JPH0344754Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea] [Technical field to which the idea belongs]

This idea allows wafers that are thin (a few hundred microns thick), made of brittle material, and have a flat, smooth surface that easily adheres to each other when stacked to be easily stacked into one wafer to be wafer-free.
This invention relates to a wafer separation device that separates wafers one by one.

[Prior art and its problems]

Semiconductor wafers, which are the subject of this invention, are thin, usually several hundred microns thick, are made of brittle material, and have smooth, flat surfaces that have been wrapped, so that when stacked, they do not stick together. It has an easy nature. Conventionally, the work of separating multiple wafers stacked one by one was done manually.In order to make this manual work easier, after wrapping the wafer surface,
Efforts have been made to prevent wafers from coming into close contact by placing paper or the like between them. However, no published literature has yet been found regarding a method for performing this work using a mechanical device.

[Purpose of invention]

As mentioned above, this wafer separation technology allows wafers that are thin, made of brittle materials, and whose surfaces have been treated to be smooth so that they adhere easily to each other to be taken out one by one without damaging the surface. The purpose is to provide equipment.

[Key points of the idea]

In this invention, the target separation device has an advancing/retracting mechanism on which the stacked wafers are placed and advances and retreats in the stacking direction, and an open end surface in which the opposite side of the advancing/retracting mechanism of the stacked wafers is open. A gap between a magazine that surrounds the wafer and guides the wafer in the advancing and retreating direction when the advancing and retreating mechanism advances and retreats, and the open end surface of the magazine that is connected to a vacuum source is larger than one wafer and smaller than two wafers. A suction pad is provided with a suction surface and is configured to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the wafers, and when the wafers are separated, the advancing/retracting mechanism moves forward to press the wafer onto the suction pad and the After activating the vacuum source and adsorbing the wafer, the advancing/retracting mechanism is retracted and the remaining wafer, which is in close contact with the top wafer adsorbed to the suction pad, falls due to its own weight. The wafer is adsorbed to the suction pad in such a way that no external force is applied to the surface in a direction perpendicular to the surface, and then the suction pad is moved in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the wafers to ensure that the wafer is free from defects. The objective is to achieve the above object by separating and taking out the components.

[Example of idea]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the main parts of a wafer separation apparatus constructed based on the present invention. A plurality of wafers 6 stacked in a stack are placed on an advancing/retracting mechanism formed as an air cylinder device 3 via a thick base plate 5 disposed at the bottom thereof.
The air cylinder device 3 is connected to an air source (not shown), and moves forward and backward in the vertical direction in the figure by supplying air to the device or discharging the supplied air to the outside of the device. The stacked wafers 6 are surrounded by a cylindrical magazine 4 with one end open, and when the air cylinder device 3 moves up and down, this magazine 4
The direction of advance and retreat is guided by. At the open end of the magazine 4, there is disposed a suction pad 1 connected to the vacuum source 2, which has a suction surface Y having a gap δ larger than one wafer 6 and smaller than two wafers 6 between it and the open end surface X. be done. A disk-shaped suction piece 1a having a large number of small holes is embedded in the suction surface Y side of the suction pad 1 so that its wafer side surface is flush with the Y surface. By evacuating the back side of this suction piece, the wafer that is in contact with the Y surface is suctioned. The process of separating wafers one by one from a stack of wafers is as follows. First, air is supplied to the air cylinder device 3 from an air source (not shown) and the device is advanced upward in the figure to press the stack against the suction pad 1.
Here, the air cylinder device 3 is configured, for example, as shown in FIG. is moved upward in the figure by the air sent to the air supply pipe 3a, which also serves as a fixed piston, and presses the wafer against the suction pad 1 (FIG. 1). outer cylinder 3
c remains stationary at this pressed position, but since the inner cylinder 3b still tries to move forward while compressing the coil spring 3d, both the inner and outer cylinders tend to shift relative to each other. Therefore, if this deviation is detected by an appropriate method, it can be confirmed that the wafer has been pressed against the suction pad. When it is confirmed that the wafer is pressed against the suction pad in this manner, the vacuum source connected to the suction pad is activated to evacuate the back side of the suction piece 1a, and the wafer is suctioned. When this suction is confirmed, for example, by a change in the vacuum pressure behind the suction piece, the holding member 8 holding the suction pad 1 is moved horizontally as shown by the arrow in FIG.
When the wafer is moved to a predetermined position, the back side of the suction piece 1a is returned from vacuum to atmospheric pressure and the wafer is placed in a predetermined position. During this horizontal movement, the gap between the suction pad 1 and the open end surface of the magazine 4 is larger than one wafer and smaller than two wafers, so one or more wafers are in close contact with the top wafer suctioned by the suction pad. The wafers are blocked by the open end surface of the magazine 4, are left behind in the magazine, and fall. Also,
These falling wafers are always subjected to a force in the direction of gravity, and since no pressing force is applied to the topmost wafer that is attracted, no defects are produced on the surface during horizontal movement, that is, movement in the shearing direction. As explained above, in this example,
To attract a wafer to the suction pad 1, an air cylinder device 3 is used to advance the wafer to the suction surface Y. It is also conceivable to make the suction pad smaller and advance the suction pad into the magazine for suction. However, this configuration requires a mechanism to drive the holding member 8 vertically and horizontally, which makes the mechanism complicated. Therefore, the gap length δ, which should maintain accuracy on the order of microns, is shortened during the separation process. It is easy to cause errors in the process. Therefore, as a separation device for thin wafers, the movement of the holding member 8 is
It is preferable to use a configuration in which only the direction (horizontal direction) is used to more reliably maintain the accuracy of the gap δ.

[Effect of the idea]

As described above, according to this invention, as an apparatus for separating a plurality of stacked wafers one by one, the stacked wafers are placed and the advancing/retracting mechanism moves back and forth in the stacking direction, and the stacked wafers are moved back and forth in the stacking direction. a magazine which has an open end face on the opposite side of the advancing/retracting mechanism of the wafer and which surrounds the wafer and guides the wafer in the advancing/retreating direction when the advancing/retracting mechanism advances and retreats; and a magazine which is connected to a vacuum source and has an open end face of the magazine. and a suction pad configured to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the wafers, the suction pad having a suction surface with a gap larger than one wafer and smaller than two wafers, and when separating the wafers, The advancing/retracting mechanism moves forward to press the wafer against the suction pad, and the vacuum source is activated to attract the wafer, after which the advancing/retracting mechanism is moved backward, and then the suction pad is moved in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the wafers. Since the wafers are separated and taken out by moving the wafers to
Therefore, the wafer can be taken out without any defects. (2) Because the wafers are separated by shifting in the shearing direction,
It requires almost no force to separate, and although the material is brittle, it does not easily break. (3) By setting the suction pad to move only in one direction, perpendicular to the stacking direction of the wafers, and using a separate mechanism to press the wafer onto the suction pad, the suction surface of the suction pad and the magazine surrounding the wafer are The accuracy of the gap length between the open end surface and the gap length can be easily maintained, and separation of each sheet can be ensured. Effects such as this can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of the main parts of a wafer separation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a structural diagram showing the advancing and retracting mechanism for moving wafers forward and backward in the wafer separation apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram showing a situation when a wafer separation device separates a wafer. 1... Suction pad, 2... Vacuum source, 3... Advance/retreat mechanism, 4... Magazine, 6... Wafer, X... Open end surface, Y... Adsorption surface.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A device for separating a plurality of stacked wafers one by one, comprising an advancing/retracting mechanism on which the stacked wafers are placed and advancing and retreating in the stacking direction, and an opening in which the side of the stacked wafers opposite the advancing/retracting mechanism is open. A gap between a magazine having an end surface that surrounds the wafer and guides the wafer in the advancing and retreating direction when the advancing and retreating mechanism advances and retreats, and the open end surface of the magazine that is connected to a vacuum source is one of the wafers.
A suction pad is provided with a suction surface larger than one wafer and smaller than two wafers, and configured to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the wafers, and when the wafers are separated, the advance/retreat mechanism moves forward to remove the wafers. is pressed against the suction pad and the vacuum source is activated to adsorb the wafer, and then the advancing and retracting mechanism is retracted, and then the suction pad is moved in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the wafers, thereby removing the wafer one by one. A wafer separation device that separates wafers one by one.