Apparatus and method for wafer cleaning
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsBo Chen Chen, Sheng-Wei Wu, Yung-Li Tsai
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and a method for wafer cleaning. The apparatus can include a wafer holder configured to hold a wafer; a cleaning nozzle configured to dispense a cleaning fluid onto a first surface (e.g., front surface) of the wafer; and a cleaning brush configured to clean a second surface (e.g., back surface) of the wafer. Using the cleaning fluid, the cleaning brush can clean the second surface of the wafer with a scrubbing motion and ultrasonic vibration.
Claims20
A method for cleaning a substrate, comprising:
- loading the substrate on a holder, wherein a first surface of the substrate is separated from the holder;
- dispensing, via a spray outlet of a cleaning brush, a cleaning fluid onto a second surface of the substrate, the cleaning brush further comprising a plurality of bristles and a brush body, wherein the spray outlet comprises a conductive layer to reduce static electric charge, and wherein the conductive layer comprises carbon nanotubes;
- and
- scrubbing, by the plurality of bristles of the cleaning brush, the second surface of the substrate, wherein scrubbing the second surface comprises displacing the brush body with respect to a center of the substrate, and rotating the brush body.
A method for cleaning a substrate, comprising:
- loading the substrate onto a holder, the substrate comprising front and back surfaces;
- dispensing a cleaning fluid on the back surface of the substrate through spray outlets of a cleaning brush, wherein each of the spray outlets comprises a conductive layer of carbon nanotubes;
- scrubbing, by a plurality of bristles of the cleaning brush, the back surface of the substrate by displacing a brush body of the cleaning brush with respect to a center of the substrate, and rotating the brush body;
- detecting, by an image sensor, a first color of a first coating layer surrounding sidewalls of the plurality of bristles;
- and
- replacing the cleaning brush with an unused cleaning brush in response to the first color being different from a second color of a second coating layer surrounding sidewalls of a plurality of bristles of the unused cleaning brush.
A method for cleaning a substrate, comprising:
- loading the substrate onto a holder, the substrate comprising first and second surfaces;
- rinsing the first surface by dispensing, with a nozzle, a cleaning fluid onto the first surface of the substrate;
- dispensing, with spray outlets on a cleaning brush, the cleaning fluid onto the second surface, opposite to the first surface, of the substrate, the cleaning brush further comprising a plurality of bristles and a brush body, wherein the spray outlets comprise conductive layers of carbon nanotubes;
- detecting, by an image sensor, a first color of a first coating layer of the plurality of bristles;
- and
- replacing the cleaning brush with an unused cleaning brush in response to the first color being different from a second color of a second coating layer of a plurality of bristles of the unused cleaning brush;
- and
- cleaning the second surface of the substrate, comprising:
- applying a pressure to the cleaning brush against the substrate;
- and
- scrubbing, by the plurality of bristles, the second surface of the substrate by displacing the brush body with respect to a center of the substrate and rotating the brush body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.