Wafer moving method and wafer storage library

Abstract

The invention provides a wafer moving method and a wafer storage library, and relates to the technical field of semiconductors. According to the wafer preparation system, the wafer moving mechanism and the wafer box moving mechanism are creatively arranged in the wafer storage library, so that movement of the wafer boxes and the wafers is achieved through one wafer storage library, objects needed by subsequent processing units can be directly provided, additional taking and placing equipment does not need to be arranged, the integration degree of equipment in the wafer preparation system is improved, and the production efficiency is improved. And the space occupation of the wafer preparation system is reduced. And during specific movement, the corresponding executing mechanisms can be called according to actual needs, different types of moving objects have similar moving processes, the control logic during movement is simplified, mutual interference of different moving mechanisms during operation is avoided, and the working stability is guaranteed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of semiconductor technology, and in particular to a wafer moving method and a wafer storage library. Background Art

[0002] Wafers are the basic raw materials in semiconductor manufacturing. They are circular thin sheets made from extremely high-purity semiconductor materials (such as silicon or gallium arsenide) through processes such as crystal pulling and slicing. In semiconductor technology, wafers can be processed into corresponding integrated circuit devices (such as chips, drive circuits, etc.) through a series of processes.

[0003] Considering the processing requirements of wafers, the processing of wafers often needs to be completed in a highly dust-free space, and dust-free space often requires a high construction cost. Therefore, how to optimize the wafer processing process and reduce the space occupied by process equipment is a technical problem that technicians in this field need to solve urgently. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a wafer moving method and a wafer storage library, which directly integrates the wafer moving mechanism and the wafer box moving mechanism into one device, thereby reducing the space occupied by the independently set moving mechanism and improving the equipment integration of the self-preparation process.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a wafer moving method. The wafer moving method is applied to a wafer storage library, in which a wafer handling robot is provided, and a wafer box moving mechanism and a wafer sheet moving mechanism are provided on the wafer handling robot. The wafer moving method includes: in response to a wafer movement request, determining a storage position of a moving object of the wafer movement request. Determining a target moving mechanism based on the moving object, wherein when the moving object is a wafer box, the wafer box moving mechanism is configured as a target moving mechanism, and when the moving object is a wafer sheet, the wafer sheet moving mechanism is configured as a target moving mechanism. Controlling the target moving mechanism to tighten the moving object in the storage position. Driving the wafer handling robot to move the moving object to the target position of the moving object and controlling the target moving mechanism to release the moving object.

[0006] Optionally, determining the storage location of the mobile object of the wafer movement request includes: determining the instruction content of the wafer movement request, wherein the instruction content includes the picking instruction information of the mobile object. Determining the storage location of the mobile object based on the picking instruction information. Determining the object type of the mobile object based on the storage location, wherein when the storage location includes slot information, the object type of the mobile object is a wafer. When the storage location does not include slot information, it is determined that the object type of the mobile object is a wafer box.

[0007] Optionally, controlling the target moving mechanism to fasten the moving object at the storage position includes: driving the wafer handling robot to move in a vertical direction, so that the position of the target moving mechanism in the vertical direction is aligned with the vertical coordinate of the storage position. Driving the wafer handling robot to rotate in a horizontal plane, so that the direction of the target moving mechanism in the horizontal plane points to the horizontal coordinate of the storage position. Driving the wafer handling robot to extend in the horizontal plane along the direction of the target moving mechanism, so that the target moving mechanism contacts the moving object at the storage position. Controlling the target moving mechanism to fasten the moving object.

[0008] Optionally, driving the wafer handling robot to rotate in a horizontal plane so that the orientation of the target moving mechanism in the horizontal plane points to the horizontal plane coordinates of the storage position includes: driving the wafer handling robot to extend and retract to a reference state, wherein the wafer handling robot in the reference state can rotate arbitrarily in the horizontal plane. Determining the alignment direction of the wafer handling robot based on the horizontal plane coordinates of the storage position. Controlling the wafer handling robot based on the alignment direction so that the orientation of the target moving mechanism in the horizontal plane points to the horizontal plane coordinates of the storage position.

[0009] Optionally, the method further includes: in response to completion of the wafer movement request, driving the wafer transport robot to extend or retract to a reference state.

[0010] Optionally, the wafer handling robot is arranged in the wafer storage library through a lifting platform, and a lifting mechanism is arranged in the wafer handling robot, and the lifting mechanism is used to drive the wafer moving mechanism to move relative to the lifting platform, and drive the wafer handling robot to move in the vertical direction, so that the position of the target moving mechanism in the vertical direction is aligned with the vertical coordinate of the storage position, including: determining the target carrier platform of the mobile object and the relative position of the mobile object in the target carrier platform based on the storage position. Determine the first vertical displacement distance of the lifting platform based on the target carrier platform. Determine the second vertical displacement distance of the lifting mechanism based on the relative position. Drive the lifting platform to move based on the first vertical displacement distance and drive the lifting mechanism to move based on the second vertical displacement distance, so that the position of the target moving mechanism in the vertical direction is aligned with the vertical coordinate of the storage position.

[0011] Optionally, the method further includes: determining assembly coordinates of the mobile object based on a storage location of the mobile object and an object type of the mobile object, the assembly coordinates including vertical coordinates and horizontal plane coordinates, and when the target mobile mechanism is located at the assembly coordinates, it contacts the mobile object.

[0012] Optionally, driving the wafer handling robot to move the mobile object to the target position of the mobile object includes: determining a placement method and a removal method of the mobile object based on the object type of the mobile object. Driving the wafer handling robot to remove the mobile object from the storage position based on the removal method. Driving the wafer handling robot to move the mobile object to the target position. Driving the wafer handling robot to place the mobile object at the target position based on the placement method.

[0013] Optionally, driving the wafer handling robot to drive the mobile object to move to the target position includes: determining the obstacle avoidance requirement of the mobile object based on the object type of the mobile object; determining a moving path based on the obstacle avoidance requirement of the mobile object, a storage location, and a target location; and controlling the wafer handling robot to move based on the moving path to move the mobile object to the target position.

[0014] In a second aspect, the present application provides a wafer storage library, comprising: a wafer handling robot and a controller connected to the wafer handling robot. The wafer handling robot is provided with a wafer box moving mechanism and a wafer sheet moving mechanism. The controller is used to control the wafer handling robot to execute the wafer moving method described in the first aspect.

[0015] Therefore, based on the present application, the present application provides a wafer moving method and a wafer storage library, which creatively sets a wafer moving mechanism and a wafer box moving mechanism in the wafer storage library, so as to realize the movement of the wafer box and the wafer through a wafer storage library, and can directly provide the objects required by the subsequent processing unit without setting up additional pick-and-place equipment, thereby improving the integration of equipment in the wafer preparation system and reducing the space occupied by the wafer preparation system. During the specific movement, the corresponding actuator can be called according to actual needs. Different types of moving objects have similar moving processes, which simplifies the control logic during movement, avoids mutual interference between different moving mechanisms during operation, and ensures working stability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required for use in the embodiments are briefly introduced below. It should be understood that the following drawings only show certain embodiments of the present invention and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For ordinary technicians in this field, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0017] Figure 1 It is a system schematic diagram of a wafer processing system provided in some embodiments of the present application.

[0018] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of a wafer storage library provided in some embodiments of the present application.

[0019] Figure 3 This is a top view of the interior of a wafer storage library provided in some embodiments of the present application.

[0020] Figure 4 It is a structural schematic diagram of a wafer handling robot and a mobile platform provided in some embodiments of the present application.

[0021] Figure 5 It is an exemplary flow chart of the wafer moving method provided in some embodiments of the present application.

[0022] Figure 6 is an exemplary flow chart of a mobile object fastening process provided by some embodiments of the present application.

[0023] Figure 7 It is an exemplary flowchart of the moving object moving process provided by some embodiments of the present application.

[0024] Among them, 100, wafer processing system; 110, processing unit; 120, wafer handling system; 200, wafer storage library; 210, wafer moving mechanism; 220, wafer box moving mechanism; 230, carrier; 231, mobile carrier; 240, wafer exchange window; 250, mobile platform; 260, wafer calibration mechanism. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0026] Application Overview:

[0027] With the development of wafer processing technology, the Automatic Material Handling System (AMHS) is generally used to transfer wafers in wafer processing. Based on AMHS, during the wafer processing process, the wafer processing equipment can be integrated into multiple processing units, so that the AMHS can be used to transfer wafers between different units and within the processing unit.

[0028] To further illustrate the wafer processing process based on AMHS, the present application provides a system schematic diagram of a wafer processing system ( Figure 1 ). The wafer processing system 100 can be understood as a collection of process equipment in the wafer processing process.

[0029] like Figure 1 As shown, the wafer processing system 100 may include multiple processing units 110. The processing unit 110 may refer to a cluster of related equipment for one or more processes in the wafer processing process, that is, the wafer can complete the corresponding processing process after passing through the corresponding processing unit 110.

[0030] After being formed, the wafer generally undergoes processes such as surface polishing, cleaning, oxidation, photolithography, etching, ion implantation, chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, chemical mechanical polishing, interconnection, testing, cutting, packaging, and final testing to form semiconductor components.

[0031] In practical applications, the overall processing process of the wafer can be divided into multiple continuous processing links according to the actual semiconductor preparation requirements. The process equipment of each processing link can form the aforementioned processing unit 110, so that after the wafer enters the processing unit 110, it is automatically / semi-automatically processed by each process equipment to complete the corresponding processing task.

[0032] In order to realize the automatic / semi-automatic material transfer of the aforementioned processing unit 110, a wafer handling system may also be integrated in the aforementioned wafer processing system 100. Among them, the wafer handling system is an AMHS applied to wafer processing. In the aforementioned wafer processing system 100, it is mainly used to transfer wafers between the processing units 110 and load and unload wafers for each processing unit 110.

[0033] In actual application, one or more wafers are generally directly transferred within the processing unit 110 so as to be processed by corresponding process equipment. Between the processing units 110, the wafers can be transferred through a wafer box.

[0034] Wafer cassette is a container used to place and transport wafers in semiconductor production. Wafer cassettes are mainly used to handle and store wafers to simplify transportation and reduce the risk of contamination. There are symmetrical grooves inside the wafer cassette with strictly uniform dimensions to support both sides of the wafer. Usually one wafer cassette can hold 25 wafers.

[0035] In the wafer processing system 100, the wafer box can be configured as a front-opening unified pod (FOUP). That is, the wafer box is open at the front of the box body so that the wafer can be taken out or stored in the wafer box. In addition, in the wafer processing system 100, the wafer boxes of different processing units 110 are presented in different styles (mainly distinguished by the color of the box body) to distinguish different processing links of the wafer during the processing process.

[0036] Based on the aforementioned wafer cassette, in the wafer handling system, the wafer cassette can be transferred between the processing units 110 and wafers can be extracted from the wafer cassette in the processing unit 110. Therefore, the aforementioned wafer handling system can include a wafer cassette carrying device and a wafer carrying device.

[0037] The wafer box carrying device may refer to a device for transporting wafer boxes between the processing units 110. The wafer box carrying device generally realizes automatic or semi-automatic wafer box transportation between the processing units 110 through a device capable of transporting wafer boxes. For example, the wafer box carrying device may be realized by a transport device such as an overhead hoist transport (OHT), an automated material robot (AMR), or a conveyor.

[0038] The wafer carrier is similar to the aforementioned wafer box carrier, and may refer to a device for transporting wafers within the processing unit 110, and may also be implemented by the aforementioned handling equipment. In addition, it should be noted that the specific presentation form of the wafer carrier may match the requirements of the corresponding processing unit 110, so that the process equipment within the processing unit 110 can process the wafers carried thereon. Generally, the wafer carrier may also be referred to as a wafer boat.

[0039] Considering the different processing rates of different processing links, a buffer structure can also be set in the wafer handling system to coordinate the processing of each link. Among them, the buffer structure in the wafer handling system is generally presented as a wafer box stocker.

[0040] The wafer box warehouse is a device used to store and automatically manage wafer boxes in the semiconductor manufacturing process. One or more wafer box warehouses can be set up in each processing unit 110 to cache wafer boxes to be processed / processed. Among them, a plurality of wafer box positions are generally set up in the wafer box warehouse to realize the storage and delivery of wafer boxes, so as to balance the production capacity differences between various production process equipment as material storage space.

[0041] Based on the aforementioned wafer handling system, the wafer boxes between each processing unit 110 can be transferred between the wafer box warehouses of each processing unit 110 through the wafer box carrying equipment, and the wafer box warehouse can distribute the wafer boxes as needed, so that the wafers in the wafer boxes can be transferred between the various process equipment in the processing unit 110 through the wafer carrying equipment to complete the corresponding processing of the wafers.

[0042] Therefore, based on the aforementioned wafer processing system 100, material handling and processing of wafers can be realized during the entire processing process, thereby effectively organizing related process equipment and transportation equipment of the wafers and realizing high integration and automation of the system.

[0043] In practical applications, the wafer box vertical warehouse in the aforementioned wafer processing system 100 can only complete the storage and removal of wafer boxes. That is, the wafer box vertical warehouse is generally provided with two windows. Among them, one window interacts with the wafer box carrying device to realize the interaction of wafer boxes between the processing units 110, and the other window interacts with the processing unit 110 to provide a suitable wafer box for the processing unit 110.

[0044] Taking into account that the processing unit 110 needs to process wafers, the above-mentioned wafer processing system 100 is often also provided with a wafer picking device, so as to place the wafers in the wafer box provided by the wafer box warehouse on the wafer carrying device, so as to perform corresponding processing on the wafers on the wafer carrying device through the production equipment.

[0045] The wafer box retrieval device mentioned above is presented as an independent device in the actual wafer processing system 100, which occupies a large working space, especially considering that each processing unit 110 generally needs to be equipped with at least one wafer retrieval device, which occupies a large amount of space.

[0046] Considering that the wafer processing system 100 needs to be set up in a dust-free environment, the processing environment often requires a large cost to build. The aforementioned wafer box fetching equipment occupies a lot of space and brings a lot of construction costs, thereby raising the processing cost of the wafer.

[0047] In view of the above situation, the present application provides a wafer moving method and a wafer storage library. The present application creatively sets a wafer moving mechanism and a wafer box moving mechanism in the wafer storage library, so as to realize the movement of the wafer box and the wafer through a wafer storage library, and can directly provide the objects required by the subsequent processing unit without setting up additional pick-and-place equipment, thereby improving the integration of equipment in the wafer preparation system and reducing the space occupation of the wafer preparation system.

[0048] It should be noted that the wafer storage library provided by the present application can be understood as a wafer box vertical library, but there are certain differences in actual function from the wafer box vertical library. Specifically, the wafer storage library provided by the present application directly integrates the wafer box fetching device inside, so that wafers can be directly provided to the wafer carrying device for processing by the corresponding processing unit.

[0049] Various non-limiting embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0050] Example wafer storage library:

[0051] The wafer storage library provided in the present application can be applied to a wafer processing system (such as the aforementioned wafer processing system 100), and the original wafer storage library can be optimized so that it can move wafers and wafer boxes at the same time.

[0052] The wafer storage library provided by the present application can be integrated with a wafer moving mechanism and a wafer box moving mechanism, so that the wafer storage library provided by the present application can directly take and place wafers from the wafer box or wafer carrying device without the need for additional wafer taking equipment, thereby improving the integration of the entire processing system.

[0053] To further describe the wafer storage library provided by the present application, Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a wafer storage library 200 is provided. Figure 2 The structure of the wafer storage library 200 on the side interacting with the wafer carrying equipment is shown.

[0054] exist Figure 2 The X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis may be included in the three reference directions, wherein XOY forms a horizontal plane, the Z-axis is the vertical direction of the horizontal plane, and the X-axis and the Y-axis are two directions perpendicular to each other in the horizontal plane.

[0055] The wafer storage library is generally arranged based on the aforementioned horizontal plane and vertical direction, wherein the vertical direction is generally the extension direction of the wafer storage library, that is, the wafer boxes can be stacked in the wafer storage library along the vertical direction.

[0056] like Figure 2 As shown, the wafer storage library 200 may be provided with a wafer exchange window 240. During the wafer loading process, the wafer carrier of the wafer processing system is parked at the wafer exchange window 240, and the wafer storage library 200 may interact with the wafer carrier through the wafer moving mechanism 210, thereby taking / placing wafers in the wafer carrier.

[0057] A wafer box exchange window (not shown in the figure) can be set on the side opposite to the wafer exchange window 240, that is, the wafer box exchange window can interact with the outside world through a wafer box moving mechanism (not shown in the figure), so as to complete the placement or removal of the wafer box in the wafer storage library.

[0058] To further illustrate the execution process in the wafer storage library during the unloading process, the present application also provides a top view of the interior of the wafer storage library 200 ( Figure 3 ).

[0059] like Figure 3As shown, the wafer storage library 200 is provided with a wafer moving mechanism 210, a wafer box moving mechanism 220 and a plurality of wafer box carrying platforms 230. Among them, the wafer moving mechanism 210 and the wafer box moving mechanism 220 as a whole can be regarded as a wafer handling robot.

[0060] The wafer moving mechanism 210 may refer to an actuator disposed inside the wafer storage library 200 for fixing and moving wafers. That is, the aforementioned wafer moving mechanism 210 may be a combination of a wafer clamp and its moving mechanism. Figure 3 The adsorption tray in the wafer can be fixedly matched with the wafer (such as supporting the bottom surface of the wafer and adsorbing the wafer), and the moving mechanism can drive the wafer clamp to move with the wafer box.

[0061] The wafer box moving mechanism 220 may refer to an actuator disposed inside the wafer storage library 200 for fixing and moving the wafer box. That is, the aforementioned wafer box moving mechanism 220 may be presented as a combination of a wafer box fixture and its moving mechanism. Among them, the wafer box fixture (such as the clamping claw in the figure) may be fixedly matched with the wafer box (such as clamping the edge of the wafer box), and the moving mechanism may drive the wafer box fixture to carry the wafer box to move.

[0062] The present application does not limit the implementation of the wafer moving mechanism 210 and the wafer box moving mechanism 220. Among them, the actual fixtures of the two actuators can be modified as needed, as long as they can be fixed to the corresponding wafer / wafer box. For example, the specific actuator of the wafer moving mechanism 210 can be implemented by electrostatic suction cups, wafer tweezers and other equipment in addition to the Bernoulli suction cup. For another example, the specific actuator of the wafer box moving mechanism 220 can be implemented by self-locking mechanisms, hangers and other equipment in addition to electric / pneumatic clamps.

[0063] In addition, the moving mechanisms of the two actuators can also be set according to actual needs. Figure 3 In the embodiment, the two actuators can be integrated on one robot arm, that is, the same robot arm can be selected as the moving mechanism of the two actuators, and the different actuators can be directly set at the end of the robot arm. As another implementation method, the two actuators can also be set on the same truss, and the two actuators can also be implemented by two robot arms.

[0064] The carrier 230 may refer to a mechanical structure in the wafer storage library 200 for carrying and fixing a wafer box. Figure 3 As shown, the carriers 230 can be centrally arranged on the side wall of the wafer storage library 200 away from the wafer exchange window 240 and multiple carriers can be arranged on the horizontal plane. In addition, multiple rows of carrier plates of the carriers 230 can also be arranged in the vertical direction so that the carriers 230 are arranged in an array on the side wall.

[0065] In order to realize the movement of wafers and wafer boxes in the wafer storage library 200, the wafer moving mechanism 210 and the wafer box moving mechanism 220 have the ability to move in the wafer storage library 200. Figure 2 As shown, the wafer moving mechanism 210 and the wafer box moving mechanism 220 can be arranged on a planar robot arm, so as to have the ability to move in the horizontal plane XOY. In the vertical direction, a moving platform 250 can be arranged in the wafer storage library 200, wherein the wafer moving mechanism 210 and the wafer box moving mechanism 220 can be arranged on the moving platform 250, so as to move in the vertical direction with the moving platform 250.

[0066] Among them, the mobile platform 250 refers to a mechanical device that can move in the vertical direction, wherein the vertical direction refers to the direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane where the mobile platform 250 is located. This application refers to a device that can move the wafer box moving mechanism 220, the wafer moving mechanism 210, and the target carrier and other devices along the vertical direction.

[0067] To further describe the mobile platform 250 and its movement process, the present application also provides a structural schematic diagram of the mobile platform 250 ( Figure 4 ).like Figure 4 As shown, the wafer moving mechanism 210 and the wafer box moving mechanism 220 are both arranged on the moving platform 250 .

[0068] In addition, if Figure 4 As shown, part of the carrier (such as the mobile carrier 231 in the figure) and other related equipment (such as the wafer calibration mechanism 260 in the figure) can also be set on the mobile platform 250.

[0069] It should be noted that although Figure 4 The middle moving platform 250 does not appear as a table top, but in fact, it ensures the stability of the relative positions between the wafer moving mechanism 210, the wafer box moving mechanism 220 and the target carrier through the fixation of the frame structure and the platform, and can also be regarded as a plane.

[0070] Considering the setting of the aforementioned mobile platform 250, the wafer moving mechanism 210 may need to move in the vertical direction to a specific slot of the mobile carrier 231. Therefore, the wafer moving mechanism 210 also needs to move relative to the mobile platform 250. The aforementioned wafer moving mechanism 210 can be set on the wafer handling robot through a lifting structure, so as to achieve relative displacement with the lifting platform in the vertical direction.

[0071] Based on the aforementioned mobile platform 250 and lifting structure, during the vertical movement, the mobile platform 250 can first be used to perform a large range of movement (such as aligning the mobile carrier 231, aligning the wafer exchange window (not shown in the figure) etc.), and high-precision alignment can be achieved by the lifting mechanism.

[0072] Furthermore, considering that the wafer handling robot can be presented as a planar robotic arm, in order to facilitate obstacle avoidance, its movement in the horizontal plane can be divided into rotation and extension along the current direction. That is, during the extension process, the direction of the actuator at the end of the robotic arm remains unchanged.

[0073] Considering the limited space in the wafer storage library, a reference state (generally referred to as the HOME state) can be configured for the wafer handling robot by setting the obstacle avoidance of the wafer handling robot. In this state, the wafer handling robot without a moving object can rotate arbitrarily in the horizontal plane. Figure 3 In the top view shown, the wafer handling robot is in this state.

[0074] In some embodiments, the aforementioned wafer storage library 200 may also include a controller, which can be communicated with other devices / systems in the wafer processing system to control various electric devices in the wafer storage library 200 to execute the wafer movement method provided in the present application.

[0075] The controller of the wafer storage library can be understood as a collection of computing devices in the wafer storage library. For example, the controller can be characterized as a combination of a processor and a readable storage medium. Among them, the readable storage medium can store the program product / program instructions of the wafer movement method provided by the present application. The processor can be connected to the readable storage medium and other electronic control devices of the wafer storage library, thereby specifying the program product in the readable storage medium to control other electronic control devices of the wafer storage library to perform the wafer movement method provided by the present application.

[0076] The wafer moving method provided in the present application is described in detail below in conjunction with the aforementioned wafer storage library.

[0077] Exemplary wafer movement methods:

[0078] To further illustrate the wafer moving method provided by the present application, the present application also provides an exemplary flow chart of the wafer moving method ( Figure 5 ).in, Figure 5 The process P500 shown may be executed by the controller of the aforementioned wafer storage library 200 .

[0079] like Figure 5 As shown, P500 may include the following steps:

[0080] S510, in response to a wafer movement request, determining a storage location of a moving object of the wafer movement request.

[0081] S520, determining a target moving mechanism based on the moving object.

[0082] S530, controlling the target moving mechanism to fasten the moving object at the storage position.

[0083] S540, driving the wafer transport robot to move the moving object to the target position of the moving object and controlling the target moving mechanism to release the moving object.

[0084] In the aforementioned S510, the moving object may refer to the wafer / wafer box that needs to be moved in P500, which may be specifically determined according to the request content. The storage position may refer to the current placement position of the moving object. For example, the storage position of a wafer may be represented as a specific slot in a mobile carrier. The storage position of a wafer box may be represented as a specific mobile carrier.

[0085] The wafer movement request can be a movement instruction sent by the host computer to the wafer storage library, or it can be a movement instruction determined by the wafer storage library based on its own logic. Based on the actual operation situation, the wafer movement request can include a request to move a wafer box between mobile carriers, a request to move wafers between wafer boxes, and a request to move wafers between two devices in a wafer box, a calibrator (such as the aforementioned wafer calibration mechanism 260) and a wafer carrier.

[0086] In some embodiments, the controller may determine the storage location of the moving object by analyzing the wafer moving request.

[0087] In some embodiments, the instructions of the aforementioned wafer movement request can be adapted to both wafers and wafer boxes, and the specific type can be determined by the difference in position information. For example, the instruction content of the aforementioned wafer movement request can be presented as (moving carrier 231 number, slot number). If there is no wafer box, its slot number is 0 or other specified values.

[0088] Therefore, when executing the aforementioned S510, the instruction content of the wafer movement request can be determined first. Then, the storage location of the mobile object is determined based on the pick-up instruction information. Finally, the object type of the mobile object is determined based on the storage location. Among them, the instruction content includes the pick-up instruction information of the mobile object. When the storage location includes slot information, the object type of the mobile object is a wafer. When the storage location does not include slot information, it is determined that the object type of the mobile object is a wafer box.

[0089] As an alternative embodiment, the aforementioned wafer moving request may also directly record the type of the moving object, so that the controller can directly determine the object type of the moving object by parsing the wafer moving request.

[0090] In the aforementioned S220, the target moving mechanism may refer to a mechanism for moving the aforementioned moving object in the wafer moving mechanism and the wafer box moving mechanism. When the moving object is a wafer box, the wafer box moving mechanism is configured as the target moving mechanism, and when the moving object is a wafer, the wafer moving mechanism is configured as the target moving mechanism.

[0091] After the aforementioned target moving mechanism is determined, the picking up of the moving object (ie, step S530 ) and the placing of the moving object (ie, step S540 ) may be performed based on the mechanism.

[0092] In the aforementioned S530, the target mobile mechanism can generally move to the storage position of the mobile object first, and then fasten the mobile object. In this application, fastening can refer to tight fixation, that is, tight fixation with the mobile object can be achieved by controlling some components of the mobile mechanism, thereby ensuring that the mobile object can move with the mobile mechanism.

[0093] The fastening and matching mode of the target moving mechanism may correspond to the type of the moving object. The wafer box moving mechanism may generally clamp both sides of the wafer box by means of a clamping claw. The wafer moving mechanism may generally absorb the bottom of the wafer by means of a tooth fork.

[0094] Taking into account the spatial relationship inside the wafer storage device, the aforementioned movement process can be performed based on the storage position, so that the target moving mechanism can be tightly matched with the moving object.

[0095] To further illustrate the processing of the aforementioned mobile object picking process, the present application also provides an exemplary flow chart of a mobile object fastening process ( Figure 6 ).

[0096] like Figure 6 As shown, process P600 (i.e., the aforementioned S530) may include the following steps:

[0097] S610, driving the wafer transport robot to move in the vertical direction, so that the position of the target moving mechanism in the vertical direction is aligned with the vertical coordinate of the storage position.

[0098] S620, driving the wafer transport robot to rotate in the horizontal plane, so that the direction of the target moving mechanism in the horizontal plane points to the horizontal plane coordinate of the storage location.

[0099] S630, driving the wafer transport robot to extend in the horizontal plane along the direction of the target moving mechanism, so that the target moving mechanism contacts the moving object at the storage position.

[0100] S640, controlling the target moving mechanism to fasten the moving object.

[0101] That is, in the aforementioned P600, the moving process of the target moving mechanism can be divided into three parts: vertical alignment, horizontal alignment, and horizontal extension. By decomposing these three processes, the difficulty of directly moving to the moving object in space can be reduced.

[0102] In some embodiments, before executing the aforementioned movement, the position to be moved to may be determined first. That is, before executing the aforementioned S610, the assembly coordinates of the mobile object may be determined based on the storage position of the mobile object and the object type of the mobile object. The assembly coordinates include vertical coordinates and horizontal coordinates. When the target mobile mechanism is located at the assembly coordinates, it contacts the mobile object.

[0103] That is, considering the different types of moving objects, the actual assembly methods are different. After determining the storage position, the position that can contact the moving object can be determined based on the type of the moving object as the assembly coordinate. For example, for a wafer, its assembly coordinates can be represented as the coordinates of the position below its slot, so that the fork of the wafer moving mechanism moves here to adsorb the wafer. For a wafer box, its assembly coordinates can be represented as the coordinates of the edge of its mobile carrier, so that the claws of the wafer box moving mechanism move here to clamp the edge of the wafer box.

[0104] The aforementioned coordinates can be represented as coordinate values ​​in the wafer storage coordinate system. Specifically, the axis of the wafer moving robot can be used as the origin and analyzed in the horizontal plane and vertical direction. When designing the wafer storage, the coordinates of each position can be calibrated, so that the aforementioned storage position can be converted into assembly coordinates based on the calibration relationship.

[0105] It should be noted that, considering the different operating mechanisms in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, the aforementioned S620 and the aforementioned S610 do not limit the execution order, and even the two can be executed at the same time.

[0106] Considering the aforementioned lifting platform and lifting structure, when executing the aforementioned S610, the lifting platform can be aligned with the mobile load-bearing platform, and then aligned with the specific position based on the lifting mechanism. That is, the target load-bearing platform of the mobile object and the relative position of the mobile object in the target load-bearing platform can be determined based on the storage position. Then the first vertical displacement distance of the lifting platform is determined based on the target load-bearing platform. Then the second vertical displacement distance of the lifting mechanism is determined based on the relative position. The lifting platform is driven to move based on the first vertical displacement distance and the lifting mechanism is driven to move based on the second vertical displacement distance, so that the position of the target mobile mechanism in the vertical direction is aligned with the vertical coordinate of the storage position.

[0107] In some embodiments, the first vertical displacement distance and the second vertical displacement distance can be set or not according to actual conditions. For example, for a mobile carrier on a mobile platform, when aligning with the mobile carrier, its first vertical displacement distance is 0. For another example, when aligning with a wafer box, it is only necessary to align the mobile carrier, and its second vertical displacement distance is generally 0.

[0108] As mentioned above, in the aforementioned S620 and S630, the movement in the horizontal direction is divided into two processes: turning and stretching along the direction. In the process shown in the aforementioned S620, the aforementioned reference state can be first extended and retracted, and then rotated in the reference state. That is, the wafer handling robot can be driven to extend and retract to the reference state, wherein the wafer handling robot in the reference state can rotate arbitrarily in the horizontal plane. Then, the alignment direction of the wafer handling robot is determined based on the horizontal plane coordinates of the storage position. Then, based on the alignment direction, the wafer handling robot is controlled so that the direction of the target moving mechanism in the horizontal plane points to the horizontal plane coordinates of the storage position.

[0109] Considering the obstacle avoidance setting in the reference state, after the wafer movement request is executed, the wafer handling robot can be driven to extend and retract to the reference state. In particular, when the wafer handling robot itself is already in the reference state, it only needs to rotate when it is aligned in the horizontal direction.

[0110] Therefore, based on the alignment process of S610 and S620, before S630 is executed, the target moving mechanism has been aligned with the vertical coordinate in the vertical direction and the horizontal coordinate in the horizontal direction. When executing S630, it is only necessary to ensure that its direction is continuous and continuously extended to the assembly coordinate.

[0111] Therefore, the aforementioned S530 can be implemented based on the content shown in the aforementioned P600, so that the fastening process of the target moving mechanism and the moving object can be divided into multiple continuous simple and controllable processes, thereby improving the accuracy of the position during the fixing process.

[0112] In some embodiments, considering that different mobile objects are stored in different ways, when executing the aforementioned S540, the mobile objects can also be taken out and placed based on the object type. To further illustrate the process, the present application also provides an exemplary flow chart of the mobile object moving process ( Figure 7 ).

[0113] like Figure 7 As shown, process P700 (i.e., the aforementioned S540) may include the following steps:

[0114] S710: Determine a placement method and a removal method of the mobile object based on the object type of the mobile object.

[0115] S720, driving the wafer transport robot to move the moving object out of the storage position based on the moving method.

[0116] S730, driving the wafer transport robot to move the moving object to the target position.

[0117] S740, driving the wafer transport robot to place the moving object at the target position based on the placement method.

[0118] In the aforementioned S710, the placement method, removal method and type object of the moving object can be directly called during execution. For a wafer, its removal method is generally to pull the wafer out horizontally from the wafer box, and its placement method is generally to move it horizontally to the upper position of the slot and to the upper position of the slot at the bottom. For a wafer box, its removal method is generally to move the wafer box upward until it leaves the slot on the carrier. Its placement method is generally to move from top to bottom on the carrier and cooperate with the slot on the carrier.

[0119] After determining the placement method and removal method, the placement process can be performed based on the method. Generally, it is first removed from the container (S720), then moved to the corresponding position (S730), and finally placed in the corresponding position (S740). In the above steps, the placement method and removal method can be converted into control instructions of the wafer moving robot in advance, so that the placement and removal can be performed directly based on the preset instructions.

[0120] In some embodiments, considering that after the target mobile mechanism carries the mobile object, it occupies a large space and cannot move freely in the wafer storage library. When executing the aforementioned S730, the obstacle avoidance requirement of the mobile object can be determined based on the object type of the mobile object. Then the moving path is determined based on the obstacle avoidance requirement of the mobile object, the storage location and the target location. Finally, the wafer handling robot is controlled to move based on the moving path, and the mobile object is moved to the target location. Among them, the moving path can be a combination of moving trajectories that can allow the target mobile mechanism carrying the mobile object to move to the target location.

[0121] In some embodiments, obstacle avoidance design may be pre-performed in the wafer storage library, so as to provide appropriate channels for wafer mobile robots in different states.

[0122] Therefore, based on the aforementioned P700, the movement of the mobile object can be realized based on the specific type of the mobile object, and the spatial occupancy of the mobile object is combined to provide a channel that can reach the target position, thereby realizing the aforementioned S540.

[0123] In summary, the present application creatively sets a wafer moving mechanism and a wafer box moving mechanism in a wafer storage library, thereby realizing the movement of a wafer box and a wafer through a wafer storage library, and can directly provide the objects required by the subsequent processing unit without setting up additional pick-and-place equipment, thereby improving the integration of equipment in the wafer preparation system and reducing the space occupied by the wafer preparation system. During the specific movement, the corresponding actuator can be called according to actual needs. Different types of moving objects have similar moving processes, which simplifies the control logic during movement, avoids mutual interference between different moving mechanisms during operation, and ensures working stability.

[0124] It should be noted that the various elements described in the above specific embodiments can be combined in any suitable manner without contradiction. To avoid unnecessary repetition, this application will not further describe various possible combinations.

[0125] It should be understood that multiple components and / or parts can be provided by a single integrated component or part. Alternatively, a single integrated component or part can be divided into separate multiple components and / or parts. The disclosure "one" or "an" used to describe a component or part is not intended to exclude other components or parts.

[0126] It should be understood that although the terms “first” or “second” etc. may be used in the present application to describe various elements, these elements are not defined by these terms, and these terms are only used to distinguish one element from another.

[0127] The basic principles of the present application are described above in conjunction with specific embodiments. However, it should be noted that the advantages, strengths, effects, etc. mentioned in the present application are only examples and not limitations, and it cannot be considered that these advantages, strengths, effects, etc. are required by each embodiment of the present application. In addition, the specific details disclosed above are only for the purpose of illustration and ease of understanding, not for limitation, and the above details do not limit the present application to being implemented by adopting the above specific details.

[0128] The above are only specific implementations of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A wafer moving method, characterized in that: The wafer moving method is applied to a wafer storage library, wherein a wafer handling robot is arranged in the wafer storage library, and a wafer box moving mechanism and a wafer sheet moving mechanism are arranged on the wafer handling robot. The wafer moving method comprises: In response to a wafer movement request, determining a storage location of a moving object of the wafer movement request; Determining a target moving mechanism based on the moving object, wherein when the moving object is a wafer box, the wafer box moving mechanism is configured as the target moving mechanism, and when the moving object is a wafer, the wafer moving mechanism is configured as the target moving mechanism; Controlling the target moving mechanism to secure the moving object at the storage position; The wafer transport robot is driven to move the moving object to a target position of the moving object and the target moving mechanism is controlled to release the moving object.

2. The wafer moving method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of determining a storage location of a moving object of the wafer moving request includes: Determining the instruction content of the wafer movement request, wherein the instruction content includes the picking instruction information of the moving object; Determining a storage location of the mobile object based on the taking instruction information; The object type of the mobile object is determined based on the storage position, wherein when the storage position includes slot information, the object type of the mobile object is a wafer; when the storage position does not include slot information, the object type of the mobile object is determined to be a wafer box.

3. The wafer moving method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The controlling the target moving mechanism to secure the moving object at the storage position comprises: Driving the wafer handling robot to move in a vertical direction so that the position of the target moving mechanism in the vertical direction is aligned with the vertical coordinate of the storage position; Driving the wafer handling robot to rotate in a horizontal plane so that the orientation of the target moving mechanism in the horizontal plane points to the horizontal plane coordinate of the storage position; driving the wafer transport robot to extend in a horizontal plane along the direction of the target moving mechanism, so that the target moving mechanism contacts the moving object at the storage position; The target moving mechanism is controlled to fasten the moving object.

4. The wafer moving method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The step of driving the wafer transport robot to rotate in a horizontal plane so that the orientation of the target moving mechanism in the horizontal plane points to the horizontal plane coordinate of the storage position includes: Driving the wafer handling robot to extend and retract to a reference state, wherein the wafer handling robot in the reference state can rotate arbitrarily in a horizontal plane; determining an alignment direction of the wafer handling robot based on the horizontal plane coordinates of the storage position; The wafer transport robot is controlled based on the alignment direction so that the orientation of the target moving mechanism in the horizontal plane points to the horizontal plane coordinates of the storage position.

5. The wafer moving method according to claim 4, characterized in that: The method further comprises: In response to the wafer movement request being completed, the wafer transport robot is driven to be extended or retracted to a reference state.

6. The wafer moving method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The wafer handling robot is arranged in the wafer storage library via a lifting platform, and a lifting mechanism is arranged in the wafer handling robot, and the lifting mechanism is used to drive the wafer moving mechanism to move relative to the lifting platform, and the wafer handling robot is driven to move in a vertical direction so that the position of the target moving mechanism in the vertical direction is aligned with the vertical coordinate of the storage position, including: determining the target carrying platform of the moving object and the relative position of the moving object in the target carrying platform based on the storage position; Determining a first vertical displacement distance of the lifting platform based on the target bearing platform; determining a second vertical displacement distance of the lifting mechanism based on the relative position; The lifting platform is driven to move based on the first vertical displacement distance and the lifting mechanism is driven to move based on the second vertical displacement distance, so that the position of the target moving mechanism in the vertical direction is aligned with the vertical coordinate of the storage position.

7. The wafer moving method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The assembly coordinates of the mobile object are determined based on the storage position of the mobile object and the object type of the mobile object. The assembly coordinates include the vertical coordinates and the horizontal plane coordinates. When the target mobile mechanism is located at the assembly coordinates, it contacts the mobile object.

8. The wafer moving method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The driving the wafer transport robot to move the moving object to the target position of the moving object comprises: Determining a placement method and a removal method of the mobile object based on the object type of the mobile object; driving the wafer handling robot to move the movable object out of the storage position based on the moving-out method; Driving the wafer handling robot to drive the moving object to move to the target position; The wafer transport robot is driven to place the moving object at the target position based on the placement method.

9. The wafer moving method according to claim 8, characterized in that: The step of driving the wafer transport robot to drive the moving object to move to the target position includes: determining a moving object obstacle avoidance requirement based on an object type of the moving object; Determining a moving path based on the moving object obstacle avoidance requirement, the storage location, and the target location; The wafer transport robot is controlled to move based on the moving path to move the moving object to the target position.

10. A wafer storage library, characterized in that: include: A wafer handling robot, wherein the wafer handling robot is provided with a wafer box moving mechanism and a wafer sheet moving mechanism; as well as A controller communicatively connected to the wafer handling robot, wherein the controller is used to control the wafer handling robot to execute the wafer moving method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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