JP2003297708A - Read apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that some wafers have identification marks on a front face while others have them on a rear face and all the wafers are mixed up together, and moreover, since a read apparatus is fixed in a loader chamber, an operator has to manually change a way in which an OCR is installed in conformity with a face attached with the identification mark to make the identification mark readable by the OCR. <P>SOLUTION: The read apparatus 10 is provided with the OCR 11 for reading a bar code BC and a motor 14 for inverting the OCR 11 in conformity with the front face or rear face of a wafer W which is attached with the bar code BC. Whether the OCR 11 is inverted or not is detected by a photomicrosensor 15 and a shutter 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reader,
More specifically, the present invention relates to a device for reading an identification symbol such as a bar code, alphanumeric characters, or a 2D code attached to the front surface or the back surface of an object to be processed, which is transported by a transport mechanism in a processing device such as an inspection device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor processing step, an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer is provided with an identification symbol such as a bar code, an alphanumeric character and a 2D code, and individual objects to be processed are manufactured on the basis of the identification symbol, for example, in lot units. Manage. Therefore, a reading device such as a bar code reader is attached to each processing device in the semiconductor processing process.

A processing apparatus, for example, a reading apparatus applied to an inspection apparatus will be described as an example. An inspection device (for example, a probe device) usually includes a loader chamber and a prober chamber,
The object to be processed (wafer) is transferred from the loader chamber to the prober chamber, the electrical characteristics of the wafer are inspected in the prober chamber, and then the wafer is returned from the prober chamber to the loader chamber. Then, a transfer mechanism, a reading device, and the like are arranged in the loader chamber, and the reading means (for example, OC) of the reading device is arranged before the wafer is transferred into the prober chamber through the transfer mechanism.
In R), the identification mark attached to the wafer is read.

[0004]

However, depending on the type of wafer, there are a mixture of identification marks on the front surface of the wafer and those on the back surface of the wafer, and the reading device is fixed in the loader chamber. Before the inspection, the operator confirms whether the surface with the identification symbol is the front surface or the back surface, manually changes the installation state of the OCR according to the surface with the identification symbol, and identifies with the OCR. The symbols must be adjusted so that they can be read. Moreover, OCR
There is a problem in that the optical system of the OCR must be adjusted when changing, and a lot of time must be devoted to the setup work of the reading device.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and the installation state of the reading means such as the OCR can be easily changed according to the surface with the identification mark, and the setup time can be increased. It is an object of the present invention to provide a reading device capable of remarkably shortening.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reading device for reading an identification symbol attached to a front surface or a back surface of an object to be processed which is transported by a transport mechanism in a processing device, It is characterized by comprising reading means for reading the identification mark and reversing means for reversing the reading means according to the surface on which the identification mark is attached.

The reading device according to a second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the invention according to the first aspect, it is provided with a detecting means for detecting that the reading means is reversed. .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the reading apparatus according to the second aspect, the detecting means is
The detecting means includes a shutter attached to the reading means side and a photosensor attached to the reversing means side.

Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the reading apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the reversing means is based on external information about the object to be processed. The reading means is reversed.

Further, in a reading device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the inverting means reads the identification symbol by the reading means. When not present, the reading means is reversed.

The reading device according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the reading device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, further comprising a rotation drive mechanism for rotating the reading means as the reversing means. It is characterized by having.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reading device in which the optical character reading device is provided as the reading means in the invention according to any one of the first to sixth aspects. It is a feature.

A reading device according to claim 8 of the present invention is characterized in that, in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the processing device is an inspection device. Is.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below based on the embodiments shown in FIGS. Reading device 1 of the present embodiment
0 is applied to the probe device as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), for example. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, this probe device is provided with a loader chamber 1 for transferring the wafers W stored in a cassette C one by one, and adjacent to the loader chamber 1. The prober chamber 2 for inspecting the electrical characteristics of the wafer W is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the loader chamber 1 is provided with a wafer transfer mechanism 3 for transferring the wafers W one by one, and during transfer of the wafers W through the wafer transfer mechanism 3. Further, a coarse positioning mechanism (hereinafter, referred to as “sub-chuck”) 4 for aligning the wafer W in a predetermined direction with reference to the orientation flat or notch of the wafer W, and the reading device 10 of the present embodiment.
It has and. The loader chamber 2 has a mounting table 5 (hereinafter referred to as “main chuck”) 5 on which a wafer W is mounted and which moves in three axial directions (X, Y, Z directions) and which rotates in the forward and reverse directions in the θ direction. A probe card 6 arranged above the main chuck 5 and a positioning mechanism (hereinafter referred to as “alignment mechanism”) 7 for aligning the probe 6A of the probe card 6 and the wafer W on the main chuck 5. I have it. The probe card 6 is fixed to the head plate 8 of the prober chamber 2, and the test head T is arranged on the head plate 8 so as to be electrically connectable to the probe card 6. A display device 9 also serving as an operation panel is arranged outside the loader chamber 1, and a control device (not shown) is operated by a command displayed on a display screen 9A of the display device 9.

Thus, the reading device 10 of the present embodiment is arranged at the innermost portion of the loader chamber 1 as shown in FIG. 1A, and the wafer W is transferred via the wafer transfer mechanism 3 to the prober. An identification symbol (for example, a bar code) BC (see FIGS. 2 and 3) attached to the front surface or the back surface of the wafer W transferred through the wafer transfer mechanism 3 is read until the transfer to the chamber 2.

That is, the reading device 10 of the present embodiment is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a conventionally known reading unit (for example, an optical character reading device (hereinafter, referred to as “OCR”) for reading the bar code BC is used.
Called. )) 11, a rotary shaft 12 connected to the OCR 11, and a bearing 1 that rotatably supports the rotary shaft 11.
3 and a reversing means (motor) 14 connected to the rotating shaft 12 via the bearing 13, and the OCR 11 is configured to rotate forward and backward by 180 ° via the motor 14.
Further, as shown in the figure, for example, photomicrosensors 15 are attached to both left and right side surfaces of the bearing 13, and a shutter 16 is attached to one side surface of the OCR 11. 2 and 3, only one of the photomicrosensors is shown.

When the photomicrosensor 15 detects the shutter 16 as shown in FIG.
Indicates that the bar code BC attached to the surface of the wafer W is ready to be read, and as shown in FIG.
When 11 is reversed and a photomicrosensor (not shown) on the side opposite to the bearing 13 detects the shutter 16, O
The CR 11 is in a state of reading the barcode BC attached to the back surface of the wafer W. These states are displayed on the display screen 9A of the display device 9.

Therefore, the operator can confirm on the display screen 9A whether the OCR 11 is in a state of reading the bar code BC on the front surface or the back surface of the wafer W. Further, whether the bar code BC is attached to the front surface or the back surface of the wafer W is determined by the operator by looking at the bar code BC attached to the wafer W when the wafer W is installed in the loader chamber 1. By operating the reading device 10 on the display screen 9A based on the determination, the OCR 11 can be set to a state in which the bar code BC attached to the front surface or the back surface of the wafer W is read.

Further, the motor 14 is OCR based on the information (external information) about the wafer W input to the control device.
It is also possible to control so that 11 is automatically inverted. Further, the motor 14 uses the OCR 11 for the barcode BC.
When it is not read, the OCR 11 can be automatically inverted so that the bar code BC can be read by the OCR 11.

Next, the operation will be described. First, when inspecting a wafer, the operator confirms that the barcode BC is attached to the surface of the wafer. Next, the OCR 11 of the reading device 10 is set on the display screen 9A to the state shown in FIG. 2 for reading the bar code BC attached to the front surface of the wafer. Next, when the probe device is driven, as shown in FIG. 1B, the wafer transfer mechanism 3 takes out one wafer W from the cassette C and places the wafer W on the sub chuck 4. Sub chuck 4 is wafer W
After rotating the wafer W, the orientation flat or notch of the wafer W is detected through a sensor (not shown) to align the wafer W in a predetermined direction, and then, as shown in FIGS. Receives the wafer W from the sub chuck 4 and conveys the wafer W to the reading position (just below) of the OCR 11 of the reading device 10. In the reading device 10, the OCR 11 reads the bar code BC, sends the information to the control device (not shown), and stores the information on the wafer W.

Next, the wafer transfer mechanism 3 delivers the wafer W to the main chuck 5 in the prober chamber 2, and the main chuck 5 cooperates with the alignment mechanism 7 to bring the wafer W and the probe 6A of the probe card 6 into contact with each other. After performing the alignment, the electrical characteristics of the wafer W are inspected while the wafer W is index-fed. After the inspection of the wafer W is completed, the wafer transfer mechanism 3 receives the wafer W on the main chuck 5, and then returns it to the original position in the cassette C.
Then, after the electrical characteristics of all the wafers W in the cassette C are inspected in the same manner as described above, the cassette C is removed from the loader chamber 1.
And the next cassette C is installed in the loader chamber 1.

The operator loads the next cassette C into the loader chamber 1
When it is confirmed that the bar code BC is attached to the back surface of the wafer W during installation, the operator operates the reading device 10 on the display screen 9A and the OCR 11 displays 2 is reversed from the state shown in FIG. 3 to the state shown in FIG. 3, and the photomicrosensor on the opposite side surface of the bearing 13 detects the shutter and stops. OCR11 with this
Is ready to read the barcode BC on the back surface of the wafer W. Next, the wafer transfer mechanism 3 is driven, the wafer transfer mechanism 3 takes out the wafer W from the cassette C, aligns the wafer W in a predetermined direction via the sub-chuck 4 as described above, and then the wafer W is set in the OCR 11. The wafer W is conveyed to a position (directly above) for reading the bar code BC attached to the back surface of the wafer W. Bar code BC with OCR11 in the reader 10
Is read, the information is sent to the control device, and the information on the wafer W is stored. After that, the electrical characteristics of the wafer W are inspected as described above, and the electrical characteristics of all the wafers W in the cassette C are inspected by the same procedure.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
Since the OCR 11 for reading the bar code BC and the motor 14 for reversing the OCR 11 according to the front surface or the back surface of the wafer W having the bar code BC are provided, the operator can operate the cassette C in the loader chamber 1 of the probe apparatus. When it is confirmed that the bar code BC is attached to the back surface of the wafer W when mounting, and that the OCR 11 of the reading device 10 is in a state of reading the front surface of the wafer W, the operator displays on the display screen 9A. The OCR 11 can be inverted to set the bar code BC attached to the back surface of the wafer W to be read only by operating the reading device 10. Therefore, there is no need to manually change the installation state of the OCR or adjust the optical system as in the conventional case,
The installation state of the OCR 11 can be easily changed according to the surface with the bar code BC, and the working time required for setting up the reading device 10 can be significantly shortened.

Further, according to this embodiment, the photomicrosensors 15 are attached to the left and right side surfaces of the bearing 13 and the shutter 16 is attached to one side surface of the OCR 11. If the shutter 16 is detected, the OCR 11 can be reliably stopped at a position where the barcode BC of the wafer W can be read, and the barcode BC attached to the wafer W can be reliably read.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and the design of each constituent element can be changed as necessary. For example, in the above embodiment, OCR1
Although whether or not 1 is reversed is detected by using the photomicrosensor 15 and the shutter 16, the rotation amount of the motor 14 may be detected. Although the motor is used as the reversing means of the OCR 11, the mechanism is not limited to the motor as long as it is a mechanism for reversing the OCR 11. Further, although the case where the reading device is applied to the probe device has been described in the above embodiment, the reading device of the present invention can be applied to an inspection device and a wafer processing device other than the probe device.
In the case of single-wafer processing in which wafers are transferred one by one to an inspection device such as a probe device by using an automatic transfer device, information about the wafer is transmitted to the inspection device in advance, and therefore the reading unit is determined based on this wafer information. It can also be set to automatically reverse.

[0027]

According to the first to eighth aspects of the present invention, it is possible to easily change the installation state of the reading means such as the OCR according to the surface with the identification mark. It is possible to provide a reading device capable of significantly shortening the setup work time.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B are views showing a probe device to which a reading device of the present invention is applied, in which FIG. 1A is a front view showing a front side of a prober chamber by breaking, and FIG. 1B is a plan view schematically showing the entire probe device. is there.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a state in which a barcode attached to the surface of a wafer is read by a reading device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing a state in which a barcode attached to the back surface of the wafer is read by the reading device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Loader room (inside probe device) 3 Wafer transfer mechanism (transfer mechanism) 10 Reader 11 OCR (reading means) 14 Motor (reversing means) 15 Photomicrosensor (detection means) 16 Shutter (detection means) W wafer (object to be processed) BC bar code (identification symbol)

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for reading an identification mark on a front surface or a back surface of an object to be processed which is conveyed by a conveying mechanism in a processing apparatus, wherein a reading unit for reading the identification symbol and a reading unit for reading the identification symbol are provided. And a reversing means for reversing according to the attached surface. 2. The reading device according to claim 1, further comprising a detection unit that detects that the reading unit is inverted. 3. The reading device according to claim 2, wherein the detection unit has a shutter attached to the reading unit side and a photosensor attached to the reversing unit side. 4. The reading device according to claim 1, wherein the reversing unit reverses the reading unit based on external information about the object to be processed. 5. The reading device according to claim 1, wherein the reversing unit reverses the reading unit when the reading mark is not read by the reading unit. . 6. The rotation driving mechanism for rotating the reading means is provided as the reversing means.
~ The reading device according to claim 5. 7. The reading device according to claim 1, further comprising an optical character reading device as the reading means. 8. The reading device according to claim 1, wherein the processing device is an inspection device.