US 12,186,785 B2
Method of cleaning pipe of single-wafer processing wafer cleaning apparatus
Ryoichi Yanai, Tokyo (JP)
Assigned to SUMCO CORPORATION, Tokyo (JP)
Appl. No. 18/248,924
Filed by SUMCO Corporation, Tokyo (JP)
PCT Filed Oct. 4, 2021, PCT No. PCT/JP2021/036680
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 13, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/085414, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 28, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 2020-178382 (JP), filed on Oct. 23, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0381834 A1, Nov. 30, 2023
Int. Cl. B08B 9/032 (2006.01); H01L 21/67 (2006.01)
CPC B08B 9/0328 (2013.01) [B08B 2209/032 (2013.01); H01L 21/67023 (2013.01)] 7 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of cleaning a pipe of a single-wafer cleaning apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
a rotatable stage on which a wafer is placed;
chemical solution supply nozzles configured to supply a chemical solution the wafer placed on the stage;
pure water supply nozzles configured to supply pure water the wafer placed on the stage the pure water supply nozzles comprising a first pure water supply nozzle configured to supply pure water to a front surface of the wafer and a second pure water supply nozzle configured to supply pure water to a back surface of the wafer;
a chemical solution supply line configured to supply the chemical solution to the chemical solution supply nozzles;
a pure water supply line configured to supply the pure water to the pure water supply nozzles;
a waste liquid line configured to collect and discharge the supplied chemical solution and the supplied pure water
a three-way valve positioned between the second pure water supply nozzle and the pure water supply line, wherein a first outlet port of two outlet ports of the three-way valve is connected to the second pure water supply nozzle, and a second outlet port of the two outlet ports is connected to the waste liquid line; and
a treatment cup placed adjacent to the stage and connected to the waste liquid line,
the method comprising:
a pipe cleaning step of introducing pure water containing micro-nano bubbles into the pure water supply line to clean a pipe of the pure water supply line, wherein
in the pipe cleaning step, the pure water containing micro-nano bubbles is supplied to areas other than the wafer to keep the pure water containing micro-nano bubbles from contacting the wafer, and
in the pipe cleaning step, while the pure water containing micro-nano bubbles is introduced into the pure water supply line with the second outlet port of the three-way valve being selected, the first pure water supply nozzle is pulled away from the wafer, and the pure water containing micro-nano bubbles is supplied to the treatment cup.