Semiconductor wafer processing apparatus

Abstract

A semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a tank filled with a solution required for a process; a heating unit that primarily heats an etchant or solution; a plurality of quartz tubes that supply the primarily heated solution from the heating unit to respective semiconductor wafers; tube-heating units that are located in the respective quartz tubes and secondarily heat the primarily heated solution; and a control unit that controls the temperature of the solution supplied from the quartz tubes to the semiconductor wafers.

Description

semiconductor wafer processing equipment

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for processing a semiconductor wafer.

[0002] Typically, semiconductor devices are made by performing processes such as deposition, ion implantation, photolithography, and etching.

[0003] As semiconductor devices become increasingly fine-patterned and highly integrated, micro-contamination caused by impurity particles or various contaminants generated during the above processes significantly affects product yield and reliability. Therefore, all wafers must always be kept clean during the processes.

[0004] Therefore, etching or cleaning technology can be said to be the most basic technology among semiconductor processes, and the etching process or cleaning process is an essential process that connects semiconductor processes.

[0005] Solutions typically used for etching or cleaning in wafer manufacturing processes can be strong acids such as hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, and hydrofluoric acid. Additionally, an SC-1 solution containing ammonia water and hydrogen peroxide can also be used.

[0006] Wafers can be etched or cleaned by immersing them in a tank containing a strong acid solution or spraying the strong acid solution onto the wafer through a spray nozzle. In some cases, a solution temperature higher than room temperature is required for a vigorous reaction. To achieve this, the chuck holding the wafer can be heated, or a solution such as hydrogen peroxide can be additionally mixed in. This heat generated by the chemical reaction with the acid solution can be used to raise the temperature, which can then be used for the etching or cleaning process.

[0007] However, there is a problem that the structure is complex for heating the chuck, it is not efficient as it heats the wafer, and it is not easy to accurately control the temperature when the temperature is increased by mixing a solution such as hydrogen peroxide with a solution for etching or cleaning.

[0008] [Prior Art Literature]

[0009] [Patent Document]

[0010] Republic of Korea Patent No. 10-2474557 (Title of invention: Semiconductor wafer cleaning method)

[0011] The present invention provides a semiconductor wafer processing device capable of stably supplying a high-temperature solution required in an etching process or a cleaning process during a semiconductor wafer manufacturing process.

[0012] However, the technical tasks that this embodiment seeks to accomplish are not limited to the technical tasks described above, and other technical tasks may exist.

[0013] A semiconductor wafer processing device according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a tank filled with a solution required for a process; a heating unit for primarily heating the solution; a plurality of quartz tubes for supplying the solution first heated from the heating unit to each semiconductor wafer; a tube heating unit positioned in each quartz tube for secondarily heating the solution first heated; and a control unit for controlling the temperature of the solution supplied from the quartz tubes to the semiconductor wafer.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is an effect of using quartz as a tube through which a high-temperature solution for etching or cleaning a semiconductor wafer passes, thereby preventing the tube from being corroded or damaged.

[0015] In addition, there is an effect of being able to supply a solution at a constant temperature to a semiconductor wafer by directly heating the quartz tube through the tube heating section.

[0016] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a semiconductor wafer processing device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 2 is an exemplary diagram of a quartz tube and a tube heating unit according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Below, with reference to the attached drawings, embodiments of the present invention are described in detail to facilitate easy implementation by those skilled in the art. However, the present invention can be implemented in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. In the drawings, irrelevant parts have been omitted for clarity, and similar reference numerals have been used throughout the specification to indicate similar elements.

[0019] Throughout this specification, when a part is said to be "connected" to another part, this includes not only the case where it is "directly connected" but also the case where it is "electrically connected" with another element in between. Furthermore, when a part is said to "include" a component, this should be understood to mean that, unless specifically stated to the contrary, it does not exclude other components but may include other components, and does not preclude the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

[0020] The following examples are provided as detailed explanations to aid understanding of the present invention and do not limit the scope of the invention. Therefore, inventions with the same functions and scope as the present invention are also within the scope of the present invention.

[0021] The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer processing device (100).

[0022] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a semiconductor wafer processing device (100) according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram of a quartz tube (130) and a tube heating unit (140) according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] The semiconductor wafer processing device (100) may include a device that heats a solution for etching or cleaning a semiconductor wafer and supplies the heated, high-temperature solution to a plurality of semiconductor wafers (W). In addition, the semiconductor wafer processing device (100), as illustrated in FIG. 1, may be configured to supply the solution to at least one semiconductor wafer (W) positioned in one chamber (C) through a quartz tube (130). However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be configured such that each of a plurality of chambers (C) is provided with one wafer, and a solution is supplied to each of the plurality of chambers through a quartz tube (130).

[0024] A semiconductor wafer processing device (100) includes a tank (110), a heating unit (120), a plurality of quartz tubes (130), a tube heating unit (140), and a control unit (not shown).

[0025] The tank (110) is filled with a solution for etching or cleaning the wafer. The above-described solution may be a strong acid such as hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, etc., but is not limited thereto.

[0026] The heating unit (120) primarily heats the solution. For example, the heating unit (120) may be positioned inside the tank (110) to directly heat the solution filled inside the tank (110) or may receive the solution from the tank (110) and heat the solution using a separate heating configuration. In addition, the heating unit (120) may supply the primarily heated solution to a plurality of quartz tubes (130). At this time, the primarily heated solution may be supplied to the plurality of quartz tubes (130) via a separate pump.

[0027] The quartz tube (130) supplies the solution heated primarily from the heating unit (120) to each semiconductor wafer (W). In addition, in the quartz tube (130), the solution heated primarily can be heated a second time using the tube heating unit (140) and then supplied to the semiconductor wafer (W).

[0028] The tube heating unit (140) heats the quartz tube (130) and heats the solution that has been heated first a second time. In addition, the tube heating unit (140) may be located in a straight section of the quartz tube (130).

[0029] In detail, referring to FIG. 2, the quartz tube (130) may be formed of a plurality of straight sections that are formed in a straight shape and at least one curved section that is positioned and formed between the straight sections. At this time, the tube heating unit (140) is positioned in the straight section of the quartz tube (130) to heat the solution flowing inside the quartz tube (130). In addition, the tube heating unit (140) is positioned in each straight section of the quartz tube (130), so that the solution can be heated by setting the heating temperature differently for each tube heating unit (140). For example, the temperature of the tube heating unit (140) is set higher as it gets farther away from the heating unit (120), so that the solution can be sequentially heated.

[0030] Also, referring to FIG. 2, the tube heating unit (140) may include a conductive film (141), an electrode terminal (142), and a power supply unit (not shown).

[0031] A conductive film (141) may be coated on a quartz tube (130). For example, the conductive film (141) may be formed by depositing a conductive material in a liquid form or in a film form. In addition, the conductive material may be formed by adding other additives to a tin compound as a base, but is not limited thereto.

[0032] The electrode terminal (142) may be positioned at both ends of the conductive film (141). For example, the electrode terminal (142) may be formed by depositing an electrode terminal material on both ends of the conductive film (141) using a laminating means and firing the material. In addition, the electrode terminal material may be made of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of silver, copper, and gold, but is not limited thereto.

[0033] The electrode terminal (142) is electrically connected to a power supply unit, and can heat the conductive film (141) by receiving an appropriate voltage from the power supply unit.

[0034] The power supply unit is electrically connected to the electrode terminal (142) and can supply voltage to the electrode terminal (142), and the voltage supplied by the power supply unit is applied to the electrode terminal (142) to heat the conductive film (141), and the heated conductive film (141) heats the quartz tube (130), so that the solution passing through the inside of the quartz tube (130) can be heated.

[0035] The control unit controls the temperature of the solution supplied from the quartz tube (130) to the semiconductor wafer (W). In other words, the control unit can control the heating unit (120) and the plurality of tube heating units (140) to control the temperature of the solution supplied to each semiconductor wafer (W). In particular, the control unit can control the heating temperature of the quartz tube (130) by controlling the voltage or current applied to each electrode terminal (142) of the tube heating unit (140).

[0036] In addition, the semiconductor wafer processing device (100) may further include a temperature sensor (150) positioned adjacent to the discharge portion of the quartz tube (130). The control unit may control the temperature of the solution by controlling a plurality of tube heating units (140) based on temperature information of the solution supplied to the semiconductor wafer (W) from the temperature sensor (150).

[0037] In addition, the temperature sensor (150) may be positioned at each bend section of the quartz tube (130). In this case, the temperature of the solution can be controlled more efficiently by controlling the plurality of tube heating units (140) positioned in the quartz tube (130) more precisely.

[0038] Meanwhile, the plurality of quartz tubes (130) may be formed to have different lengths and shapes depending on the position where the semiconductor wafer (W) is located. In other words, the quartz tube (130) becomes longer as the distance between the semiconductor wafer (W) and the tank (110) increases, and as the length of the quartz tube (130) increases, heat loss occurs. When heated under the same conditions as a quartz tube (130) with a short length, the temperature of the solution discharged from the quartz tube (130) with a long length may be lower than that of the solution discharged from the quartz tube (130) with a short length, and may be supplied to the semiconductor wafer (W). Accordingly, the control unit may set the temperature of the tube heating unit (140) located in the quartz tube (130) with a long length to be higher than the temperature of the tube heating unit (140) located in the quartz tube (130) with a short length, thereby controlling the temperatures of the discharged solutions to be the same.

[0039] In addition, the control unit can set the set temperature of the solution differently for each semiconductor wafer (W). For example, the control unit can control the temperature of the tube heating unit (140) located in each quartz tube (130) according to the state of the semiconductor wafer (W), the type of the semiconductor wafer (W), etc., so that a solution of a different temperature is discharged for each semiconductor wafer (W).

[0040] The above description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only, and those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention can be readily modified into other specific forms without altering the technical spirit or essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments described above should be understood as illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single entity may be implemented in a distributed manner, and similarly, components described as distributed may be implemented in a combined manner.

[0041] The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims described below rather than the detailed description above, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalent concepts should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

[0042] [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 100: Semiconductor wafer processing device

[0044] 110: Tank

[0045] 120: Heating section

[0046] 130: Quartz tube

[0047] 140: Tube heating section

[0048] 141: Conductive film 142: Electrode terminal

[0049] 150: Temperature sensor

Claims

1. In a semiconductor wafer processing device, A tank filled with the solution required for the process; A heating unit that primarily heats the above solution; A plurality of quartz tubes for supplying the solution heated primarily from the above heating unit to each semiconductor wafer; A tube heating unit that heats the quartz tube and heats the first heated solution a second time; and A semiconductor wafer processing device comprising a control unit that controls the temperature of a solution supplied from the quartz tube to the semiconductor wafer.

2. In paragraph 1, A semiconductor wafer processing device, wherein the control unit controls the temperature of the tube heating unit according to the length of the quartz tube.

3. In paragraph 1, The above tube heating part A conductive film coated on the above quartz tube; Electrode terminals located at both ends of the conductive film; and A semiconductor wafer processing device comprising a power supply unit electrically connected to the electrode terminal and supplying voltage to the electrode terminal.

4. In paragraph 1, The above quartz tube is formed by a plurality of straight sections extending in a straight shape and at least one curved section formed by bending and positioned between the straight sections. A semiconductor wafer processing device, wherein the above-mentioned tube heating unit is located in a straight section of the above-mentioned quartz tube.

5. In paragraph 1, Further comprising a temperature sensor positioned adjacent to the discharge portion of the quartz tube, A semiconductor wafer processing device, wherein the control unit controls the tube heating unit based on the temperature of the solution received by the temperature sensor.

Images