Claims
- 1. A method for removing a metal from a wafer container, comprising the steps of:
rotating the container on a rotor; spraying the container with a solution of a metal removing agent; rinsing the container; and drying the container.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the metal removing agent comprises a chelating agent.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the concentration of the chelating agent in the solution is 10-100 parts per million.
- 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the concentration of the chelating gent is 20-60 parts per million.
- 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the metal comprises copper.
- 6. A method for cleaning copper off of wafer containers, comprising the steps of:
loading the wafer containers into a rotor in a container cleaning apparatus; spinning the rotor in a first direction; spraying the containers with a dilute chelating agent of solution while the rotor is spinning; spraying the containers with a rinsing liquid while the rotor is spinning; and drying the containers by moving heated air through the container cleaning apparatus while the rotor is spinning.
- 7. The method of claim 6 wherein the containers are sprayed with the chelating agent solution while spinning the rotor at 4-40 rpm.
- 8. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of spraying containers with the chelating agent solut9ion continues for a time internally sufficient to remove 75% of residual copper from the containers.
- 9. The method of claim 7 wherein the solution of chelating gent comprises a chelating agent and de-ionized water.
- 10. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of spraying the containers with a surfactant solution.
- 11. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of pumping concentrated chelating agent into a de-ionized water line, to make the dilute chelating agent solution.
- 12. The method of claim 6 wherein the wafer containers comprise cassettes, corners, boxes, SMIF pods, FOUPs or FOSBs.
- 13. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of recirculating and filtering the chelating agent solution.
- 14. A machine for cleaning a metal from wafer containers, comprising:
an enclosure; a rotor within the enclosure; a spin motor linked to the rotor; a plurality of container holders on the rotor; a plurality of spray nozzles within the enclosure; a de-ionized water source connected to at least some of the spray nozzles; and a metal removal chemical source, connected to at least one of the spray nozzles.
- 15. The machine of claim 14 wherein the metal removal chemical source comprises a source of chelating agent.
- 16. The machine of claim 14 wherein the spray nozzles include inner spray nozzles within the rotor, and outer spray nozzles, and with the metal removal chemical source connecting to one or more of the outer spray nozzles.
- 17. The machine of claim 16 further comprising a pump for pumping the metal removal chemical source into a water supply line leading to the one or more outer spray nozzles.
- 18. The machine of claim 15 further comprising a surfactant source connecting to one or more of the spray nozzles.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This Application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/658,395, filed Sep. 8, 2000 and now pending, and incorporated herein by reference.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09658395 |
Sep 2000 |
US |
Child |
10200071 |
Jul 2002 |
US |