TWI628732B - Gripping equipment for wafer and gripping method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a grasping device for a substrate and a grasping method thereof, wherein the grasping device of the substrate comprises a mechanical arm and a gas heater connected to the mechanical arm, and the gas is introduced into the mechanical arm through the gas heater, Further, the gas ejected from the gripping device of the substrate may be a high temperature gas. When the high temperature substrate is transported by the grasping device of the substrate provided by the present invention, since the gas ejected from the robot arm is a high temperature gas, the temperature difference between the high temperature substrate and the high temperature substrate to be grasped is small, and thus the substrate is in contact with the substrate. The gas does not cause a large thermal shock to the substrate, thereby effectively reducing the thermal stress of the substrate and improving the problem of bending deformation of the substrate.

Description

Grasping device of substrate and grabbing method thereof

The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing technology, and in particular, to a substrate grabbing device and a grabbing method thereof.

In semiconductor fabrication, substrates used to form semiconductor components typically need to be fabricated in the cavity of various devices to ultimately form the desired components, wherein the placement and capture of the substrates in the various cavities is typically performed using a substrate. The gripping device is completed. For a substrate having a thinner thickness, a crisper texture, a rupture, or a higher degree of cleanliness, the gripping device used is non-contact, and the non-contact gripping device is usually accessed. There is a gas, and the gas is ejected by the suction nozzle of the gripping device, thereby generating the attraction function of the substrate, for example, a gripping device having a white Nuo sucker.

In addition, in the process of processing the substrate, more high-temperature processes, such as a thermal annealing process or a chemical vapor deposition process, are required. Among them, in the manufacture of a semiconductor wafer, the temperature of the cavity during chemical vapor deposition is, for example, 400 to 700 ° C, and in the epitaxial process of the ruthenium, the temperature required for chemical vapor deposition is higher, for example, It is 800~1100 °C. When the non-contact grasping device described above is used to grasp the substrate located in the high temperature cavity, since the gas ejected from the gripping device is a normal temperature gas, the temperature is usually 25 to 35 ° C, and the temperature is at a high temperature. Cavity The substrate in the body correspondingly has a relatively high temperature, so that there is a large temperature difference between the gas and the substrate, so when the normal temperature gas contacts the high temperature substrate, a large thermal shock is generated on the substrate, so that The substrate has a large thermal stress, which in turn causes a problem of bending deformation of the substrate.

An object of the present invention is to provide a grasping device for a substrate and a method for grasping the substrate, so as to solve the problem that the conventional grasping device generates a large thermal shock to the substrate when the high temperature substrate is grasped.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a gripping device for a substrate, the gripping device comprising a mechanical arm and a gas heater connected to the mechanical arm, the gas is introduced into the robot arm via the gas heater, and The robot arm is ejected to grasp the substrate.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a substrate pick-and-place method comprising: providing a grasping device for a substrate as described above; introducing a gas through a gas heater into a robot arm; and grasping with the mechanical arm Substrate.

Compared with the prior art, the grasping device of the substrate provided by the present invention includes a mechanical arm and a gas heater connected to the mechanical arm, and the gas is introduced into the robot arm through the gas heater, thereby making the substrate from the substrate The gas ejected from the gripping device may be a high temperature gas.

When the high-temperature substrate is transported by the grasping device of the substrate provided by the present invention, since the gas ejected from the robot arm is a high-temperature gas, the temperature difference between the high-temperature substrate and the high-temperature substrate to be grasped is small, thereby making the substrate The contacted gas does not cause a large thermal shock to the substrate, thereby effectively reducing the thermal stress of the substrate and improving the problem of bending deformation of the substrate. further, The gas heater further has a control switch for controlling the heating function thereof, and the function of grasping the substrates of different temperatures can be realized by turning on or off the heating function of the gas heater.

110‧‧‧ Robotic arm

111‧‧‧Sucker

112‧‧‧jet holes

120‧‧‧ gas heater

121‧‧‧heating room

122‧‧‧ heating device

123‧‧‧air inlet

124‧‧‧Exhaust port

130‧‧‧Air piping

10‧‧‧First pre-extraction chamber

20‧‧‧First transfer chamber

30‧‧‧Reaction chamber

40‧‧‧Second transfer chamber

50‧‧‧Second pre-extraction chamber

200‧‧‧Substrate

1 is a schematic structural view of a gripping device for a substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of a gas heater of a gripping device for a substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention; Schematic diagram of the suction cup of the gripping device; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the conveying process of the web in each cavity during the chemical vapor deposition process.

At present, in the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, when a substrate having a relatively high temperature is taken and dropped, since the gas ejected by the gripping device is a normal temperature gas, there is a large temperature difference between the normal temperature gas and the high temperature substrate. Therefore, when the normal temperature gas instantaneously contacts the surface of the substrate, a large thermal shock is generated to the substrate, thereby causing a large thermal stress in the substrate, thereby causing a problem that the substrate is bent and deformed.

To this end, the present invention provides a gripping device for a substrate, comprising a robot arm and a gas heater connected to the robot arm, the gas is introduced into the robot arm via the gas heater, and is ejected by the robot arm to The substrate is grabbed. When the high-temperature substrate is transported by the grasping device of the substrate provided by the present invention, since the gas ejected from the robot arm is a high-temperature gas, the temperature difference between the high-temperature substrate and the high-temperature substrate to be grasped is small, and therefore, The base When the plate is grasped, the gas in contact with the substrate does not cause a large thermal shock to the substrate, thereby effectively reducing the thermal stress of the substrate and improving the problem of bending deformation of the substrate.

A gripping device for a substrate and a method for grasping a substrate according to the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. Advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description and claims. It should be noted that the drawings are in a very simplified form and all use non-precise proportions, and are only for convenience and clarity to assist the purpose of the embodiments of the present invention.

1 is a schematic structural view of a gripping device for a substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the gripping device of the substrate includes a robot arm 110 and a gas heater 120 connected to the robot arm 110. The gas supplied from the outside is then introduced into the robot arm 110 via the gas heater 120. Specifically, the gas heated by the gas heater 120 is introduced into the robot arm 110 via an air pipe 130. And being ejected by the robot arm 110 to grasp the substrate.

Preferably, the gas heater 120 has a control switch for controlling the heating function of the gas heater 120, and the heating function of the gas heater 120 can be turned on or off by the control switch, thereby making the grasping The pick-up device can be applied not only to the grasping of a high-temperature substrate, but also to the pick-and-place of a substrate at a normal temperature. When the high temperature substrate needs to be grasped, the heating function of the gas heater 120 is turned on, so that the gas passing through the gas heater 120 is heated to form a high temperature gas, thereby being ejected by the robot arm 110. The gas is a high temperature gas, thereby reducing the temperature difference between the gas and the high temperature substrate; when the normal temperature substrate is to be grasped, the heating function of the gas heater 120 is turned off, so that the gas heater 120 is not The gas is heated, that is, the normal temperature substrate is grasped by a robot arm 110 that is supplied with a normal temperature gas.

2 is a schematic structural view of a gas heater of a gripping device of a substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, in the embodiment, the gas heater 120 includes a heating chamber 121 and is disposed in the heating chamber 121. A plurality of plate-shaped heating devices 122 and an air inlet 123 for introducing a gas and an exhaust port 124 for discharging the heated gas. A plurality of the heating devices 122 are disposed on the inner wall of the heating chamber 121 in a staggered manner to form an S-shaped gas flow path.

When the gas is introduced from the intake port 123 of the gas heater 120, the gas flows along the S-shaped flow path, and the gas comes into contact with the heating device 122 in the heating chamber 121, thereby realizing the heating process of the gas. In the gas heater 120 used in the embodiment, since the heating device 122 is disposed in the heating chamber 121 in a staggered manner to form an S-shaped gas flow path, the structure can effectively increase the contact between the gas and the heating device 122. The area increases the heat transfer efficiency and can reduce the size of the heating chamber 121. Moreover, those skilled in the art will recognize that in addition to the gas heaters described above, other types of gas heaters of the prior art may be employed to achieve the purpose of heating the gas.

Further, the gas heater 120 is also connected to an air pump (not shown) that supplies high-pressure air, and the air pump supplies high pressure to the air inlet 123 of the gas heater 120 by another air pipe. gas. Specifically, the air pump supplies nitrogen gas.

Preferably, referring to FIG. 3 and in conjunction with FIG. 1 , the mechanical arm 110 includes a bracket, a suction cup 111 and a gas jet hole 112 , wherein the suction cup 111 is mounted on the bracket, and the air injection hole 112 is located in the suction cup 111 . The gas is ejected through the gas injection holes 112. Further, the suction cup is a non-contact type suction cup, that is, the grasping device of the formed substrate is a non-contact type grasping device, and when the grasping device is used to grasp the substrate 200, the suction cup 111 is not in direct contact with the substrate 200. Since the substrate is taken and placed in a non-contact manner, the grasping device can be prevented from being generated on the substrate. Large force, therefore, this method is also more and more widely used in the field of semiconductor manufacturing, especially for substrates with thin thickness and brittle texture, such as ruthenium, wafer, solar energy. Battery chip or electrode of lithium battery, etc. Moreover, since the grasping device does not contact the substrate when the substrate is picked up and lowered, the contaminants or particulate matter on the grasping device can be effectively prevented from adhering to the substrate, thereby maintaining the cleanliness of the substrate.

In this embodiment, the suction cup 111 is a white Nuo suction cup, and the white Nuo suction cup sucks and transports the substrate 200 by generating a pressure difference between the local air. When the suction cup 111 receives the high compressed air, the working surface of the suction cup 111 generates a uniform and thin strong air flow, the flow rate increases, and the pressure intensity decreases. After the gas ejected from the air outlet 112 meets the substrate 200, the substrate 200 is centered along the substrate 200. Radially diffusing rapidly, so that the airflow in the upper portion of the substrate 200 flows to the lower portion thereof. According to the principle of the Bernoulli, the air pressure at the bottom of the substrate 200 is greater than the air pressure at the upper portion of the substrate 200, so that the substrate 200 is suspended in the air, thereby achieving The purpose of the substrate 200 to be sucked and transferred. Since the Bainuuli suction cup is attracted by the high-pressure gas, and the substrate 200 is grasped in a non-contact manner, it has the advantages of no pollution, small impact, and large suction force to the substrate 200, and is widely used.

The shape and size of the suction cup 111 can be set according to the shape and size of the substrate 200 to be grasped. Specifically, the size of the suction cup 111 is larger than the size of the substrate 200 to be grasped. For example, when the gripping device provided by the present invention is used to grasp the crotch, the shape of the suction cup 111 can be set to a circular shape, and the size thereof can be set according to the size of the crotch to be grasped. Currently, The size of the sheet usually has 150 mm, 200 mm or 300 mm and the like. Further, the suction cup 111 may be formed of an industrial plastic or the like which is light in weight and excellent in strength.

In addition, the present invention also provides a method for picking and placing a substrate, that is, the high temperature substrate is transported by using the grasping device of the substrate described above. As described in the prior art, when grasping the high temperature base At the time of the plate, the normal temperature gas ejected from the gripping device tends to cause a large thermal shock to the high temperature substrate, causing a large thermal stress to the substrate, which may cause a problem of bending deformation of the substrate. To this end, in the method for grasping a substrate provided by the present invention, the high temperature substrate is transported by using a gripping device having a substrate with a gas heater, since the gas ejected from the gripping device of the substrate is heated. The high temperature gas makes the temperature difference between the high temperature substrate and the high temperature substrate small, so that no large thermal shock is generated to the substrate, and the thermal stress of the substrate is improved.

In order to make the method for reducing the thermal stress of the substrate provided by the present invention clearer, the following is an example of grasping the cymbal in the cavity of the semiconductor processing equipment as an example. In this embodiment, the cavity of the semiconductor processing device is a reaction cavity for performing a chemical vapor deposition process, and an epitaxial process of the ruthenium is performed in the reaction cavity. 4 is a schematic view showing the transfer process of the ruthenium in each cavity during the chemical vapor deposition process, as shown in FIG. 4, in the apparatus to be used in the chemical vapor deposition process, generally including: a first pre-extraction chamber 10, The pre-extraction chamber 10 is a cassette for placing a cymbal containing a process to be deposited; a first transfer chamber 20 for placing a single piece of cymbal to be deposited; a reaction chamber 30, The reaction chamber 30 is a main reaction chamber when the enamel sheet is subjected to a chemical deposition process; the second transfer chamber 40 is used for placing a ruthenium after the deposition process is completed, and The diaphragm is cooled in the second transfer chamber 40; the second pre-extraction chamber 50 is a cassette for placing the cymbal after the completion of the deposition process.

With continued reference to FIG. 4, the following steps can be referred to when the wafer is subjected to a chemical deposition process.

In step S10, the slap in the first pre-extraction chamber 10 is transferred into the first transfer chamber 20 by the gripping device of the substrate, and the cymbal in the first transfer chamber 20 is in a ready state to enter the reaction chamber 30. Wherein, the first pre-extraction chamber 10 and the first transfer chamber 20 are both located in an air environment, and there is no heating device in the chamber to heat them, so the temperature in the first pre-extraction chamber 10 and the first transfer chamber 20 Usually 25~35 °C, in the same way, the temperature of the cymbal is also 25~35 °C. Therefore, in this step, the cymbal can be grasped by a mechanical arm that has a gas without heating. That is, the heating function of the gas heater is turned off, so that the gas passing through the gas heater is still a normal temperature gas to directly transfer the cymbal.

In step S20, the slap in the first transfer chamber 20 is transferred to the reaction chamber 30 by using a gripping device, and the slab is subjected to an epitaxial process in the reaction chamber 30. In this step, since the gripping device grips the crotch at room temperature, similar to step S10, the crotch can be grasped by a robot arm that is supplied with a normal temperature gas.

In step S30, the squeegee located in the reaction chamber 30 is grasped by the grasping device of the substrate and transferred to the second transfer chamber 40. Wherein, since the chemical vapor deposition needs to be performed at a relatively high temperature, the temperature of the reaction chamber 30 is usually 800 to 1100 °C. Correspondingly, the cymbal sheet at this time also has a relatively high temperature. Therefore, in this step, the boring piece can be grasped by a mechanical arm that is supplied with a high-temperature gas, that is, the heating function of the gas heater is turned on, so that The gas of the gas heater has a relatively high temperature, so that the temperature difference between the gas ejected from the robot arm and the high temperature crotch can be reduced when the substrate is grasped. Specifically, the temperature of the gas heated by the gas heater may range from 100 to 300 °C.

In step S40, the squeegee located in the second transfer chamber 40 is grasped by the grasping device of the substrate and transferred to the second pre-extraction chamber to complete the deposition process of the cymbal. Since the second transfer chamber 40 is used for placing the high temperature cymbal after the deposition process is completed, the temperature in the second transfer chamber 40 should not be too low to avoid a large thermal shock to the cymbal sheet, thereby The temperature of the second transfer chamber 40 is usually set to 500 to 600 °C. Correspondingly, in this step, the cymbal can still be grasped by a mechanical arm with a high temperature gas to improve the thermal stress of the cymbal.

In summary, the grasping device of the substrate provided by the present invention has a gas heating device, which can make the gas flowing into the robot arm a high temperature gas, so when the mechanical arm is grasping the high temperature In the case of the substrate, since the gas ejected by the robot arm has a high temperature, the temperature difference between the gas and the substrate can be reduced, and the thermal shock generated by the gas on the high temperature substrate can be effectively reduced. Further, the gas heater further has a control switch for controlling the heating function thereof, and the function of grasping the substrates of different temperatures can be realized by turning on or off the heating function of the gas heater.

The above-described embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and its effects, and are not intended to limit the invention. Modifications or variations of the above-described embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, all equivalent modifications or changes made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention are still covered by the scope of the invention.

Claims (12)

A gripping device for a substrate, comprising: a robot arm; and a gas heater connected to the robot arm, the gas is introduced into the robot arm through the gas heater, and is ejected by the robot arm Grasping the substrate, the gas heater includes a heating chamber, a plurality of plate-shaped heating devices, an air inlet for introducing the gas, and an exhaust port for discharging the heated gas. A plurality of the heating devices are disposed on the inner wall of the heating chamber in a staggered manner to form an S-shaped gas flow path. A gripping device for a substrate according to claim 1, wherein the gas heater has a control switch for controlling the gas heater. A gripping device for a substrate according to claim 1, wherein the robot arm includes a holder, a suction cup, and a gas injection hole, and the suction cup is mounted on the holder, and the gas injection hole is located in the suction cup. A gripping device for a substrate according to claim 3, wherein the suction cup is a non-contact suction cup. A gripping device for a substrate according to claim 3, wherein the chuck is a Bainuuli chuck. A gripping device for a substrate according to claim 1, wherein the gas is nitrogen. A method for grasping a substrate, comprising: a gripping device for providing a substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 6; introducing a gas passing through the gas heater into the robot arm; using the machine The arm grabs the substrate. The method of grasping a substrate according to claim 7, wherein the substrate is located in a cavity of a process device In the body, the temperature of the cavity is 300 ° C or more. The method of grasping a substrate according to claim 8, wherein the cavity is a reaction cavity when performing a chemical vapor deposition process. The method of grasping a substrate according to claim 9, wherein the temperature of the reaction chamber is 800 to 1100 °C. The method of grasping a substrate according to claim 9, wherein the temperature of the gas heated by the gas heater ranges from 100 to 300 °C. A method of grasping a substrate according to claim 7, wherein the substrate is a cymbal.