JPH0713328A - Substrate cleaning device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a cleaning device and a method by which a substrate can be cleaned by making physical force act on a substrate surface after abrasion resistance of a pattern formed on the substrate surface before cleaning is heightened. CONSTITUTION:This cleaning device of substrate 6 is characterized by having an abrasion restraining means 1 to restrain abrasion on a surface by oxidizing a pattern formed on the substrate 6 and a foreign matter removing means 2 to remove a foreign matter on the surface by making physical force act on the surface of the substrate 6. This cleaning method of substrate is characterized by having an abrasion restraining process to heighten abrasion resistance of the pattern formed on the substrate 6 to be cleaned and a foreign matter removing process to remove the foreign matter on the surface by making physical force act on the substrate surface having the pattern whose abrasion is restrained through the abrasion restraining process.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for cleaning a substrate, and in particular, foreign matter (fine dust, stains or oil) attached to a glass substrate such as a reticle or photomask used in a semiconductor manufacturing process. The present invention relates to a cleaning device and a method for removing dust.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art If foreign substances such as dust adhered to a glass substrate such as a reticle or a photomask are left as they are, these foreign substances are transferred onto the wafer and cause defects in the manufactured wafer. Since various kinds of contaminants adhere to the substrate, various cleaning methods have been proposed according to the kind of adhered contaminants.

For example, an ultraviolet irradiation method is known as a method for removing organic contaminants such as fats and oils. On the other hand, as a method for removing inorganic contaminants such as metal oxides and dust, there are a brush scrubbing method using a pair of rotating brushes and an ice scrubbing method in which clean ice particles are pressure-injected onto the substrate surface. In principle, the brush scrubbing method and the ice scrubbing method are methods for directly removing contaminants on the substrate surface by physical action.

As described above, the ultraviolet irradiation method is effective for organic contaminants, and the brush scrub method and ice scrub method are effective for inorganic contaminants. Generally, both organic substances and inorganic substances adhere to the surface of the substrate as contaminants, and therefore various cleaning treatments must be applied to clean the substrate. By the way, a pattern (printed matter) is formed of, for example, chrome on a glass substrate such as a reticle or a photomask. When cleaning a substrate, particularly when cleaning the substrate by applying a physical force to the surface of the substrate, the pattern formed on the substrate is easily worn.
In recent years, with the miniaturization of patterns, the width of the lines forming the patterns has become narrower, so that the pattern formed on the substrate tends to be easily worn.

[0005]

However, in the conventional substrate cleaning apparatus, since no means for suppressing or preventing the abrasion of the pattern is provided, especially when cleaning is performed by applying a physical force to the surface of the substrate, The pattern on the glass substrate is easily worn. Therefore, there has been a disadvantage that the pattern to be projected and exposed is excessively worn due to repeated cleaning, and as a result, defective products are likely to occur in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Further, there is a disadvantage that the life of the glass substrate is shortened.

Therefore, in order to avoid excessive wear of the pattern in advance, the number of times of cleaning has to be suppressed. The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and prior to cleaning, the substrate is cleaned by increasing the abrasion resistance of the pattern formed on the surface of the substrate and then applying a physical force to the substrate surface to clean the substrate. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device and method capable of performing the cleaning.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, wear suppressing means for oxidizing a pattern formed on a substrate to suppress wear of the surface, and a physical surface of the substrate. There is provided a substrate cleaning apparatus comprising: foreign matter removing means for applying a force to remove foreign matter on the surface. According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the pattern is made of chromium, the wear suppressing means has a treatment tank containing hydrogen peroxide solution, and the pattern is formed by immersing the substrate in the hydrogen peroxide solution of the treatment tank. Are oxidized to increase the abrasion resistance of the surface of the pattern.

Further, according to the present invention, a substrate having a pattern formed on the substrate to be cleaned has a wear suppressing step for enhancing the wear resistance, and a substrate having the pattern suppressed in abrasion through the wear suppressing step. And a foreign matter removing step for removing foreign matter on the surface by applying a physical force to the surface.

[0009]

In the substrate cleaning apparatus and method of the present invention, before the cleaning in which the physical force is applied to the substrate surface, the abrasion resistance of the pattern formed on the substrate is increased to suppress the abrasion of the pattern surface. Perform processing. In a glass substrate such as a reticle or a photomask, a pattern is generally formed of chromium. In this case, abrasion can be suppressed by causing hydrogen peroxide or ozone to act on the substrate surface to oxidize chromium. The substrate surface may be irradiated with ultraviolet rays in a clean air atmosphere to generate ozone, and the generated ozone may act on the substrate surface. Further, even when the pattern is formed of a substance other than chromium such as molybdenum, abrasion of the pattern surface is suppressed by appropriately increasing the resistance to abrasion (wear resistance) by a chemical action such as oxidation. be able to.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of a substrate cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus shown in the drawing is a wear suppression treatment tank 1 for suppressing the wear of a pattern formed on a substrate, a brush scrub tank 2 for applying a physical force to the surface of the substrate to clean it, and an IPA for drying the substrate. (Isopropyl alcohol liquid) The drying treatment tank 3 is provided. Further, the illustrated apparatus further includes a substrate transfer mechanism.

A hydrogen peroxide solution 11 is placed in the wear suppression treatment tank 1.
A container 12 accommodating the is provided. Further, the brush scrubbing tank 2 has a plurality of nozzles 22 for injecting the cleaning liquid.
And a pair of nylon brushes 21 positioned below the nozzle 22. Further, the IPA drying tank 3 is provided with a heater 31 and a container 34 positioned above the heater 31. The container 34 contains the isopropyl alcohol liquid 32.

On the other hand, the substrate transfer mechanism supports a glass substrate 6 such as a reticle on which a pattern is formed by chromium, for example, and a holding metal fitting 7 that can move vertically in the drawing.
And the guides 4 arranged in the horizontal direction in the figure and the holding metal fittings 7.
And a transporting means 5 for reciprocating along the guide 4.

The operation of the apparatus of this embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. For example, the substrate 6 to be cleaned, which has been taken out from a storage means (not shown) such as a reticle cassette, is first moved above the wear suppression processing tank 1 while being held by the holding metal fitting 7. Then, the substrate 6 moves vertically downward by the action of the transporting means 5 and is immersed in the hydrogen peroxide solution 11 contained in the container 12. Here, hydrogen peroxide water 11
Reacts with chromium forming the pattern of the glass substrate 6,
The surface of the chrome pattern is oxidized. In this way, a chromium oxide film with high wear resistance is formed on the surface of the pattern,
Wear of the pattern surface against physical force is suppressed.

The glass substrate 6 that has been subjected to the abrasion suppressing process as described above is then moved into the brush scrubbing tank 2.
In the brush scrubbing tank 2, a suitable cleaning liquid such as pure water is sprayed onto the substrate surface through the nozzle 22 at a constant pressure. The substrate 6 is vertically moved further downward by the action of the conveying means 5, and is inserted between the pair of rotating nylon brushes 21. Thus, the contact frictional force of the nylon brush 21 acts on the entire surface of the substrate 6 to clean the substrate 6.

The substrate 6 cleaned in the brush scrubbing tank 2 is in a wet state with the cleaning liquid, and finally the IPA drying processing tank 3 is dried. In the IPA drying tank 3, the isopropyl alcohol liquid 32 in the container 34 is vaporized by the action of the heater 31, and the upper region of the container 34 is filled with isopropyl alcohol vapor 33. The substrate 6 is transported to above the drying treatment tank 3 by the action of the transport mechanism, and then the glass substrate 6 is entirely immersed in the isopropyl alcohol gas filled portion 33. Here, the water on the surface of the substrate 6 is combined with the isopropyl alcohol gas and volatilized. Thus, the drying process of the substrate 6 is completed.

In the present embodiment, the present invention has been described with respect to the cleaning apparatus for performing the brush scrubbing process and the IPA drying process, but the cleaning process by other suitable physical action and the cleaning process by other suitable drying process. It is obvious that the present invention can be applied to a device. Further, in the present embodiment, the glass substrate on which the pattern is formed by chromium has been described. Obviously, the wear resistance can be increased.

[0017]

As described above, according to the substrate cleaning apparatus and method of the present invention, prior to the cleaning in which the physical force is applied to the substrate surface, the abrasion resistance of the pattern formed on the substrate is increased to improve the substrate surface. A treatment for suppressing wear can be performed. As a result, the pattern of the substrate is not excessively worn due to repeated cleaning, and it is not necessary to suppress the number of cleanings in order to avoid excessive wear of the pattern. Therefore, the life of the substrate is significantly extended as a result, and the occurrence of defective products in the semiconductor manufacturing process is largely avoided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a substrate precision cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Abrasion suppression treatment tank 2 Brush scrubbing tank 3 IPA drying treatment tank 4 Guide 5 Transfer means 6 Substrate 7 Holding metal fitting 11 Hydrogen peroxide water 21 Nylon brush 22 Nozzle 31 Heater 32 Isopropyl alcohol liquid

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A wear suppressing unit for oxidizing a pattern formed on a substrate to suppress wear of the surface, and a foreign substance removing unit for applying a physical force to the surface of the substrate to remove foreign substances on the surface. An apparatus for cleaning a substrate, comprising: 2. The pattern is made of chromium, and the wear suppressing means has a processing tank containing hydrogen peroxide solution, and the pattern is oxidized by immersing the substrate in the hydrogen peroxide solution of the processing tank. The device according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the pattern is increased in abrasion resistance. 3. A wear suppressing step for increasing the wear resistance of a pattern formed on a substrate to be cleaned, and a physical force is applied to the surface of the substrate having the pattern whose wear is suppressed through the wear suppressing step. And a foreign matter removing step for removing foreign matter on the surface.