Wafer blanking method and wafer storage library
By implementing the wafer cutting method in the wafer repository, using a mobile mechanism to realize the wafer cutting and recycling, the problem of large equipment occupying space in the semiconductor process is solved, and the system integration and recycling and processing efficiency are improved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202411813820.2
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-12-10
- Publication Date
- 2025-03-14
- Estimated Expiration
- 2044-12-10
AI Technical Summary
In the semiconductor process, how to optimize the wafer processing process, reduce the space occupied by process equipment, and improve integration.
By implementing a wafer cutting method in the wafer repository, the wafer cutting and recycling of wafers are achieved using the wafer moving mechanism and the wafer box moving mechanism, without the need to set up an additional wafer transmission device.
It improves the integration of the wafer processing system, reduces the difficulty of recycling and processing of abnormal wafers, and reduces the space occupied by process equipment.
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Figure CN119626955A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present application relates to the field of semiconductor technology, and in particular to a wafer unloading method and a wafer storage library. Background Art
[0002] In semiconductor technology, wafers are usually made of single crystal silicon or other semiconductor materials and have the shape of round thin slices. The wafer manufacturing process includes several key steps. These slices are processed by polishing, doping, photolithography, etching and other processes to form the required circuit structure.
[0003] Considering that in the semiconductor process, the wafer processing process often needs to be completed in a highly dust-free environment, and the dust-free space 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 unloading method and a wafer storage library. The wafer unloading method provided by the present application can be implemented in a wafer storage library without the need to additionally set up wafer transfer equipment, thereby improving the integration of the wafer processing system.
[0005] In the first aspect, the present application provides a wafer unloading method, which is applied to a wafer storage library, in which a wafer moving mechanism, a wafer box moving mechanism, and a plurality of carriers of a wafer box are provided, wherein the plurality of carriers include a recovery carrier, and a recovery wafer box on the recovery carrier is used to recover wafers, and the wafer unloading method comprises: in response to a wafer unloading request, driving the wafer moving mechanism to tightly cooperate with a target wafer in a wafer carrying device outside the wafer storage library. Determine whether the target wafer is a recycled wafer. If so, drive the wafer moving mechanism to carry the target wafer to move and place the target wafer in the recovery wafer box. If not, determine the target wafer box corresponding to the target wafer and drive the wafer moving mechanism to carry the target wafer to move and place the target wafer in the target wafer box.
[0006] Optionally, driving the wafer moving mechanism to carry the target wafer to move and place the target wafer in a wafer box on the recovery carrier includes: determining a target slot of the target wafer based on a loading condition of the recovery wafer box. Driving the wafer moving mechanism to carry the target wafer to align with the target slot and placing the target wafer on the target slot.
[0007] Optionally, the method further includes: in response to the recycled wafer box being fully loaded with wafers, driving the wafer box moving mechanism to remove the recycled wafer box and place the recycled wafer box in a wafer box exchange area of the wafer storage library. Re-determining the recycled wafer box from the wafer boxes on the plurality of carriers, and driving the wafer box moving mechanism to place the re-determined recycled wafer box on the recycled carrier.
[0008] Optionally, the method further includes: in response to a wafer being placed in a recycled wafer box, updating the loading status of the recycled wafer box. In response to the target wafer being determined to be a recycled wafer and / or the wafer unloading request being executed and the wafer unloading request including recycled wafers, determining whether there is an empty slot in the recycled wafer box based on the updated loading status of the recycled wafer box. If not, determining that the recycled wafer box is fully loaded with wafers.
[0009] Optionally, the wafer storage library is provided with a wafer exchange window, and the wafer carrier device is parked outside the wafer exchange window. A mobile platform that moves in the vertical direction is provided in the wafer storage library, and a wafer box moving mechanism and a wafer moving mechanism are arranged on the mobile platform, and the wafer box moving mechanism and the wafer moving mechanism are connected to the mobile platform through a lifting mechanism. In response to a wafer unloading request, the wafer moving mechanism is driven to be tightly matched with a target wafer in a wafer carrier device outside the wafer storage library, including: in response to a wafer unloading request, the mobile platform drives the wafer moving mechanism to move to the matching height of the wafer carrier device. The wafer moving mechanism is driven to move toward the wafer carrier device and extend out of the wafer exchange window to be tightly matched with the target wafer in the wafer carrier device.
[0010] Optionally, the recovery carrier is arranged above the moving range of the mobile platform and near the wafer exchange window; driving the wafer moving mechanism to carry the target wafer to move and place the target wafer in the recovery wafer box, including: driving the wafer moving mechanism to carry the target wafer away from the wafer carrying device. Driving the lifting mechanism to drive the wafer moving mechanism to move to the matching height of the recovery wafer box. Driving the wafer moving mechanism to move into the recovery wafer box to place the target wafer in the recovery wafer box.
[0011] Optionally, a mobile carrier among the multiple carriers is arranged on a mobile platform, and determining a target wafer box corresponding to the target wafer includes: judging whether there is a wafer box on the mobile carrier. If yes, configuring the wafer box on the mobile carrier as the target wafer box. If no, determining the target wafer box from the multiple carriers and driving the wafer box moving mechanism to carry the target wafer box to move to the mobile carrier.
[0012] Optionally, determining the target wafer box from the plurality of carriers includes: determining a candidate wafer box from the wafer boxes on the plurality of carriers, wherein the candidate wafer box has a wafer box identification reflecting completion of the current process. Determining the target wafer box from the candidate wafer boxes.
[0013] Optionally, determining whether the target wafer is a recycled wafer includes: in response to the wafer unloading request including a recycled wafer, determining a recycling slot of the recycled wafer in the wafer unloading request. Determining whether the slot of the target wafer in the wafer carrying device is consistent with the recycling slot. If so, determining that the target wafer is a recycled wafer.
[0014] In a second aspect, the present application provides a wafer storage library, in which a controller, a wafer moving mechanism, a wafer box moving mechanism, and a plurality of carriers for wafer boxes are provided, wherein the plurality of carriers include a recycling carrier, and a recycling wafer box on the recycling carrier is used to recycle wafers. The controller is communicatively connected with the wafer moving mechanism and the wafer box moving mechanism, and is used to execute the wafer unloading method of any one of the foregoing contents.
[0015] The present application provides a wafer unloading method and a wafer storage library. The wafer unloading method provided by the present application can be implemented by the wafer storage library without the need to additionally set up a wafer transfer device, thereby improving the integration of the wafer processing system. In addition, the wafer storage library provided by the present application is provided with a carrier for placing a recovered wafer box, so that when the wafer is unloaded, the wafer to be recovered can be placed in the recovered wafer box. Thus, when the abnormal wafers appearing in the wafer processing system are recycled, they can be directly transported to the wafer storage library through the wafer carrying device, and the unified storage and management of the recovered wafers can be realized through the recovery wafer box in the aforementioned wafer storage library. Without the need to store abnormal wafers at the process equipment. The aforementioned setting improves the integration of the wafer processing system and reduces the difficulty of recycling and processing abnormal wafers. 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 schematic diagram of the process scenario of the wafer preparation process 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 flow chart of a wafer unloading method in a wafer storage library provided in some embodiments of the present application.
[0021] Figure 5 It is a flow chart of a recycling wafer placement process provided in some embodiments of the present application.
[0022] Figure 6 It is a flow chart of a conventional wafer placement process provided in some embodiments of the present application.
[0023] 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, wafer box recovery; 240, wafer exchange window; 300, wafer carrying equipment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0024] 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.
[0025] Application Overview:
[0026] With the development of wafer processing technology, an 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 110, so that the wafers can be transferred between different units and within the processing unit 110 through AMHS.
[0027] To further illustrate the wafer processing process based on AMHS, the present application provides a system schematic diagram of a wafer processing system 100 ( Figure 1 ). The wafer processing system 100 can be understood as a collection of process equipment in the wafer processing process.
[0028] like Figure 1As 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.
[0029] 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.
[0030] 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.
[0031] 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.
[0032] 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.
[0033] 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.
[0034] 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.
[0035] 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.
[0036] 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.
[0037] 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.
[0038] Considering the different processing rates of different processing links, a cache structure can also be set in the wafer handling system to coordinate the processing of each link. Among them, the cache structure in the wafer handling system is generally presented as a wafer storage library (Stocker).
[0039] The wafer storage library is a device used to store and automatically manage wafer boxes in the semiconductor manufacturing process. One or more wafer storage libraries 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 storage library 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.
[0040] Based on the aforementioned wafer handling system, the wafer boxes between the various processing units 110 can be transferred between the wafer storage libraries of the various processing units 110 through the wafer box carrying equipment, and the wafer storage library 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.
[0041] 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.
[0042] In practical applications, the wafer storage library in the aforementioned wafer processing system 100 can only store and retrieve wafer boxes. That is, the wafer storage library is generally provided with two windows. One window interacts with the wafer box carrier 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.
[0043] Considering that the processing unit 110 needs to process the wafers, the 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 storage library on the wafer carrying device, so as to perform corresponding processing on the wafers on the wafer carrying device through the production equipment.
[0044] Therefore, in the aforementioned process, the wafer fetching equipment occupies additional space, reduces the integration of the wafer processing system 100, and increases the production cost of the wafer.
[0045] In order to solve the aforementioned technical problems, the present application provides a wafer unloading method performed by a wafer storage library, that is, the wafer unloading method provided by the application can be implemented by the wafer storage library without the need for additional wafer transfer equipment, thereby improving the integration of the wafer processing system.
[0046] In addition, after the wafer is processed in the processing unit, the wafer is generally placed in a wafer box together with the aforementioned wafer retrieval equipment and then stored in a wafer storage library. However, during the processing of the wafer, in order to ensure the accuracy of the subsequent process of the wafer, the wafer can be inspected after the process is completed, so as to recycle the wafer with abnormal processing to avoid the subsequent process being performed on the abnormal wafer.
[0047] In the related art, the aforementioned abnormal wafers are generally detected and managed by process equipment in the processing unit. That is, after the process equipment determines that the wafer is abnormal, the abnormal wafer will be directly cached in the wafer box at the process equipment and then managed uniformly. However, this processing process requires manual wafer recovery or additional recovery mechanism, which results in waste of space and human resources.
[0048] To further solve the aforementioned technical problems, the wafer storage library provided by the present application is provided with a carrier for placing a recycled wafer box, so that when the wafer is unloaded, the wafer to be recycled can be placed in the recycled wafer box. As a result, when the abnormal wafers appearing in the wafer processing system are recycled, they can be directly transported to the outside of the wafer storage library through the wafer carrying device, and the recycled wafers can be uniformly stored and managed through the recycled wafer boxes in the aforementioned wafer storage library. There is no need to store the abnormal wafers at the process equipment. The aforementioned setting improves the integration of the wafer processing system and reduces the difficulty of recycling and processing abnormal wafers.
[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 directly act on the wafer unloading process.
[0052] Wafer unloading may refer to the process of transferring the wafers to the wafer box storage library after the processing in the processing unit is completed. The wafer storage library provided in the present application may 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 out the wafers from the 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 one side interacting with a wafer carrier (not shown in the figure) 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 2As shown, the wafer storage library 200 may be provided with a wafer exchange window 240. During the wafer unloading process, the wafer carrier of the wafer processing system 100 may carry the wafers to be unloaded and park them in the wafer exchange window 240, and the wafer moving mechanism in the wafer storage library 200 may extend from the wafer exchange window 240, thereby tightly cooperating with the wafers carried in the wafer carrier, and placing them in a designated wafer box in the wafer storage library 200. In particular, when the wafer box is full of processed wafers, the wafer storage library 200 may send the wafer box out, and then move it to the next processing unit through the wafer box carrier of the wafer processing system for processing in the next step.
[0057] It should be noted that the wafer storage library provided in this application can be used in the wafer unloading process. Considering the similarity of the unloading and unloading processes, it can also be applied to the loading process or directly integrate the unloading and unloading functions, which can be based on actual conditions, and this application does not limit this.
[0058] To further illustrate the execution process in the wafer storage library 200 during the unloading process, the present application also provides a top view of the interior of the wafer storage library 200 ( Figure 3 ).
[0059] Figure 3 It can be understood as a top view without the top surface of the wafer storage library 200 / a cross-sectional top view at the aforementioned wafer exchange window 240.
[0060] like Figure 3 As shown, a wafer moving mechanism 210 , a wafer box moving mechanism 220 and a plurality of carriers 230 are also provided in the wafer storage library 200 .
[0061] 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.
[0062] 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.
[0063] 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.
[0064] 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.
[0065] 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.
[0066] In some embodiments, the wafer box exchange window of the wafer storage library 200 can also be set on the side wall of the integrated multiple carriers 230, so that the wafer box can be moved between two carriers 230 through the wafer box moving mechanism 220 to achieve the exchange of wafer boxes with the outside world (such as wafer box carrying equipment).
[0067] like Figure 3 As shown, during the wafer unloading process, the wafer carrier 300 outside the wafer storage library 200 can be parked outside the wafer exchange window 240, so that the aforementioned wafer moving mechanism 210 can take out the processed wafers from the wafer carrier 300 through the wafer exchange window 240 and place them in a suitable wafer box.
[0068] In some embodiments, considering the abnormality of the aforementioned wafers, the wafers in this case can be recycled separately, so that such wafers (recorded as recycled wafers) are placed in a specific position. Therefore, a recycling platform can be separately provided in the aforementioned carrier 230, so that the wafer box placed on the carrier is used as the position for recycling the aforementioned recycled wafers (recorded as recycled wafer box 231).
[0069] That is, when in the aforementioned wafer unloading process, if the wafer being unloaded is a recycled wafer, the recycled wafer can be moved to a wafer box on the recycling carrier.
[0070] In some embodiments, the aforementioned recovery platform can be a specific platform among the conventional platforms 230, so that the wafer box on the platform is recorded as the recovery wafer box 231. For example, one of the multiple platforms 230 arranged in an array on the side wall can be designated as the aforementioned recovery platform through instructions. In some embodiments, the aforementioned recovery platform can be set separately. For example, Figure 3 The carrier 230 where the wafer box marked as 231 is located can be used as a recovery carrier, so the aforementioned wafer box can be a recovery wafer box 231, and its carrier is recorded as a recovery carrier (it is blocked by the recovery wafer box 231 and not shown).
[0071] 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 unloading method provided in the present application.
[0072] 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 unloading 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 execute the wafer unloading method provided by the present application.
[0073] Combine the following Figures 4 to 6 The wafer blanking method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail.
[0074] Exemplary wafer unloading method:
[0075] To further illustrate the processing process of the aforementioned wafer storage library during wafer unloading, the present application also provides a flow chart of a wafer unloading method in a wafer storage library ( Figure 4 ).in, Figure 4 The process P400 can be applied to the aforementioned wafer memory and executed by a controller of the wafer memory.
[0076] like Figure 4 As shown, P400 may include the following steps:
[0077] S410, in response to a wafer unloading request, driving a wafer moving mechanism to tightly cooperate with a target wafer in a wafer carrying device outside a wafer storage library.
[0078] S420: Determine whether the target wafer is a recycled wafer.
[0079] S430, driving the wafer moving mechanism to carry the target wafer to move and place the target wafer in a recovery wafer box.
[0080] S440, determining a target wafer box corresponding to the target wafer and driving the wafer moving mechanism to move the target wafer and place the target wafer in the target wafer box.
[0081] In the aforementioned process P400, S430 and S440 are respectively subsequent execution steps for different judgment results of the aforementioned S420. Among them, the aforementioned S430 reflects the situation where the judgment result in the aforementioned S420 is yes, that is, when the target wafer is judged to be a recycled wafer, the aforementioned S430 is executed. The aforementioned S440 reflects the situation where the judgment result in the aforementioned S420 is no, that is, when the target wafer is judged to be a non-recycled wafer, the aforementioned S440 is executed.
[0082] In the aforementioned S410, the wafer unloading request may refer to an instruction received by the wafer storage library to take a wafer from an external wafer carrying device.
[0083] As mentioned above, in the aforementioned wafer processing system, after the process equipment completes the processing of the wafer, the wafer carrying device can carry the processed wafer and move it to the wafer exchange area (such as the wafer exchange window 240) of the wafer storage library. At this time, the control device (also referred to as the host computer) of the wafer processing system can send the aforementioned wafer unloading request to the wafer storage library to drive the wafer storage library to take the processed wafer from the wafer mobile device.
[0084] In some embodiments, the aforementioned wafer unloading request is used as a trigger condition of the aforementioned process P400, that is, when the wafer storage library receives the wafer unloading request sent by the host computer, the method shown in the aforementioned P400 is executed. That is, after the wafer storage library 200 receives the wafer unloading request, it can parse the wafer unloading request to determine the wafer that needs to be unloaded, and then move the wafer from the wafer carrier outside the wafer storage library to a suitable wafer box in the wafer storage library.
[0085] In some embodiments, the aforementioned wafer unloading request generally corresponds to the wafer loading situation in the wafer carrying device. Among them, when the wafer carrying device can store multiple wafers, the aforementioned wafer unloading request can be an overall unloading request for multiple wafers. When the wafer carrying device stores a single wafer, the aforementioned wafer unloading request can be a specific unloading request for a single wafer. In addition, when the wafer carrying device can store multiple wafers, the aforementioned wafer unloading request can also be characterized as multiple specific unloading requests to control the wafer storage library to implement wafer unloading operations one by one.
[0086] When the aforementioned wafer unloading request is an overall unloading request for multiple wafers, the wafer storage library can determine the wafer that currently needs to be unloaded based on its own built-in wafer retrieval logic (such as taking wafers one by one from top to bottom) and perform unloading processing on it. After completing the unloading of the current wafer, the wafer storage library determines the next wafer that needs to be unloaded, thereby completing the overall unloading request. For the specific unloading request of a single wafer, the wafer storage library can directly parse the request to determine the corresponding wafer and process it.
[0087] During the unloading process, the wafer currently unloading in the wafer storage library is recorded as the target wafer, that is, the target wafer may be the wafer recorded in the wafer unloading request or the wafer currently selected by the wafer storage library for unloading.
[0088] In some embodiments, after determining the aforementioned target wafer, the wafer moving mechanism can be driven to enter the wafer carrying device and tightly cooperate with the wafer at the storage position based on the storage position of the target wafer in the wafer carrying device, thereby realizing the aforementioned S410.
[0089] Tight fit may refer to the fit state when the wafer moving mechanism and the wafer are fixedly fitted, that is, when the wafer moving mechanism moves the wafer, the actuator and the wafer may be first tightly fixed together, so that when the moving mechanism drives the actuator to move, the wafer can be driven to move.
[0090] Considering that in actual applications, the wafer storage library extends in the vertical direction, the wafer carrying device can be presented in an overhead crane that moves based on a hanging rail. Then the actuator in the aforementioned wafer storage library should have the ability to move longitudinally, so that it can move in the vertical direction to the wafer exchange window during the wafer unloading operation. Therefore, the aforementioned wafer storage library can also include a mobile platform that moves in the vertical direction, and the wafer box moving mechanism and the wafer moving mechanism are arranged on the mobile platform. Furthermore, in order to achieve lifting relative to the platform, the wafer box moving mechanism and the wafer moving mechanism can be connected to the mobile platform through a lifting mechanism. That is, the aforementioned lifting mechanism can drive the wafer box moving mechanism and the wafer moving mechanism to lift relative to the mobile platform.
[0091] A mobile platform may refer to a mechanical device that moves in a vertical direction. For example, a mobile platform may be presented as a combination of a frame structure and a lifting device, wherein the frame structure may be used as a platform to set various devices, and the lifting device may provide the mobile platform with vertical movement capability. Generally, the lifting device of a mobile platform may be realized by a lifting shaft.
[0092] The lifting mechanism is similar to the aforementioned moving platform and may also present a lifting axis. Considering that the aforementioned wafer moving mechanism and wafer box moving mechanism present a combination of a robot arm and an actuator, the aforementioned lifting structure may be characterized as a longitudinal moving axis disposed on the robot arm (such as a lifting axis disposed at the connection between the robot arm and the moving platform).
[0093] Based on the aforementioned mobile platform, when executing the aforementioned S410: in response to the wafer unloading request, the mobile platform can be driven to drive the wafer moving mechanism to move to the matching height of the wafer carrying device. Then the wafer moving mechanism is driven to move toward the wafer carrying device and extend out of the wafer exchange window to be tightly matched with the target wafer in the wafer carrying device.
[0094] Taking into account the spatial setting within the wafer storage library, in order to facilitate the obstacle avoidance setting, the movement of the two actuators in the plane can be decomposed into two processes: orientation adjustment and extension and retraction along the orientation, thereby reducing the complexity of movement and reducing the spatial obstacle avoidance requirements.
[0095] Therefore, in order to achieve the coordination between the mobile mechanism and the mobile object, the entire coordination process can be divided into three processes: height alignment, orientation alignment, and orientation extension. The aforementioned coordination height can refer to the position of the mobile mechanism after orientation alignment. That is, at the coordination height, the orientation of the mobile mechanism is aligned with the mobile object and the height is aligned with the mobile object, so that the subsequent extension can be directly extended to contact the corresponding mobile object.
[0096] The mating height of the aforementioned wafer carrying device can reflect the height of the target wafer in the wafer moving mechanism, that is, when the wafer moving mechanism moves to the mating height, the telescopic robotic arm along the direction of the wafer moving mechanism can contact the target wafer in the wafer moving mechanism, thereby tightening the fit.
[0097] In some embodiments, considering that the matching position of the wafer carrier and the wafer storage library is generally pre-calibrated, the matching height of the aforementioned wafer carrier can be determined based on the target wafer. If the wafer carrier carries only one wafer, the matching height can be calibrated in advance. If the wafer carrier carries multiple wafers, the matching position can be determined according to the specific slot of the target device.
[0098] In some embodiments, the matching height of the aforementioned wafer carrier device can be achieved through the joint action of a mobile platform and a lifting structure. Generally, the wafer moving mechanism can be moved to a pre-calibrated reference position through a mobile platform, and then the height of the wafer moving mechanism relative to the mobile platform is adjusted through a lifting mechanism according to the slot position of the target wafer to reach the matching height of the aforementioned wafer carrier device. Thus, when the wafer carrier device carries multiple wafers, wafers in different slots can be aligned through a lifting mechanism with higher precision and less external impact, without adjusting the mobile platform, thereby improving the stability of the entire moving process.
[0099] Based on the above-mentioned matching process, after reaching the matching height, the wafer moving mechanism is directly driven to move along its direction toward the wafer carrying device to achieve contact with the target wafer, thereby achieving fastening with the target wafer.
[0100] In the aforementioned S420, the recycled wafer may refer to a wafer that has not completed the corresponding processing process and needs to be recycled. For example, the recycled wafer may be a wafer that does not meet the requirements tested on the wafer process production line, that is, a bad wafer. For another example, the recycled wafer may be a test wafer that does not need to be processed.
[0101] In some embodiments, the aforementioned S420 can be executed based on the identification information of the target wafer. For example, the identification information reflecting the recycled wafer can be a visual identification. When executing the aforementioned S420, it can be determined whether it is a recycled wafer by detecting whether there is a corresponding visual identification on the wafer. For another example, the aforementioned identification information can be represented as a kind of status data of the wafer. That is, by parsing the aforementioned instructions, the status data of the corresponding wafer can be determined, so as to determine whether it is a recycled wafer based on its status data.
[0102] In some embodiments, the characterization information of the aforementioned recycled wafer can also be analyzed and determined along with the wafer picking process. That is, in response to the wafer unloading request including the recycled wafer, the recycling slot of the recycled wafer in the wafer unloading request can be determined. Thus, the aforementioned S420 is realized by judging whether the slot of the target wafer in the wafer carrier is consistent with the recycling slot. Among them, if the slot of the target wafer in the wafer carrier is consistent with the recycling slot, the target wafer is determined to be a recycled wafer.
[0103] The wafer equipment carrier is similar to the wafer box, and multiple slots can also be set to hold wafers. When unloading, the slot position of the wafer in the wafer carrier can be directly used to characterize whether the corresponding wafer is a recycled wafer. That is, the host computer can determine the slot (recorded as the recycling slot) in the wafer carrier device for placing the recycled wafer according to the actual detection results, and send it to the wafer storage library as part of the wafer unloading request. When the wafer storage library executes the wafer fetching of each wafer in the wafer carrier device, it can determine whether the target wafer is a recycled wafer based on the slot position of the target wafer currently being fetched in the wafer carrier device.
[0104] Therefore, in the case where a wafer carrier has multiple wafers built in, the wafers that need to be recycled can be directly reflected through the slots, without having to split them into individual specific unloading requests and informing the wafer storage library one by one whether each wafer is a recycled wafer, which simplifies the communication logic between the wafer storage library and the host computer.
[0105] Recycled wafers can generally be determined by industrial equipment or related detection equipment during the process. For example, optical detection equipment can be used to illuminate the wafer and collect reflected light and scattered light information to determine defects, thereby determining whether it is abnormal. And when the wafer is abnormal, the wafer is configured as a recycled wafer. In addition, the recycled wafer can also be determined based on preset rules. Exemplarily, one or more specific test wafers in the wafer box can be directly marked as recycled wafers without being processed.
[0106] For the recovered wafers determined after the above-mentioned detection, subsequent processing can be performed according to the actual identification method. For example, the process equipment or related equipment can directly attach visual identification (such as stickers, etching symbols, etc.) to it. For another example, the host computer can record the exception and associate the exception with the wafer, so that when the wafer carrier is placed on the wafer, the wafer needs to be recycled based on the placement position (i.e., slot position) of the wafer in the wafer carrier, so as to generate a wafer unloading request for the wafer carrier and the recycling slot contained therein.
[0107] In the aforementioned S430, if the system determines that the current target wafer is a recycled wafer, the wafer moving mechanism will carry the recycled wafer and place it in a recycled wafer box in the wafer storage library.
[0108] In some embodiments, considering that the aforementioned wafer exchange window is small, when executing the aforementioned S430, the wafer moving mechanism carrying the target wafer can be retracted along the direction of the wafer moving mechanism first, thereby separating the target wafer from the wafer carrying device and retracting the wafer moving mechanism into the wafer storage library, and then shifting it within the wafer storage library to place the target wafer in the recycling wafer box.
[0109] In some embodiments, in order to facilitate the placement of the recycled wafers, the recycling platform can be arranged near the wafer exchange window (e.g. Figure 3 In addition, considering that there are fewer recycled wafers in the actual process, the high recycling platform can be further arranged above the moving range of the mobile platform to avoid affecting the movement of the mobile platform. In particular, the recycling platform can be arranged at the upper part of the wafer exchange window or above the wafer exchange window.
[0110] Considering that the recovery carrier is arranged above the moving range of the mobile platform, it is difficult to make the wafer moving mechanism recycle the wafer box through the mobile platform, so the placement process S420 can be realized by the lifting mechanism. That is, when executing the aforementioned S420, the wafer moving mechanism can be driven to carry the target wafer away from the wafer carrying device. Then the lifting mechanism is driven to drive the wafer moving mechanism to move to the matching height of the recovery wafer box. Finally, the wafer moving mechanism is driven to move into the recovery wafer box and the target wafer is placed in the recovery wafer box.
[0111] The matching height of the recovery wafer box is similar to the matching height of the aforementioned wafer carrier, and the matching height of the recovery wafer box can reflect the slot where the target wafer should be placed. That is, when the recovery wafer box is at the matching height, the wafer moving mechanism is aligned with the target slot of the recovery wafer box in the vertical direction and in the horizontal plane, so as to place the target wafer in the target slot through telescopic movement.
[0112] Similarly, considering the position of the target wafer box, the mobile platform is generally moved to a preset height and then the lifting mechanism performs height alignment to improve the stability of the system.
[0113] In addition, considering that there are multiple slots in the wafer box and the recycling of wafers is often a sudden behavior, each time the target wafer is placed, it is necessary to ensure that there are enough slots in the recycling wafer box to place the wafer. Therefore, it is necessary to first determine the slot where the recycled wafer should be placed. For more information about the slots in the recycling wafer box, please refer to Figure 5 and its related description.
[0114] In the aforementioned S440, when the target wafer is not a recycled wafer, it can be directly placed in a corresponding wafer box. The source and for carrying the processed wafers can be recorded as the target wafer box.
[0115] The target wafer box is similar to the aforementioned recycled wafer box, and can refer to a wafer box on a designated carrier among multiple carriers, or a wafer box on a specially set carrier. Considering that the target wafer box has a high interaction frequency, the carrier of the target wafer box can be set on a mobile platform and close to the aforementioned wafer exchange window to facilitate the placement of wafers. In this case, the target wafer box can be a wafer box on the carrier on the mobile platform.
[0116] The execution process of the aforementioned S440 is similar to the execution process of the aforementioned S430, and both require moving the target wafer into a wafer storage library and then into a target wafer box.
[0117] In some embodiments, considering that the target wafer box can be set on a mobile platform, when moving the target wafer, the lifting mechanism can also be driven to move the wafer moving mechanism to the matching position of the target wafer box, and then the wafer moving mechanism is driven to place the target wafer in the target wafer box.
[0118] In some embodiments, considering that the target wafer box is used frequently, it can be determined whether there is a wafer box on the mobile carrier (i.e., the carrier on the mobile platform) before placing the target wafer, so as to perform subsequent steps. Figure 6 and its related description.
[0119] Thus, based on the aforementioned experience storage device and its wafer unloading method, it can be realized by the wafer storage library without the need to additionally set up a wafer transfer device, thereby improving the integration of the wafer processing system. In addition, the wafer storage library provided by the present application is provided with a carrier for placing a recovered wafer box, so that when the wafer is unloaded, the wafer to be recovered can be placed in the recovered wafer box. Thus, when the abnormal wafers appearing in the wafer processing system are recycled, they can be directly transported to the wafer storage library through the wafer carrying device, and the unified storage and management of the recovered wafers can be realized through the recycled wafer boxes in the aforementioned wafer storage library. Without the need to store abnormal wafers at the process equipment. The aforementioned setting improves the integration of the wafer processing system and reduces the difficulty of recycling abnormal wafers.
[0120] Example placement process for recycled wafers
[0121] To further illustrate the specific process of placing the aforementioned recycled wafers in the recycled wafer box, the present application also provides a specific flow chart of placing the recycled wafers in the recycled wafer box ( Figure 5 ).
[0122] like Figure 5 As shown, process P500 may include the following steps:
[0123] S510, determining a target slot position of a target wafer based on the loading condition of the recovered wafer box.
[0124] S520, driving the wafer moving mechanism to carry the target wafer to align with the target slot and placing the target wafer on the target slot.
[0125] In the aforementioned S510, the loading condition may refer to the condition of wafers already stored in the recycled wafers. In the aforementioned S510, the vacant slots in the recycled wafer box where no wafers are installed may be determined based on the aforementioned loading condition, thereby determining the target slots from the spatial slots. The target slot may refer to the position where the recycled wafer should be placed in the recycled wafer box. That is, after determining the target slot, the target wafer may be placed in the slot to complete the placement of the wafer.
[0126] In some embodiments, the target slot can be specified by the host computer, so that the target operation is determined by parsing the relevant instructions. In some embodiments, the target slot can also be determined according to a preset rule, that is, the target slot can be selected from each slot in the recycled wafer box where no wafers are stored based on the preset rule. For example, the target slot can be selected in a bottom-up order.
[0127] In some embodiments, considering that the wafers in each slot of the recycled wafer box are placed by the wafer storage device, the loading status is also determined based on historical operations, thereby representing a data updated based on the placement behavior. In some embodiments, the loading status can also be determined in conjunction with sensors. For example, when the aforementioned recycled wafers are placed in the recycled wafer box from bottom to top, a distance sensor can be set on the upper surface of the target wafer box to determine the number of idle slots by detecting the distance.
[0128] In some embodiments, after determining the target slot, the matching height of the target slot (i.e., the height of the recovery wafer box + the relative height of the target slot in the recovery wafer box) can be determined based on the position of the target slot in the recovery wafer box, thereby driving the wafer moving mechanism and the lifting mechanism to align with the target slot and place the recovered wafer to achieve the aforementioned S520.
[0129] In some embodiments, considering that the aforementioned recycling of wafers is a low-frequency emergency event, before recycling (i.e., before fastening with the target wafer), it can be determined whether the empty box needs to be replaced. Figure 5 As shown, before S510, process P500 may further include the following steps:
[0130] S501 , in response to a recycled wafer box being fully loaded with wafers, driving a wafer box moving mechanism to remove the recycled wafer box and place the recycled wafer box in a wafer box exchange area of a wafer storage library.
[0131] S503 , re-determine a recycled wafer box from the wafer boxes on the plurality of carriers, and drive the wafer box moving mechanism to place the re-determined recycled wafer box on the recycling carrier.
[0132] In the aforementioned S501, the recycled wafer box being fully loaded with wafers may refer to a state where the recycled wafer box has been or is deemed to be fully loaded with wafers and there is no vacant slot. In order to ensure the execution of the aforementioned placement of wafers, it is necessary to remove the recycled wafer box in this case and replace the empty box.
[0133] In the aforementioned S501, the fact that the recycled wafer box is fully loaded with wafers can be a trigger condition of this step. Further considering that the recycled wafer box itself is a small probability emergency event, in order to avoid continuous detection of the event occupying computing resources, the determination of the state that the recycled wafer box is fully loaded with wafers can be performed under specific circumstances.
[0134] Considering the change of the loading condition of the recycled wafer box, the loading condition of the recycled wafer box generally changes after the recycled wafer is placed. Then the loading condition of the recycled wafer box can be updated as the wafer is placed. That is, the loading condition of the recycled wafer box can be updated in response to the placement of the wafer in the recycled wafer box.
[0135] Further considering that when replacing the recovery wafer box, there are two times to facilitate the replacement of the recovery wafer box (without disturbing other processes), the target wafer can be judged as a recovery wafer (i.e., before the wafer needs to be placed in the recovery wafer box) and the wafer unloading request is completed and the wafer unloading request includes the recovery wafer (after the wafer of the unloading task is placed and the task has a recovery wafer). Fully loaded judgment. That is, in response to the target wafer being judged as a recovery wafer and / or the wafer unloading request is completed and the wafer unloading request includes the recovery wafer, it is determined whether there is an empty slot in the recovery wafer box based on the updated loading situation of the recovery wafer box. If not, it is determined that the recovery wafer box is fully loaded with wafers.
[0136] Exemplarily, before the wafer moving mechanism places the recovered wafers in the target slot of the recovered wafer box, the number of wafers A in the recovered wafer box in the current control program is first called. The standard storage capacity of the recovered wafer box is usually 25 wafers, by comparing the numerical values of the two. When A is less than 25, it is determined that there are empty slots in the recovered wafer box, and the recovered wafers are placed in the target slots of the recovered wafer box. When the wafer unloading work is completed, including the placement of the recovered wafers, the number of wafers A+1 in the recovered wafer box in the current control system is called again, and the numerical values of the two are compared again. When A is equal to 25, it is determined that the recovered wafer box is full of wafers, and the wafer box moving mechanism removes the recovered wafer box and replaces it with a new recovered wafer box. Compared with real-time monitoring of the number of wafers in the recovered wafer box. The present application monitors the number of wafers in the recycling wafer box only under specific necessary circumstances (before and after placing the recycled wafers), which greatly simplifies the recycling wafer box full load judgment procedure and improves the operation speed and environmental adaptability of the control program.
[0137] In the aforementioned S503, when it is detected that the current recycled wafer box is already full of wafers, the wafer box moving mechanism is driven to remove the recycled wafer box, and the recycled wafer box is placed in the wafer box exchange area, waiting for the equipment outside the wafer storage library to remove the full recycled wafer box; a new recycled wafer box is determined from the multiple wafer boxes on the carriers in the wafer storage library, and the wafer box moving mechanism is driven to carry the new recycled wafer box and place it on the recycling carrier.
[0138] Conventional wafer placement process
[0139] As mentioned above, when placing wafers into a target wafer box, it is possible to first determine whether there is a wafer box on the movable carrier, thereby placing wafers that have completed the corresponding process (referred to as conventional wafers).
[0140] To further illustrate the process, the present application also provides an exemplary flow chart for placing a conventional wafer ( Figure 6 ).
[0141] like Figure 6 As shown, process P600 may include the following steps:
[0142] S610, determining whether there is a wafer box on the movable carrier.
[0143] S620, configuring the wafer box on the movable carrier as a target wafer box.
[0144] S630, determining a target wafer box from a plurality of carriers and driving a wafer box moving mechanism to carry the target wafer box and move it to the moving carrier.
[0145] S640, driving the wafer moving mechanism to carry the target wafer to move and place the target wafer in the target wafer box.
[0146] S650 , in response to the wafer being placed in the target wafer box, updating the loading status of the target wafer box.
[0147] S660 , in response to the target wafer box being fully loaded with wafers, driving the wafer box moving mechanism to remove the target wafer box and place the target wafer box in a wafer box exchange area of the wafer storage library.
[0148] In the aforementioned process P600, S610 may be a determination step, and S620 may be a subsequent process when the determination result is yes, that is, when there is a wafer box on the mobile carrier, the target wafer may be directly placed in the wafer box. S630 may be a subsequent process when the determination result is no, that is, when there is no wafer box on the mobile carrier, a suitable wafer box may be taken and placed on the mobile carrier for subsequent processing.
[0149] After completing the replacement process of S610 to S630, the wafers can be placed. Similar to the above-mentioned recycling wafer box, the loading status can be updated so that the fully loaded target wafer box can be removed in time. For details, please refer to the above content and will not be repeated here.
[0150] In some embodiments, the aforementioned S610 can generally be executed by a processor on the carrier, that is, when a wafer box is placed on the mobile carrier, a corresponding status signal will be automatically generated to identify its placement status.
[0151] In the aforementioned S630, considering that there are multiple processing units in the wafer processing system, in order to reasonably distinguish the operating conditions of different processing units, the aforementioned wafer box can be provided with identifications reflecting each link (generally represented by the color of the wafer box). When placing the target wafer box, a wafer box with an identification reflecting the completion of the current processing can be placed. When executing the aforementioned S630, the candidate wafer box can be first determined from the wafer boxes on multiple carriers. Among them, the candidate wafer box has a wafer box identification reflecting the completion of the current process. Then determine the target wafer box from the candidate wafer box. Among them, the step of determining the target wafer box from the candidate wafer box can optimize the wafer box based on multiple parameters such as the number of wafers that can be placed and the moving distance.
[0152] 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.
[0153] The basic principle of the present application is described above in conjunction with specific embodiments. However, it should be pointed out that the advantages, strengths, effects, etc. mentioned in the present application are only examples and not limitations. It cannot be considered that these advantages, strengths, effects, etc. are necessary for each embodiment of the present application. In addition, the specific details disclosed above are only for the purpose of illustration and ease of understanding, but not for limitation. The above details do not limit the present application to the use of the above specific details. The above are only specific implementation methods 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 replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.
Claims
1. A wafer blanking method, characterized in that: The wafer unloading method is applied to a wafer storage library, wherein a wafer moving mechanism, a wafer box moving mechanism and a plurality of wafer box carrying platforms are arranged in the wafer storage library, wherein the plurality of carrying platforms include a recycling carrying platform, and a recycling wafer box on the recycling carrying platform is used to recycle wafers. The wafer unloading method comprises: In response to a wafer unloading request, the wafer moving mechanism is driven to tightly cooperate with a target wafer in a wafer carrying device outside the wafer storage library; Determining whether the target wafer is a recycled wafer; If yes, driving the wafer moving mechanism to carry the target wafer to move and place the target wafer in the recycling wafer box; If not, the target wafer box corresponding to the target wafer is determined and the wafer moving mechanism is driven to move the target wafer to place the target wafer in the target wafer box.
2. The wafer blanking method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method of driving the wafer moving mechanism to carry the target wafer to move and place the target wafer in a wafer box on the recovery carrier comprises: Determining a target slot position of the target wafer based on the loading condition of the recycled wafer box; The wafer moving mechanism is driven to carry the target wafer to align with the target slot and place the target wafer on the target slot.
3. The wafer blanking method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The method further comprises: In response to the recycled wafer box being fully loaded with wafers, driving the wafer box moving mechanism to remove the recycled wafer box and place the recycled wafer box in a wafer box exchange area of the wafer storage library; A recycled wafer box is re-determined from the wafer boxes on the plurality of carriers, and the wafer box moving mechanism is driven to place the re-determined recycled wafer box on the recycled carrier.
4. The wafer blanking method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The method further comprises: In response to a wafer being placed in the recycled wafer box, updating a loading status of the recycled wafer box; In response to the target wafer being determined to be the recycled wafer and / or the wafer unloading request being executed and the wafer unloading request including the recycled wafer, determining whether there is an empty slot in the recycled wafer box based on the updated loading status of the recycled wafer box; If not, it is determined that the recycled wafer box is fully loaded with wafers.
5. The wafer blanking method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The wafer storage library is provided with a wafer exchange window, and the wafer carrying device is parked outside the wafer exchange window; a mobile platform moving in a vertical direction is provided in the wafer storage library, and the wafer box moving mechanism and the wafer moving mechanism are arranged on the mobile platform, and the wafer box moving mechanism and the wafer moving mechanism are connected to the mobile platform through a lifting mechanism; In response to the wafer unloading request, the wafer moving mechanism is driven to tightly cooperate with the target wafer in the wafer carrying device outside the wafer storage library, including: In response to a wafer unloading request, driving the mobile platform to drive the wafer moving mechanism to move to a matching height of the wafer carrying device; The wafer moving mechanism is driven to move toward the wafer carrying device and extend out of the wafer exchange window to be tightly matched with the target wafer in the wafer carrying device.
6. The wafer blanking method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The recovery carrier is arranged above the moving range of the moving platform and close to the wafer exchange window; the wafer moving mechanism is driven to carry the target wafer to move and place the target wafer in the recovery wafer box, including: Driving the wafer moving mechanism to carry the target wafer away from the wafer carrying device; Driving the lifting mechanism to drive the wafer moving mechanism to move to a matching height of the wafer recovery box; The wafer moving mechanism is driven to move into the recycling wafer box to place the target wafer in the recycling wafer box.
7. The wafer blanking method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The mobile carrier among the multiple carriers is arranged on the mobile platform, and the determining the target wafer box corresponding to the target wafer comprises: Determine whether there is a wafer box on the movable carrier; If yes, configuring the wafer box on the movable carrier as the target wafer box; If not, a target wafer box is determined from the plurality of carriers and the wafer box moving mechanism is driven to carry the target wafer box and move it to the moving carrier.
8. The wafer blanking method according to claim 7, characterized in that: The step of determining a target wafer box from the plurality of carriers comprises: Determining a candidate wafer cassette from the wafer cassettes on the plurality of carriers, wherein the candidate wafer cassette has a wafer cassette identification reflecting completion of a current process; The target wafer box is determined from the candidate wafer boxes.
9. The wafer blanking method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The determining whether the target wafer is a recycled wafer includes: In response to the wafer unloading request including a recycled wafer, determining a recycling slot of the recycled wafer in the wafer unloading request; Determining whether the slot position of the target wafer in the wafer carrying device is consistent with the recycling slot position; If so, it is determined that the target wafer is the recycled wafer.
10. A wafer storage library, characterized in that: The wafer storage library is provided with a controller, a wafer moving mechanism, a wafer box moving mechanism and a plurality of carriers for the wafer boxes, wherein the plurality of carriers include a recycling carrier, and the recycling wafer box on the recycling carrier is used to recycle wafers; The controller is communicatively connected with the wafer moving mechanism and the wafer box moving mechanism, and is used to execute the wafer unloading method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.
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