Wafer spin-drying equipment and wafer production system

Abstract

The utility model discloses wafer spin-drying equipment, which comprises a machine table, a water tank, a positioning mechanism, a first carrying mechanism, a spin-drying mechanism and a second carrying mechanism, wherein the water tank, the positioning mechanism, the first carrying mechanism, the spin-drying mechanism and the second carrying mechanism are arranged on the machine table. The positioning mechanism is used for positioning the wafer; the first carrying mechanism is used for carrying the wafer in the water tank to the positioning mechanism; the spin-drying mechanism is used for spin-drying the wafer; and the second carrying mechanism is used for carrying the wafer on the positioning mechanism to the spin-drying mechanism. A wafer is firstly carried to the positioning mechanism through the first carrying mechanism, the positioning mechanism positions the wafer, and then the second carrying mechanism carries the positioned wafer to the spin-drying mechanism for spin-drying. Compared with the prior art, the wafer is positioned again before spin-drying, the grabbing precision of the second carrying mechanism and the placing precision of the wafer in the spin-drying mechanism can be improved, the wafer can be effectively prevented from shaking in the spin-drying process, the phenomena of wafer flying and wafer breaking are avoided, and the yield of wafer production is improved. The utility model further discloses a wafer production system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the field of semiconductor manufacturing equipment technology, specifically relating to a wafer spin-drying device and a wafer manufacturing system. Background Technology

[0002] After silicon ingots are sliced, ground, and polished to form standard silicon wafers, the wafers need to be cleaned to remove various contaminants from their surfaces. Currently, the most common cleaning process is wet cleaning. After cleaning, to prevent the remaining deionized water on the wafer surface from drying and forming watermarks, the wafers need to be spun dry.

[0003] Existing wafer spin dryers typically use a robotic arm to pick up cleaned wafers and place them into a spin dryer for drying. Since the spin dryer works by driving the wafer to rotate, high precision is required for wafer placement. Currently, the positioning accuracy required during the cleaning process is relatively low, resulting in lower precision in the robotic arm's gripping of the wafers. This affects the accuracy of the robotic arm in placing the wafers into the spin dryer, increasing the likelihood of wafer slippage and fragmentation, thus impacting wafer production yield. Utility Model Content

[0004] The technical problem this application aims to solve is that the precision of placing wafers into the spin-drying station in existing wafer spin-drying equipment is low, which easily leads to wafer fly-off and fragmentation. To solve this technical problem, this application provides a wafer spin-drying equipment and wafer production system that can ensure the placement precision of wafers and avoid wafer fly-off and fragmentation.

[0005] The technical solution proposed in this application is as follows:

[0006] A wafer spin dryer includes:

[0007] Machine tool;

[0008] A water tank is installed on the machine platform;

[0009] A positioning mechanism, disposed on the machine tool, is used to position the wafer;

[0010] A first transport mechanism is disposed on the machine platform, and the first transport mechanism is used to transport the wafer in the water tank to the positioning mechanism;

[0011] A spin-drying mechanism, installed on the machine platform, is used to spin-dry wafers;

[0012] A second transport mechanism is disposed on the machine platform, and the second transport mechanism is used to transport the wafer on the positioning mechanism to the spin-drying mechanism.

[0013] Using the aforementioned wafer spin-drying equipment, the wafer is first transported to the positioning mechanism by the first transport mechanism, where it is positioned. Then, the second transport mechanism transports the positioned wafer to the spin-drying mechanism for spin-drying. Repositioning the wafer before spin-drying improves the gripping accuracy of the second transport mechanism and the placement accuracy within the spin-drying mechanism. This effectively prevents wafer movement during spin-drying, thus avoiding wafer slippage and fragmentation, and improving wafer production yield.

[0014] Furthermore, the machine includes a workbench and a top cover disposed above the workbench. The water tank, the positioning mechanism, the spin-drying mechanism, and the second conveying mechanism are all disposed on the workbench, and the first conveying mechanism is disposed on the top cover.

[0015] Furthermore, the water tank and the positioning mechanism are arranged at intervals along the first direction;

[0016] The first conveying mechanism includes a first translation drive, a lifting drive, and a gripping component. The first translation drive is disposed on the top cover and connected to the lifting drive to drive the lifting drive to reciprocate along the first direction. The lifting drive is connected to the gripping component, which is used to grip and release the wafer.

[0017] Furthermore, there are multiple water tanks and multiple spin-drying mechanisms.

[0018] Furthermore, the number of the spin-drying mechanisms is greater than the number of the water tanks.

[0019] Furthermore, at least some of the spin-drying mechanisms are arranged at intervals along the first direction;

[0020] The second handling mechanism includes a second translation drive and a multi-axis manipulator. The second translation drive is connected to the multi-axis manipulator to drive the multi-axis manipulator to reciprocate along the first direction. The multi-axis manipulator is used to grasp and release wafers.

[0021] Furthermore, the positioning mechanism and at least a portion of the spin-drying mechanism are respectively located on both sides of the second translational drive member along the second direction;

[0022] Wherein, the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular.

[0023] Furthermore, the wafer spin dryer also includes a wafer dryer cassette, which is disposed on the machine base, and the second transport mechanism is also capable of transporting the wafers in the spin dryer to the wafer dryer cassette.

[0024] Furthermore, the wafer spin-drying equipment also includes a control mechanism and a touch screen. The control mechanism and the touch screen are both disposed on the machine base. The control mechanism is electrically connected to the water tank, the positioning mechanism, the first conveying mechanism, the spin-drying mechanism, the second conveying mechanism, and the touch screen.

[0025] A wafer manufacturing system includes a wafer spin dryer as described above.

[0026] In summary, the wafer spin-drying equipment and wafer production system provided in this application have at least the following advantages:

[0027] 1. After the wafer is cleaned, it is repositioned by the positioning mechanism and then transported to the spin-drying mechanism by the second transport mechanism. This can improve the gripping and placement accuracy of the second transport mechanism, thereby avoiding wafer shaking and flying and fragmentation in the spin-drying mechanism, and improving the yield of wafer production.

[0028] 2. Multiple water tanks and spin-drying mechanisms are used to improve production efficiency;

[0029] 3. The water tank and positioning mechanism are located on one side of the second conveying mechanism, and part of the spin-drying mechanism is set on the other side of the second conveying mechanism. Moreover, the water tank, positioning mechanism and part of the spin-drying mechanism on the other side are all arranged at intervals along the first direction, which can improve space utilization and shorten the length of the equipment in the first direction.

[0030] 4. A dry wafer box is installed on the machine for placing the wafers after spin drying, which facilitates wafer collection. Attached Figure Description

[0031] The accompanying drawings are provided to further understand this application and form part of the specification. They are used together with the embodiments of this application to explain this application and do not constitute a limitation thereof.

[0032] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a wafer spin dryer provided in one embodiment of this application;

[0033] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A top view of the wafer spin dryer.

[0034] Label Explanation:

[0035] 100. Wafer spin dryer; 110. Machine base; 120. Water tank; 130. Positioning mechanism; 140. First conveying mechanism; 150. Spin dryer; 160. Second conveying mechanism; 170. Dry wafer tray; 180. Touch screen. Detailed Implementation

[0036] To make the above-mentioned objectives, features, and advantages of this application more apparent and understandable, the specific embodiments of this application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Many specific details are set forth in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of this application. However, this application can be implemented in many other ways different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar modifications without departing from the spirit of this application. Therefore, this application is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0037] In the description of this application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc., indicating the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this application.

[0038] Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of that feature. In the description of this application, "multiple" means at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0039] In this application, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," "joining," and "fixing," etc., should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components, unless otherwise expressly limited. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this application according to the specific circumstances.

[0040] In this application, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, "above" or "below" the second feature can mean that the first feature is in direct contact with the second feature, or that the first feature is in indirect contact with the second feature through an intermediate medium. Furthermore, "above," "on top of," and "over" the second feature can mean that the first feature is directly above or diagonally above the second feature, or simply that the first feature is at a higher horizontal level than the second feature. "Below," "below," and "under" the second feature can mean that the first feature is directly below or diagonally below the second feature, or simply that the first feature is at a lower horizontal level than the second feature.

[0041] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" or "set on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or there may be an intervening element. When an element is considered to be "connected to" another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or there may be an intervening element. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," and similar expressions used herein are for illustrative purposes only and do not represent the only possible implementation.

[0042] To facilitate understanding of the technical solution of this application, the positioning problem of wafers in existing spin dryers is explained below: Existing wafer positioning structures also exist during the cleaning process, but the positioning accuracy of these structures is low. They are mainly used to prevent wafer wobbling during cleaning and to ensure that the robotic arm can grasp the wafer after cleaning. Because of the low wafer positioning accuracy during cleaning, the subsequent grasping and placement accuracy is also low, which easily leads to wobbling during spin drying, resulting in wafer flying or fragmentation.

[0043] Based on this, on the one hand, such as Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, one embodiment of this application provides a wafer spin-drying device 100, including a machine base 110 and a water tank 120, a positioning mechanism 130, a first conveying mechanism 140, a spin-drying mechanism 150 and a second conveying mechanism 160 disposed on the machine base 110.

[0044] The wafer is immersed in water (deionized water) in the water tank 120. The positioning mechanism 130 is used to position the wafer, and the spin-drying mechanism 150 is used to spin-dry the wafer. The first transport mechanism 140 is used to transport the wafer in the water tank 120 to the positioning mechanism 130, and the second transport mechanism 160 is used to transport the wafer on the positioning mechanism 130 to the spin-drying mechanism 150.

[0045] Therefore, the general workflow of the wafer spin-drying equipment 100 is as follows: the wafer is first placed in a water tank 120 and immersed in water. The first transport mechanism 140 transports the wafer to the positioning mechanism 130, where the wafer is positioned. Next, the second transport mechanism 160 transports the positioned wafer to the spin-drying mechanism 150 for spin-drying.

[0046] Using the aforementioned wafer spin-drying equipment 100, the wafer is first transported to the positioning mechanism 130 via the first transport mechanism 140. The positioning mechanism 130 positions the wafer, and then the second transport mechanism 160 transports the positioned wafer to the spin-drying mechanism 150 for spin-drying. Repositioning the wafer before spin-drying improves the gripping accuracy of the second transport mechanism 160 and the placement accuracy in the spin-drying mechanism 150, effectively preventing wafer wobbling during spin-drying and thus avoiding wafer fly-offs and fragmentation, thereby improving wafer production yield.

[0047] In addition, placing the cleaned wafer in a water tank 120 and immersing it in water can prevent the wafer from waiting too long and causing the water on the wafer surface to dry and form watermarks.

[0048] It is understood that in this embodiment, the spin-drying mechanism 150 also achieves the spin-drying of the wafer by driving the wafer to rotate. At the same time, after ensuring the placement accuracy of the wafer, the wafer on the spin-drying mechanism 150 will not rotate eccentrically, that is, it will not wobble, thereby avoiding the generation of flyaway wafers and fragments.

[0049] Furthermore, the spin-drying mechanism 150 may include a rotary drive and a carrier plate. The rotary drive is mounted on the frame and connected to the carrier plate to drive the carrier plate to rotate. The carrier plate is circular and capable of carrying the wafer. The carrier plate fixes the wafer by negative pressure adsorption.

[0050] In one embodiment, the machine 110 includes a workbench and a top cover disposed above the workbench. A water tank 120, a positioning mechanism 130, a spin-drying mechanism 150, and a second conveying mechanism 160 are all disposed on the workbench, while a first conveying mechanism 140 is disposed on the top cover. Specifically... Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, a support frame is also provided around the workbench, and the top cover is fixed above the workbench by the support frame.

[0051] In one embodiment, there are multiple water tanks 120 and multiple spin-drying mechanisms 150 to simultaneously spin-dry multiple wafers, thereby improving production efficiency. Preferably, the number of spin-drying mechanisms 150 is greater than the number of water tanks 120, for example... Figure 2 In the embodiment shown, there are two water tanks 120 and six spin-drying mechanisms 150.

[0052] It should be explained that the water tank 120 is mainly designed to prevent the water on the wafer surface from drying out due to excessively long waiting time; that is, to keep the wafer surface moist during the waiting process. Therefore, the number of water tanks 120 needs to be determined in conjunction with the upstream wafer cleaning speed and the downstream wafer positioning and spin-drying speed.

[0053] Regarding the wafer positioning and spin-drying steps, since the spin-drying step takes longer than the positioning step, to avoid the wafer waiting time being too long for spin-drying, which could cause residual water on the wafer surface to dry and form watermarks, the number of spin-drying mechanisms 150 is set to be greater than the number of positioning mechanisms 130 and water tanks 120. Of course, the specific number of water tanks 120, positioning mechanisms 130, and spin-drying mechanisms 150 can be set according to actual conditions, such as based on the ratio of the duration of each step, and is not limited here.

[0054] In one embodiment, the water tank 120 and the positioning mechanism 130 are arranged at intervals along a first direction, and at least some of the multiple spin-drying mechanisms 150 are also arranged at intervals along the first direction, and are arranged at intervals with the water tank 120 and the positioning mechanism 130 along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Specifically... Figure 2 In the middle, the first direction is left and right, and the second direction is up and down.

[0055] In one embodiment, the first conveying mechanism 140 includes a first translational drive, a lifting drive, and a gripping component. The first translational drive is disposed on the top cover and connected to the lifting drive to drive the lifting drive to reciprocate along a first direction, thereby causing the lifting drive to reciprocate between the water tank 120 and the positioning mechanism 130. The lifting drive is connected to the gripping component to drive the gripping component to approach and move away from the wafers on the water tank 120 and the positioning mechanism 130, thereby enabling the gripping component to grip and release the wafers. Optionally, the first translational drive is a linear module or a cylinder, the lifting drive is a linear module or a cylinder, and the gripping component grips the wafers by negative pressure adsorption.

[0056] In one embodiment, the positioning mechanism 130 includes a support platform with positioning blocks disposed on it. The support platform supports the wafer, and there are two positioning blocks. The two positioning blocks can move closer to each other and further apart to clamp the positioning wafer during the process of moving closer together. Simultaneously, both sides of the two positioning blocks facing each other have arc-shaped positioning surfaces to match the wafer, thereby clamping the positioning wafer during the process of moving closer together. Preferably, the two positioning blocks are driven to move closer to each other and further apart by a driving structure.

[0057] In one embodiment, the second handling mechanism 160 includes a second translational drive and a multi-axis manipulator. The second translational drive is connected to the multi-axis manipulator to drive the multi-axis manipulator to reciprocate along a first direction, and the multi-axis manipulator is capable of gripping and releasing wafers. The second translational drive can also be a linear module or a cylinder, and the multi-axis manipulator can also grip wafers using negative pressure adsorption.

[0058] Furthermore, the positioning mechanism 130 and at least part of the spin-drying mechanism 150 are located on both sides of the second translation drive member along the second direction, for example... Figure 2As shown, the positioning mechanism 130 is located below the second translation drive, and part of the spin-drying mechanism 150 is located above the second translation drive. Thus, through the high degree of freedom of the multi-axis manipulator, the wafer can move between the positioning mechanism 130 and the spin-drying mechanism 150, without needing to arrange the spin-drying mechanism 150, positioning mechanism 130, water tank 120, and other mechanisms along the first direction, thereby reducing the size of the wafer spin-drying equipment 100 in the first direction.

[0059] Based on the above description, it can be understood that the multi-axis robot can rotate, thereby enabling the wafer to move between the positioning mechanism 130 and the spin-drying mechanism 150 located on the upper and lower sides of the first translation drive respectively; while the first handling mechanism 140 has lower handling requirements, so there is no need to set up a multi-axis robot.

[0060] In one embodiment, the wafer spin dryer 100 further includes a wafer cassette 170, which is disposed on the machine base 110 for holding the spin-dried wafers. The second transport mechanism 160 can also transport the wafers in the spin dryer 150 to the wafer cassette 170, and then the operator can collect the wafers by replacing the wafer cassette 170.

[0061] In one embodiment, the wafer spin dryer 100 further includes a control mechanism, which is disposed on the machine base 110 and electrically connected to the water tank 120, the first conveying mechanism 140, the positioning mechanism 130, the second conveying mechanism 160, and the spin dryer 150 in the above embodiment to realize the automated operation of the wafer spin dryer 100. Further, the wafer spin dryer 100 also includes a touch screen 180, which is disposed on the machine base 110 and electrically connected to the control mechanism to visually display the operating status of the wafer spin dryer 100, and also allows operators to adjust the process parameters of the wafer spin dryer 100 through the touch screen 180.

[0062] It should be noted that in order to achieve the automated operation of the wafer spin dryer 100, corresponding sensors need to be installed at each mechanism. This is a standard procedure and will not be elaborated here.

[0063] To facilitate understanding of the technical solution of this application, this document combines... Figure 2 The process flow of the wafer spin dryer 100 in the above embodiments is described as follows:

[0064] The operator places the wafer into an empty water tank 120. The first transport mechanism 140 removes the wafer from the water tank 120 (corresponding to the empty water tank 120), and then places the wafer on the support platform of the positioning mechanism 130. After the wafer is positioned on the support platform by the positioning block, the second transport mechanism 160 removes the wafer from the positioning mechanism 130 and transfers it to an empty spin-drying mechanism 150. After the spin-drying mechanism 150 spins the wafer dry, the second transport mechanism 160 transfers the wafer from the spin-drying mechanism 150 to the wafer dryer cassette 170, thus completing the wafer spin-drying process.

[0065] It should be noted that if there is a wafer being positioned on the positioning mechanism 130, the operation of the first transport mechanism 140 can be divided into two schemes. The first is to first grab the wafer, and then wait for the wafer on the positioning mechanism 130 to complete its positioning before placing the wafer back onto the positioning mechanism 130. The second is to wait until the second transport mechanism 160 begins to transport the wafer from the positioning mechanism 130, at which point the first transport mechanism 140 begins to grab the wafer from the water tank 120. It should be explained that if the first scheme is adopted, because the positioning time of the positioning mechanism 130 is shorter, the waiting time of the first transport mechanism 140 is also shorter, and the water on the wafer will not dry out.

[0066] In addition, in this embodiment, the wafer is immersed in water in the water tank 120, and the water in the water tank 120 can be automatically replaced, for example, by using flowing water, to prevent the accumulation of dirt and contamination of the wafer. At the same time, the water tank 120 is provided with a structure to limit the wafer's position, so as to prevent the wafer from moving with the water flow.

[0067] Based on the aforementioned wafer spin dryer 100, this application also provides a wafer manufacturing system, including the wafer spin dryer 100 described in the above embodiments. The wafer manufacturing system also includes dicing equipment, grinding equipment, polishing equipment, etc.

[0068] In summary, the wafer spin dryer 100 and wafer production system provided in this application have at least the following advantages:

[0069] 1. After the wafer is cleaned, it is repositioned by the positioning mechanism 130 and then transported to the spin-drying mechanism 150 by the second transport mechanism 160. This can improve the gripping and placement accuracy of the second transport mechanism 160, thereby avoiding the wafer shaking in the spin-drying mechanism 150 and the occurrence of flying wafers and fragments, thus improving the yield of wafer production.

[0070] 2. There are multiple water tanks 120 and multiple spin-drying mechanisms 150 to improve production efficiency;

[0071] 3. The water tank 120 and the positioning mechanism 130 are located on one side of the second conveying mechanism 160, and part of the spin-drying mechanism 150 is located on the other side of the second conveying mechanism 160. Moreover, the water tank 120, the positioning mechanism 130 and part of the spin-drying mechanism 150 on the other side are all arranged at intervals along the first direction, thereby improving space utilization and shortening the length of the equipment in the first direction.

[0072] 4. A dry wafer box 170 is installed on the machine 110 for placing the wafers after spin drying, thereby facilitating wafer collection.

[0073] Although embodiments of this application have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and variations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of this application, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A wafer spin-dry apparatus characterized by comprising: include: Machine tool; A water tank is installed on the machine platform; A positioning mechanism, disposed on the machine tool, is used to position the wafer; A first transport mechanism is disposed on the machine platform, and the first transport mechanism is used to transport the wafer in the water tank to the positioning mechanism; A spin-drying mechanism, installed on the machine platform, is used to spin-dry wafers; A second transport mechanism is disposed on the machine platform, and the second transport mechanism is used to transport the wafer on the positioning mechanism to the spin-drying mechanism.

2. The wafer spin dryer according to claim 1, characterized in that, The machine includes a workbench and a top cover disposed above the workbench. The water tank, the positioning mechanism, the spin-drying mechanism and the second conveying mechanism are all disposed on the workbench, and the first conveying mechanism is disposed on the top cover.

3. The wafer spin dryer according to claim 2, characterized in that, The water tank and the positioning mechanism are arranged at intervals along the first direction; The first conveying mechanism includes a first translation drive, a lifting drive, and a gripping component. The first translation drive is disposed on the top cover and connected to the lifting drive to drive the lifting drive to reciprocate along the first direction. The lifting drive is connected to the gripping component, which is used to grip and release the wafer.

4. The wafer spin dryer according to claim 1, characterized in that, There are multiple water tanks and multiple spin-drying mechanisms.

5. The wafer spin dryer according to claim 4, characterized in that, The number of the spin-drying mechanisms is greater than the number of the water tanks.

6. The wafer spin dryer according to claim 4, characterized in that, At least some of the spin-drying mechanisms are arranged at intervals along the first direction; The second handling mechanism includes a second translation drive and a multi-axis manipulator. The second translation drive is connected to the multi-axis manipulator to drive the multi-axis manipulator to reciprocate along the first direction. The multi-axis manipulator is used to grasp and release wafers.

7. The wafer spin dryer according to claim 6, characterized in that, The positioning mechanism and at least a portion of the spin-drying mechanism are located on both sides of the second translation drive member along the second direction; Wherein, the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular.

8. The wafer spin dryer according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a wafer dryer, which is disposed on the machine, and the second transport mechanism is also capable of transporting the wafers in the spin-drying mechanism to the wafer dryer.

9. The wafer spin dryer according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a control mechanism and a touch screen, both of which are mounted on the machine base. The control mechanism is electrically connected to the water tank, the positioning mechanism, the first conveying mechanism, the spin-drying mechanism, the second conveying mechanism, and the touch screen.

10. A wafer fabrication system, characterized in that, Includes the wafer spin dryer as described in any one of claims 1-9.

Images