CN213470572U - Wafer grinding equipment with mobile manipulator - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model discloses a wafer grinding equipment with remove manipulator, include: the equipment comprises an equipment front-end module, a grinding module, a polishing module and a mobile transmission module, wherein the mobile transmission module is used for transmitting wafers, is arranged in parallel with the polishing module and is positioned between the front-end module and the grinding module; the mobile transmission module comprises a mobile storage platform and a mobile manipulator, the mobile storage platform is used for conveying the wafer from a first position close to the front end module of the equipment to a second position close to the grinding module and conveying the wafer back to the first position from the second position, and the mobile manipulator is used for receiving the dried wafer from the front end module of the equipment and placing the dried wafer on the mobile storage platform so as to avoid polluting the wafer and reduce the time for transferring the wafer between different modules, thereby improving the capacity of the equipment.

Description

Wafer grinding equipment with mobile manipulator

Technical Field

The utility model relates to a wafer grinding technical field especially relates to a wafer grinding equipment with remove manipulator.

Background

In the semiconductor industry, electronic circuits such as ICs (Integrated circuits) and LSIs (Large Scale Integrated circuits) are formed on the surface of a semiconductor wafer to manufacture semiconductor chips. Before the wafer is divided into semiconductor chips, the back surface of the wafer on the opposite side of the device surface on which the electronic circuits are formed is ground to a predetermined thickness.

At present, in wafer grinding, a process of transmitting a dry and clean wafer from an equipment front end module to a grinding module and a process of transmitting an unprocessed wafer with grinding fluid, grinding particles and other pollutants on the surface after grinding from the grinding module to a polishing module both pass through the same transmission medium, so that the wafer is polluted, and a device for realizing transmission has a complex structure and long transmission time, and the equipment capacity is influenced.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The embodiment of the utility model provides a wafer grinding equipment with remove manipulator aims at solving one of the technical problem that exists among the prior art at least.

The embodiment of the utility model provides a wafer grinding equipment with remove manipulator, include:

the equipment front end module is used for realizing the in and out of the wafer and is arranged at the front end of the wafer grinding equipment;

the grinding module is used for grinding the wafer, the grinding comprises rough grinding and fine grinding, and the grinding module is arranged at the tail end of the wafer grinding equipment;

the polishing module is used for carrying out chemical mechanical polishing on the wafer by utilizing a bearing head capable of adjusting loading pressure in a partition mode according to the thickness distribution of the wafer after the grinding is finished, and the polishing module is arranged between the equipment front-end module and the grinding module; and

the mobile transmission module is used for transmitting the wafer, is arranged in parallel with the polishing module and is positioned between the front-end module and the grinding module;

the mobile transmission module comprises a mobile storage platform and a mobile manipulator, the mobile storage platform is used for conveying the wafer from a first position close to the front end module of the equipment to a second position close to the grinding module and conveying the wafer back to the first position from the second position, and the mobile manipulator is used for receiving the dried wafer from the front end module of the equipment and placing the dried wafer on the mobile storage platform so as to avoid polluting the wafer and reduce the time for transferring the wafer between different modules, thereby improving the capacity of the equipment.

In one embodiment, the mobile manipulator comprises a horizontal moving mechanism, a supporting plate, a vertical moving mechanism, a clamping assembly, a first connecting plate, a guide rail and a sliding block for sliding fit with the guide rail;

the fixing seat of the horizontal moving mechanism is fixed on the inner wall of the wafer grinding equipment, the horizontal moving end of the horizontal moving mechanism is fixedly connected with the supporting plate, the vertical moving mechanism is fixed on the supporting plate, and the vertical moving end of the vertical moving mechanism is connected with the clamping assembly through the first connecting plate, so that the horizontal moving mechanism drives the vertical moving mechanism to move horizontally through the supporting plate and drives the clamping assembly to move vertically through the first connecting plate, and the clamping assembly has two degrees of freedom in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction; the clamping assembly is located on one side of the vertical moving mechanism, a guide rail which is installed on the supporting plate and is in the vertical direction is arranged on the other side of the vertical moving mechanism, and the sliding block is fixedly connected with the vertical moving end of the vertical moving mechanism so as to limit the moving direction of the vertical moving end of the vertical moving mechanism.

In one embodiment, the clamping assembly comprises a clamping cylinder, a first clamping jaw connecting piece, a second clamping jaw and a second clamping jaw connecting piece, wherein the first clamping jaw is connected with a first movable end of the clamping cylinder through the first clamping jaw connecting piece, the second clamping jaw is connected with a second movable end of the clamping cylinder through the second clamping jaw connecting piece, and therefore the clamping cylinder drives the first clamping jaw and the second clamping jaw to move in the opposite direction or in the opposite direction so as to clamp or loosen a wafer.

In one embodiment, the moving manipulator further includes a limiting buffer assembly, the limiting buffer assembly includes a first limiting member, a buffer bolt and a second limiting member, the first limiting member is installed on the supporting plate, the second limiting member is located right below the first limiting member and installed on the first connecting plate, the buffer bolt is fixed on the first limiting member, and a buffer end of the buffer bolt is arranged downward to buffer and limit during the process that the vertical moving mechanism drives the clamping assembly to ascend through the first connecting plate.

In one embodiment, the mobile robot is provided with a wafer detection sensor positioned above the clamping assembly.

In one embodiment, the mobile robot further comprises a static eliminator mounted on the support plate, the static eliminator being positioned above the clamping assembly to eject negative ions toward the wafer positioned therebelow.

In one embodiment, the mobile robot further comprises a cable protection chain.

In one embodiment, the mobile storage platform comprises a wafer centering mechanism and a transmission mechanism, wherein the wafer centering mechanism is used for adjusting the position of a wafer, and the transmission mechanism is connected with the wafer centering mechanism to drive the wafer centering mechanism to move;

the wafer centering mechanism comprises a fixed table, a rotary driving mechanism, a flexible coupling, a bevel gear assembly, a preset number of ball screw assemblies and a preset number of movable clamping assemblies;

the ball screw assemblies are uniformly arranged on the fixed table in the circumferential direction, the ball screw assemblies are arranged in the horizontal direction, the linear moving ends of the ball screw assemblies are connected with the movable clamping assemblies, the ball screw assemblies are positioned on the periphery of the bevel gear assemblies, the rotating ends of the ball screw assemblies are fixedly connected with the bevel gear assemblies, and the bevel gear assemblies are fixedly connected with a rotary driving mechanism positioned below the bevel gear assemblies through flexible couplings;

the rotary driving mechanism applies torque to the flexible coupling, so that the bevel gear assemblies transmit rotating force to each ball screw assembly respectively, the ball screw assemblies convert the rotating force into linear motion, and the linear motion extension line directions of the preset number of ball screw assemblies intersect at the same point to drive the preset number of movable clamping assemblies to horizontally and synchronously move along the directions close to each other so as to clamp and fix the wafer at the preset position.

In one embodiment, the mobile transmission module further comprises a wafer thickness detection mechanism, and the wafer thickness detection mechanism is arranged between the mobile cache part and the equipment front-end module.

In one embodiment, the front end module of the equipment comprises a wafer storage unit positioned at the front end of the equipment and a wafer taking and placing manipulator used for taking out wafers;

the polishing module comprises a chemical mechanical polishing unit, a central manipulator, a horizontal brushing device and a single-cavity cleaning device;

the central manipulator is respectively adjacent to the mobile transmission module, the horizontal brushing device, the single-cavity cleaning device and the chemical mechanical polishing unit; the horizontal brushing device is respectively adjacent to the mobile transmission module and the single-cavity cleaning device along the width direction of the wafer grinding equipment, and the horizontal brushing device is respectively adjacent to the central manipulator and the wafer taking and placing manipulator along the length direction of the wafer grinding equipment; the single-cavity cleaning device is respectively adjacent to the chemical mechanical polishing unit and the wafer taking and placing manipulator along the length direction of the wafer grinding equipment.

The utility model discloses beneficial effect includes: the wafer can be prevented from being polluted, and the time for transferring the wafer among different modules is reduced, so that the equipment productivity is improved.

Drawings

The advantages of the invention will become clearer and more easily understood from the detailed description given with reference to the following drawings, which are given purely by way of illustration and do not limit the scope of protection of the invention, wherein:

fig. 1 is a schematic view of a wafer grinding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic view of a wafer grinding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic view of a wafer grinding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic view of a mobile manipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic view of a mobile manipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of an operation of a mobile manipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 and fig. 8 are schematic views of a claw structure of a mobile manipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 to 11 are schematic views of a claw structure of a mobile manipulator according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 and 13 are schematic views of a wafer centering mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following embodiments and accompanying drawings. The embodiments described herein are specific embodiments of the present invention and are provided to illustrate the concepts of the present invention; the description is intended to be illustrative and exemplary and should not be taken to limit the scope of the invention. In addition to the embodiments described herein, those skilled in the art will be able to employ other technical solutions which are obvious based on the disclosure of the claims and the specification thereof, and these technical solutions include technical solutions which make any obvious replacement or modification of the embodiments described herein. It is to be understood that, unless otherwise specified, the following descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention are made for ease of understanding in a natural state where the relevant devices, apparatuses, components, etc. are originally at rest and are not given external control signals and driving forces.

Further, it is also noted that terms used herein such as front, back, up, down, left, right, top, bottom, front, back, horizontal, vertical, and the like, to denote orientation, are used merely for convenience of description to facilitate understanding of relative positions or orientations, and are not intended to limit the orientation of any device or structure.

In order to explain the technical solution of the present invention, the following description is made by using specific examples.

Fig. 1 to fig. 3 show a wafer grinding apparatus with a mobile robot 9 according to an embodiment of the present invention, including:

the equipment front end module 1 is used for realizing the in and out of the wafer, and the equipment front end module 1 is arranged at the front end of the wafer grinding equipment. The equipment front-end module 1 is a transition module for carrying the wafer from the outside to the inside of the equipment machine, and is used for realizing the entrance and exit of the wafer so as to realize the dry entrance and dry exit of the wafer.

The grinding module 2 is used for grinding the wafer, the grinding comprises rough grinding and fine grinding, and the grinding module 2 is arranged at the tail end of the wafer grinding equipment;

the polishing module 3 is used for carrying out chemical mechanical polishing on the wafer by utilizing a bearing head capable of adjusting loading pressure in a partition mode according to the thickness distribution of the wafer after the grinding is finished, and the polishing module 3 is arranged between the equipment front-end module 1 and the grinding module 2; and

a mobile transmission module 7 for wafer transmission, which is arranged in parallel with the polishing module 3 and is positioned between the front end module and the grinding module 2;

wherein the mobile transfer module 7 comprises a mobile storage station 8 and a mobile robot 9, the mobile storage station 8 is used for transporting the wafer from a first position close to the equipment front end module 1 to a second position close to the grinding module 2 and back from the second position to the first position, and the mobile robot 9 is used for receiving the dried wafer from the equipment front end module 1 and placing the dried wafer on the mobile storage station 8 to avoid contaminating the wafer and reduce the time for transferring the wafer between different modules so as to improve the equipment productivity.

As shown in fig. 1, the front end module 1 includes a wafer storage unit 1-1 at the front end of the apparatus and a pick-and-place robot 1-2 for picking up wafers.

As shown in fig. 1, the polishing module 3 includes a chemical mechanical polishing unit 3-1, a central robot 3-2, a horizontal brushing device 3-3, and a single chamber cleaning device 3-4.

In one embodiment, the horizontal brushing arrangement 3-3 comprises: the wafer fixing component is used for horizontally supporting and fixing the wafer; the wafer fixing assembly comprises a fixing seat and a plurality of supporting rollers arranged on the fixing seat, wherein the supporting rollers are matched for operation so as to horizontally support the edge of the wafer and drive the wafer to horizontally rotate along the circumferential direction; the first horizontal cleaning brush can rotate around a central axis in the horizontal direction so as to horizontally clean the front surface of the wafer; the second horizontal cleaning brush can rotate around the central axis in the horizontal direction to horizontally clean the back of the wafer; the pressure detection assembly is used for detecting whether pressures applied to the wafer by the first horizontal cleaning brush and the second horizontal cleaning brush are symmetrical; the cleaning brush movement assembly is used for adjusting the moving position and the moving posture of the first horizontal cleaning brush and/or the second horizontal cleaning brush when the pressure detection assembly detects that the pressure is asymmetric so as to enable the pressure to be symmetric; and the cleaning tank is used for accommodating the wafer fixing assembly, the first horizontal cleaning brush and the second horizontal cleaning brush and immersing the wafer in the cleaning liquid. The horizontal brushing device 3-3 horizontally supports the wafer by using the supporting roller and drives the wafer to horizontally rotate along the circumferential direction, and meanwhile, the first horizontal cleaning brush and the second horizontal cleaning brush are respectively attached to the surface of the wafer in the upper direction and the lower direction to rotate, and the cleaning solution is matched to brush and remove pollutants on the surface of the wafer.

As shown in FIG. 1, the central robot 3-2 is adjacent to the mobile transfer module 7, the horizontal brushing apparatus 3-3, the single chamber cleaning apparatus 3-4, and the chemical mechanical polishing unit 3-1, respectively; the horizontal brushing device 3-3 is respectively adjacent to the mobile transmission module 7 and the single-cavity cleaning device 3-4 along the width direction of the wafer grinding equipment, and the horizontal brushing device 3-3 is respectively adjacent to the central manipulator 3-2 and the wafer taking and placing manipulator 1-2 along the length direction of the wafer grinding equipment; the single-cavity cleaning device 3-4 is respectively adjacent to the chemical mechanical polishing unit 3-1 and the wafer taking and placing manipulator 1-2 along the length direction of the wafer grinding equipment.

Figure 2 shows the position of the mobile robot 9 when the mobile robot 9 receives a wafer from the wafer pick-and-place robot 1-2 of the equipment front-end module 1. Fig. 3 shows a position where the transfer robot 9 is located when the transfer robot 9 places a wafer on the transfer table 8.

The embodiment of the utility model provides a, utilize removal manipulator 9 to replace fixed wafer and place the platform, dry clean wafer is from the piece manipulator 1-2 of getting of equipment front end module 1 and directly transmit to removal storage station 8 through removal manipulator 9, need not to transport through central robot 3-2, has shortened the transmission time of dry clean wafer, has improved equipment productivity; and, after adopting this scheme, central authorities 'manipulator 3-2 only is used for transporting the wafer after grinding to chemical mechanical polishing unit 3-1 from removing the storage platform 8, and central authorities' manipulator 3-2 does not contact with dry clean wafer promptly, and central authorities 'manipulator 3-2 no longer need be divided into dry, wet manipulator, can use the manipulator of general structure, has simplified structure and action, can avoid two manipulators to interfere, prevents to take place transmission fault because of interfering, has still reduced central authorities' manipulator 3-2 height.

Fig. 4 shows a state after the transfer robot 9 is lifted up, and fig. 5 shows a state after the transfer robot 9 is lowered down. Fig. 6 is a simplified schematic diagram showing the transfer robot 9 ascending and then receiving the wafer w from the pick-and-place robot 1-2, and the transfer robot 9 descending and then placing the wafer w on the transfer table 8.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the transfer robot 9 includes a horizontal transfer mechanism 91, a support plate 92, a vertical transfer mechanism 93, a gripper assembly 94, a first connection plate 95, a guide rail 96, and a slider 97 for slidably engaging with the guide rail 96;

a fixed seat of the horizontal moving mechanism 91 is fixed on the inner wall of the wafer w grinding equipment, a supporting plate 92 is fixedly connected with the horizontal moving end of the horizontal moving mechanism 91, a vertical moving mechanism 93 is fixed on the supporting plate 92, and the vertical moving end of the vertical moving mechanism 93 is connected with a clamping component 94 through a first connecting plate 95, so that the horizontal moving mechanism 91 drives the vertical moving mechanism 93 to move horizontally through the supporting plate 92 and the vertical moving mechanism 93 drives the clamping component 94 to move vertically through the first connecting plate 95, and the clamping component 94 has two degrees of freedom in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction; the clamping assembly 94 is located at one side of the vertical moving mechanism 93, the other side of the vertical moving mechanism 93 is provided with a guide rail 96 which is installed on the support plate 92 and is along the vertical direction, and the slider 97 is fixedly connected with the vertical moving end of the vertical moving mechanism 93 so as to limit the moving direction of the vertical moving end of the vertical moving mechanism 93.

Specifically, the horizontal moving mechanism 91 is a linear motor, and the vertical moving mechanism 93 is a lifting cylinder.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the lifting cylinder, a guide rail 96 is mounted on the support plate 92, the guide rail 96 functions to increase the stability and rigidity of the lifting cylinder in the vertical movement direction, and the coupling between the guide rail 96 and the lifting cylinder is achieved by a slider 97. The upper end of the first connection plate 95 is connected to the lifting cylinder, and the lower end of the first connection plate 95 is connected to the clamping assembly 94.

As shown in fig. 5, the clamping assembly 94 includes a clamping cylinder 941, a first jaw 942, a first jaw connector 943, a second jaw 944 and a second jaw connector 945, the first jaw 942 is connected to the first movable end of the clamping cylinder 941 through the first jaw connector 943, the second jaw 944 is connected to the second movable end of the clamping cylinder 941 through the second jaw connector 945, so that the clamping cylinder 941 can drive the first jaw 942 and the second jaw 944 to move toward or away from each other to clamp or release the wafer w.

The material of first jaw 942 and second jaw 944 is preferably a resin material, and more preferably Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) with high rigidity.

As shown in fig. 7 and 8, as an embodiment, the inner side surface of the first claw 942 contacting with the wafer w is provided with a step structure for lifting the wafer w, and similarly, the inner side surface of the second claw 944 contacting with the wafer w is provided with a symmetrical step structure.

As another alternative, as shown in fig. 9 to 11, the inner side surface of the first claw 942 contacting the wafer w is provided with a groove for catching the wafer w. The groove is arc-shaped, and the radius of the arc is 1.5 to 2mm, preferably 1.8 mm. Similarly, symmetrical grooves are formed in the inner side surface of the second claw 944, which is in contact with the wafer w.

As shown in fig. 5, in one embodiment, the moving manipulator 9 further includes a limiting buffer assembly 98, the limiting buffer assembly 98 includes a first limiting member 981, a buffer bolt 982 and a second limiting member 983, the first limiting member 981 is installed on the supporting plate 92, the second limiting member 983 is located right below the first limiting member 981 and installed on the first connecting plate 95, the buffer bolt 982 is fixed on the first limiting member 981, and a buffer end of the buffer bolt is disposed downward to buffer and limit the vertical moving mechanism 93 in a process of driving the clamping assembly 94 to ascend through the first connecting plate 95.

As shown in fig. 5, in one embodiment, the transfer robot 9 is provided with a wafer detection sensor 901 above the clamping assembly 94. Specifically, the wafer detection sensor 901 may employ a laser reflection sensor.

In another embodiment, the wafer detecting sensor 901 may also be a laser correlation sensor, and two detecting heads of the laser correlation sensor are respectively installed above the wafer w and below the wafer w to transmit and receive laser light therebetween. For some special plate-shaped workpieces, such as workpieces with small surface roughness and smoothness, since part of light is scattered by the surface refraction effect and the amount of light reflected back is greatly reduced, the wafer w cannot be detected by the sensor, and the problem can be solved by using the laser correlation sensor.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, in one embodiment, the mobile robot 9 further includes a static eliminator 902 mounted on the support plate 92, the static eliminator 902 being located above the clamping assembly 94 to eject negative ions toward the wafer w located therebelow.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, in one embodiment, the mobile manipulator 9 further comprises a cable protection chain 903.

The embodiment of the utility model provides a remove manipulator 9 has following technological effect: the mobile manipulator 9 has two degrees of freedom and flexible motion; the wafer w is clamped by the movable manipulator 9, so that the risk of wafer falling in the movement process can be eliminated, and the process of transporting the wafer w from the equipment front-end module 1 to the movable storage table 8 is reliably realized; the claw structure of the manipulator ensures that no risk of falling sheets exists in the high-speed moving process, and the efficiency and the safety can be improved; by arranging the wafer detection sensor 901, the situation of chip falling or fragments in the transportation process which may occur in the interaction process is detected in time; by providing the static eliminator 902, the risk of wafer breakdown due to static buildup is eliminated.

In one embodiment, the mobile transmission module 7 further comprises a wafer thickness detection mechanism, and the wafer thickness detection mechanism is arranged between the mobile cache part and the equipment front end module 1.

As shown in fig. 1, the mobile storage station 8 includes a wafer centering mechanism 100 and a transmission mechanism 200, the wafer centering mechanism 100 is used for adjusting the wafer position, and the transmission mechanism 200 is connected to the wafer centering mechanism 100 to drive the wafer centering mechanism 100 to move.

As shown in fig. 12 and 13, the wafer centering mechanism 100 includes a fixed stage 10, a rotary drive mechanism 20, a flexible coupling 60, a bevel gear assembly 30, a predetermined number of ball screw assemblies 40, and a predetermined number of moving gripper assemblies 50.

The preset number of ball screw assemblies 40 are uniformly installed on the fixed table 10 along the circumferential direction, the ball screw assemblies 40 are arranged along the horizontal direction, the linear motion ends of the ball screw assemblies 40 are connected with the movable clamping assembly 50, the ball screw assemblies 40 are located on the periphery of the bevel gear assembly 30, the rotating ends of the ball screw assemblies 40 are fixedly connected with the bevel gear assembly 30, and the bevel gear assembly 30 is fixedly connected with the rotary driving mechanism 20 located below the bevel gear assembly through the flexible coupling 60.

The ball screw assemblies 40 are connected with the movable clamping assemblies 50 in a one-to-one correspondence.

In this embodiment, the working principle of the wafer centering mechanism 100 is as follows: the rotation driving mechanism 20 applies a torque to the flexible coupling 60 to transmit a rotation force to each ball screw assembly 40 through the bevel gear assembly 30, the ball screw assemblies 40 convert the rotation force into linear motion, and the extension line directions of the linear motions of the predetermined number of ball screw assemblies 40 intersect at the same point to drive the predetermined number of movable clamping assemblies 50 to horizontally and synchronously move in the direction of approaching each other so as to clamp and fix the wafer at the predetermined position.

The present embodiment utilizes the flexible coupling 60 to precisely transmit torque to control the clamping force on the wafer.

As shown in fig. 12 and 13, the directions of the extension lines of the linear motions of the predetermined number of ball screw assemblies 40 intersect at a reference circle center point, the screw rods 41 of the ball screw assemblies 40 are arranged along the radius direction of the reference circle, and the distance from each screw rod 41 to the reference circle center point is the same, and the distance from each movable clamping assembly 50 to the reference circle center point is also the same, that is, each movable clamping assembly 50 is installed at the same position on the ball screw assembly 40.

The preset position for clamping and fixing the wafer is the central position of the center of the wafer and the reference center point which are positioned in the same vertical line.

In addition, the present embodiment also enables a predetermined number of the movable clamping assemblies 50 to move in a direction away from each other, thereby releasing the wafer.

It is understood that the number of the ball screw assemblies 40 and the movable clamping assemblies 50 is only required to be greater than or equal to 3 to reliably clamp the wafer to the predetermined position. As one possible embodiment, the wafer centering mechanism 100 includes 6 ball screw assemblies 40 and 6 moving gripper assemblies 50, as shown in fig. 12. The included angle between two adjacent screw rods 41 is 60 degrees.

The embodiment of the utility model provides an adopt rotary driving mechanism 20 as the power supply, utilize bevel gear subassembly 30 conversion direction of rotation to drive ball screw subassembly 40 and drive removal clamping component 50 and remove with the fixed wafer of centre gripping, can make and remove clamping component 50 and have longer stroke, be applicable to not unidimensional wafer, for example from 4 cun wafers to 16 cun wafers all can adopt the embodiment of the utility model provides a wafer centering mechanism 100 realizes the position adjustment.

As shown in fig. 13, in one embodiment, the bevel gear assembly 30 includes a drive bevel gear 31 and a preset number of driven bevel gears 32 uniformly distributed over the drive bevel gear 31 along a circumferential direction thereof and engaged with the drive bevel gear 31;

the upper end of the rotary driving mechanism 20 is connected to the drive bevel gear 31 such that the drive bevel gear 31 rotates in a vertical direction to drive a predetermined number of the driven bevel gears 32 to rotate in a horizontal direction, and the driven bevel gears 32 are connected to the ball screw assemblies 40 arranged in the horizontal direction.

In this embodiment, the drive bevel gear 31 and the driven bevel gear 32 move in cooperation to convert the rotation direction.

As shown in fig. 13, in one embodiment, the ball screw assembly 40 includes a screw 41, a nut 42, a first bearing 43, and a second bearing 44;

the screw rod 41 is placed along the horizontal direction, one end of the screw rod 41 passes through the first bearing 43 and extends into the central hole of the driven bevel gear 32 so as to be fixedly connected with the driven bevel gear 32, one end of the screw rod 41 is installed on the fixed platform 10 through the first bearing 43, the other end of the screw rod 41 passes through the second bearing 44 and is installed on the fixed platform 10 through the second bearing 44, and the middle part of the screw rod 41 is provided with a nut 42 in threaded fit with the screw rod 41; the lengthwise extensions of the predetermined number of screw rods 41 intersect at the same point.

The length of the screw 41 can be selected according to the radius size of the wafer, and the screw is suitable for wafers with various sizes.

The embodiment adopts the ball screw transmission, has high positioning precision and long stroke, and can be compatible with wafers of various sizes.

As shown in fig. 12, in one embodiment, the fixing table 10 includes a first support plate 11, a second support plate 12 located below the first support plate 11, and a bracket 13 for fixedly connecting the first support plate 11 and the second support plate 12;

the first support plate 11 is provided with a central through hole for receiving the bevel gear assembly 30 and a predetermined number of bar-shaped grooves disposed around the central through hole. A predetermined number of driven bevel gears 32 pass through the central through-hole. The bar-shaped groove is used for placing the screw rod 41, a first through hole for allowing one end of the screw rod 41 to pass through is arranged at a part of the first support plate 11, which is positioned between the bar-shaped groove and the central through hole, the first bearing 43 is fixedly arranged in the first through hole, a second through hole for allowing the other end of the screw rod 41 to pass through is arranged at a part of the first support plate 11, which is positioned between the edge of the first support plate and the bar-shaped groove, and the second bearing 44 is fixedly arranged in the second through hole.

In one embodiment, the fixed platen 10 further has a platform 14 for supporting the wafer, and the platform 14 is located between a predetermined number of the movable clamping assemblies 50. The platform 14 is a plastic material, such as POM (polyoxymethylene) plastic. The upper surface of the platform 14 is coated with a hydrophobic coating to prevent contaminants from collecting on the surface.

As shown in fig. 12, in one embodiment, the movable clamping assembly 50 includes a guide rail 51 disposed parallel to the screw rod 41 and a slide block 52 slidably engaged with the guide rail 51, and the slide block 52 is fixedly connected to the nut 42 of the ball screw assembly 40 to move linearly along the guide rail 51 under the driving of the ball screw assembly 40. The guide rail 51 is fixedly installed on the first support plate 11. The rotation of the screw 41 drives the slide block 52 to move along the guide rail 51 radially towards the platform 14 via the nut 42.

In addition, the slider 52 is provided with a stopper 56 for pushing and holding the wafer. In order to avoid a reduction in the centering accuracy due to the difference in the modulus of elasticity between the different stoppers 56, the material hardness of the stoppers 56 is increased, and preferably, the stoppers 56 are PTFE plastic (polytetrafluoroethylene). In addition, a flexible coupling 60 is provided between the rotary drive mechanism 20 and the bevel gear assembly 30 to eliminate the difference between the six stops 56, and the clamping force is controlled by the flexible coupling 60.

As shown in fig. 12, in one embodiment, the slider 52 includes a support portion 53 for fixedly connecting with the nut 42, an extension portion 54 extending from the support portion 53 in a direction perpendicular to the lead screw, and an engaging portion 55 located below the extension portion 54 for engaging with the guide rail 51 to slide on the guide rail 51.

In one embodiment, the upper surface of the support 53 is coated with a hydrophobic coating to prevent contaminants from collecting on the surface. The material of the hydrophobic coating may be parylene or teflon.

In one embodiment, the support portion 53 has a step above the upper surface of the extension portion 54, the step serving to support the wafer.

In order to prevent the wafer from being contaminated during the transportation process and affecting the subsequent process, the wafer centering mechanism 100 provided in this embodiment is applied to wafer grinding, and it is required that the supporting portion 53 and the platform 14 contacting the surface of the wafer cannot gather contaminants and cannot generate crystal or metal ion contamination, and preferably, a hydrophobic coating formed by parylene or teflon is coated on the upper surface of the platform 14 and the upper surface of the supporting portion 53, so as to perform a cleaning and maintenance operation on the wafer centering mechanism 100 according to the present invention.

As shown in fig. 12, in one embodiment, the stopper 56 includes a first baffle 57 extending upward from the upper surface of the support 53 and a second baffle 58 extending from the upper end of the first baffle 57 toward the direction of clamping the wafer, and a clamping groove 59 is formed between the first baffle 57, the second baffle 58 and the upper surface of the support 53 for fixing the wafer. The height h of the clamping groove 59 should be larger than the thickness of the wafer, and the preferred height h is 4-5 mm.

In one embodiment, the side of the stop 56 for abutting against the wafer is provided with a pressure sensor for detecting the clamping force for clamping the wafer to prevent the wafer from being broken due to excessive clamping force.

In one embodiment, the rotary driving mechanism 20 may be implemented by a servo motor, the rotary driving mechanism 20 is connected to a controller, and the controller receives an encoded value output by an encoder of the servo motor and controls a rotation angle of the rotary driving mechanism 20 according to the encoded value to control the movable clamping assembly 50 to move from the initial position by a predetermined distance, so that the movable clamping assembly 50 can just clamp and fix the wafer without an excessive clamping force. The preset positions in the wafer pairs with different sizes can be stored in the controller by utilizing the encoder of the servo motor, and the controller can directly call the parameters corresponding to the wafers with different sizes, namely, the wafers with different sizes can be switched and clamped without changing any mechanical part.

The rotary driving mechanism 20 can precisely control the rotation angle of the bevel gear assembly 30 through an encoder, so as to precisely control the position of the slide block 52; it can be understood that the stop position of the servo motor is preset so that the stopper 56 can just center the wafer without applying too high clamping force, and the introduction of the stopper 56 with elasticity can precisely control the pressing amount of the wafer on the side surface of the stopper 56, that is, the deformation amount of the side surface of the stopper 56, preferably, the deformation amount is between 0.2 mm and 0.5mm, thereby controlling the clamping force.

In the embodiment, the servo motor is used as a power source to drive the bevel gear assembly 30, so that high-precision synchronous motion can be realized, and in addition, the servo motor can be used for accurately controlling the moving position of the movable clamping assembly 50, so that the clamping force on the wafer is controlled.

The following describes 2 embodiments of the flexible coupling 60 provided by the present invention.

As shown in fig. 13, in one embodiment, the flexible coupling 60 includes an outer shaft 61, an inner shaft 62, a torsion spring 63, and a first ball bearing 64;

a torsion spring 63 is arranged in the hollow cavity of the outer shaft 61, and two ends of the torsion spring 63 are respectively connected with the outer shaft 61 and the inner shaft 62 so as to transmit torque between the outer shaft 61 and the inner shaft 62 through torsion of the torsion spring 63; the opening of the outer shaft 61 is connected to the inner shaft 62 by a first ball bearing 64 to allow relative movement between the outer shaft 61 and the inner shaft 62.

The outer shaft 61 and the inner shaft 62 are connected to the rotary drive mechanism 20 and the bevel gear assembly 30, respectively.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 13, the top end of the outer shaft 61 is connected to the drive bevel gear 31, the inner top end of the hollow cavity of the outer shaft 61 is connected to one end of the torsion spring 63, the bottom end opening of the outer shaft 61 is connected to the outer ring of the first ball bearing 64, the upper end of the inner shaft 62 is connected to the inner ring of the first ball bearing 64 and extends into the hollow cavity of the outer shaft 61 through the bottom end opening of the outer shaft 61 to be connected to the other end of the torsion spring 63, and the lower end of the inner shaft 62 is connected to the rotary drive mechanism 20. It will be appreciated that the up and down positions of the outer shaft 61 and the inner shaft 62 shown in fig. 13 can be reversed, i.e., the inner shaft 62 is connected with the drive bevel gear 31 and the outer shaft 61 is connected with the rotary drive mechanism 20, to achieve the same technical effect.

As shown in fig. 13, when the servo motor rotates, the inner shaft 62 is rotated, and the load of the outer shaft 61 is higher than the resistance of the first ball bearing 64, so that the inner shaft 62 rotates and the torsion spring 63 twists, and the torsion spring 63 transmits the torque to the outer shaft 61 to rotate the outer shaft 61, thereby achieving the normal operation of the wafer centering mechanism 100. Preferably, the torsion spring 63 has an elastic constant of 1 to 1.4 Nx mm/deg.

After the wafer is clamped by the stopper 56 to achieve centering, the controller may control the servo motor to rotate by a certain angle to apply a certain amount of torque to the torsion spring 63, and the certain amount of torque is transmitted through the bevel gear assembly 30 and the ball screw assembly 40 and applied to the stopper 56, and is converted into a clamping force for the wafer.

The embodiment of the utility model provides a wafer centering mechanism 100, through ball screw subassembly 40 and bevel gear subassembly 30 transmission, can guarantee mechanical component uniformity, realize the synchronous high accuracy motion of a plurality of removal centre gripping subassemblies 50, the accurate control wafer centering position, the position precision can promote to 0.02 mm; the power source uses a servo motor, and can be compatible with wafers of various sizes; the flexible coupling 60 is used as a flexible link for wafer centering clamping transmission, and the precise angle adjustment of the servo motor is combined, so that the wafer position deviation caused by the size and material characteristic difference of the slide block 52 can be eliminated, the precise and controllable clamping force is realized, and the wafer position stability is maintained.

The drawings in the present specification are schematic views to assist in explaining the concept of the present invention, and schematically show the shapes of the respective portions and the mutual relationships thereof. It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale, the same reference numerals being used to identify the same elements in the drawings in order to clearly illustrate the structure of the various elements of the embodiments of the invention.

In the description herein, references to the description of the term "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "an illustrative embodiment," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples" or the like mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

While embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims (10)

1. A wafer grinding apparatus having a mobile robot, comprising:

the equipment front end module is used for realizing the in and out of the wafer and is arranged at the front end of the wafer grinding equipment;

the grinding module is used for grinding the wafer, the grinding comprises rough grinding and fine grinding, and the grinding module is arranged at the tail end of the wafer grinding equipment;

the polishing module is used for carrying out chemical mechanical polishing on the wafer by utilizing a bearing head capable of adjusting loading pressure in a partition mode according to the thickness distribution of the wafer after the grinding is finished, and the polishing module is arranged between the equipment front-end module and the grinding module; and

the mobile transmission module is used for transmitting the wafer, is arranged in parallel with the polishing module and is positioned between the front-end module and the grinding module;

the mobile transmission module comprises a mobile storage platform and a mobile manipulator, and the mobile manipulator is used for receiving the dried wafer from the front-end module of the equipment and placing the dried wafer on the mobile storage platform so as to avoid polluting the wafer and reduce the time for transferring the wafer between different modules, thereby improving the capacity of the equipment.

2. The wafer grinding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mobile robot comprises a horizontal movement mechanism, a support plate, a vertical movement mechanism, a clamping assembly, a first connection plate, a guide rail, and a slider for sliding engagement with the guide rail;

the fixing seat of the horizontal moving mechanism is fixed on the inner wall of the wafer grinding equipment, the horizontal moving end of the horizontal moving mechanism is fixedly connected with the supporting plate, the vertical moving mechanism is fixed on the supporting plate, and the vertical moving end of the vertical moving mechanism is connected with the clamping assembly through the first connecting plate, so that the horizontal moving mechanism drives the vertical moving mechanism to move horizontally through the supporting plate and drives the clamping assembly to move vertically through the first connecting plate, and the clamping assembly has two degrees of freedom in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction; the clamping assembly is located on one side of the vertical moving mechanism, a guide rail which is installed on the supporting plate and is in the vertical direction is arranged on the other side of the vertical moving mechanism, and the sliding block is fixedly connected with the vertical moving end of the vertical moving mechanism so as to limit the moving direction of the vertical moving end of the vertical moving mechanism.

3. The wafer grinding apparatus of claim 2 wherein the clamping assembly includes a clamping cylinder, a first jaw connector, a second jaw, and a second jaw connector, the first jaw being connected to the first movable end of the clamping cylinder by the first jaw connector, the second jaw being connected to the second movable end of the clamping cylinder by the second jaw connector, such that the clamping cylinder moves the first jaw and the second jaw toward or away from each other to clamp or unclamp the wafer.

4. The wafer grinding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the mobile robot further comprises a limit buffer assembly, the limit buffer assembly comprises a first limit member, a buffer bolt and a second limit member, the first limit member is mounted on the supporting plate, the second limit member is located right below the first limit member and mounted on the first connecting plate, the buffer bolt is fixed on the first limit member and a buffer end of the buffer bolt is arranged downward to perform buffer limit during the process that the vertical moving mechanism drives the clamping assembly to ascend through the first connecting plate.

5. The wafer grinding apparatus of claim 2 wherein the mobile robot is provided with a wafer detection sensor positioned above the clamping assembly.

6. The wafer grinding apparatus of claim 2 wherein the mobile robot further comprises a static eliminator mounted on the support plate, the static eliminator being positioned above the clamping assembly to eject negative ions toward the wafer positioned therebelow.

7. The wafer grinding apparatus of claim 2 wherein the mobile robot further comprises a cable protection chain.

8. The wafer grinding apparatus of claim 1 wherein the movable storage stage comprises a wafer centering mechanism for adjusting the position of the wafer and a transport mechanism connected to the wafer centering mechanism for moving the wafer centering mechanism;

the wafer centering mechanism comprises a fixed table, a rotary driving mechanism, a flexible coupling, a bevel gear assembly, a preset number of ball screw assemblies and a preset number of movable clamping assemblies;

the ball screw assemblies are uniformly arranged on the fixed table in the circumferential direction, the ball screw assemblies are arranged in the horizontal direction, the linear moving ends of the ball screw assemblies are connected with the movable clamping assemblies, the ball screw assemblies are positioned on the periphery of the bevel gear assemblies, the rotating ends of the ball screw assemblies are fixedly connected with the bevel gear assemblies, and the bevel gear assemblies are fixedly connected with a rotary driving mechanism positioned below the bevel gear assemblies through flexible couplings;

the rotary driving mechanism applies torque to the flexible coupling, so that the bevel gear assemblies transmit rotating force to each ball screw assembly respectively, the ball screw assemblies convert the rotating force into linear motion, and the linear motion extension line directions of the preset number of ball screw assemblies intersect at the same point to drive the preset number of movable clamping assemblies to horizontally and synchronously move along the directions close to each other so as to clamp and fix the wafer at the preset position.

9. The wafer grinding apparatus of claim 1 wherein the mobile transfer module further comprises a wafer thickness detection mechanism disposed between the mobile buffer and the apparatus front end module.

10. The wafer grinding apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus front end module includes a wafer storage unit at the front end of the apparatus and a pick-and-place robot for picking wafers;

the polishing module comprises a chemical mechanical polishing unit, a central manipulator, a horizontal brushing device and a single-cavity cleaning device;

the central manipulator is respectively adjacent to the mobile transmission module, the horizontal brushing device, the single-cavity cleaning device and the chemical mechanical polishing unit; the horizontal brushing device is respectively adjacent to the mobile transmission module and the single-cavity cleaning device along the width direction of the wafer grinding equipment, and the horizontal brushing device is respectively adjacent to the central manipulator and the wafer taking and placing manipulator along the length direction of the wafer grinding equipment; the single-cavity cleaning device is respectively adjacent to the chemical mechanical polishing unit and the wafer taking and placing manipulator along the length direction of the wafer grinding equipment.

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