Automatic wafer grinding system and method

Abstract

The invention discloses an automatic wafer grinding system. The automatic wafer grinding system comprises a rack, a feeding unit, a first picking unit, a positioning unit, a reference piece bearing unit, a second picking unit, a machining unit, a cleaning unit and a discharging unit, wherein the feeding unit, the first picking unit, the positioning unit, the reference piece bearing unit, the second picking unit, the machining unit, the cleaning unit and the discharging unit are arranged on the rack. The information acquisition unit is used for acquiring material and position information of the wafers and the reference sheets, and the control system is used for controlling the units to transport and process the wafers. All the units are controlled through the information acquisition unit and the control system, automatic conveying and machining of wafers are achieved, the in-place precision and the machining efficiency of the wafers are improved, and the wafer machining quality is guaranteed. The invention further provides an automatic wafer grinding method, by means of the automatic wafer grinding system, the in-situ feeding and in-situ discharging principle of feeding and discharging is perfectly met, and meanwhile the labor intensity of operators is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of wafer production equipment and peripheral supporting facilities thereof, and in particular to an automated wafer grinding system and method. Background Art

[0002] Wafer refers to the silicon chip used in the manufacture of silicon semiconductor integrated circuits. Due to its round shape, it is called a wafer. In the production process of wafers, there is a process of grinding both sides of the wafer. There are many wafer grinding technologies. The commonly used grinding method in the modern semiconductor industry is chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP). Chemical-mechanical polishing is used to flatten the etched surface of the wafer to nanometer-level smoothness, while taking into account various indicators such as the warpage and flatness of the silicon wafer, so as to avoid problems encountered in the lithography and etching process of silicon wafers in high-end applications. Therefore, wafer grinding is an important part of semiconductor processing technology.

[0003] For the double-sided processing unit, the wafer needs to be placed in the groove of the carrier during wafer grinding. In the prior art, this process is done manually, with low production efficiency, high labor intensity for operators, and low precision, which can easily affect the wafer quality. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a wafer grinding automation system and method to solve the problems existing in the above-mentioned prior art, improve the efficiency and accuracy of wafer grinding automation processing, ensure the wafer processing quality, and reduce the labor intensity of operators.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following solutions:

[0006] A wafer grinding automation system, characterized in that it comprises a frame and a loading unit, a first picking unit, a positioning unit, a reference piece carrying unit, a second picking unit, a processing unit, a cleaning unit and a unloading unit arranged on the frame; and further comprises:

[0007] An information collection unit, the information collection unit is used to collect material and position information of the wafer in the loading unit and the reference piece in the reference piece carrying unit;

[0008] A control system, wherein the control system is used to receive the material and position information collected by the information collection unit, obtain wafer processing information based on the material and position information, and the control system controls the loading unit, the first picking unit, the positioning unit, the reference piece carrying unit, the second picking unit, the processing unit, the cleaning unit and the unloading unit to transport and process the wafer based on the wafer processing information.

[0009] In an exemplary embodiment, the control system includes an information receiving subsystem, an information management subsystem and a mechanism control subsystem; wherein,

[0010] The information management subsystem stores the wafer processing information; the information receiving subsystem is used to receive the material and location information collected by the information acquisition unit; the information management subsystem is used to match the material and location information with the corresponding wafer processing information; the mechanism control subsystem is used to control the loading unit, the first picking unit, the positioning unit, the reference piece carrying unit, the second picking unit, the processing unit, the cleaning unit and the unloading unit for transportation and processing according to the matched wafer processing information; the information management subsystem can also track the material and location information during transportation and processing.

[0011] In an exemplary embodiment, the loading unit includes a first loading mechanism, a first loading buffer and a second loading mechanism. The first loading mechanism is used to store wafers to be processed. The first loading buffer is used to cache leftover wafers processed by the first loading mechanism so as to release space in the first loading mechanism and replenish new incoming wafers. The second loading mechanism is used to store accompanying wafers.

[0012] In an exemplary embodiment, a crack and hidden crack inspection unit is also included.

[0013] In an exemplary embodiment, the benchmark film carrying unit includes a benchmark film buffer mechanism, a benchmark film positioning mechanism and a benchmark film recovery mechanism.

[0014] In an exemplary embodiment, a visual recognition mechanism and a press inspection mechanism are provided on the second picking unit. The visual recognition mechanism is used to collect position information of the processing position of the processing unit and detect residual information of processing position fragments. The press inspection mechanism is used to confirm that the wafer and the reference piece accurately enter the processing position.

[0015] The present invention also provides a wafer automatic grinding method, using the above-mentioned wafer automatic grinding system, comprising the following steps:

[0016] S1: The information collection unit collects material and position information of the wafer in the loading unit and the reference piece in the reference piece carrying unit and transmits the information to the control system;

[0017] S2: The control system obtains wafer processing information according to the material and location information, and tracks the material and location information during the transportation and processing of the wafer and the reference wafer;

[0018] S3: According to the wafer processing information, the control system controls the first picking unit to transport the wafer from the loading unit to the processing unit via the positioning unit, and controls the second picking unit to transport the reference piece from the reference piece carrying unit to the processing unit;

[0019] S4: the control system outputs the acquired wafer processing information to the processing unit;

[0020] S5: the processing unit processes the wafer according to the wafer processing information output by the control system;

[0021] S6: the first picking unit transports the processed wafer to the cleaning unit, and the second picking unit transports the reference wafer to the reference wafer recovery mechanism of the reference wafer carrying unit;

[0022] S7: The cleaning unit cleans the wafer;

[0023] S8: the control system outputs corresponding transportation information to the first picking unit according to the material and position information of the wafer collected by the information acquisition unit;

[0024] S9: The first picking unit transports the wafer to the unloading unit according to the transportation information output by the control system;

[0025] S10: Repeat steps S1-S9.

[0026] In an exemplary embodiment, the control system includes an information receiving subsystem, an information management subsystem and a mechanism control subsystem; wherein the information management subsystem stores the wafer processing information; the information receiving subsystem is used to receive the material and position information collected by the information acquisition unit, and the information management subsystem is used to match the material and position information with the corresponding wafer processing information; the mechanism control subsystem is used to control the loading unit, the first picking unit, the positioning unit, the reference piece carrying unit, the second picking unit, the processing unit, the cleaning unit and the unloading unit to transport and process according to the matched wafer processing information;

[0027] In S1, the information collection unit collects material and position information of the wafer in the loading unit and the reference piece in the reference piece carrying unit and transmits the information to the information receiving subsystem;

[0028] In S2, the information management subsystem obtains wafer processing information according to the material and location information, and tracks the material and location information during the transportation and processing of wafers and reference wafers;

[0029] In S3, according to the wafer processing information, the mechanism control subsystem controls the first picking unit to transport the wafer from the loading unit to the processing unit via the positioning unit, and controls the second picking unit to transport the reference piece from the reference piece carrying unit to the processing unit;

[0030] In S4, the information management subsystem outputs the acquired wafer processing information to the processing unit;

[0031] In S5, the processing unit processes the wafer according to the wafer processing information output by the information management subsystem;

[0032] In S8, the mechanism control subsystem outputs corresponding transportation information to the first picking unit according to the material and position information of the wafer collected by the information acquisition unit;

[0033] In S9, the first picking unit transports the cleaned wafer to the unloading unit according to the transportation information output by the mechanism control subsystem.

[0034] In an exemplary embodiment, a crack and hidden crack inspection unit is also included; the loading unit includes a first loading mechanism and a second loading mechanism, the first loading mechanism is used to store wafers to be processed, and the second loading mechanism is used to store companion wafers;

[0035] In S3, before the first picking unit transports the wafer from the loading unit to the positioning unit, it is first transported to the crack and hidden crack inspection unit for hidden crack inspection, and qualified products are transported to the positioning unit according to the wafer processing information, and unqualified products are sent back to the original material position of the first loading unit;

[0036] If a defective product is detected, the first picking unit decides to execute one of the following two commands based on production requirements:

[0037] When the production order is not the last order, execute command 1: continue to pick up the next wafer to be processed in the first loading mechanism;

[0038] When the production order is a tail order or a process verification order, execute command 2: pick up the companion wafer in the second loading mechanism to fill the position;

[0039] When only defective products are left in the first loading unit, they are transported to the re-inspection station for processing.

[0040] In an exemplary embodiment, the positioning unit includes a positioning station for mechanically positioning the wafer;

[0041] The reference piece bearing unit includes a reference piece buffer mechanism, a reference piece positioning mechanism and a reference piece recovery mechanism;

[0042] It also includes a visual recognition mechanism and a press inspection mechanism, wherein the visual recognition mechanism is used to collect the position information of the processing position of the processing unit and detect the residual debris information in the processing position, and the press inspection mechanism is used to confirm that the wafer and the reference piece accurately enter the processing position;

[0043] In S3, the wafer is mechanically positioned using the positioning station in the positioning unit, and the reference piece is mechanically positioned using the reference piece positioning mechanism in the reference piece carrying unit. The first picking unit transports the positioned wafer to the processing position of the processing unit, and the second picking unit transports the positioned reference piece to the processing position of the processing unit. In combination with the position information of the processing position collected by the visual recognition mechanism, the wafer and the reference piece are accurately placed in the processing position; the pressing inspection mechanism performs a pressing inspection on the processing position where the wafer or the reference piece is placed to confirm that the wafer or the reference piece is in place;

[0044] In S6, after the wafer and the reference piece are moved out of the processing position, the processing position of the processing unit is identified by a visual recognition mechanism to detect whether there are any debris remaining in the processing position; if so, the material position information of all wafers is recorded, the automatic breakpoints are saved, the system exits the automatic state, and manual processing is notified. After manual confirmation and cleaning, the automatic breakpoints are restored and automatic operation continues; if not, proceed to the next step.

[0045] The present invention has achieved the following technical effects over the prior art:

[0046] The material and position information of the wafer and the reference piece are collected through the information acquisition unit, and the wafer processing information is obtained through the control system according to the collected material and position information. The loading unit, the first picking unit, the positioning unit, the reference piece carrying unit, the second picking unit, the processing unit, the cleaning unit and the unloading unit are controlled according to the wafer processing information to transport and process the wafer. It can achieve high automation and perfectly meet the in-situ entry and in-situ exit principle of loading and unloading, improve the wafer positioning accuracy and processing efficiency, ensure the wafer processing quality, and reduce the labor intensity of operators. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0047] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0048] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the wafer grinding automation system disclosed in the present invention;

[0049] Figure 2 for Figure 1A schematic structural diagram of the first pickup unit in FIG.

[0050] Figure 3 for Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of the positioning unit in FIG.

[0051] Figure 4 for Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of the reference piece bearing unit in FIG.

[0052] Figure 5 for Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a second pickup unit in FIG.

[0053] Figure 6 for Figure 5 Schematic diagram from another perspective;

[0054] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a control system disclosed in the present invention;

[0055] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the process of the wafer automatic grinding method disclosed in the present invention;

[0056] In the figure: 1. first feeding mechanism; 2. crack and hidden crack inspection unit; 3. first feeding buffer; 4. positioning unit; 401. positioning station; 5. second feeding mechanism; 6. unloading buffer; 7. unloading unit; 8. cleaning unit; 9. conveying unit; 10. feeding unit; 11. feeding buffer; 12. reference piece bearing unit; 1201. reference piece buffer mechanism; 1202. reference piece positioning mechanism; 1203. reference piece recovery mechanism; 13. second picking unit; 1301. third picking unit; 1302. visual recognition mechanism; 1303. pressing inspection mechanism; 1304. fourth picking unit; 14. processing unit; 15. bearing member; 16. processing position; 17. first picking unit; 1701. robot; 1702. picking head; 1703. first picking unit; 1704. second picking unit; 18. unloading unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0057] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0058] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a wafer grinding automation system and method to solve the problems existing in the above-mentioned prior art, improve the efficiency and accuracy of wafer grinding automation processing, ensure the wafer processing quality, and reduce the labor intensity of operators.

[0059] In order to make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0060] Embodiment 1

[0061] Please refer to Figures 1 to 5 The present embodiment provides a wafer grinding automation system, including a frame and a loading unit arranged on the frame, a first picking unit 17, a positioning unit 4, a reference piece carrying unit 12, a second picking unit 13, a processing unit 14, a cleaning unit 8 and an unloading unit 18.

[0062] The loading unit is used to store multiple stacked wafers.

[0063] like Figure 2 As shown, the first picking unit 17 includes a robot arm and a robot 1701. The robot arm is arranged on a frame, and the robot 1701 is connected to the robot arm. The robot arm can drive the robot 1701 to move in space; the robot 1701 has a first picking part 1703 and a second picking part 1704. The first picking part 1703 is a flat structure for picking up wafers stored in the loading unit. The robot arm drives the robot 1701 to move to place the wafers in the positioning unit 4; the positioning unit 4 is used to carry the wafers and position each wafer separately; the second picking part 1704 includes a plurality of picking heads 1702 to pick up multiple wafers after positioning. The robot arm drives the robot 1701 to move and put the picked multiple wafers into the processing unit 14.

[0064] The processing unit 14 is used to grind the wafer. A plurality of carriers 15 are provided in the processing unit 14. Each carrier 15 is provided with a plurality of processing positions 16 arranged according to a certain pattern. The number and arrangement of the plurality of picking heads 1702 of the second picking part 1704 correspond one-to-one to the plurality of processing positions 16 on the carrier 15. After the wafer processing is completed, the second picking part 1704 can also take out the processed wafer.

[0065] like Figure 3 As shown, the positioning unit 4 includes a positioning station 401. Accordingly, the number of the positioning stations 401 is multiple to meet the feeding requirements of the processing station 16 of each carrier 15 of the processing unit 14. Each positioning station 401 includes positioning pins evenly distributed in a circular shape. A detection sensor is also provided on the positioning station 401 to detect whether a wafer is carried on the positioning station 401 and whether the wafer is tilted or offset to achieve the positioning of the wafer. The second picking part 1704 can pick up the wafer on the positioning station 401, and the picking head 1702 adsorbs the wafer on the positioning station 401, and transfers the wafer to the processing station 16 of the processing unit 14 under the drive of the robotic arm.

[0066] like Figure 4 As shown, the reference film carrying unit 12 is used to store multiple reference films, the thickness of the reference film corresponds to the standard thickness of the wafer before grinding, and is used as a grinding reference during the grinding process. The thickness of the reference film is measured in real time during grinding. When the thickness of the reference film reaches the order thickness, the grinding machine stops processing as a whole; the reference film carrying unit 12 includes a reference film cache mechanism 1201, a reference film positioning mechanism 1202 and a reference film recovery mechanism 1203.

[0067] like Figure 5 As shown, the second picking unit 13 includes a third picking portion 1301 for transporting wafers and a fourth picking portion 1304 for transporting reference pieces.

[0068] The structure of the third pickup portion 1301 is the same as that of the first pickup portion 1703 .

[0069] The fourth pick-up unit 1304 includes a suction cup, which uses a large-area suction method to enhance the stability of the suction fixation of the reference piece. The suction cup is connected to an external suction driver, which can perform air extraction and air filling operations on the suction cup. When the suction cup is evacuated, the suction cup absorbs the reference piece. When the reference piece needs to be placed in the next position, the suction driver fills the suction cup with air to separate it from the reference piece. The fourth pick-up unit 1304 is used to realize the transfer of the reference piece from the reference piece buffer mechanism 1201 to the reference piece positioning mechanism 1202 to the processing position 16 and then to the reference piece recovery mechanism 1203.

[0070] The second picking unit 13 is also provided with a visual recognition mechanism 1302 and a pressing inspection mechanism 1303. The visual recognition mechanism 1302 is used to collect the position information of the processing position 16 of the processing unit 14 and to inspect the residual debris information in the processing position 16. The pressing inspection mechanism 1303 is used to confirm that the wafer and the reference piece have accurately entered the processing position 16.

[0071] The processed wafer is sent to the cleaning unit 8 by the second picking part 1704 of the first picking unit 17. The cleaning process of the wafer in the cleaning unit 8 includes overflow tumbling ultrasonic cleaning, single wafer spray cleaning, roller brush cleaning, two-fluid cleaning, air knife drying, and single wafer automatic material receiving and loading basket.

[0072] A feeding unit is also provided after the cleaning unit 8. The cleaned wafers are transferred to the feeding unit by the third picking part 1301 of the second picking unit 13, and are fed in sequence along the loading buffer part 11, the loading part 10, the conveying part 9, the unloading part 7, and the unloading buffer part 6 of the feeding unit, and are finally fed into the unloading unit 18 by the first picking part 1703 of the first picking unit 17.

[0073] Please refer to Figure 6This embodiment also includes an information collection unit and a control system. The information collection unit is used to collect material and position information of the wafer in the loading unit and the reference piece in the reference piece bearing unit 12; the control system is used to receive the material and position information collected by the information collection unit, and obtain wafer processing information according to the material and position information, and the control system controls the loading unit, the first picking unit 17, the positioning unit 4, the reference piece bearing unit 12, the second picking unit 13, the processing unit 14, the cleaning unit 8 and the unloading unit 18 to transport and process the wafer according to the wafer processing information.

[0074] The control system includes an information receiving subsystem, an information management subsystem and a mechanism control subsystem; wherein the information management subsystem stores wafer processing information; the information receiving subsystem is used to receive the material and position information collected by the information acquisition unit, the information management subsystem is used to match the material and position information with the corresponding wafer processing information, and the mechanism control subsystem is used to control the loading unit, the first picking unit 17, the positioning unit 4, the reference piece carrying unit 12, the second picking unit 13, the processing unit 14, the cleaning unit 8 and the unloading unit 18 for transportation and processing according to the matched wafer processing information; the information management subsystem can also track the material and position information during transportation and processing.

[0075] The loading and unloading of wafer grinding must follow the principle of in-situ entry and in-situ exit. The loading unit has multiple placement slots for placing single wafers. Each placement slot has corresponding identification information, such as barcodes, QR codes, electronic tags, etc. The number of the placement slot can be obtained by reading the identification information; each wafer in the placement slot also has its own identification information. Reading the identification information can obtain information such as the source, batch, specifications and models of the wafer.

[0076] After the information collection mechanism collects the material information of the wafers in the loading unit, it locks the information of the placement slot where they are located, and then tracks the position of the wafers during transportation and processing to ensure that each wafer after processing is returned to the corresponding placement slot when it is unloaded. In actual production, an AGV trolley is usually used to place an open cassette (Open Cassette) full of incoming wafers into the loading unit. At this time, the wafer placement slot in the open cassette becomes the placement slot of the loading unit. After the wafers in the open cassette are taken out, the AGV trolley transfers the open cassette from the loading unit to the unloading unit 18, and the processed wafers are sent to the corresponding placement slot according to the locked information, thereby realizing in-situ entry and in-situ exit.

[0077] During the information collection process, if the material information of the loaded wafer does not match the processing information in the production plan, the system will alarm.

[0078] Similarly, the reference film carrier unit 12 also has placement slots for placing multiple reference films, each of which has corresponding identification information, such as a barcode, a QR code, etc., and the number of the placement slot can be obtained by reading the identification information; the reference film in each placement slot also has its own identification information, and the specifications and models of the reference film can be obtained by reading the identification information.

[0079] The reference sheet is a disposable consumable. The purpose of collecting its material and location information is to select reference sheets of corresponding standard specifications based on the processing information of wafers from different production batches. After the wafer processing is completed, the corresponding reference sheets will be recycled for subsequent processing.

[0080] During the information collection process, if the material information of the reference piece does not match the processing information in the production plan, the system will alarm.

[0081] As a preferred solution of this embodiment, a crack and hidden crack inspection unit 2 is further included. Before the first pickup unit 1703 transfers the wafer to the positioning unit 4, the wafer is first transported to the crack and hidden crack inspection unit 2 for inspection, and qualified wafers enter the positioning unit 4, and unqualified wafers are transported to the original material position of the first loading unit to wait for re-judgment.

[0082] The loading unit includes a first loading mechanism 1, a first loading buffer 3 and a second loading mechanism 5. The first loading mechanism 1 is used to store wafers to be processed. The first loading buffer 3 is used to cache the remaining wafers in the first loading mechanism 1 to release the space of the first loading mechanism 1 and replenish new incoming wafers. The second loading mechanism 5 is used to store companion wafers. The placement slots and the wafers to be processed and the companion wafers in the first loading mechanism 1 and the second loading mechanism 5 have corresponding identification information respectively, and the information acquisition unit locks the information of each wafer and its placement slot. Companion wafers are wafers of the same specifications, the same batch or other groups of different batches with the same processing information as the wafer to be processed.

[0083] During the grinding process, it is necessary to ensure that the processing position 16 in the processing unit 14 is fully loaded. If unqualified products are detected during the hidden crack inspection process, either the wafer to be processed in the next placement slot in the first loading mechanism 1 is used to fill the position, or the companion wafer in the second loading mechanism 5 is used to fill the position. The system will decide based on production needs and track the corresponding position information, and also achieve in-situ entry and exit.

[0084] like Figure 5 As shown, in actual application, the information management subsystem is a local management system, and can also be set:

[0085] The mobile storage medium is used to obtain the required production information from the information management subsystem, such as order wafer material information, location information of the loading unit, quality data, and binding information of the wafer material information and the location information of the loading unit.

[0086] A visual positioning information storage medium, used for storing visual positioning information extracted from the information management subsystem;

[0087] A visual debris inspection information storage medium, used to store visual debris inspection information extracted from the information management subsystem;

[0088] The video monitoring controller is used to monitor the equipment status, and the monitoring information is stored in the information management subsystem.

[0089] The MES upper management system can extract information generated during the generation process from the information management subsystem and conduct remote monitoring. The information includes but is not limited to material location information of wafers and reference pieces, binding records of in-situ material location information of incoming wafers, positioning images of processing positions 16, loading and unloading records of reference pieces, wafer entry inspection images, residual chip inspection images, equipment operation status images, binding records of in-situ material location information of unloaded wafers after cleaning, and historical tracing of equipment operation status.

[0090] The information management subsystem can provide real-time statistics on production task reports, wafer quality data statistics reports, customized wafer appearance image statistics reports, and mechanism control subsystem fault alarm statistics reports. The statistical reports are archived during the traceability period and reported to the MES upper management system at the same time.

[0091] The information management subsystem can locally edit and save the production order parameter recipe, which is used for the processing unit 14, that is, the wafer grinder system, to switch the production schedule with one click.

[0092] Embodiment 2

[0093] This embodiment provides a wafer automated grinding method, using the wafer automated grinding system described in Embodiment 1, including the following steps:

[0094] S1: The information collection unit collects the material and position information of the wafer in the loading unit and the reference piece in the reference piece carrying unit 12 and transmits it to the control system;

[0095] S2: The control system obtains wafer processing information based on the material and location information, and tracks the material and location information during the transportation and processing of the wafer and the reference wafer;

[0096] S3: According to the wafer processing information, the control system controls the first picking unit 17 to transport the wafer from the loading unit to the processing unit 14 via the positioning unit 4, and controls the second picking unit 13 to transport the reference piece from the reference piece carrying unit 12 to the processing unit 14;

[0097] S4: The control system outputs the acquired circle processing information to the processing unit 14;

[0098] S5: The processing unit 14 processes the wafer according to the wafer processing information output by the control system;

[0099] S6: the first picking unit 17 transports the processed wafer to the cleaning unit 8, and the second picking unit 13 transports the reference wafer to the reference wafer carrying unit 12;

[0100] S7: The cleaning unit 8 cleans the wafer;

[0101] S8: The control system outputs corresponding transportation information to the first picking unit 17 according to the material and position information of the wafer collected by the information collection unit;

[0102] S9: The first picking unit 17 transports the cleaned wafer to the unloading unit 18 according to the transport information output by the control system;

[0103] S10: Repeat steps S1-S9.

[0104] Embodiment 3

[0105] This embodiment provides a wafer automated grinding method, using the wafer automated grinding system described in Embodiment 1, including the following steps:

[0106] S1: The information collection unit collects the material and position information of the wafer in the loading unit and the reference piece in the reference piece carrying unit 12 and transmits it to the information receiving subsystem;

[0107] S2: The information management subsystem obtains wafer processing information based on the material and location information, and tracks the material and location information during the transportation and processing of the wafer and the reference wafer;

[0108] S3: According to the wafer processing information, the mechanism control subsystem controls the first picking part 1703 of the first picking unit 17 to transport the wafer from the loading unit to the positioning unit 4, and then transport it to the crack and hidden crack inspection unit 2 for hidden crack inspection. Qualified products are transported to the positioning unit 4 according to the wafer processing information, and unqualified products are sent back to the original material position of the first loading unit 1;

[0109] If a defective product is detected, the first picking unit 17 decides to execute one of the following two commands according to production requirements:

[0110] When the production order is not the last order, execute command 1: continue to pick up the next wafer to be processed in the first loading mechanism 1;

[0111] When the production order is a tail order or a process verification order, execute command 2: pick up the companion wafer in the second loading mechanism 5 to fill the position;

[0112] When only unqualified products are left in the first loading unit, they are transported to the re-inspection station for processing;

[0113] The mechanism control subsystem controls the first picking portion 1703 of the first picking unit 17 to transport the qualified wafer to the positioning unit 4 to mechanically position the wafer;

[0114] The mechanism control subsystem controls the fourth picking portion 1304 of the second picking unit 13 to transport the reference piece from the reference piece buffer mechanism 1201 to the reference piece positioning mechanism 1202, and uses the reference piece positioning mechanism 1202 in the reference piece carrying unit 12 to mechanically position the reference piece;

[0115] The first picking unit 1703 transports the positioned wafer to above the processing position 16 of the processing unit 14, and the fourth picking unit 1304 transports the positioned reference piece to above the processing position 16 of the processing unit 14;

[0116] Since the accuracy of mechanical positioning is lower than ±2mm, it is unable to meet the wafer placement accuracy of ±0.2mm. Therefore, in addition to mechanical positioning, the position information of the processing position 16 collected by the visual recognition mechanism 1302 is also required. The control structure calculates the compensation data in combination with the position information given by the visual recognition mechanism 1302, and then controls the first picking unit 1703 and the fourth picking unit 1304 to accurately place the wafer and the reference piece into the processing position 16 respectively;

[0117] Then, the press inspection mechanism 1303 performs a press inspection on the processing position 16 where the wafer or the reference piece is placed to confirm that the wafer or the reference piece is in place, and an alarm is issued if an abnormality is detected.

[0118] S4: the information management subsystem outputs the acquired wafer processing information to the processing unit 14;

[0119] S5: The processing unit 14 processes the wafer according to the wafer processing information output by the information management subsystem;

[0120] S6: the second picking unit 1704 transports the processed wafer to the cleaning unit 8, and the fourth picking unit 1304 transports the reference wafer to the reference wafer carrying unit 12;

[0121] After the wafer and the reference piece are moved out of the processing position 16, the processing position 16 of the processing unit 14 is identified by the visual recognition mechanism 1302 to detect whether there are any debris left in the processing position 16; if there are, the material position information of all wafers is recorded, the automatic breakpoint is saved, the system is exited from the automatic state, and the manual processing is notified. After the manual confirmation and cleaning, the automatic breakpoint is restored and the automatic operation continues; if there are no debris left, proceed to the next step;

[0122] S7: The cleaning unit 8 cleans the wafer;

[0123] S8: The mechanism control subsystem outputs corresponding transportation information to the first picking unit 17 according to the material and position information of the wafer collected by the information collection unit;

[0124] S9: The first picking unit 17 transports the cleaned wafers to the unloading unit 18 according to the transport information output by the mechanism control subsystem.

[0125] S10: Repeat steps S1-S9.

[0126] Adaptive changes made according to actual needs are all within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0127] It should be noted that it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the details of the exemplary embodiments described above, and that the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential features of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments should be regarded as exemplary and non-restrictive from any point of view, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the above description, and it is intended that all changes falling within the meaning and scope of the equivalent elements of the claims are included in the present invention. Any reference numerals in the claims should not be regarded as limiting the claims involved.

[0128] The present invention uses specific examples to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present invention. The above examples are only used to help understand the method and core ideas of the present invention. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, according to the ideas of the present invention, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope. In summary, the content of this specification should not be understood as limiting the present invention.

Claims

1. A wafer grinding automation system, It is characterized in that The invention comprises a frame and a loading unit, a first picking unit, a positioning unit, a reference piece bearing unit, a second picking unit, a processing unit, a cleaning unit and a unloading unit arranged on the frame; and further comprises: An information collection unit, the information collection unit is used to collect material and position information of the wafer in the loading unit and the reference piece in the reference piece carrying unit; A control system, wherein the control system is used to receive the material and position information collected by the information collection unit, obtain wafer processing information based on the material and position information, and the control system controls the loading unit, the first picking unit, the positioning unit, the reference piece carrying unit, the second picking unit, the processing unit, the cleaning unit and the unloading unit to transport and process the wafer based on the wafer processing information.

2. The wafer grinding automation system according to claim 1, Features: The control system includes an information receiving subsystem, an information management subsystem and a mechanism control subsystem; wherein, The information management subsystem stores the wafer processing information; the information receiving subsystem is used to receive the material and location information collected by the information acquisition unit; the information management subsystem is used to match the material and location information with the corresponding wafer processing information; the mechanism control subsystem is used to control the loading unit, the first picking unit, the positioning unit, the reference piece carrying unit, the second picking unit, the processing unit, the cleaning unit and the unloading unit for transportation and processing according to the matched wafer processing information; the information management subsystem can also track the material and location information during transportation and processing.

3. The wafer grinding automation system according to claim 1, Features: The loading unit includes a first loading mechanism, a first loading buffer and a second loading mechanism. The first loading mechanism is used to store wafers to be processed. The first loading buffer is used to cache the remaining wafers processed by the first loading mechanism this time to release space in the first loading mechanism and replenish new incoming wafers. The second loading mechanism is used to store accompanying wafers.

4. The wafer grinding automation system according to claim 1, Features: It also includes a crack and hidden crack inspection unit.

5. The wafer grinding automation system according to claim 1, Features: The reference film carrying unit includes a reference film buffer mechanism, a reference film positioning mechanism and a reference film recovery mechanism.

6. The wafer grinding automation system according to claim 1, Features: The second picking unit is provided with a visual recognition mechanism and a press inspection mechanism. The visual recognition mechanism is used to collect the position information of the processing position of the processing unit and detect the residual information of the processing position fragments. The press inspection mechanism is used to confirm that the wafer and the reference piece accurately enter the processing position.

7. A wafer automated grinding method, Features: The wafer grinding automation system according to claim 1 comprises the following steps: S1: The information collection unit collects material and position information of the wafer in the loading unit and the reference piece in the reference piece carrying unit and transmits the information to the control system; S2: The control system obtains wafer processing information according to the material and location information, and tracks the material and location information during the transportation and processing of the wafer and the reference wafer; S3: According to the wafer processing information, the control system controls the first picking unit to transport the wafer from the loading unit to the processing unit via the positioning unit, and controls the second picking unit to transport the reference piece from the reference piece carrying unit to the processing unit; S4: the control system outputs the acquired wafer processing information to the processing unit; S5: the processing unit processes the wafer according to the wafer processing information output by the control system; S6: the first picking unit transports the processed wafer to the cleaning unit, and the second picking unit transports the reference wafer to the reference wafer recovery mechanism of the reference wafer carrying unit; S7: The cleaning unit cleans the wafer; S8: the control system outputs corresponding transportation information to the first picking unit according to the material and position information of the wafer collected by the information acquisition unit; S9: The first picking unit transports the wafer to the unloading unit according to the transportation information output by the control system; S10: Repeat steps S1-S9.

8. The wafer automated grinding method according to claim 7, Features: The control system includes an information receiving subsystem, an information management subsystem and a mechanism control subsystem; wherein the information management subsystem stores the wafer processing information; the information receiving subsystem is used to receive the material and position information collected by the information acquisition unit, and the information management subsystem is used to match the material and position information with the corresponding wafer processing information; the mechanism control subsystem is used to control the loading unit, the first picking unit, the positioning unit, the reference piece bearing unit, the second picking unit, the processing unit, the cleaning unit and the unloading unit to transport and process according to the matched wafer processing information; In S1, the information collection unit collects material and position information of the wafer in the loading unit and the reference piece in the reference piece carrying unit and transmits the information to the information receiving subsystem; In S2, the information management subsystem obtains wafer processing information according to the material and location information, and tracks the material and location information during the transportation and processing of wafers and reference wafers; In S3, according to the wafer processing information, the mechanism control subsystem controls the first picking unit to transport the wafer from the loading unit to the processing unit via the positioning unit, and controls the second picking unit to transport the reference piece from the reference piece carrying unit to the processing unit; In S4, the information management subsystem outputs the acquired wafer processing information to the processing unit; In S5, the processing unit processes the wafer according to the wafer processing information output by the information management subsystem; In S8, the mechanism control subsystem outputs corresponding transportation information to the first picking unit according to the material and position information of the wafer collected by the information acquisition unit; In S9, the first picking unit transports the cleaned wafer to the unloading unit according to the transportation information output by the mechanism control subsystem.

9. The wafer automated grinding method according to claim 8, Features: It also includes a crack and hidden crack inspection unit; the loading unit includes a first loading mechanism and a second loading mechanism, the first loading mechanism is used to store wafers to be processed, and the second loading mechanism is used to store companion wafers; In S3, before the first picking unit transports the wafer from the loading unit to the positioning unit, it is first transported to the crack and hidden crack inspection unit for hidden crack inspection, and qualified products are transported to the positioning unit according to the wafer processing information, and unqualified products are sent back to the original material position of the first loading unit; If a defective product is detected, the first picking unit decides to execute one of the following two commands based on production requirements: When the production order is not the last order, execute command 1: continue to pick up the next wafer to be processed in the first loading mechanism; When the production order is a tail order or a process verification order, execute command 2: pick up the companion wafer in the second loading mechanism to fill the position; When only defective products are left in the first loading unit, they are transported to the re-inspection station for processing.

10. The wafer automated grinding method according to claim 8, Features: The positioning unit includes a positioning station for mechanically positioning the wafer; The reference piece bearing unit includes a reference piece buffer mechanism, a reference piece positioning mechanism and a reference piece recovery mechanism; It also includes a visual recognition mechanism and a press inspection mechanism, wherein the visual recognition mechanism is used to collect the position information of the processing position of the processing unit and detect the residual debris information in the processing position, and the press inspection mechanism is used to confirm that the wafer and the reference piece accurately enter the processing position; In S3, the wafer is mechanically positioned using the positioning station in the positioning unit, and the reference piece is mechanically positioned using the reference piece positioning mechanism in the reference piece carrying unit. The first picking unit transports the positioned wafer to the processing position of the processing unit, and the second picking unit transports the positioned reference piece to the processing position of the processing unit. In combination with the position information of the processing position collected by the visual recognition mechanism, the wafer and the reference piece are accurately placed in the processing position; the pressing inspection mechanism performs a pressing inspection on the processing position where the wafer or the reference piece is placed to confirm that the wafer or the reference piece is in place; In S6, after the wafer and the reference piece are moved out of the processing position, the processing position of the processing unit is identified by a visual recognition mechanism to detect whether there are any debris remaining in the processing position; If yes, record the material location information of all wafers, save the automatic breakpoints, exit the system automatic state, notify manual processing, and after manual confirmation and cleaning, restore the automatic breakpoints and continue automatic operation; if no, proceed to the next step.

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