CN115132629B - Multi-size compatible type closed substrate box loading port - Google Patents
Multi-size compatible type closed substrate box loading port Download PDFInfo
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- CN115132629B CN115132629B CN202210694489.1A CN202210694489A CN115132629B CN 115132629 B CN115132629 B CN 115132629B CN 202210694489 A CN202210694489 A CN 202210694489A CN 115132629 B CN115132629 B CN 115132629B
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- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 386
- 238000013507 mapping Methods 0.000 claims description 21
- 238000001514 detection method Methods 0.000 claims description 18
- 230000007246 mechanism Effects 0.000 claims description 14
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 claims description 8
- 230000003749 cleanliness Effects 0.000 claims description 4
- 238000003475 lamination Methods 0.000 claims description 3
- 238000005086 pumping Methods 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 abstract description 19
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 15
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 14
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 6
- 239000011229 interlayer Substances 0.000 description 4
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 description 4
- 238000004891 communication Methods 0.000 description 3
- 239000010410 layer Substances 0.000 description 3
- 230000000903 blocking effect Effects 0.000 description 2
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- XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N water Chemical compound O XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
Classifications
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
- H01L21/67763—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading
- H01L21/67766—Mechanical parts of transfer devices
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67242—Apparatus for monitoring, sorting or marking
- H01L21/67259—Position monitoring, e.g. misposition detection or presence detection
- H01L21/67265—Position monitoring, e.g. misposition detection or presence detection of substrates stored in a container, a magazine, a carrier, a boat or the like
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/673—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere using specially adapted carriers or holders; Fixing the workpieces on such carriers or holders
- H01L21/6732—Vertical carrier comprising wall type elements whereby the substrates are horizontally supported, e.g. comprising sidewalls
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/673—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere using specially adapted carriers or holders; Fixing the workpieces on such carriers or holders
- H01L21/6735—Closed carriers
- H01L21/67386—Closed carriers characterised by the construction of the closed carrier
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
- H01L21/67763—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading
- H01L21/67769—Storage means
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- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
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- Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
- Power Engineering (AREA)
- Robotics (AREA)
- Container, Conveyance, Adherence, Positioning, Of Wafer (AREA)
Abstract
The invention discloses a multi-size compatible type sealed substrate box loading port which is arranged on a front end module of semiconductor equipment, wherein different substrate container adapters are arranged in an 8-inch sealed substrate box, so that the automatic selection of preset technological parameters for loading of substrates with various sizes can be realized. The substrate container adapter structure is used for ensuring that the front ends of the substrate containers with various sizes are aligned in the horizontal direction. By setting the height of the adapter, the height of the adapter added to the multi-size sealed substrate box is consistent with the height of the 8-inch substrate container, so that the substrate container is stably fixed in the sealed substrate box.
Description
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of semiconductor equipment, in particular to a multi-size compatible sealed substrate box loading port.
Background
With the rapid development of 5G communication and new energy automobiles, there is an increasing demand for high-performance power semiconductor devices. In this context, the power semiconductor production line expands rapidly, and at the same time, larger-sized power device substrates begin to be manufactured on the production line, so that a single substrate can cut out more power chips.
Currently, the production line mainly produces 6-inch substrates under the limitation of the manufacturing capacity of large-size semiconductor power substrates, but newly-built production lines expect semiconductor manufacturing equipment to meet the production requirements of 8-inch substrates in the future.
Conventional multi-sized substrate compatible semiconductor device load ports can only load open substrate containers. The open substrate container is directly exposed to the air of the semiconductor factory, resulting in poor substrate cleanliness and low product yield. And the problem that the substrate slides out of the substrate container and breaks due to vibration and the like in the automatic conveying process of the sealed substrate box in the semiconductor factory cannot be solved.
When the sealed substrate box is used for producing and storing substrates, the loading port needs to be unlocked with the sealed substrate box base and the sealed substrate box shell. The sealed substrate cassette base unlocking mechanism designs a cassette opening mode according to the requirements of SMIF (STANDARD MECHANICAL INTERFACE ), and the sealed substrate unlocking mechanisms of 6 inches and 8 inches have no compatibility. Currently, when producing 8-inch substrates on a semiconductor device having a 6-inch sealed substrate cassette loading port mounted thereon, the EFEM (Equipment Front End Module, semiconductor device front end module) needs to replace the loading port with an 8-inch dedicated sealed substrate cassette loading port in addition to the process parameters of the related production.
When a 6-inch substrate container is loaded in an 8-inch sealed substrate box, the high cleanliness of the 6-inch substrate in a sealed environment can be realized, and the requirement of loading the 6-inch substrate can be met under the condition of not replacing a special 8-inch sealed substrate box loading port. However, the smaller 6-inch substrate container and substrate are mounted in the larger 8-inch sealed substrate cassette, and the sealed substrate cassette case needs to be customized, resulting in an increase in production cost. And the customized 8-inch closed substrate box shell has no unified customization standard, and the collaborative production among multiple factories becomes more difficult.
The customized closed substrate box uses the same closed substrate box base, the bottom sizes are the same, and the currently loaded substrate container and the size information of the substrate in the container cannot be automatically identified on the loading port, so that the semiconductor equipment cannot automatically obtain the differential process parameters required for producing substrates with different sizes.
Disclosure of Invention
In order to solve or partially solve the problems in the related art, the invention provides a multi-size compatible type sealed substrate box loading port which is arranged on an EFEM, and by placing different substrate container adapters in an 8-inch sealed substrate box, the invention can realize that a plurality of substrates with different sizes can be automatically selected and loaded by preset process parameters.
The invention provides a multi-size compatible closed substrate box loading port, which comprises:
the first substrate container is used for bearing the multilayer substrate corresponding to the first substrate container;
the second substrate container is used for bearing the multilayer substrate corresponding to the second substrate container;
The sealed substrate box comprises a sealed substrate box base and a sealed substrate box shell; the sealed substrate box base is used for bearing the first substrate container and the second substrate container, the sealed substrate box shell is used for forming a sealed structure with the sealed substrate box base for accommodating the first substrate container and/or the second substrate container, and the sealed structure can effectively control the problem that the yield of the processed substrate product is low due to water vapor, particle pollution and the like which are contacted with the substrate in the transportation and production processes.
Optionally, the first substrate holder is a 6 inch substrate holder for carrying a plurality of layers of 6 inch substrates; the second substrate holder is an 8-inch substrate holder for carrying a plurality of layers of 8-inch substrates.
Optionally, the method further comprises:
and the limit stop is arranged on the base of the closed substrate box and used for limiting the movement of the second substrate container in the horizontal direction.
Optionally, the method further comprises:
an adapter for restricting movement of the first substrate container in a horizontal direction;
The limiting structure of the lower surface of the adapter is matched with the limiting stop on the base of the closed substrate box, and the adapter is mounted on the base of the closed substrate box based on the limiting structure of the lower surface of the adapter and the limiting stop on the base of the closed substrate box;
the overall height of the adapter and the first substrate holder is the same as the height of the second substrate holder.
Optionally, the sealed substrate box base and the sealed substrate box shell are locked through an interlocking structure, and the two are firmly locked through the interlocking structure to form the sealed substrate box; the first substrate container and/or the second substrate container are/is fixed between the substrate box housing and the sealed substrate box base in a locking state, so that the first substrate container and/or the second substrate container can be prevented from vibrating in the vertical direction when the first substrate container and/or the second substrate container are conveyed by the automatic device.
Optionally, a substrate limiting device is arranged at the front end of the sealed substrate box shell, and the substrate limiting device is used for preventing the substrate from sliding out.
Optionally, the method further comprises:
The lifting platform is used for bearing the closed substrate box; the lifting table is lifted through a lifting table transmission mechanism;
The closed substrate box placement state detection device is used for detecting and determining the placement state of the closed substrate box on the lifting table; the placement state of the sealed substrate box comprises the non-placement of the sealed substrate box, the non-placement of the sealed substrate box and the correct placement of the sealed substrate box.
Optionally, if the placement state of the sealed substrate box is that the sealed substrate box is placed correctly, the locking device locks the sealed substrate box.
Optionally, the method further comprises:
and the substrate protrusion detection device is used for detecting the sliding-out state of the substrate.
Optionally, the method further comprises:
and the substrate mapping assembly is used for judging whether lamination occurs on the substrate carrying platform.
The technical scheme provided by the invention can comprise the following beneficial effects:
The invention provides a multi-size compatible sealed substrate box loading port which is arranged on an EFEM (electronic file system) of a front end module of semiconductor equipment. By placing different substrate container adapters in an 8-inch closed substrate box, the automatic selection of preset process parameters for loading of substrates with various sizes can be realized.
The invention uses the structure design of the substrate container adapter to ensure that the front ends of the substrate containers with various sizes are aligned in the horizontal direction. By setting the height of the adapter, the height of the adapter added to the multi-size sealed substrate box is consistent with the height of the 8-inch substrate container, so that the substrate container is stably fixed in the sealed substrate box. The above conditions are preconditions for the load port of the present invention to achieve compatibility and automated handling of multi-sized substrate holders.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.
Drawings
In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings that are needed for the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below, it being obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and that other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a loading port according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing a structure in which a substrate container is loaded in a closed substrate cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 3 is a schematic view showing a structure in which another substrate container according to an embodiment of the present invention is loaded in a closed substrate cassette;
FIG. 4a is a schematic view of the upper portion of a loading port according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4b is a partial detail view of a closed substrate cassette placement state detection device and a closed substrate cassette unlocking mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating the dimension detection of the substrate container after the loading opening is lowered to the second height according to the embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a sensor in a light transmitting and light shielding state in an identification module and a state detection module according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of multiple sensor status detection in a multiple type substrate holder recognition and substrate in substrate holder status detection assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8a is a schematic diagram of the relative substrate and substrate status mapping sensor position in the substrate container at the beginning of substrate mapping in an embodiment of the invention
FIG. 8b is a schematic diagram of the substrate relative to substrate status mapping sensor position in the substrate container at the end of substrate mapping in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 8c is a schematic view of a manipulator picking and placing a substrate in a load port according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an efficient gas atmosphere cleaning scheme for EFEM load ports in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating the handling of an EFEM carrier loader with an automated factory handling apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Detailed Description
Embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in the drawings, it should be understood that the present invention may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein refers to and encompasses any or all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
It should be understood that although the terms "first," "second," "third," etc. may be used herein to describe various information, these information should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another. For example, first information may also be referred to as second information, and similarly, second information may also be referred to as first information, without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, a feature defining "a first" or "a second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more such feature. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more, unless explicitly defined otherwise.
The technical scheme of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to fig. 3, the present embodiment provides a sealed substrate box conforming to the SMIF opening standard, which mainly includes: a sealed substrate cassette housing 22 having a manual carrying handle 21 and a factory automation carrying handle 20, and a sealed substrate cassette base 33 for carrying a substrate container; the substrate holder includes an 8 inch substrate holder 32 and a 6 inch substrate holder 35. The sealed substrate cassette can hold a plurality of layers of 8-inch substrates 31 after the 8-inch substrate container 32 is mounted therein. The front end of the sealed substrate cassette housing 22 is provided with a substrate stopper 23 for preventing the substrate from slipping out. The sealed substrate cassette base 33 and the sealed substrate cassette housing 22 have unlocking pins 15 and locking holes 36 that lock each other, and thus the two are securely locked to form a sealed structure.
In the locked state, the upper and lower ends of the 8-inch substrate container 32 are firmly fixed by the sealed substrate cassette base 33 and the sealed substrate cassette case 22, and the substrate is prevented from being damaged by the vibration of the 8-inch substrate container 32 in the vertical direction when the automated apparatus is transported.
The interface on the lower surface of the closed substrate cassette holder 33 conforming to the SMIF opening standard can be loaded after opening the cassette by using the load port 1 of the SMIF interface. The upper surface of the sealed substrate cassette base 33 has a limit stopper 34 for restricting the movement of the substrate container 32 in the horizontal direction. Because of the closed structure of the closed substrate cassette 55, the problem of low yields of processed substrates due to moisture and particle contamination etc. of the substrates during transportation and production is effectively controlled.
Referring to fig. 4a, the present embodiment further provides an adapter 28 for mounting a 6-inch substrate container, wherein a limit structure on the lower surface of the adapter 28 can be matched with a limit block on the upper surface of a base 33 of the sealed substrate box, and when the adapter is placed inside the sealed substrate box, the outer edge of the adapter does not affect the opening and closing operation of the sealed substrate box. The upper surface of the adapter 28 has a stopper 29 that mates with the base beam 27 of the 6 inch substrate holder 35 to enable the 6 inch substrate holder 35 to be secured horizontally. After the 6-inch substrate holder 35 is placed, the front end openings of the 6-inch substrate holder 35 and the 8-inch substrate holder 32 are aligned on the closed substrate cassette base 33. The adapter 28 also ensures that the 6 inch substrate holder 35 is positioned at the same height as the 8 inch substrate holder 32. The present embodiment realizes that the 6-inch substrate container 35 can be stably fixed using the sealed substrate cassette housing 22 and the sealed substrate cassette base 33. Since the front ends of the 6-inch substrate holder 35 and the 8-inch substrate holder 32 are aligned, the substrate limiting means on the closed substrate cassette housing 22 can effectively limit the 6-inch substrates 26.
Referring to fig. 1, when the sealed substrate cassette is placed before or not properly placed on the lift table 9, the sensor trigger lever 38 on the sealed substrate cassette placed state detecting device 13 is pushed up by the compression spring 37 in a state where no external force is pressed. The sensor optical axis 39 of the sensor 40 at the bottom of the closed substrate cassette placement state detecting device 13 can be emitted from the emitting end of the sensor and then received by the receiving end of the sensor, and the receiving end of the sensor outputs an ON electrical signal. When the external force of pressing is greater than the pressure of the sensor trigger lever 38 with the lower end pushing up the compression spring 37, the trigger lever 38 is pressed to shield the sensor optical axis 39 emitted by the sensor transmitting end, and the sensor receiving end does not receive the optical axis and outputs an OFF electrical signal. After the digital quantity input module of the load port controller 17 collects that the optical axes 39 of the two sensors are all ON signals, it is determined that the closed substrate box is not placed. When detecting that either one of the sensors 40 outputs an ON signal and the other outputs an OFF signal, the load port controller 17 determines that the sealed substrate cassette 55 is placed ON the lift table 9, but that there is a case of being biased. After both the detected sensors 40 output the OFF electric signal, the controller 17 determines that the closed substrate cassette is placed correctly.
Before the sealed substrate cassette 55 is properly placed on the lift table 9, the sealed substrate cassette 55 is at the first height of the lift table 9 and the locking pins 12 holding the sealed substrate cassette housing 22 are in the retracted first position. The limiting block 8 of the sealed substrate box is used as a guiding and positioning device, so that the sealed substrate box can be correctly placed on the loading port 1 within a certain placement deviation range.
Referring to fig. 5, after the sealed substrate cassette is correctly placed, the unlocking pin 15 is inserted into the locking hole 36 of the base of the sealed substrate cassette, and the locking pin 15 is in the first position of rotation locking. After the controller 17 determines that the sealed substrate box is correctly placed, a control signal is output to the rotary electromagnetic valve 10, and the connecting rod of the rotary electromagnetic valve 10 drives the locking pin 12 to rotate to the second position, at this time, the sealed substrate box shell 22 is limited by the locking pin 12 in the second position.
Referring to fig. 4b, the sealed substrate cassette unlocking transmission mechanism 41 is composed of a gear 42, a meshing gear 43, and a sealed substrate cassette unlocking pin connecting rod. The unlocking shaft motor 44 rotates the sealed substrate cassette unlocking shaft transmission mechanism 41 to transmit the rotation of the unlocking pin 15 from the locked first position to the unlocked second position, and at this time, the sealed substrate cassette housing 22 and the sealed substrate cassette base 33 are in an unlocked state.
The lifting table transmission mechanism 3 is composed of a servo motor shaft end transmission belt mechanism 6a, a coupler 6b, a ball screw 2 and a lifting table supporting mechanism 16. After the unlocking of the sealed substrate box shell 22 is completed, the lifting table servo motor 5 drives the lifting table conveying mechanism to drive the lifting table 9, and the sealed substrate box base 33 and the substrate container carried on the lifting table 9 start to descend. The sealed substrate cassette housing 22 is mounted on the load port upper stage 4, and the upper portion thereof is restrained by the lock pins 12. Because of the structure that the lifting platform 9 is separated from the upper platform 4 of the loading port, the lifting platform 9 drives the sealed substrate box base 33 and the substrate container to descend together when descending, and the sealed substrate box shell 22 is left on the upper platform 4 of the loading port, so that the separation of the substrate container and the sealed substrate box shell 22 is realized.
The substrate protrusion detection is started when the lift table 9 is lowered from the first height to a position where the upper surface of the closed substrate cassette base 33 is lower than the lower surface of the load port upper stage 4 and lower than the mounting height of the substrate protrusion detection sensor 27. The principle of the detection sensor 47 is the same as that of the exemplary sensor 49. As shown in fig. 6, the detection principle of the sensor 49 is that the sensor emitting end 49a emits a light beam 49c, and the receiving end 49b can normally receive the light beam and output an ON electrical signal without the shielding 50. When the light beam 49c is blocked by the blocking object 50, the receiving end 49b cannot receive the light beam, and outputs an OFF electrical signal. The lifting table 9 drives the highest substrate of the substrate container to start until the bottommost substrate is detected. The effective stroke of the lift table 9 is larger than the difference in height from the first height to the bottom-most substrate after the protrusion inspection is completed.
After the substrate slides out of the substrate holder by a certain distance, the substrate starts to block the light beam of the detection sensor 47, the detection sensor 47 outputs an OFF electrical signal to the digital input module of the controller 17, and the controller 17 sends out an alarm signal and stops the descending movement of the elevating platform 9. To avoid the collision between the substrate and the front end of the load port frame, or the substrate sliding out a large distance, which results in failure of the robot 59 to pick and place the substrate. Since the substrate container is opposite to the front end of the sealed substrate cassette base 33, one substrate protrusion detection sensor 47 can detect the sliding-out state of substrates of different sizes.
Referring to fig. 5 and 7, the size determination of the substrate container is started by lowering the lift table 9 to the second position, and the size detection sensors 45 and 46 of the substrate container are sequentially arranged according to the difference in the lengths of the ends of the substrate containers carried on the closed substrate cassette base 33 because the front ends of the substrate containers of the plurality of sizes are aligned. The layout needs to satisfy the light beam 45c of the 8-inch substrate holder 32 end blocking sensor 45 and the light beam 46c of the sensor 46, both sensors outputting OFF signals. The 6-inch substrate holder blocks the light beam 46c of the sensor 46, outputs an OFF signal, and the light beam 45c of the sensor 45 is not blocked, and outputs an ON signal. After the signal acquisition module of the controller 17 acquires the size detection sensor signal of the substrate container, the controller 17 can determine the size of the substrate container according to the preset correspondence between the substrate container and the signals of the sensors 45 and 46 in the controller 17, and further determine the size of the substrate and the inter-layer distance data of the substrate container 52 (the inter-layer distances of the substrate containers with different sizes need to satisfy the relationship between the substrate container 52 and the inter-layer distance in the SEMI standard).
After the lifting plate 9 is lowered to the second height controller 17 determines the size of the substrate container and the size of the substrate, the lifting plate 9 is continuously lowered to the third height, and mapping of the substrate state is started. Referring to fig. 8, a set of sensor principles of the substrate state mapping assembly 48 arranged in a front-to-back manner is the same as the sensor 49.
In the substrate state mapping method, for example, the 8-inch substrate 31 is first passed through a teaching flow of the substrate container. An 8-inch substrate 31 of standard thickness is placed on each of the uppermost and lowermost substrate stages 30 of the substrate holder. When the lift table is lowered from the second position to the uppermost substrate in the substrate holder to block the light beam 48c of the sensor of the substrate mapping assembly 48, the sensor of the substrate mapping assembly 48 outputs an OFF signal. After the controller 17 signal acquisition module acquires the OFF signal of the sensor of the substrate mapping assembly 48, the value fed back by the encoder of the servo motor 5 is acquired and recorded as the current height of the lifting platform 9, and the height is defined as the third height of the lifting platform 9. When the lift table 9 continues to descend to the lowest substrate to begin transmitting the beam 48c of the sensor of the mapping assembly 48, the sensor of the substrate mapping assembly 48 outputs an ON signal. The controller 17 records the obtained value fed back by the encoder of the servo motor 5 to the current height of the lifting platform, and defines the height as the fourth height of the lifting platform.
After teaching the substrate state map in advance, the controller 17 stores the third height and fourth height data of the lift table 9 when the substrate map is stored. As shown in fig. 8a, the controller 17 acquires the value 1 fed back by the encoder of the servo motor 5 when the beam 48c of the sensor of the mapping unit 48 is blocked by the substrate for the first time by the OFF signal output from the sensor of the mapping unit 48, and acquires the data 2 fed back by the encoder of the servo motor 5 when the beam 48c of the sensor of the mapping unit 48 is left from the substrate for the first time by the lifting table 9 continuing to descend to the third height position. The difference between the data 2 and the data 1 is the encoder value corresponding to the substrate thickness, and the transmission ratio of the lifting table transmission mechanism 3 is combined to calculate the substrate thickness on the highest substrate carrying table 30. The lift table 9 continues to descend and starts to perform the substrate state mapping on the next substrate stage 30. If the lift table 9 continues to descend, the next substrate state mapping on the substrate stage 30 starts to be performed. If the sensor beam 48c of the mapping unit 48 is not blocked and outputs an OFF signal after the lift table 9 descends the interlayer spacing of one substrate container, the controller 17 determines that there is no substrate on the current substrate stage 30. If the mapped substrate thickness is twice the standard substrate thickness, the controller 17 determines that 2 substrates are present on the current substrate stage 30 and lamination occurs.
The lift table 9 is lowered all the way below the fourth height and the substrate mapping assembly 48 will complete the status of all substrates on the substrate carriers 30 in the substrate container and will be recorded in the controller 17 of the load port. Finally, as shown in fig. 8c, the lifting platform 9 starts to rise to the pick-and-place level of the robot 59, which is defined as the fourth level of the lifting platform 9. The load port 1 communicates the substrate status on all the substrate carriers 30 in the currently loaded substrate container to the EFEM57, waits for the EFEM57 to call the robot 59 to pick and place a wafer into the load port 1, and the load port 1 completes the loading of the sealed substrate cassette 55.
The EFEM57 starts performing the load port 1 unloading operation after completing the transfer of all substrates in the current substrate container to the substrate processing apparatus. The lift 9 of the load port 1 returns to the first level. The lift table unlocking mechanism 11 rotates the airtight substrate cassette unlocking pin 15 in the reverse direction to lock the airtight substrate cassette base 33 and the airtight substrate cassette housing 22. The closed substrate cassette locking pins 12 are rotated reversely to unlock the closed substrate container 55, thereby completing the unloading of the closed substrate cassette 55 at the loading port 1. The unloaded sealed substrate cassette 55 is ready for manual or semiconductor factory automated handling equipment to move.
Referring to fig. 9, an efem57 and a method for controlling the cleaning of the interior of a load port are shown. The EFEM57 draws air from the semiconductor clean room through the top clean blower unit 58, filters the air efficiently through the clean blower unit 58, and sends the air into the EFEM57 to form a clean air stream 56. By controlling the purge gas exhaust from the bottom of the EFEM57, the amount of air taken in the EFEM57 is satisfied to be slightly larger than the amount of air taken out, thereby forming a micro pressure difference inside the EFEM57 higher than the external environment. Because of the micro pressure differential within the EFEM57, the clean air flow 56 within the EFEM57 is always able to maintain the direction flow of the opening 61 of the load port 1. The sealed substrate cassette housing 55 remains above the load port upper stage 4 after unlocking, helping the load port 1 to form a semi-sealed space except for the front end opening 61. After the air flow of the clean fan unit 58 flows into the interior through the front end opening 61 of the loading port 1, the clean pumping device assembly 7 at the bottom of the loading port 1 continuously pumps and discharges towards the lower part of the loading port 1, so that a certain pumping flow is formed. While ensuring that the volume of pump and leakage within the load port 1 is less than the volume of air intake from the EFEM57, thereby ensuring that a pressure differential greater than that between the outside semiconductor clean room is also created within the load port 1. The air flow in the loading port 1 is continuously replaced by the high clean air filtered by the clean fan unit 58, so that the cleanliness of the substrate in the production process is ensured, and the yield of substrate production is improved.
Referring to FIG. 10, a schematic view of a load port 1 loaded in front of an EFEM57 is shown facing an automated handling system in a semiconductor factory. In the above, the 6-inch substrate 26 is mounted in the substrate container 35, and by providing an appropriate substrate adapter, it is possible to reliably fix the substrate in the sealed substrate cassette 55, and safe and reliable conditions are provided for automated handling. The 8-inch substrate 31 is mounted in the substrate container 32 and can be directly placed in the sealed substrate cassette 55 to be reliably fixed. Ground-based walk-through robots 66 such as AGV, PGV, RGV can be docked by installing ground-based robot E84 sensor 19b (a sensor that meets the parallel IO standard for SMEI-E84-based cassette handling) at the front end of load port 1 or by installing an extended E84 sensor 65a on the track of OHT64 (Overhead Hoist Transport) for SEMI-E84-based parallel IO communication with OHT 64. The gripping jaw mechanism of the automated handling apparatus 64 or 66 can reliably transfer the sealed substrate cassette 55 between the semiconductor factory and the load port 1 by gripping the carrying handle 20 of the sealed substrate cassette 55. The E84 sensor 19a or 65a controlled by the load port 1 sends the status of the parallel IO communication signal to the load port controller 17. The controller 17 controls the entire automated handling process according to the status of the load port 1 during the automated handling. Meanwhile, the load port controller 17 of the present invention can receive the control signal of automatic-manual handling from the upper computer of the substrate processing apparatus, satisfying the rapid switching of factory automation and manual handling of the closed substrate cassette 55.
The sealed substrate cassette loading port 1 of various sizes according to the present invention can directly load the 8-inch substrate containers 32 mounted in the sealed substrate cassette 55, and by providing the proper substrate container adapter 28 in advance, the sealed substrate cassette 55 can be loaded with the substrate containers 52 of various sizes, thereby realizing the loading port 1 capable of loading substrates of various sizes for semiconductor process production.
The foregoing is merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and scope of the present invention are included in the protection scope of the present invention.
Claims (7)
1. A multi-size compatible, closed substrate cassette load port, comprising:
the first substrate container is used for bearing the multilayer substrate corresponding to the first substrate container;
the second substrate container is used for bearing the multilayer substrate corresponding to the second substrate container;
the sealed substrate box comprises a sealed substrate box base and a sealed substrate box shell; the sealed substrate box base is used for bearing the first substrate container and the second substrate container, and the sealed substrate box shell is used for forming a sealed structure with the sealed substrate box base for accommodating the first substrate container and/or the second substrate container;
the limit stop is arranged on the base of the closed substrate box and used for limiting the movement of the second substrate container in the horizontal direction;
an adapter for restricting movement of the first substrate container in a horizontal direction;
an opening part which is arranged at the front end of the loading port and through which clean air flow enters the loading port;
The clean pumping device component is arranged at the bottom of the loading port and continuously pumps and exhausts gas to the lower part of the loading port so as to ensure the cleanliness of the gas inside the loading port,
The limit structure of the lower surface of the adapter is matched with the limit stop, the adapter is mounted on the base of the closed substrate box based on the limit structure of the lower surface of the adapter and the limit stop,
The first substrate container is a 6-inch substrate container and is used for bearing a plurality of layers of 6-inch substrates; the second substrate holder is an 8-inch substrate holder for carrying a plurality of layers of 8-inch substrates.
2. The multi-size compatible, closed substrate cassette load port of claim 1 wherein the closed substrate cassette base and the closed substrate cassette enclosure are locked by an interlocking structure; the first substrate container and/or the second substrate container are/is fixed between the substrate box base and the sealed substrate box base in a locked state of the sealed substrate box base and the sealed substrate box shell.
3. The multi-size compatible type closed substrate cassette load port of claim 1, wherein a front end of the closed substrate cassette housing is provided with a substrate limiting device for preventing a substrate from slipping out.
4. The multi-size compatible, closed substrate cassette load port of claim 1, further comprising:
The lifting platform is used for bearing the closed substrate box; the lifting table is lifted through a lifting table transmission mechanism;
The closed substrate box placement state detection device is used for detecting and determining the placement state of the closed substrate box on the lifting table; the placement state of the sealed substrate box comprises the non-placement of the sealed substrate box, the non-placement of the sealed substrate box and the correct placement of the sealed substrate box.
5. The multi-size compatible type sealed substrate cassette loading port of claim 4, wherein the locking means locks the sealed substrate cassette if the sealed substrate cassette is placed in a proper position.
6. The multi-size compatible, closed substrate cassette load port of claim 1, further comprising:
and the substrate protrusion detection device is used for detecting the sliding-out state of the substrate.
7. The multi-size compatible, closed substrate cassette load port of claim 1, further comprising:
And the substrate mapping assembly is used for judging whether the substrate is on the substrate carrying platform or not and judging whether lamination occurs to the substrate on the substrate carrying platform or not.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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| CN202210694489.1A CN115132629B (en) | 2022-06-16 | 2022-06-16 | Multi-size compatible type closed substrate box loading port |
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| CN202210694489.1A CN115132629B (en) | 2022-06-16 | 2022-06-16 | Multi-size compatible type closed substrate box loading port |
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| CN115132629B true CN115132629B (en) | 2024-09-20 |
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| CN116525508B (en) * | 2023-05-23 | 2024-03-26 | 乐孜芯创半导体设备(上海)有限公司 | Closed wafer box loading port and gas replacement method thereof |
| CN117174629B (en) * | 2023-11-02 | 2024-04-19 | 南昌中微半导体设备有限公司 | Tray carrier and SMIF pod loading apparatus |
Citations (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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| CN103779253A (en) * | 2012-10-17 | 2014-05-07 | 沈阳芯源微电子设备有限公司 | Loading mechanism compatible with different substrate loading |
| CN107240569A (en) * | 2016-03-29 | 2017-10-10 | 辛耘企业股份有限公司 | Wafer steering device |
| CN110648952A (en) * | 2019-10-21 | 2020-01-03 | 无锡卓海科技有限公司 | Wafer transmission sealing protection device |
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| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JP4118592B2 (en) * | 2002-04-22 | 2008-07-16 | 富士通株式会社 | Load port and semiconductor manufacturing equipment |
| KR20050039081A (en) * | 2003-10-23 | 2005-04-29 | 동부아남반도체 주식회사 | Pod and smif system with the same |
| JP6040883B2 (en) * | 2012-12-25 | 2016-12-07 | 東京エレクトロン株式会社 | Substrate transport apparatus, substrate transport method, and storage medium |
| JP6227334B2 (en) * | 2013-09-04 | 2017-11-08 | ローツェ株式会社 | Load port for detecting multiple types of semiconductor wafers |
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Patent Citations (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN103779253A (en) * | 2012-10-17 | 2014-05-07 | 沈阳芯源微电子设备有限公司 | Loading mechanism compatible with different substrate loading |
| CN107240569A (en) * | 2016-03-29 | 2017-10-10 | 辛耘企业股份有限公司 | Wafer steering device |
| CN110648952A (en) * | 2019-10-21 | 2020-01-03 | 无锡卓海科技有限公司 | Wafer transmission sealing protection device |
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| CN115132629A (en) | 2022-09-30 |
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