Manipulator and method for conveying wafer and bonding equipment

Abstract

The invention provides a manipulator for transferring a wafer, bonding equipment and a method for transferring the wafer. The mechanical arm for conveying the wafer comprises a hand part which comprises a plurality of adsorption openings which are located on the surface, facing the wafer, of the hand part and are aligned with at least one non-functional area on the front face of the wafer; the multiple adsorption ports are connected to a vacuum mechanism through the air channel so that adsorption force can be provided for the at least one non-functional area, the hand adsorbs the front face of the wafer through the multiple adsorption ports, then the wafer is turned over so that the wafer suction cup can adsorb the back face of the wafer, then the adsorption force is eliminated, and the wafer suction cup can suck the back face of the wafer through the air channel. And releasing the front surface of the wafer.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing, and in particular to a wafer conveying robot, a bonding device, and a wafer conveying method. Background Art

[0002] In the field of semiconductor manufacturing technology, wafers are often required to be bonded. Traditional back-side suction manipulators use three anti-static suction nozzles to vacuum-extract the wafers.

[0003] In the traditional back-suction wafer handover process, first, the mechanical finger sucks the back of the wafer and then turns 180° to wait for the wafer to be connected. After that, the handover mechanism descends to suck the back of the wafer to suck the wafer. Finally, after the finger is lifted and withdrawn, the handover mechanism rises to allow the wafer to be handed over to the chuck. However, the handover method using this handover mechanism is not only cumbersome, but also time-consuming due to the high precision and fragility of the wafer bonding process.

[0004] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the prior art, the art is in urgent need of a wafer transfer robot technology to eliminate the need for a suction cup handover mechanism, simplify the structure of the wafer suction cup, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the wafer transfer mechanism, and shortening the wafer transfer time with the wafer suction cup, thereby improving equipment production capacity. Summary of the invention

[0005] A brief summary of one or more aspects is given below to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of all conceived aspects, and is neither intended to identify the key or decisive elements of all aspects nor to define the scope of any or all aspects. Its only purpose is to give some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description that will be given later.

[0006] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the prior art, the present invention provides a wafer transfer robot, a bonding device, and a wafer transfer method, which are used to eliminate the need for a suction cup handover mechanism, simplify the structure of the wafer suction cup, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the wafer transfer mechanism, and shorten the wafer transfer time with the wafer suction cup, thereby improving the equipment production capacity.

[0007] Specifically, the robot arm for transferring wafers provided in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention comprises: a hand, comprising: a plurality of suction ports, located on the surface of the hand facing the wafer and aligned with at least one non-functional area on the front side of the wafer; and an air duct, connecting the plurality of suction ports to a vacuum mechanism to provide suction force to the at least one non-functional area, wherein the hand first suctions the front side of the wafer via the plurality of suction ports, then flips the wafer over so that the wafer suction cup suctions the back side of the wafer, and then eliminates the suction force to release the front side of the wafer.

[0008] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, each of the suction ports is a protruding structure to prevent the rest of the hand facing the surface of the wafer from contacting the functional area on the front side of the wafer.

[0009] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the hand is stepped from the inside to the outside to adapt to wafers of various sizes, wherein the first step on the inside of the hand has a smaller first height and a smaller first diameter to adapt to first wafers of corresponding sizes, the second step on the outside of the hand has a larger second height and a larger second diameter to adapt to second wafers of corresponding sizes, the third height of the multiple first suction ports located on the first step is smaller than the second height, and the difference between the fourth height of the multiple second suction ports located on the second step and the third height is smaller than the thickness of the first wafer.

[0010] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the hand is configured with a plurality of the air channels, wherein at least one first air channel connects the plurality of first suction ports to the vacuum mechanism to provide suction force to at least one non-functional area on the front side of the first wafer, and at least one second air channel connects the plurality of second suction ports to the vacuum mechanism to provide suction force to at least one non-functional area on the front side of the second wafer. The hand blocks the at least one first air channel and / or the at least one second air channel by switching the sealing ring to selectively suction a wafer of corresponding size.

[0011] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, at least one of the suction ports is a groove structure, which is aligned with the edge of the front side of the wafer to provide suction force thereto, and / or at least one of the suction ports is a hole structure, which is aligned with at least one gap between multiple functional areas on the front side of the wafer, and / or the edge of the front side of the wafer to provide suction force thereto.

[0012] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the robot also includes: an arm, including a flipping mechanism and a lateral displacement mechanism, wherein the flipping mechanism is used to flip the wafer after the hand adsorbs the front side of the wafer so that its back side faces the wafer suction cup, and the arm is connected to the hand via the lateral displacement mechanism, and is used to drive the wafer to shift laterally via the hand to align with the wafer suction cup.

[0013] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the arm also includes: a longitudinal displacement mechanism, which is used to raise and lower the hand after the wafer is aligned with the wafer suction cup to bring the back side of the wafer close to the wafer suction cup, and / or raise and lower the hand after the wafer suction cup absorbs the back side of the wafer to make the hand separate from the front side of the wafer.

[0014] In addition, the bonding equipment provided according to the second aspect of the present invention includes: a bonding machine for carrying a part to be bonded; a wafer suction cup, arranged on the bonding machine, for adsorbing the back side of the wafer to be bonded and bonding its front side to the part to be bonded; and a wafer conveying robot as described in any one of the first aspect of the present invention, for first adsorbing at least one non-functional area on the front side of the wafer, then flipping the wafer so that the wafer suction cup can adsorb the back side of the wafer, and then eliminating the adsorption force to release the front side of the wafer.

[0015] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the object to be bonded is another wafer, or a circuit element to be bonded.

[0016] In addition, the method for transferring wafers provided according to the third aspect of the present invention includes the following steps: adsorbing at least one non-functional area on the front side of the wafer to be transferred via multiple adsorption ports of a robot; flipping the wafer and aligning its back side with a wafer suction cup; lifting and lowering the wafer and / or the wafer suction cup to adsorb the back side of the wafer via the wafer suction cup; eliminating the adsorption force of the multiple adsorption ports to release the front side of the wafer; and lifting and lowering the wafer and / or the wafer suction cup to separate the multiple adsorption ports of the robot from the front side of the wafer. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The above features and advantages of the present invention can be better understood after reading the detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the following drawings. In the drawings, the components are not necessarily drawn to scale, and components with similar related properties or features may have the same or similar reference numerals.

[0018] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a bonding device provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0019] Figure 2A schematic diagram of the structure of a robot for transferring wafers provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0020] Figure 3A A schematic structural diagram of a groove-shaped adsorption port provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0021] Figure 3B A schematic structural diagram of a porous structure adsorption port provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0022] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a hand ladder structure provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0023] Figure 5A to Figure 5B A schematic diagram of adsorbing wafers of different sizes provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0024] Figure 6 A schematic structural diagram of multiple airways provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0025] Reference numerals:

[0026] 10 Wafer suction cup

[0027] 20 Robot

[0028] 21 Hands

[0029] 2111 First adsorption port

[0030] 2112 Second suction port

[0031] 212 Airway

[0032] 2121 First Airway

[0033] 2122 Second Airway

[0034] 213 First Step

[0035] 2131 First Wafer

[0036] 214 Second Step

[0037] 2141 Second Wafer

[0038] 215 Sealing ring

[0039] 221 Flipping mechanism

[0040] 222 lateral displacement mechanism

[0041] 223 Longitudinal displacement mechanism DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] The following specific embodiments illustrate the implementation of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification. Although the description of the present invention will be introduced in conjunction with the preferred embodiment, this does not mean that the features of this invention are limited to this implementation. On the contrary, the purpose of introducing the invention in conjunction with the implementation is to cover other options or modifications that may be extended based on the claims of the present invention. In order to provide a deep understanding of the present invention, the following description will include many specific details. The present invention can also be implemented without using these details. In addition, in order to avoid confusion or blurring the focus of the present invention, some specific details will be omitted in the description.

[0043] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal communication of two components. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0044] In addition, the terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "top", "bottom", "horizontal" and "vertical" used in the following description should be understood as the directions shown in the paragraph and the related drawings. Such relative terms are only used for the convenience of description and do not mean that the device described therein must be manufactured or operated in a specific direction, and therefore should not be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0045] It is understood that although the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. may be used herein to describe various components, regions, layers and / or parts, these components, regions, layers and / or parts should not be limited by these terms, and these terms are only used to distinguish different components, regions, layers and / or parts. Therefore, the first component, region, layer and / or part discussed below may be referred to as a second component, region, layer and / or part without departing from some embodiments of the present invention.

[0046] As mentioned above, in the traditional back-suction wafer handover process, first, the robot 20 fingers suck the back of the wafer and then turn it 180° to wait for the wafer to be connected. After that, the handover mechanism descends to suck the back of the wafer to suck the wafer. Finally, after the fingers are lifted and pulled away, the handover mechanism rises to allow the wafer to be handed over to the chuck. However, the handover method using this handover mechanism is not only more complicated, but also time-consuming due to the high precision and fragility of the wafer bonding process.

[0047] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the prior art, the present invention provides a wafer transfer robot, a bonding device, and a wafer transfer method, which are used to eliminate the need for a suction cup handover mechanism, simplify the structure of the wafer suction cup, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the wafer transfer mechanism, and shorten the wafer transfer time with the wafer suction cup, thereby improving the equipment production capacity.

[0048] In some non-limiting embodiments, the wafer conveying robot provided in the first aspect of the present invention can be configured in the bonding equipment provided in the second aspect of the present invention, and the wafer conveying method provided in the third aspect of the present invention can be implemented based on the wafer conveying robot provided in the first aspect of the present invention.

[0049] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a bonding device provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0050] like Figure 1 As shown, the bonding equipment includes a bonding machine, a wafer suction cup 10 and a manipulator 20 for transferring wafers. The bonding machine is used to carry the part to be bonded, where the part to be bonded is another wafer, or a circuit element to be bonded, such as a die with at least one circuit element such as a chip. The wafer suction cup 10 is arranged on the bonding machine, and is used to absorb the back side of the wafer to be bonded, and bond its front side to the part to be bonded. The manipulator 20 for transferring wafers is used to first absorb at least one non-functional area on the front side of the wafer, and then flip the wafer so that the wafer suction cup 10 can absorb the back side of the wafer, and then eliminate the absorption force to release the front side of the wafer.

[0051] Please refer to Figure 2 and Figure 3A to Figure 3B , Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a robot for transferring wafers provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown. Figure 3A A schematic structural diagram of a groove-shaped adsorption port provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown. Figure 3B A schematic structural diagram of a porous structure adsorption port provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0052] like Figure 2As shown, the robot 20 for transferring wafers includes a hand 21 and an arm. The hand 21 includes a plurality of suction ports and an air duct 212. The plurality of suction ports are located on the surface of the hand 21 facing the wafer, and are aligned with at least one non-functional area on the front side of the wafer (for example: a blank area without components and without the need for preparing / bonding components). The air duct 212 connects the plurality of suction ports to a vacuum mechanism to provide suction force to at least one non-functional area. Here, the hand 21 first suctions the front side of the wafer through a plurality of suction ports, then flips the wafer so that the wafer suction cup 10 can suction the back side of the wafer, and then eliminates the suction force to release the front side of the wafer. As a result, the robot 20 for transferring wafers can eliminate the need for a suction cup handover mechanism, simplify the structure of the wafer suction cup 10, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the wafer transfer mechanism, and shortening the wafer transfer time with the wafer suction cup 10, thereby improving the equipment production capacity.

[0053] like Figure 3A to Figure 3B As shown, each suction port 2111 - 2112 can be a protruding structure to prevent the rest of the hand 21 from contacting the functional area on the front side of the wafer (eg, an area where components are already installed and / or where components are planned to be prepared / bonded).

[0054] exist Figure 3A In the illustrated embodiment, the at least one suction port 2111 - 2112 may be a groove-shaped structure, which is aligned with the edge of the front side of the wafer to provide suction force thereto.

[0055] In addition, Figure 3B In the illustrated embodiment, the at least one suction port 2111 - 2112 may also be a hole-shaped structure, which is aligned with at least one gap between multiple functional areas on the front side of the wafer and / or the edge of the front side of the wafer to provide suction force thereto.

[0056] Please continue to refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5A to Figure 5B . Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a hand ladder structure provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown. Figure 5A to Figure 5B A schematic diagram of adsorbing wafers of different sizes provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0057] like Figure 4 and Figure 5A to Figure 5BAs shown, the hand 21 is stepped from the inside to the outside to accommodate wafers of various sizes. Specifically, the first step 213 on the inside of the hand 21 has a smaller first height (e.g., 0) and a smaller first diameter (e.g., equal to the diameter of an 8-inch wafer, or slightly larger than the diameter of an 8-inch wafer) to accommodate a first wafer 2131 of a corresponding size (e.g., 8 inches). The second step 214 on the outside of the hand 21 has a larger second height (e.g., 0.2-0.3 mm) and a larger second diameter (e.g., equal to the diameter of a 12-inch wafer, or slightly larger than the diameter of a 12-inch wafer) to accommodate a second wafer 2141 of a corresponding size (e.g., 12 inches).

[0058] In some embodiments, the third height of the plurality of first suction ports 2111 located on the first step 213 may be less than (or equal to) the second height, so as to avoid the first suction ports 2111 (whose width may be set to 2.5 mm) contacting the functional area on the front side of the second wafer 2141 when adsorbing a large-sized second wafer 2141. The difference between the fourth height and the third height of the plurality of second suction ports 2112 located on the second step 214 (for example, 0.4-0.6 mm) is less than the thickness of the first wafer 2131 (for example, the thickness of an 8-inch wafer is 0.725±0.02 mm), so as to avoid the second suction ports 2112 contacting the wafer suction cup 10 during the wafer transfer process when adsorbing a small-sized first wafer 2131.

[0059] Please refer to Figure 6 , Figure 6 A schematic structural diagram of multiple airways provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0060] like Figure 6 As shown, the hand 21 is configured with multiple air channels 212 for matching different suction ports 211 on the front of the wafer. Specifically, at least one first air channel 2121 connects the multiple first suction ports 2111 to the vacuum mechanism to provide suction force to at least one non-functional area on the front of the first wafer 2131. At least one second air channel 2122 connects the multiple second suction ports 2112 to the vacuum mechanism to provide suction force to at least one non-functional area on the front of the second wafer 2141.

[0061] In some embodiments, the hand 21 blocks at least one first air channel 2121 and / or at least one second air channel 2122 by switching the sealing ring 215 to selectively adsorb wafers of corresponding sizes, thereby switching the air channels 212 more flexibly and reducing costs.

[0062] The following will describe the working principles of the above-mentioned wafer conveying robot and bonding equipment in conjunction with some embodiments of the wafer conveying method. Those skilled in the art will understand that these embodiments of the wafer conveying method are only some non-limiting implementation methods provided by the present invention, which are intended to clearly demonstrate the main concept of the present invention and provide some specific solutions that are convenient for the public to implement, rather than to limit all functions or all working modes of the wafer conveying robot and bonding equipment. Similarly, the wafer conveying robot and bonding equipment are also only some non-limiting implementation methods provided by the present invention, and do not constitute a limitation on the execution subject or execution order of each step in these wafer conveying methods.

[0063] Specifically, the method for transferring wafers includes the following steps: adsorbing at least one non-functional area on the front side of the wafer to be transferred via multiple adsorption ports 2111~2112 of the robot 20; flipping the wafer and aligning its back side with the wafer suction cup 10; lifting and lowering the wafer and / or the wafer suction cup 10 to adsorb the back side of the wafer via the wafer suction cup 10; eliminating the adsorption force of the multiple adsorption ports 2111~2112 to release the front side of the wafer; and lifting and lowering the wafer and / or the wafer suction cup 10 to separate the multiple adsorption ports 2111~2112 of the robot 20 from the front side of the wafer.

[0064] In addition, please continue to refer to Figure 1 The arm includes a flipping mechanism 221, a lateral displacement mechanism 222 and a longitudinal displacement mechanism 223.

[0065] Specifically, the flipping mechanism 221 is used to flip the wafer after the hand 21 adsorbs the front side of the wafer so that its back side faces the wafer suction cup 10. The arm is connected to the hand 21 via a lateral displacement mechanism 222, which is used to drive the wafer to move laterally via the hand 21 to align with the wafer suction cup 10.

[0066] In some embodiments, the longitudinal displacement mechanism 223 can raise and lower the hand 21 after the wafer is aligned with the wafer suction cup 10 to bring the back side of the wafer close to the wafer suction cup 10, and / or raise and lower the hand 21 after the wafer suction cup 10 adsorbs the back side of the wafer to separate the hand 21 from the front side of the wafer.

[0067] In some embodiments, the longitudinal displacement mechanism 223 can also lift the wafer suction cup 10 to absorb the back side of the wafer, and / or lift the wafer suction cup 10 to separate the hand 21 from the front side of the wafer.

[0068] In summary, the wafer transfer robot, bonding equipment, and wafer transfer method can eliminate the need for a suction cup handover mechanism, simplify the structure of the wafer suction cup, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the wafer transfer mechanism, and shorten the wafer transfer time with the wafer suction cup, thereby improving equipment production capacity.

[0069] Although the above methods are illustrated and described as a series of actions for simplicity of explanation, it should be understood and appreciated that these methods are not limited by the order of the actions, because according to one or more embodiments, some actions may occur in a different order and / or concurrently with other actions from those illustrated and described herein or not illustrated and described herein but understandable to those skilled in the art.

[0070] The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be granted the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A wafer conveying robot, characterized in that: include: The hand comprises: a plurality of suction ports, which are located on the surface of the hand facing the wafer and are aligned with at least one non-functional area on the front side of the wafer; and an air channel, which connects the plurality of suction ports to a vacuum mechanism to provide suction force to the at least one non-functional area, wherein the hand first suctions the front side of the wafer via the plurality of suction ports, then turns the wafer over so that the wafer suction cup suctions the back side of the wafer, and then eliminates the suction force to release the front side of the wafer.

2. The robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each of the suction ports is a protruding structure to prevent the remaining position of the hand facing the surface of the wafer from contacting the functional area on the front side of the wafer.

3. The robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: The hand is stepped from inside to outside to accommodate wafers of various sizes, wherein: The first step inside the hand has a smaller first height and a smaller first diameter to fit a first wafer of a corresponding size. The second step on the outer side of the hand has a second larger height and a second larger diameter to accommodate a second wafer of a corresponding size. The third height of the plurality of first adsorption ports located on the first step is smaller than the second height, A difference between a fourth height of the plurality of second suction ports located on the second step and the third height is smaller than a thickness of the first wafer.

4. The robot according to claim 3, characterized in that: The hand is provided with a plurality of airways, wherein: At least one first air channel connects the plurality of first suction ports to the vacuum mechanism to provide suction force to at least one non-functional area on the front side of the first wafer, At least one second air channel connects the plurality of second suction ports to the vacuum mechanism to provide suction force to at least one non-functional area on the front side of the second wafer, The hand blocks the at least one first air channel and / or the at least one second air channel by switching the sealing ring, so as to selectively absorb the wafer of corresponding size.

5. The robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: At least one of the suction ports is a groove-shaped structure, which is aligned with the edge of the front side of the wafer to provide suction force thereto, and / or At least one of the adsorption ports is a hole-shaped structure, which is aligned with at least one gap between multiple functional areas on the front side of the wafer and / or the edge of the front side of the wafer to provide adsorption force thereto.

6. The robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: The arm comprises a flipping mechanism and a lateral displacement mechanism, wherein the flipping mechanism is used to flip the wafer after the hand absorbs the front side of the wafer so that its back side faces the wafer suction cup, and the arm is connected to the hand via the lateral displacement mechanism, and is used to drive the wafer to be laterally displaced via the hand so as to align with the wafer suction cup.

7. The robot according to claim 6, characterized in that: The arm also includes: The longitudinal displacement mechanism is used to raise and lower the hand after the wafer is aligned with the wafer suction cup so as to bring the back side of the wafer close to the wafer suction cup, and / or to raise and lower the hand after the wafer suction cup absorbs the back side of the wafer so as to separate the hand from the front side of the wafer.

8. A bonding device, characterized in that: include: A bonding machine, used to carry the parts to be bonded; A wafer suction cup is arranged on the bonding machine, and is used to absorb the back side of the wafer to be bonded, and bond the front side of the wafer to the object to be bonded; as well as The wafer conveying robot according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is used to first adsorb at least one non-functional area on the front side of the wafer, then flip the wafer so that the wafer suction cup adsorbs the back side of the wafer, and then eliminate the adsorption force to release the front side of the wafer.

9. The bonding device according to claim 8, characterized in that The object to be bonded is another wafer, or a circuit element to be bonded.

10. A method for transferring a wafer, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Adsorbing at least one non-functional area on the front side of the wafer to be transferred through a plurality of adsorption ports of the robot; Turning over the wafer and aligning its back side with the wafer chuck; Lifting the wafer and / or the wafer suction cup to absorb the back side of the wafer via the wafer suction cup; Eliminating the adsorption force of the plurality of adsorption ports to release the front side of the wafer; as well as The wafer and / or the wafer suction cup are lifted or lowered so that the multiple suction ports of the robot are separated from the front side of the wafer.

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