Wafer positioning device and wafer positioning method

Abstract

This application relates to a wafer positioning device and a wafer positioning method. The wafer positioning device includes a support bracket; symmetrically arranged clamping units; a positioning unit; and a driving unit. The positioning unit includes a rotary driving member arranged opposite each other along a first direction and a plurality of positioning members disposed between the oppositely arranged rotary driving members. The driving unit is used to drive the rotary driving member and the positioning members to move closer to or away from the wafer along a second direction. The wafer positioning method includes the following steps: controlling the symmetrically arranged clamping units to move along the first direction to clamp the wafer; controlling the driving unit to move closer to the wafer along the second direction, causing the positioning unit to come into contact with the edge of the wafer; activating the rotary driving member to rotate the wafer, causing the positioning members to abut against the orientation marks on the edge of the wafer, thus positioning the wafer; and controlling the driving unit to move away from the wafer along the second direction to complete the wafer positioning. This invention facilitates wafer positioning.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of semiconductor equipment technology, and in particular to a wafer positioning device and a wafer positioning method. Background Technology

[0002] In semiconductor manufacturing, silicon wafers serve as the carriers of integrated circuits, and their crystal orientation and doping type directly determine the electrical performance and process compatibility of the chips. Currently, the silicon wafers used in the industry are not perfectly spherical, but have specific orientation marks on their edges to distinguish the crystal orientation of the wafer. If the orientation is disordered during wafer handling, storage, or process changeover, it will lead to incorrect crystal orientation identification, which in turn will cause process parameter mismatch, device performance degradation, or even scrapping of the entire batch of products.

[0003] In existing technologies, secondary recognition by vision systems or manual adjustments are often required, which is inefficient and carries the risk of misoperation.

[0004] Therefore, it is necessary to provide a new wafer positioning device and wafer positioning method to solve the above-mentioned problems existing in the prior art. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The technical problem to be solved by this application is to provide a wafer positioning device and a wafer positioning method that facilitate wafer positioning.

[0006] To address the aforementioned technical problems, according to embodiments of this application, a wafer positioning device is provided, comprising a support bracket; symmetrically arranged clamping units movably disposed on the support bracket along a first direction, each clamping unit having clamping jaws for clamping a wafer; a positioning unit movably disposed on the support bracket along a second direction, the second direction being perpendicular to the first direction; the positioning unit comprising a rotary drive member disposed opposite to each other along the first direction and a plurality of positioning members disposed between the oppositely arranged rotary drive members; and a driving unit movably disposed on the support bracket along the second direction, for driving the rotary drive member and the positioning members to approach or move away from the wafer along the second direction; wherein, the driving unit drives the rotary drive member and the positioning members to approach the wafer along the second direction and contact the edge of the wafer, the rotary drive member drives the wafer to rotate, and the positioning members abut against orientation marks on the edge of the wafer to position the wafer.

[0007] According to an embodiment of this application, the positioning member includes a first support rod and a positioning end head disposed at the end of the first support rod; the positioning end head is arc-shaped; one of the ends of the first support rod is provided with a positioning latch, and the positioning latch is flush with the positioning end head; when the orientation mark is a groove, the positioning latch is used to engage with the groove to position the wafer; when the orientation mark is a plane, both the positioning latch and the positioning end head abut against the plane to position the wafer.

[0008] According to an embodiment of this application, the rotation drive includes a second support rod, a drive shaft, and a drive motor; the drive shaft is rotatably disposed at the end of the second support rod; the drive motor is disposed inside the second support rod and connected to the drive shaft, and is used to drive the drive shaft to rotate after the drive shaft contacts the edge of the wafer, so as to drive the wafer to rotate.

[0009] According to an embodiment of this application, the driving unit includes a movable driving member and a connecting strip disposed opposite to each other; the two ends of the connecting strip are respectively placed on the movable driving member disposed opposite to each other, and the connecting strip passes through the rotating driving member and the positioning member to drive the rotating driving member and the positioning member to move closer to or away from the wafer.

[0010] According to an embodiment of this application, the support bracket is provided with a plurality of clamping units and a plurality of positioning units arranged opposite to each other; the plurality of clamping units and the plurality of positioning units are arranged sequentially from top to bottom, and each positioning unit corresponds to a set of clamping units arranged opposite to each other.

[0011] According to an embodiment of this application, the driving unit includes a movable driving member disposed opposite to each other and a plurality of connecting strips; the two ends of the connecting strips are respectively placed on the movable driving member disposed opposite to each other, and the connecting strips pass through the rotating driving member and the positioning member in the corresponding positioning unit to drive the rotating driving member and the positioning member to move closer to or away from the wafer.

[0012] According to an embodiment of this application, the ends of the first and second supports opposite to the wafer are each provided with control grooves, and the connecting strip passes through the control grooves; a pressure sensor is provided in the control groove; when the positioning clip and the positioning end both abut against the plane to position the wafer, the value of each pressure sensor is the same.

[0013] According to an embodiment of this application, the clamping unit includes at least two clamping jaws distributed along a second direction; the clamping units arranged opposite each other form at least four clamping points to clamp the wafer.

[0014] A wafer positioning method is applied to the aforementioned wafer positioning device. The wafer positioning method includes the following steps: controlling symmetrically arranged clamping units to move along a first direction to clamp the wafer; controlling the driving unit to approach the wafer along a second direction, causing the positioning unit to fit against the edge of the wafer; activating the rotation driving component to rotate the wafer, causing the positioning component to abut against the orientation mark on the edge of the wafer, thereby positioning the wafer; and controlling the driving unit to move away from the wafer along the second direction to complete the wafer positioning.

[0015] According to an embodiment of this application, the step of activating the rotary drive to rotate the wafer, causing the positioning member to abut against the orientation mark on the edge of the wafer, and positioning the wafer includes: when the orientation mark is a groove, controlling the rotary drive to rotate the wafer so that the positioning latch at the end of the positioning member engages with the groove to position the wafer; when the orientation mark is a plane, controlling the rotary drive to rotate the wafer so that the pressure sensor values ​​on each positioning member are the same to position the wafer.

[0016] By adopting the above technical solution, symmetrical clamping units are set up to move along the first direction to clamp the wafer. At the same time, the driving unit drives the positioning unit to approach the edge of the wafer along the second direction. The rotating drive component drives the wafer to rotate, so that the positioning component abuts against the orientation mark (groove or plane) on the edge of the wafer to achieve precise positioning. This achieves the coordination of wafer clamping and orientation mark positioning, avoiding the inefficiency and risk of misoperation caused by manual adjustment. At the same time, through the flexible connecting belt drive design of the positioning component and the rotating drive component, multiple positioning components can adapt to the arc contour of the wafer to achieve synchronous fitting. Positioning confirmation is achieved by the numerical feedback of pressure sensor or the mechanical cooperation between the positioning clip and the groove, which improves the positioning accuracy and reliability. In addition, the inclined clamping film in the clamping unit, together with the flipping module and the counterweight structure, achieves stable wafer clamping and facilitates wafer flipping operation. The clamping film is made of fluororubber or perfluoroether rubber, which meets the requirements of semiconductor process for cleanliness and corrosion resistance, improves wafer positioning efficiency and reduces the risk of wafer damage. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a single-layer wafer positioning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 for Figure 1 Enlarged view of part A in the middle.

[0019] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between the positioning unit and the wafer before wafer positioning, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between the positioning unit and the wafer after they come into contact during wafer positioning, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the positional relationship between the positioning clip and the grooved orientation mark when the wafer positioning device of this invention is engaged during wafer positioning.

[0022] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the positional relationship between a positioning element and a planar orientation mark during wafer positioning, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 7 This is a cross-sectional view showing the position of the drive motor in a wafer positioning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a clamping unit of a wafer positioning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of a multilayer wafer positioning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 10 This is a step diagram of a wafer positioning method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Figure label:

[0028] 100, Support bracket; 200, Clamping unit; 210, Clamping jaws; 211, Clamping film; 212, Rotating part; 213, Clamping part; 214, Counterweight; 215, Counterweight connecting rod; 220, Flipping part; 221, Limiting groove; 300, Positioning unit; 310, Rotation drive; 311, Second support rod; 312, Drive shaft; 313, Drive motor; 314, Control groove; 315, First gear; 316, Second gear; 320, Positioning part; 321, First support rod; 322, Positioning end; 323, Positioning latch; 400, Drive unit; 410, Moving drive; 420, Connecting belt; X, First direction; Y, Second direction. Detailed Implementation

[0029] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention. Unless otherwise defined, the technical or scientific terms used herein should have the ordinary meaning understood by those skilled in the art. The terms "comprising" and similar expressions used herein mean that the element or object preceding the word covers the element or object listed after the word and its equivalents, but does not exclude other elements or objects.

[0030] The following is in conjunction with the appendix Figure 1-10 The specific embodiments of the present invention will be further described in detail below.

[0031] In semiconductor manufacturing, silicon wafers serve as the carriers of integrated circuits, and their crystal orientation and doping type directly determine the electrical performance and process compatibility of the chip. Currently, silicon wafers used in industry are not perfectly circular; instead, they have specific orientation marks on their edges, i.e., tangential planes or grooves on the edges. These orientation marks distinguish the wafer's crystal orientation and conductivity type. In actual chip manufacturing processes, the crystal orientation and doping type must be strictly matched with specific photolithography, etching, ion implantation, and other process equipment. If the wafer's orientation is misaligned during handling, storage, or process transitions, it will lead to incorrect crystal orientation identification, resulting in process parameter mismatches, device performance degradation, or even the scrapping of the entire batch of products. Therefore, in the entire material flow of wafers from dicing, grinding, polishing to subsequent patterning processes, the consistency of the wafer orientation must be maintained. To this end, embodiments of the present invention provide a wafer positioning device and positioning method, wherein the wafer positioning device includes a support bracket 100, symmetrically arranged clamping units 200, positioning units 300, and driving units 400.

[0032] In some embodiments, symmetrically arranged clamping units 200 are movably disposed on the support bracket 100 along the first direction X. Each clamping unit 200 is provided with clamping claws 210 to clamp the wafer. The specific structure of the clamping unit 200 will be described later.

[0033] In some embodiments, the support bracket 100 is plate-shaped, and the first direction X is the direction extending along the length or width of the support bracket 100. In this embodiment, the first direction X is selected as the direction extending along the width of the support bracket 100, and the second direction Y is the direction extending along the length of the support bracket 100, and the second direction Y is perpendicular to the first direction X.

[0034] In some embodiments, the positioning unit 300 is movably disposed on the support bracket 100 along the second direction Y. Specifically, the positioning unit 300 includes a rotary drive member 310 disposed opposite to each other along the first direction X, and a plurality of positioning members 320 disposed between the oppositely disposed rotary drive members 310. During wafer positioning, the rotary drive member 310 and the positioning members 320 cooperate to achieve the rotation and positioning of the wafer. The drive unit 400 is movably disposed on the support bracket 100 along the second direction Y and is used to drive the rotary drive member 310 and the positioning members 320 to approach or move away from the wafer along the second direction Y. During wafer positioning, the clamping unit 200 clamps the wafer, and then the drive unit 400 is activated to drive the rotary drive member 310 and the positioning members 320 to approach the wafer along the second direction Y and contact the edge of the wafer. The rotary drive member 310 drives the wafer to rotate, and the positioning members 320 abut against the orientation marks on the edge of the wafer to position the wafer.

[0035] In some specific embodiments, to facilitate wafer positioning, the positioning member 320 includes a first support rod 321 and a positioning end 322 located at the end of the first support rod 321. Specifically, the positioning end 322 is positioned at the end of the first support rod 321 near the wafer, and the positioning end 322 is arc-shaped to reduce the possibility of wafer damage caused by contact between the positioning end 322 and the orientation mark in the groove. In addition, one end of the first support rod 321 is provided with a positioning latch 323. The positioning latch 323 can be directly provided on the positioning end 322, or the positioning end 322 can be removed, including only the first support rod 321 and the positioning latch 323. The positioning latch 323 is adapted to the groove-shaped orientation mark, that is, the positioning latch 323 can engage with the groove. When the two are engaged, the wafer cannot rotate, thereby achieving wafer positioning. That is, when the orientation mark is a groove, the positioning latch 323 engages with the groove to position the wafer. The positioning connector 323 is flush with the positioning end 322. When the orientation mark is a plane, both the positioning connector 323 and the positioning end 322 abut against the plane, thereby achieving wafer positioning. That is, when the orientation mark is a groove, the connector is used to engage with the groove to position the wafer; when the orientation mark is a plane, both the positioning connector 323 and the positioning end 322 abut against the plane to position the wafer.

[0036] In some specific embodiments, to facilitate wafer rotation, a rotation drive 310 includes a second support rod 311, a drive shaft 312, and a drive motor 313. The second support rod 311 has a slot at its end facing the wafer, and the drive shaft 312 is vertically positioned within the slot, allowing it to rotatably reside at the end of the second support rod 311. Simultaneously, a motor slot is formed on the side wall of the second support rod 311, and the drive motor 313 is located within this slot. In other words, the drive motor 313 is located within the second support rod 311 and connected to the drive shaft 312, driving the drive shaft 312 after it contacts the edge of the wafer. 12 rotates to drive the wafer to rotate; specifically, the end of the drive shaft 312 is provided with a first gear 315, the outer diameter of the first gear 315 is smaller than the diameter of the drive shaft 312, and a second gear 316 is keyed to the shaft of the drive motor 313. The second gear 316 meshes with the first gear 315 so that the drive motor 313 can drive the drive shaft 312 to rotate. During the process of driving the wafer to rotate, the side wall of the drive shaft 312 contacts the side wall of the wafer. The drive motor 313 starts to drive the drive shaft 312 to rotate, thereby driving the wafer to rotate so that the orientation mark on the edge of the wafer rotates synchronously with the wafer to cooperate with the positioning member 320 to position the wafer.

[0037] In some embodiments, since the edge of the wafer is arc-shaped, in order to drive the rotating drive 310 and the positioning member 320 to contact the edge of the wafer, the drive unit 400 includes a moving drive 410 and a connecting belt 420 arranged opposite each other. The moving drive 410 is respectively placed on both sides of the positioning unit 300, and the moving drive 410 can move synchronously along the second direction Y. Specifically, the support bracket 100 is provided with a push cylinder, which can be set by bonding, snapping, or bolting, etc., without limitation, as long as the position of the push cylinder on the support bracket 100 does not change. The piston rod of the push cylinder is keyed to the moving drive 410 to push the moving drive 410 to move along the second direction Y. The two ends of the connecting belt 420 are respectively placed on the moving drive 410 arranged opposite each other, and the setting method can be bonding or snapping, etc., without limitation, as long as the moving drive 410 The movement primarily drives the connecting belt 420 to move. The connecting belt 420 is a flexible belt that passes through the rotary drive 310 and the positioning element 320, driving the rotary drive 310 and the positioning element 320 closer to or further away from the wafer. Specifically, the moving drive 410 moves along the second direction Y, driving the connecting belt 420 to move. Since the connecting belt 420 passes through the rotary drive 310 and the positioning element 320, it drives multiple positioning elements 320 and the relatively positioned rotary drive 310 to move, bringing the positioning elements 320 and the rotary drive 310 closer to the wafer. Because the connecting belt 420 is flexible and the wafer edge is curved, the positioning element 320 in the middle first contacts the edge of the wafer. The positioning elements 320 that have not yet contacted the wafer edge, as well as the relatively positioned rotary drive 310, continue to move under the influence of the connecting belt 420 until they all contact the wafer edge. At this point, the moving drive 410 stops moving. At this time, the drive motor 313 starts, driving the drive shaft 312 to rotate, thereby driving the wafer to rotate around its own axis. During the wafer rotation, the orientation mark on the edge of the wafer rotates synchronously until the orientation mark cooperates with the positioning component 320 to perform positioning. Then the drive shaft 312 stops rotating, and the wafer positioning is completed.

[0038] In some embodiments, the support bracket 100 is provided with a plurality of oppositely arranged clamping units 200 and a plurality of positioning units 300; the plurality of oppositely arranged clamping units 200 and the plurality of positioning units 300 are arranged sequentially from top to bottom, and each positioning unit 300 corresponds to a set of oppositely arranged clamping units 200, so that the wafer positioning device can simultaneously position multiple wafers; in addition, the length of the drive shaft 312 covers the corresponding clamping unit 200, so that the drive shaft 312 can contact the sidewall of the wafer on the corresponding clamping unit 200; at the same time, the plurality of positioning units 300 and the plurality of clamping units 200 do not interfere with each other, so that the positioning process of each wafer does not interfere. It is worth noting that two adjacent positioning members 320 in the vertical direction are connected by a concave-convex fit to facilitate the movement of each positioning member 320. For example, the top of the positioning member 320 located at the bottom is provided with a sliding groove extending along the second direction Y, and the bottom of the positioning member 320 adjacent to this positioning member 320 is provided with a protrusion that matches the sliding groove. The protrusion can slide in the sliding groove so that two adjacent positioning members 320 in the vertical direction can move along the second direction Y.

[0039] In some specific embodiments, when multiple positioning units 300 are provided, the driving unit 400 includes relatively disposed moving driving members 410 and multiple connecting belts 420; the relatively disposed moving driving members 410 are respectively placed on both sides of the positioning unit 300, and the relatively disposed moving driving members 410 can move synchronously along the second direction Y. Specifically, the support bracket 100 is provided with a push electric cylinder, which can be set by bonding, snapping, or bolting, etc., without limitation, as long as the position of the push electric cylinder on the support bracket 100 does not change, and the piston rod of the push electric cylinder and The movable drive 410 is keyed to facilitate moving the movable drive 410 along the second direction Y; the two ends of each connecting strip 420 are respectively placed on the movable drive 410 which are arranged opposite each other, each connecting strip 420 corresponds to a positioning unit 300, and the connecting strip 420 passes through the rotary drive 310 and the positioning element 320 in the corresponding positioning unit 300. During the movement of the movable drive 410, it drives the positioning element 320 and the rotary drive 310 in the corresponding positioning unit 300 to move, so as to drive the rotary drive 310 and the positioning element 320 to move closer to or away from the wafer.

[0040] In some embodiments, when the orientation mark is a groove, the positioning latch 323 can achieve positioning by engaging with the groove. When the orientation mark is a plane, wafer positioning cannot be performed by engaging with the groove. Therefore, in order to perform the wafer positioning process when the orientation mark is a plane, control slots 314 are provided at the ends of the first support rod 321 and the second support rod 311 opposite to the wafer. The control slot 314 of the first support rod 321 passes through the first support rod 321 along the first direction X, and the control slot 314 of the second support rod 311 passes through the second support rod 311 along the first direction X. At the same time, the connecting strap 420 passes through the control slot 314. A pressure sensor is provided in the control slot 314. Specifically, the pressure sensor is located in... The pressure sensor is located on the side wall of the control slot 314 near the positioning end 322, and is positioned between the inner side wall of the control slot 314 and the connecting strip 420. During wafer positioning when the orientation mark is a plane, both the positioning clip 323 and the positioning end 322 abut against the plane to position the wafer. At this time, the values ​​of each pressure sensor are the same, indicating that positioning is complete. It is worth noting that due to the error of the pressure sensor and the fluctuation of the pressure applied to each pressure sensor by the connecting strip 420, an error range is set. That is, if the value of each pressure sensor is within the set error range, it is considered that the values ​​of each pressure sensor are the same. The limitation of the error range is not limited here, and it is set according to the requirements in the actual positioning process.

[0041] In some specific embodiments, the connecting strip 420 is made of polyurethane or stainless steel wire rope with a fluororubber sheath, so as to achieve the synchronous movement of multiple positioning elements 320 and rotation drive element 310 through flexible deformation, thereby ensuring the accurate positioning of wafer edge orientation marks.

[0042] In some more specific embodiments, the positioning element 320 is provided with at least three, or an odd number of other than three. In this embodiment, three positioning elements 320 are provided as an example. The central positioning element 320 is composed of a first support rod 321 and a positioning latch 323, and the two edge positioning elements 320 are composed of a first support rod 321 and a positioning end 322, thereby facilitating the positioning of the wafer.

[0043] In some embodiments, the clamping unit 200 includes at least two clamping jaws 210 distributed along the second direction Y; the clamping units 200 arranged opposite each other form at least four clamping points to clamp the wafer.

[0044] In some specific embodiments, the clamping units 200, which are arranged opposite each other, are movably disposed on the support bracket 100 along the first direction X to clamp the wafer. The clamping unit 200 includes a flipping module, a flipping member 220, and a clamping jaw 210 rotatably disposed on the flipping member 220 in the vertical direction. The flipping member 220 is block-shaped and has a flipping groove. The clamping jaw 210 is placed in the flipping groove and connected to the inner wall of the flipping groove through a rotating shaft, so that the clamping jaw 210 can rotate in the vertical direction within the flipping groove. That is, the axis of the rotating shaft of the flipping groove extends in the second direction Y, and the clamping jaw 210 can rotate around the axis of the rotating shaft to achieve rotation in the vertical direction. In addition, the clamping end of the clamping jaw 210 is provided with an opening to facilitate clamping the wafer. Meanwhile, since the clamping units 200 are arranged opposite to each other, the clamping jaws 210 in the clamping units 200 are also arranged opposite to each other; more specifically, the top of the clamping jaws 210 is the first position and the bottom is the second position; the ends of the clamping jaws 210 arranged opposite to each other form openings at the first position and the second position, and the opening at the first position is larger than the opening at the second position, so that the opening end of the clamping jaws 210 is inclined. During the wafer clamping process, the wafer is placed into the clamping jaws 210 from top to bottom. During the wafer placement process, the end of the clamping jaws 210 at the first position will not interfere with the placement of the wafer.

[0045] In some embodiments, a clamping film 211 is provided inside the clamping jaw 210, and the clamping film 211 extends from a first position to a second position. Specifically, the clamping film 211 is provided at the open end of the clamping jaw 210 to close the open end of the clamping jaw 210. The clamping film 211 can be provided by bonding, snapping, or other methods, which are not limited here. The main point is that the clamping film 211 is provided at the open end of the clamping jaw 210 and the connection between the two will not move relative to each other. At the same time, since the open end of the clamping jaw 210 is inclined, the clamping film 211 is also inclined, and its inclination is the same as that of the open end of the clamping jaw 210. More specifically, the clamping film 211 is used to support wafers of different sizes. During the clamping process, since the clamping film 211 is tilted and the wafer is placed in the clamping jaws 210 from top to bottom, the clamping film 211 can support wafers of different sizes. After the wafer is placed, the clamping units 200 that are positioned opposite each other move closer to each other so that the clamping film 211 abuts against the edge of the wafer to clamp the wafer.

[0046] In some embodiments, the flipping module is disposed on the support bracket 100, and its setting method can be adhesive, snap-fit, or bolted, etc., without limitation, as long as the flipping module can drive the flipping component 220 to flip. The flipping module is connected to the flipping component 220 and is used to drive the flipping component 220 and the clamping jaws 210 to flip the wafer. Specifically, the flipping module includes a support component and a flipping motor. The support component is disposed on the support bracket 100, and the side wall of the support component has an installation groove. The flipping motor is installed in the installation groove, and the rotating shaft of the flipping motor is keyed to the flipping component 220. During the wafer flipping process, the flipping motor is started, and the flipping motor drives the flipping component 220 and the clamping jaws 210 to flip, thereby realizing the wafer flipping.

[0047] In some specific embodiments, the clamping jaws 210 include a rotating portion 212 and opposing clamping portions 213; wherein, the rotating portion 212 has a "V"-shaped cross-section along the second direction Y, that is, the rotating portion 212 has a first part and a second part, and the axis of rotation of the rotating portion 212 is located at the junction of the first part and the second part, so that the rotating portion 212 can rotate on the flipping member 220, that is, the rotating portion 212 is rotatably disposed on the flipping member 220, and the opposing clamping portions 213 are respectively rotatably disposed at both ends of the rotating portion 212; specifically, both the first part and the second part are plate-shaped, and at least two sets of opposing clamping portions 213 are spaced apart along the second direction Y, and each set of opposing clamping portions 213 is rotatably disposed at the end of the first part and the end of the second part; at least two sets of opposing clamping portions 213 cooperate with each other so that the opposing clamping unit 200 forms at least four clamping points on the wafer, thereby ensuring the stability of wafer clamping; the clamping portions 213 are rod-shaped. The clamping portions 213 are rotatably disposed at the ends of the first part and the second part, respectively. Both ends of the rotating part 212 are provided with torsion springs, which drive the clamping portions 213 to move away from each other, thus stretching the clamping film 211. The torsion springs, rotating part 212, and clamping portions 213 work together to ensure that the clamping film 211 is stretched when the wafer is not placed on it, facilitating wafer placement and preventing positional shift after placement. During wafer clamping, the wafer is first placed on the clamping film 211, and then the clamping units 200 are brought closer together. At this time, the edge of the wafer abuts against the clamping film 211, and the position where the clamping film 211 abuts against the edge of the wafer moves towards the rotating part 212. The ends of the clamping portions 213 away from the rotating part 212 move towards the end face of the wafer, thus bringing the clamping portions 213 closer together.It is worth noting that during wafer clamping, there is a gap between the end of the clamping part 213 and the wafer end face. The wafer is clamped by the clamping film 211. Specifically, wafer clamping can also be achieved when there is a gap between the end of the clamping part 213 and the wafer. Since the clamping film 211 is a soft film, it applies a force to the wafer from the edge toward the center. At the same time, since the wafer has a certain thickness, when the clamping film 211 moves toward the rotating part 212 at the contact point with the wafer, it also contacts the edges of the front and back sides of the wafer. That is, the clamping film 211 simultaneously contacts the edge sidewalls and the edge of the front side of the wafer. The clamping film 211, which holds the wafer along its back edge and the edge of its back side, also allows for wafer position adjustment. As the clamping units 200 approach each other, the wafer gradually moves towards the center of the clamping film 211 because it is a soft film. For example, in the clamping of a 6-inch wafer, when the clamping units 200 are stationary, the wafer is placed at the bottom of the clamping film 211. As the clamping units 200 approach each other, the portion of the clamping film 211 in contact with the wafer moves towards the rotating part 212, and the wafer gradually moves towards the center of the clamping film 211, further ensuring the stability of the wafer clamping.

[0048] In some specific embodiments, the clamping film 211 is made of fluororubber or perfluoroether rubber, which can work in the corrosive gas environment commonly found in semiconductor processes. At the same time, its low particulate contamination characteristics can avoid metal ion or organic contamination on the wafer surface, meeting the cleanliness requirements. In addition, its good elastic recovery and wear resistance ensure that the clamping film 211 can maintain stable clamping force and deformation recovery ability when repeatedly clamping wafers of different sizes, extending its service life.

[0049] In some embodiments, the flipping member 220 has a limiting groove 221, which is arc-shaped and extends around the axis of the rotating part 212. The clamping claw 210 also includes a counterweight 214 and a counterweight connecting rod 215. The counterweight 214 is movably disposed in the limiting groove 221. One end of the counterweight rod is connected to the counterweight 214, and the other end is connected to the rotating part 212. After the wafer is flipped, the counterweight 214 moves to the bottom of the limiting groove 221 so that the opening at the first position is larger than the opening at the second position. Specifically, there are two counterweight links 215, and both counterweight links 215 are connected to the counterweight 214; that is, one end of one counterweight link 215 is located on the counterweight 214, and the other end is connected to the middle of the first part; one end of the other counterweight link 215 is located on the counterweight 214, and the other end is connected to the middle of the second part. Since the length of the counterweight link 215 does not change, the limiting groove 221 is arc-shaped to facilitate the movement of the counterweight 214 within the limiting groove 221; more specifically, the counterweight... The counterweight 214 is spherical and is movably positioned within the limiting groove 221. The width of the limiting groove 221 is greater than the diameter of the counterweight 214, and the weight of the counterweight 214 is greater than the sum of the weights of the counterweight link 215 and the clamping jaws 210, allowing the counterweight 214 to move the clamping jaws 210 under its own weight. Specifically, when no wafer is placed on the clamping film 211, due to its own weight, the counterweight 214 is positioned at the end of the limiting groove 221 near the support bracket 100. At this time, because the length of the counterweight link 215 is fixed and the position of the rotating shaft of the rotating part 212 is fixed, the rotating shaft is tilted, so that the distance of the opening at the first position of the clamping film 211 is greater than the distance of the opening at the second position. After clamping and flipping the wafer, the counterweight 214 will continue to move to the end of the limiting groove 221 near the support bracket 100 under its own weight. At this time, although it is flipped, the clamping film 211 is still tilted due to the limiting effect of the counterweight 214. The distance between the openings at one position is greater than the distance between the openings at the second position, thus facilitating the placement and removal of the wafer. It is worth noting that when the wafer needs to be flipped, the end of the clamping part 213 does not contact the wafer end face; instead, the wafer is held solely by the clamping film 211. This reduces the possibility of wafer damage caused by vibrations transmitted to the wafer due to the movement of the counterweight 214 in the limiting groove 221. In other words, the clamping film 211 weakens vibration transmission, thereby reducing the possibility of wafer damage during the flipping process. More specifically, the flipping part 220 has a first groove extending vertically to accommodate the rotating part 212, and a second groove extending vertically through the flipping part 220, which communicates with the first groove. The second groove facilitates the movement of the counterweight connecting rod 215, and the limiting groove 221 is located on the side wall of the second groove to limit the counterweight 214.In addition, the end of the clamping part 213 does not contact the wafer end face, so that the rotation drive 310 can drive the wafer to rotate around its own axis.

[0050] In some specific embodiments, a connector is movably provided on the support bracket 100 along the first direction X. The connector is plate-shaped, and multiple flip modules are fixedly provided on the connector so that multiple flip units can simultaneously move closer to or away from the wafer. At the same time, a push cylinder is provided on the support bracket 100. The setting method can be adhesive, snap-fit, or bolted, etc., without limitation, as long as the position of the push cylinder on the support bracket 100 does not change. The piston rod of the push cylinder is connected to the connector. During the wafer clamping process, the push cylinder is activated, pushing the connector to move, thereby driving the flip module, flip component 220 and clamping jaw 210 to move, so that the relatively arranged clamping units 200 move closer to each other, thereby clamping the wafer.

[0051] In some more specific embodiments, the distance between two adjacent clamping units 200 in the vertical direction, and the distance between the bottom clamping unit 200 and the support bracket 100, are not limited, primarily to avoid interfering with the flipping process of adjacent wafers. Simultaneously, the position of the drive shaft 312 corresponds to the position of the corresponding clamping unit 200, so as to drive the wafer on the corresponding clamping unit 200 to rotate. During wafer rotation, since there is a gap between the end of the clamping part 213 and the wafer end face, the wafer positioning process is not interfered with by the clamping part 213, thus facilitating the positioning process.

[0052] This application also discloses a wafer positioning method, which is applied to the wafer positioning device described above. The wafer positioning method includes the following steps: S1. The symmetrically arranged clamping unit 200 is controlled to move along the first direction X to clamp the wafer; at this time, the wafer is in contact with the clamping film 211 and is clamped by the clamping film 211.

[0053] S2. The control drive unit 400 moves closer to the wafer along the second direction Y, causing the positioning unit 300 to fit against the edge of the wafer; the positioning element 320 and the rotation drive element 310 in the positioning unit 300 are in contact with the sidewall of the wafer, and the drive unit 400 stops moving after the positioning element 320 and the rotation drive element 310 are in contact with the sidewall of the wafer.

[0054] S3. Start the rotary drive to rotate the wafer, so that the positioning component 320 abuts against the orientation mark on the edge of the wafer to position the wafer.

[0055] S4. The control drive unit 400 moves away from the wafer along the second direction Y to complete the wafer positioning.

[0056] In some embodiments, in step S3, the rotary drive is activated to rotate the wafer, causing the positioning member 320 to abut against the orientation mark on the edge of the wafer to position the wafer. This includes, when the orientation mark is a groove, controlling the rotary drive 310 to rotate the wafer so that the positioning latch 323 at the end of the positioning member 320 engages with the groove to position the wafer; when the orientation mark is a plane, controlling the rotary drive 310 to rotate the wafer so that the pressure sensor values ​​on each positioning member 320 are the same to position the wafer. Specifically, when the orientation mark is a groove, the positioning latch 323 at the end of the positioning member 320 engages with the groove to complete wafer positioning. Since the positioning end 322 is arc-shaped and does not fit the groove, the positioning end 322 will not penetrate into the groove, thus ensuring that after each wafer is positioned, the groove on the edge of the wafer engages with the corresponding positioning latch 323. When the orientation mark is a plane, since the positioning latch 323 is flush with the positioning end 322 and each first support rod 321 has the same length, when the pressure sensor values ​​on each positioning member 320 are the same, it means that each positioning member 320 is in contact with the plane, thus completing wafer positioning.

[0057] While embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to these embodiments. However, it should be understood that such modifications and variations fall within the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth in the claims. Furthermore, the invention described herein may have other embodiments and can be implemented or carried out in various ways.

Claims

1. A wafer positioning device, characterized in that, Including support brackets; Symmetrically arranged clamping units are movably disposed on the support bracket along a first direction, and each clamping unit is provided with clamping claws to clamp the wafer; A positioning unit is movably disposed on the support bracket along a second direction, the second direction being perpendicular to the first direction; the positioning unit includes a rotary drive member disposed opposite to the rotary drive member along the first direction and a plurality of positioning members disposed between the oppositely disposed rotary drive members; as well as A driving unit, movably disposed on the support bracket along the second direction, is used to drive the rotary driving member and the positioning member to move closer to or further away from the wafer along the second direction; The driving unit drives the rotary drive and the positioning member to approach the wafer along the second direction and contact the edge of the wafer. The rotary drive drives the wafer to rotate, and the positioning member abuts against the orientation mark on the edge of the wafer to position the wafer.

2. The wafer positioning device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The positioning component includes a first support rod and a positioning end head disposed at the end of the first support rod; the positioning end head is arc-shaped. One of the first support rods has a positioning latch at one end, and the positioning latch is flush with the positioning end. When the orientation mark is a groove, the positioning latch is used to engage with the groove to position the wafer; when the orientation mark is a plane, both the positioning latch and the positioning end abut against the plane to position the wafer.

3. The wafer positioning device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The rotary drive component includes a second support rod, a drive shaft, and a drive motor; The drive shaft is rotatably located at the end of the second support rod; The drive motor is located inside the second support rod and connected to the drive shaft, and is used to drive the drive shaft to rotate after the drive shaft contacts the edge of the wafer, so as to drive the wafer to rotate.

4. The wafer positioning device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The driving unit includes a moving driving component and a connecting belt arranged opposite to each other; the two ends of the connecting belt are respectively placed on the moving driving component arranged opposite to each other, and the connecting belt passes through the rotating driving component and the positioning component to drive the rotating driving component and the positioning component to move closer to or away from the wafer.

5. The wafer positioning device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The support bracket is provided with a plurality of clamping units and a plurality of positioning units arranged opposite to each other; the plurality of clamping units and the plurality of positioning units are arranged sequentially from top to bottom, and each positioning unit corresponds to a set of clamping units arranged opposite to each other.

6. The wafer positioning device according to claim 5, characterized in that, The driving unit includes a movable driving component and a plurality of connecting strips arranged opposite each other; the two ends of the connecting strips are respectively placed on the movable driving component arranged opposite each other, and the connecting strips pass through the rotating driving component and the positioning component in the corresponding positioning unit to drive the rotating driving component and the positioning component to move closer to or away from the wafer.

7. The wafer positioning device according to claim 4 or 6, characterized in that, The first and second support rods each have a control groove at their ends away from the wafer, and the connecting strip passes through the control groove. A pressure sensor is installed inside the control tank; When the positioning connector and the positioning end both abut against the plane to position the wafer, the values ​​of each pressure sensor are the same.

8. The wafer positioning device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The clamping unit includes at least two clamping jaws distributed along a second direction; the clamping units arranged opposite each other form at least four clamping points to clamp the wafer.

9. A wafer positioning method, characterized in that, The wafer positioning apparatus according to any one of claims 1-8, the wafer positioning method comprising the following steps: The symmetrically arranged clamping units are controlled to move along a first direction to clamp the wafer; The driving unit is controlled to approach the wafer along the second direction, causing the positioning unit to fit against the edge of the wafer. The rotary drive is activated to rotate the wafer, causing the positioning element to abut against the orientation mark on the edge of the wafer, thereby positioning the wafer. The drive unit is controlled to move away from the wafer along the second direction to complete wafer positioning.

10. The wafer positioning method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The step of activating the rotary drive to rotate the wafer, causing the positioning element to abut against the orientation mark on the edge of the wafer, thereby positioning the wafer, includes: When the orientation mark is a groove, the rotation drive is controlled to rotate the wafer, so that the snap-fit ​​at the end of the positioning member snaps into the groove to position the wafer. When the orientation mark is a plane, the rotation drive is controlled to rotate the wafer, so that the pressure sensor values ​​on each positioning element are the same, thereby positioning the wafer.

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