JP2005142462A - Wafer carrying mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wafer carrying mechanism for holding a wafer in a non-contacting sucking state which prevents the wafer from moving about on its sucking surface and escaping from its sucking surface, and which can be further used both for a coin stacking carrier of storing therein the wafers in a laminating state and for a cassette of so storing therein the wafers as to support their edge portions by a plurality of supporting grooves of the cassette. <P>SOLUTION: In the wafer carrying mechanism, a holder (4) for holding a wafer has a holder main body (14); a plurality of sucking pads (16) provided in the holder main body (14) and for so generating negative pressures by jetting air as to suck the wafer in a non-contacting state; and frictional members (18) provided on the holder main body (14) and having respectively frictional surfaces of abutting on the sucked wafer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a wafer conveyance mechanism provided with a suction pad suitable for holding a wafer, in particular, an extremely thin wafer.

  A wafer, for example, a semiconductor wafer in which a plurality of semiconductor chips such as IC and LSI are formed on the front surface is ground to a predetermined thickness by a grinding device. The thickness of this semiconductor wafer tends to be processed to an ultrathinness of 100 μm to 50 μm with the miniaturization and weight reduction of mobile phones, notebook computers, smart cards and the like. Therefore, the thinner the wafer, the lower its rigidity. When the wafer is held by a U-shaped fork-shaped conveyance hand used for conveyance in the machining process, the wafer bends and warps, and the wafer supports the edges of the wafer on the left and right wall surfaces. When horizontally loaded into a cassette having a plurality of grooves, there are problems such as interference with the support grooves, making storage difficult and damage.

  In order to solve the problem in handling this ultra-thin wafer, non-contact using a Bernoulli pad that holds the wafer as a transport hand in a non-contact state using a negative pressure due to the Bernoulli effect generated by the jet air A method using a so-called coin stack carrier, in which a wafer is stacked and accommodated in a cylindrical case through a top opening in a stacked manner using a transfer device (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Has been studied.

JP 2002-64130 A

  However, there are the following problems in transporting a wafer using the Bernoulli pad and the coin stack carrier of the form as described above.

Wafer retention is unstable:
Since the wafer is adsorbed and held in a non-contact state with the transfer device, problems such as the wafer moving on the adsorption surface or falling off the adsorption surface are likely to occur. Accordingly, in order to prevent this, a means for preventing deviation such as a protruding member is required.

Conveying equipment is complicated:
For example, in a wafer grinding apparatus, a non-contact conveyance device using a Bernoulli pad and provided with a protrusion for preventing displacement cannot be used to carry a wafer into and out of a conventional cassette because the protrusion member is obstructed. In addition, it is necessary to provide a transport device corresponding to each of the cassette and the coin stack carrier, which makes the device large and complicated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned facts, and the technical problem thereof is that the wafer moves in the suction surface in the wafer transport mechanism that holds the wafer in a non-contact suction state, and falls off the suction surface. In addition, the wafer transport mechanism can be used for either a coin stack carrier that accommodates wafers in a stacked state or a cassette that accommodates and supports edges at a plurality of support grooves.

  According to the present invention, as a wafer transport mechanism that solves the above technical problem, a holding unit that holds a wafer includes a holding body main body, and a negative pressure generated by the jet air that is disposed in the holding body main body so that the wafer is not in contact with the holding body. There is provided a wafer holding mechanism comprising: a plurality of suction pads that are sucked in a state; and a friction member having a friction surface that is disposed on the holding body and abuts on the sucked wafer. The

  According to the wafer conveyance mechanism configured in accordance with the present invention, the holding body of the holding unit includes a friction member having a friction surface with which the adsorbed wafer comes into contact with a suction pad that holds the wafer in a non-contact state. It has been. Therefore, the friction member can prevent the wafer from moving on the suction surface and falling off the suction surface. Furthermore, since it is sufficient if the holding part is provided with a friction member together with the suction pad, the shape of the holding part for holding the wafer is substantially the same as that used for the cassette in which the wafer is supported by the support groove. A wafer transport mechanism constructed in accordance with the invention can be used for both coin stack carriers and cassettes.

  Hereinafter, a wafer conveyance mechanism configured according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating preferred embodiments.

  First, an outline will be described with reference to FIG. 1 showing a coin stack carrier and a cassette together with a wafer transport mechanism. The wafer transport mechanism generally indicated by numeral 2 includes a holding unit 4 that holds the wafer W, and a movable arm 6 as a moving means that moves the holding unit 4. The wafer W is held by the holding unit 4 and is put into and out of the cassette 8 or the coin stack carrier 10. In FIG. 1, the wafer W is held on the lower surface side of the holding unit 4.

  The cassette 8 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped container in which the wafer W is taken in and out in the horizontal direction. An opening 8a is formed on one side surface (the front surface of the right hand in FIG. 1), and the inner surfaces of the left and right side walls 8b and 8b following the opening 8a A plurality of support grooves 8c are provided that extend horizontally and are formed at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction. The support groove 8c is set to a size that allows the holding portion 4 that sucks and holds the wafer W to freely enter and exit.

  The coin stack carrier 10 is a container in which wafers W are put in and out in the vertical direction and are accommodated in a stacked state. In this embodiment, one is provided for each of the upper and lower support plates 12a and 12a provided in the rack 12, two in total. It is placed individually. The coin stack carrier 10 includes a rectangular substrate 10a that is placed at a predetermined position on the support plate 12a of the rack 12, and a cylindrical body 10c that is erected on the substrate 10a and that has an opening 10b at the upper end. Are formed with four notches 10d that extend evenly in the circumferential direction with a predetermined width downward from the opening 10b.

  The inner diameter of the cylindrical body 10c is substantially the same as that of the wafer W in which the wafers W can be stacked and accommodated, and the width of the notch 10d is such that the holding portion 4 that holds the wafer W moves up and down in the cylindrical body 10c. It is formed in a size that allows the connecting portion between the holding portion 4 and the movable arm 6 to pass through when being moved.

  The holding unit 4 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 which is an enlarged view of the wafer W on the suction surface side, and FIG. 3 which is a partially enlarged view and a sectional view thereof. The holding unit 4 includes a holding body main body 14 formed in a C-shaped flat plate shape, and a plurality (in the embodiment, which is disposed in the holding body main body 14 and generates negative pressure by the blast air and adsorbs the wafer W in a non-contact state. Six (six) suction pads 16 and a plurality (four in the embodiment) of friction members 18 having friction surfaces disposed on the holding body 14 and having contact with the sucked wafer W are provided.

  The holder body 14 is conveniently formed of, for example, a stainless steel plate. The holding body 14 has a pair of opposed arc-shaped portions 14 a and 14 a, and a base portion 14 b connecting the arc-shaped portions 14 a and 14 a is connected to the movable arm 6. The arcuate portion 14a has a predetermined width of an outer edge having an outer diameter D1 that is substantially the same as the outer diameter of the wafer W and an inner edge having an inner diameter D2. In each arcuate part 14a, three suction pads 16 are disposed at symmetrical positions around an axis Y passing between the arcuate parts 14a and 14a facing each other and passing through the base part 14b. Yes. The friction member 18 is disposed between the suction pads 18 and the suction pads 18 of the arcuate portions 14a and 14a.

  Referring mainly to FIG. 3, the suction pad 16 is a so-called Bernoulli pad that sucks and holds the wafer W in a non-contact state using a negative pressure due to the Bernoulli effect generated by the jet air. That is, a pair of injection ports 16c facing the tangential direction are provided on the peripheral wall of a circular recess 16b opened on one surface side of the disk-shaped main body 16a. This is a well-known device in which a negative pressure is generated on the opening side by the swirling flow formed in the recess 16b by the jet air jetted from the jet port 16c (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The suction pad 16 is embedded and attached to the holding body 14 in a state where the opened end face is projected from the surface of the holding body 14 by the dimension T1. Compressed air is supplied to the pair of injection ports 16c, 16c through a flow path (not shown) formed in the holding body main body 14.

  The direction of the injection ports 16c and 16c of each of the plurality of suction pads 16 is such that the injection air is indicated by an arrow F, one is directed to the inside of the plate-like holding body 14 and the other is directed to the outside. It is directed in the direction of avoiding the spray air not hitting.

  The friction member 18 is preferably formed of a conductive synthetic rubber sheet containing carbon in order to prevent electrostatic charging. The size of the friction member 18 includes the inner and outer edges of the arcuate portion 14a and a pair of suction pads. 16 is a position where the thickness protrudes from the surface of the holding body 14 to the wafer W protruding slightly from the protrusion size T1 of the suction pad 16. It is stipulated to be. The friction member 18 is bonded to the holding body 14 with a conductive adhesive.

  The force of adsorbing the wafer W of the suction pad 16 is controlled by adjusting the magnitude of the negative pressure generated by adjusting the amount of air injected from the injection port 16c. The magnitude of this attracting force is set in relation to the size of the friction surface of the friction member 18 so that the wafer W can be prevented from moving in the direction in which the friction surface of the friction member 18 extends.

  A wafer sensor 20 for detecting whether or not the wafer W is sucked and held is attached to the base portion 14b of the holding body 14 by a double-sided tape.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the movable arm 6 will be described. The movable arm 6 includes a vertical movement means 6a installed in, for example, a grinding apparatus to which the wafer transport mechanism 2 is attached, a turning means 6b attached to the vertical movement means 6a, and an axis X1 extending vertically at the upper end of the turning means 6b. A first arm 6c pivotally attached to the center in the horizontal direction; and a second arm 6d pivotably attached to the tip of the first arm 6c in the horizontal direction about the axis X2 extending vertically. Yes. A holding body 14 is pivotally attached to the distal end portion of the second arm 6d so as to be pivotable about an axis line X3 that extends vertically, and is pivotable about the axis line Y described above.

  According to experiments and examinations by the present inventors, this wafer transport mechanism 2 sucks, holds, and transports a silicon wafer, a steam tantalate wafer, a sapphire wafer, a paper wafer, and a sheet wafer as the wafer W. It is suitable for.

  The operation of the wafer transport mechanism 2 as described above will be described.

  According to the wafer transport mechanism 2, the holding member main body 14 of the holding unit 4 has the suction pad 16 for holding the wafer W in a non-contact state and the friction member 18 having a friction surface with which the sucked wafer W comes into contact. Is provided. Therefore, the friction member 18 can prevent the wafer W from moving on the suction surface and falling off the suction surface. Further, since the holding member 4 may be provided with the friction member 18 together with the suction pad 16, the shape, particularly the thickness, of the holding unit 4 holding the wafer W is substantially the same as that used in the conventional cassette. . Therefore, the wafer transport mechanism constructed according to the present invention can be used for both coin stack carriers and cassettes.

  Further, since the direction F of the jet air of the jet port 16c of the suction pad 16 attached to the holding body main body 14 of the holding unit 4 is set to a direction that avoids the friction member 18, the wafer W in contact with the friction member 18 is It is possible to prevent the wafer W from being moved by the blast air, and to reliably hold the wafer W by suction.

  Further, the holding body 14 is formed in a C shape having a pair of opposed arcuate portions 14a and 14a, and each has a plurality of suction pads 16 and friction members 18, so that the wafer W can be stabilized without bending. It can be adsorbed and held in the state.

  In addition, the holding unit 4 that holds the wafer W is connected to the movable arm 6 so that the cartridge 8 and the coin stack carrier 10 in and out of which the wafer W is put in and out can be freely approached, separated, rotated, and swung. In addition, it is possible to easily carry in and out the wafer W cassette, coin stack carrier, and the like.

  Further, since the friction member 18 is made of conductive synthetic rubber and is attached and attached to the holding body 14 made of stainless steel with a conductive adhesive, there is a problem due to static electricity when the wafer W is sucked and conveyed. Can be prevented.

The perspective view of the wafer holding mechanism comprised according to this invention, the cassette in which a wafer is carried in / out, and a coin stack carrier. FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view on the suction surface side of the wafer holding portion shown in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1. (A) The elements on larger scale of FIG. 2, (b) Sectional drawing of the BB arrow direction of this enlarged view.

Explanation of symbols

2: Wafer transport mechanism 4: Holding unit 6: Movable arm (moving means)
14: Holding body 14a: Arc portion 16: Suction pad 18: Friction member W: Wafer

Claims (6)

A wafer transport mechanism having a holding unit for holding a wafer, wherein the holding unit is disposed in the holding body main body and generates negative pressure by the jet air and adsorbs the wafer in a non-contact state. A wafer transport mechanism comprising: a plurality of suction pads; and a friction member having a friction surface disposed on the holding body and abutting the sucked wafer. The wafer conveyance mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the direction of the jet air from the suction pad is directed to avoid the friction member. The holding body is formed as a C-shaped flat plate having a pair of arcuate portions opposed to each other, a base connecting the pair of arcuate portions is connected to a moving means for moving the holding body, and the suction pad is formed into the arcuate shape. At least two at intervals between each of the parts, and arranged between the pair of arcuate parts and symmetrically about an axis passing through the base, and the friction member is connected to the suction pad of each arcuate part The wafer transport mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the wafer transport mechanism is disposed between the suction pads. The wafer conveyance mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the friction member is formed of a synthetic rubber having conductivity.   The wafer transfer according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the moving means includes a movable arm, and the holding body is rotatably attached to the tip of the movable arm about the axis line positioned in the horizontal direction. mechanism.   6. The wafer conveyance mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the wafer includes a silicon wafer, a reteam tantalate wafer, a sapphire wafer, a paper wafer, and a sheet-like wafer.

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