of the total area of ​​the outer surface of the foam.

7. The brush wheel structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The porosity of the foam is between 70% and 95%.

8. The brush wheel structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The width of the central channel is between 9 mm and 30 mm.

9. The brush wheel structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outer surface of the foam further comprises at least one protrusion.

10. The brush wheel structure according to claim 9, characterized in that: The bottom width of the bump is between 7 mm and 13 mm, and the top width of the bump is between 6 mm and 11 mm.

11. The brush wheel structure according to claim 9, characterized in that: The height of the bump is between 4 mm and 6 mm.

12. The brush wheel structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material of the foam includes a cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol.

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