WO2017196638A2 - Système d'alignement et son procédé d'utilisation - Google Patents

Système d'alignement et son procédé d'utilisation Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2017196638A2
WO2017196638A2 PCT/US2017/031146 US2017031146W WO2017196638A2 WO 2017196638 A2 WO2017196638 A2 WO 2017196638A2 US 2017031146 W US2017031146 W US 2017031146W WO 2017196638 A2 WO2017196638 A2 WO 2017196638A2
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
substrate
clamp
fixture
encoder
actuator
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2017/031146
Other languages
English (en)
Other versions
WO2017196638A3 (fr
Inventor
Ted JOHNS
Mark Kosmowski
Ridian PRODANI
Brian Johansen
Original Assignee
Electro Scientific Industries, Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. filed Critical Electro Scientific Industries, Inc.
Publication of WO2017196638A2 publication Critical patent/WO2017196638A2/fr
Publication of WO2017196638A3 publication Critical patent/WO2017196638A3/fr

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
    • H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
    • H05K13/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing or adjusting assemblages of electric components
    • H05K13/0015—Orientation; Alignment; Positioning

Definitions

  • Embodiments of this application relate generally to systems and methods for performing alignment and, more particularly, to systems and methods for performing alignment using an electro-mechanical system.
  • Vision-based alignment is a technique that is very commonly used for detecting and correcting positional and part tolerance issues related to planar substrates during machining of the substrates.
  • an imager e.g., an image sensor employing CMOS or CCD technology
  • some type of illumination source are used to capture an image with a strongly contrasted edge (light vs. dark).
  • Vision algorithms are then employed to locate this edge. By finding multiple edges of the planar substrate, the system control system software can then calculate offset, scale, and rotation of the part.
  • vision-based edge alignment techniques have several limitations. For example, known vision-based edge alignment techniques only work with a single size of substrate, unless at least one of the imager and the illumination source is mounted on some type of staging mechanism, which can add significant cost. Vision-based edge alignment techniques work well when the substrate is formed of an opaque material, but can be can be difficult to apply to transparent substrates such as glass or sapphire. Also, the precision with which an edge of a substrate is found is determined by the quality of the imager and any lenses used; so getting a highly precise image of the edge of a part can require expensive imagers and optics. Lastly, using a moving (non-fixed) imager to find multiple edges or to adjust for different substrate sizes takes time, which results in additional overhead time and lowers cycle time for machining the substrate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
  • FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an edge alignment system according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • an alignment system can be characterized as including a substrate fixture configured to receive a substrate, a guide structure positionally fixed relative to a substrate fixture and at least one actuated clamp.
  • the substrate fixture may be configured to receive a substrate.
  • An actuated clamp may include a clamp, an actuator coupled to the clamp and positionally fixed relative to a substrate fixture that is configured to receive a substrate, and an encoder operative to generate and output encoder data indicative of the position of the clamp.
  • the actuator may be operative to move the clamp relative to the substrate fixture.
  • the guide structure and the actuated clamp can be arranged such that a substrate received by the substrate fixture is pres sable between the clamp and the guide structure when the clamp is moved relative to the substrate fixture by the first actuator.
  • an apparatus for processing a substrate can include the alignment system described above.
  • a method of processing a substrate using a machine tool having a processing head, and at least one component associated with the processing head can include acts that include: receiving reference data describing at least one geometric characteristic of a feature associated with a reference substrate; loading a substrate onto a fixture, the loaded substrate corresponding to the reference substrate; pressing the loaded substrate between at least one first structure and at least one second structure; after pressing, obtaining data indicative of the position of the at least one second structure; and forming the feature in the loaded substrate, wherein forming the feature includes controlling an operation of the at least one component based, at least in part, on the reference data and the obtained data such that at least one geometric characteristic of the formed feature corresponds to the at least one geometric characteristic of the feature associated with the reference substrate.
  • spatially relative terms such as “below,” “beneath,” “lower,” “above,” and “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element or feature, as illustrated in the FIGS. It should be recognized that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations in addition to the orientation depicted in the FIGS. For example, if an object in the FIGS, is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below.
  • An object may be otherwise oriented (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein may be interpreted accordingly.
  • Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Thus, the same or similar numbers may be described with reference to other drawings even if they are neither mentioned nor described in the corresponding drawing. Also, even elements that are not denoted by reference numbers may be described with reference to other drawings.
  • Embodiments of the present invention provide an alignment system that is cost effective and addresses the limitations, noted above, associated with known vision-based alignment techniques.
  • the alignment system can be incorporated into a machine tool (e.g., a numerical control (NC), computer numerical control (CNC) machine tool, etc.) adapted to process (e.g., cut, engrave, drill, erode, heat, melt, ablate, mark, discolor, crack, etc.) a substrate to thereby form one or more features (e.g., holes, trenches, vias, openings, indicia, cuts, etc.) on or within the substrate (according to reference data stored in a computer-readable medium that describes, among other things, one or more geometric characteristics of one or more features associated with a reference substrate). Examples of geometric characteristics include a location where a feature located on or within a reference substrate (e.g., relative to one or more edges of the reference substrate), the size of each of such feature, the shape of each such feature, or the like or any combination thereof.
  • edge alignment system examples include laser processing systems, waterjet systems, routing or milling systems, and the like.
  • substrates examples include, panels of printed circuit boards (PCBs) (also referred to herein as "PCB panels"), PCBs, flexile printed circuits (FPCs), integrated circuits (ICs), IC packages (ICPs), electronic or optical device substrates, cover glass articles (e.g., for use in smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers, etc.), device housings (e.g., for watches, computers, smartphones, tablet computers, wearable electronic devices, or the like or any combination thereof), or the like.
  • PCBs printed circuit boards
  • FPCs flexile printed circuits
  • ICs integrated circuits
  • ICPs IC packages
  • cover glass articles e.g., for use in smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers, etc.
  • device housings e.g., for watches, computers, smartphones, tablet computers, wearable electronic devices, or the like or any combination thereof, or the like.
  • the alignment system can be characterized as a set of one or more (e.g., two, three, four, etc.) actuated clamps.
  • Each actuated clamp includes an actuator and an encoder (e.g., a linear encoder).
  • the actuator is operative to move an associated clamp so as to press a substrate, which is to be processed, against one or more stationary guide structures.
  • a processing head e.g., a laser scan head, a waterjet cutting head, a router head, or the like
  • each stationary guide structure is coupled to a fixture (also referred to herein as a "substrate fixture").
  • the substrate fixture may, optionally, be carried by one or more motion stages operable to move the fixture along or about one or more axes.
  • the machine tool may further include components associated with the processing head.
  • associated components may include actuators for moving the processing head along a plane extending over the substrate, or in a direction towards or away from the substrate.
  • Other examples of “associated components” e.g., when the machine tool is provided as a laser processing apparatus
  • associated components may include one or more beam positioning components such as a galvanometer-driven mirror, a fast-steering mirror (e.g., a mirror moveably coupled to a piezoelectric actuator, electro strictive actuator, voice-coil actuator, etc.), an acousto-optic deflector, an electro-optic deflector, or the like or any combination thereof.
  • a galvanometer-driven mirror e.g., a mirror moveably coupled to a piezoelectric actuator, electro strictive actuator, voice-coil actuator, etc.
  • an acousto-optic deflector e.g., acousto-optic deflector
  • electro-optic deflector e.g., electro-optic deflector
  • the substrate can be considered to be “loaded” into the machine tool.
  • the actuator of each clamp is driven in “force mode,” with a well-calibrated force limit, so that the clamp stops pushing the substrate when the substrate is properly pressed against a guide, and so that the clamp presses against the substrate with a sufficiently-low force to avoid undesirably deforming the substrate.
  • This force limit will typically be calibrated differently for different types of substrates.
  • the encoder is operative to generate and output one or more signals (also referred to herein as "encoder data”) indicative of the position of the clamp.
  • encoder data output by each associated encoder can be read or otherwise processed (e.g., by a computer or other processor associated with the machine tool) to determine the position of the substrate, the location of edges of the substrate, the size of the substrate, or the like or any combination thereof.
  • the encoder data - either unprocessed, or processed as discussed above - can be input to any suitable edge alignment calculation algorithm (e.g., executable by a computer or other processor associated with the machine tool) to generate correction data, which can be used to modify the reference data.
  • the correction data can be used to modify reference data in terms of one or more geometric transformations (e.g., translation, rotation, scale, shear, or the like or any combination thereof), so that the location, size, shape, etc., of features ultimately formed on or within the loaded substrate (e.g., relative to the edges of the loaded substrate) will correspond to the relative locations, sizes, shapes, etc., represented by the reference data.
  • geometric transformations e.g., translation, rotation, scale, shear, or the like or any combination thereof
  • Other examples of geometric transformations that may be applied to modify the reference data include one or more transformations such as a displacement transformation, an isometric transformation, a similarity transformation, an affine transformation, or the like or any combination thereof.
  • correction data describing how to modify reference data to account for translation of the loaded substrate can be generated by an alignment system having a single actuated clamp.
  • Correction data describing how to modify reference data to account for translation and scale of the loaded substrate can be generated by an alignment system having two actuated clamps.
  • Correction data describing how to modify reference data to account for translation, scale and rotation of the loaded substrate can be generated by an alignment system having three actuated clamps.
  • the loaded substrate will correspond to the reference substrate.
  • the loaded substrate corresponds to the reference substrate if it has a shape that is the same as the shape of the reference substrate, and corresponds in size to the reference substrate.
  • the loaded substrate may be smaller than or larger than the reference substrate, or may be the same size as the reference substrate. In some embodiments, however, the loaded substrate will have a shape that is different from the shape of the reference substrate.
  • both the reference substrate and the loaded substrate may define a rectangular shape (e.g., in the X-Y plane), with or without corners that are rounded, but any of the length or width of the rectangular shape of the loaded substrate may be greater than or less than (e.g., + 1%, + 2%, + 3%, + 4%, + 5%, + 6%, + 7%, + 8%, + 9%, + 10%, + 15%, etc., or between any of these values) the length or width of the rectangular shape of the reference substrate.
  • the machine tool may further include a controller communicatively coupled (e.g., over one or more wired or wireless communications links, such as USB, Ethernet, Firewire, Wi-Fi, RFID, NFC, Bluetooth, Li-Fi, or the like or any combination thereof) to various components of the machine tool (e.g., the processing head of components associated therewith, one or more substrate stages, or the like or any combination thereof), as well as to the encoder (and, optionally, to the actuator) of each actuated clamp.
  • the controller may be operative to receive encoder data and process the encoder data as discussed above.
  • the controller may be operative to modify reference data as discussed above, and control the processing head (or components associated therewith) in accordance with the modified reference data.
  • the controller includes one or more processors configured to generate the aforementioned control signals upon executing instructions.
  • a processor can be provided as a programmable processor (e.g., including one or more general purpose computer processors, microprocessors, digital signal processors, or the like or any combination thereof) configured to execute the instructions. Instructions executable by the processor(s) may be implemented software, firmware, etc., or in any suitable form of circuitry including programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), field-programmable object arrays (FPOAs), application- specific integrated circuits (ASICs) - including digital, analog and mixed analog/digital circuitry - or the like, or any combination thereof.
  • PLDs programmable logic devices
  • FPGAs field-programmable gate arrays
  • FPOAs field-programmable object arrays
  • ASICs application- specific integrated circuits
  • controller includes tangible media such as computer memory, which is accessible (e.g., via one or more wired or wireless communications links) by the processor.
  • computer memory includes magnetic media (e.g., magnetic tape, hard disk drive, etc.), optical discs, volatile or non-volatile semiconductor memory (e.g., RAM, ROM, NAND- type flash memory, NOR-type flash memory, SONOS memory, etc.), etc., and may be accessed locally, remotely (e.g., across a network), or a combination thereof.
  • the instructions may be stored as computer software (e.g., executable code, files, instructions, etc., library files, etc.), which can be readily authored by artisans, from the descriptions provided herein, e.g., written in C, C++, Visual Basic, Java, Python, Tel, Perl, Scheme, Ruby, etc.
  • Computer software is commonly stored in one or more data structures conveyed by computer memory.
  • an alignment system according to one embodiment of the present invention is provided as alignment system 100, which includes a substrate fixture 102 and three actuated clamps: a first actuated clamp including a first clamp rail 104a, a first actuator 106a and a first encoder 108a; a second actuated clamp including a second clamp rail 104b, a second actuator 106b and a second encoder 108b; and, optionally, a third actuated clamp including a third clamp rail 104c, a third actuator 106c and a third encoder 108c.
  • the substrate fixture 102 may, optionally, be secured to one or more substrate stages (e.g., one or more motion stages) configured to move the substrate fixture 102 along the X-axis, along the Y-axis (e.g., orthogonal to the Y-axis), along a Z-axis (e.g., orthogonal to the X- and Y-axes), about the X-axis, about the Y-axis, about the Z-axis, or the like or any combination thereof.
  • substrate stages e.g., one or more motion stages
  • each of the first, second and third actuators 106a, 106b and 106c can be positionally fixed relative to the substrate fixture 102.
  • each of the first, second and third actuators 106a, 106b and 106c, respectively can be fixed to the substrate fixture 102.
  • the first, second and third actuators 106a, 106b and 106c, respectively, are operative to move respective ones of the first, second and third clamp rails 104a, 104b and 104c relative to the substrate fixture 102.
  • the alignment system 100 also includes a first guide structure 110a (e.g., a rail) and a second guide structure 110b (e.g., a rail) positionally fixed relative to the substrate fixture 102.
  • first guide structure 110a e.g., a rail
  • second guide structure 110b e.g., a rail
  • each of the first and second guide structures 110a and 110b, respectively can be fixed to the substrate fixture 102.
  • the rail of the first guide structure 110a defines a guide surface extending along the Y-axis
  • the rail of the second guide structure 110b defines a guide surface extending along the X-axis.
  • each of the first and second guide structures 110a and 110b, respectively, are illustrated as provided as a single rail, it will be appreciated that any of the first and second guide structures 110a and 110b may be provided as a set of pins (e.g., aligned such that a plane tangent to the set of pins extends along the X-axis, in the case of the second guide structure 110b; or aligned such that a plane tangent to the set of pins extends along the Y-axis, in the case of the first guide structure 110a).
  • the actuated clamps and the guide structures are arranged such that substrates of one or more sizes can be accommodated therebetween and over the substrate fixture 102.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates an example in which a relatively small substrate 101a or a relatively large substrate 101b can be accommodated on the substrate fixture 102, between the guide structures (i.e., first and second guide structures 110a and 110b) and the actuated clamps (i.e., the first, second and, optionally, third actuated clamps).
  • the first actuated clamp and the first guide structure 110a are arranged relative to one another such that, when actuated, the first actuated clamp presses the substrate in a direction along the X-axis, against the first guide structure 110a.
  • the second actuated clamp and the second guide structure 110b are arranged relative to one another such that, when actuated, the second actuated clamp presses the substrate in a direction along the Y-axis, against the second guide structure 110b.
  • the third actuated clamp is arranged relative to the first guide structure 110a such that, when actuated, the third actuated clamp presses the substrate so as to rotate the substrate (e.g., in a plane extending in the X- and Y-axes) about an edge of the first guide structure 110a.
  • the third actuated clamp is illustrated as being operative to rotate a substrate about an edge of the first guide structure 110a, it will be appreciated that the third actuated clamp may be arranged so as to be operative to rotate a substrate about an edge of the second guide structure 110b.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
  • Container, Conveyance, Adherence, Positioning, Of Wafer (AREA)
  • Control Of Position Or Direction (AREA)

Abstract

Système d'alignement comprenant une monture de substrat conçu pour recevoir un substrat, une structure de guidage fixée en position par rapport à une monture de substrat et au moins une pince actionnée. La monture de substrat peut être conçue de façon à recevoir un substrat. Une pince actionnée peut comprendre une pince, un actionneur accouplé à la pince et fixé en position par rapport à une monture de substrat qui est conçue pour recevoir un substrat, et un codeur servant à produire et à sortir des données de codeur indiquant la position de la pince. L'actionneur peut servir à déplacer la pince par rapport à la monture de substrat. La structure de guidage et la pince actionnée peuvent être agencées de telle sorte qu'un substrat reçu par la monture de substrat peut être pressé entre la pince et la structure de guidage lorsque la pince est déplacée par rapport à la monture de substrat par le premier actionneur.
PCT/US2017/031146 2016-05-13 2017-05-04 Système d'alignement et son procédé d'utilisation WO2017196638A2 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US201662336472P 2016-05-13 2016-05-13
US62/336,472 2016-05-13

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WO2017196638A2 true WO2017196638A2 (fr) 2017-11-16
WO2017196638A3 WO2017196638A3 (fr) 2018-07-26

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Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2022038114A1 (fr) * 2020-08-17 2022-02-24 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Procédé et appareil permettant de saisir une pluralité de types de cartes de circuits imprimés

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE69203280T2 (de) * 1991-04-29 1996-03-07 Philips Electronics Nv Verschiebungsvorrichtung.
US7410919B2 (en) * 2003-06-27 2008-08-12 International Business Machines Corporation Mask and substrate alignment for solder bump process
US20160053361A1 (en) * 2013-03-15 2016-02-25 Applied Materials, Inc. Carrier for a substrate and method for carrying a substrate
US9529280B2 (en) * 2013-12-06 2016-12-27 Kla-Tencor Corporation Stage apparatus for semiconductor inspection and lithography systems
CN106165056B (zh) * 2014-04-17 2018-12-11 应用材料公司 固持件、具有该固持件的载体以及用于固定基板的方法

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2022038114A1 (fr) * 2020-08-17 2022-02-24 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Procédé et appareil permettant de saisir une pluralité de types de cartes de circuits imprimés

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Publication number Publication date
TW201810505A (zh) 2018-03-16
WO2017196638A3 (fr) 2018-07-26

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