RINSING DEVICE FOR RINSING BLUE FILM AT BOTTOM OF WAFER

A rinsing device for rinsing a blue film at the bottom of a wafer, including: a base; a water tank; at least one drum disposed in the water tank and partially exposed and vertically protruded from the water tank; at least one drum driver; two vertically-movable scraper sets disposed at the base, flanking the water tank, and each having a scraper, a water collection chamber and a vertically-movable driver, with the scraper disposed above the water collection chamber, the water collection chamber disposed at the vertically-movable driver, and the vertically-movable driver disposed at the base and adapted to drive the water collection chamber and the scraper moving vertically; and a water tray disposed at the base, positioned at the water tank, and positioned below the two scrapers and the two water collection chambers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to rinsing technology for use after wafer inspection, and more particularly to a rinsing device for rinsing a blue film at a bottom of a wafer.

2. Description of Related Art

Taiwan patent 1630668 discloses a rinsing device of a wafer inspection equipment to remove a liquid-state medium applied to a blue film at the bottom of a wafer upon completion of an inspection of the wafer, as the refractive index of the medium approximates that of the blue film to enable clear images to be obtained. Taiwan patent 1630668 discloses allowing a wafer to move relative to a drum, allowing a wetted drum to rub against and rinse the blue film at the bottom of the wafer in the course of the movement, and allowing water to be scraped from the surface of the blue film with a scraper.

However, in practice, the medium adhered to the blue film at the bottom of the wafer in the course of the movement can rarely be removed through one single instance of rinsing but has to be removed through multiple instances of rinsing. Furthermore, the aforesaid technology is disadvantaged by the fact that one-way wafer movement is required for a wetted drum to rub against and rinse the blue film and then water to be scraped therefrom; as a result, upon completion of an instance of movement of a wafer relative to a drum, the wafer has to be lifted and then returned to the pre-rinsing position before undergoing the next instance of rinsing. As a result, rinsing does not occur while the wafer is moving to the next pre-rinsing position. Therefore, the prior art is time inefficient and thus dissatisfactory.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an objective of the disclosure to provide a rinsing device for rinsing a blue film at a bottom of a wafer to clean the blue film at the bottom of the wafer during the whole forward journey and the whole backward journey of the wafer, achieving optimal rinsing efficiency.

To achieve the above and other objectives, the disclosure provides a rinsing device for rinsing a blue film at a bottom of a wafer, comprising: a base; a water tank disposed at the base, having an opening facing upward, and adapted to contain water; at least one drum, with its long axis extending in a front-rear direction, disposed at the water tank, wherein a portion of the at least one drum is disposed in the water tank, and another portion of the at least one drum is exposed from the opening and vertically protruded from the water tank; at least one drum driver disposed at the base, connected to the at least one drum, and adapted to drive the at least one drum rotating; two vertically-movable scraper sets disposed at the base, flanking the water tank, and each having a scraper, a water collection chamber and a vertically-movable driver, with the scraper disposed above the water collection chamber, and the water collection chamber disposed at the vertically-movable driver, wherein the vertically-movable driver is disposed at the base and adapted to drive the water collection chamber and the scraper moving vertically; and a water tray disposed at the base, positioned at the water tank, and positioned below the two scrapers and the two water collection chambers.

Therefore, the disclosure discloses cleaning a blue film at the bottom of a wafer during the whole forward journey and the whole backward journey of the wafer, achieving optimal rinsing efficiency.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The technical features of the disclosure are herein illustrated with preferred embodiments, depicted with drawings, and described below.

As shown inFIG.1throughFIG.5, a preferred embodiment of the disclosure provides a rinsing device10for rinsing a blue film at a bottom of a wafer. The rinsing device10essentially comprises a base11, a water tank21, two drums31, two drum drivers41, two vertically-movable scraper sets51and a water tray61.

The water tank21is disposed at the base11, has an opening22facing upward, and is adapted to contain clean water (not shown) that serves cleaning purposes.

The two drums31, with its long axis extending in a front-rear direction, disposed at the water tank21, wherein a portion of the drums31is disposed in the water tank21, and another portion of the drums31is exposed from the opening22and vertically protruded from the water tank21. The two drums31are made of sponge and thus have water content. The top ends of the two drums31are in contact with a blue film92at the bottom of a wafer91and rub the blue film92to facilitate rinsing.

The two drum drivers41are disposed at the base11, connected to the two drums31respectively, and adapted to drive the two drums31rotating. In general, from the perspective of driving directions configured as needed, the two drum drivers41drive the two drums31rotating in opposite directions but, when viewed from above, rotate toward each other. In this situation, the rotation tangential direction at the top end of the drum31, i.e., the last drum, which the wafer91exits is opposite to the movement direction of the wafer91, regardless of whether the wafer91moves leftward or rightward relative to the two drums31. Alternatively, the two drums31can rotate in the same direction, provided that their top-end rotation tangential direction is opposite to the movement direction of the wafer91. In practice, the two drum drivers41are each a motor.

The two vertically-movable scraper sets51are disposed at the base11, flank the water tank21, and each have a scraper52, a water collection chamber54and a vertically-movable driver56. The scraper52is disposed above the water collection chamber54. Water drips down from the scraper52and then is held by the water collection chamber54. The water collection chamber54is disposed at the vertically-movable driver56. The vertically-movable driver56is disposed at the base11and adapted to drive the water collection chamber54and the scraper52moving vertically. In practice, the vertically-movable drivers56are pneumatic cylinders.

The water tray61is disposed at the base11, positioned at the water tank21, positioned below the two scraper52and the two water collection chambers54, and adapted to hold water dripping down from the two vertically-movable scraper sets51and the water tank21and all possible dripping water to prevent the escape of water from the water tray61during the rinsing process.

In this embodiment, the water tank21has two water-delivering conduits24extending therefrom laterally respectively and extending downward, a free end of each of the water-delivering conduits24is located above a corresponding one of the water collection chambers54of the vertically-movable scraper sets51, the water collection chambers54each have a water-receiving conduit541extending toward the water tank21and obliquely upward, and a top end of each of the water-receiving conduits541is located below a corresponding one of the water-delivering conduits24. The front-rear extension length of the water-delivering conduits24is greater than the length of the two drums31. The front-rear extension length of the water collection chambers54is greater than the front-rear extension length of the water-delivering conduits24. Therefore, when water drips from the blue film92at the bottom of the wafer91onto the outer side of the water tank21, the water-delivering conduits24hold the water and deliver the water to the water collection chambers54. The water-receiving conduits541further ensure the holding effect on the water dripping down from the water-delivering conduits24. If the water-delivering conduits24and the water-receiving conduits541are absent, the dripping water will be directly held by the water tray61.

Furthermore, regarding the vertically-movable scraper sets51in this embodiment, the scrapers52are driven by the vertically-movable drivers56to move vertically between a highest position H and a lowest position L to allow top edges of the scrapers52to be higher than the water tank21when the scrapers52are at the highest position H and allow the top edges of the scrapers52to be lower than the highest position H and lower than the top edges of the drums31when the scrapers52are at the lowest position L. Owing to the aforesaid mechanism, during a process of rinsing the blue film92of the wafer91, the scrapers52act on the blue film92and thus impose thereon a water-scraping effect when located at the highest position H but are not in contact with the blue film92and thus do not impose thereon any water-scraping effect when located at the lowest position L

The structural features of the embodiment of the disclosure are discussed above. The operation states of the embodiment of the disclosure are explained below.

As shown inFIG.4, during an inspection, the wafer91is moved rightward relative to the rinsing device10, and the way of moving the wafer91is attributed to the prior art and thus is, for the sake of brevity, not reiterated herein. During the process, the blue film92at the bottom of the wafer91is in contact with the two drums31to undergo rinsing, or the wafer91is much lower to generate a greater force pressing against the two drums31to undergo rinsing. At this point in time, the two drums31rub the blue film92and thus rinse the blue film92, allowing satisfactory rubbing and rinsing to be achieved because the two drums31rotate in opposite directions. Furthermore, during the process, the scraper52of the vertically-movable scraper set51on the right controllably ascends to reach the highest position H to scrape water from the blue film92which has been rinsed by the two drums31, whereas the scraper52of the vertically-movable scraper set51on the left is kept at the lowest position L in order not to scrape water from the blue film92; the water thus scrapped off flows along the scraper52into the water collection chambers54. During the process, if water drips down from the blue film92, the water will be mostly delivered by the water-delivering conduits24to the water collection chambers54respectively, and only a tiny portion of the water will drip onto the water tray61. The rinsing operation performed on the wafer91moving rightward has to persist until the wafer91has completely passed the scraper52on the right.

As shown inFIG.5, the wafer91is moved leftward relative to the rinsing device10, and the movement is preceded by the controllable descent of the scraper52on the right to reach the lowest position L and the controllable ascent of the scraper52on the left to reach the highest position H. Therefore, in the course of the movement, the two drums31rub and rinse the blue film92, and the scraper52on the right does not scrape water from the blue film92, but the scraper52on the left scrapes water from the blue film92.

Owing to the leftward and rightward repeated operations shown inFIG.4andFIG.5, multiple instances of rinsing can be performed, and the blue film92is being cleaned throughout the whole forward journey and the whole backward journey of the wafer91in each instance of rinsing, achieving optimal rinsing efficiency.

As shown inFIG.6, the rinsing device10requires just one drum31′ and one drum driver (not shown) instead of two drums and two drum drivers. In this situation, the rotation tangential direction at the top end of the drum31′ is opposite to the movement direction of the wafer91(shown in the diagram) and still ensures that the drum31′ has a rubbing, rinsing effect on the blue film92(shown in the diagram).

The disclosure is disclosed above by embodiments. The embodiments are illustrative of the disclosure but shall not be interpreted as restrictive of the scope of the claims of the disclosure. Thus, all simple variations or equivalent implementation carried out to the aforesaid embodiments according to the claims and detailed description of the disclosure shall be deemed falling within the scope of the claims of the disclosure.