Substrate cleaning device and its inversion device

Abstract

The present invention provides a substrate cleaning apparatus and an inverting device thereof. The substrate inverting device includes a tank, a lifting mechanism, and an inverting mechanism. The lifting mechanism is disposed on one side of the tank and configured to receive the substrate and drive it to lift and lower. The inverting mechanism is disposed in the tank and is used to invert the substrate and configured to move between a substrate receiving position and a substrate unloading position relative to the lifting mechanism. The substrate receiving position is a position where the inverting mechanism receives the substrate from the lifting mechanism, and the substrate unloading position is a position where the substrate is unloaded from the inverting mechanism. In the present invention, a plurality of substrates that have completed the tank cleaning can be transported to the lifting mechanism in one step, and are quickly transported to a process manipulator in several steps by the inverting mechanism. This can not only improve the efficiency of the substrate cleaning apparatus by shortening the residence time of the substrates that have completed the tank cleaning in the substrate cleaning tank, but also improve the transport speed of the substrate inverting device.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing, and more particularly to a substrate cleaning apparatus and an inversion apparatus thereof. [Background technology]

[0002] In the substrate cleaning process, a bath cleaning process and a single substrate cleaning process are usually combined to take into consideration the cleaning efficiency and effect.

[0003] The substrate cleaning apparatus includes a plurality of substrate cleaning tanks, a plurality of single substrate cleaning chambers, an inverting device, and a plurality of manipulators. The plurality of manipulators include a first manipulator, a second manipulator, and a process manipulator, where the first manipulator is responsible for transferring the substrate to the plurality of substrate cleaning tanks, the second manipulator is responsible for removing the substrate from the substrate cleaning tanks and transferring it to the inversion device, and the process manipulator is responsible for removing the substrate from the inversion device and transferring it to the single substrate cleaning chamber.

[0004] The multiple substrate cleaning tanks are configured to batch process multiple vertically arranged substrates. The single substrate cleaning chamber is configured to process horizontally arranged substrates one at a time. The inversion device is configured to rotate the substrate, which has completed cleaning in the substrate cleaning tank, from a vertical direction to a horizontal direction, so that the process manipulator can easily transport the substrate horizontally to the single-substrate cleaning chamber.

[0005] Based on factors such as cost and transport stability, a process manipulator is typically equipped with two robot arms to transport two substrates at a time. In the inversion apparatus, multiple substrates are exposed to the air, and contaminants such as airborne particles are likely to adhere to the substrate surfaces. In order to reduce the waiting time of multiple substrates in the inverter, the number of substrates that the inverter flips at one time is not more than the number of substrates that the process manipulator picks up, i.e., the inverter flips one or two substrates at one time. Therefore, the second manipulator removes one or two substrates at a time from the substrate cleaning tank and places them in the inversion device, so that the multiple substrates transported to the inversion device by the second manipulator can be transported to the single substrate cleaning chamber by the process manipulator at the appropriate time. However, substrate cleaning tanks are batch processing equipment, processing seven, thirteen, twenty-five or more substrates at a time. Therefore, after cleaning of a batch of substrates is completed in the substrate cleaning tank, it is necessary to repeatedly remove the multiple substrates using the second manipulator, invert the multiple substrates using the inversion device, and transport the multiple substrates using the process manipulator, so that the batch of multiple substrates can be transported to multiple single-substrate cleaning chambers. If the time that a plurality of substrates occupy the substrate cleaning tank becomes long, the efficiency of substrate transport decreases, which affects the output of the substrate cleaning equipment per unit time. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a substrate inversion device, which can solve the problem that the substrate transport efficiency of the conventional substrate inversion device is low, which affects the output amount of the substrate cleaning device per unit time. Furthermore, the substrate can be reliably kept wet in the substrate reversing device, and adhesion of contaminants such as fine particles can be suppressed.

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a substrate inversion device, a reservoir for holding a liquid; a lift mechanism disposed on one side of the bath and configured to receive the substrate and drive it up and down to submerge the substrate in liquid in the bath or lift the substrate out of the bath; The apparatus includes an inversion mechanism disposed in the tank for inverting a substrate and configured to move between a substrate receiving position and a substrate unloading position relative to the lifting mechanism, the substrate receiving position being a position where the inversion mechanism receives a substrate from the lifting mechanism, and the substrate unloading position being a position where the substrate is unloaded from the inversion mechanism.

[0008] It is still another object of the present invention to provide a substrate cleaning apparatus which improves the transfer efficiency and output per unit time of the substrate cleaning apparatus. In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a substrate inversion device, A bath cleaning module comprising a first inversion device, at least one substrate cleaning bath, at least one manipulator, and a second inversion device, wherein the at least one substrate cleaning bath is used to perform a bath cleaning process on a substrate, the first inversion device is used to invert the substrate from a horizontal direction to a vertical direction, the at least one manipulator is responsible for vertically transporting the substrate to the first inversion device, the at least one substrate cleaning bath, and the second inversion device, and the second inversion device is used to invert the substrate from a vertical direction to a horizontal direction after the substrate cleaning is completed; a single-substrate cleaning module including at least one single-substrate cleaning chamber for performing a single-substrate cleaning process and a drying process on a substrate; a process manipulator for removing the substrate from the second inversion device and transporting the substrate horizontally to at least one single substrate cleaning chamber of the single substrate cleaning module; The present invention provides a substrate cleaning apparatus, characterized in that a second inversion device employs any one of the substrate inversion devices described above.

[0009] In the present invention, a plurality of substrates after tank cleaning can be transported to the lifting mechanism at one time, thereby shortening the residence time of the plurality of substrates in the substrate cleaning tank, thereby improving the output of the substrate cleaning apparatus.

[0010] In addition, the inversion mechanism is configured to not only rotate the substrate from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction, but also to move parallel to the lifting mechanism, and is configured to quickly transport multiple substrates in the lifting mechanism to the process manipulator in a few steps by moving back and forth between the substrate receiving position and the substrate unloading position, which is advantageous for improving the transport speed of the substrate inversion device.

[0011] In addition, when the inversion mechanism transports multiple substrates to the process manipulator, the multiple substrates that were on the lifting mechanism can be lowered and immersed in the bath together with the lifting mechanism to keep them wet, thereby shortening the exposure time of the substrates in air and preventing contaminants such as fine particles in the air from contaminating the substrate surfaces. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a substrate reversing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a tank according to a first embodiment of the invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion A in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the lifting mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion B in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a substrate inverting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, with the housing of the inverting mechanism hidden. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a reversing mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention, with the housing of the reversing mechanism hidden. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the reversing mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the inversion mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention, seen from still another angle. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a substrate holder according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the substrate holder of FIG. 10 taken along the X direction. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of a portion C in FIG. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing how the manipulator places the substrate on the support table when the substrate reversing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention is in the initial state. [Figure 14] 14(a) to 14(h) show an operational flow for transporting a substrate to a process manipulator by the substrate inverting device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, in which the substrate holder receives the substrate from the support table for the first time. [Figure 15] 15(a) to 15(h) show an operational flow for transporting a substrate to a process manipulator by the substrate inverting device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, in which the substrate holder receives the substrate from the support table for the second time. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a plan view of a substrate cleaning apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] In order to explain in detail the technical contents, structural features, objectives and effects achieved by the present invention, the following detailed description will be given with reference to embodiments and drawings.

[0014] First embodiment 1 to 12 disclose a substrate reversing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. A substrate flipping device is disposed between the bath cleaning module and the single substrate cleaning module for flipping a vertically oriented substrate to a horizontal orientation, thereby facilitating a process manipulator to transfer the substrate horizontally to the single substrate cleaning module. 1 is a structural diagram of a substrate inversion device according to the present embodiment. The substrate inversion device mainly includes a tank 10, a lifting mechanism 20, and an inversion mechanism 30.

[0015] The reservoir 10 is used to hold a liquid. The lifting mechanism 20 is provided on one side of the tank 10 and is configured to receive a substrate and drive it up and down to immerse the substrate in the liquid in the tank 10 or lift it out of the tank 10 . An inversion mechanism 30 is disposed in the vessel 10 for inverting the substrate. The inversion mechanism 30 is preferably located at the top of the tank 10 . The inversion mechanism 30 is configured to move between a substrate receiving position and a substrate unloading position relative to the lifting mechanism 20. The substrate receiving position is a position where the inversion mechanism 30 receives a substrate from the lifting mechanism 20, and the substrate unloading position is a position where the substrate is unloaded from the inversion mechanism 30.

[0016] As shown in Fig. 1, the upper opening of the tank 10 is generally square, and includes a first side wall 10a and a second side wall 10b arranged to face each other, and a third side wall 10c and a fourth side wall 10d arranged to face each other. The reservoir 10 is used to hold a liquid such as deionized water or carbon dioxide deionized water.

[0017] FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the vessel. 2, the tank 10 has an inner tank 101, an outer tank 102, and a liquid supply line 103. A liquid is supplied to the inner tank 101 through the liquid supply line 103. The inner tank 101 is disposed within the outer tank 102 . The upper edge of the inner tank 101 is lower than the upper edge of the outer tank 102, so that the liquid in the inner tank 101 can overflow from the upper edge of the inner tank 101 into the outer tank 102. In addition, a first liquid discharge pipe 1011 connected to the outer tank 102 is provided at the bottom of the inner tank 101. A second liquid discharge pipe 1021 connected to the equipment liquid discharge system is provided at the bottom of the outer tank 102. The liquid in the inner tank 101 can be quickly discharged through the first liquid discharge pipe 1011 and the second liquid discharge pipe 1021.

[0018] To ensure cleanliness of the interior area of ​​the vessel 10, the vessel 10 is further provided with an exhaust vent. In the first embodiment, as shown in Figure 2, an exhaust port 104 is provided in the outer vessel 102. The exhaust port 104 is connected to a facility exhaust system to continuously exhaust air in the interior region of the vessel 10. Because the vessel 10 contains a liquid, such as deionized water, a water mist may be present in the interior region of the vessel 10 . If the water mist is drawn into the facility exhaust system, it can cause damage to the facility exhaust system ducts and fans. In order to solve this problem, the exhaust port 104 has a two-layer structure as shown in FIG. A cavity is formed between the first exhaust plate 1041 and the second exhaust plate 1042, and the first exhaust plate 1041 and the second exhaust plate 1042 are provided with a plurality of exhaust holes 1043 arranged in a staggered pattern. This plays a certain role in blocking water mist in the air, and can suppress water mist from being sucked into the exhaust system.

[0019] FIG. 4 shows a structural diagram of the lifting mechanism. As shown in FIG. 4, the lifting mechanism 20 includes a support base 201 , a support rod 202 , and a first drive assembly 203 . One end of the support table 201 is used for receiving a substrate, and the other end is fixed to the support rod 202 . The first drive assembly 203 drives the support base 201 up and down via the support rod 202 to immerse the support base 201 in the liquid in the tank 10 or lift it out of the tank 10 . In the first embodiment, the first drive assembly 203 includes a drive motor and a lead screw. The drive motor drives the support platform 201 up and down via the lead screw and the support rod 202. Of course, in other embodiments, the first drive assembly 203 can use other linear transmission mechanisms, such as a linear motor.

[0020] The support table 201 is used to receive a plurality of substrates transferred from the manipulator. Typically, the support table 201 can receive seven, thirteen, or twenty-five substrates. When the first drive assembly 203 drives the support platform 201 down into the bath 10, the substrate placed on the support platform 201 is immersed in a liquid, such as deionized water, in the bath 10, ensuring that the surface of the substrate is wet.

[0021] The lifting mechanism 20 is further provided with a fine adjustment assembly, through which the installation positions of the lifting mechanism 20 and the support table 201 can be finely adjusted so that the support table 201 faces the substrate placement position, so that the support table 201 can accurately receive the multiple substrates transported by the manipulator. The substrate placement position is the position where the support table 201 receives the substrate from the manipulator. According to FIG. 4 , the fine adjustment assembly may include a first fine adjustment assembly 204 and / or a second fine adjustment assembly 205 . The lifting mechanism 20 is integrally attached to the mounting plate 40 by a first fine adjustment assembly 204, and the mounting position of the lifting mechanism 20 in the first direction is adjusted so that the support table 201 faces the substrate placement position. The mounting plate 40 may be disposed parallel to the side wall of the tank 10. The support base 201 is attached to the support rod 202 by a second fine adjustment assembly 205, and the attachment position of the support base 201 in the second direction is adjusted so that the support base 201 faces the substrate placement position.

[0022] In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the micro-adjustment assembly includes a first micro-adjustment assembly 204 and a second micro-adjustment assembly 205 . The mounting plate 40 is disposed outside and parallel to the first side wall 10 a of the tank 10 . The first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to each other in a horizontal plane. Specifically, the first direction is the horizontal X direction, and the second direction is the horizontal Y direction. 4 and 5, the first fine adjustment assembly 204 is disposed on the mounting plate 40. It also includes a lateral guide rail 2041, a slider 2042, a first fastener 2043, and a fine adjustment set screw 2044. The lateral guide rails 2041 are disposed on the mounting plate 40 along the horizontal X direction. The lifting mechanism 20 is slidably mounted on a lateral guide rail 2041 by a slider 2042 . The fine adjustment set screw 2044 is disposed on the mounting plate 40 and has one end in contact with the lift mechanism 20 . The fine adjustment set screw 2044 can push the lift mechanism 20 to move along the lateral guide rails 2041 . When the lifting mechanism 20 is adjusted to a predetermined position in the horizontal X direction, the lifting mechanism 20 is fixed to the predetermined position by the first fastener 2043. That is, the adjustment of the installation position of the lifting mechanism 20 in the horizontal X direction is completed. In order to improve the stability of mounting the lifting mechanism 20 to the mounting plate 40, it is possible to provide a plurality of lateral guide rails 2041, and it is also possible to provide the plurality of lateral guide rails 2041 in parallel. In the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, two lateral guide rails 2041 are spaced apart along the vertical direction of the mounting plate 40. As shown in FIG.

[0023] Please refer again to Figure 4. The second fine adjustment assembly 205 has a first adjustment member 2051 and a second adjustment member 2052 arranged in the horizontal Y direction. One end of the first adjustment member 2051 is fixed to the support rod 202 . One end of the second adjustment member 2052 is fixed to the support base 201 . Both the first adjustment member 2051 and the second adjustment member 2052 have an adjustment hole 2053, and the two are fixed to each other by passing a second fastener through the overlapping portion of the adjustment holes 2053 of the first adjustment member 2051 and the second adjustment member 2052. The multiple adjustment holes 2053 are provided as elongated holes. By changing the overlap length between the first adjustment member 2051 and the second adjustment member 2052, the position of the support base 201 in the horizontal Y direction is changed, thereby enabling adjustment of the mounting position of the support base 201 in the horizontal Y direction.

[0024] FIG. 6 shows the overall structure of the substrate inversion device, with the housing of the inversion mechanism hidden. Figure 7 shows the internal structure of the reversing mechanism. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the inversion mechanism 30 includes a substrate holder 301 , a second drive assembly 302 , and a third drive assembly 303 . A substrate holder 301 for holding a substrate is disposed horizontally on the upper portion of the tank 10 . As shown in FIG. 6, the substrate holder 301 is suspended over the upper opening of the vessel 10 and is parallel to the first side wall 10a or the second side wall 10b of the vessel 10. The substrate holder 301 is connected to a second drive assembly 302 for driving the substrate holder 301 in rotation. In this embodiment, the second drive assembly 302 is attached to a third drive assembly 303. The third drive assembly 303 can drive the second drive assembly 302 to translate, thereby driving the substrate holder 301 to translate between a substrate receiving position and a substrate unloading position.

[0025] The substrate holder 301 receives the substrate from the support table 201 at the substrate receiving position. Specifically, when the substrate holder 301 moves to the substrate receiving position under the driving of the third driving assembly 303 , the substrate holder 301 is positioned below the support table 201 and faces at least a portion of the substrate on the support table 201 . During the downward movement of the support table 201 , at least a portion of the substrate is transferred to the substrate holder 301 . When the substrate holder 301 is moved to the substrate removal position by the driving force of the third driving assembly 303 , the substrate holder 301 is separated from the support table 201 . The substrate holder 301 and the support table 201 do not interfere with each other. The substrate holder 301 can perform a substrate inversion operation at the substrate removal position. Specifically, the substrate holder 301 rotates the substrate from a vertical orientation to a horizontal orientation, so that the process manipulator horizontally removes the substrate from the substrate holder 301 and transfers it to a single substrate cleaning module. In other embodiments, the substrate holder 301 can be moved to a position between the substrate receiving position and the substrate unloading position to perform a substrate flipping operation. Alternatively, the substrate holder 301 may perform a substrate inversion operation simultaneously in the process of moving from the substrate receiving position to the substrate unloading position.

[0026] The inversion mechanism 30 further includes a second liquid receiving slot 306 on the side of the vessel 10 proximate the substrate removal position. The second liquid receiving slot 306 may be secured to a side wall of the vessel 10 . As shown in FIG. 6, a second liquid receiving slot 306 is secured to the top of the second side wall 10b. When the substrate holder 301 rotates the substrate from the vertical orientation to the horizontal orientation or when the process manipulator removes the substrate from the substrate holder 301, the second liquid receiving slot 306 can catch liquid dripping from the substrate to keep the internal environment of the apparatus clean.

[0027] In this embodiment, the second drive assembly 302 may include a second drive motor 3021 and a reduction coupling 3022, as shown in FIG. The third drive assembly 303 may include a third drive motor 3031 , a third slide rail 3032 , a third slide seat 3033 , and a third lead screw 3034 . The second drive motor 3021 is connected to the rotation shaft 3014 of the substrate holder 301 via a reduction coupling 3022 , and drives the substrate holder 301 to rotate. The third drive assembly 303 is composed of two third slide rails 3032, each fixed to two sides of the aquarium 10. Specifically, the two third slide rails 3032 are respectively disposed on the outer sides of the third side wall 10c and the fourth side wall 10d of the tank 10, and a third slide seat 3033 is provided. In the first embodiment, the third drive motor 3031 drives the third slide seat 3033 via a pulley and a third feed screw 3034 to move it in parallel along the third slide rail 3032 . The substrate holder 301 and the second drive assembly 302 are integrally fixed to a third sliding sheet 3033 by a mounting bracket 3020. As a result, the substrate holder 301 and the second drive assembly 302 are driven by the third drive assembly 303 to move in parallel.

[0028] 8 and 9 show the structure of the inversion mechanism. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the inversion mechanism 30 further includes a housing 304 in which the second drive assembly 302 and the third drive assembly 303 are disposed. Therefore, the second drive assembly 302 and the third drive assembly 303 can be prevented from being eroded by the chemical solution. As shown in FIG. 6, the third slide rail 3032 of the third drive assembly 303 is provided outside the third side wall 10c and the fourth side wall 10d of the vat 10. To protect the second drive assembly 302 and the third drive assembly 303, the housing 304 is divided into two halves, designated as a first housing 304a and a second housing 304b, as shown in FIGS. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the first housing 304a is disposed outside the fourth side wall 10d, and the second housing 304b is disposed outside the third side wall 10c.

[0029] Please refer again to Figures 8 and 9. To further prevent damage to the second drive assembly 302 and the third drive assembly 303 from the external environment, the housing 304 is further provided with an intake pipe 305 for supplying positive pressure gas to the housing 304, thereby preventing the external environment gas from entering the housing 304. The housing 304 is further provided with an exhaust port 3041 that is connected to a facility exhaust system and that exhausts gases within the housing 304, thereby enabling the microenvironment within the housing 304 to be kept clean.

[0030] The upper portions of the housings 304 that are located below the transport path of the manipulator, such as the upper portion of the first housing 304 a, may be recessed inwardly to form a first liquid-receiving slot 3042 . A flow guide reservoir 3043 is formed in the side wall of the housing 304 away from the reservoir 10. The flow guide reservoir 3043 is connected to the first liquid receiving slot 3042 and guides the liquid in the first liquid receiving slot 3042 out of the substrate inverting apparatus. In the first embodiment, one side of the substrate inverting device is a substrate cleaning reservoir. A flow guide reservoir 3043 guides the liquid in the first liquid receiving slot 3042 to the substrate cleaning reservoir. In this embodiment, the opposite side of the substrate inversion device is an electronic control equipment area which belongs to the dry area. Therefore, the second housing 304b does not include the first liquid receiving slot 3042 and the flow guide reservoir 3043. In other embodiments, the first liquid receiving slot 3042 and the flow guide reservoir 3043 can be provided in two parts of the housing 304, namely the first housing 304a and the second housing 304b, depending on the facility layout requirements.

[0031] Please refer to Figures 10 to 12. The substrate holder 301 has a connection member 3011 and a pair of clamp portions 3012. The connecting member 3011 has oppositely disposed side walls. The pair of clamp portions 3012 are detachably attached to the ends of the two side walls of the connecting member 3011, respectively. At least one pair of clamp slots 3013 are provided in each of the two clamp portions 3012 so as to form a pair and to face each other. Each pair of clamp slots 3013 is used to receive one substrate. Rotation shafts 3014 are provided on the rear surfaces of the two side walls of the connection member 3011 , and the second drive assembly 302 drives and rotates the substrate holder 301 via the multiple rotation shafts 3014 . Some accumulation of chemicals and contaminants may occur in the clamping slots 3013 of the multiple clamping portions 3012. In order to keep the clamp slots 3013 clean, each clamp slot 3013 is provided with a cleaning channel 3015. A cleaning liquid is supplied to the clamp slots 3013 through the cleaning channel 3015 to clean them. One end of the washing channel 3015 is connected to a number of clamping slots 3013 and the other end is connected to a liquid inlet tube 3016 . In the first embodiment, the liquid supply pipe 103 which supplies deionized water to the inner tank 101 can be connected to the liquid inlet pipe 3016 via a branch pipe (not shown) to supply deionized water to the clamp slot 3013 and clean the clamp slot 3013.

[0032] The operation procedure of the substrate inverting device will be described below with reference to Figures 14(a) to 14(h) and 15(a) to 15(h). Note that in Figures 14(a) to 14(h) and 15(a) to 15(h), the lifting mechanism is simplified and only the support base 201 remains. 13, when the substrate inversion device is in its initial state, the support table 201 is empty, raised from the tank 10 and positioned at the substrate placement position, ready to receive a substrate transferred by the manipulator R1, and the substrate holder 301 is empty, rotated vertically, and positioned at the substrate removal position. For the sake of convenience, the following description will be given by taking as an example a case in which the support table 201 can receive thirteen substrates and the substrate holder 301 can receive two substrates.

[0033] In step 1, the support platform 201 receives a number of substrates. As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14(a), the support table 201 is lifted up to a substrate placement position, and the manipulator R1 places a plurality of substrates (for example, thirteen substrates) on the support table 201, and then the manipulator R1 is removed.

[0034] In step 2, the substrate holder 301 moves to a substrate receiving position. As shown in FIG. 14( b ), the substrate holder 301 moves in parallel towards the support table 201 and then moves away from the support table 201 from the substrate removal position to a first substrate receiving position directly below the support table 201 . At this time, the substrate holder 301 faces the two substrates on the support table 201 . In the first embodiment, the substrate holder 301 starts receiving substrates from the leftmost end of the support platform 201. The substrate holder 301 corresponds to the two substrates at the leftmost end of the support platform 201 in the first substrate receiving position.

[0035] In step 3, the substrate holder 301 receives the substrate. After the substrate holder 301 moves to the substrate receiving position, the support table 201 begins to descend as shown in FIG. 14(c), and after the substrate holder 301 has received the two substrates, the support table 201 continues to descend toward the tank 10 as shown in FIG. 14(d). During the process of receiving the substrate by the substrate holder 301, the support platform 201 descends at a first speed. After the substrate holder 301 receives the substrate, the support platform 201 descends into the bath 10 at a second speed, so that the remaining substrate on the support platform 201 is completely immersed in the liquid in the bath 10. The first speed is slower than the second speed to prevent the substrate and substrate holder 301 from colliding and being damaged if the support platform 201 is lowered too quickly.

[0036] In step 4, the substrate holder 301 is moved to a substrate removal position. After the support table 201 has been lowered to the tank 10, the substrate holder 301, carrying the two substrates, moves from the substrate receiving position to the substrate unloading position, as shown in FIG. 14(e).

[0037] In step 5, the substrate holder 301 performs an inversion operation. As shown in FIG. 14(f) and FIG. 14(g), the substrate holder 301 slowly rotates the substrate from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction at the substrate removal position. During this process, the substrate holder 301 slowly rotates the substrate from the vertical to the horizontal orientation at a third speed. The third speed is 10°~50° / s.

[0038] In step 6, a process manipulator picks up the substrate. When the substrate holder 301 rotates the substrate horizontally, the process manipulator R2 picks up the substrate from the substrate holder 301, as shown in FIG. 14(h).

[0039] In step 7, the substrate inversion device is returned to its initial state. As shown in FIG. 15(a), the support table 201 is lifted again to the substrate placement position, and the empty substrate holder 301 is quickly inverted from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction to return it to the initial state. Since the substrate holder 301 and the support table 201 do not interfere with each other at the substrate removal position, it is possible to synchronize the operation of the support table 201 rising again to the substrate placement position with the operation of the substrate holder 301 performing an inversion operation at the substrate removal position and the operation of the process manipulator removing the substrate, thereby preferably improving the substrate transport efficiency of the substrate inversion device. In step 7, the substrate holder 301 is empty and is quickly flipped from vertical to horizontal at a fourth speed. The fourth speed is greater than the third speed. The fourth speed is 90°~180° / s.

[0040] In step 8, the substrate holder 301 moves to a substrate receiving position. As shown in FIG. 15(b), the substrate holder 301 moves in parallel towards the support table 201, moving from the substrate removal position to the second substrate receiving position. At this time, the substrate holder 301 directly faces the other two substrates on the support table 201 . By having the second substrate receiving position immediately adjacent to the first substrate receiving position, the substrate holder 301 receives the substrates on the support platform 201 in order from left to right, simplifying the control logic for the operation of the substrate holder 301. Of course, in other embodiments, the substrate holder 301 can receive the substrates on the support pedestal 201 in a right-to-left order.

[0041] In step 9, the substrate holder 301 receives the substrate. After the substrate holder 301 moves to the substrate receiving position, the support table 201 starts to descend at a first speed, the substrate holder 301 receives the two substrates, and then the support table 201 continues to descend at a second speed toward the tank 10, as shown in Figures 15(c) and 15(d). Also, the first speed is smaller than the second speed.

[0042] In step 10, the substrate holder 301 is moved to a substrate removal position. After the support table 201 has been lowered to the tank 10, the substrate holder 301, carrying the two substrates, moves from the substrate receiving position to the substrate unloading position, as shown in FIG. 15(e).

[0043] In step 11, the substrate holder 301 performs an inversion operation. As shown in Figures 15(f) and 15(g), the substrate holder 301 slowly flips the substrate from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction at a third speed at the substrate removal position.

[0044] In step 12, a process manipulator picks up the substrate. When the substrate holder 301 flips the substrate horizontally, the process manipulator R2 picks up the substrate from the substrate holder 301, as shown in FIG. 15(h).

[0045] Next, steps 7 to 12 are repeated until the substrate holder 301 removes all of the substrates from the support table 201. In this embodiment, the support stage 201 can receive thirteen substrates, and the substrate holder 301 can carry two substrates at a time. Therefore, the substrate holder 301 must repeat the operation of receiving substrates from the support table 201 seven times. The first six times it receives two substrates each time, and the seventh time it receives one substrate at a time. By analogy, if the support table 201 receives seven substrates, the substrate holder 301 needs to repeat the operation of receiving the substrates from the support table 201 four times, and if the support table 201 receives twenty-five substrates, the substrate holder 301 needs to repeat the operation of receiving the substrates from the support table 201 thirteen times.

[0046] A preferred solution is to increase the utilization of the process manipulator by matching the number of substrates that the substrate holder 301 can receive and the number of substrates that the process manipulator will take. For example, if the process manipulator has two arms, the number of clamp slots 3013 that the substrate holder 301 can receive is two or more pairs, i.e., the number of substrates that the substrate holder 301 can receive is two or more. Furthermore, if the process manipulator is provided with three arms, the number of substrates that the substrate holder 301 can receive is three or more.

[0047] In the substrate inversion device, since the support table 201 can receive a plurality of substrates, the substrates that have been cleaned can be transported to the substrate inversion device at once, thereby shortening the residence time of the substrates in the substrate cleaning tank, thereby improving the output of the substrate cleaning device.

[0048] Furthermore, the substrate holder 301 is configured not only to rotate the substrate from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction, but also to translate the substrate in parallel with respect to the support table 201 . By moving back and forth at the substrate receiving position and the substrate unloading position, multiple substrates on the support table 201 can be quickly transported to the process manipulator R2 in multiple trips. This is advantageous for improving the substrate transport speed of the substrate inversion device.

[0049] Furthermore, when the substrate holder 301 transports the substrate to the process manipulator R2, the substrate that was on the support table 201 is lowered and immersed together with the support table 201 in the liquid in the bath 10, thereby keeping the substrate wet. This shortens the exposure time of the substrate in air and prevents contaminants such as fine particles in the air from contaminating the surface of the substrate.

[0050] Second embodiment Please refer to Figure 16. A substrate cleaning apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. The substrate cleaning apparatus includes a body frame 100 , a front end device module 200 , a bath cleaning module 300 , a single substrate cleaning module 400 , and a process manipulator 500 .

[0051] The front-end device module 200 has a number of load ports 210 and a front-end manipulator 220 . A plurality of load ports 210 arranged vertically in the Y direction are used to accommodate substrate boxes each accommodating a plurality of substrates. Typically, a substrate box accommodates twenty-five substrates. The front-end manipulator 220 is used to transport substrates from the front-end device module 200 to the bath cleaning module 300 for the bath cleaning process, and to transport substrates from the single substrate cleaning module 400 back to the front-end device module 200 after the single substrate cleaning and drying process is completed.

[0052] The bath cleaning module 300 includes a first inverter 310, at least one substrate cleaning bath (321-325), at least one manipulator (341, 342), and a second inverter 350. The first reversing device 310, the at least one substrate cleaning tank (321 to 325), and the second reversing device 350 are aligned laterally in the X direction. The first inverter 310 is located near the front-end device module 200 . The front end manipulator 220 transports the substrate horizontally to the first inverter device 310 . A first rotation device 310 is used to rotate the substrate from a horizontal orientation to a vertical orientation. At least one substrate cleaning bath (321-325) is configured to perform a bath cleaning process on a substrate. At least one manipulator (341, 342) serves to vertically transport the substrate to the first inverter 310, the at least one substrate cleaning tank (321-325), and the second inverter 350. The second flip device 350 rotates the substrate from a vertical orientation to a horizontal orientation so that the process manipulator 500 can transfer the substrate horizontally to the single substrate cleaning module 400 .

[0053] The second inversion device 350 has the same configuration as the substrate inversion device in the first embodiment, and includes a bath 351 , a lifting mechanism 352 , and an inversion mechanism 353 . After the second inversion device 350 receives a plurality of substrates at one time by the lifting mechanism 352, some of the substrates are transported to an inversion mechanism 353 that rotates the substrates from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction. The substrate is then removed from the inversion mechanism 353 by the process manipulator 500 and transferred to the single substrate cleaning module 400 where the single substrate cleaning process and drying process are performed in the single substrate cleaning chamber 410 .

[0054] The number of substrates that can be accommodated by the reversing mechanism 353 is determined according to the number of robot arms configured in the process manipulator 500 . In general, the number of substrates that can be accommodated by the inversion mechanism 353 is equal to or greater than the number of robot arms provided on the process manipulator 500 . The number of robot arms provided in the process manipulator 500 is determined according to the number of single-substrate cleaning chambers 410 provided in the single-substrate cleaning module 400 . For example, when eight single-substrate cleaning chambers 410 are provided, a process manipulator 500 having two robot arms is selected between the second inversion device 350 and the single-substrate cleaning module 400, taking into consideration overall transport efficiency and equipment costs. Additionally, the inversion mechanism 353 is configured to accommodate at least two substrates.

[0055] In this embodiment, a lifting mechanism 3201 is provided in each of the substrate cleaning tanks (321 to 325). The lifting mechanism 3201 disposed in each of the substrate cleaning tanks (321 to 325) has the same configuration as the lifting mechanism 352 disposed in the second reversing device 350. According to the description of the first embodiment, the lifting mechanism 3201 is disposed independently of the substrate cleaning tanks (321 to 325), and therefore the installation position of the lifting mechanism in each substrate cleaning tank can be adjusted independently. Specifically, in each substrate cleaning tank, the support table of the lifting mechanism 3201 can be made to face the substrate placement position via a fine adjustment assembly formed by the lifting mechanism 3201. The substrate placement position is a position where the lift mechanism 3201 receives multiple substrates from at least one manipulator (341, 342). The details of the configuration of the lifting mechanism 3201 have been described in the first embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0056] In the first embodiment, a plurality of substrate cleaning tanks are provided. The plurality of substrate cleaning tanks (321 to 325) are divided into at least two groups, and each group of substrate cleaning tanks is provided with at least one manipulator. A manipulator cleaning tank is disposed between two adjacent groups of substrate cleaning tanks, and is used to clean the manipulator disposed between the two adjacent groups of substrate cleaning tanks. Each group of substrate cleaning tanks may include at least one chemical tank and at least one water tank. The chemical bath contains chemicals such as HF and SPM. The tank contains DIW. Typically, the substrate is first placed in a cleaning chemical bath, then transferred to a cleaning water bath, and then transferred to a cleaning chemical bath in the next group of substrate cleaning baths. The number of chemical tanks and water tanks provided for each group of substrate cleaning tanks is determined according to the actual processing conditions.

[0057] As shown in FIG. 16, the plurality of substrate cleaning tanks (321 to 325) are divided into two groups, that is, a first group of substrate cleaning tanks 320a and a second group of substrate cleaning tanks 320b. The multiple manipulators include a first manipulator 341 for transporting substrates in the first group of substrate cleaning tanks 320a, and a second manipulator 342 for transporting substrates in the second group of substrate cleaning tanks 320b. The second manipulator 342 also serves to transport, to the lifting mechanism 352 of the second reversing device 350, the substrate that has completed tank cleaning in the substrate cleaning tank 320b of the second group. Between the first group of substrate cleaning tanks 320a and the second group of substrate cleaning tanks 320b, one manipulator cleaning tank 330 is disposed. The manipulator cleaning tank 330 can clean the first manipulator 341 and the second manipulator 342.

[0058] The single substrate cleaning module 400 and the bath cleaning module 300 face each other. In the first embodiment, the single-substrate cleaning module 400 includes a plurality of single-substrate cleaning chambers 410 arranged in a horizontal X-direction. The single substrate cleaning chamber 410 is used to perform single substrate cleaning and drying processes on a substrate. The process manipulator 500 is disposed between the bath cleaning module 300 and the single substrate cleaning module 400 . The process manipulator 500 is used to pick up the substrate from the inversion mechanism 353 of the second inversion device 350 of the bath cleaning module 300 and transport it horizontally to the single substrate cleaning chamber 410 . Additionally, the process manipulator 500 is also responsible for returning the substrates to the front end device module 200 once the single substrate cleaning and drying processes are completed.

[0059] In the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the second embodiment, the second reversing device 350 employs the substrate reversing device according to the first embodiment. Since the lifting mechanism 352 of the second inversion device 350 and the lifting mechanisms provided in the substrate cleaning tanks (321-325) are configured in the same manner, the number of substrates received by the second inversion device can be the same as the number of substrates processed at one time by the substrate cleaning tanks. Additionally, the second inverter and the substrate cleaning tank can share the same manipulator. For example, in FIG. 16, substrate cleaning tanks 323 , 324 , and 325 share a second inverter device 350 and a second manipulator 342 . This reduces the number of manipulators arranged in the substrate cleaning apparatus, which is effective in reducing costs. Furthermore, multiple substrates that have completed the tank cleaning process in the tank cleaning module 300 do not need to remain in the substrate cleaning tank waiting to enter the second inversion device, but can be transported to the lifting mechanism 352 in the second inversion device 350 in one go. This reduces the occupancy time of the substrates in the substrate cleaning tank, allowing the substrate cleaning tank to be emptied in time to receive the next batch of substrates to be cleaned, and improving the efficiency of the substrate cleaning apparatus.

[0060] When the inversion mechanism 353 of the second inversion device 350 rotates the substrate, the lifting mechanism 352 carries the remaining substrates remaining on the lifting mechanism 352 and transports them to the immersion tank 351, thereby keeping the surfaces of the substrates wet and preventing the adhesion of contaminants such as particles.

[0061] In addition, in the substrate cleaning apparatus, a manipulator cleaning tank 330 is disposed between two adjacent groups of substrate cleaning tanks, which makes it easy to clean the manipulators (341, 342), keeps each manipulator clean, and suppresses contamination of the substrate by impurities on the manipulators (341, 342). This is advantageous for improving the yield of the substrate cleaning apparatus.

[0062] In summary, the present invention has specifically and in detail disclosed the relevant technology through the above embodiments and related figures, so that those skilled in the art can practice the present invention accordingly. However, the above description is illustrative only and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. The protection scope of the present invention should be defined by the appended claims. Any variation in the number of components described herein, or the replacement of components with equivalent elements, is within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A substrate inversion device, a reservoir for holding a liquid; a lifting mechanism disposed on one side of the bath and configured to receive a substrate and drive it up and down to submerge the substrate in liquid in the bath or lift the substrate out of the bath; a substrate inversion device comprising: an inversion mechanism disposed in the tank for inverting the substrate, the inversion mechanism being configured to move between a substrate receiving position and a substrate unloading position relative to the lifting mechanism, the substrate receiving position being a position where the inversion mechanism receives the substrate from the lifting mechanism, and the substrate unloading position being a position where the substrate is unloaded from the inversion mechanism.

2. 2. The substrate inversion device of claim 1, wherein the tank is provided with an exhaust port connected to an equipment exhaust system, the exhaust port having a first exhaust plate and a second exhaust plate, a cavity is formed between the first exhaust plate and the second exhaust plate, and the first exhaust plate and the second exhaust plate are provided with a plurality of exhaust holes arranged in a staggered pattern.

3. 2. The substrate inversion device of claim 1, wherein the lifting mechanism comprises a support table, a support rod, and a first drive assembly, one end of the support table is used to receive the substrate, the other end of the support table is fixed to the support rod, and the first drive assembly drives the support table to move up and down via the support rod.

4. 4. The substrate inversion device of claim 3, wherein the lifting mechanism further comprises a fine adjustment assembly, the fine adjustment assembly being used to position the support platform of the lifting mechanism opposite a substrate placement position, the substrate placement position being a position where the lifting mechanism receives the substrate from a manipulator.

5. 5. The substrate inversion device of claim 4, wherein the fine adjustment assembly includes a first fine adjustment assembly, the lifting mechanism is attached to a mounting plate via the first fine adjustment assembly, and the first fine adjustment assembly adjusts the mounting position of the lifting mechanism in a first direction so that the support platform of the lifting mechanism faces the substrate placement position.

6. 6. The substrate inversion device of claim 5, wherein the first fine-adjustment assembly comprises a lateral guide rail, a slider, a first fastener, and a fine-adjustment set screw, the lateral guide rail is arranged along the first direction, the lifting mechanism is installed on the lateral guide rail so as to be slidable via the slider, one end of the fine-adjustment set screw is in contact with the lifting mechanism, and when the fine-adjustment set screw pushes the lifting mechanism to adjust it to move to a predetermined position in the first direction, the lifting mechanism is fixed to the predetermined position via the first fastener.

7. 5. The substrate inversion device of claim 4, wherein the fine adjustment assembly includes a second fine adjustment assembly, the support table is attached to the support rod by the second fine adjustment assembly, and the second fine adjustment assembly adjusts the mounting position of the support table in a second direction so that the support table faces the substrate placement position.

8. 8. The substrate inversion device of claim 7, wherein the second fine-adjustment assembly comprises a second fastener, a first adjustment member, and a second adjustment member, the first adjustment member and the second adjustment member being arranged in the second direction, one end of the first adjustment member being fixed to the support rod, one end of the second adjustment member being fixed to the support base, and the other ends of both the first adjustment member and the second adjustment member being provided with adjustment holes, and the first adjustment member and the second adjustment member being fixed via the second fastener inserted into the overlapping portion of the adjustment holes of the first adjustment member and the second adjustment member.

9. 2. The substrate inversion apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inversion mechanism comprises a substrate holder, a second drive assembly, and a third drive assembly, the substrate holder being laterally disposed on an upper portion of the tank, the second drive assembly being used to rotate and drive the substrate holder, and the third drive assembly being used to drive and move the substrate holder between the substrate receiving position and the substrate unloading position relative to the lifting mechanism.

10. The substrate inversion device of claim 9, wherein the substrate holder is provided with at least a pair of clamp slots, each clamp slot being provided with a cleaning channel, and a cleaning liquid is supplied to the clamp slots through the cleaning channels to clean the clamp slots.

11. 10. The substrate inversion device of claim 9, wherein the inversion mechanism further comprises a housing, the second drive assembly and the third drive assembly are positioned within the housing, a first liquid receiving slot is provided on the upper part of the housing, and a flow guide tank is formed on the side wall of the housing so as to deviate from the tank, the flow guide tank is connected to the first liquid receiving slot and guides the liquid in the first liquid receiving slot outward.

12. 12. The substrate inverting device according to claim 11, wherein the housing is further provided with an intake pipe for supplying a positive pressure gas to the housing.

13. 12. The substrate inversion device of claim 11, wherein the housing is provided with an exhaust port for connection to a facility exhaust system.

14. 2. The substrate inversion apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inversion mechanism further comprises a second liquid receiving slot, the second liquid receiving slot being disposed in a sidewall of the bath adjacent the substrate removal location.

15. A substrate cleaning apparatus comprising: a bath cleaning module comprising a first inversion device, at least one substrate cleaning bath, at least one manipulator, and a second inversion device, the at least one substrate cleaning bath being used to perform a bath cleaning process on the substrate, the first inversion device being used to invert the substrate from a horizontal orientation to a vertical orientation, the at least one manipulator being responsible for vertically transporting the substrate to the first inversion device, the at least one substrate cleaning bath, and the second inversion device, the second inversion device being used to invert the substrate from the vertical orientation to the horizontal orientation after the substrate has completed bath cleaning; a single-substrate cleaning module comprising at least one single-substrate cleaning chamber for performing a single-substrate cleaning process and a drying process on the substrate; and a process manipulator for removing the substrate from the second inversion device and transporting the substrate horizontally to at least one single substrate cleaning chamber of the single substrate cleaning module; A substrate cleaning apparatus, characterized in that the second inversion device employs the substrate inversion device according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

16. 16. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 15, wherein each substrate cleaning tank is provided with a lifting mechanism, and the lifting mechanism disposed in the substrate cleaning tank is the same as the lifting mechanism disposed in the second inversion device.

17. The substrate cleaning apparatus of claim 15, characterized in that there are a plurality of substrate cleaning tanks, the plurality of substrate cleaning tanks are divided into at least two groups, each group of substrate cleaning tanks is provided with a manipulator, a manipulator cleaning tank is arranged between two adjacent groups of substrate cleaning tanks, and the manipulator cleaning tank is used to clean the plurality of manipulators respectively arranged between two adjacent groups of substrate cleaning tanks.

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