Wafer box bearing device and etching equipment

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of semiconductor processing equipment, in particular to a wafer box bearing device and etching equipment, and the wafer box bearing device comprises a rotating table which is used for placing a wafer box and drives the wafer box to rotate horizontally; the bearing table is arranged below the rotating table and is connected with the rotating table; and the optical detection module is arranged on the upper surface of the bearing platform, is positioned on the outer side of the opening position of the wafer box, and is used for carrying out flat edge or notch detection on the wafer in the wafer box. The utility model solves the problems that the existing bearing mechanism of an old machine table without an edge searching function cannot perform optical detection on a flat edge or a notch of a single wafer in a wafer transmission process, and cannot correct the direction of the wafer, so that the correction of the direction of the wafer completely depends on an external pre-alignment process; the technical problem that the process is abnormal due to the direction deviation of the wafer is solved, and the equipment space for independently arranging an automatic edge searching mechanism is saved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of semiconductor processing equipment technology, and in particular to a wafer cassette carrier and etching equipment. Background Technology

[0002] In the field of semiconductor wafer fabrication, the orientation and alignment of the flat edges or notches of the wafer is a key technology to ensure the uniformity of the processing. Currently, the semiconductor industry generally adopts two technical approaches: one is to integrate automatic edge-finding mechanisms into the transport mechanisms of various machines, such as… Figure 1 As shown, in one method, the wafer cassette is first placed in the wafer cassette placement area E of the wafer cassette placement mechanism A. Then, the robotic arm F picks up the wafer and places it on the automatic edge-finding mechanism C. The automatic edge-finding mechanism C adjusts the wafer angle to align the flat edges or notches before sending the wafer into the working cavity D for processing. Another method relies on an external edge-aligning device. A group of wafers with flat edges or notches are pre-aligned and placed in the wafer cassette before being sent to a machine without an alignment mechanism for processing. Using an external edge-aligning device increases human intervention, and if this operation is missed, there is a risk that the flat edges or notches of the wafer will not align with the working cavity support platform G when the wafer is in the working cavity D, potentially causing a production accident. Figure 2A and Figure 2B As shown, if the flat edge or notch is not aligned with the working chamber support platform G, on the one hand, the orientation of each wafer H will not be fixed during operation, and the uniformity within and between wafers H will be changed. On the other hand, the working chamber support platform G may be bombarded by plasma during operation due to the lack of wafer H shielding, resulting in the exposed components under the wafer H being damaged.

[0003] The typical structure of the support mechanism of existing old machine tools without edge-finding function is as follows: Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, the wafer cassette 4 contains multiple wafers H arranged vertically. After the wafer cassette 4 is fixed by a rotary clamping mechanism fixed to the side wall 3, the carrier platform 5 can only move the wafer cassette 4 as a whole up and down. The rotary clamping mechanism is composed of clamp 1 and coupling 1-1. When the robotic arm F picks up a single wafer H, since the multiple wafers H in the wafer cassette 4 are stacked, the existing carrier mechanism cannot perform optical detection on the flat edges or notches of a single wafer H during wafer transfer, nor can it correct its wafer orientation. This results in the wafer orientation correction relying entirely on an external pre-alignment process, posing a risk of process abnormalities caused by wafer orientation deviation. Utility Model Content

[0004] This utility model provides a wafer carrier device and etching equipment to solve the technical problem that the carrier mechanism of the existing old machine without edge finding function cannot perform optical detection on the flat edge or notch of a single wafer during wafer transfer, and cannot correct its wafer orientation. As a result, the wafer orientation correction relies entirely on the external pre-alignment process, which poses a risk of process abnormalities caused by wafer orientation deviation.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0006] In a first aspect, this utility model provides a wafer cassette carrier device, comprising:

[0007] A rotary table is used to place a wafer cassette, with the opening of the wafer cassette facing the robotic arm of the machine. The rotary table drives the wafer cassette to rotate horizontally.

[0008] A support platform, disposed below and connected to the rotary table, drives the rotary table and the wafer cassettes thereon to move vertically up and down; and

[0009] An optical inspection module is disposed on the upper surface of the support platform, located outside the opening of the wafer cassette, and is used to inspect the wafers in the wafer cassette for flat edges or notches.

[0010] In one embodiment, the top surface of the rotary table is provided with a limiting structure for limiting the wafer cassette, the limiting structure being able to cooperate with a complementary positioning structure on the wafer cassette.

[0011] In one embodiment, the top surface of the rotary table is further provided with a clamping mechanism for fixing the wafer cassette. The clamping mechanism includes a telescopic clamping mechanism, which clamps when retracted and releases when extended. The telescopic clamping mechanism is an electrically controlled telescopic clamping mechanism.

[0012] In one embodiment, the rotary table is further provided with a sensor for sensing whether the wafer cassette is placed in the correct position, and the sensor is electrically connected to the controller.

[0013] In one embodiment, a driving mechanism is provided on the bottom surface of the rotary table or the top surface of the support platform for driving the rotary table to rotate, and the driving mechanism is electrically connected to a controller.

[0014] In one embodiment, the top surface of the support platform is provided with the driving mechanism, the driving mechanism includes a rotary guide wheel, and the bottom surface of the rotary table is provided with a rotary guide groove that cooperates with the rotary guide wheel. The rotary guide wheel cooperates with the rotary guide groove to drive the rotary table to rotate.

[0015] In one embodiment, the bottom surface of the rotary table is further provided with a linear guide groove perpendicular to the opening edge of the wafer cassette, and a linear guide wheel is provided on the top surface of the support platform at a position corresponding to the linear guide groove. The rotary guide wheel and the linear guide wheel can be raised and lowered independently. When the linear guide wheel is lowered and the rotary guide wheel is raised, the rotary guide wheel cooperates with the rotary guide groove to drive the rotary table to rotate horizontally. When the rotary guide wheel is lowered and the linear guide wheel is raised, the linear guide wheel cooperates with the linear guide groove to drive the rotary table to move linearly along the opening direction of the wafer cassette.

[0016] In one embodiment, the optical detection module includes a transmitter and a receiver. A detection optical path is formed between the transmitter and the receiver. The horizontal distance between the detection optical path and the edge of the wafer cassette opening is a preset distance, which is related to the wafer size and the size of the wafer's flat edge or notch. The positional relationship between the transmitter and the receiver is as follows:

[0017] The transmitter and receiver are respectively located on the upper and lower sides of the wafer cassette. When the wafer is moved outward from the wafer cassette towards the opening to the detection position, the transmitter, wafer, and receiver constitute a through-beam detection structure; or,

[0018] The transmitter and receiver are coplanarly disposed on the upper surface of the support stage and located at the outer edge of the area of ​​the rotating stage. When the wafer is moved outward from the wafer box towards the opening of the wafer box to the detection position, the transmitter, wafer and receiver constitute a reflective detection structure.

[0019] The detection position is the position where the wafer is moved out of the wafer cassette to a preset extension length.

[0020] In one embodiment, the wafer cassette carrier further includes a rotation angle detection module, which is electrically connected to a controller.

[0021] Secondly, this utility model provides an etching apparatus, including the wafer cassette carrier device as described above.

[0022] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of this utility model are that, through the integrated design of the rotating structure of the rotary table and the carrier platform, and with the optical detection module fixed on the carrier platform, after the wafer is moved from the wafer box to the preset extension length position, the optical detection module can detect the flat edge or notch of the wafer, and promptly alarm if misalignment is detected. It can also correct the wafer orientation within a certain angle range. This solves the technical problem that the carrier mechanism of the existing old machine without edge finding function cannot perform optical detection on the flat edge or notch of a single wafer during wafer transfer, and cannot correct its wafer orientation. As a result, the wafer orientation correction completely depends on the external pre-alignment process, which poses a risk of process abnormalities caused by wafer orientation deviation. Moreover, it saves the equipment space of setting up a separate automatic edge finding mechanism. Attached Figure Description

[0023] The present invention will be described in more detail below based on embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0024] Figure 1 A top view of an existing machine tool's conveyor mechanism integrating an automatic edge-finding mechanism;

[0025] Figure 2A This is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between the existing working chamber support stage and the normally placed wafer;

[0026] Figure 2B This is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between the existing working chamber support stage and the abnormally placed wafer;

[0027] Figure 3 This is a side view of the wafer cassette carrying mechanism of an existing machine.

[0028] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the wafer cassette support mechanism of an existing machine tool.

[0029] Figure 5 This is a side view of the wafer cassette carrier device provided in Embodiment 1 of this utility model;

[0030] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the wafer cassette carrier device provided in Embodiment 1 of this utility model;

[0031] Figure 7 This is a top view of the wafer cassette carrier device provided in Embodiment 1 of this utility model;

[0032] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the bottom structure of the rotary table provided in Embodiment 1 of this utility model;

[0033] Figure 9 Working principle of the wafer cassette carrier device provided in Embodiment 1 of this utility model Figure 1 ;

[0034] Figure 10 Schematic diagram 2 of the working principle of the wafer cassette carrier device provided in Embodiment 1 of this utility model;

[0035] Figure 11 Working principle of the wafer cassette carrier device provided in Embodiment 1 of this utility model Figure 3 ;

[0036] Figure 12 Working principle of the wafer cassette carrier device provided in Embodiment 1 of this utility model Figure 4 ;

[0037] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of the detection principle of the wafer cassette carrier device provided in Embodiment 1 of this utility model;

[0038] Figure 14 This is a schematic diagram of the detection principle of the wafer cassette carrier device provided in Embodiment 2 of this utility model;

[0039] Figure 15 This is a system structure diagram of the wafer cassette carrier device provided in Embodiment 3 of this utility model.

[0040] Figure label:

[0041] A. Wafer box placement mechanism; B. Transfer cavity; C. Automatic edge finding mechanism; D. Working cavity; E. Wafer box placement area; F. Robotic arm; G. Working cavity support platform; H. Wafer; A01. Detection position;

[0042] 1. Clamp; 1-1. Coupling;

[0043] 2. Door panel;

[0044] 3. Side walls;

[0045] 4. Wafer box;

[0046] 5. Support platform; 5-1. Rotary guide wheel; 5-2. Linear guide wheel;

[0047] 6. Rotary table; 6-1. Limiting structure; 6-2. Sensor; 6-3. Rotary guide groove; 6-4. Linear guide groove;

[0048] 7. Clamping mechanism;

[0049] 8. Optical inspection module. Detailed Implementation

[0050] The technical solution of this utility model will now be clearly and completely described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of this utility model. Based on the embodiments of this utility model, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this utility model.

[0051] In the description of this utility model, it should be noted that the terms "center," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "inner," and "outer," etc., indicating the orientation or positional relationship, are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings and are only for the convenience of describing this utility model 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 utility model. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0052] In the description of this utility model, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "linking" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; 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 also refer to the internal connection of two components; and they can refer to a wireless connection or a wired connection. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this utility model based on the specific circumstances.

[0053] Furthermore, the technical features involved in the different embodiments of this utility model described below can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0054] This utility model provides a wafer carrier device and etching equipment to solve the technical problem that the carrier mechanism of the existing old machine without edge finding function cannot perform optical detection on the flat edge or notch of a single wafer during wafer transfer, and cannot correct its wafer orientation. As a result, the wafer orientation correction relies entirely on the external pre-alignment process, which poses a risk of process abnormalities caused by wafer orientation deviation.

[0055] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0056] Example 1:

[0057] A wafer carrier device, such as Figure 1 , Figure 5 and Figure 6As shown, the system includes a rotary table 6, a carrier platform 5, and an optical inspection module 8. The rotary table 6 is used to place the wafer cassette 4, with the opening of the wafer cassette 4 facing the robotic arm F of the machine. The wafers H are placed horizontally inside the wafer cassette 4. In the prior art, the wafer cassette 4 is generally placed on the wafer cassette placement mechanism A of the machine by a crane, trolley, or other transport method. Then, the robotic arm F inside the machine moves horizontally to grip the wafers H and enter the working chamber D. The rotary table 6 can drive the wafer cassette 4 to rotate horizontally. The carrier platform 5 is located below the rotary table 6 and connected to the rotary table 6. The carrier platform 5 can drive the rotary table 6 and the wafer cassette 4 on it to move vertically up and down, so as to cooperate with the robotic arm F to grasp multiple wafers H stacked vertically in the wafer cassette 4 one by one. The horizontal grasping height of the robotic arm F is usually kept constant. In this embodiment, the carrier platform 5 is set close to the side wall 3 of the transfer chamber B, such as... Figure 1As shown, the transfer cavity B is the internal cavity structure of the machine tool, and its interior is usually a vacuum environment. The support platform 5 can be modified and reused from the support mechanism of an old machine tool. Its function is similar to the original support mechanism, which can lift the wafer H to be gripped in the wafer box 4 to the opening position corresponding to the door panel 2 on the side wall 3, so that the robotic arm F can perform the next gripping operation. At the same time, the support platform 5 also supports the newly added rotary table 6. The rotary table 6 is set on the support platform 5 to support the wafer box 4 and drive the wafer box 4 to rotate horizontally. There is also an optical detection module 8, which is set on the upper surface of the support platform 5, located outside the opening position of the wafer box 4. It is used to detect the flat edge or notch of the wafer H in the wafer box 4. The horizontal distance between its detection optical path and the edge of the opening of the wafer box 4 is a preset distance. This preset distance is set according to the size of the wafer H and the size of the flat edge or notch of the wafer H. Because multiple wafers H are arranged vertically in the wafer box 4, the robotic arm F grips one wafer H at a time for subsequent processing. The design concept of this invention is as follows: First, a robotic arm F picks up a wafer H to be processed from the wafer cassette 4 and moves it a certain distance towards the opening of the cassette 4. The arm then releases the wafer H and places it back in, ensuring that the wafer H remains within the cassette 4 but protrudes outwards relative to other wafers H, extending beyond the edge of the opening of the cassette 4. Then, an optical detection module 8 illuminates and detects the protruding portion. The rotating stage 6 is then rotated horizontally to allow the wafer cassette 4 to perform edge detection on the protruding portion. Therefore, the specific standard for setting this preset distance is: when the wafer H is rotated horizontally by the rotating stage 6, the full edge of the wafer H is located on the detection optical path, while the flat edge or notch of the wafer H is not on the detection optical path. For example, by setting a reasonable preset distance, the distance between the detection optical path and the edge of the protruding wafer H can be 5mm. The wafer carrier is also equipped with a controller, which is electrically connected to the rotary table 6, the optical inspection module 8 and the alarm, respectively. The controller is used to control the rotation angle of the rotary table 6 and to trigger an alarm when an abnormality is detected. The alarm is used to receive the signal from the controller and issue an abnormality alarm.

[0058] like Figure 13 As shown, the optical inspection module 8 is typically positioned at the vertical centerline of the wafer cassette 4 opening, directly opposite the robotic arm F. Pre-alignment is usually performed by aligning the flat edge or notch of the wafer H with this position. When the optical inspection module 8 fails to detect the flat edge or notch at this position, the controller determines it as an abnormality, triggers an alarm, and simultaneously stops the robotic arm F from further movement. Afterwards, the operator can verify the situation on-site, remove the wafer cassette 4, and then perform the pre-alignment operation again. If the application is in... Figure 1When there are two wafer cassette placement areas E on the left and right sides, the multi-joint of the robotic arm F is usually used to achieve the angle, so that the gripping direction of the robotic arm F is perpendicular to the side wall 3. However, if the gripping direction of the robotic arm F is not completely perpendicular to the side wall 3, the orientation of the flat edge or notch of the wafer H when it is finally gripped also needs to be modified accordingly. This can be achieved by rotating the rotary table 6 horizontally so that the opening edge of the wafer cassette 4 is perpendicular to the gripping direction of the robotic arm F, so as to facilitate the gripping of the aligned wafer H. In this case, the optical detection module 8 needs to be set at the position where the opening of the wafer cassette 4 is directly opposite the vertical centerline of the robotic arm F after the wafer cassette 4 is rotated horizontally.

[0059] The wafer cassette carrier device in this embodiment can not only provide an alarm for wafer misalignment, but also correct the wafer orientation of wafer H when the flat edge or notch is located on the protruding part of wafer H but not on the vertical center line of the opening edge of wafer cassette 4, i.e., it is not in the aligned position. By rotating the rotary table 6 horizontally and using the optical detection module 8 to detect the entire protruding part, if the optical detection module 8 detects a flat edge or notch, it immediately stops the rotation of the rotary table 6 via the controller. At this time, the flat edge or notch of wafer H is in the aligned position, and the next gripping operation can be performed, thus realizing the correction operation of wafer H and enabling the gripping of the aligned wafer H. Figure 13 As shown, position A01 is the detection position where wafer H is picked up a certain distance from the wafer cassette 4 towards its opening and then released and placed back in. When the flat edge or notch of wafer H is within a 30-degree range to the left and right of the vertical centerline of the robotic arm F directly opposite the opening of wafer cassette 4, the aligned wafer H can still be picked up. However, when wafer cassette 4 is rotated to the left or right by the rotary table 6 (taking 30 degrees as an example), if the optical detection module 8 fails to detect the flat edge or notch, the controller determines this as an abnormal situation, activates the alarm, and simultaneously stops the robotic arm F from further movement.

[0060] Preferred, such as Figure 7 As shown, the top surface of the rotary table 6 is provided with a limiting structure 6-1 for limiting the wafer cassette 4. The limiting structure 6-1 can cooperate with the complementary positioning structure on the wafer cassette 4. By setting the limiting structure 6-1, the positioning of the wafer cassette 4 on the rotary table 6 can be more precise, which helps to ensure the accurate positional relationship between the optical inspection module 8 and the wafer H, and improves the accuracy of subsequent inspection.

[0061] Specifically, such as Figure 7As shown, the limiting structure 6-1 is an H-shaped positioning groove or positioning protrusion. The bottom surface of the wafer box 4 is provided with a complementary positioning structure that matches the limiting structure 6-1, namely, a positioning protrusion or positioning groove of the corresponding shape. Alternatively, the limiting structure 6-1 can be designed as several columnar protrusions that match the outer periphery of the bottom of the wafer box 4 and surround the wafer box 4. It can also be designed as several positioning protrusions on the top surface of the rotary table 6 and several positioning holes on the bottom of the wafer box 4.

[0062] Preferred, such as Figures 5 to 7 As shown, the top surface of the rotary table 6 is also equipped with a clamping mechanism 7 for fixing the wafer cassette 4. The clamping mechanism 7 includes a telescopic clamping mechanism, which clamps when retracted and releases when extended. The telescopic clamping mechanism is an electrically controlled telescopic clamping mechanism. By setting the clamping mechanism 7, the wafer cassette 4 can be firmly fixed on the rotary table 6, reducing the positional displacement of the wafer cassette 4 during rotation and when the robotic arm F grasps it, thus improving operational accuracy. Because the rotary table 6 needs to drive the wafer cassette 4 to rotate, the existing rotary pressing structure fixed to the side wall 3 needs to be replaced by the clamping mechanism 7 fixed to the rotary table 6.

[0063] Preferred, such as Figure 6 and Figure 7 As shown, the rotary table 6 is also equipped with a sensor 6-2 to sense whether the wafer cassette 4 is in place. Sensor 6-2 is electrically connected to the controller. When sensor 6-2 detects that the wafer cassette 4 is in place, it transmits a signal to the controller, which then controls the electrically controlled telescopic clamping mechanism to clamp the wafer cassette 6-2. Figure 6 As shown, the electrically controlled telescopic clamping mechanism is an inverted U-shaped lifting clamping rod with a clamp 1 connected to the top. In other embodiments, the telescopic clamping mechanism can also be configured as a lateral clamping mechanism located on the outside of the wafer cassette 4 on the rotary table 6, which can be a lateral telescopic clamping mechanism or a lateral rotary clamping mechanism.

[0064] Specifically, sensor 6-2 can be a gravity sensor, a contact sensor, or a photoelectric sensor, as long as it can sense whether the wafer box 4 is placed in the correct position.

[0065] Preferably, the bottom surface of the rotary table 6 or the top surface of the support platform 5 is provided with a driving mechanism for driving the rotary table 6 to rotate, and the driving mechanism is electrically connected to the controller.

[0066] Specifically, the drive mechanism may include a rotating shaft located at the center of the rotary table 6 and a drive motor connected to the rotating shaft. The motor is a servo motor, and the servo motor is equipped with a pulsator encoder to obtain the rotation angle of the rotating shaft, that is, the rotation angle of the rotary table 6.

[0067] The rotary table 6 can also be driven in other ways, such as in one embodiment, for example... Figure 8As shown, the top surface of the support platform 5 is provided with a driving mechanism, which includes a rotating guide wheel 5-1 driven by a motor. The bottom surface of the rotary table 6 is provided with a rotating guide groove 6-3 that cooperates with the rotating guide wheel 5-1. The rotating guide wheel 5-1 cooperates with the rotating guide groove 6-3 to drive the rotary table 6 to rotate. In order to make the drive more stable, two rotating guide wheels 5-1 are evenly distributed around the circumference.

[0068] In one implementation, such as Figure 8 As shown, the bottom surface of the rotary table 6 is also provided with a linear guide groove 6-4 perpendicular to the edge of the opening of the wafer box 4. The top surface of the support platform 5 is provided with a motor-driven linear guide wheel 5-2 at the position corresponding to the linear guide groove 6-4. The rotary guide wheel 5-1 and the linear guide wheel 5-2 can be raised and lowered independently. When the linear guide wheel 5-2 is lowered and the rotary guide wheel 5-1 is raised, the rotary guide wheel 5-1 cooperates with the rotary guide groove 6-3 to drive the rotary table 6 to rotate horizontally. When the rotary guide wheel 5-1 is lowered and the linear guide wheel 5-2 is raised, the linear guide wheel 5-2 cooperates with the linear guide groove 6-4 to drive the rotary table 6 to move linearly along the opening direction of the wafer box 4. With this setup, when the robotic arm F is ready to complete the first grabbing of the wafer H to the detection position A01, the robotic arm F extends directly to the detection position A01, while the wafer box 4 is driven by the rotary table 6 to move the wafer H to the detection position A01. Then the robotic arm F completes the grabbing, the wafer box 4 retracts back to its original position, and the robotic arm F releases the wafer H.

[0069] Preferred, such as Figure 5 , Figure 6 As shown, the optical inspection module 8 includes a transmitter and a receiver. The detection light between the transmitter and receiver forms a detection optical path. The horizontal distance between the detection optical path and the opening edge of the wafer cell 4 is a preset distance. The preset distance is related to the wafer size and the size of the wafer's flat edge or notch. The positional relationship between the transmitter and receiver is as follows:

[0070] like Figure 5 , Figure 6 and Figure 9 As shown, the transmitter and receiver are respectively located on the upper and lower sides of the wafer box 4. When the wafer H is moved outward from the opening of the wafer box 4 to the detection position A01, the transmitter, wafer H and receiver constitute a through-beam detection structure.

[0071] Alternatively, the transmitter and receiver can be positioned on the same side of wafer H, coplanarly mounted on the upper surface of the support stage 5, and located at the outer edge of the area of ​​the rotating stage 6. When wafer H is moved outward from the wafer cassette 4 towards the opening of the wafer cassette 4 to the detection position A01, the transmitter, wafer, and receiver constitute a reflective detection structure. The detection position A01 is the position where wafer H is moved out of the wafer cassette 4 to a preset extension length. Regardless of whether it is a through-beam detection structure or a reflective detection structure, as long as the state of the detection optical path is changed when a flat edge or notch of wafer H is detected, the detection of the flat edge or notch of wafer H can be achieved. When using a through-beam detection structure, at the flat edge or notch of wafer H, the receiver can receive the detection light emitted by the transmitter, and the detection optical path is connected. When using a reflective detection structure, at the full edge of wafer H, the detection light emitted by the transmitter is reflected by wafer H and received by the receiver, and the detection optical path is connected. However, at the flat edge or notch of wafer H, the detection light cannot be reflected by wafer H, and the detection optical path is disconnected.

[0072] The advantage of a through-beam detection structure is that it can use detection light with relatively low intensity, while the advantage of a reflective detection structure is that both the transmitter and receiver can be placed on the carrier platform 5, eliminating the installation restrictions on the side wall 3 of the transmission cavity B, saving more space, making installation more convenient, and increasing versatility.

[0073] This embodiment integrates the rotating structure of the rotary table 6 with the carrier table 5, and with the optical inspection module 8 fixed on the carrier table 5, after the wafer H is moved from the wafer box 4 to the position of the preset extension length, the optical inspection module 8 can detect the flat edge or notch of the wafer H, and promptly alarm if misalignment is found. It can also correct the direction of the wafer H within a certain angle range. This solves the technical problem that the carrier mechanism of the existing old machine without edge finding function cannot perform optical detection on the flat edge or notch of a single wafer H during wafer transfer, and cannot correct its wafer direction. As a result, the correction of the wafer direction depends entirely on the external pre-alignment process, which poses a risk of process abnormality caused by wafer direction deviation. Moreover, it saves the equipment space of setting up a separate automatic edge finding mechanism C.

[0074] Example 2:

[0075] The difference between this embodiment and Embodiment 1 is that, as Figure 14As shown, to improve the accuracy of detecting the flat edge of the wafer, the optical detection module 8 in this embodiment employs two pairs of transmitters and receivers, which are arranged parallel to the opening edge of the wafer cassette 4. Because the notch of wafer H can be precisely located using a single detection optical path, but the flat edge of wafer H, within a certain angle range during rotation, does not affect the continuity of the detection optical path, thus making it impossible to accurately determine the position of the flat edge of wafer H. However, by using the principle of two points forming a line, and by setting up two pairs of transmitters and receivers on the left and right, the position of the flat edge of wafer H can be accurately detected.

[0076] In this embodiment, by setting the optical detection module 8 as two pairs of transmitters and receivers, the position of the flat edge of wafer H can be accurately detected.

[0077] Example 3:

[0078] The difference between this embodiment and Embodiment 1 is that Embodiment 1 has already implemented the detection of flat edges or notches on wafer H and timely alarms when misalignment is detected. However, its correction function has significant limitations. When the rotation speed of the rotary table 6 is low, the controller must immediately stop the rotary table 6 after the optical detection module 8 detects the flat edge or notch in order to achieve the correction function. If the rotation speed of the rotary table 6 is set to a relatively high speed to improve detection efficiency, even if the controller immediately stops the rotary table 6 after the optical detection module 8 detects the flat edge or notch, the flat edge or notch will still rotate past the alignment position, and the correction function cannot be achieved. In order to improve production efficiency, this embodiment adds a rotation angle detection module based on Embodiment 1. The rotation angle detection module is used to detect the horizontal rotation angle of the rotary table 6 and feed the angle information back to the controller. The rotation angle detection module is electrically connected to the controller and realizes the correction function. When the optical detection module 8 detects the flat edge or notch, the controller immediately obtains the angle information of the alignment position detected by the rotation angle detection module at this time, immediately stops the rotary table 6, and then controls the rotary table 6 to rotate back to the alignment position.

[0079] If the drive mechanism connecting the drive motor to the rotating shaft in Embodiment 1 is used, the rotation angle detection module is a pulsator encoder, which can directly obtain the rotation angle information of the rotary table 6. If a motor-driven rotary guide wheel 5-1 is used, a servo motor can be used for driving, and a linear correspondence can be established between the rotation angle of the pulsator encoder and the rotation angle of the rotary table 6 according to the specific transmission ratio of the mechanism. The controller can then control the rotation. Alternatively, the calculation of the rotation angle of the rotary table 6 can be skipped, and the number of rotations and angle information of the rotary guide wheel 5-1 can be used directly to control the rotary table 6 to return to the alignment position.

[0080] like Figure 15As shown, the system structure of the wafer cassette carrier device provided in this embodiment is the part within the dashed box, including a carrier platform 5, a rotary table 6, and a clamping mechanism 7 as mechanical modules, and a sensor 6-2, an optical detection module 8, a rotation angle detection module, and an alarm as signal modules. The wafer cassette 4 outside the system is placed on the rotary table 6, and the robotic arm F extends to the wafer cassette 4 to grasp the wafer H.

[0081] like Figures 9 to 12 , Figure 15 As shown, taking a wafer H with a notch and an optical inspection module 8 using a through-beam inspection structure as an example, the specific usage of this device will be explained as follows:

[0082] S1. Place the wafer cassette 4 on the rotary table 6. Sensor 6-2 is triggered, and the controller controls the clamping mechanism 7 to clamp the wafer cassette 4. The support table 5 moves, raising and lowering the wafer H to be processed to the opening of the corresponding side wall 3. At this time, as... Figure 9 As shown, when the door panel 2 is opened, the robotic arm F extends in to grab the wafer H, and pulls the wafer H a certain distance to the detection position A01. The robotic arm F releases the wafer H and places it back on the wafer box 4. The robotic arm F then retracts to the back of the side wall 3.

[0083] S2. For example Figure 10 As shown, when the optical inspection module 8 is turned on, the controller controls the rotary table 6 to rotate left and right at a certain angle, such as 30 degrees left and right. At the full edge of the wafer H, the receiving end of the optical inspection module 8 cannot receive the inspection light.

[0084] S3. For example Figure 11 As shown, when the rotary table 6 rotates, when the receiving end of the optical detection module 8 receives the detection light, that is, when the notch of the wafer H is facing the robotic arm F, the rotation angle detection module sends the angle information at this time to the controller. At the same time, the controller controls the rotary table 6 to stop rotating and uses the angle information obtained from the rotation angle detection module to control the rotary table 6 to rotate back to the alignment position.

[0085] S4. For example Figure 12 As shown, the optical detection module 8 is turned off, and the robotic arm F extends into the side wall 3 to grab the wafer H and send it to the working chamber D.

[0086] S5. If the optical detection module 8 still fails to detect the notch after the rotary table 6 has completed its left and right rotation at a certain angle, the controller will control the alarm to sound an alarm, and at the same time, the controller will control the robotic arm F to stop further movement.

[0087] S6. Repeat step S1 until all wafers H in wafer cassette 4 have been detected and calibrated.

[0088] This embodiment uses a rotation angle detection module in conjunction with a controller. When the flat edge or notch of wafer H is within a certain angle range facing the opening of wafer cassette 4 and can be detected by the optical detection module 8, its position angle is known, and the controller controls the rotary table 6 to rotate horizontally for correction, thus realizing the alignment operation of wafer H. This solves the technical problem that when the rotation speed of the rotary table 6 is relatively fast, after the optical detection module 8 detects the flat edge or notch, the controller immediately controls the rotary table 6 to stop rotating, but the flat edge or notch still rotates past the alignment position and the correction function cannot be realized.

[0089] Example 4:

[0090] This invention also provides an etching apparatus, including the wafer cassette carrier device as described above. This etching apparatus solves the technical problem of existing etching equipment without edge-finding capabilities, where the carrier mechanism cannot perform alignment direction detection or correction of wafer H before it enters the working cavity D, leading to issues such as affecting product uniformity or even causing equipment malfunction due to the lack of pre-alignment of wafer H.

[0091] In summary, the wafer cassette carrier device provided by this utility model, through the integrated design of the rotating structure of the rotary table 6 and the carrier table 5, and in conjunction with the optical detection module 8 fixed on the carrier table 5, allows the optical detection module 8 to detect the flat edge or notch of the wafer H after it has been moved from the wafer cassette 4 to a preset extension length. It can promptly alarm if misalignment is detected and can correct the orientation of the wafer H within a certain angle range. This solves the problem that existing older machines without edge-finding capabilities cannot optically detect the flat edge or notch of a single wafer H during wafer transport, nor can they correct its orientation. This results in the wafer orientation correction relying entirely on an external pre-alignment process, posing a risk of process abnormalities due to wafer orientation deviation. Furthermore, this invention saves the equipment space required for a separate automatic edge-finding mechanism C. This utility model also enables precise detection of the flat edge position of the wafer H by setting the optical detection module 8 as two pairs of transmitters and receivers. This invention also incorporates a rotation angle detection module in conjunction with a controller. When the flat edge or notch of wafer H is within a certain angle range facing the opening of wafer cassette 4 and can be detected by the optical detection module 8, its position angle is determined and the controller controls the rotary table 6 to rotate horizontally for correction, thereby achieving the alignment operation of wafer H. This solves the technical problem that when the rotary table 6 rotates at a high speed, even after the optical detection module 8 detects the flat edge or notch, the controller immediately stops the rotary table 6, causing the flat edge or notch to rotate past the alignment position and thus preventing the correction function from being achieved.

[0092] The etching equipment provided by this utility model solves the technical problem that the carrier mechanism of the existing old etching equipment without edge finding function cannot perform alignment direction detection or correction of wafer H before wafer H enters the working cavity D, which affects product uniformity or even causes equipment failure due to the lack of pre-alignment operation of wafer H.

[0093] Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, various modifications can be made thereto and components can be replaced with equivalents without departing from the scope of the invention. In particular, the technical features mentioned in the various embodiments can be combined in any manner, provided there is no structural conflict. The present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed herein, but includes all technical solutions falling within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A wafer cassette carrier device, characterized in that, include: A rotary table is used to place a wafer cassette, with the opening of the wafer cassette facing the robotic arm of the machine. The rotary table drives the wafer cassette to rotate horizontally. A support platform is located below and connected to the rotary table, and the support platform drives the rotary table and the wafer cassette on it to rise and fall vertically. as well as An optical inspection module is disposed on the upper surface of the support platform, located outside the opening of the wafer cassette, and is used to inspect the wafers in the wafer cassette for flat edges or notches.

2. The wafer boat carrier apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The top surface of the rotary table is provided with a limiting structure for limiting the position of the wafer cassette, and the limiting structure can cooperate with the complementary positioning structure on the wafer cassette.

3. The wafer cassette carrier device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The top surface of the rotary table is also provided with a clamping mechanism for fixing the wafer cassette. The clamping mechanism includes a telescopic clamping mechanism, which clamps when retracted and releases when extended. The telescopic clamping mechanism is an electrically controlled telescopic clamping mechanism.

4. The wafer cassette carrier device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The rotating stage is also equipped with a sensor to sense whether the wafer cassette is placed in the correct position. The sensor is electrically connected to the controller.

5. The wafer cassette carrier according to claim 1, characterized in that, The bottom surface of the rotary table or the top surface of the support platform is provided with a driving mechanism for driving the rotary table to rotate, and the driving mechanism is electrically connected to the controller.

6. The wafer cassette carrier according to claim 5, characterized in that, The top surface of the support platform is provided with the driving mechanism, which includes a rotary guide wheel. The bottom surface of the rotary table is provided with a rotary guide groove that cooperates with the rotary guide wheel. The rotary guide wheel cooperates with the rotary guide groove to drive the rotary table to rotate.

7. The wafer cassette carrier according to claim 6, characterized in that, The bottom surface of the rotary table is also provided with a linear guide groove perpendicular to the edge of the opening of the wafer cassette. A linear guide wheel is provided on the top surface of the support platform at the position corresponding to the linear guide groove. The rotary guide wheel and the linear guide wheel can be raised and lowered independently. When the linear guide wheel is lowered and the rotary guide wheel is raised, the rotary guide wheel cooperates with the rotary guide groove to drive the rotary table to rotate horizontally. When the rotary guide wheel is lowered and the linear guide wheel is raised, the linear guide wheel cooperates with the linear guide groove to drive the rotary table to move linearly along the opening direction of the wafer cassette.

8. The wafer cassette carrier according to claim 1, characterized in that, The optical detection module includes a transmitter and a receiver. The detection light between the transmitter and receiver forms a detection optical path. The horizontal distance between the detection optical path and the edge of the wafer cassette opening is a preset distance, which is related to the wafer size and the size of the wafer's flat edge or notch. The positional relationship between the transmitter and receiver is as follows: The transmitter and receiver are respectively located on the upper and lower sides of the wafer cassette. When the wafer is moved outward from the wafer cassette towards the opening to the detection position, the transmitter, wafer, and receiver constitute a through-beam detection structure; or, The transmitter and receiver are coplanarly disposed on the upper surface of the support stage and located at the outer edge of the area of ​​the rotating stage. When the wafer is moved outward from the wafer box towards the opening of the wafer box to the detection position, the transmitter, wafer and receiver constitute a reflective detection structure. The detection position is the position where the wafer is moved out of the wafer cassette to a preset extension length.

9. The wafer boat carrier apparatus of any of claims 1-8, wherein, It also includes a rotation angle detection module, which is electrically connected to the controller.

10. An etching apparatus, characterized in that, A wafer boat carrier device comprising any one of claims 1-9.

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