CN210837701U

CN210837701U - Wafer transfer device and semiconductor processing equipment

Info

Publication number: CN210837701U
Application number: CN201921997172.5U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 任春虎
Original assignee: Changxin Memory Technologies Inc
Current assignee: Changxin Memory Technologies Inc
Priority date: 2019-11-19
Filing date: 2019-11-19
Publication date: 2020-06-23
Anticipated expiration: 2029-11-19

Abstract

A wafer transfer device and a semiconductor processing apparatus, the wafer transfer device comprising: a base; one end of the mechanical arm is fixed on the base and can rotate around the base, and the other end of the mechanical arm is provided with a bearing part for placing a wafer; and the electrostatic adsorption component is relatively and fixedly connected with the bearing part and is used for adsorbing the wafer on the surface of the bearing part through electrostatic adsorption force. The wafer conveying device can reduce the risk of wafer breakage.

Description

Wafer transfer device and semiconductor processing equipment

Technical Field

The utility model relates to a semiconductor equipment field especially relates to a wafer conveyer and semiconductor processing equipment.

Background

The interior of a transmission chamber of the semiconductor processing equipment is in a vacuum state, a mechanical arm is arranged in the transmission chamber and used for transmitting wafers, and one end of the mechanical arm is used for placing the wafers. In the prior art, the surface of the end part of the mechanical part is provided with an O-shaped rubber ring, and the wafer is attached to the O-shaped rubber ring. During the wafer transmission process, the mechanical arm can rotate, and the wafer can possibly slip under the action of centrifugal force. The mechanical arm has an acceleration and deceleration action at the beginning and the end of wafer transmission, and the wafer can be separated from the mechanical arm due to inertia to cause a slip sheet because the acceleration time of the mechanical arm is too short.

And the O-shaped rubber ring on the surface of the mechanical arm is aged along with the prolonging of the service time and the increasing of the transmission frequency, so that the friction force between the O-shaped rubber ring and the wafer is reduced, and the wafer is easy to slide.

When the dynamic alignment deviation (dynamic alignment) between the wafer and the robot is too large, the cover plate of the transfer chamber needs to be opened manually for calibration, which increases the manual operability and causes wafer contamination when the wafer is exposed to air, and the wafer can be discarded seriously.

Therefore, how to avoid the wafer from sliding during the transportation process is a problem to be solved.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The utility model aims to solve the technical problem that a wafer conveyer and semiconductor processing equipment are provided, avoid the wafer to take place the gleitbretter in transmission course.

In order to solve the above problem, the utility model provides a wafer conveyer, include: a base; one end of the mechanical arm is fixed on the base and can rotate around the base, and the other end of the mechanical arm is provided with a bearing part which is provided with a bearing surface for placing a wafer; and the electrostatic adsorption component is relatively and fixedly connected with the bearing part and is used for adsorbing the wafer on the surface of the bearing part through electrostatic adsorption force.

Optionally, the electrostatic adsorption component is embedded in the bearing portion.

Optionally, the adsorption surface of the electrostatic adsorption component is flush with the bearing surface of the bearing part.

Optionally, the electrostatic adsorption component comprises at least two electrodes, wherein at least one positive electrode and at least one negative electrode are insulated and isolated from each other.

Optionally, the electrostatic adsorption component comprises two positive electrodes and two negative electrodes, and the positive electrodes and the negative electrodes are arranged at intervals.

Optionally, the negative electrodes are electrically connected with each other, and the positive electrodes are electrically connected with each other.

Optionally, the positive electrode and the negative electrode are circular rings.

Optionally, the bearing surface of the bearing part is circular, and the bearing part is made of an insulating material.

Optionally, the electrostatic adsorption assembly further comprises a power supply, wherein a negative electrode of the power supply is connected to each negative electrode, and a positive electrode of the power supply is connected to each positive electrode, and is used for applying voltage to the positive electrode and the negative electrode.

Optionally, the voltage applied to the positive electrode and the negative electrode ranges from 8mV to 15 mV.

Optionally, the method further includes: a control device, the control device comprising: the device comprises a control module, a signal processing module and a relay; the control module is used for sending the lifting instruction of control arm, signal processing module with control module connects, is used for the analysis lifting instruction sends corresponding rising signal or decline signal to the relay, the relay with signal processing module with the electrostatic absorption subassembly is connected, and when receiving the rising signal, relay control the electrostatic absorption subassembly produces electrostatic absorption power, when receiving the decline signal, relay control the electrostatic absorption subassembly stops producing electrostatic absorption power.

Optionally, the relay is further connected to the base, the base is liftable, and the relay controls the base to ascend when receiving an ascending signal; and when the relay receives a descending signal, the base is controlled to descend.

Optionally, the method further includes: and the alarm device is used for sending an alarm that the relay needs to be replaced when the wafer conveying frequency of the mechanical arm reaches a threshold value.

Optionally, the threshold is greater than or equal to 50000.

In order to solve the above problem, embodiments of the present invention further provide a semiconductor processing apparatus, including: the wafer transfer device of any preceding claim.

The end part of the mechanical arm of the wafer conveying device is provided with the bearing part and the electrostatic adsorption component, so that the wafer can be adsorbed by electrostatic adsorption force, the problems of slip sheets and the like in the transmission process of the wafer can be avoided, the risk of fragment in the working process of the semiconductor processing equipment can be reduced, and the product yield is improved; and the transfer rate can be improved in the process of transferring the wafer, thereby improving the productivity of the semiconductor processing equipment.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a wafer transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic top view of a supporting portion of a wafer transferring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a wafer transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic view of a wafer transfer device according to still another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic view of a wafer transfer apparatus for unloading wafers according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following describes in detail a wafer transfer apparatus and a semiconductor processing apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Please refer to fig. 1, which is a schematic structural diagram of a wafer transfer apparatus having a wafer placed thereon according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The wafer transfer device includes: a base 101; one end of the mechanical arm 102 is fixed on the base 101 and can rotate around the base, and the other end of the mechanical arm 102 is provided with a bearing part 103, wherein the bearing part 103 is provided with a bearing surface for placing a wafer; the electrostatic adsorption component 110 is relatively and fixedly connected with the bearing part 103, and is used for adsorbing the wafer on the surface of the bearing part 103 through electrostatic adsorption force.

The wafer 100 is placed on the surface of the supporting portion 103, and during the wafer transferring process, the electrostatic adsorption element 110 is adsorbed on the surface of the supporting portion 103 by electrostatic adsorption force.

The electrostatic adsorption element 110 may be disposed inside or on the surface of the carrier 103, and the electrostatic adsorption force applied to the surface of the wafer is directed to the surface of the carrier 103.

In this embodiment, the electrostatic adsorption element 110 is embedded in the carrying portion 103, and preferably, an adsorption surface of the electrostatic adsorption element 110 is flush with a carrying surface of the carrying portion 103, so that the carrying surface of the carrying portion 103 is flat and flat, and damage to the surface of the wafer 100 is avoided. In other specific embodiments, the adsorption surface of each electrode of the electrostatic adsorption component 110 may be lower than the surface of the bearing part 103.

The electrostatic adsorption component 110 includes at least two electrodes, at least one of which is a positive electrode 111 and at least one negative electrode 112, and the positive electrode and the negative electrode are insulated and isolated. In this embodiment, the bearing portion 103 is made of an insulating material, such as ceramic, teflon, or the like.

Openings which are positioned in the bearing part 103 or penetrate through the bearing part 103 are arranged in the bearing part 103, adjacent openings are isolated by side walls in the bearing part 103, and each electrode is placed in the opening. The positive electrode 111 and the negative electrode 112 of the electrostatic adsorption component 110 are insulated and isolated by the material of the bearing part 103.

In this embodiment, the electrostatic adsorption component 110 includes two positive electrodes 111 and two negative electrodes 112, and the positive electrodes 111 and the negative electrodes 112 are spaced apart from each other.

Please refer to fig. 2, which is a schematic top view of a carrier and an electrostatic adsorption assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The bearing surface of the bearing part 103 is circular, specifically, the whole bearing part 103 is disc-shaped, the area is large, and the contact area between the bearing part and the wafer can be increased. In other embodiments, the bearing portion 103 may have other shapes, such as a Y shape, a U shape, and the like.

The electrostatic adsorption component 110 comprises a positive electrode 111 and a negative electrode 112, and the positive electrode 111 and the negative electrode 112 are annular and matched with the bearing part 103 in shape. And the negative electrode 111 and the positive electrode 112 are arranged at intervals. The adjacent positive electrodes 111 and negative electrodes 112 are isolated by the insulating side walls of the bearing part 103.

In order to make the potentials of the positive electrodes 111 the same and the potentials of the negative electrodes 112 the same, in this embodiment, the positive electrodes 111 are electrically connected to each other and the negative electrodes 112 are electrically connected to each other. Specifically, the positive electrodes 111 and the negative electrodes are both in a ring shape with openings, the positive electrodes 111 are connected through electrodes penetrating through the openings between the negative electrodes 112, the negative electrodes 112 are connected through electrodes penetrating through the openings between the positive electrodes 111, and the positive electrodes 111 and the negative electrodes 112 are nested with each other. The 2 positive electrodes 111 and the 2 negative electrodes 112 form 2 pairs of positive and negative electrode pairs.

In other specific embodiments, the electrostatic adsorption assembly may further include 1 or more than 3 positive and negative electrode pairs, and the positions and the number of the positive and negative electrode pairs may be set according to the specific shape of the bearing portion 103, which is not limited herein. For example, the electrostatic adsorption component may include a plurality of discrete positive and negative electrode pairs, each positive and negative electrode pair being distributed within the carrier part 103, for example along an edge of the carrier part 103. In other embodiments, the electrodes of different positive and negative electrode pairs may be applied with different voltages, respectively, so as to apply different electrostatic attraction forces to the wafer at different positions.

With continued reference to fig. 1, the electrostatic adsorption component 110 further includes a power source 113, a negative electrode of the power source 113 is connected to each negative electrode 112, and a positive electrode of the power source 113 is connected to each positive electrode 111, for applying a voltage to the positive electrode 111 and the negative electrode 112.

A switch 114 is further arranged on a loop connecting the power supply 113 and each electrode, when a wafer needs to be adsorbed, the switch 114 is turned on, the power supply 113 applies voltage to each electrode, and electrostatic adsorption force is applied to the wafer; when it is desired to drop the wafer, the switch 114 is opened.

In order to avoid the electrostatic attraction force from being too large and damaging the wafer, in some embodiments of the present invention, the voltage applied to the positive electrode 111 and the negative electrode 112 ranges from 8mV to 15mV, i.e., the voltage supplied by the power supply ranges from 8mV to 15 mV.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of a wafer transfer apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the wafer transfer apparatus further includes a control device, and the control device includes: a control module 301, a signal processing module 302 and a relay 303.

The control module 301 is configured to send a lifting instruction for controlling the robot arm. The signal processing module 302 is connected to the control module 301, and configured to analyze the instruction and send a corresponding rising signal or falling signal to the relay. In this embodiment, the signal processing module 302 includes a rising signal processing unit 3021 and a falling signal processing unit 3022. The rising signal processing unit 3021 is configured to analyze the rising instruction and send a rising signal to the relay 303; the descending signal processing unit 3021 is configured to analyze the descending command and send a descending signal to the relay 303. The falling and rising signals may be digital or analog signals, such as current or voltage signal lights.

The relay 303 is connected to the signal processing module 302 and the electrostatic absorption assembly 110, and when receiving an up signal, the relay controls the electrostatic absorption assembly 110 to generate electrostatic absorption force, and when receiving a down signal, the relay controls the electrostatic absorption assembly 110 to stop generating electrostatic absorption force. Specifically, the relay 303 controls the power supply of the electrostatic adsorption component 110 to be connected to each electrode when receiving the rising signal, and disconnects the power supply 113 (please refer to fig. 1) of the electrostatic adsorption component 110 from each electrode when receiving the falling signal. The relay 303 controls the on/off of the power source 113 and each electrode by controlling the on/off of the switch 114 (see fig. 1).

In this specific embodiment, the relay 303 is further connected to the base 101, the base 101 can be lifted, and when receiving the lifting signal, the relay 303 controls the base 101 to lift; when the relay 303 receives a descending signal, it controls the base 101 to descend.

The base 101 ascends or descends to drive the bearing part 103 to ascend or descend.

Referring to fig. 4, when the wafer 400 needs to be adsorbed and transferred, the control module 301 (see fig. 3) sends an ascending command to control the base 101 to drive the supporting portion 103 to ascend and move to a position (e.g., inside the wafer transfer box) below the position of the wafer 400, so that the positive and negative electrodes of the electrostatic adsorption component 110 (see fig. 1) are connected to the power supply to generate electrostatic adsorption force, and the wafer 400 is adsorbed on the supporting portion 103. Then, the robot 102 is controlled to move the carrier 103 having the wafer 400 thereon to a predetermined position.

Referring to fig. 5, when the wafer 400 is transferred to a designated position and the wafer is required to be unloaded, the control module 301 (refer to fig. 3) sends a descending command to control the base 101 to drive the supporting portion 103 to descend and move to a position (for example, inside the wafer transfer box) where the wafer 400 is required to be placed, so as to control the positive and negative electrodes of the electrostatic adsorption element 110 to be disconnected from the power supply, so that the electrostatic adsorption force disappears, and the wafer 400 is adsorbed by the supporting portion 103 and unloaded.

Because the bearing part 103 is circular, the contact area between the bearing part 103 and the wafer 400 is large, and the wafer taking is more stable and reliable. In addition, the wafer 400 is adsorbed on the supporting portion 103 by electrostatic adsorption force, and is not easy to slide during moving, so that the wafer transfer rate can be properly increased, the transfer time can be reduced, and the productivity can be increased.

In the wafer transferring process of the wafer transferring apparatus, the relay 303 is continuously operated, and thus the wafer transferring apparatus is easily damaged. Therefore, in this embodiment, the wafer transfer apparatus further includes an alarm device, and the alarm device may be connected to the control module 301, and is configured to send an alarm that the relay 303 needs to be replaced when the number of times that the robot arm transfers the wafer reaches a threshold value, so as to prevent the relay 303 from being damaged during the operation of the wafer transfer apparatus and affecting the normal operation of the apparatus.

The threshold may be set according to the performance of the relay 303, and preferably, in a specific embodiment, the threshold is greater than or equal to 50000.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a semiconductor processing apparatus having the wafer transfer device according to the above embodiments.

The semiconductor processing equipment can be provided with a wafer transfer chamber, and the wafer transfer equipment is arranged in the wafer transfer chamber and used for transferring wafers among the wafer input/output port and each processing chamber of the equipment.

The utility model discloses improve wafer conveyer's arm end, set up a bearing part at the arm end, and the bearing part can adsorb the wafer through electrostatic adsorption power, can avoid the wafer to take place gleitbretter scheduling problem in the transmission course, thereby can reduce the broken piece risk in the semiconductor processing equipment working process, improve the product yield; and the transfer rate can be improved in the process of transferring the wafer, thereby improving the productivity of the semiconductor processing equipment.

The foregoing is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and it should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, a plurality of improvements and decorations can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention, and these improvements and decorations should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A wafer transfer apparatus, comprising:

a base;

one end of the mechanical arm is fixed on the base and can rotate around the base, and the other end of the mechanical arm is provided with a bearing part which is provided with a bearing surface for placing a wafer;

and the electrostatic adsorption component is relatively and fixedly connected with the bearing part and is used for adsorbing the wafer on the surface of the bearing part through electrostatic adsorption force.

2. The wafer transfer device of claim 1, wherein the electrostatic chuck component is embedded in the carrier portion.

3. The wafer transfer device of claim 1, wherein the suction surface of the electrostatic suction component is flush with the carrier surface of the carrier.

4. The wafer transfer device of claim 1, wherein the electrostatic clamping assembly comprises at least two electrodes, at least one positive electrode and at least one negative electrode, and the positive electrode and the negative electrode are isolated from each other.

5. The wafer transfer device of claim 4, wherein the electrostatic clamping assembly comprises two positive electrodes and two negative electrodes, the positive electrodes and the negative electrodes being spaced apart from each other.

6. The wafer transfer device of claim 5, wherein each of the negative electrodes are electrically connected to each other and each of the positive electrodes are electrically connected to each other.

7. The wafer transfer device of claim 5, wherein the positive and negative electrodes are circular.

8. The wafer conveying device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the carrying surface of the carrying part is circular, and the carrying part is made of insulating material.

9. The wafer transfer device of claim 4, wherein the electrostatic clamping assembly further comprises a power source having a negative electrode connected to each of the negative electrodes and a positive electrode connected to each of the positive electrodes for applying a voltage to the positive and negative electrodes.

10. The wafer transfer device of claim 9, wherein the voltage applied to the positive electrode and the negative electrode is in a range of 8mV to 15 mV.

11. The wafer transfer device of claim 1, further comprising: a control device, the control device comprising: the device comprises a control module, a signal processing module and a relay; the control module is used for sending the lifting instruction of control arm, signal processing module with control module connects, is used for the analysis lifting instruction sends corresponding rising signal or decline signal to the relay, the relay with signal processing module with the electrostatic absorption subassembly is connected, and when receiving the rising signal, relay control the electrostatic absorption subassembly produces electrostatic absorption power, when receiving the decline signal, relay control the electrostatic absorption subassembly stops producing electrostatic absorption power.

12. The wafer conveying device according to claim 11, wherein the relay is further connected to the base, the base can be lifted, and the relay controls the base to ascend when receiving an ascending signal; and when the relay receives a descending signal, the base is controlled to descend.

13. The wafer transfer device of claim 11, further comprising: and the alarm device is used for sending an alarm that the relay needs to be replaced when the wafer conveying frequency of the mechanical arm reaches a threshold value.

14. The wafer transfer device of claim 13, wherein the threshold is 50000 or greater.

15. A semiconductor processing apparatus, comprising: the wafer transfer device of any of claims 1-14.