Cleaning tool and cleaning method

Abstract

To provide a cleaning tool by which a wafer is prevented from being damaged by foreign matters adhering to a suction surface of conveying means.SOLUTION: Cleaning tools 16A, 16B, 16C and 16D comprise at least: substrates 161, 163, 165 and 167, respectively, each substrate having a lower surface to be held on holding means disposed in a processing apparatus; and cleaning members 162, 164, 166 and 168, respectively, which are arranged on an upper surface of the respective substrates 161, 163, 165 and 167. Suction surfaces 133, 143 of respective conveying units 13, 14 are cleaned by actions of the cleaning members 162, 164, 166 and 168 in a state where the cleaning tools are held on the holding means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a cleaning jig for cleaning the suction surface of a conveying means of a processing device. [Background technology]

[0002] A wafer has a plurality of devices such as ICs and LSIs formed on its surface, which is partitioned by planned dividing lines. The back surface is ground using a grinding machine to form the wafer to the desired thickness, and then the wafer is divided into individual device chips using a dicing machine and laser processing machine. These chips are then used in electrical devices such as mobile phones and personal computers.

[0003] The above-mentioned grinding device is configured to include a chuck table that holds a wafer, a grinding means that rotatably includes a grinding wheel that grinds the wafer held on the chuck table, and a transport means that transports the wafer from the temporary placement table to the chuck table, and can grind the wafer to a desired thickness with high precision (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0004] In addition, the transport means for transporting the wafer from the temporary placement table to the chuck table is equipped with an adsorption surface made of a plate-shaped porous material that adsorbs the back surface of the wafer, thereby adsorbing the wafer and transporting it reliably to the chuck table. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-021264 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, if foreign matter (e.g., cutting chips from the protective tape placed on the surface of the wafer) generated during wafer processing adheres to the suction surface of the above-mentioned transport means, there is a problem that when the wafer that has been sucked and transported is placed on the chuck table, the foreign matter sandwiched between the chuck table and the suction surface of the transport means may damage the wafer.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its main technical object is to provide a cleaning jig that prevents damage to wafers due to foreign matter adhering to the suction surface of a transport means. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above-mentioned main technical problem, according to the present invention, there is provided a workpiece holding device having a holding means for holding a workpiece, a processing means for processing the workpiece, and an adsorption surface for adsorbing the workpiece. From the holding means and a conveying means for conveying the workpiece, the cleaning jig being at least composed of a substrate having a lower surface held by the holding means and a cleaning member disposed on the upper surface of the substrate, and the cleaning jig cleans the suction surface of the conveying means by the action of the cleaning member while held by the holding means. According to the present invention, there is also provided a cleaning method carried out in a processing apparatus including at least a holding means for holding a workpiece, a processing means for processing the workpiece, and a transport means having an adsorption surface for adsorbing the workpiece and transporting the workpiece from the holding means, the method comprising: The cleaning method includes holding a cleaning jig, which is at least composed of a substrate having a lower surface held by the holding means and a cleaning member disposed on the upper surface of the substrate, on the holding means; and while the cleaning jig is held on the holding means, abutting the suction surface of the cleaning member on the upper surface of the cleaning member, thereby cleaning the suction surface of the conveying means by the action of the cleaning member.

[0009] The holding means is preferably a chuck table or a temporary placement table. stomach. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] The cleaning jig of the present invention has a holding means for holding a workpiece, a processing means for processing the workpiece, and an adsorption surface for adsorbing the workpiece. From the holding meansand a conveying means for conveying the workpiece, and the cleaning jig is at least composed of a substrate having a lower surface held by the holding means, and a cleaning member arranged on the upper surface of the substrate, and while held by the holding means, the cleaning member cleans the suction surface of the conveying means, thereby preventing foreign matter from remaining attached to the suction surface of the conveying means and preventing damage to the workpiece when it is conveyed to the holding means and held thereon. The cleaning method of the present invention is a cleaning method carried out by a processing apparatus including at least a holding means for holding a workpiece, a processing means for processing the workpiece, and a transport means having an adsorption surface for adsorbing the workpiece and transporting the workpiece from the holding means, The method includes holding a cleaning jig, which is at least composed of a substrate having a lower surface held by the holding means and a cleaning member arranged on the upper surface of the substrate, on the holding means, and while the cleaning jig is held on the holding means, abutting the suction surface against the upper surface of the cleaning member to clean the suction surface of the conveying means by the action of the cleaning member.This prevents foreign matter from remaining attached to the suction surface of the conveying means, and prevents damage to the workpiece when it is conveyed to and held by the holding means. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is an overall perspective view of a grinding device to which the cleaning jig of the present invention is applied; [Figure 2] 2 is a partially enlarged perspective view of a conveying means disposed in the grinding apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of first to fourth cleaning jigs shown as embodiments of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 10(a) is a perspective view showing a state in which the third cleaning jig is held on the chuck table, and FIG. 10(b) is a perspective view showing a state in which the first cleaning jig is held on the temporary placement table. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing how the suction surface of the conveying means is cleaned by the cleaning jig shown in FIG. 4(a). DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a cleaning jig configured based on the present invention and embodiments of a processing device to which the cleaning jig is applied will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0013] 1 shows a grinding apparatus 1 as a processing apparatus having a conveying means with an adsorption surface that can be cleaned by the cleaning jig of this embodiment. The grinding apparatus 1 includes a roughly rectangular parallelepiped housing 2. In FIG. 1, a support wall 21 is erected on the rear end side of the housing 2. Two pairs of guide rails 22, 22 and 23, 23 extending in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) are provided on the inner surface of this support wall 21. A rough grinding unit 3 as rough grinding means is mounted on one of the guide rails 22, 22 so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and a finish grinding unit 4 as finish grinding means is mounted on the other guide rails 23, 23 so as to be movable in the vertical direction.

[0014] The rough grinding unit 3 comprises a unit housing 31, a wheel mount 33 arranged at the lower end of a rotating shaft 32 supported rotatably on the unit housing 31, a rough grinding wheel 34 attached to the wheel mount 33 and having a plurality of grinding stones 35 arranged in a ring shape on its underside, an electric motor 36 attached to the upper end of the unit housing 31 and rotating the wheel mount 33 in the direction indicated by arrow R1, and a movable base 38 supporting the unit housing 31 via a support member 37.

[0015] The movable base 38 is provided with guide grooves that slidably engage with the guide rails 22, 22 provided on the support wall 21, and the rough grinding unit 3 is supported so as to be movable in the vertical direction. The illustrated grinding apparatus 1 is equipped with a grinding feed mechanism 39 that is provided as an elevating means for raising and lowering the movable base 38 of the rough grinding unit 3 along the guide rails 22, 22. The grinding feed mechanism 39 is equipped with a male threaded rod 391 that is rotatably supported and disposed in the vertical direction on the support wall 21 parallel to the guide rails 22, 22, a pulse motor 392 for driving the male threaded rod 391 to rotate, and a female threaded block (not shown) that is attached to the movable base 38 and threadably engages with the male threaded rod 391. The male threaded rod 391 is driven in forward and reverse directions by the pulse motor 392, thereby moving the rough grinding unit 3 in the vertical direction.

[0016] The finish grinding unit 4 is configured in substantially the same manner as the rough grinding unit 3, and includes a unit housing 41, a wheel mount 43 disposed at the lower end of a rotating shaft 42 rotatably supported on the unit housing 41, a finish grinding wheel 44 attached to the wheel mount 43 and having a plurality of grinding stones 45 arranged in a ring shape on its underside, an electric motor 46 attached to the upper end of the unit housing 41 for rotating the wheel mount 43 in the direction indicated by arrow R2, and a movable base 48 supporting the unit housing 41 via a support member 47.

[0017] The movable base 48 is provided with guided grooves that slidably fit onto the guide rails 23, 23 provided on the support wall 21, and the finish grinding unit 4 is supported so as to be movable in the vertical direction. The grinding apparatus 1 in the illustrated embodiment is equipped with a grinding feed mechanism 49 that is provided as an elevating means for raising and lowering the movable base 48 of the finish grinding unit 4 along the guide rails 23, 23. The grinding feed mechanism 49 is equipped with an externally threaded rod 491 that is rotatably supported and disposed in the vertical direction on the support wall 21 parallel to the guide rails 23, 23, a pulse motor 492 for rotating the externally threaded rod 491, and an internally threaded block (not shown) that is attached to the movable base 48 and threadably engages with the externally threaded rod 491, and the externally threaded rod 491 is driven in forward and reverse directions by the pulse motor 492 to move the finish grinding unit 4 in the vertical direction.

[0018] A grinding water supply means (not shown) is connected to the rotary shaft ends 32a, 42a of the rotary shaft 32 and the rotary shaft 42, which are rotated by the electric motor 36 and the electric motor 46, and supplies grinding water L to the grinding wheels 35, 45 and the workpiece held on the chuck table 6, which will be described later.

[0019] The grinding apparatus 1 includes a turntable 5 disposed in front of the support wall 21 so as to be substantially flush with the upper surface of the apparatus housing 2. The turntable 5 is formed in a relatively large disk shape and is rotated appropriately in the direction indicated by arrow R3 by a rotation drive mechanism (not shown) within a drain pan 20 on the upper surface of the apparatus housing 2. The turntable 5 is provided with three chuck tables 6, each of which serves as a holding means for holding a workpiece at an angle of 120 degrees. Each chuck table 6 is equipped with a rotation drive mechanism (described later) and is configured to be rotatable in the direction indicated by arrow R4. The chuck table 6 includes a disk-shaped suction chuck 62 formed of a porous material with air permeability and forming the holding surface of the chuck table 6, and a frame 61 surrounding the suction chuck 62.

[0020] The three chuck tables 6 arranged on the turntable 5 are moved sequentially from the workpiece carry-in / out area A → the rough grinding area B → the finish grinding area C → the workpiece carry-in / out area A by rotating the turntable 5 in the direction indicated by the arrow R3. A cleaning water supply nozzle 15 is arranged near the workpiece carry-in / out area A in the drain pan 20, for supplying cleaning water L (which can also be used as the grinding water L) to the upper surface of the suction chuck 62 of the chuck table 6 positioned in the workpiece carry-in / out area A.

[0021] The illustrated grinding apparatus 1 includes a first cassette 7 disposed on one side of a workpiece carry-in / out area A and accommodating a plurality of wafers W, which are workpieces before grinding; a second cassette 8 disposed on the other side of the workpiece carry-in / out area A and accommodating a plurality of wafers W after grinding; a temporary placement table 9 disposed between the first cassette 7 and the workpiece carry-in / out area A for suction-holding and temporarily placing the workpieces; cleaning means 11 disposed between the workpiece carry-in / out area A and the second cassette 8; The apparatus includes a workpiece carry-in / out means 12 that carries out the wafer W stored in the workpiece carry-in / out area 7 to the temporary placement table 9 and carries the wafer W cleaned by the cleaning means 11 into a second cassette 8, a first transport means 13 that transports the wafer W held on the temporary placement table 9 onto the chuck table 6 positioned in the workpiece carry-in / out area A, and a second transport means 14 that transports the ground wafer W placed on the chuck table 6 positioned in the workpiece carry-in / out area A to the cleaning means 11. The temporary placement table 9 is formed by a frame 91 and a holding surface 92 that is surrounded by the frame 91 and is formed of a porous member having air permeability. A camera 93 is disposed near the temporary placement table 9 to photograph the outer edge of the wafer W that is to be adsorbed to the temporary placement table 9 and thereby determine whether the center of the wafer W adsorbed to the temporary placement table 9 coincides with the center of the temporary placement table 9.

[0022] The first conveying means 13 includes an arm member 131 that rotates in the direction indicated by arrow R5 and an adsorption portion 132 formed at the tip of the arm member 131. The second conveying means 14 includes an arm member 141 that rotates in the direction indicated by arrow R6 and an adsorption portion 142 formed at the tip of the arm member 141. The first conveying means 13 and the second conveying means 14 of this embodiment have the same configuration. The upper part of FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the adsorption portion 132 (adsorption portion 142) that constitutes the tip of the first conveying means 13 (second conveying means 14) as seen from above, and the lower part of FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the adsorption portion 132 (adsorption portion 142) as seen from below. As can be seen from FIG. 2, an adsorption surface 133 (adsorption surface 143) made of a breathable porous material is formed on the lower surface of the adsorption portion 132 (adsorption portion 142). A suction means (not shown) is connected to the suction surface 133 (suction surface 143) via the arm member 131 (arm member 141), and a negative suction pressure is generated on the suction surface 133 (suction surface 143). Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described configuration, and for example, a single conveying means may be provided that serves as both the first conveying means 13 and the second conveying means 14.

[0023] A control means 100 including an operation panel for instructing the grinding operation and specifying the processing conditions is disposed on the front side of the apparatus housing 2 where the workpiece carry-in / out means 12 is disposed. The control means 100 is equipped with a central processing unit (CPU) that performs calculations according to a control program, a read-only memory (ROM) that stores the control program etc., a readable / writable random access memory (RAM) that serves as storage means for storing calculation results etc., an input interface and an output interface (all of which are omitted from the illustration). The control means 100 configured in this manner controls each operating part of the grinding apparatus 1.

[0024] The illustrated grinding apparatus 1 has a configuration generally as described above, and the cleaning jig configured to clean the suction surface 133 of the first conveying means 13 and the suction surface 143 of the second conveying means 14 arranged in the above grinding apparatus 1, and its function will be described below.

[0025] 3(a) to 3(d) show four embodiments of cleaning jigs formed based on the present invention. Fig. 3(a) shows a first cleaning jig 16A as a first embodiment. The first cleaning jig 16A includes a substrate 161 having a lower surface 161a that is set to a size corresponding to the dimensions of the suction chuck 62 of the chuck table 6 and is held by suction to the suction chuck 62, and a cleaning member 162 disposed on the upper surface of the substrate 161. The substrate 161 is, for example, a circular plate made of hard resin, and the cleaning member 162 is a sponge-like pad adhered to the upper surface of the substrate 161 with an adhesive or the like.

[0026] 3(b) shows a second cleaning jig 16B as a second embodiment. The second cleaning jig 16B includes a substrate 163 having a lower surface 163a that is set to a size corresponding to the dimensions of the suction chuck 62 of the chuck table 6 and is held by suction to the suction chuck 62, and a cleaning member 164 disposed on the upper surface of the substrate 163. The substrate 163 is a circular plate made of the same material as the substrate 161, and the cleaning member 164 is a brush-like member with bristles planted at a uniform density on the upper surface of the substrate 163.

[0027] FIG. 3(c) shows a third cleaning jig 16C as a third embodiment. The third cleaning jig 16C includes a substrate 165 having a lower surface 165a that is sized to correspond to the dimensions of the suction chuck 62 of the chuck table 6 and is held by the suction chuck 62, and a cleaning member 166 disposed on the upper surface of the substrate 165. The substrate 165 is a circular plate made of the same material as the substrate 161, and the cleaning member 166 is a sponge-like pad adhered to the upper surface of the substrate 165 with an adhesive. The cleaning member 166 of this embodiment is a pad made of the same material as the cleaning member 162 disposed in the first cleaning jig 16A, but is formed with three suction holes 166a for suction by a suction means 18 (see FIG. 4(a)), which will be described later. The suction holes 166a expose the upper surface of the substrate 165.

[0028] FIG. 3(d) shows a fourth cleaning jig 16D as a fourth embodiment. The fourth cleaning jig 16D includes a substrate 167 having a lower surface 167a that is sized to correspond to the dimensions of the suction chuck 62 of the chuck table 6 and is held by the suction chuck 62, and a cleaning member 168 disposed on the upper surface of the substrate 167. The substrate 167 is a circular plate made of the same material as the substrate 161, and the cleaning member 168 is a brush-like member with bristles attached to the upper surface of the substrate 167. The cleaning member 168 is a brush-like member made of the same material as the cleaning member 164 disposed in the second cleaning jig 16B. However, the brush-like cleaning member 168 has three suction regions 168a that are not bristled, so that the substrate 167 can be attracted by the suction means 18 (see FIG. 4(a)), which will be described later. The upper surface of the substrate 167 is exposed in the suction regions 168a. The substrates 161, 163, 165, and 167 are not limited to the hard resin plates, but may be metal plates, glass plates, or the like.

[0029] The cleaning jigs 16A-16D can be stored, for example, in the area between the cleaning means 11 and the temporary placement table 9 on the upper surface of the apparatus housing 2 of the grinding apparatus 1, as shown in FIG. 1. The storage is performed by placing any of the cleaning jigs 16A-16D on a storage plate 169. In the following description of the operation of the cleaning jigs of the present invention, it is assumed that the third cleaning jig 16C is selected from the cleaning jigs 16A-16D. The third cleaning jig 16C has a suction hole 166a formed therein, as shown in FIG. 3(c), and can be transported from the storage plate 169 to the chuck table 6 positioned in the workpiece loading / unloading area A using a transport arm 18 as shown in FIG. 4(a). For convenience of explanation, the transport arm 18 is omitted from FIG. 1. However, for example, the rotation center of the transport arm 18 is set midway between the first transport means 13 and the second transport means 14.

[0030] The transport arm 18 includes an arm member 181 and three suction members 182 disposed at the tip of the arm member 181. Suction means (not shown) is connected to the suction members 182 via the arm member 181, and negative pressure is generated in the suction members 182 by operating the suction means. The suction members 182 are formed to correspond to three suction holes 166a formed in the cleaning member 166 of the third cleaning jig 16C. That is, by positioning the suction members 182 of the transport arm 18 in the suction holes 166a of the third cleaning jig 16C and applying suction, and then lifting and rotating the arm member 181, the workpiece is transported from the storage plate 169 to the chuck table 6 positioned in the workpiece loading / unloading area A, where it is placed on the suction chuck 62 and held by suction.

[0031] Once the third cleaning jig 16C is held on the chuck table 6, as shown in FIG. 5, the first conveying means 13 is rotated so that the suction surface 133 of the suction portion 132 abuts against the upper surface of the cleaning member 166 of the third cleaning jig 16C. At the same time, the chuck table 6 is rotated in the direction indicated by arrow R7, and the arm member 131 of the first conveying means 13 is swung in the direction indicated by arrow R8. With the cleaning jig 16C held on the chuck table 6 in this manner, the suction surface 133 of the first conveying means 13 is cleaned by the action of the cleaning member 166. Furthermore, in this embodiment, cleaning water L is sprayed from the cleaning water supply nozzle 15 disposed near the workpiece loading / unloading area A. The action of the cleaning water L more effectively cleans the suction surface 133 of the first conveying means 13, removing foreign matter adhering to the suction surface 133. Such cleaning is performed periodically or at any timing, and by preventing foreign matter from adhering to the suction surface 133, damage to the wafer W or the like is prevented when the wafer W or the like is transported to the chuck table 6.

[0032] In the above embodiment, the transfer arm 18 is used to place the cleaning jigs 16A to 16D from the storage plate 169 that stores the cleaning jigs 16A to 16D onto the chuck table 6, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the cleaning jigs may be placed manually by an operator on the chuck table 6. In this case, the suction holes 166a and 168a formed in the third cleaning jig 16C and the fourth cleaning jig 16D shown in Figures 3(c) and 3(d) are not necessary, and the cleaning jigs 16A and 16B shown in Figures 3(a) and 3(b) can be used.

[0033] In the above embodiment, the suction surface 133 of the first conveying means 13 is cleaned using the cleaning jig 16C held by the chuck table 6. However, it is also possible to clean the suction surface 143 of the suction unit 142 of the second conveying means 14. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the chuck table 6 is used as the holding means of the present invention to hold the cleaning jigs 16A-16D and clean the suction surface 133 of the suction unit 132 of the first conveying means 13. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 4(b), the temporary placement table 9 may be used as the holding means of the present invention. The cleaning jigs 16A-16D are placed on the holding surface 92 of the temporary placement table 9 and held by suction. The suction surface 133 of the first conveying means 13 is brought into contact with the temporary placement table 9 from above, and the first conveying means 13 is swung as described with reference to FIG. 5, thereby cleaning the suction surface 133. In this case, the size of the substrates 161, 163, 165, 167 constituting the cleaning jigs 16A to 16D only needs to be the same as or larger than the temporary placement table 9, and does not need to be the same size as the chuck table 6.

[0034] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, a grinding device 1 is shown as a processing device to which a cleaning jig configured based on the present invention is applied, but the present invention is not limited to this, and there is no particular limitation on the type of processing device as long as the processing device has a holding means for holding the workpiece and a transport means for transporting the workpiece, which has an adsorption surface for adsorbing the workpiece. [Explanation of symbols]

[0035] 1: Grinding device 2: Device housing 20: Drain pan 21:Supporting wall 22, 23: Guide rails 3: Rough grinding unit 31: Unit housing 32: Rotation axis 33: Wheel mount 34: Rough grinding wheel 35: Grinding wheel 36: Electric motor 37: Support member 38: Mobile base 39: Grinding feed mechanism 4: Finish grinding unit 41: Unit housing 42: Rotation axis 43: Wheel mount 44: Finishing grinding wheel 45: Grinding wheel 46: Electric motor 47: Support member 48: Mobile base 49: Grinding feed mechanism 5: Turntable 6: Chuck table 61:Frame body 62: Vacuum chuck 7: First Cassette 8: Second cassette 9: Temporary table 91:Frame body 92: Holding surface 93: Camera 11: Cleaning method 12: Workpiece loading / unloading means 13: First conveyance means 131: Arm member 132: Adsorption part 133: Adsorption surface 14: Second transport means 141: Arm member 142: Adsorption part 143: Adsorption surface 15: Cleaning water supply nozzle 16A: First cleaning jig 161: Circuit board 161a: Bottom surface 162: Cleaning material 16B: Second cleaning jig 163: Circuit board 163a: Bottom surface 164: Cleaning material 16C: Third cleaning jig 165: Circuit board 165a: Bottom surface 166: Cleaning material 166a: Adsorption hole 16D: 4th cleaning jig 167: Circuit board 167a: Bottom surface 168: Cleaning material 168a: Adsorption area 169: Storage plate 18:Transport arm 181: Arm component 182: Adsorption member 100: Control means

Claims

1. A cleaning jig used in a processing device including at least a holding means for holding a workpiece, a processing means for processing the workpiece, and a transport means having an adsorption surface for adsorbing the workpiece and transporting the workpiece from the holding means, The cleaning jig is at least composed of a substrate having a lower surface that is held by the holding means, and a cleaning member that is arranged on the upper surface of the substrate, and cleans the suction surface of the conveying means by the action of the cleaning member while held by the holding means.

2. A cleaning method carried out in a processing device comprising at least a holding means for holding a workpiece, a processing means for processing the workpiece, and a transport means having an adsorption surface for adsorbing the workpiece and transporting the workpiece from the holding means, a cleaning method including: holding a cleaning jig, which is at least composed of a substrate having a lower surface held by the holding means and a cleaning member disposed on an upper surface of the substrate, on the holding means; and, while the cleaning jig is held on the holding means, bringing the suction surface of the cleaning member into contact with the upper surface of the cleaning member, thereby cleaning the suction surface of the conveying means by the action of the cleaning member.

3. 2. The cleaning jig according to claim 1, wherein the holding means is a chuck table or a temporary placement table.

Images