Wafer identification device
By designing a wafer identification device that includes laser modules and detection modules, the problem of incorrect wafer placement in semiconductor production lines is solved, and accurate detection of wafer number and spacing is achieved, ensuring correct placement, and improving production efficiency and product quality.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202421487600.0
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-06-27
- Publication Date
- 2025-04-29
- Estimated Expiration
- 2034-06-27
AI Technical Summary
In semiconductor production lines, whether the wafer is correctly placed in the container of the wafer box affects the correct introduction and subsequent process of automation equipment, and it is difficult for the existing technology to effectively detect and confirm.
A wafer identification device is designed, including a support unit and a working unit. The support unit includes a movable stage and a speed reduction mechanism, and the working unit includes a laser module and a detection module. The laser module emits linear light, and the detection module uses the image capturer and processor to determine the number and spacing of light points to confirm the correct placement of the wafer.
By accurately detecting the number and spacing of wafers, ensure the correct placement of wafers, avoid affecting the correct introduction and subsequent processes of automation equipment, and improve the production efficiency and product quality of semiconductor production lines.
Smart Images
Figure CN222813553U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The utility model relates to an auxiliary device for a semiconductor production line, in particular to a wafer identification device. Background Art
[0002] See also Figure 1 , is a wafer box 1 for containing a plurality of wafers W currently commonly used in semiconductor processes, the wafer box 1 defines a receiving space 10, and has a plurality of additional circuit boards 11 ( Figure 1 Only one side can be seen due to the viewing angle). The additional circuit board 11 divides the accommodation space 10 into a plurality of accommodation slots S for placing a plurality of wafers W. In the current mature semiconductor production line, the wafers W are taken from the accommodation space 10 by automated equipment and then introduced into the production line to execute the processes of each station.
[0003] However, whether the wafer W can be actually introduced into the production line by the automated equipment depends in part on whether the wafer W is actually placed in the slots S as expected. Therefore, if a certain slot S does not contain the wafer W, a certain slot S contains multiple wafers W, or a certain wafer W is not placed flat on the mutually aligned additional circuit board 11, it may affect the operation of the automated equipment to correctly introduce the wafer W. Similarly, even when the wafer W is to be placed back into the wafer box 1 after completing a specific process step, similar situations may occur and affect subsequent processes or even the shipment of finished products. Utility Model Content
[0004] The utility model aims to provide a wafer identification device which can perform special detection on the situation that a wafer is placed in a wafer box.
[0005] The wafer identification device of the utility model is suitable for being arranged adjacent to a wafer box, wherein the wafer box defines an inner space suitable for placing multiple wafers along a longitudinal direction. The wafer identification device comprises a supporting unit and a working unit installed on the supporting unit.
[0006] The supporting unit includes a bracket and a carrier which is movably arranged on the bracket along the longitudinal direction.
[0007] The working unit includes a laser module disposed on the stage, and a detection module disposed on the stage spaced apart from the laser module. The laser module has a light source suitable for emitting linear light to the wafer. The detection module has an image capturer for capturing a shooting range in which the linear light irradiates the wafer, and a processor connected to the image capturer. The processor is used to determine whether the calculated number of light spots meets the expected number corresponding to the shooting range based on a plurality of light spots formed on the wafer by the linear light in the shooting range, and to confirm whether the measured spacing between two adjacent light spots meets the specification spacing.
[0008] The wafer identification device of the utility model, wherein the support unit further comprises a speed reduction mechanism installed on the bracket and connected to the carrier, and a servo motor connected to the speed reduction mechanism.
[0009] In the wafer identification device of the utility model, the laser module of the working unit further comprises a first adjustment seat which is installed on the carrier and can adjust the irradiation direction of the linear light.
[0010] In the wafer identification device of the utility model, the detection module of the working unit further comprises a second adjustment seat which is installed on the stage and can adjust the shooting direction of the image capture device.
[0011] In the wafer identification device of the utility model, the image capturer of the detection module is a charge coupled photosensitive component.
[0012] The wafer identification device of the utility model further comprises a fixing unit which is adjacent to and spaced from the supporting unit and is suitable for fixing the wafer box.
[0013] The beneficial effect of the utility model is that: by using the fixed shooting range of the image capturer of the detection module, the expected number can be properly set according to the principle of corresponding to a specific number of wafers. Subsequently, as long as the support unit is used to move the working unit to an appropriate position relative to the wafer box to be confirmed, when the light source irradiates the wafer to form a plurality of light spots, the image capturer is used to shoot, and the calculated number of the plurality of light spots determined by the processor is the number of the wafers actually placed in the shooting range, and then the calculated number is compared with the expected number to confirm whether the measured spacing between two adjacent wafers is correct, thereby knowing whether the wafers in the shooting range are correctly placed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] Figure 1 It is an incomplete three-dimensional diagram, illustrating the situation where multiple wafers are placed in a wafer box;
[0015] Figure 2 is a three-dimensional diagram illustrating an embodiment of the wafer identification device of the present invention;
[0016] Figure 3 is a partially enlarged three-dimensional diagram illustrating a supporting unit and a working unit of the embodiment;
[0017] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of a laser module and a detection module of the working unit;
[0018] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a situation where a line of light emitted by the laser module is irradiated onto a plurality of wafers; and
[0019] Figure 6 This is a partial enlarged picture, with Figure 5 The situation in which the linear light forms five light spots on the wafer is described. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0020] The utility model is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.
[0021] See also Figure 2 , is an embodiment of the wafer identification device of the utility model, and this embodiment is suitable for being arranged adjacent to a wafer box 9, wherein the wafer box 9 defines a region suitable for supplying a plurality of wafers 80 (see Figure 5 ) is placed along a longitudinal direction H in an inner space 90. This embodiment includes a support unit 2, a working unit 3 installed on the support unit 2, and a fixing unit 4 adjacent to the support unit 2 and suitable for fixing the wafer box 9. Specifically, the wafer box 9 used in this embodiment is a front opening shipping box (FOSB) and is made of a transparent material.
[0022] See also Figure 2 and Figure 3 The support unit 2 includes a bracket 21, a carrier 22 movably arranged on the bracket 21 along the longitudinal direction H, a speed reduction mechanism 23 installed on the bracket 21 and connected to the carrier 22, and a servo motor 24 connected to the speed reduction mechanism 23. There is no specific restriction on the form of the bracket 21, and it can be freely designed according to the production line environment or the need to fix various components, as long as it can be stably supported and has sufficient structural strength. The carrier 22 can be powered by the servo motor 24, and the appropriate position along the longitudinal direction H on the bracket 21 can be adjusted while the speed reduction mechanism 23 controls the speed and optimizes the adjustment accuracy.
[0023] The working unit 3 includes a laser module 31 disposed on the stage 22, and a detection module 32 disposed on the stage 22 at a distance from the laser module 31. The laser module 31 has a light source 311 suitable for emitting linear light to the wafer 80, and a first adjustment seat 312 installed on the stage 22 and capable of adjusting the irradiation direction of the linear light. The detection module 32 has an image capturer 321 for photographing a photographing range of the linear light irradiating the wafer 80, a second adjustment seat 322 installed on the stage 22 and capable of adjusting the photographing direction of the image capturer 321, and a processor 323 (indicated at) connected to the image capturer 321. Figure 4 ). The image capturer 321 is a charge coupled photosensitive element (CCD), and the linear light generated by the light source 311 is preferably matched with the range that the image capturer 321 can shoot, and irradiates 4 to 6 wafers 80 in a positioned state. In addition, the specific forms of the first adjustment seat 312 and the second adjustment seat 322 are not limited, and the directions of the light source 311 and the image capturer 321 can be freely adjusted.
[0024] See also Figure 4 And cooperate Figure 2 Specifically, the processor 323 is a computing chip that can be pre-written with logic or installed with an image processing software, and can perform the required operations and output the results. The processor 323 receives the information of the image captured by the image capturer 321, and obtains the number of multiple light spots formed by the linear light in the shooting range on the wafer 80 through image recognition, determines a calculated number of the light spots, and can also obtain a measurement interval between two adjacent light spots and a measurement area of each of the light spots in the shooting range.
[0025] See also Figures 4 to 6 And cooperate Figure 2 and Figure 3 When the present embodiment is used to detect the wafer 80 placed in the wafer box 9, with the wafer box 9 stably placed on the fixing unit 4, the directions of the light source 311 of the laser module 31 and the image capturer 321 of the detection module 32 can be adjusted in advance through the first adjustment seat 312 and the second adjustment seat 322. Because the wafer box 9 is made of a transparent material, the linear light emitted by the laser module 31 can penetrate and directly illuminate the wafer 80. It should be noted here that when the inspection and confirmation is performed on the completed wafer 80, because the manufactured structure surface is usually placed upward, in order to avoid unexpected reflections caused by the manufactured structure, the light source 311 is preferably as follows when performing the inspection. Figure 4 The principle is to illuminate the back side of the wafer 80 in an inclined direction from bottom to top.
[0026] Next, in conjunction with the shooting range of the image capture device 321, if a single screen is set to shoot 5 wafers 80 as an example, the laser module 31 used to emit the linear light and the detection module 32 responsible for interpreting the image after the light spot is formed can be fixed in relative position. Through the function of the stage 22 that can move along the longitudinal direction H, they can move step by step and perform the inspection operation at a rate of 5 wafers at a time.
[0027] For each frame containing the light spots captured by the image capturer 321 in cooperation with the illumination of the light source 311, the processor 323 can determine whether the calculated number of the light spots, that is, the number of the wafers 80, meets an expected number corresponding to the shooting range (in this example, Figure 6 5 pieces presented). After confirming that the calculated number is consistent with the expected number, it can be roughly determined that there are indeed 5 wafers 80 in the shooting range; on the contrary, if the number does not match, it can be directly known that the number has increased or decreased. Furthermore, in view of the situation that the wafers 80 may be placed overlapping each other, considering that the multiple overlapping wafers 80, the light spots formed by the common reflection of the linear light should have a larger area, so the processor 323 can also detect whether the measured area of each of the light spots is within a preset reasonable range, thereby achieving the purpose of ensuring that the wafers 80 are not "overlapped". In addition, after pre-setting a standard spacing that should be had by the two wafers 80 when they are placed normally, the image recognition method is also used to confirm whether the measured spacing between two adjacent light spots meets the standard spacing, so as to detect whether the wafer 80 is not placed horizontally but is "obliquely inserted".
Claims
1. A wafer identification device, suitable for being arranged adjacent to a wafer box, wherein the wafer box defines an inner space suitable for placing a plurality of wafers along a longitudinal direction; characterized in that: The wafer identification device comprises: A supporting unit, comprising a bracket and a carrier disposed on the bracket movably along the longitudinal direction; and A working unit is installed on the supporting unit and includes a laser module arranged on the carrier and a detection module arranged on the carrier at a distance from the laser module, wherein the laser module has a light source suitable for emitting linear light to the wafer, the detection module has an image capturer for capturing a shooting range in which the linear light irradiates the wafer, and a processor connected to the image capturer, wherein the processor is used to determine whether the calculated number of the light spots meets the expected number corresponding to the shooting range based on a plurality of light spots formed on the wafer by the linear light in the shooting range, and to confirm whether the measured spacing between two adjacent light spots meets the specification spacing.
2. The wafer identification device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The supporting unit further includes a speed reduction mechanism installed on the bracket and connected to the carrier, and a servo motor connected to the speed reduction mechanism.
3. The wafer identification device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The laser module of the working unit further comprises a first adjustment seat which is mounted on the carrier and can adjust the irradiation direction of the linear light.
4. The wafer identification device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The detection module of the working unit further comprises a second adjustment seat which is installed on the carrier and can adjust the shooting direction of the image capture device.
5. The wafer identification device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The image capture device of the detection module is a charge coupled photosensitive component.
6. The wafer identification device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The wafer identification device further includes a fixing unit which is adjacent to and spaced from the supporting unit and is suitable for fixing the wafer box.