Wafer lug detection system and detection method

Abstract

The invention provides a wafer lug detection system and method, and the system comprises a first carrying platform and a second carrying platform which are sequentially distributed in the Z direction and are connected through a first connecting piece; the second carrying table is connected with the linear motion mechanism through a second connecting piece. The connecting piece is detachably connected with the second carrying table and the linear motion mechanism. The linear motion mechanism is fixed to the inner wall of the cavity and can drive the second carrying table to move in the X direction. A transmission hole and a plurality of adjusting holes distributed in the Y direction are formed in the second carrying table. The second carrying table is arranged above the wafer rack and is arranged at the open end of the wafer rack; the wafer rack comprises a plurality of layers of brackets which are sequentially distributed along the Z direction; a receiving sensor is arranged on the last layer of bracket, and a receiving end of the receiving sensor is arranged opposite to the transmitting sensor; a wafer is supported on each layer of bracket; the transmitting sensor is arranged on the first carrying table, and the transmitting end of the transmitting sensor faces the transmission hole. According to the invention, the lug detection of the wafer can be realized, and the wafers with different sizes can be detected.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of wafer detection, and in particular relates to a wafer convex piece detection system and detection method. Background Art

[0002] During the wafer manufacturing process, when the wafer arrives at the equipment end and enters the equipment for process processing, a robot or manual operation is required to place the wafer inside into the equipment's Load lock (transfer chamber). When the robotic arm places the wafer in the corresponding slot, the vibration of the motor and the inertia during movement may cause the material box (wafer rack) to tilt downward toward the feed end of the wafer rack while the robotic arm is leveling. When manually placing the wafer, it is impossible to put the wafer in a horizontal position like the robot and then enter the slot. It is possible that the wafer rack is pressed down at the feed end of the wafer rack, causing the feed end to tilt downward. In the above situations, the wafer will protrude from the slot and form a convex piece on the wafer rack.

[0003] In this unsafe position, as the conveyor mechanism of the machine moves, the wafer will be at risk of scratching, crushing, etc., so a bump sensor is needed to check whether the wafer has a bump when the wafer enters the load lock. Among them, the load lock usually includes one or more chambers, each with a different pressure and gas environment. When the wafer is transferred from one chamber to another, the pressure and gas environment can be gradually changed through the vacuum system to protect the wafer from contamination.

[0004] As mentioned above, in the wafer manufacturing process, stable transmission is required to ensure the quality of the products. Good transmission is the first factor to ensure production, so ensuring a safe transmission environment is a necessary condition. Therefore, when the wafer enters the equipment, it is necessary to check whether the wafer meets the transmission conditions and whether it can be transmitted. Therefore, a detection device is needed to detect whether there is a convex phenomenon. Summary of the invention

[0005] The object of the present invention is to provide a wafer convex piece detection system and detection method, which can realize the detection of wafer convex pieces and can detect wafers of different sizes. The technical scheme adopted is as follows:

[0006] A wafer convex piece detection system, comprising:

[0007] The first carrier 1 and the second carrier 2 are sequentially distributed along the Z direction and connected by a first connecting member; the second carrier 2 is connected to the linear motion mechanism 5 by a second connecting member 3;

[0008] The connecting member 3 is detachably connected to the second stage 2 and the linear motion mechanism 5; the linear motion mechanism 5 is fixed to the inner wall of the cavity and can drive the second stage to move along the X direction;

[0009] The second stage 2 is provided with a transmission hole 21 and a plurality of adjustment holes distributed along the Y direction; the second stage 2 is placed above the wafer rack 7 and at the open end of the wafer rack 7; the wafer rack 7 includes a plurality of layers of brackets distributed in sequence along the Z direction; a receiving sensor 8 is provided on the last layer of brackets, and the receiving end of the receiving sensor 8 is arranged opposite to the transmitting sensor; a positioning groove is provided on each layer of brackets, and a wafer is received in each positioning groove;

[0010] The transmitting sensor is disposed on the first stage 1 , and its transmitting end is disposed toward the transmission hole 21 .

[0011] Preferably, the No. 1 connecting member 4 is an elastic element; the adjusting screw 6 passes through the area surrounded by the No. 1 connecting member 4 and is connected to the threaded hole on the No. 2 carrier 2; the threaded hole is a through hole extending along the Z direction.

[0012] Preferably, a mounting hole 11 is provided on the first carrier 1 , and the transmitting sensor is embedded in the mounting hole 11 or threadedly matched with the mounting hole 11 .

[0013] Preferably, the transmission hole 21 is directly opposite to the mounting hole 11 , and its outer diameter is larger than the outer diameter of the mounting hole 11 .

[0014] Preferably, the second connecting member 3 is a sheet metal block.

[0015] Preferably, the linear motion mechanism 5 is a linear guide rail.

[0016] Preferably, the emission sensor is an infrared emission sensor.

[0017] A wafer convex piece detection method, based on the wafer convex piece detection system, comprises the following steps:

[0018] Step 1, place the second stage 2 above the wafer rack 7, and make the transmitting sensor face the receiving sensor 8, and then fix the linear motion mechanism 5 of the wafer protrusion detection system to the inner wall of the cavity;

[0019] Step 2: The transmitting sensor transmits a signal downward. When any wafer on the wafer rack protrudes out of the corresponding bracket, no signal is received in the receiving sensor.

[0020] Preferably, the method further includes the following steps when a wafer rack in the cavity that receives wafers of another size needs to be inspected:

[0021] Adjust the linear motion mechanism 5 to move the second stage 2 along the X direction so that the transmitting sensor moves to the open end of the wafer rack to be inspected;

[0022] The installation position of the second connecting member 3 on the second stage 2 is changed to move the second stage 2 along the Y direction so that the transmitting sensor is located outside the wafer rack to be inspected and the transmitting sensor is directly opposite to the receiving sensor on the wafer rack to be inspected.

[0023] Preferably, the method further includes the following steps when the installation space is insufficient:

[0024] At the bottom of the threaded hole of the second stage 2, the corresponding adjusting screw 6 is screwed to form a tilt angle.

[0025] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present invention are:

[0026] It can effectively save the time of wafer fab engineers in debugging sensors: There are wafers of different sizes in the wafer fab. When wafers of different sizes are to be used for processing, when the equipment needs to be converted in size, hardware changes need to be made, and a lot of manpower will be spent in this switching process.

[0027] In the prior art, the "changes made in the hardware" are specifically as follows: when running 6-inch wafers, the protruding chip sensor is in position one, and when running 8-inch wafers, the protruding chip sensor is in position two. How to quickly switch from position one to position two requires manual change of the position of the protruding chip sensor.

[0028] The system only requires XY adjustment, which can save engineers a lot of time and improve work efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Figure 1 It is a three-dimensional diagram of the wafer protrusion detection system in the first embodiment;

[0030] Figures 2-3 This is the detection principle diagram of the wafer convex detection system;

[0031] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the tilt range of stage No. 1 in Example 2.

[0032] Among them, 1-carrier No. 1, 11-mounting hole,

[0033] 2- Stage 2, 21- Transmission hole,

[0034] 3-Connector No. 2, 4-Connector No. 1,

[0035] 5-Linear motion mechanism,

[0036] 6-Adjusting screw,

[0037] 7-wafer rack, 8-receiving sensor, 9-stage No. 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] The wafer protrusion detection system and detection method of the present invention will be described in more detail below in conjunction with the schematic diagram, wherein the preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown, and it should be understood that those skilled in the art can modify the present invention described herein and still achieve the beneficial effects of the present invention. Therefore, the following description should be understood as being widely known to those skilled in the art and not as a limitation of the present invention.

[0039] Example 1

[0040] like Figures 1-2 , a wafer convex piece detection system, comprising:

[0041] The first carrier 1 and the second carrier 2 are sequentially distributed along the Z direction and connected by a first connecting member; the second carrier 2 is connected to the linear motion mechanism 5 by a second connecting member 3;

[0042] The connecting member 3, the second stage 2 and the linear motion mechanism 5 are all detachably connected; the linear motion mechanism 5 is fixed to the inner wall of the cavity and can drive the second stage to move along the X direction;

[0043] A transmission hole 21 and a plurality of adjustment holes distributed along the Y direction are provided on the No. 2 carrier 2; the No. 2 carrier 2 is placed above the wafer rack 7 and at the open end (feed end and discharge end) of the wafer rack 7; the wafer rack 7 includes a plurality of layers of brackets distributed in sequence along the Z direction; a receiving sensor 8 is provided on the lowest bracket, and a receiving end of the receiving sensor 8 is arranged opposite to the transmitting sensor; a positioning groove is provided on each layer of the bracket, and a wafer is received in each positioning groove.

[0044] The transmitting sensor is disposed on the first stage 1 , and its transmitting end is disposed toward the transmission hole 21 .

[0045] The first connecting member 4 is a spring, which is fixed between the first carrier 1 and the second carrier 2;

[0046] The second connecting member 3 is a sheet metal block, which is connected to the second carrier and the moving end of the linear motion mechanism 5 through fasteners.

[0047] The linear motion mechanism 5 is a linear guide rail, the slide rail of which is fixedly arranged, and the slider thereon is connected to the second connecting member 3 .

[0048] In other embodiments, the linear motion mechanism 5 is a ball screw pair, a linear motor or other linear motion mechanisms.

[0049] In this embodiment, the transmitting sensor is an infrared transmitting sensor. Specifically, a mounting hole 11 is provided on the first carrier 1, and the transmitting sensor is embedded in the mounting hole 11 or threadedly matched with the mounting hole 11.

[0050] In addition, the second stage 2 can be placed on the third stage 9, which is a transparent quartz accessory on the transmission cavity and is used to transmit light.

[0051] In this embodiment, the transmitting sensor and the receiving sensor are used in pairs, and both are optical fiber sensors.

[0052] A wafer convex piece detection method comprises the following steps:

[0053] Step 1: Place the second stage 2 above the wafer rack 7, and make the transmitting sensor face the receiving sensor 8, and then fix the linear motion mechanism 5 of the wafer protrusion detection system to the inner wall of the cavity.

[0054] Step 2, the transmitting sensor is powered on, and the transmitting sensor transmits a signal downward. When any wafer on the wafer rack protrudes from the corresponding bracket, there is no signal received in the receiving sensor, and the receiving sensor feeds back a signal of 0 to the control unit. At this time, the inspector learns that a convex piece has appeared on the wafer on the wafer rack.

[0055] Similarly, when there is no bump on the wafer rack, the sensor feedback signal 1 is received to the control unit.

[0056] Detection principle Figure 2 shown.

[0057] When the wafer rack in the chamber that holds wafers of another size needs to be inspected:

[0058] Manually adjust the slider of the linear motion mechanism 5 to move the second stage 2 along the X direction so that the transmitting sensor moves to the open end of the wafer rack to be detected;

[0059] The installation position of the second connecting member 3 on the second stage 2 is changed to move the second stage 2 along the Y direction so that the transmitting sensor is located outside the wafer rack to be inspected and the transmitting sensor is directly opposite to the receiving sensor on the wafer rack to be inspected.

[0060] For example, when an 8-inch wafer needs to be inspected, since the diameter of an 8-inch wafer is larger than that of a 6-inch wafer, the wafer rack models corresponding to the two sizes of wafers are different.

[0061] The wafer rack that holds 6-inch wafers is wafer rack one.

[0062] The wafer rack that holds 8-inch wafers is wafer rack two.

[0063] The wafer rack 1 and the wafer rack 2 are distributed along the X direction, and the closed ends of the two are aligned.

[0064] Therefore, the open end of the wafer rack 2 is closer to the transmitting sensor along the Y direction than the open end of the wafer rack 1.

[0065] In order to ensure the accuracy of the detection, that is, to avoid the phenomenon that when there is no convex piece, the light signal is blocked by the 8-inch wafer or the bracket, resulting in the receiving sensor receiving no signal, the second stage 2 should be moved outward along the Y direction.

[0066] Example 2

[0067] like Figure 4 As shown, there are 4 springs, each with an adjusting screw 6.

[0068] The adjusting screw 6 passes through the area surrounded by the No. 1 connecting member 4 and is connected to the threaded hole on the No. 2 carrier 2; the threaded hole is a through hole extending along the Z direction.

[0069] like Figure 3 As shown, the angle of the transmitting sensor is adjustable. Figure 4 In the figure, the arrow indicates the tilt range of stage 1.

[0070] When the transmitting sensor is tilted, it can only be tilted toward the open end of the wafer rack 7 .

[0071] To accommodate the tilt of the transmitting sensor, the transmission hole 21 faces the mounting hole 11 , and its outer diameter is larger than the outer diameter of the mounting hole 11 .

[0072] In addition, to present Figures 3-4 , the tilt angle formed between the transmitting sensor and the Z direction: the second connecting piece 3 moves a set distance toward the outside of the open end of the wafer rack 7, and then is adjusted using the adjusting screw 6 to form a tilt angle.

[0073] Figure 3 In the figure, the dotted line is the transmission direction of the optical signal.

[0074] When the installation space is insufficient, that is, the Z-direction distance between the cavity and the wafer rack 7 is insufficient, and the transmitting sensor cannot be installed along the Z direction:

[0075] At the bottom of the threaded hole of the second stage 2, the corresponding adjusting screw 6 is screwed to form a tilt angle.

[0076] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the present invention in any way. Any technician in the relevant technical field, without departing from the scope of the technical solution of the present invention, makes any form of equivalent replacement or modification to the technical solution and technical content disclosed in the present invention, which does not depart from the content of the technical solution of the present invention and still falls within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A wafer convex piece detection system, characterized in that: include: The first carrier (1) and the second carrier (2) are sequentially distributed along the Z direction and connected via a first connecting piece; the second carrier (2) is connected to the linear motion mechanism (5) via a second connecting piece (3); The connecting member (3) is detachably connected to the second carrier (2) and the linear motion mechanism (5); the linear motion mechanism (5) is fixed to the inner wall of the cavity and can drive the second carrier to move along the X direction; The second carrier (2) is provided with a transmission hole (21) and a plurality of adjustment holes distributed along the Y direction; the second carrier (2) is placed above the wafer rack (7) and at the open end of the wafer rack (7); the wafer rack (7) comprises a plurality of layers of brackets distributed in sequence along the Z direction; a receiving sensor (8) is provided on the last layer of brackets, and the receiving end of the receiving sensor (8) is arranged opposite to the transmitting sensor; a positioning groove is provided on each layer of brackets, and a wafer is received in each positioning groove; The transmitting sensor is arranged on the first carrier (1), and its transmitting end is arranged toward the transmission hole (21).

2. The wafer convex piece detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The No. 1 connecting member (4) is an elastic element; the adjusting screw (6) passes through the area surrounded by the No. 1 connecting member (4) and is connected to the threaded hole on the No. 2 carrier (2); the threaded hole is a through hole extending along the Z direction.

3. The wafer convex piece detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first carrier (1) is provided with a mounting hole (11), and the transmitting sensor is embedded in the mounting hole (11) or threadedly matched with the mounting hole (11).

4. The wafer convex piece detection system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The transmission hole (21) is directly opposite to the mounting hole (11), and its outer diameter is larger than the outer diameter of the mounting hole (11).

5. The wafer convex piece detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second connecting piece (3) is a sheet metal block.

6. The wafer convex piece detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The linear motion mechanism (5) is a linear guide rail.

7. The wafer convex piece detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The emission sensor is an infrared emission sensor.

8. A wafer convex piece detection method, based on the wafer convex piece detection system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Step 1, placing the second stage (2) above the wafer rack (7) and making the transmitting sensor face the receiving sensor (8), and then fixing the linear motion mechanism (5) of the wafer protrusion detection system to the inner wall of the cavity; Step 2: The transmitting sensor transmits a signal downward. When any wafer on the wafer rack protrudes out of the corresponding bracket, no signal is received in the receiving sensor.

9. The wafer convex piece detection method according to claim 8, characterized in that: It also includes the following steps when a wafer rack in the chamber that holds wafers of another size needs to be inspected: Adjusting the linear motion mechanism (5) to move the second stage (2) along the X direction so that the transmitting sensor moves to the open end of the wafer rack to be inspected; The installation position of the second connecting member (3) on the second carrier (2) is changed to move the second carrier (2) along the Y direction so that the transmitting sensor is located outside the wafer rack to be detected and the transmitting sensor is directly opposite to the receiving sensor on the wafer rack to be detected.

10. The wafer convex piece detection method according to claim 8, characterized in that: Also includes steps for when there is insufficient installation space: At the bottom of the threaded hole of the second carrier (2), the corresponding adjustment screw (6) is screwed to form a tilt angle.

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