KR101065168B1 - Rotary type polishing apparatus for wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer polishing machine, wherein at least one cassette (CASSETTE) on which a wafer to be processed and a processed wafer are loaded, and a wafer to be processed which is installed in the cassette and loaded on the cassette are extracted or processed. A transfer robot for loading the completed wafer into the cassette, a rear surface of the wafer drawn out from the transfer robot, a polishing unit disposed on a concentric circle near the transfer robot, and rotatably installed at the center of the concentric circle; A rotating arm including a rotating plate, an extension piece extending outwardly from one side of the rotation plate corresponding to the polishing part, and extending in a left and right direction at one end thereof and corresponding to a wafer seating area of the polishing part of the extension piece; A pair is formed at both ends of the pair, and a pair of ways located at the polishing portion And a gripping means for gripping a center robot for moving a pair of wafers located in the polishing unit simultaneously to the next process while receiving a pair of wafers to be processed from the transfer robot when rotated, and coupled to a center of the center robot. And a rotating unit for providing rotational force to the center robot and one side of the center robot, and a moving unit for moving the center robot to move the center robot.

According to the present invention as described above, the center robot is rotatably installed at the center of the concentric circle in a state in which a plurality of polishing units are arranged concentrically in one apparatus, and polishing of a pair of wafers located in the grinding part, the lapping part and the polishing part. Is completed, the device can be miniaturized by moving to the next process, and the required installation area is notably reduced, and a pair of wafers are polished and transported simultaneously to significantly shorten the movement time between the processes, thereby reducing the working time. There is an effect that can significantly improve the productivity.

Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, Transfer, Wafers

Description

Rotary type polishing apparatus for wafer

The present invention relates to a rotary polishing apparatus for a wafer, and more particularly, to install a center robot rotatably at a center of a concentric circle in a state in which a plurality of polishing units are arranged concentrically in one apparatus, and grinding, lapping and polishing are performed. When polishing of a pair of wafers in the part is completed, it is possible to reduce the size of the device by moving to the next process at the same time. Not only the required installation area is significantly reduced, but also the pairing wafers are polished and transported at the same time, which greatly reduces the movement time between the processes. The present invention relates to a rotary polishing apparatus for a wafer that can shorten working time and thereby significantly improve productivity.

Wafers, which have undergone a series of semiconductor manufacturing processes, are subjected to back polishing before being separated into individual chips. The back polishing process of the wafer is a process for polishing and thinning the back surface of a thickly manufactured wafer to prevent the impact from external impacts during the whole process or transfer.

Sapphire wafers with a thickness of about 450 μm are generally used. The wafer backside grinding process is performed at 85 μm. The final thickness of the wafer may vary depending on the type of semiconductor product or the customer's requirements. Can be.

The wafer backside polishing process includes a grinding step of polishing the wafer so that the thickness of the wafer is about 250 μm from the initial thickness, a lapping step of polishing the wafer to about 110 μm from the wafer thickness of the grinding step, and a polishing liquid on the back side of the wafer polished in the lapping step. The polishing step may be performed in order of polishing to a final thickness, and a cleaning step of cleaning the surface of the polished wafer.

However, in the conventional wafer back polishing apparatus, the grinding step, the lapping step and the polishing step are performed separately in each device, and each wafer is purchased according to the device purchase cost while purchasing each device to perform the above process separately. There was a problem that the unit price increased.

In addition, a large installation area is required to install each device for performing the grinding, lapping and polishing steps as well as moving the wafer for the next process after each step. As the working time increases, there is a problem that the productivity is significantly reduced.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to rotatably install the center robot in the center of the concentric circle in a state in which a plurality of polishing units are arranged concentrically in one device, the grinding unit and When polishing of a pair of wafers in the lapping and polishing sections is completed, the device can be miniaturized by simultaneously moving to the next process, and the required installation area is notably reduced, and the pair of wafers are simultaneously polished and transported to move between the processes. The present invention provides a rotary polishing apparatus for a wafer that can significantly shorten working time and thereby significantly improve productivity.
In addition, in consideration of the fact that the lapping process takes about twice as long as the grinding and polishing process, the lapping unit is separated into the first lapping unit and the second lapping unit, and the lapping process is performed in the first lapping unit and the second lapping unit. The grinding, lapping, and polishing processes can be completed at the same time, allowing the center robot to simultaneously transfer the wafers located in each polishing section to the next process, thereby reducing the delay time during the process and thus significantly reducing the work time. The present invention provides a rotary polishing apparatus for a wafer.

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According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, at least one cassette (CASSETTE) to be processed and the wafer to be processed and the wafer to be processed, and installed in the vicinity of the cassette, the wafer to be processed in the cassette A transfer robot for loading a wafer having been withdrawn or processed into the cassette, a rear surface of the wafer withdrawn from the transfer robot, and a polishing unit installed in a concentric circle near the transfer robot, and rotating at the center of the concentric circle. A rotating arm including a rotating plate which is installed to be possible, an extension piece extending outwardly from one side of the rotation plate corresponding to the polishing part, and extending in a left and right direction at one end thereof, and a wafer of the polishing part among the extension pieces. A pair is formed at both ends corresponding to the seating area and the pair is located at the polishing part. A grip means for gripping a wafer, and when rotating, a center robot for simultaneously moving a pair of wafers located in the polishing unit to the next process while receiving a pair of wafers to be processed from the transfer robot, and at the center of the center robot. It is coupled to provide a rotary unit for providing a rotational force to the center robot and coupled to one side of the center robot, and provides a rotary polishing device for a wafer comprising a shangdong means for moving the center robot.
The polishing unit may include a grinding unit for polishing a rear surface of the wafer drawn out from the transfer robot, a lapping unit for regrinding the rear surface of the wafer polished by the grinding unit, and a rear surface of the wafer precisely polished by the lapping unit. It may include a polishing portion for applying a polishing liquid to the final polishing of the back surface of the wafer.
In addition, the lapping portion preferably comprises a first lapping portion for first precision polishing the rear surface of the wafer to be processed and a second lapping portion for second precision polishing the rear surface of the wafer moved from the first lapping portion. .
In addition, the grip means is preferably vacuum suction the wafer.
And, the wafer is installed in the vicinity of the transfer robot, the final polishing is completed by the polishing unit is moved and loaded by the center robot and the transfer robot, further comprising a cleaning unit for cleaning and drying the loaded wafer desirable.

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According to the present invention as described above, the center robot is rotatably installed at the center of the concentric circle in a state in which a plurality of polishing units are arranged concentrically in one apparatus, and polishing of a pair of wafers located in the grinding part, the lapping part and the polishing part. Is completed, the device can be miniaturized by moving to the next process, and the required installation area is notably reduced, and a pair of wafers are polished and transported simultaneously to significantly shorten the movement time between the processes, thereby reducing the working time. There is an effect that can significantly improve the productivity.
In addition, in consideration of the fact that the lapping process takes about twice as long as the grinding and polishing process, the lapping unit is separated into the first lapping unit and the second lapping unit, and the lapping process is performed in the first lapping unit and the second lapping unit. The grinding, lapping, and polishing processes can be completed at the same time, allowing the center robot to simultaneously transfer the wafers located in each polishing section to the next process, thereby reducing the delay time during the process and thus significantly reducing the work time. It has an effect.

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Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1 is a perspective view of a rotary polishing apparatus for a wafer according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a plan view of a rotary polishing apparatus for a wafer according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is an embodiment of the present invention It is a perspective view of the center robot, the rotating portion and the moving means.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a wafer polishing machine 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cassette 10, a transfer robot 20, a polishing unit 30, and a center robot 40. ), The rotating unit 50, the shank movement means 60 and the washing unit 70 is configured.

The cassette 10 is formed in a substantially box shape, and although not shown in the drawing, an accommodation space (not shown) is formed therein, and includes a partition plate (not shown) for dividing the accommodation space into a plurality of spaces. The wafer to be processed and the wafer to be processed are loaded.

The cassette 10 may be provided in plural numbers depending on the number of wafers to be processed and wafers to be processed.

The transfer robot 20 includes a main body 21 installed near the cassette 10 and a transfer arm 22 rotatably installed on the main body 21, and transfers the wafer loaded on the cassette 10. It serves to transfer to the center robot 40 to be described later, or serves to receive the wafer is processed from the center robot 40 to load the cassette 10.

Such a transfer robot 20 may be used a conventional SCALAR type.

The polishing unit 30 includes a grinding unit 31 installed on a concentric circle, a wrapping unit 32, and a polishing unit 33, and serves to polish the rear surface of the wafer according to the process of each unit.

Grinding unit 31 serves to polish the back of the wafer when the wafer is moved from the cassette 10 by the center robot 40 to be described later.

The lapping part 32 serves to precisely polish the back surface of the wafer polished by the grinding part 31, and includes the first lapping part 32a and the second lapping part 32b to wrap the first lapping process. The division is performed in the portion 32a and the second wrapping portion 32b.

The reason why the first lapping part 32a and the second lapping part 32b are configured is that the time required for the lapping process is approximately twice as long as that of the grinding process and the polishing process, so that each process is completed at the same time. This is to move the wafer located in each part at the same time to the next process.

The polishing unit 33 serves to apply a polishing liquid to the rear surface of the wafer polished by the wrapping unit 32 to finally polish the rear surface of the wafer.

The grinding portion 31, the wrapping portion 32, and the polishing portion 33 are provided with a pair of polishing apparatuses so as to polish a pair of wafers carried by the extension piece 42a described later.

It is apparent that the grinding part 31, the lapping part 32, and the polishing part 33 are known enough to be purchased and used commercially available to those skilled in the art. The detailed configuration and operation description thereof will be omitted.
In addition, in the present exemplary embodiment, the plurality of polishing units 30 are described as being composed of the grinding unit 31, the lapping unit 32, and the polishing unit 33, but the grinding unit 31 according to the worker's implementation process. And, it may be composed of a polishing unit 33, in order to facilitate the transfer operation of the wafer by the center robot 40 to be described later by equalizing the process time of each polishing unit 30 of the polishing unit 30 Of course, the configuration can be changed to suit the working environment.
For example, when the grinding unit 31 and the polishing unit 33 are provided, and the grinding fixed time is to be increased to 15 minutes, the grinding unit 31 is first and second like the lapping unit 32 described above. And it can be divided and installed into a third grinding unit.

As shown in FIG. 3, the center robot 40 includes a rotating plate 41 rotatably installed at the center of the concentric circles of the plurality of polishing units 50, and four extending outwards from the sides of the rotating plate 41. It comprises a grip means 43 formed on one side of the rotary arm 42 and the four rotary arms 42 corresponding to the plurality of polishing units 50, each of which is completed by the polishing unit 50 It serves to transfer the wafer to the next process.

Here, the four rotary arms 42 are formed with an extension piece 42a extending left and right at one end thereof, so that the pair of wafers can be transferred during the polishing process, thereby significantly reducing the polishing process time of the wafer. There is a feature that can significantly improve productivity.

A pair of grip means 43 is formed at both ends of the extension piece, and is preferably formed as adsorption holes for vacuum suction of the wafer.

Specific operation description of the center robot 40 will be described in detail in the operation description of the rotary polishing device 1 for the wafer of the present invention to be described later.

Rotator 50 may be used a conventional motor, the axis of the motor is coupled to the center of the rotation plate 41 of the center robot 40 serves to provide a rotational force to the center robot (40).

Here, when the rotation unit 50 provides the rotational force to the center robot 40, the center robot 40 provides a rotational force to reciprocally rotate a predetermined section, fine control to precisely control the rotation angle of the center robot 40 It is preferable to use a conventional servomotor which can be used.

Shanghai moving means 60 may be used in a conventional cylinder structure, is coupled to the lower portion of the rotating portion 50 serves to raise and lower the center robot 40 and the rotating portion 50.

The cleaning unit 70 receives the completed wafer until the polishing process by the polishing unit 33 to clean and dry the wafer contaminated in the polishing process.

It is apparent that the cleaning unit 70 is also known enough to be purchased and used commercially available to those skilled in the art, the specific configuration and operation description thereof will be omitted.

4 is a diagram illustrating an operation of receiving and rotating a wafer from a transfer robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 illustrates a wafer grinding portion of the wafer received from the transfer robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a view illustrating an operation of seating on each part, and FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an operation of receiving a wafer from which a polishing process is completed from a center robot according to an embodiment of the present invention and transferring the wafer to a cleaning unit.

An operation description of the rotary polishing apparatus 1 for a wafer according to an embodiment of the present invention having such a configuration will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6.

First, as shown in FIG. 4, the transfer robot 20 draws out the processing target wafer W loaded on the cassette 10 and transfers the wafer W taken out to the center robot 40.

At this time, the transfer robot 20 transfers the pair of wafers (W) to the extension piece (42a) of the center robot 40 by repeating the withdrawal operation of the wafer (W).

Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the center robot 40 which receives the pair of wafers W is rotated so that the rotary arm 42 is positioned in the working area of the grinding part 31 and in the working area of the grinding part 31. After the pair of wafers W are seated, the rotating arm 42 of the center robot 40 moves between the grinding unit 31 and the cassette 10 so as to be rotated in a reverse direction to be separated from the working area of the grinding unit 31.

Next, when the operation of the grinding unit 31 is completed, the center robot 40 is rotated in reverse to rotate the rotary arm 42 located between the grinding unit 31 and the first wrapping unit 31a to the grinding unit 31. The pair of wafers W seated are adsorbed and then rotated again to transfer the pair of wafers W to the work area of the first lapping part 32a which is the next process.

When the first lapping operation is completed in the first lapping unit 32a by repeating the above operation, the center robot 40 transfers the pair of wafers W to the second lapping unit 32b and then the pair of wafers W ) Secondary wrapping.

Thereafter, the secondary wrapped wafer W is transferred to the polishing unit 33 to perform a polishing process.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the pair of wafers W completed by the polishing process are transferred from the center robot 40 to the transfer robot 20, and the wafer W transferred to the transfer robot 20 is cleaned. 70) to clean the contaminated foreign matter between the polishing process and dry it to complete the polishing process.

The operation description of the wafer rotary polishing apparatus 1 described in this embodiment has been described as that each step is performed step by step to facilitate the understanding of the description, the wafer rotary polishing apparatus 1 of the present invention is a continuous operation described above It is made of.

That is, when the wafer W to be processed is transferred from the cassette 10 to the center robot 40 by the transfer robot 20, the transferred wafer W is transferred to the grinding unit 31. The other rotary arm 42 of the) adsorbs the wafer W positioned on the grinding portion 31, transfers the wafer W to the first wrapping portion 32a, which is the next process, and the wafer placed on the first wrapping portion 32a. W) is transferred to the second wrapping portion 32b, the wafer W positioned on the second wrapping portion 32b is transferred to the polishing portion 33, and the wafer W positioned on the polishing portion 33 is transferred. As the transfer to the robot 20 to be moved to the cleaning unit 70, the polishing process of the plurality of wafers (W) is made continuously.

As described above, in the present invention, a plurality of polishing units 50 are installed concentrically, and the center robot 40 is rotated to continuously move the pair of wafers W to perform the grinding process, the lapping process, and the polishing process. By doing so, not only the work time is significantly shortened, but each unit is installed as a single device, thereby minimizing the size of the polishing apparatus, thereby reducing the required installation area.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the above-mentioned preferred embodiments, it is possible to make various modifications or variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover such modifications or changes as fall within the scope of the invention.

1 is a perspective view of a rotary polishing apparatus for a wafer according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a plan view of a rotary polishing apparatus for a wafer according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a perspective view of a center robot, a rotating unit, and a moving unit according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a view showing an operation in which a center robot receives and rotates a wafer from a transport robot according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a view showing an operation of seating the wafer received by the center robot according to an embodiment of the present invention to each part of the polishing unit;

6 is a view showing an operation of transferring a wafer, which has been polished from a center robot, from a transfer robot to a cleaning unit according to an embodiment of the present invention;

<Description of main drawing code>

1: Rotary Polishing Device for Wafer 10: Cassette

20: transfer robot 21: main body

22: transfer arm 30: grinding unit

31: grinding part 32: lapping part

32a: first wrapping portion 32b: second wrapping portion

33: polishing unit 40: center robot

41: rotating plate 42: rotating arm

42a: extension part 43: grip means

50: rotating part 60: Shanghai East Sudan

70: cleaning unit

Claims (5)

At least one cassette (CASSETTE) on which the wafer to be processed and the processed wafer are loaded; A transfer robot installed near the cassette and configured to load a wafer to be processed or loaded into the cassette into a cassette; A polishing unit which polishes a rear surface of the wafer withdrawn from the transfer robot and is installed on a concentric circle near the transfer robot; A rotating arm rotatably installed at the center of the concentric circle and an extension piece extending outwardly from one side of the rotation plate corresponding to the polishing part and extending in a left and right direction at one end thereof; A pair of grip means is formed at both ends corresponding to the wafer seating area of the polishing part and grips a pair of wafers located at the polishing part, and when rotated, a pair of wafers to be processed are transferred from the transfer robot. A center robot for simultaneously moving a pair of wafers located in the polishing unit to the next process; A rotating unit coupled to the center of the center robot and providing rotational force to the center robot; And Is coupled to one side of the center robot, the rotating polishing device for a wafer comprising a shangdong means for moving the center robot. The method of claim 1, The polishing unit A grinding unit for polishing a rear surface of the wafer drawn out from the transfer robot; A wrapping portion for regrinding the back surface of the wafer polished by the grinding portion; And And a polishing unit for applying the polishing liquid to the back surface of the wafer precisely polished by the lapping unit to finally polish the back surface of the wafer. The method of claim 2, The wrapping portion A first lapping part which firstly polishes the back surface of the wafer to be processed; And And a second lapping portion for second-precision polishing the rear surface of the wafer moved from the first lapping portion. The method of claim 1, And the gripping means vacuum-adsorbs the wafer. The method of claim 2, The wafer is installed in the vicinity of the transfer robot, the final polishing is completed by the polishing unit is moved and loaded by the center robot and the transfer robot, further comprising a cleaning unit for cleaning and drying the loaded wafer Rotary polishing machine for wafers.

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