A wafer inspection and cleaning device

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wafer inspection and cleaning device, which includes a device housing with an internal air pressure greater than the external air pressure, a workbench installed inside the device housing for placing a wafer cassette, a lifting and misalignment assembly and a lifting and rotation assembly arranged below the workbench, an identification camera arranged above the workbench for cooperating with the lifting and misalignment assembly to achieve inspection work, and a cleaner arranged above the workbench for cooperating with the lifting and rotation assembly to complete cleaning work; a cavity is arranged directly below the position where the workbench places the wafer cassette, and a horizontal module is arranged below the lifting and misalignment assembly and the lifting and rotation assembly to drive them to move respectively to below the cavity and realize rising through the cavity to abut against the lower end of the wafer; the present invention is used to realize the inspection and cleaning of wafers, reduce subsequent accidents caused by wafer handling breakage or incorrect sorting, can reduce manual labor during the working process, and increase efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of auxiliary inspection and cleaning in the chip industry, and particularly relates to a wafer inspection and cleaning device. Background Art

[0002] A wafer refers to a silicon wafer used for fabricating silicon semiconductor integrated circuits. Since its shape is circular, it is called a wafer. Various circuit element structures can be fabricated on the silicon wafer to form an IC product with specific electrical functions; a wafer cassette mainly serves to place and transport wafers in semiconductor production. To simplify transportation and minimize the risk of contamination as much as possible, chip manufacturers use wafer cassettes to handle and store wafers.

[0003] During the movement or use of wafers, there are often problems such as differences or a little dust in the wafers in the wafer cassette. During use, situations such as incorrect wafers or damaged wafers may occur. Therefore, the present invention has developed a wafer inspection and cleaning device to solve the problems existing in the prior art. After retrieval, no technical solutions identical or similar to the present invention have been found. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The object of the present invention is to provide a wafer inspection and cleaning device to solve the problems of differences or a little dust in wafers during movement or use in the prior art.

[0005] The technical solution of the present invention is: a wafer inspection and cleaning device, including a device housing with an internal air pressure greater than the external air pressure, a workbench installed inside the device housing for placing a wafer cassette, a lifting misalignment component and a lifting rotation component arranged below the workbench, an identification camera arranged above the workbench for cooperating with the lifting misalignment component to achieve inspection work, and a cleaner arranged above the workbench for cooperating with the lifting rotation component to complete cleaning work; a cavity is arranged directly below the position where the workbench places the wafer cassette, and a horizontal module is arranged below the lifting misalignment component and the lifting rotation component to drive them to move to below the cavity respectively, and to rise through the cavity and abut against the lower end of the wafer.

[0006] Preferably, the lifting misalignment component includes a first lifting frame and a wedge table fixed to the upper end of the first lifting frame; the lifting rotation component includes a second lifting frame and a plurality of rotating ejector rods installed at the upper end of the second lifting frame.

[0007] Preferably, the number of the lifting rotation components is more than one, and the plurality of rotating ejector rods at the upper end of a single lifting rotation component are distributed in a concave arc shape and are respectively adapted to wafers of corresponding sizes.

[0008] Preferably, the horizontal module includes a pair of guide rails, a transmission belt disposed between the pair of guide rails, and a driving motor for driving the transmission belt to rotate; the lower ends of the first lifting frame and the second lifting frame are fixedly connected to the transmission belt and are slidably engaged with the pair of guide rails.

[0009] Preferably, on the upper end surfaces of the workbenches on both sides of the cavity, there are a pair of limit card seats for positioning the wafer cassette and a back plate perpendicular to the pair of limit card seats, and a position switch is provided on the back plate.

[0010] Preferably, the identification camera is an OCR camera, which is fixed at the top inside the equipment housing and is directly above the wafer cassette.

[0011] Preferably, the cleaner is a pair of static eliminators fixed at the top inside the equipment housing and is directly above the wafer cassette.

[0012] Preferably, the front end of the equipment housing has a touch screen, control buttons, and a double-opening sealed door for taking and placing the wafer cassette, and an air discharge and cleaning hole communicating with the lower part of the workbench is provided on the side wall; a limit switch is installed on the double-opening sealed door.

[0013] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present invention are as follows:

[0014] (1) The present invention is used to realize the inspection and cleaning of wafers, reduce subsequent accidents caused by wafer handling breakage or incorrect sorting, and can reduce manual labor and increase efficiency during the working process.

[0015] (2) The air pressure inside the equipment housing is always greater than the external air pressure during the working state, so that no external gas or dust can enter the equipment housing, effectively ensuring the anti-pollution and anti-static characteristic requirements of the chip industry.

[0016] (3) The number of the lifting and rotating components is more than one, so as to realize the cooperation with wafers of different sizes and specifications, and reduce the use limitations of the equipment.

[0017] (4) The whole equipment can be placed on the workbench for use, which conforms to the ergonomic design, is convenient to move at the same time, and can be combined with multiple working natures. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the drawings and embodiments:

[0019] Figure 1 is a schematic external structure diagram of a wafer inspection and cleaning device according to the present invention;

[0020] Figure 2 is a schematic setting structure diagram of the lifting and misalignment component and the lifting and rotating component according to the present invention;

[0021] Figure 3 This is a partial enlarged view of the jacking misalignment component and the jacking rotation component of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the positional structure of the identification camera, cleaner, and wafer cassette of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 5 This is an enlarged view of the structure of the identification camera, cleaner, and wafer cassette of the present invention.

[0024] Wherein: 1. Equipment housing;

[0025] 11. Upper housing, 12. Lower housing, 13. Touch screen, 14. Control button, 15. Air discharge cleaning hole, 16. Adjustable level foot, 17. Double-opening sealed door, 18. Warning light;

[0026] 2. Workbench;

[0027] 21. Cavity, 22. Limit card seat, 23. Back panel;

[0028] 3. Jacking misalignment component;

[0029] 31. First lifting frame, 32. Wedge table;

[0030] 4. Jacking rotation component;

[0031] 41. Second lifting frame, 42. Rotating ejector rod;

[0032] 5. Horizontal module;

[0033] 51. Guide rail, 52. Transmission belt, 53. Driving motor;

[0034] 6. Identification camera (OCR camera);

[0035] 7. Cleaner (static eliminator);

[0036] 8. Wafer cassette. Detailed implementation manners

[0037] The following further elaborates on the content of the present invention in combination with specific embodiments:

[0038] Such as Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 4As shown in the figure, a wafer inspection and cleaning device includes a device housing 1 with an internal air pressure greater than the external air pressure, a workbench 2 installed inside the device housing 1 for placing a wafer cassette 8, a lifting and misalignment assembly 3 and a lifting and rotation assembly 4 arranged below the workbench 2, an identification camera 6 arranged above the workbench 2 for cooperating with the lifting and misalignment assembly 3 to achieve inspection work, and a cleaner 7 arranged above the workbench 2 for cooperating with the lifting and rotation assembly 4 to complete cleaning work.

[0039] As Figure 1 shown in the figure, the workbench 2 divides the device housing 1 into an upper housing 11 and a lower housing 12. Among them, a touch screen 13 and control buttons 14 for controlling the operation of the device are arranged on the front end face of the lower housing 12. The front end face is inclined, which conforms to the ergonomic design and is convenient for the operation of the staff; an air discharge and cleaning hole 15 is arranged on the side wall, and adjustable leveling feet 16 are arranged on the lower end face; a double-opening sealing door 17 for taking and placing the wafer cassette 8 is arranged on the front end face of the upper housing 11. A limit switch is installed on the double-opening sealing door 17, and a warning light 18 is arranged on the top; the device housing 1 can be used to be placed on a horizontal table for work.

[0040] As Figure 1 shown in the figure, a cavity 21 is arranged directly below the workbench 2 where the wafer cassette 8 is placed, realizing the connection between the upper housing 11 and the lower housing 12, which is convenient for the work of the lifting and misalignment assembly 3 and the lifting and rotation assembly 4; As Figure 4 、 Figure 5 shown in the figure, on the upper end face of the workbench 2 on both sides of the cavity 21, there is a pair of limit card seats 22 for positioning the wafer cassette 8, and a back plate 23 perpendicular to the pair of limit card seats 22. A position switch for detecting whether the wafer cassette 8 is placed in place is arranged on the back plate 23.

[0041] As Figure 2 、 Figure 3 shown in the figure, the lifting and misalignment assembly 3 includes a first lifting frame 31 and a wedge table 32 fixed to the upper end of the first lifting frame 31; the lifting and rotation assembly 4 includes a second lifting frame 41 and a plurality of rotating ejector rods 42 installed on the upper end of the second lifting frame 41; at the same time, a transverse module 5 is arranged below the lifting and misalignment assembly 3 and the lifting and rotation assembly 4 to drive them to move respectively to the lower part of the cavity 21, and to rise through the cavity 21 to abut against the lower end of the wafer. The transverse module 5 includes a pair of guide rails 51, a transmission belt 52 arranged between the pair of guide rails 51, and a driving motor 53 for driving the transmission belt 52 to rotate; the lower ends of the first lifting frame 31 and the second lifting frame 41 are fixedly connected to the transmission belt 52 and are slidably matched with the pair of guide rails 51.

[0042] To cooperate with wafers of different size specifications, the number of the lifting and rotating assemblies 4 is more than one. A plurality of rotating ejector rods 42 at the upper end of a single lifting and rotating assembly 4 are distributed in a concave arc shape and are respectively adapted to wafers of corresponding sizes (generally more than 6 inches); in this embodiment, a total of two lifting and rotating assemblies 4 are provided and are respectively adapted to 6-inch and 8-inch wafers. At the same time, a total of four rotating ejector rods 42 are provided on each lifting and rotating assembly 4.

[0043] The identification camera 6 is an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) camera, that is, an optical character recognition camera 6, which is fixed at the inner top end of the equipment housing 1, as Figure 4 shown in, for example, Fig. 5, and is located directly above the wafer cassette 8 for photographing and inspecting the wafers.

[0044] The cleaner 7 is a pair of electrostatic eliminators fixed at the inner top end of the equipment housing 1, as Figure 4 shown in, for example, Fig. 5, and is located directly above the wafer cassette 8 for blowing air downward to complete the dust removal and cleaning of the wafers.

[0045] The working principle of the present invention is as follows:

[0046] (1) Place the wafer cassette 8 of the specified size between a pair of limit clamping seats 22, with the rear end in contact with the back plate 23, close the double-opening sealing door 17, and press the control button 14. When the in-place switch detects that the wafer cassette 8 is in place, the equipment starts to work. If the in-place switch does not detect the wafer cassette 8, the warning light 18 flashes; during the process, if the limit switch detects that the double-opening sealing door 17 is not tightly closed, the warning light 18 flashes and the equipment does not operate.

[0047] (2) The horizontal module 5 drives the lifting and misalignment assembly 3 to move directly below the cavity 21. The first lifting frame 31 drives the wedge-shaped platform 32 to penetrate through the cavity 21 and move below the wafer cassette 8 to abut against the lower end of the wafer in the wafer cassette 8. Since the upper end surface of the wedge-shaped platform 32 is inclined, when the wafer is lifted, each wafer is 3-5 mm higher than the previous wafer, and then the identification camera 6 takes pictures and identifies to self-check the wafers for omission or wrong numbering.

[0048] (3) After the detection is completed and there is no error, the horizontal module 5 drives the lifting and rotating assembly 4 adapted to the corresponding wafer size to move directly below the cavity 21. The second lifting frame 41 drives the rotating ejector rod 42 to penetrate through the cavity 21 and move below the wafer cassette 8 to abut against the lower end of the wafer in the wafer cassette 8, lift the wafer and float it in the upper housing 11, and then the electrostatic eliminator blows air downward to complete the dust removal and cleaning of the wafers.

[0049] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical concept and characteristics of the present invention. The purpose is to enable those who are familiar with this technology to understand the content of the present invention and implement it accordingly, and it cannot be used to limit the protection scope of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, it is obvious that the present invention is not limited to the details of the above exemplary embodiments, and without departing from the spirit or basic characteristics of the present invention, the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms. Therefore, from any point of view, the embodiments should be regarded as exemplary and non-limiting. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the above description. Therefore, it is intended to embrace all changes that fall within the meaning and scope of the equivalent elements of the claims in the present invention.

Claims

1. A wafer inspection and cleaning device, characterized in that: It includes a device housing with an internal air pressure greater than the external air pressure, a workbench installed inside the device housing for placing a wafer cassette, a lifting and misalignment assembly and a lifting and rotation assembly arranged below the workbench, an identification camera arranged above the workbench for cooperating with the lifting and misalignment assembly to achieve inspection work, and a cleaner arranged above the workbench for cooperating with the lifting and rotation assembly to complete cleaning work; a cavity is provided directly below the position where the workbench places the wafer cassette, and a horizontal module is arranged below the lifting and misalignment assembly and the lifting and rotation assembly to drive them to move respectively to below the cavity and realize rising through the cavity to abut against the lower end of the wafer. The lifting and misalignment assembly includes a first lifting frame and a wedge table fixed to the upper end of the first lifting frame; the lifting and rotation assembly includes a second lifting frame and a plurality of rotating ejector rods installed at the upper end of the second lifting frame. The horizontal module includes a pair of guide rails, a transmission belt arranged between the pair of guide rails, and a driving motor for driving the transmission belt to rotate; the lower ends of the first lifting frame and the second lifting frame are fixedly connected to the transmission belt and are slidably matched with the pair of guide rails. The number of the lifting and rotation assemblies is more than one, and the plurality of rotating ejector rods at the upper end of a single lifting and rotation assembly are distributed in a concave arc shape and are respectively adapted to wafers of corresponding sizes.

2. The wafer inspection and cleaning equipment according to claim 1, wherein: On the upper end surface of the workbench on both sides of the cavity, there are a pair of limit card seats for positioning the wafer cassette and a back plate perpendicular to the pair of limit card seats, and a position switch is arranged on the back plate.

3. A wafer inspection and cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The identification camera selects an OCR camera, is fixed at the top inside the device housing, and is directly above the wafer cassette.

4. A wafer inspection and cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cleaner selects a pair of static eliminators fixed at the top inside the device housing and is directly above the wafer cassette.

5. A wafer inspection and cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The front end of the device housing has a touch screen, control buttons, and a double-opening sealed door for taking and placing the wafer cassette, and an air discharge and cleaning hole communicating with the lower part of the workbench is arranged on the side wall; a limit switch is installed on the double-opening sealed door.

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