SIC epitaxy automatic wafer conveying equipment

Abstract

The utility model provides SIC epitaxy automatic wafer conveying equipment, and relates to the technical field of semiconductor processing equipment. Comprising a wafer conveying platform, a feeding device, an OCR recognition device, a first mechanical arm, a second mechanical arm, a loading device and a discharging device are arranged on the wafer conveying platform, the second mechanical arm is suitable for grabbing a substrate in the feeding device to the OCR recognition device to be recognized during loading and then placing the substrate in the loading device, and the OCR recognition device is used for recognizing the substrate in the loading device. Meanwhile, the epitaxial wafer in the loading device can be conveyed into the discharging device during unloading; and the first manipulator is arranged on the peripheral side of the reaction cavity so as to grab the substrate from the loading device into the reaction cavity during loading, and can convey the processed epitaxial wafer back into the loading device from the reaction cavity during unloading. According to the scheme of the utility model, automation of wafer conveying can be realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of semiconductor processing equipment, in particular to an epitaxial SIC automatic wafer transfer device. Background Art

[0002] Horizontal SIC epitaxial furnaces (LPE route) are all semi-automatic equipment, which requires operators to manually pick up and place wafers. The equipment has excellent process results and stable performance, but due to the limited production capacity of the equipment, a large number of production personnel are required to manually pick up and place wafers during production. On the one hand, the work efficiency is low, and on the other hand, the workpiece is easily damaged by human factors during the wafer picking process. Utility Model Content

[0003] The utility model discloses a SIC epitaxial automatic wafer conveying device, aiming to improve the problem of low wafer conveying automation in the existing epitaxial wafer production process.

[0004] The utility model adopts the following scheme:

[0005] The present application provides a SIC epitaxial automatic wafer transfer device, wherein the wafer transfer platform is suitable for being connected to a reaction chamber, and a loading device, an OCR recognition device, a second manipulator, a loading device, and an unloading device are arranged on the wafer transfer platform, wherein the second manipulator is suitable for grabbing a substrate in the loading device to the OCR recognition device for recognition during loading, and placing the substrate in the loading device after recognition, and can also transport the epitaxial wafer in the loading device to the unloading device during unloading; a visual camera is arranged above the loading device, and the visual camera is communicatively connected to the second manipulator to cooperate with the second manipulator for grabbing; a first manipulator is arranged on the reaction chamber, and the first manipulator is suitable for transferring the substrate back and forth between the loading device and the reaction chamber.

[0006] Furthermore, the wafer transfer platform also includes a calibrator, which is connected to the visual camera and is suitable for identifying the cutting edge position of the substrate so that the second robot can accurately place the substrate on the loading device.

[0007] Furthermore, the loading device includes a pin separation device to separate the epitaxial wafer from the graphite disk when the epitaxial wafer is unloaded so as to facilitate the second robot to grab the epitaxial wafer.

[0008] Furthermore, the second robot is provided with a Bernoulli vacuum chuck, and the Bernoulli vacuum chuck is suitable for adsorbing the epitaxial wafer or substrate.

[0009] Furthermore, the substrate is suitable for being placed in a coating ring, and the coating ring is suitable for being placed on the edge of a graphite disk, and the first manipulator is suitable for grabbing the substrate to transport it between the reaction chamber and the loading device; the second manipulator is suitable for synchronously transporting the graphite disk, the coating ring and the substrate to the loading device, and transporting the epitaxial wafer to the unloading device during unloading; a pin separation device is provided in the loading device to achieve separation of the epitaxial wafer from the coating ring; a cooling chamber is provided outside the reaction chamber to pre-cool the epitaxial wafer after the epitaxial wafer reaction is completed.

[0010] Furthermore, the loading device includes a graphite disk, the substrate is suitable for being placed on a coating ring, and the coating ring is detachably placed on the graphite disk; the first manipulator and the second manipulator are provided with finger structures suitable for clamping the coating ring to carry the coating ring.

[0011] Beneficial effects:

[0012] The utility model realizes the transportation by setting two manipulators. The second manipulator loads the substrate, and then places the substrate in the loading device at a certain angle for loading after identification and calibration. The first manipulator grabs the substrate into the reaction chamber for reaction. During the unloading process, the first manipulator first transports the processed epitaxial wafer to the loading device, and then the second manipulator transports the epitaxial wafer to the unloading device. In the whole process, different loading and unloading steps can be adjusted according to different ways of taking the wafer, so as to reduce the time loss in the loading and unloading process, thereby improving the efficiency of automatic wafer transfer. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an SIC epitaxial automatic wafer transfer device according to an embodiment of the utility model;

[0014] Icons: film transfer platform 1, loading device 2, OCR recognition device 3, first manipulator 4, second manipulator 5, loading device 6, unloading device 7, calibrator 8, cooling chamber 9. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] Example 1

[0016] Combination Figure 1The present embodiment provides a SIC epitaxial automatic wafer transfer device, comprising a wafer transfer platform 1, on which a loading device 2, an OCR recognition device 3, a first manipulator 4, a second manipulator 5, a loading device 6 and an unloading device 7 are arranged, wherein the second manipulator 5 is suitable for grabbing the substrate in the loading device 2 to the OCR recognition device 3 for recognition and placing it in the loading device 6 during loading, and can also transport the epitaxial wafer in the loading device 6 to the unloading device 7 during unloading; the first manipulator 4 is arranged on the side of the reaction chamber to grab the substrate from the loading device 6 to the reaction chamber during loading, and can transport the processed epitaxial wafer from the reaction chamber back to the loading device 6 during unloading.

[0017] In this embodiment, the wafer conveying platform 1 also includes a calibrator 8, which is suitable for identifying the cutting edge position of the substrate so that the second manipulator 5 can accurately place the substrate on the loading device 6. The loading device 2 is a loading rack for the substrate, which is used to place the substrate, and the unloading device 7 is used to place the processed epitaxial wafer. The substrate is processed in the reaction chamber to form an epitaxial wafer and is collected in the unloading device 7. The OCR recognition device 3 is an existing scanning identifier, which can recognize the information on the substrate for recording. The first manipulator 4 and the second manipulator 5 both use existing multi-axis manipulators with a large activity space, wherein the activity range of the second manipulator 5 is between the loading device 2, the unloading device 7, the loading device 6, the calibrator 8 and the OCR recognition device 3, so that the substrate can be moved between various stations. The first manipulator 4 is used to grab the substrate into the reaction chamber for reaction processing and grab the processed epitaxial wafer back to the loading device 6, so that the first manipulator 4 and the second manipulator 5 can complete the automatic wafer conveying process of loading and unloading the substrate through the cooperation of the first manipulator 4 and the second manipulator 5. In this embodiment, the calibrator 8 is an existing calibration device, which can use a visual comparison calibration method to identify the angle and position of the cut edge of the substrate, thereby achieving calibration.

[0018] The loading device 6 can realize vacuum loading of the substrate, and is compatible with an automatic transmission system in a high vacuum environment, wherein the film conveying platform 1 and the reaction chamber can be connected through a transmission valve, and the product can be transmitted in the film conveying platform 1 and the reaction chamber by the first manipulator 4, which can eliminate the exhaust and emptying process of the reaction chamber during each substrate cycle, thereby improving the system efficiency. A visual recognition device is arranged above the loading device 6, and it cooperates with the calibrator 8 to realize calibration. A visual camera and a light source are also arranged above the loading device 6, and the visual camera is used to capture the image in the loading chamber. The visual camera can recognize the image information and cooperate with the second manipulator 5 and the calibrator 8 to ensure that the substrate can be accurately placed each time it is placed. Image information recognition obtains the trimming position through pixel point recognition, and transmits the information to the calibrator 8 and the second manipulator 5, so that the second manipulator 5 can recognize the correct orientation when grasping, and cooperates with the calibrator 8 to improve the calibration efficiency.

[0019] In one embodiment, the loading device 6 includes a pin separation device to separate the epitaxial wafer from the graphite plate when the epitaxial wafer is unloaded so as to facilitate the second manipulator 5 to grasp the epitaxial wafer. In another embodiment, the second manipulator 5 is provided with a Bernoulli vacuum chuck, which is suitable for adsorbing the epitaxial wafer or substrate. When the Bernoulli vacuum chuck is used, the epitaxial wafer or substrate can be easily adsorbed and transported without the pin separation device, which can improve the grasping efficiency, and there is no need to perform trimming comparison, which reduces the difficulty of grasping.

[0020] In another embodiment, the substrate is suitable for being placed in a coating ring, and the coating ring is suitable for being placed on the edge of the graphite disk, the first manipulator 4 is suitable for grabbing the substrate to be transported between the reaction chamber and the loading device 6; the second manipulator 5 is suitable for synchronously transporting the graphite disk, the coating ring and the substrate to the loading device 6, and transporting the epitaxial wafer to the unloading device 7 during unloading; a pin separation device is provided in the loading device 6 to separate the epitaxial wafer from the coating ring; a cooling chamber 9 is provided outside the reaction chamber to pre-cool the epitaxial wafer after the epitaxial wafer reaction is completed. Here, the influence of the thermal field can be reduced by the integrated transport method.

[0021] In another embodiment, the loading device 6 includes a graphite disk, and the substrate is suitable for being placed on a coating ring; the first manipulator 4 and the second manipulator 5 are provided with finger structures suitable for clamping the coating ring to carry the coating ring and the substrate. The coating ring and the substrate are synchronously carried by the unique finger structure to complete the loading of the coating ring and realize automated production.

[0022] Example 2

[0023] The embodiment of the utility model provides a separate type SIC epitaxial automatic wafer transfer working method, using the above-mentioned SIC epitaxial automatic wafer transfer equipment, which needs to be pre-placed in the loading device 6 with a graphite disk, and the graphite disk is suitable for placing a coating ring; the steps are: when loading, the second manipulator 5 grabs the substrate from the loading device 2 to the OCR recognition device 3 for identification, and then grabs the substrate to the calibrator 8 for trimming calibration, and after the calibration is completed, the substrate is grabbed to the coating ring on the graphite disk of the loading device 6, and then the first manipulator 4 synchronously grabs the graphite disk, the coating ring and the substrate into the reaction chamber for reaction to form an epitaxial wafer; when unloading, the first manipulator 4 first transports the graphite disk and the processed epitaxial wafer from the reaction chamber to the loading device 6, and the ejector pin separation device in the loading device 6 works to separate the epitaxial wafer from the coating ring and the graphite disk, and then the second manipulator 5 transports the epitaxial wafer from the loading device 6 to the unloading device 7. In this embodiment, the substrate is grasped by a robot to be transported, the position of the substrate is calibrated by a calibrator 8 , and the epitaxial wafer is separated from the graphite disk by a pin separation device to facilitate grasping by the second robot 5 .

[0024] Example 3

[0025] The present embodiment also provides another advanced separated SIC epitaxial automatic wafer conveying working method, using the above-mentioned SIC epitaxial automatic wafer conveying equipment, which needs to pre-place a graphite disk in the loading device 6, and the graphite disk is suitable for placing a coating ring; during loading, the second robot 5 sucks the substrate from the loading device 2 to the OCR recognition device 3 for identification, and then sucks the substrate to the calibrator 8 for trimming calibration. After the calibration is completed, the substrate is sucked onto the coating ring on the graphite disk of the loading device 6, and then the first robot 4 synchronously grabs the substrate, graphite disk and coating ring into the reaction chamber for reaction to form an epitaxial wafer; during unloading, the first robot 4 first transports the graphite disk, coating ring and processed epitaxial wafer from the reaction chamber to the loading device 6, and then the second robot 5 directly adsorbs the epitaxial wafer to separate it from the graphite disk, so as to transport it from the loading device 6 to the unloading device 7. Here, by setting a Bernoulli vacuum suction cup for grabbing, it is possible to grab the epitaxial wafer without the need for a pin separation device, thereby improving efficiency and preventing damage to the pin graphite disk. In this embodiment, when performing OCR recognition, a calibration can be performed first to expose the part to be recognized to prevent the part to be recognized from being blocked and unable to be recognized. After recognition, the trimming calibration is performed again before being transported to the loading device 6. Through the scheme of this embodiment, the use of the pin separation device can be eliminated, reducing production costs. This scheme can solve the problem of the difficulty in separating the epitaxial wafer and the graphite disk, and the graphite disk can be reused many times, saving process costs.

[0026] Example 4

[0027] The present embodiment also provides another slice-type SIC epitaxial automatic wafer transfer working method, using the above-mentioned SIC epitaxial automatic wafer transfer equipment, a graphite disk is arranged on the loading device 6, during loading, the second manipulator 5 grabs the substrate with the coating ring from the loading device 2 to the OCR recognition device 3 for identification, and then grabs the substrate to the calibrator 8 for trimming calibration, after the calibration is completed, the substrate is grabbed to the graphite disk of the loading device 6, and then the first manipulator 4 synchronously grabs the substrate, the graphite disk and the coating ring into the reaction chamber for reaction to form an epitaxial wafer; during unloading, the first manipulator 4 first transports the graphite disk, the coating ring and the processed epitaxial wafer from the reaction chamber to the loading device 6, and then starts the ejector separation device for separation, and then the second manipulator 5 synchronously transports the epitaxial wafer and the coating ring from the loading device 6 to the unloading device 7. Here, by adopting the split-type film taking method, by clamping the coating ring, the second manipulator 5 can be prevented from blocking part of the substrate, and the influence of the graphite disk on the thermal field can be reduced, and the second manipulator 5 does not directly contact the substrate, which can reduce the damage to the substrate. In this embodiment, the edge of the graphite disk is provided with a step suitable for placing the coating ring. The coating ring is placed on the step and the movement of the coating ring can be restricted by the step. The edge of the substrate rests on the coating ring, so that it is fixed in the coating ring. During transportation, the substrate will not shift in the coating ring. The finger structure on the second manipulator 5 can be set to a Y shape with a placement groove, and the coating ring can be embedded in the placement groove to facilitate the transportation of the coating ring. Through this solution, only the coating ring needs to be replaced, and the impact on the substrate or epitaxial wafer is small, the processing quality is high, and the coating ring has little impact on the calibration accuracy during calibration, so it is convenient to calibrate.

[0028] Example 5

[0029] The present embodiment also provides another integrated SIC epitaxial automatic wafer transfer working method, using the above-mentioned SIC epitaxial automatic wafer transfer equipment, when in the loading device 2, the substrate is placed on the coating ring, and the coating ring is placed in the graphite disk. During loading, the second manipulator 5 synchronously grabs the substrate, coating ring and graphite disk from the loading device 2 to the OCR recognition device 3 for identification, and then grabs the substrate, graphite disk and coating ring to the loading device 6, and then the first manipulator 4 synchronously grabs the substrate, coating ring and graphite disk to the reaction chamber for reaction to form an epitaxial wafer; during unloading, the first manipulator 4 first transports the graphite disk, coating ring and processed epitaxial wafer from the reaction chamber to the cooling chamber 9 to cool to a certain temperature, and then transports them to the loading device 6, the ejector pin separation mechanism in the loading device 6 separates the epitaxial wafer from the graphite disk, and finally the epitaxial wafer is grabbed by the second manipulator 5 to be transported from the loading device 6 to the unloading device 7. This embodiment firstly realizes the integrated wafer picking by synchronously grabbing the substrate, coating ring and graphite disk. During loading, since the substrate has been matched in the graphite disk before loading, no calibration is required, which reduces the calibration steps and improves efficiency. During unloading, the epitaxial wafer, coating ring and graphite disk are first transported to the cooling chamber 9 for cooling, and then transported back to the loading device 6 for separation after cooling. Through the setting of the cooling chamber 9, the epitaxial wafer does not need to wait for cooling inside the reaction chamber, which can increase the speed of substrate feeding and improve processing efficiency. At the same time, since the graphite disk is synchronously placed in the reaction chamber, the influence of the thermal field on the epitaxial processing of the substrate can be reduced.

[0030] Through the embodiment scheme of the utility model, a variety of film transmission methods are provided, and different film transmission methods can be performed according to different process requirements to improve the efficiency of film transmission and meet film transmission requirements.

[0031] It should be understood that the above are only preferred implementations of the present utility model, and the protection scope of the present utility model is not limited to the above embodiments. All technical solutions under the concept of the present utility model belong to the protection scope of the present utility model.

[0032] The above description of the drawings used in the implementation manner only shows certain embodiments of the utility model and should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For ordinary technicians in this field, other relevant drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

Claims

1. A SIC epitaxial automatic wafer transfer device, comprising a wafer transfer platform, wherein the wafer transfer platform is suitable for connecting to a reaction chamber, and is characterized in that: The wafer transfer platform is provided with a loading device, an OCR recognition device, a second manipulator, a loading device and an unloading device, wherein the second manipulator is suitable for grabbing the substrate in the loading device to the OCR recognition device for recognition and then placing it in the loading device during loading, and can also transport the epitaxial wafer in the loading device to the unloading device during unloading; a visual camera is arranged above the loading device, and the visual camera is communicated with the second manipulator to cooperate with the second manipulator for grabbing; a first manipulator is arranged on the reaction chamber, and the first manipulator is suitable for transferring the substrate back and forth between the loading device and the reaction chamber.

2. The SIC epitaxial automatic wafer transfer device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The wafer transfer platform also includes a calibrator connected to the visual camera. The calibrator is suitable for identifying the cutting edge position of the substrate so that the second robot can accurately place the substrate on the loading device.

3. The SIC epitaxial automatic wafer transfer device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The loading device includes a pin separation device to separate the epitaxial wafer from the graphite plate when the epitaxial wafer is unloaded so as to facilitate the second robot to grab the epitaxial wafer.

4. The SIC epitaxial automatic wafer transfer device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The second robot is provided with a Bernoulli vacuum chuck, and the Bernoulli vacuum chuck is suitable for adsorbing the epitaxial wafer or substrate.

5. The SIC epitaxial automatic wafer transfer device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The substrate is suitable for being placed in a coating ring, and the coating ring is suitable for being placed on the edge of a graphite disk. The first manipulator is suitable for grabbing the substrate to transport it between the reaction chamber and the loading device. The second manipulator is suitable for synchronously transporting the graphite disk, the coating ring and the substrate to the loading device, and transporting the epitaxial wafer to the unloading device during unloading. A pin separation device is provided in the loading device to achieve separation of the epitaxial wafer from the coating ring. A cooling chamber is provided outside the reaction chamber to pre-cool the epitaxial wafer after the epitaxial wafer reaction is completed.

6. The SIC epitaxial automatic wafer transfer device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The loading device includes a graphite disk, the substrate is suitable for being placed on a coating ring, and the coating ring is detachably placed on the graphite disk; the first manipulator and the second manipulator are provided with finger structures suitable for clamping the coating ring to carry the coating ring.

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