JP2023042120A - Non-contact positioning device and inspection system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a non-contact positioning device and an inspection system capable of positioning a floating substance with high precision without contact and suppressing deformation of the floating substance.SOLUTION: A non-contact positioning device 2 includes: a floating part 10 for holding a wafer W in a floated state with respect to a floating surface 11f so as not to separate from the floating surface 11f by simultaneously supplying a positive pressure fluid and a negative pressure fluid to the wafer W; positioning parts 20A, 20B, and 20C that the wafer W is positioned in a floating state by supplying an ultrasonic wave to the edge of the wafer W; and a rotary part 30 that rotates the wafer W in the floating state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to non-contact positioning devices and inspection systems.

For example, the wafer transport apparatus described in Patent Document 1 includes a wafer transport path that is inclined along the direction of travel and provided with air outlets, and air outlets that are provided on both sides of the wafer transport path. and a guide rail provided with The wafer is floated by the wafer transport path in a non-contact manner, and the wafer is moved by applying lateral force to the wafer due to the inclination of the wafer transport path.

Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-14034

In the configuration of Patent Document 1, it is difficult to position the wafer, and the floating wafer may be deformed by the air.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a non-contact positioning device and an inspection system capable of positioning a floating object in a non-contact manner with high accuracy and suppressing deformation of the floating object. With the goal.

In order to achieve the above objects, a non-contact positioning device according to a first aspect of the present invention levitates a floating object against a floating surface by simultaneously supplying a positive pressure fluid and a negative pressure fluid to the floating object. a levitation part that holds the levitated object so as not to separate from the levitation surface; a positioning part that positions the levitation object in the levitation state by supplying ultrasonic waves to the edge of the levitation object; and a floating object driving unit that rotates or moves the floating object in a state of floating with respect to the floating object.

Further, in the non-contact positioning device, the floating object drive unit is a rotating unit that rotates the floating object about a rotation axis by supplying ultrasonic waves to the floating object. good too.

Further, in the above non-contact positioning device, the rotating portion extends along the rotating direction of the floating object and is formed so as to surround the floating portion, and the plurality of positioning portions are arranged around the rotating portion. It may be arranged and located opposite the edge of the disk-shaped floating object.

Further, in the non-contact positioning device, a positioning rotating portion having the positioning portion and the rotating portion, a housing recess for accommodating the positioning rotating portion, and a positioning rotating portion supplying ultrasonic waves to the floating object. and a fluid supply unit that supplies a fluid to the positioning rotation unit so that the positioning rotation unit is in a floating state within the housing recess.

Further, in the above non-contact positioning device, the floating object drive unit moves the floating object floated by the levitation unit and positioned by the positioning unit together with the levitation unit and the positioning unit. You may do so.

Further, in the non-contact positioning device, the levitation section, the positioning section, and the levitation object driving section may be arranged on the back side of the levitation article.

In order to achieve the above object, an inspection system according to a second aspect of the present invention includes the non-contact positioning device and an inspection system for inspecting the presence or absence of defects or stains in an inspection area that is part of the wafer, which is the floating object. and a portion, wherein the rotating portion relatively moves the position of the inspection area with respect to the wafer by rotating the wafer.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, while a floating object can be positioned non-contactingly with high precision, the deformation|transformation of the floating object which floats can be suppressed.

1 is a schematic bottom view of a non-contact positioning device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1; 1 is a schematic perspective view of a rotating part according to a first embodiment of the invention; FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure of an inspection program according to the first embodiment of the present invention; (a) is a schematic bottom view of a non-contact positioning device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, (b) is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line EE in (a), and (c). is an enlarged view of part of (b). (a) is a schematic bottom view of a non-contact positioning device according to a third embodiment of the present invention, (b) is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line DD of (a), and (c). is an enlarged view of part of (b). (a) to (d) are schematic bottom views of a non-contact positioning device according to a modification of the present invention. It is a typical sectional view of a conveying system concerning a modification of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 8; FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a board transfer system according to a modification of the present invention;

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of a non-contact positioning device and an inspection system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the inspection system 1 includes a non-contact positioning device 2, inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C, and a control unit 60. FIG.

The inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C inspect defects or stains on the wafer W which is stopped in a non-contact floating state by the non-contact positioning device 2. FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C are cameras that capture an image of an inspection area Wk that is part of the wafer W, and output imaged data to the control unit 60. FIG. The inspection area Wk is set to a range including part of the side surface of the wafer W. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C are arranged on the outer peripheral side of a rotating unit 30 (described later) of the non-contact positioning device 2, and face the side surface of the wafer W stopped by the non-contact positioning device 2. located to In this example, the wafer W is shaped like a disk. Wafer W is, for example, a silicon wafer. The inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C are arranged on the side peripheral surface of the wafer W at equal angular intervals, 120° intervals in this example.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the non-contact positioning device 2 rotates the wafer W around the rotation axis O of the wafer W in a non-contact manner and stops the wafer W at a desired rotational position in a non-contact manner.
The non-contact positioning device 2 includes a floating section 10 that floats the wafer W, positioning sections 20A, 20B, and 20C that position the floating wafer W in a non-contact manner, and a rotating section 30 that rotates the wafer W.

As shown in FIG. 2, the levitation unit 10 supplies a fluid such as positive-pressure air to the wafer W, and floats the wafer W by the positive pressure of the fluid while supplying the fluid such as negative-pressure air. By supplying the fluid to the wafer W, the floating wafer W is held by the negative pressure of the fluid so as not to separate from the floating section 10 . The floating section 10 includes a fluid passage plate 11 , a case section 12 , a pipe section 14 , a pressurizing section 40 and a pressure reducing section 50 .
The fluid passage plate 11 has a plate shape, for example, a disc shape. The fluid passage plate 11 is formed with a plurality of air passage holes 11a and 11b penetrating through the fluid passage plate 11 in its thickness direction. The air passage holes 11 a and 11 b are arranged in a matrix in the surface direction of the fluid passage plate 11 . The air passage hole 11a is a hole through which air supplied to the wafer W passes. The air passage hole 11b is a hole through which air sucked from the wafer W into the floating section 10 passes.
The fluid passage plate 11 has a floating surface 11 f that is the surface of the fluid passage plate 11 . The wafer W floats on the floating surface 11f.
The fluid passage plate 11 may be a porous body such as porous ceramic through which fluid can pass. In this case, a positive pressure space and a negative pressure space are formed on the rear surface of the fluid passage plate 11 .

The case part 12 has a box shape that opens in the direction in which the wafer W is positioned. A fluid passage plate 11 is fitted in the opening of the case portion 12 . The case portion 12 includes a partition wall 13 that partitions the internal space into a positive pressure chamber 12a and a negative pressure chamber 12b.
The positive pressure chamber 12 a communicates with each air passage hole 11 a of the fluid passage plate 11 . The negative pressure chamber 12 b communicates with each air passage hole 11 b of the fluid passage plate 11 via each pipe portion 14 .

The pressure unit 40 pressurizes the positive pressure chamber 12 a under the control of the control unit 60 . As a result, positive pressure air is supplied to the back surface of the wafer W, so that the wafer W floats on the floating surface 11f.
Under the control of the control unit 60, the decompression unit 50 reduces the negative pressure in the negative pressure chamber 12b. As a result, the area of the rear surface of the wafer W facing the air passage holes 11b becomes negative pressure. By simultaneously driving the pressurizing unit 40 and the depressurizing unit 50, the wafer W floats on the floating surface 11f and is held without contact with the floating surface 11f. At this time, since the positive pressure space and the negative pressure space are alternately formed on the back side of the wafer W, the wafer W is prevented from being deformed into a dome shape.

The rotating section 30 rotates the wafer W floated by the levitation section 10 in a rotation direction C about the rotation axis O in a non-contact manner. The rotating portion 30 is positioned on the outer periphery of the floating portion 10 and has an annular shape surrounding the floating portion 10 . The rotating section 30 rotates the wafer W using ultrasonic waves.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3 , the rotating section 30 includes a plurality of excitation actuators 31 and an elastic vibration plate 32 .
The elastic vibration plate 32 has a flat ring plate shape and faces the wafer W floated by the floatation part 10 (see FIG. 2) with a gap therebetween. A plurality of excitation actuators 31 are positioned on the surface of the elastic diaphragm 32 opposite to the wafer W. The plurality of excitation actuators 31 apply ultrasonic vibrations to the elastic diaphragm 32 in the form of traveling waves. As a result, the ultrasonic acoustic viscous force S acts on the wafer W by propagating the bending traveling wave Wv to the elastic vibration plate 32 . As a result, the wafer W rotates in the rotation direction C. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the positioning units 20A, 20B, and 20C grip side portions of the wafer W without contact. The force for holding the wafer W in the radial direction by the positioning portions 20A, 20B, and 20C is set larger than the force for holding the wafer W in the rotation direction C by the positioning portions 20A, 20B, and 20C. The holding force of the wafer W in the rotational direction C by the positioning units 20A, 20B, and 20C is set smaller than the rotational force transmitted to the wafer W from the rotating unit 30. As shown in FIG. As a result, the wafer W can be rotated by the rotating portion 30 while the wafer W is held by the positioning portions 20A, 20B, and 20. FIG. Further, when the operation of the rotating portion 30 is stopped while the wafer W is rotating, the positioning portions 20A, 20B, and 20 perform a braking function to stop the rotation of the wafer W. FIG.
The positioning parts 20A, 20B, and 20C are located on the outer peripheral side of the rotating part 30 and are arranged in the rotating direction C of the wafer W at equal angular intervals. The positioning units 20A, 20B, and 20C are arranged at intermediate positions in the rotation direction C between the inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C. The positioning portions 20A, 20B, and 20C are formed at positions straddling the outer peripheral surface of the wafer W in the radial direction of the wafer W. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, positioning units 20A, 20B, and 20C each include a diaphragm 21, a conical horn 22, and a vibrator .
The transducer 23 is a Langevin transducer that emits ultrasonic waves. Conical horn 22 extends along rotation axis O and is positioned between diaphragm 21 and vibrator 23 . A diaphragm 21 is fixed to the first end of the conical horn 22 near the wafer W. As shown in FIG. A vibrator 23 is fixed to the second end of the conical horn 22 far from the wafer W. As shown in FIG. Ultrasonic waves from the vibrator 23 pass through the conical horn 22 and are transmitted to the diaphragm 21 .
The diaphragm 21 is positioned to face the edge of the back surface of the wafer W levitated by the levitation section 10 . Diaphragm 21 is excited by ultrasonic waves from vibrator 23 . The diaphragm 21 is formed in a rectangular plate shape made of aluminum. The diaphragm 21 has a first-order bending mode in the longitudinal direction (the radial direction of the wafer W) at a frequency of 28 kHz, and has antinodes at both ends and the central portion. The vibration plate 21 is bent at high speed by ultrasonic waves to form a negative pressure area, and the wafer W is attracted by this negative pressure area. As a result, the positioning units 20A, 20B, and 20C grip the side portions of the wafer W without contact.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 60 controls the pressurizing unit 40, the depressurizing unit 50, the positioning units 20A, 20B, 20C, the rotating unit 30, and the inspection units 3A, 3B, 3C. The control unit 60 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. This ROM stores, for example, an inspection program that defines a control procedure for the control unit 60 . The control unit 60 controls the inspection system 1 according to this inspection program.

Next, the procedure of the inspection program executed by the control unit 60 will be described along the flowchart of FIG.
First, the control unit 60 floats the wafer W on the floating surface 11f via the floating unit 10 (step S101). In this step S101, the control unit 60 operates the pressurizing unit 40 and the depressurizing unit 50 simultaneously.

Next, the control unit 60 holds the floating wafer W by the positioning units 20A, 20B, and 20C in a non-contact manner (step S102). This suppresses the radial displacement of the wafer W floating on the floating surface 11f.
The order of steps S101 and S102 may be reversed, and steps S101 and S102 may be executed simultaneously.

The controller 60 rotates the wafer W through the rotating unit 30 and inspects the wafer W for defects through the inspecting units 3A, 3B, and 3C. The inspection results are displayed on a display (not shown). (step S103).
More specifically, in this step S103, when the wafer W is rotated by the specified angle via the rotating part 30, the control part 60 stops the rotation of the wafer W by stopping the operation of the rotating part 30. FIG. This specified angle is set based on the inspection areas Wk of the inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C. The control unit 60 inspects the wafer W through the inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C in a state where the rotation of the wafer W is stopped, and performs imaging in this example.
In this example, a plurality of inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C are arranged around the wafer W at equal angular intervals. The wafer W is rotated through an angle divided by the number of 3A, 3B, 3C, 120° in this example.

Then, the control unit 60 stops the rotation of the wafer W by the positioning units 20A, 20B, and 20C by stopping the operation of the rotating unit 30 (step S104), and ends this flowchart.

(effect)
According to the first embodiment described above, the following effects are obtained.
(1) The non-contact positioning device 2 floats the wafer W on the floating surface 11f by simultaneously supplying positive pressure fluid and negative pressure fluid to different positions of the wafer W, which is an example of a floating object. , positioning units 20A, 20B, and 20C for positioning the wafer W in a levitated state by supplying ultrasonic waves to the wafer W, and the wafer W in the levitated state. and a rotating portion 30 that is an example of a floating object driving portion that rotates the .
According to this configuration, the deformation of the wafer W is suppressed by simultaneously supplying the positive pressure fluid and the negative pressure fluid to the wafer W being levitated. Further, the position of the floating wafer W can be accurately positioned in a non-contact manner by the positioning portions 20A, 20B, and 20C.
Further, according to the above configuration, the wafer W is not separated from the floating surface 11f while floating on the floating surface 11f. Therefore, regardless of the gravity direction of the wafer W, the wafer W does not separate from the floating surface 11f. Therefore, the degree of freedom of the installation position of the non-contact positioning device 2 is increased.
Moreover, it is possible to rotate the entire non-contact positioning device 2 in the direction of gravity.
Furthermore, by supplying negative pressure air to the back surface of the wafer W, the wafer W is prevented from being deformed into a dome shape, and the flat state is easily maintained.

(2) The rotating unit 30 rotates the wafer W in a floating state around the rotation axis O by supplying ultrasonic waves to the wafer W. FIG.
According to this configuration, the wafer W is rotated in a non-contact manner by the rotating portion 30, and the wafer W is stopped in a non-contact manner by the positioning portions 20A, 20B, and 20C. This eliminates the need to fix the wafer W with a fixing member, which is a jig, and suppresses the application of an external force to the wafer W from the fixing member. Further, for example, when the non-contact positioning device 2 is applied to the inspection system 1 for the wafer W, the defect etc. of the wafer W are not hidden by the fixing member, so that the defect etc. of the wafer W can be accurately inspected. be able to.

(3) The rotating portion 30 is formed in an annular shape so as to surround the floating portion 10 . A plurality of positioning parts 20A, 20B, and 20C are arranged around the rotating part 30 and positioned to face the edge of the disk-shaped wafer W. As shown in FIG.
According to this configuration, the wafer W can be stably floated, rotated and stopped.

(4) The floating part 10, the positioning parts 20A, 20B, 20C and the rotating part 30 are arranged on the back side of the wafer W. As shown in FIG.
According to this configuration, since the non-contact positioning device 2 is not arranged on the surface side of the wafer W, the surface of the wafer W can be exposed. Therefore, for example, the front side of the wafer W can be easily inspected by the inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C.

(5) The inspection system 1 includes a non-contact positioning device 2 and inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C that inspect an inspection area Wk, which is a part of the wafer W, for defects or stains. The rotating unit 30 rotates the wafer W to move the inspection area Wk relative to the wafer W. As shown in FIG.
According to this configuration, the entire circumference of the wafer W can be inspected by the inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C.

(Second embodiment)
A second embodiment of the non-contact positioning device and inspection system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the positioning and rotating parts are realized by a positioning and rotating part having a common configuration. Below, it demonstrates centering around difference with the said 1st Embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the non-contact positioning device 2C includes a floating section 110 and a plurality of positioning rotation sections 121, 122, and 123. As shown in FIG. The floating portion 110 is different in shape from the floating portion 10 of the first embodiment, but has the same function.
The floating portion 110 has a substantially circular shape including the wafer W when viewed from the direction along the rotation axis O. As shown in FIG. Floating portion 110 includes notches 110A, 110B, and 110C formed around floating portion 110 . The cutouts 110A, 110B, and 110C are provided at positions facing the outer peripheral side surface of the wafer W and open radially outward of the wafer W. As shown in FIG. One inspection unit 3A, 3B, 3C can be arranged in each of the cutouts 110A, 110B, 110C.

The positioning rotating parts 121, 122, and 123 each have a curved plate shape along the outer peripheral side surface of the wafer W. As shown in FIG. A plurality of positioning rotating portions 121, 122, and 123, which are three in this example, are arranged along the rotation direction C at equal angular intervals via notches 110A, 110B, and 110C.
As shown in FIG. 5( b ), the positioning rotating parts 121 , 122 , 123 are installed in a housing recess 115 formed in the floating surface of the fluid passage plate 111 of the floating part 110 . The positioning rotating parts 121, 122, 123 are formed of piezoelectric elements. Under the control of the control unit 60, the alternating current of either traveling wave or standing wave is selectively supplied to the positioning rotating units 121, 122, and 123. FIG. The positioning rotating parts 121, 122, and 123 function as rotating parts when supplied with traveling wave currents, and apply ultrasonic vibrations as traveling waves so as to rotate the wafer W. FIG. On the other hand, the positioning rotating parts 121, 122, and 123 function as positioning parts when the standing wave current is supplied, and grip the wafer W in a non-contact manner so as to stop the rotation of the wafer W. FIG.
In addition, each of the positioning rotating parts 121, 122, and 123 may be composed of a plurality of piezoelectric elements divided in the rotating direction C. As shown in FIG. Piezoelectric elements adjacent to each other in the rotation direction C may be supplied with alternating currents that are out of phase with each other by 180°.

As shown in FIG. 5(c), the positioning rotating parts 121, 122, 123 are brought into a floating state within the housing recess 115 by positive pressure air passing through the fluid passage plate 111 supplied from the pressurizing part 40. be kept. The fluid passage plate 111 is a porous body such as porous ceramic. Since the rotating positioning parts 121, 122, and 123 are in a floating state, the ultrasonic waves are transmitted to the wafer W more reliably than when the rotating positioning parts 121, 122, and 123 are fixed to the fluid passage plate 111. can supply. Further, since the positioning rotating parts 121, 122, 123 are in a floating state, the gap between the wafer W and the positioning rotating parts 121, 122, 123 can be adjusted to a constant distance.

Positioning rotating parts 121, 122, 123 are generated from the sum of the squeezing force that pulls wafer W along with the supply of ultrasonic waves, the gravity of positioning rotating parts 121, 122, 123, and the air received by the back surface of positioning rotating parts 121, 122, 123. It is maintained in a floating state within the housing recess 115 by the balance of forces between the two. Further, the positioning rotating parts 121 , 122 , 123 are positioned in the surface direction of the fluid passage plate 111 by the air received from the side walls of the accommodation recess 115 while floating inside the accommodation recess 115 .
In addition to the positive pressure air, negative pressure air may be applied to the positioning rotating parts 121 , 122 , 123 from the decompression part 50 while floating in the housing recess 115 . As a result, the positioning rotating parts 121 , 122 , 123 are kept floating in the housing recess 115 .

(effect)
According to the second embodiment described above, the following effects are obtained.
The non-contact positioning device 2C includes a positioning rotation unit 121 that rotates the wafer W in a non-contact manner by supplying ultrasonic waves in the form of traveling waves and positions the wafer W in a non-contact manner by supplying ultrasonic waves in the form of standing waves. 122 , 123 , an accommodation recess 115 that accommodates the positioning rotation parts 121 , 122 , 123 , and when the positioning rotation parts 121 , 122 , 123 supply ultrasonic waves to the wafer W, the positioning rotation parts 121 , 122 , 123 A pressurizing section 40 that is an example of a fluid supply section that floats the positioning rotating sections 121 , 122 , and 123 in the housing recess 115 by supplying air that is an example of a fluid.
According to this configuration, positioning rotating parts 121, 122, and 123 are in a floating state, so that positioning rotating parts 121, 122, and 123 can supply ultrasonic waves to wafer W more reliably. Therefore, rotation and positioning of the wafer W by ultrasonic waves are facilitated.

(Third embodiment)
A third embodiment of the non-contact positioning device and inspection system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Below, it demonstrates centering around difference with the said 2nd Embodiment.
As shown in FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b), the non-contact positioning device 2D includes a floating portion 10, a positioning rotating portion 220, and a housing portion 223 similar to those of the first embodiment.
The positioning rotation part 220 has a ring plate shape along the outer peripheral side surface of the wafer W so as to surround the floating part 10 . The positioning rotator 220 has the same functions as the plurality of positioning rotators 121, 122, 123 of the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6C, the positioning rotation part 220 includes a plurality of piezoelectric elements 221 divided along the rotation direction C, and a ring stator 222 to which the plurality of piezoelectric elements 221 are fixed.
The positioning rotation part 220 is housed in a housing recess 225 formed in the housing part 223 . The housing portion 223 is made of the same material as the fluid passage plate 111 of the second embodiment, such as porous ceramic. The rotating positioning part 220 is in a floating state in the housing recess 225 by air supplied by a pressure unit (not shown), like the rotating positioning parts 121, 122, and 123 of the second embodiment. This embodiment also provides the same effects as the second embodiment.

The present disclosure is not limited by the above embodiments and drawings. Changes (including deletion of components) can be made as appropriate without changing the gist of the present disclosure. An example of modification will be described below.

(Modification)
In the first embodiment, the rotating part 30 and the positioning parts 20A, 20B, 20C may be of the type having piezoelectric elements as in the second and third embodiments.
In each of the above embodiments, the number of inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C is not limited to three, and may be one, two, or four or more.
Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C are cameras that image the side surface of the wafer W, but they may also image other portions of the wafer W, for example, the surface of the wafer W. Alternatively, the entire wafer W may be imaged.
Furthermore, although the inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C are cameras in each of the above-described embodiments, the wafer W may be inspected by another method such as a laser.
Moreover, in the above embodiments, the inspection units 3A, 3B, and 3C are arranged on the front surface side of the wafer W, but they may be arranged on the back surface side of the wafer W without being limited to this.

Although the levitation unit 10 levitates the wafer W with air in each of the above-described embodiments, the present invention is not limited to this, and the wafer W may be levitated with ultrasonic waves. Further, the positioning units 20A, 20B, and 20C may position the wafer W by supplying ultrasonic waves to areas other than the edge of the wafer. Moreover, the positioning units 20A, 20B, and 20C may position the wafer W in a non-contact manner by magnetic means other than ultrasonic waves.
In each of the above embodiments, the rotation axis O of the wafer W passes through the center position of the wafer W, but it is not limited to this and may pass through a position shifted from the center position of the wafer W.

In each of the embodiments described above, the wafer W is shaped like a disc, but it is not limited to this, and may be shaped like a polygonal plate.
In the first embodiment described above, for example, the wafer W may be shaped like a square plate, and the positioning portion 20D may be arranged at the center of each side of the wafer W, as shown in FIG. 7(a).
For example, as shown in FIG. 7(b), the wafer W may have a triangular plate shape, and the positioning portions 20E may be arranged at the center of each side of the wafer W. As shown in FIG.
For example, as shown in FIG. 7(c), the wafer W has a rectangular plate shape. The positioning part 20F is arranged at the center of each side of the wafer W at the first rotational position indicated by the solid line in the figure, and the positioning part 20G is arranged at the second rotational position indicated by the dashed line in the figure. It may be arranged in the center of each side of a certain wafer W. FIG. The first rotational position and the second rotational position are separated from each other by 90° in the direction of rotation C. As shown in FIG.
For example, as shown in FIG. 7(d), similar to FIG. 7(c), when the wafer W has a rectangular plate shape, the wafer W at the first rotation position indicated by the solid line in the figure and The positioning part 20H may be arranged at four points where the wafer W in the second rotation position intersects, which is indicated by the one-dot chain line.
Further, the positioning portion may be arranged at each corner of the wafer W shown in FIGS. 7(a) to 7(d).

In the above-described first embodiment, the levitation section 10, the positioning sections 20A, 20B, 20C, and the rotating section 30 are arranged on the back surface side of the wafer W. Any one or two of the portion 10, the positioning portions 20A, 20B, 20C and the rotating portion 30 may be arranged. The second embodiment and the third embodiment can also be modified in the same manner.
In each of the above-described embodiments, the floating object rotated and stopped by the non-contact positioning device 2 was the wafer W, but objects other than the wafer W may be used.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the non-contact positioning devices 2, 2C, and 2D are applied to the inspection system 1 that inspects the wafer W, but are not limited to this, and can be applied to a transport system that transports substrates that are floating objects. may be For example, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the transport system 1A includes a non-contact positioning device 2A, a slide section 19, a substrate driving section 70 which is an example of a floating object driving section, and a control section 60. . The non-contact positioning device 2A includes a floating portion 10A and positioning portions 20D, 20E, 20F, and 20G. That is, unlike the non-contact positioning device 2 of the first embodiment, the non-contact positioning device 2A does not have the rotating part 30 (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The floating portion 10A is a rectangular parallelepiped, and has the same structure and function as the floating portion 10 of the above embodiment except for the shape. A floating surface 11f of the floating portion 10A has a rectangular shape. In this example, the substrate W1 has a rectangular plate shape. The substrate W1 is held in a floating state with respect to the floating surface 11f of the floating section 10A.

The positioning parts 20D, 20E, 20F, 20G have the same structure and function as the positioning parts 20A, 20B, 20C of the above embodiments.
As shown in FIG. 9, the positioning parts 20D and 20E are arranged along the first side Wa of the substrate W1 so as to face the first side Wa. The positioning parts 20F and 20G are arranged along the second side Wb of the substrate W1 so as to face the second side Wb. The first side portion Wa and the second side portion Wb extend in directions perpendicular to each other. The positioning units 20D, 20E, 20F, and 20G position the substrate W1 in a floating state with respect to the floating surface 11f. The positioning portions 20D, 20E, 20F, and 20G may be arranged one by one on each side of the substrate W1.

As shown in FIG. 8, the slide portion 19 is provided with a floating portion 10A and positioning portions 20D, 20E, 20F, and 20G.
Under the control of the control unit 60, the substrate driving unit 70 moves the sliding unit 19 together with the floating unit 10A and the positioning units 20D, 20E, 20F and 20G. The moving direction of the slide portion 19 is the direction along the floating surface 11f. The substrate W1 is moved by the substrate drive unit 70 while being floated by the floating unit 10A and positioned by the positioning units 20D, 20E, 20F, and 20G. Thereby, the transport system 1A can transport the substrate W1 in a non-contact manner. The board driving section 70 has, for example, a motor and a ball screw.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 10, the substrate transfer system 4 may include a plurality of transport systems 1A and 1B, and may be configured to transfer substrates W1 between the transport systems 1A and 1B. A plurality of transport systems 1A and 1B, two in this example, are provided facing each other in the thickness direction of the substrate W1 to be transported, and arranged at different positions in the surface direction of the substrate W1 to be transported. The transport system 1A floats the substrate W1 by the floating portion 10A and is positioned by the positioning portions 20D, 20E, 20F, and 20G. move. By driving the floating section 10A and the positioning sections 20D, 20E, 20F, and 20G of the transport system 1B, the substrate W1 is held in a state separated from the floating section 10A of the transport system 1B. Next, the driving of the floating section 10A and the positioning sections 20D, 20E, 20F, and 20G of the transport system 1A is stopped. Therefore, even if the floating portion 10A, the positioning portions 20D, 20E, 20F, 20G, and the slide portion 19 of the transport system 1A move to their original positions, the substrate W1 remains in the floating portion 10A, the positioning portions 20D, 20E, and the floating portion 10A of the transport system 1B. 20F and 20G are maintained. As a result, the substrate W1 can be transferred between the transfer systems 1A and 1B in a non-contact manner.

(effect)
According to the modified examples of FIGS. 8 to 10 described above, the following effects are obtained.
A substrate driving unit 70, which is an example of a floating object driving unit, floats a substrate W1 floated by the floating unit 10A and positioned by the positioning units 20D, 20E, 20F, and 20G. , and 20G.
According to this configuration, while suppressing deformation of the floating substrate W1, the substrate W1 can be transported in a state in which the positioning portions 20D, 20E, 20F, and 20G position the substrate W1 in a non-contact manner with high accuracy.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Inspection system 1A, 1B... Transfer system 2, 2A, 2C, 2D... Non-contact positioning apparatus 3A, 3B, 3C... Inspection part 4... Board transfer system, 10, 10A... Floating part, 11... Fluid Passage plate 11a, 11b Air passage hole 11f Floating surface 12 Case portion 12a Positive pressure chamber 12b Negative pressure chamber 13 Partition wall 14 Pipe portion 20, 20A, 20B, 20C , 20D, 20E, 20F, 20G...Positioning part 21...Diaphragm 22...Conical horn 23...Vibrator 30...Rotating part 31...Excitation actuator 32...Elastic diaphragm 40...Pressure part 50 Decompression unit 60 Control unit 221 Piezoelectric element 222 Ring stator 223 Accommodating unit 115, 225 Accommodating concave portion 121, 122, 123, 220 Positioning rotating unit C Rotation direction O Rotation axis, S... ultrasonic acoustic viscous force, W... wafer, W1... substrate, Wk... inspection area, Wv... deflection traveling wave

Claims (7)

a levitation unit that simultaneously supplies a positive pressure fluid and a negative pressure fluid to the levitation object so as to keep the levitation object from moving away from the levitation surface while the levitation object is levitated relative to the levitation surface;
a positioning unit that positions the levitated object by supplying ultrasonic waves to the edge of the levitated object;
a floating object driving unit that rotates or moves the floating object while floating on the floating surface;
Non-contact positioning device. The levitated object driving unit is a rotating unit that rotates the levitated object about a rotation axis by supplying ultrasonic waves to the levitated object.
2. The non-contact positioning device of claim 1. The rotating portion extends along the direction of rotation of the floating object and is formed to surround the floating portion,
The plurality of positioning parts are arranged around the rotating part and positioned to face the edge of the disk-shaped floating object.
3. A non-contact positioning device according to claim 2. a positioning rotating portion including the positioning portion and the rotating portion;
a housing recess that houses the positioning rotating part;
a fluid supply unit that supplies fluid to the positioning rotation unit so that the positioning rotation unit floats in the housing recess when the positioning rotation unit supplies ultrasonic waves to the floating object. ,
3. A non-contact positioning device according to claim 2. The floating object drive unit moves the floating object, which is floated by the levitation unit and positioned by the positioning unit, together with the levitation unit and the positioning unit.
2. The non-contact positioning device of claim 1. The levitation section, the positioning section, and the levitation object driving section are arranged on the back side of the levitation article,
A non-contact positioning device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. a non-contact positioning device according to any one of claims 2 to 4;
an inspection unit that inspects the presence or absence of defects or stains in an inspection area that is part of the wafer that is the floating object,
the rotating unit relatively moves the position of the inspection region with respect to the wafer by rotating the wafer;
inspection system.

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