CN114597147A

CN114597147A - Substrate transport system

Info

Publication number: CN114597147A
Application number: CN202011406736.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 林俊成; 张容华
Original assignee: Xintianhong Xiamen Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Xintianhong Xiamen Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2020-12-04
Filing date: 2020-12-04
Publication date: 2022-06-07

Abstract

The invention relates to a substrate conveying system, which comprises a body, a tray loading box base, a tray alignment device, a tray mechanical arm, a substrate loading box base, a substrate alignment device, a substrate mechanical arm and a white-effort arm. The blade may be transferred to the blade alignment apparatus via a blade robot, the substrate may be transferred to the substrate alignment apparatus via a substrate robot, and the substrate may be transferred from the substrate alignment apparatus to the blade on the blade alignment apparatus via a white-effort arm.

Description

Substrate transport system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a substrate transfer system, and more particularly, to a substrate transfer system for transferring a substrate to a load lock via a load lock robot, a substrate robot and a white-effort robot in an automated manner.

Background

In the integrated circuit industry, 4-inch or 6-inch wafers are often used as substrates. In some 4-inch or 6-inch wafer factories, semi-automatic processes are adopted. For example, before the main process is performed on the substrate, the carrier tray carrying the substrate is usually transferred into the chamber of the machine for the subsequent process after the operator manually places the substrate on the carrier tray. However, the semi-automatic process is time-consuming and labor-consuming, and the substrate is prone to dislocation, contamination and even breakage, resulting in poor yield of the product or excessive cost. Furthermore, manual transfer operations do not allow for the recording of transfer information (event log), which makes it difficult to obtain information when the history of the substrate needs to be tracked forward, thereby increasing the difficulty of detecting the history of the substrate.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art, embodiments of the present invention provide a substrate transfer system that replaces the manual substrate transfer process with an automated process.

The substrate transfer system may transfer the blade from the blade cassette to the blade alignment device via the blade robot, and transfer the substrate from the blade cassette to the substrate alignment device via the substrate robot. Furthermore, the substrate rotated to a predetermined angle can be transferred to the carrier rotated to a specific angle by a hard-arm. Therefore, the automatic process can replace the manual process, thereby reducing the error occurrence rate during the transmission and reducing the probability of substrate contamination or breakage.

In accordance with at least one of the foregoing objects, a substrate transfer system includes a body, a tray loading bay base, a tray alignment device, a tray robot, a substrate loading bay base, a substrate alignment device, a substrate robot, and a white-effort arm. The body comprises a substrate taking and placing area and a conveying area. The base of the disc loading box is connected with the transmission area and is used for fixing the disc loading box. The disc alignment device is located in the transfer area and rotates the disc to a first specific angle according to a first positioning block on the disc. The disc loading robot is located in the transfer area and is used for transferring the disc from the disc loading box to the disc loading alignment device and transferring the disc from the disc loading alignment device to the disc loading box. The base of the base material loading box is positioned in the base material taking and placing area and is used for fixing the base material loading box. The substrate alignment device is positioned in the transfer area and rotates the substrate to a preset angle according to the second positioning block on the substrate. The substrate robot is located in the transfer zone and is configured to transfer substrates from the substrate load lock to the substrate alignment device and to transfer substrates from the substrate alignment device to the substrate load lock. The white-effort arm is positioned in the transfer zone and is configured to transfer the substrate from the substrate alignment device to the boat on the boat alignment device and to transfer the substrate from the boat on the boat alignment device to the substrate alignment device. After the substrate is transferred from the substrate alignment device to the carrier plate on the carrier plate alignment device by the white-effort arm, the carrier plate alignment device rotates the carrier plate to a second specific angle.

Optionally, the substrate transfer system further comprises a substrate loading cassette sensor and a tray loading cassette sensor. The substrate loading box sensor is positioned in the substrate taking and placing area and is used for detecting whether the substrate loading box is correctly placed on the substrate loading box base. The tray loading box sensor is connected with the transmission area and is used for detecting whether the tray loading box is correctly placed on the tray loading box base.

Optionally, the substrate transfer system further comprises a substrate displacement sensor (slide sensor) and a carrier plate displacement sensor (slide sensor). The substrate displacement sensor is positioned in the substrate taking and placing area and is used for detecting whether the substrate in the substrate loading box protrudes out of the substrate loading box or not. The disc displacement sensor is positioned in the transmission area and is used for detecting whether the disc in the disc loading box protrudes out of the disc loading box.

Optionally, the substrate transport system further includes a barcode reader (barcode reader) located in the substrate pick-and-place area and configured to read a barcode on the substrate cassette to identify the type of the substrate cassette.

Optionally, the substrate robot has a substrate inspecting function (mapping), wherein the substrate robot is vertically displaced with respect to the substrate cassette before the substrate is transferred from the substrate cassette to the substrate aligning device, so as to know the number and position of the substrates through the substrate inspecting function.

Optionally, the tray robot has a tray checking function (mapping), wherein before the trays are transferred from the tray loading cassette to the tray alignment device, the tray robot vertically displaces corresponding tray loading cassette to know the number and position of the trays through the tray checking function.

Alternatively, when the substrate transport system has a plurality of substrate loading cassette bases, the plurality of substrate loading cassette bases are disposed adjacent to each other or are disposed vertically.

Optionally, the substrate transport system further comprises a load lock chamber coupled to the transport region, wherein the carrier robot transfers the carrier from the carrier alignment device to the load lock chamber and transfers the carrier from the load lock chamber to the carrier alignment device.

Optionally, the substrate transfer system further comprises a cooling zone coupled to the transfer zone, wherein the carrier plate robot transfers the carrier plate from the load lock chamber to the cooling zone to cool the substrate on the carrier plate, and the carrier plate robot transfers the carrier plate from the cooling zone to the carrier plate alignment device.

Optionally, the substrate transport system further comprises a tray Optical Character Recognizer (OCR) and a substrate Optical Character Recognizer (OCR). The optical character recognizer is connected with the transmission area and is used for recognizing the number on the carrying disc. The substrate optical character recognizer is connected with the transmission area or the substrate pick-and-place area and is used for recognizing the number on the substrate.

Optionally, the substrate transport system further comprises a lens coupled to the transport region and configured to capture an image of the boat.

In short, the substrate transfer system of the present invention can transfer the substrate in an automated manner by cooperating with the tray robot, the substrate robot and the white-effort robot to improve the production efficiency and reduce the error rate, so that the substrate transfer system is advantageous in the market (e.g., integrated circuits) requiring automated transfer.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a substrate transport system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a substrate transport system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Description of reference numerals: 1-a substrate transport system; 11-a body; 12-a substrate pick-and-place area; 13-a carrier loading cassette base; 131-a disc loading cassette; 14-a transfer zone; 15-a boat alignment device; 16-load lock chamber; 17-a substrate loading cassette base; 171-a substrate loading cassette; 18-a cooling zone; 19-a substrate alignment device; r1-disc handling robot; r2-substrate robot; r3-arm of white effort.

Detailed Description

For a fuller understanding of the nature, character and function of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken together with the accompanying figures.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, fig. 1 and 2 are schematic diagrams of a substrate transfer system according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in the drawings, the present invention provides a substrate transport system 1, which comprises a body 11, a tray loading tray base 13, a tray alignment device 15, a substrate loading tray base 17, a substrate alignment device 19, a tray robot R1, a substrate robot R2 and a white effort arm R3, wherein the tray loading tray base 13, the tray alignment device 15, the substrate loading tray base 17, the substrate alignment device 19, the tray robot R1, the substrate robot R2 or the white effort arm R3 of the substrate transport system 1 may be singular or plural, respectively, and the positions of the same components are not limited, such as two-by-two symmetrical or no specific arrangement.

Specifically, the body 11 includes a substrate pick-and-place area 12 and a transfer area 14 connected to each other. The carrier loading bay base 13 is connected to the transfer area 14, and the carrier alignment device 15, the substrate alignment device 19, the carrier robot R1, the substrate robot R2, and the white-effort robot R3 are located in the transfer area 14. The substrate cassette base 17 is located in the substrate access area 12.

The tray loading cassette base 13 is used to fix the tray loading cassettes 131, and when the tray loading cassette bases 13 are plural, each tray loading cassette base 13 can fix one tray loading cassette 131.

Specifically, the substrate transport system 1 further includes a tray loading sensor (not shown) connected to the tray loading base 13 for detecting whether the tray 131 is properly placed on the tray loading base 13. For example, when the detection result indicates that the tray loading tray 131 is correctly placed on the tray loading tray base 13, the substrate transport system 1 can obtain the message, and the tray loading tray base 13 and the tray loading tray 131 can be locked to each other, so that the tray loading tray 131 will not fall off. Alternatively, the substrate transport system 1 may issue a warning message to alert the user when the detection result indicates that the tray 131 is not properly placed on the tray base 13.

The substrate transport system 1 may also include a slide sensor (not shown) and is located in the transport zone 14. When the tray loading tray 131 is placed on the tray loading tray base 13, the tray displacement sensor can detect whether the tray in the tray loading tray 131 protrudes out of the tray loading tray 131. For example, if the tray displacement sensor detects that the tray protrudes from the tray magazine 131, the substrate transport system 1 may send a warning message to alert the user, thereby preventing the tray from falling or being bumped.

The substrate transport system 1 may further include a disc Optical Character Recognizer (OCR) and a lens (CCD) (not shown), both of which are connected to the transport region 14. The optical character recognizer is used for reading and identifying the serial number on the carrying disc so as to avoid using the wrong carrying disc, and when the historical event tracking (event log tracking) is required, the optical character recognizer selects to be matched with or not matched with the use of SECS/GEM (SEMI Equipment Communication Standard/general Equipment Model), and inquires the historical information of the carrying disc according to the serial number of the carrying disc to be tracked, so that the optical character recognizer is favorable for the follow-up tracking and error detection of the previous process. The lens is used for acquiring the image of the carrying disc so as to detect the defect condition (for example, whether the carrying disc has a back plating condition) on the carrying disc, and therefore whether the carrying disc can be continuously reused can be conveniently known.

The substrate cassette receiving base 17 is used to fix the substrate cassettes 171, when the substrate cassette receiving base 17 is plural, each substrate cassette receiving base 17 can fix one substrate cassette 171, and the plural substrate cassette receiving bases 17 can be disposed adjacent to each other or vertically disposed, or a plurality of substrate cassette receiving bases 17 can have both adjacent and vertical disposition.

Specifically, the substrate transport system 1 may further include a substrate cassette sensor (not shown) located in the substrate access region 12 (e.g., connected to the substrate cassette base 17) and configured to detect whether the substrate cassette 171 is properly positioned on the substrate cassette base 17. For example, when the detected result indicates that the substrate cassette 171 is correctly placed on the substrate cassette base 17, the substrate transport system 1 can obtain a message, and the substrate cassette base 17 and the substrate cassette 171 can be locked to each other so that the substrate cassette 171 does not fall off. Alternatively, the substrate transport system 1 may issue a warning message to alert the user when the detection result indicates that the substrate cassette 171 is not properly placed on the substrate cassette base 17.

The substrate transport system 1 may further include a barcode reader (not shown) located in the substrate access region 12 for reading a barcode on the substrate cassette 171 to determine the type of the substrate cassette 171. For example, the substrate cassette 171 may be classified into different types according to process attributes, and the substrate cassette base 17 and the substrate cassette 171 may be locked to each other when the barcode reader determines that the barcode on the substrate cassette 171 is of the target type. Alternatively, when the barcode reader determines that the barcode on the substrate cassette 171 is not of the target type, the substrate transport system 1 may send a warning message to alert the user, so as to prevent the wrong substrate from being misused.

The substrate transport system 1 may also include a substrate displacement sensor (not shown) and is located in the substrate pick-and-place zone 12. When the substrate cassette 171 is placed on the substrate cassette base 17, the substrate displacement sensor can detect whether the substrate in the substrate cassette 171 protrudes from the substrate cassette 171. For example, if the substrate displacement sensor detects that the substrate protrudes from the substrate loading tray 171, the substrate transport system 1 may send a warning message to alert the user, thereby preventing the substrate from falling or being bumped.

The substrate transport system 1 may also include an Optical Character Recognizer (OCR) (not shown) coupled to the transport region 14, or alternatively, the OCR may be coupled to the substrate pick-and-place region 12. The substrate optical character recognizer is used for reading and identifying the number on the substrate so as to avoid using wrong substrates, and when historical event tracking is required, the SECS/GEM is selected to be matched or not matched for use, and the historical information of the substrate is inquired according to the number of the substrate to be tracked, so that the subsequent tracking and debugging of the previous process are facilitated.

Please continue with fig. 1 and 2 to understand the substrate transfer process before entering the process. When the target cartridge 131 is placed on the cartridge base 13, the cartridge 131 and the cartridge base 13 are locked to each other, and a disc displacement sensor is used to detect whether a disc in the cartridge 131 protrudes out of the cartridge 131. Then, the tray robot R1 can vertically move with respect to the tray cassette 131 to know the number and position of the trays through the tray checking function (mapping), confirm whether the trays are misplaced (e.g., whether the trays are inserted obliquely), and read and recognize the numbers on the trays through the tray optical character recognizer. Further, the tray robot R1 transfers the tray from the tray loading tray 131 to the tray alignment device 15.

When the target substrate cassette 171 is placed on the substrate cassette base 17, the substrate cassette 171 and the substrate cassette base 17 are locked to each other, and a substrate displacement sensor is used to detect whether the substrate in the substrate cassette 171 protrudes out of the substrate cassette 171. Then, the substrate robot R2 may be vertically displaced relative to the substrate cassette 171 to know the number and position of the substrates through its substrate inspection function (mapping) and to determine whether there is any missing substrate placement (e.g., whether the substrate is skewed), i.e., through the substrate optical character recognizer, to read and identify the serial number on the substrate. Further, the substrate robot R2 transfers the substrate from the substrate cassette 171 to the substrate alignment device 19.

The tray alignment device 15 can then rotate the tray to a first specific angle according to a first positioning block (not shown) on the tray (e.g., a notch or flat edge of the tray), and the substrate alignment device 19 can rotate the substrate to a predetermined angle according to a second positioning block (not shown) on the substrate (e.g., a notch or flat edge of the substrate).

Further, a white effort arm R3 transfers the substrate from the substrate alignment device 19 to the blade on the blade alignment device 15. Please note that one tray can carry a plurality of substrates, and the process of transferring the substrates to the same tray can be repeated.

Specifically, after the white-effort arm R3 transfers the first substrate from the substrate alignment device 19 to the boat on the boat alignment device 15, the boat alignment device 15 will rotate the boat carrying the first substrate to a second specific angle. The next substrate rotated by the substrate alignment device 19 is then transferred by the white-effort arm R3 to the tray on the tray alignment device 15, and the first and next substrates are placed at the same position relative to the substrate transfer system 1 (e.g., without limitation, regardless of the position of the first positioning block of the tray, the first and next substrates are placed at 12 o' clock on the tray). The substrate transfer process may be repeated for other substrates sent to the same blade. Further, the different substrates are not limited to being placed in the same position relative to the substrate transport system 1 (e.g., without limitation, the last substrate is placed in the middle of the boat).

For example, if the boat carries seven substrates, after the first substrate is transferred to the boat by the white-effort arm R3, the boat alignment device 15 will rotate the boat carrying the first substrate by 60 degrees. The next substrate rotated by the substrate alignment device 19 is then transferred to the tray by the white effort arm R3 such that the first substrate and the second substrate are placed at the same position relative to the substrate transfer system 1. Then, the carrier plate alignment device 15 rotates the carrier plate carrying two substrates by 60 degrees again, and continues to place the next substrate by the white-effort arm R3. After the first six substrates are sequentially placed, the seventh substrate is then transferred to the middle of the tray by the white-effort arm R3. Of course, the first substrate may be transferred to the middle of the boat first.

With continued reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the substrate transport system 1 further includes a single load lock (loadlock) or multiple loadlocks 16 connected to the transfer section 14, and a tray carrying a target number of substrates may be transferred from the tray alignment device 15 to the loadlock 16 by a tray robot R1 to perform a pre-processing (e.g., a vacuum) of the process.

Next, please continue to refer to fig. 1 and 2 to know the transfer flow of the substrate after the completion of the process. After the substrate is processed in the chamber, the blade robot R1 may transfer the blade from the load lock chamber 16 to the blade alignment device 15.

Alternatively, after processing is complete, the substrate-carrying carrier plate may be transported to the cooling region 18 in communication with the transfer region 14 for cooling, as desired. The cooling area 18 is, for example, but not limited to, another disk cassette 131 for providing a cooling environment.

When cooling is desired, the substrate-carrying boat may be transferred from the load lock chamber 16 to the cooling zone 18 by the boat robot R1 to cool the substrate. After cooling, the substrate-carrying boat is transported from the cooling zone 18 back to the boat alignment device 15 by the boat robot R1.

When no cooling is required or is complete, the substrate is transferred from the blade on the blade alignment device 15 back to the substrate alignment device 19 by the white-effort arm R3.

Specifically, after the first substrate is transferred from the tray on the tray alignment device 15 back to the substrate alignment device 19 by the white-effort arm R3, the tray alignment device 15 can rotate the tray carrying the other substrates to a third specific angle. Then, after the first substrate leaves the substrate alignment device 19, the next substrate is transferred to the substrate alignment device 19 by the white effort arm R3, and the first substrate and the next substrate can be taken away by the white effort arm R3 at the same position relative to the substrate transfer system 1 (e.g., without limitation, the first substrate and the next substrate can be taken away by the white effort arm R3 at 12 o' clock of the boat regardless of the position of the first positioning block of the boat). The transfer process for other substrates may be repeated. Further, the different substrates are not limited to being removed at the same location relative to the substrate transport system 1 (e.g., without limitation, the first or last substrate is removed by the white effort arm R3 in the middle of the boat).

Next, the substrate robot R2 transfers the substrate from the substrate alignment device 19 to the substrate cassette 171. The transfer of the plurality of substrates from the blade back to the substrate stocker 171 is the same as described above.

After the full number of substrates are transferred from the blade back to the substrate cassette 171, the blade robot R1 transfers the blade from the blade alignment device 15 to the blade cassette 131 and completes the substrate transfer process before and after the process.

Please refer to tables 1 and 2 to understand the advantages of the substrate transfer system 1 (compared to manual transfer). Table 1 is a table comparing substrate quality with production efficiency, and table 2 is a table comparing transfer accuracy with function. As shown in the table, the substrate transfer system 1 of the present disclosure can transfer the substrate, thereby achieving a better contamination control (contamination control) of the substrate, achieving a lower substrate fragment rate, a higher number of die, and improving the production efficiency. Furthermore, the accuracy of the placement of the substrate can be improved. The substrate transport system 1 also has substrate checking, historical event tracking, remote operation and SECS/GEM support, which can reduce the error rate of transport, or facilitate the subsequent debugging of previous processes, and improve the convenience of operation.

Item	Substrate transport system	Hand transport
			Fouling control (Particle control)	Jia	Is free of
Substrate chipping rate	Is low in	Height of
			Good number of bare die	Multiple purpose	Chinese character shao (a Chinese character of 'shao')
Hourly production	Height of	Is low in

TABLE 1

Item	Substrate transport system	Hand transport
			Fouling control (Particle control)	Jia	Is free of
Substrate chipping rate	Is low with	Height of
			Good die number	Multiple purpose	Chinese character shao (a Chinese character of 'shao')
Hourly production	Height of	Is low in

TABLE 2

In view of the above, the technical effects of the substrate < phi > delivery system described in the embodiments of the present invention versus the conventional art are described below.

In the prior art, the transmission of partial base materials still adopts manual operation, which is easy to generate operation careless and difficult to control, and may cause the problems of product quality reduction and even fragment and the like. In contrast, the substrate transfer system of the present invention employs an automated process to transfer the substrate, which not only reduces the contamination rate and the breakage rate of the substrate, but also accelerates the production efficiency, and easily obtains information when the history of the previous process is to be followed.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, i.e., all equivalent variations and modifications in the shape, structure, characteristics and spirit of the present invention described in the claims should be included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A substrate transport system, comprising:

a body including a substrate pick-and-place area and a transfer area;

at least one disc loading box base connected to the conveying area and used for fixing the disc loading box;

at least one disc alignment device which is positioned in the transfer area and rotates the disc to a first specific angle according to a first positioning block on the disc;

at least one disc loading robot located in the transfer area and configured to transfer the disc from the disc loading tray to the disc loading alignment device and to transfer the disc from the disc loading alignment device to the disc loading tray;

at least one base material loading box base which is positioned in the base material picking and placing area and is used for fixing at least one base material loading box;

at least one substrate alignment device located in the transfer area and rotating the substrate to a predetermined angle according to a second positioning block on the substrate;

at least one substrate robot positioned in the transfer zone and configured to transfer the substrate from the substrate load lock to the substrate alignment device and to transfer the substrate from the substrate alignment device to the substrate load lock; and

at least one white-effort arm positioned in the transfer zone and configured to transfer the substrate from the substrate alignment device to the boat on the boat alignment device and to transfer the substrate from the boat on the boat alignment device to the substrate alignment device;

wherein the carrier disk alignment device rotates the carrier disk to a second specific angle after the white-effort arm transfers the substrate from the substrate alignment device to the carrier disk on the carrier disk alignment device.

2. The substrate transport system of claim 1, further comprising a substrate cassette sensor and a tray cassette sensor, wherein the substrate cassette sensor is located in the substrate access area and is configured to detect whether the substrate cassette is properly positioned on the substrate cassette base, and the tray cassette sensor is connected to the transport area and is configured to detect whether the tray cassette is properly positioned on the tray cassette base.

3. The substrate transport system of claim 1, further comprising a substrate displacement sensor and a tray displacement sensor, wherein the substrate displacement sensor is located in the substrate access area and is configured to detect whether the substrate within the substrate cassette protrudes from the substrate cassette, and the tray displacement sensor is located in the transport area and is configured to detect whether the tray within the tray cassette protrudes from the tray cassette.

4. The substrate transport system of claim 1, further comprising a barcode reader located in the substrate access area and configured to read a barcode on the substrate cassette to identify a type of the substrate cassette.

5. The substrate transport system of claim 1, wherein the substrate robot has a substrate inspection function (mapping), wherein the substrate robot is vertically displaced in correspondence with the substrate loading cassette to know the number and position of the substrates through the substrate inspection function before the substrates are transported from the substrate loading cassette to the substrate alignment apparatus, and the tray robot has a tray inspection function (mapping), wherein the tray robot is vertically displaced in correspondence with the tray loading cassette to know the number and position of the trays through the tray inspection function before the trays are transported from the tray loading cassette to the tray alignment apparatus.

6. The substrate transport system of claim 1, wherein when the substrate transport system has a plurality of substrate loading cassette bases, the plurality of substrate loading cassette bases are disposed adjacent to each other or are disposed vertically.

7. The substrate transport system of claim 1, further comprising at least one load lock coupled to the transfer region, wherein the blade robot transfers the blade from the blade alignment device to the load lock and transfers the blade from the load lock to the blade alignment device.

8. The substrate transport system of claim 7, further comprising a cooling zone coupled to the transport zone, wherein the carrier plate robot transfers the carrier plate from the load lock chamber to the cooling zone to cool the substrate on the carrier plate, and wherein the carrier plate robot transfers the carrier plate from the cooling zone to the carrier plate alignment device.

9. The substrate transport system of claim 1, further comprising a tray Optical Character Recognizer (OCR) coupled to the transport region and configured to recognize a number on the tray, and a substrate Optical Character Recognizer (OCR) coupled to the transport region or the substrate pick-and-place region and configured to recognize a number on the substrate.

10. The substrate transport system of claim 1, further comprising a lens coupled to the transport region and configured to capture an image of the blade.