Substrate cleaning apparatus and method

Abstract

A substrate cleaning apparatus includes an indexer, a front surface cleaning unit for cleaning the front surface of a substrate, a back surface cleaning unit for cleaning the back surface of the substrate, a particle inspecting unit for detecting a distribution of particles adhering to the substrate, a reversing unit for reversing the substrate, and a transport section having a pair of transport units. Cleaning conditions of the front surface cleaning unit or back surface cleaning unit are varied based on the distribution of particles on the substrate after the substrate is cleaned by the front surface cleaning unit or back surface cleaning unit and inspected by the particle inspecting unit.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A substrate cleaning apparatus comprising: 
 indexer means for receiving a cassette storing a plurality of substrates;    cleaning means for cleaning a substrate;    particle inspecting means for detecting a distribution of particles adhering to the substrate;    transport means for transporting the substrate between said indexer means, said cleaning means and said particle inspecting means; and    control means for varying substrate cleaning conditions of said cleaning means based on the distribution of particles adhering to the substrate after the substrate is cleaned by said cleaning means and inspected by said particle inspecting means;    wherein the substrate is repeatedly cleaned by varying the cleaning conditions of said cleaning means until the substrate is determined to be clean as a result of inspection by said particle inspecting means of the distribution of particles on the substrate cleaned by said cleaning means.    
     
     
         2 . A substrate cleaning apparatus as defined in  claim 2 , wherein said cleaning means includes at least one of a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the substrate with a cleaning brush, a cleaning mechanism that supplies the substrate with a cleaning solution under high pressure, a cleaning mechanism that supplies the substrate with a cleaning solution with ultrasonic vibration applied thereto, and a cleaning mechanism that supplies the substrate with a cleaning solution in form of spray having a liquid-gas mixture.  
     
     
         3 . A substrate cleaning apparatus comprising: 
 indexer means for receiving a cassette storing a plurality of substrates;    cleaning means including a cleaning mechanism for cleaning a substrate with a cleaning brush;    particle inspecting means for detecting a distribution of particles adhering to the substrate;    transport means for transporting the substrate between said indexer, said cleaning means and said particle inspecting means; and    control means for varying at least one of a rotating speed of said cleaning brush and a pressing force of said cleaning brush applied to the substrate, based on the distribution of particles adhering to the substrate after the substrate is cleaned by said cleaning means and inspected by said particle inspecting means.    
     
     
         4 . A substrate cleaning apparatus as defined in  claim 3 , wherein the substrate is repeatedly cleaned by varying at least one of the rotating speed of said cleaning brush and the pressing force of said cleaning brush applied to the substrate, until the substrate is determined to be clean as a result of inspection by said particle inspecting means of the distribution of particles on the substrate cleaned by said cleaning means.  
     
     
         5 . A substrate cleaning apparatus comprising: 
 indexer means for receiving a cassette storing a plurality of substrates;    cleaning means including a cleaning mechanism for supplying a cleaning solution under high pressure from a cleaning solution supply nozzle to a substrate to clean the substrate;    particle inspecting means for detecting a distribution of particles adhering to the substrate;    transport means for transporting the substrate between said indexer, said cleaning means and said particle inspecting means; and    control means for varying at least one of a pressure and a discharge rate of the cleaning solution supplied from said cleaning solution supply nozzle, based on the distribution of particles adhering to the substrate after the substrate is cleaned by said cleaning means and inspected by said particle inspecting means.    
     
     
         6 . A substrate cleaning apparatus as defined in  claim 5 , wherein the substrate is repeatedly cleaned by varying at least one of the pressure and the discharge rate of the cleaning solution supplied from said cleaning solution supply nozzle, until the substrate is determined to be clean as a result of inspection by said particle inspecting means of the distribution of particles on the substrate cleaned by said cleaning means.  
     
     
         7 . A substrate cleaning apparatus comprising: 
 indexer means for receiving a cassette storing a plurality of substrates;    cleaning means including a cleaning mechanism for supplying a cleaning solution, with ultrasonic vibration applied thereto, from a cleaning solution supply nozzle to a substrate to clean the substrate;    particle inspecting means for detecting a distribution of particles adhering to the substrate;    transport means for transporting the substrate between said indexer, said cleaning means and said particle inspecting means; and    control means for varying at least one of an ultrasonic frequency and an ultrasonic output applied to the cleaning solution supplied from said cleaning solution supply nozzle, based on the distribution of particles adhering to the substrate after the substrate is cleaned by said cleaning means and inspected by said particle inspecting means.    
     
     
         8 . A substrate cleaning apparatus as defined in  claim 7 , wherein the substrate is repeatedly cleaned by varying at least one of the ultrasonic frequency and the ultrasonic output applied to the cleaning solution supplied from said cleaning solution supply nozzle, until the substrate is determined to be clean as a result of inspection by said particle inspecting means of the distribution of particles on the substrate cleaned by said cleaning means.  
     
     
         9 . A substrate cleaning apparatus comprising: 
 indexer means for receiving a cassette storing a plurality of substrates;    cleaning means including a cleaning mechanism for supplying a cleaning solution in form of spray having a liquid-gas mixture, from a cleaning solution supply nozzle to a substrate to clean the substrate;    particle inspecting means for detecting a distribution of particles adhering to the substrate;    transport means for transporting the substrate between said indexer, said cleaning means and said particle inspecting means; and    control means for varying at least one of a flow rate of a gas supplied to said cleaning solution supply nozzle and a flow rate of a liquid supplied to said cleaning solution supply nozzle, based on the distribution of particles adhering to the substrate after the substrate is cleaned by said cleaning means and inspected by said particle inspecting means.    
     
     
         10 . A substrate cleaning apparatus as defined in  claim 9 , wherein the substrate is repeatedly cleaned by varying at least one of the flow rate of the gas supplied to said cleaning solution supply nozzle and the flow rate of the liquid supplied to said cleaning solution supply nozzle, until the substrate is determined to be clean as a result of inspection by said particle inspecting means of the distribution of particles on the substrate cleaned by said cleaning means.  
     
     
         11 . A substrate cleaning method for processing substrates by using a substrate cleaning apparatus having an indexer for receiving a cassette storing a plurality of substrates, a cleaning unit for cleaning a substrate, a particle inspecting unit for detecting a distribution of particles adhering to the substrate, and a transport unit for transporting the substrate between the indexer, the cleaning unit and the particle inspecting unit, said method comprising: 
 a first cleaning step for cleaning a substrate transported from said cassette to said cleaning unit;    a particle detecting step for detecting a distribution of particles on the substrate cleaned by said cleaning unit and transported to said particle inspecting unit;    a determining step for determining whether the substrate is clean, based on the distribution of particles detected in said particle detecting step;    a cleaning condition varying step for varying substrate cleaning conditions of said cleaning unit based on the distribution of particles detected by said particle inspecting unit when the substrate is determined to be unclean in said determining step; and    a second cleaning step for transporting the substrate determined to be unclean after said first cleaning step to said cleaning unit, and cleaning the substrate with the cleaning conditions varied in said cleaning condition varying step.