CN219359492U

CN219359492U - Auxiliary positioning device for mechanical arm of semiconductor equipment

Info

Publication number: CN219359492U
Application number: CN202320643208.XU
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王慧锋
Original assignee: Shengjisheng Semiconductor Technology Beijing Co ltd
Current assignee: Shengjisheng Semiconductor Technology Beijing Co ltd
Priority date: 2023-03-28
Filing date: 2023-03-28
Publication date: 2023-07-18
Anticipated expiration: 2033-03-28

Abstract

The utility model relates to a mechanical arm auxiliary positioning device of semiconductor equipment, which belongs to the technical field of semiconductor equipment, and comprises an auxiliary positioning plate, wherein the auxiliary positioning plate is plate-shaped, the outer side contour of the lower part of the auxiliary positioning plate is matched and attached with the cylindrical inner side wall of a load lock chamber, and a baffle plate is outwards extended from the upper part of the auxiliary positioning plate; a positioning center hole is formed in the center of the auxiliary positioning plate; the wafer alignment sheet has the same shape and size as the wafer, a wafer center hole is formed in the center of the wafer alignment sheet, and the wafer alignment sheet is borne on the manipulator; the wafer calibration piece is positioned below the auxiliary positioning plate, and the wafer center hole is aligned with the positioning center hole and vertically penetrates through the positioning pin. The technical scheme has the advantages of simple structure and convenient operation, the loading and unloading locking chamber at the front end of the equipment is operated, the auxiliary positioning of the manipulator is realized, the calibration precision can be effectively ensured, the debugging time is shortened, the improvement on the semiconductor equipment is not needed, and the practicability is strong.

Description

Auxiliary positioning device for mechanical arm of semiconductor equipment

Technical Field

The utility model belongs to the technical field of semiconductor equipment, and particularly relates to an auxiliary positioning device for a manipulator of semiconductor equipment.

Background

In semiconductor devices, a loadlock chamber (loadlock) is typically provided for loading wafers and transitioning between atmospheric and vacuum environments to provide the vacuum environment required for the process. A robot is disposed within the vacuum chamber of the semiconductor device for moving wafers into and out of the loadlock chamber. Therefore, the position of the manipulator needs to be set and adjusted before the equipment operates, so that the manipulator can move to a specific position of the load lock chamber under the control of a program, and the wafer can be stably fetched and placed. The conventional way to determine the accuracy of the manipulator position is to determine whether the position is centered by visual inspection, which makes it difficult to ensure accuracy. There are also existing schemes that monitor the wafer position by setting up the sensor scan, although it can guarantee higher precision, the structure is complex, the cost is higher to all need to calibrate before handling each time, the efficiency is lower.

Disclosure of Invention

Based on the technical problems in the prior art, the utility model provides the auxiliary positioning device for the manipulator of the semiconductor equipment, which utilizes the structure of the existing loading and unloading locking chamber, adopts a tooling positioning mode with simple structure and simple operation to calibrate the manipulator with higher precision, and avoids the problems of poor precision of the traditional visual measurement calibration, complex structure and high cost of the existing high-precision calibration mode.

According to the technical scheme of the utility model, the utility model provides an auxiliary positioning device for a mechanical arm of semiconductor equipment, wherein the semiconductor equipment is provided with a loading and unloading locking chamber, the auxiliary positioning plate is plate-shaped, the outer side contour of the lower part of the auxiliary positioning plate is matched and attached with the cylindrical inner side wall of the loading and unloading locking chamber, and the upper part of the auxiliary positioning plate is outwards extended with a baffle plate; a positioning center hole is formed in the center of the auxiliary positioning plate; the wafer alignment sheet has the same shape and size as the wafer, a wafer center hole is formed in the center of the wafer alignment sheet, and the wafer alignment sheet is borne on the manipulator; the wafer calibration piece is positioned below the auxiliary positioning plate, and the wafer center hole is aligned with the positioning center hole and vertically penetrates through the positioning pin.

Further, a bottom center hole is formed in the bottom of the load lock chamber, the bottom center hole is a blind hole, the position of the blind hole is aligned with the wafer center hole and the positioning center hole, and the lower end of the positioning pin is inserted into the bottom center hole.

Further, the thickness of the auxiliary locating plate at the center is larger than that at the edge, and the length direction of the locating center hole is perpendicular to the lower surface of the baffle plate of the auxiliary locating plate.

Further, the outer side of the lower part of the auxiliary positioning plate is an arc surface, and the distance from the arc surface to the positioning center hole is equal to the radius of the cylindrical inner side wall of the load lock chamber.

In one embodiment, the auxiliary positioning plate is circular plate-shaped.

Further, the baffle comprises at least three baffles which are distributed at intervals along the circumferential direction, or the baffle is a circle which is circumferentially arranged.

In yet another embodiment, the auxiliary positioning device for a semiconductor device manipulator according to claim, wherein the auxiliary positioning plate has an X-shape.

Further, the four ends of the X-shaped auxiliary positioning plate are provided with baffle plates.

Further, the inner side surface of the wafer center hole, the inner side surface of the positioning center hole and the outer side surface of the positioning pin are smooth cylindrical surfaces.

Further, the bottom of the loadlock chamber has a support block for supporting a wafer

Compared with the prior art, the utility model has the following beneficial technical effects:

1. the auxiliary positioning device for the semiconductor equipment manipulator ensures that the positioning pin can fall into the wafer center hole of the wafer calibration sheet only when the manipulator moves the wafer calibration sheet to a required center position through the positioning pin which is positioned in the center and is vertically arranged. Simple structure, low cost and convenient operation, can effectively ensure the calibration precision and shorten the debugging time.

2. The auxiliary positioning device for the mechanical arm of the semiconductor equipment is operated in the loading and unloading locking chamber at the front end of the equipment, does not need to modify the semiconductor equipment, is convenient to use and has strong practicability.

3. The auxiliary positioning device for the manipulator of the semiconductor equipment realizes auxiliary positioning through a mechanical structure, avoids the problem of error caused by visual inspection in the existing mode, does not need to use an electronic device with complex structure or high cost to calibrate before each treatment, and is beneficial to reducing the cost and improving the efficiency.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of the present utility model.

Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the structure shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic top view of an embodiment of the present utility model.

Reference numerals in the drawings illustrate:

1. an auxiliary positioning plate;

2. positioning a central hole;

3. a wafer alignment sheet;

4. a wafer center hole;

5. a positioning pin;

6. a load lock chamber;

7. a manipulator;

8. a support block;

9. a baffle;

10. a bottom central hole.

Detailed Description

For the purpose of making the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present utility model more apparent, the technical solutions of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present utility model, not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the utility model without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the utility model.

It should be noted that, for convenience of description, only the portions related to the present utility model are shown in the drawings. Embodiments of the utility model and features of the embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict.

It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," and the like herein are merely used for distinguishing between different devices, modules, or units and not for limiting the order or interdependence of the functions performed by such devices, modules, or units.

It should be noted that references to "one", "a plurality" and "a plurality" in this disclosure are intended to be illustrative rather than limiting, and those skilled in the art will appreciate that "one or more" is intended to be construed as "one or more" unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Referring first to fig. 3, a schematic top view of a partial structure of a semiconductor device to which the auxiliary positioning apparatus of the present utility model is applicable includes a loadlock chamber 6 and a vacuum chamber connected to each other. The loadlock chamber 6 is used for loading wafers and switching between the atmosphere and the vacuum environment, and fig. 1 to 3 show the structure of the inside of a cavity (not shown) of the loadlock chamber 6 that can be evacuated, wherein a cylindrical inner sidewall is provided above the loadlock chamber 6, a supporting block 8 for supporting the wafers is provided in the loadlock chamber 6, and the supporting block 8 is, for example, two on both sides of the bottom edge of the loadlock chamber 6 and has a circular arc shape matching the shape of the wafers.

When the process is carried out, a wafer to be processed is placed on a supporting block 8 in a load lock chamber 6, a manipulator 7 is arranged in a vacuum chamber of the semiconductor device, the front end of the manipulator is in a fork arm shape and can at least stretch, rotate and lift, the manipulator 7 stretches into the lower part of the wafer in the load lock chamber 6, then the wafer is lifted upwards to be picked up, then the wafer is moved from the load lock chamber 6 to the vacuum chamber, and the wafer is lowered and released on a process machine (such as a sucker) in the vacuum chamber to carry out the process; after the processing, the wafer is transferred back to the load lock chamber 6 (or another load lock chamber, another processing tool, etc.) by the robot 7. When the robot 7 is set for the transfer operation, it is simply necessary to ensure that the positions of the robot 7 when moving the wafer to the loadlock chamber 6 and the process machine meet the requirements, that is, it is necessary to determine that the position of the wafer is centered when the robot 7 moves and places the wafer in the loadlock chamber 6, and the robot 7 is controlled by a programmable controller, records the position coordinates, and performs the programming setting of the complete operation process. In the prior art, whether the positions of the manipulator 7 and the wafer are centered or not is judged by visual inspection or a sensor, so that the problems of poor accuracy, high equipment cost and the like exist.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the auxiliary positioning device for a mechanical arm of a semiconductor device of the present utility model includes an auxiliary positioning plate 1, wherein an outer contour of a lower portion of the auxiliary positioning plate 1 is matched with a cylindrical inner sidewall of a load lock chamber 6, a baffle plate 9 extends outwards from an upper portion of the auxiliary positioning plate 1, and the baffle plate 9 is mounted on an upper edge of the inner sidewall of the load lock chamber 6, so that the auxiliary positioning plate 1 is convenient to take and place. The center of the auxiliary positioning plate 1 is provided with a positioning center hole 2. More specifically, the outer side of the lower portion of the auxiliary positioning plate 1 is an arc surface, and the distance from the arc surface to the positioning center hole 2 is equal to the radius of the cylindrical inner side wall of the load lock chamber 6. The wafer alignment wafer 3 is the same as the wafer in shape and size, a wafer center hole 4 is formed in the center of the wafer alignment wafer 3, and the wafer alignment wafer 3 is borne on a manipulator 7. The wafer alignment sheet 3 is positioned below the auxiliary positioning plate 1, and the wafer center hole 4 is aligned with the positioning center hole 2 and vertically penetrates through the positioning pin 5.

In the preferred embodiment, the thickness of the auxiliary locating plate 1 at the center is greater than the thickness at the edge, so that the locating central hole 2 is formed in a cylinder shape with a certain length, and the length direction of the locating central hole 2 is perpendicular to the lower surface of the baffle plate 9 of the auxiliary locating plate 1, thus limiting the locating pin 5, and keeping the locating pin 5 vertical at the center position and only moving up and down. The inner side surface of the wafer center hole 4, the inner side surface of the positioning center hole 2 and the outer side surface of the positioning pin 5 are smooth cylindrical surfaces, so that the positioning pin 5 moves more smoothly and cannot be clamped.

In a more preferred embodiment, the bottom of the loadlock chamber 6 is provided with a bottom center hole 10, the bottom center hole 10 is a blind hole, the positions of the blind hole and the wafer center hole 4 are aligned with the positioning center hole 2, and the lower end of the positioning pin 5 can be inserted into the bottom center hole 10 from top to bottom after passing through the positioning center hole 2 and the wafer center hole 4, so as to further ensure that the position of the wafer calibration sheet 3 is concentric with the chamber of the loadlock chamber 6.

In a specific further embodiment, the auxiliary positioning plate 1 is disc-shaped and preferably has a transparent area near the positioning center hole 2. The baffle plate 9 comprises at least three baffle plates which are distributed at intervals along the circumferential direction, or the baffle plate 9 is circumferentially arranged in a circle.

In another embodiment, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the auxiliary positioning plate 1 has an X-shape. The four ends of the X-shape of the auxiliary positioning plate 1 are provided with baffle plates 9. More preferably, the four outer ends of the X form a rectangle, and a large viewing window is formed between the X of the auxiliary positioning plate 1 and the cylindrical inner side wall of the load lock chamber 6. The two outer side ends of the auxiliary positioning plate 1, which are close to one side of the X shape, are provided with elastic pieces, and the two outer side ends of the other side of the auxiliary positioning plate 1 are plane surfaces or arc surfaces. In particular, for example, a guiding blind hole is formed in the inner side of the outer side end of the lower part of the auxiliary positioning plate 1, and a pushing pin is connected in the guiding blind hole through a spring, so that stress shrinkage is realized and an outward elastic restoring force is provided. By adopting the scheme that one side is provided with the elastic piece, the distance from the positioning center hole 2 to the outer side end without the elastic piece is only required to be ensured to be equal to the radius of the inner side wall of the loading and unloading locking chamber 6 during processing, the other side of the auxiliary positioning plate 1 is tightly propped against by the elastic force of the elastic piece after the side of the auxiliary positioning plate 1 is aligned and put in, at the moment, the position of the positioning center hole 2 is unique, the position of the positioning center hole 2 is ensured to be positioned at the center of a circle of the loading and unloading locking chamber 6, and the influence on the calibration precision caused by the non-unique position of the positioning center hole 2 due to processing errors and dimensional tolerance is avoided.

The use process and principle of the auxiliary positioning device adopting the preferred embodiment of the utility model are as follows.

1. Installing and pressing the auxiliary positioning plate 1 downwards into the loading and unloading locking chamber 6; after the auxiliary positioning plate 1 is installed in place, the lower surface of the baffle plate 9 contacts the upper edge of the inner side wall of the load lock chamber 6, and the positioning center hole 2 is positioned at the central axis of the cylindrical chamber of the load lock chamber 6.

2. The wafer alignment sheet 3 is placed on the robot 7, and the robot 7 is moved into the load lock chamber 6 by the controller of the robot 7.

3. The position of the robot 7 is adjusted by the controller of the robot 7, so that the position of the wafer alignment sheet 3 is adjusted to align the positioning center hole 2 with the wafer center hole 4, and the positioning pins 5 can be vertically inserted therethrough.

For example, when the positioning pin 5 is inserted into the positioning center hole 2 in the misalignment state, the lower end of the positioning pin 5 contacts the wafer alignment sheet 3, and the position of the wafer alignment sheet 3 is continuously adjusted until the lower end of the positioning pin 5 falls into the wafer center hole 4, which means that the positioning center hole 2 is aligned with the wafer center hole 4.

4. The calibration of the position of the manipulator 7 is completed, and the position coordinate data parameters of the manipulator are the calibrated required parameters.

It should be noted that, the above operation process is only a part related to the auxiliary positioning device of the present utility model, and the action setting process of the actual manipulator 7 is complex, and is not an improvement focus of the present utility model in the prior art, so that the description is omitted. It is conceivable that, for example, the wafer is first placed in the middle of the process machine, the position coordinates of the robot 7 for picking and placing the wafer on the process machine are determined, then the robot 7 carries the wafer to move to the load lock chamber 6, and the above calibration operation is performed, so that the motion path of the "return" of the robot 7 can be determined; the path opposite to the motion path is only needed to be reversed; therefore, the robot arm 7 can stably and accurately reach the required position every time the wafer is conveyed, and the situation that the wafer deviates from the ideal position can not occur.

In summary, the auxiliary positioning device for the manipulator of the semiconductor device can ensure the calibration precision and shorten the debugging time. Because the wafer calibration sheet 3 needs to be concentric at the position of the wafer supporting block 8, if there is no auxiliary positioning device, it is difficult to ensure accuracy, and thus the reliability of the subsequent wafer transmission will be affected. The auxiliary positioning device can ensure that the positioning center hole 2 of the auxiliary positioning device and the inner side surface of the loading and unloading locking chamber 6 are concentric, and the center position of the wafer calibration sheet 2 is positioned by the positioning pin 5, so that the precision can be greatly improved. Furthermore, it is contemplated that the inventive approach may be used to assist in alignment, such as during transfer of a wafer from a front end module (EFEM) at the front end of the loadlock chamber 6 to the loadlock chamber 6.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solution of the present utility model, and are not limiting; although the utility model has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical scheme described in the foregoing embodiments can be modified or some technical features thereof can be replaced by equivalents; such modifications and substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present utility model.

Claims

1. The auxiliary positioning device for the mechanical arm of the semiconductor equipment is characterized by comprising an auxiliary positioning plate (1), wherein the outer side contour of the lower part of the auxiliary positioning plate (1) is matched and attached with the cylindrical inner side wall of the auxiliary positioning plate (6), and a baffle (9) is outwards extended from the upper part of the auxiliary positioning plate (1); a positioning center hole (2) is formed in the center of the auxiliary positioning plate (1);

the wafer alignment device is characterized by further comprising a wafer alignment sheet (3), wherein the wafer alignment sheet (3) has the same shape and size as the wafer, a wafer center hole (4) is formed in the center of the wafer alignment sheet (3), and the wafer alignment sheet (3) is borne on the manipulator (7); the wafer calibration sheet (3) is positioned below the auxiliary positioning plate (1), and the wafer center hole (4) is aligned with the positioning center hole (2) and vertically penetrates through the positioning pin (5).

2. The auxiliary positioning device for the semiconductor equipment manipulator according to claim 1, wherein a bottom center hole (10) is formed in the bottom of the load lock chamber (6), the bottom center hole (10) is a blind hole, the positions of the blind hole and the wafer center hole (4) and the positioning center hole (2) are aligned, and the lower end of the positioning pin (5) is inserted into the bottom center hole (10).

3. The auxiliary positioning device for a semiconductor device manipulator according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the auxiliary positioning plate (1) is greater at the center than at the edge, and the length direction of the positioning center hole (2) is perpendicular to the lower surface of the baffle plate (9) of the auxiliary positioning plate (1).

4. The auxiliary positioning device for the semiconductor equipment manipulator according to claim 1, wherein the outer side of the lower part of the auxiliary positioning plate (1) is an arc surface, and the distance from the arc surface to the positioning center hole (2) is equal to the radius of the cylindrical inner side wall of the load lock chamber (6).

5. The auxiliary positioning device for a semiconductor device manipulator according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary positioning plate (1) has a circular plate shape.

6. The auxiliary positioning device for the semiconductor equipment manipulator according to claim 5, wherein the baffle (9) comprises at least three baffles distributed at intervals along the circumferential direction, or the baffle (9) is a circle circumferentially arranged.

7. The auxiliary positioning device for a semiconductor device manipulator according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary positioning plate (1) has an X-shape.

8. The auxiliary positioning device for a semiconductor device manipulator according to claim 7, wherein the four ends of the X-shape of the auxiliary positioning plate (1) are each provided with the baffle plate (9).

9. The auxiliary positioning device for a semiconductor device manipulator according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the inner side surface of the wafer center hole (4), the inner side surface of the positioning center hole (2), and the outer side surface of the positioning pin (5) are smooth cylindrical surfaces.

10. The robot-assisted positioning device of any of claims 1-8, wherein the loadlock chamber (6) has a support block (8) at the bottom for supporting a wafer.