Wafer cleaning apparatus and wafer processing equipment

Abstract

The application provides a wafer cleaning device and a wafer processing equipment. The wafer cleaning device comprises a box body and a cleaning assembly in the box body. The box body has a top cover, a side wall and a bottom plate. The top cover comprises a fixed cover plate, a movable door and a fixed liquid receiving disc. An opening is arranged in the middle of the fixed cover plate. The movable door is installed at the opening and can move horizontally relative to the fixed cover plate to open and close the opening. The movable door comprises a movable door plate, a connecting piece and a movable liquid receiving disc. The connecting piece passes through the opening and is fixedly connected to the movable door plate and the movable liquid receiving disc at both ends. The movable liquid receiving disc has a first inclined bottom plate to guide the liquid drops to flow obliquely. The fixed liquid receiving disc has a second inclined bottom plate which is inclined in the same direction as the first inclined bottom plate. The first inclined bottom plate and the second inclined bottom plate have an overlapping distance in the horizontal direction. The fixed liquid receiving disc is used for receiving the liquid drops flowing from the movable liquid receiving disc, so as to avoid the pollution caused by the direct dropping of the liquid drops on the wafer surface.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and more particularly to wafer cleaning apparatus and wafer processing equipment. Background Technology

[0002] Wafer manufacturing is a crucial link restricting the development of the ultra-large-scale integrated circuit (IC) industry. As the feature size of integrated circuits continues to shrink, the requirements for wafer surface quality are becoming increasingly stringent, leading to stricter control over the size and number of defects in the wafer manufacturing process. Contaminants are a significant factor causing a decline in wafer surface quality and even the generation of defects. Therefore, cleaning technologies are needed to remove contaminants from the wafer surface to obtain an ultra-clean surface. Especially in the post-cleaning and drying process of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), the water film on the wafer surface may contain residual particulate matter, chemical solutions, and other contaminants. Impacts between process components and the water film on the wafer surface can sputter and generate a large number of droplets.

[0003] The interior of the wafer cleaning chamber is a highly humid environment, making it prone to condensation of droplets on the top. Furthermore, during the cleaning process, some liquid is splashed onto the top cover, causing wastewater to drip down when the robotic arm removes the wafers, contaminating the cleaned wafer surface and severely impacting the cleaning effect. In addition, droplets leaking from the gaps between the movable door panel and the fixed cover can contaminate the air inside the cleaning unit, accumulating on the lower and side surfaces of the movable door panel and forming a source of contamination, significantly affecting chip manufacturing yield. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a wafer cleaning apparatus and a wafer processing apparatus, which aim to at least solve one of the technical problems existing in the prior art.

[0005] This application provides a wafer cleaning apparatus, including a housing and its internal cleaning components. The housing has a top cover, side walls, and a bottom plate. The top cover includes a fixed cover plate, a movable door, and a fixed liquid receiving tray. The fixed cover plate has an opening in the middle. The movable door is installed at the opening and can move horizontally relative to the fixed cover plate to open and close the opening. The movable door includes a movable door plate, a connector, and a movable liquid receiving tray. The connector passes through the opening and is fixedly connected to the movable door plate and the movable liquid receiving tray at both ends. The movable liquid receiving tray has a first inclined bottom plate to guide droplets to flow down at an angle. The fixed liquid receiving tray has a second inclined bottom plate with the same inclination direction as the first inclined bottom plate. The first inclined bottom plate and the second inclined bottom plate have an overlap distance in the horizontal direction. The fixed liquid receiving tray is used to receive droplets flowing down from the movable liquid receiving tray, thereby preventing the droplets from directly dripping onto the wafer surface and causing contamination.

[0006] In one embodiment, the lower surface of the fixed cover has a recess near the opening, the recess sloping from the center to both sides to guide the liquid formed on the lower surface of the fixed cover to flow down at an angle, wherein the droplets flowing down toward the opening are guided toward the movable receiving tray.

[0007] In one embodiment, the first inclined base plate has a guide hole and a first stop protruding from the upper surface of the first inclined base plate at the downward inclined end, the upper end of the first stop being close to the lower surface of the fixed cover plate.

[0008] In one embodiment, the fixed drip tray has a slit near the sidewall, the slit being used to guide droplets from the upper surface of the second inclined base plate out along the slit and the sidewall.

[0009] In one embodiment, the movable door panel has a middle portion in the same direction of inclination as the first inclined base plate, and an upper end portion and a lower end portion adjacent to the middle portion. The upper end portion has a second stop portion protruding from the lower surface of the movable door panel, and the lower end portion has a third stop portion protruding from the lower surface of the movable door panel. The lower ends of the second stop portion and the lower ends of the third stop portion are close to the upper surface of the fixed cover plate.

[0010] In one embodiment, the upper surface of the fixed cover plate has a fourth stop protruding from the upper surface at the opening. The second, third, and fourth stops have inclined surfaces and tips. The inclined surfaces of the third and fourth stops are arranged opposite to each other. The connector is close to the second stop. When the movable door closes the opening, the first, second, third, and fourth stops are used to prevent mist droplets from overflowing.

[0011] In one embodiment, the upper end has a fifth stop protruding from the upper surface of the movable door panel. The fifth stop has an inclined surface with the same inclination direction as the middle part. The inclined surface of the fifth stop is in contact with the middle part, and the inclination angle of the inclined surface of the fifth stop is greater than the inclination angle of the middle part.

[0012] In one embodiment, the first inclined base plate is inclined downward in the direction in which the movable door opens the opening, the inclination angle of the middle part is less than or equal to the inclination angle of the first inclined base plate, the inclination angle of the middle part is 1-10°, and the inclination angle of the first inclined base plate is 5-15°.

[0013] In one embodiment, the cleaning assembly is used for vertical wafer cleaning, and the cleaning assembly and the fixed liquid receiving tray are located on opposite sides of the opening.

[0014] Another embodiment of this application provides a wafer processing apparatus, including a wafer cleaning device and a wafer transport device as described in any of the foregoing embodiments. The wafer transport device is used to place and remove a wafer through the opening into the wafer cleaning device, and the wafer cleaning device closes the movable door when cleaning the wafer.

[0015] The beneficial effects of this application embodiment include: effectively preventing droplets from overflowing from the gap between the movable door panel and the fixed cover plate and contaminating the air environment inside the post-cleaning unit, thereby contaminating the cleaned wafer; effectively preventing a large number of droplets from accumulating into liquid droplets on the lower surface of the top cover during the process and dripping down, thereby contaminating the wafer, thus stabilizing and improving the wafer cleaning effect. Attached Figure Description

[0016] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments recorded in the embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.

[0017] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a wafer cleaning device in the prior art.

[0018] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A longitudinal cross-sectional schematic diagram of the wafer cleaning device.

[0019] Figure 3 This is a longitudinal cross-sectional schematic diagram of the wafer cleaning apparatus disclosed in this application.

[0020] Figure 4 yes Figure 3A partial cross-sectional view of the wafer cleaning device when the movable door is open.

[0021] Figure 5 yes Figure 3 A cross-sectional schematic diagram of the top cover of the wafer cleaning device.

[0022] Figure 6 yes Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the movable and fixed liquid receiving trays of the wafer cleaning device.

[0023] Figure Labels :

[0024] 1- Existing technology wafer cleaning equipment; W- Wafer;

[0025] 10-Top cover; 20-Side wall; 30-Base plate; 40-Cleaning section; 50-Wafer station; 51-Chuck; 52-Modible retaining ring; 53-Fixed retaining ring; 60-Droplet; 70-Droplet

[0026] 100 - Fixed cover plate; 110 - Recessed portion; 111, 112 - Inclined lower surface; 120 - Fourth stop;

[0027] 200-Active Door;

[0028] 210 - Movable door panel; 211 - Middle section; 212 - Second stop; 213 - Third stop; 214 - Fifth stop;

[0029] 220 - Connector;

[0030] 230 - Movable receiving tray; 231 - First inclined base plate; 232 - Upper part of movable receiving tray; 233 - Lower part of movable receiving tray; 234 - First baffle; 235 - Guide hole;

[0031] 300 - Fixed drip tray; 310 - Second inclined base plate; 320 - Back plate; 330 - Gap; 340 - Baffle;

[0032] 1000 - This application pertains to a wafer cleaning apparatus. Detailed Implementation

[0033] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art should fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of this application.

[0034] In the description of this application, it should be understood that the terms "longitudinal", "lateral", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this application.

[0035] In addition, in the description of this application, unless otherwise specified and limited, it should be noted that the terms "installation", "connection" and "linking" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to mechanical or electrical connections, or internal connections between two components. They can be direct connections or indirect connections through an intermediate medium. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms according to the specific circumstances.

[0036] To illustrate the technical solutions described in this application, the following description will be provided with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0037] Figures 1 to 2 A prior art wafer cleaning apparatus is shown, including a housing 1 surrounded by a top cover 10, side walls 20, and a bottom plate 30, with a space formed inside the housing 1 for operating wafer cleaning. The housing contains a cleaning assembly 40 (not shown) and a wafer station 50. The cleaning assembly 40 is used to clean the wafer surface, and the wafer station 50 is the position where the wafer W is clamped and fixed when the cleaning assembly cleans it. The cleaning assembly 40 exemplarily includes a combination of a cleaning brush and a nozzle, and the wafer station 50 exemplarily includes a chuck 51, a movable retaining ring 52, and a fixed retaining ring 53.

[0038] Before the robotic arm (not shown) grips the wafer and enters the housing, the wafer W is positioned directly above the top cover 10. The top cover 10 includes a fixed cover plate 100 and a movable door 200. The fixed cover plate 100 has an opening in the middle, and the movable door 200 is installed at the opening for horizontal movement to open and close the opening. Before the robotic arm (not shown) grips the wafer W and enters the housing, the wafer is positioned directly above the movable door 200. The chuck 51 moves horizontally away from the wafer station 50 until the movable retaining ring 52 is fully extended. After the movable door 200 opens, the robotic arm moves downward and transports the wafer W through the opening onto the chuck 51. The wafer W is then secured by the wafer gripping mechanism on the chuck 51. The robotic arm releases the wafer W and leaves the housing. After the movable door 200 is closed, the chuck 51 moves horizontally towards the wafer station 50 until it is fully inside the movable retaining ring 52. Driven by a motor, the chuck 51 and the movable retaining ring 52 rotate at high speed, and the cleaning assembly 40 performs process processing on the wafer W. The process processing includes, but is not limited to, rinsing the wafer surface with liquid and brushing the wafer surface with a cleaning brush. Due to the high-speed rotation of the wafer, a liquid film forms on the wafer surface. During the process processing, the cleaning assembly 40 collides with the liquid film on the wafer surface, generating a large number of droplets 60. Although the movable retaining ring 52 can block some of the droplets 60, some droplets 60 still diffuse randomly and overflow from the gap between the movable door 200 and the fixed cover plate 100, contaminating the air environment inside the post-cleaning unit. Meanwhile, droplets 60 will also accumulate on the lower surfaces of the movable door 200 and the fixed cover plate 100 to form droplets 70. Some droplets 70 may fall on the fixed baffle ring 53 and be guided to the bottom plate and discharged from the outlet. However, when the process is completed, as the chuck 51 moves horizontally away from the wafer station 50 until it fully extends out of the movable baffle ring 52 and the wafer is picked up by the robot and leaves the box, some contaminants will still fall onto the front of the wafer with the droplets 70 due to the movement of the movable door 200, causing secondary contamination of the wafer.

[0039] To solve the above technical problems, such as Figures 3 to 6 As shown, the wafer cleaning apparatus 1000 disclosed in this application includes a housing, a cleaning assembly 40 (not shown) inside the housing, and a wafer station 50. The housing is surrounded by a top cover 10, side walls 20, and a bottom plate 30. The cleaning assembly 40 is used to clean the wafer surface, and the wafer station 50 is the position where the wafer W is clamped and fixed when the cleaning assembly 40 cleans the wafer W. The cleaning assembly 40 exemplarily includes a combination of a cleaning brush and a nozzle, and the wafer station 50 exemplarily includes a chuck 51, a movable retaining ring 52, and a fixed retaining ring 53.

[0040] In one embodiment, the sidewall 20 includes a front panel, a rear panel, a left panel, and a right panel, with the front panel and rear panel facing each other, and the left panel and right panel facing each other. The top cover 10 includes a fixed cover plate 100, a movable door 200, and a fixed drip tray 300. The fixed cover plate 100 has an opening in the middle, and the movable door 200 is installed at the opening. The movable door 200 includes a movable door panel 210, a connector 220, and a movable drip tray 230, which are fixedly connected by the connector 220. The movable door panel 210 is vertically positioned above the fixed cover plate 100, and the movable drip tray 230 is vertically positioned below the fixed cover plate 100. The connector 220 passes through the opening and is fixedly connected to the movable door panel 210 and the movable drip tray 230, allowing the movable door panel 210, connector 220, and movable drip tray 230 to move horizontally synchronously, thereby opening and closing the opening of the movable door 200. The fixed drip tray 300 is fixedly installed on the lower surface of the fixed cover plate 100, forming a receiving space with the fixed cover plate 100. When the movable door 200 is open, most of the movable drip tray 230 is located in the receiving space between the fixed cover plate 100 and the fixed drip tray 300. When the movable door 200 closes the opening, the movable door plate 210, the movable drip tray 230, the fixed cover plate 100, and the fixed drip tray 300 form a closed structure in an alternating manner.

[0041] like Figure 5 As shown, the movable drip tray 230 has a downwardly inclined first inclined base plate 231 with a first inclination angle α and a width exceeding the opening. This prevents droplets from moving towards the gap between the fixed cover plate 100 and the movable door 200 when the movable door 200 is closed, while guiding the droplets accumulated on its lower surface to flow downwards at an angle. Some droplets will still continue to escape and accumulate on the lower surface of the fixed cover plate 100, the lower surface of the movable door 200, and at their edges and gaps, forming droplets. Some droplets, under the influence of gravity, drip onto the upper surface of the first inclined base plate 231, thus flowing downwards at an angle along the upper surface of the first inclined base plate 231.

[0042] The fixed drip tray 300 has a second inclined base plate 310 with the same inclination direction as the first inclined base plate 231. The second inclined base plate 310 has a second inclination angle β and is located entirely below the first inclined base plate 231, thereby forming a receiving space with the fixed cover plate 100 to accommodate the first inclined base plate 231. When the movable door 200 is opened, the first inclined base plate 231 and the second inclined base plate 310 still have an overlap distance in the horizontal direction. Figure 3As shown, the first inclined base plate 231 and the second inclined base plate 310 move relative to each other as the movable door 200 opens and closes. When the movable door 200 opens, the overlap distance reaches its maximum value H, and when the movable door 200 closes, the overlap distance reaches its minimum value h. Therefore, droplets flowing down along the first inclined base plate 231 are caught by the upper surface of the second inclined base plate 310, and droplets accumulating on the lower surface of the second inclined base plate 310 are also guided to flow obliquely towards the side wall 20, thereby preventing droplets from directly dripping onto the wafer surface and causing contamination. Furthermore, when the movable door 200 closes, the staggered structure formed by the second inclined base plate 310 and the first inclined base plate 231 helps to prevent droplets from moving towards the gap between the fixed cover plate 100 and the movable door 200. Preferably, the minimum overlap distance h is greater than or equal to 1 / 10 of the opening width or greater than or equal to 5 mm.

[0043] In one embodiment, the first inclined base plate 231 is configured to tilt downwards toward the opening direction of the movable door 200, i.e., the tilting direction is consistent with the direction of the sliding door. This minimizes the interference of the movement of the movable door 200 on the droplet guiding effect during the opening process, meaning that droplets are less likely to drip directly due to vibration. Simultaneously, when the movable door 200 changes from moving to stationary, the droplets, under the influence of inertia, accelerate and flow along the inclined base plate 231 toward the sidewall 20 away from the opening, making it less likely for them to accumulate near the opening and greatly reducing the risk of wafer contamination.

[0044] In one embodiment, the lower surface of the second inclined bottom plate 310 extends toward the side wall 20 of the box, thereby guiding the droplets through the side wall 20 toward the bottom plate of the box and eventually being discharged.

[0045] Due to the limited space inside the enclosure and the special nature of residual impurities on the wafer surface, and because of the stringent requirements of wafer manufacturing processes to prevent contamination by droplets, it is necessary to set special tilt angles for the first tilted base plate 231 and the second tilted base plate 310. Specifically, generally speaking, the larger the tilt angle, the better it is for guiding surface liquids. However, a large tilt angle can also easily cause interference between the movable door 200 or the fixed liquid receiving tray 300 and the movable movable baffle ring 52 or the cleaning component 40, and can also affect the interaction between the robot arm and the chuck 51 with the wafer. The droplets formed on the surface of the top cover 10 contain metal ions and chemical agents remaining on the wafer surface from the previous process, which have strong adsorption force and are easy to adsorb each other to form large droplets. If the tilt angle is too small, the droplets are not only easy to drip and contaminate the wafer, but also easy to form crystals due to prolonged adhesion and non-flow, interfering with normal droplet guidance, making the droplet situation more complex and uncontrollable, and increasing maintenance costs. In one embodiment, the first tilt angle α is 5-15°, preferably 6-12°; the second tilt angle β is 5-15°, preferably 6-12°. The first tilt angle α, the second tilt angle β, and the minimum overlap distance h need to be coordinated with each other. One of them can be determined first according to the actual situation inside the box and the specific requirements in use, and then the other two can be adjusted accordingly to achieve a suitable flow guiding effect for the first tilted bottom plate 231 and the second tilted bottom plate 310.

[0046] In one embodiment, the top cover 10 is detachably installed on the top of the enclosure. For example, the fixed cover 100 is fixedly installed on the side wall 20 of the enclosure by screws or other means, which facilitates the maintenance of the inside of the enclosure and allows the top cover to be removed for cleaning.

[0047] In one embodiment, the lower surface of the fixed cover 100 has a recess 110 near the opening. The recess 110 slopes from the middle to both sides to form opposing inclined lower surfaces 111 and 112. The end of the inclined lower surface 111 extends toward the sidewall, for example, to the top of the fixed retaining ring. The end of the inclined lower surface 112 extends toward the movable liquid receiving tray 230 to guide the inclined liquid flowing down to be received by the movable liquid receiving tray 230. Preferably, the end of the inclined lower surface 112 connects with the sidewall of the opening to form a tip.

[0048] In one embodiment, the movable receiving tray 230 is laterally divided into an upper movable receiving tray 232 with an upwardly inclined end and an opposing lower movable receiving tray 233, using the connector 220 as a separator. The fixed cover plate 100 has a recess 110 only on the side opposite to the upper movable receiving tray 232, and the upper movable receiving tray 232 overlaps with the inclined lower surface 112 in the horizontal direction. The connector 220 is configured to allow droplets to be guided from the upper movable receiving tray 232 to the lower movable receiving tray 233; preferably, the connector 220 consists of at least two spaced columnar structural members. Therefore, droplets flowing obliquely down from the inclined lower surface 112, and droplets dripping from other locations of the movable door plate 210, connector 220, and fixed cover plate 100 are all guided by the upper surface of the movable receiving tray 230 and flow obliquely downward to the lower movable receiving tray 233.

[0049] In one embodiment, the first inclined base plate 231 has a first baffle 234 at its downwardly inclined end, and a guide hole 235 penetrating the first inclined base plate 231 is provided adjacent to the first baffle 234. This allows droplets flowing to the lower part 233 of the movable receiving tray to drip through the guide hole 235 onto the fixed receiving tray 300 under the aggregation effect of the first baffle 234. The first baffle 234 and the guide hole 235 together reduce the momentum of the droplets, thereby preventing the droplets from splashing onto the upper surface of the fixed receiving tray 300 due to excessive momentum. Preferably, multiple guide holes 235 can be provided at equal intervals along the first baffle 234 to accelerate the flow of droplets and prevent the accumulation of large droplets. Preferably, the guide hole 235 is a strip-shaped hole with a length of 20mm to 30mm. Meanwhile, in order to further prevent droplets from overflowing from the gap between the first baffle 234 and the fixed cover plate 100, the upper end of the first baffle 234 is set as close as possible to the lower surface of the fixed cover plate 100.

[0050] In one embodiment, the fixed drip tray 300 includes a back plate 320, which is located at the downward-sloping end of the second inclined base plate 310 of the fixed drip tray 300 and is fixedly connected to the fixed cover plate 100. The distance between the back plate 320 and the first stop 234 is set so that the back plate 320 does not contact the first stop 234 when the movable door 200 is open. Figure 6 As shown, the second inclined base plate 310 is adjacent to the side wall 20 in a direction perpendicular to the inclined direction, and has a gap 330 at the abutment, through which droplets collected on the upper surface of the fixed liquid receiving tray 300 are guided to drain. Preferably, a baffle 340 is provided in the other direction relative to the gap 330, with the upper edge of the baffle 340 close to the lower surface of the fixed cover plate 100.

[0051] In one embodiment, the movable door panel 210 has a central portion 211 with the same inclination direction as the first inclined base plate 231, and upper and lower ends on both sides of the central portion. The central portion 211 has a third inclination angle γ for guiding droplets on the upper and lower surfaces of the movable door panel 210 to flow downwards at an angle. The upper end of the movable door panel 210 is provided with a second stop 212 protruding from its lower surface, and the lower end is provided with a third stop 213 protruding from its lower surface. The lower ends of the second stop 212 and the third stop 213 are both close to the upper surface of the fixed cover plate 100. Preferably, the connector 220 is close to the second stop 212 to maintain the stability and compactness of the structure.

[0052] In one embodiment, the upper surface of the fixed cover 100 has a fourth stop 120 protruding from the upper surface at the opening. When the movable door 200 closes the opening, the first stop 234, the second stop 212, the third stop 213, and the fourth stop 120 intersect each other or intersect with the fixed cover to form a sealing structure, preventing mist droplets from overflowing. Preferably, the second stop 212, the third stop 213, and the fourth stop 120 all have inclined surfaces and tips, with the inclined surfaces of the second stop 212 and the fourth stop 120 facing each other, and the inclined surfaces of the third stop 213 and the fourth stop 120 facing each other. The opposing inclined surfaces and tips not only enhance the effect of preventing mist droplets from overflowing, but also facilitate the formation of droplets at the inclined surfaces and guide them to flow towards the upper surface of the fixed cover 100, thereby preventing the random diffusion of mist droplets from polluting the air environment.

[0053] When wafer transport equipment, such as a robotic arm, in the wafer processing equipment transfers a wafer from the previous process to the current cleaning process, droplets adhering to the wafer surface at the previous process location may drip from the wafer surface onto the top cover 10. These droplets may land on the vertical side of the upper end of the movable door 210 and fall into the cleaning chamber when the door 210 opens, contaminating the wafer. Even if droplets do not adhere to the vertical side of the upper end of the movable door 210, droplets landing near the upper end of the movable door 210 may still fall into the chamber due to inertia when the door opens, contaminating the wafer.

[0054] To address the aforementioned technical problems, in one embodiment, the upper end of the movable door panel 210 is provided with a fifth stop 214 protruding from its upper surface. The fifth stop 214 has an inclined surface and a tip. The inclined surface of the fifth stop 214 extends from its tip towards the middle portion 211. The area between the tip of the fifth stop 214 and the tip of the second stop 212 forms the vertical side of the upper end of the movable door panel 210. This embodiment ensures that droplets that would otherwise fall and adhere to the vertical side of the upper end of the movable door panel 210 are blocked and separated by the tip of the fifth stop 214. Consequently, most droplets are guided along the inclined surface of the fifth stop 214 due to liquid surface tension, reducing the likelihood of droplets adhering to the vertical side of the upper end of the movable door panel 210. Meanwhile, the inclined surface of the fifth stop 214 has a larger inclination angle than the middle part 211 of the movable door panel 210, which has a more significant effect on guiding the flow of liquid droplets. Liquid is less likely to adhere to the vicinity of the upper end of the movable door panel 210, and it can also prevent the liquid droplets attached to the middle part 211 from falling into the box due to inertia when the door is opened.

[0055] In one embodiment, to ensure that the movable door panel 210, particularly the fifth stop 214, does not interfere with the wafer held by the robotic arm, the third tilt angle γ is set to be less than or equal to the first tilt angle α. Preferably, the third tilt angle γ is 1-10°, and more preferably 3-8°. This setting ensures that the movable door panel 210 has a good flow guiding effect. Droplets falling on the upper surface of the movable door panel 210 are guided and flow down at an angle, along the third stop 213 to the upper surface of the fixed cover plate 100; droplets that escape to the lower surface of the movable door panel 210 gather into droplets and are also guided and flow down at an angle, along the third stop 213 to the upper surface of the fixed cover plate 100, effectively reducing the risk of wafer contamination.

[0056] In one embodiment, the top cover 10 is made of corrosion-resistant plastic, such as PP, PVDF, PTFE, PEEK, etc. Optionally, the lower surface of the top cover 10 is covered with a hydrophilic material layer and sandblasted to further improve the water-conducting effect of the top cover 10.

[0057] In one embodiment, the cleaning assembly is used for vertical wafer cleaning, meaning the wafer is clamped and fixed in a housing with its front and back sides parallel to the vertical direction. The cleaning assembly includes a wafer processing station where the wafer is clamped and fixed, and the wafer processing station includes an outermost retaining ring. An opening is located in the center of the fixing cover 100, and its length is greater than the diameter of the wafer to be processed; for example, in a 12-inch wafer processing device, the length of the opening is greater than 300 mm; its width does not interfere with the robotic arm that clamps the wafer, and preferably, the width of the opening is set to 30-80 mm. Figure 3-4As shown, the cleaning assembly is located on one side of the opening, where the fixed retaining ring is used to receive some of the droplets dripping from the lower surface of the fixed cover plate 100 on that side, especially the droplets that are guided by the inclined lower surface 111 of the recess 110 and flow down at an angle; the fixed drip tray 300 is located on the other side of the opening and is used to receive some of the droplets dripping from the lower surface of the fixed cover plate 100 on that side and the droplets guided and dripping from the movable drip tray 230.

[0058] This application also provides a wafer processing apparatus, including a wafer cleaning device 1000 and a wafer transport device 2000 (not shown) disclosed in any of the foregoing embodiments. The wafer transport device 2000 is used to transfer wafers within the wafer processing apparatus. The wafer transport device 2000 includes a robot arm 400 (not shown), which grips a wafer from a previous process or an inter-process transfer position and moves it directly above the opening of the wafer cleaning device 1000. After the wafer cleaning device 1000 opens its movable door 200, the wafer is placed into the wafer cleaning device 1000 through the opening. After the robot arm 400 resets, the wafer cleaning device 1000 closes the movable door 200, and the cleaning assembly begins processing the wafer, including but not limited to one or more processing steps such as rinsing, brushing, or spin drying. After the cleaning components complete the wafer processing, the wafer cleaning device 1000 opens the movable door, and the robotic arm 400 grips and removes the wafer through the opening, transferring it to the next process or an inter-process transfer location. Using the wafer cleaning device 1000 disclosed in this application embodiment effectively prevents droplets generated during wafer processing from escaping into the air environment of the wafer processing equipment, and avoids droplets adhering to the wafer surface and causing contamination when the wafer is transferred by the wafer transport device 2000.

[0059] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the embodiments of this application, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of this application. Those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of this application. Therefore, all equivalent technical solutions also fall within the scope of the embodiments of this application, and the patent protection scope of the embodiments of this application should be defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A wafer cleaning apparatus, characterized in that, The device includes a housing and its internal cleaning components. The housing has a top cover, side walls, and a bottom plate. The top cover includes a fixed cover plate, a movable door, and a fixed liquid receiving tray. The fixed cover plate has an opening in the middle, through which wafers are placed and removed from the wafer cleaning device. The movable door is installed at the opening and can move horizontally relative to the fixed cover plate to open and close the opening. The movable door includes a movable door panel, a connector, and a movable liquid receiving tray. The connector passes through the opening and is fixedly connected to the movable door panel and the movable liquid receiving tray at both ends. The movable liquid receiving tray has a first inclined bottom plate to guide the droplets to flow down at an angle. The fixed liquid receiving tray has a second inclined base plate with the same inclination direction as the first inclined base plate. The first inclined base plate and the second inclined base plate have an overlap distance in the horizontal direction. The fixed liquid receiving tray is used to receive droplets flowing down from the movable liquid receiving tray. The fixed liquid receiving tray has a gap near the side wall. The gap is used to guide droplets on the upper surface of the second inclined base plate to drain along the gap and the side wall, thereby avoiding the droplets from dripping directly onto the wafer surface and causing contamination.

2. The wafer cleaning apparatus as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The lower surface of the fixed cover plate has a recess near the opening, the recess sloping from the middle to both sides to guide the liquid formed on the lower surface of the fixed cover plate to flow down at an angle, wherein the droplets flowing down to the opening side are guided toward the movable receiving tray.

3. The wafer cleaning apparatus as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The first inclined base plate has a guide hole and a first stop protruding from the upper surface of the first inclined base plate at the downward inclined end, and the upper end of the first stop is close to the lower surface of the fixed cover plate.

4. The wafer cleaning apparatus as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The movable door panel has a middle portion in the same direction of inclination as the first inclined base plate, and an upper end portion and a lower end portion adjacent to the middle portion. The upper end portion has a second stop portion protruding from the lower surface of the movable door panel, and the lower end portion has a third stop portion protruding from the lower surface of the movable door panel. The lower ends of the second stop portion and the lower ends of the third stop portion are close to the upper surface of the fixed cover plate.

5. The wafer cleaning apparatus as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The upper surface of the fixed cover plate has a fourth stop protruding from the upper surface on both sides of the opening. The second stop, the third stop, and the fourth stop have inclined surfaces and tips. The inclined surface of the second stop and the inclined surface of the fourth stop on one side of the opening are arranged opposite to each other, and the inclined surface of the third stop and the inclined surface of the fourth stop on the other side of the opening are arranged opposite to each other. When the movable door closes the opening, the first baffle, the second baffle, the third baffle, and the fourth baffle are used to prevent droplets from overflowing.

6. The wafer cleaning apparatus as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The upper end has a fifth stop that protrudes from the upper surface of the movable door panel. The fifth stop has an inclined surface with the same inclination direction as the middle part. The inclined surface of the fifth stop is in contact with the middle part, and the inclination angle of the inclined surface of the fifth stop is greater than the inclination angle of the middle part.

7. The wafer cleaning apparatus as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The first inclined base plate is inclined downward in the direction in which the movable door opens the opening, and the inclination angle of the middle part is less than or equal to the inclination angle of the first inclined base plate. The inclination angle of the middle part is 1-10°, and the inclination angle of the first inclined base plate is 5-15°.

8. The wafer cleaning apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The cleaning assembly is used for vertical cleaning of wafers, and the cleaning assembly and the fixed liquid receiving tray are located on opposite sides of the opening.

9. A wafer processing apparatus, characterized in that, The device includes a wafer transport device and a wafer cleaning device as described in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the wafer transport device includes a robotic arm for placing and removing wafers through the opening into and from the wafer cleaning device, and the wafer cleaning device closes the movable door while cleaning the wafers.

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