Chip substrate condition inspection device

Abstract

To provide a chip substrate state inspection device which can simultaneously complete inspections of the storage state of a substrate and defects in the substrate body before taking out the chip substrate from a storage container, improve overall work efficiency, and reduce the risk of bumping during transportation. [Solution] The chip substrate 9 condition inspection device places multiple chip substrates in a storage container 2, which is placed on a platform 1, and opens the storage container lid 21 of the storage container with a door opening device 3. As the door opening device moves up and down in front of the storage container, it uses a flash member 4 to shine light onto the front edge of each chip substrate, generating a reflection contour corresponding to the side of each chip substrate. It then uses an imaging device 5 to photograph the reflection contour and obtain a substrate outline image. After that, it uses an identification module 7 to read the standard condition data in the storage device 6, and determines whether there are any abnormalities in the thickness and deformation of each chip substrate. The door opening operation is combined with the operation of inspecting for abnormalities in the storage state and defects in the body shape.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to a chip substrate condition inspection device that simultaneously completes inspections of the substrate's storage condition and the substrate itself for defects before removing the chip substrate from a storage container, thereby improving overall work efficiency and reducing the risk of collisions during transportation. [Background technology]

[0002] In semiconductor, panel display, and advanced packaging manufacturing, thin materials such as wafers and panels are often stored and transported using specialized containers. The most common types include front-opening unified pods (FOUPs), front-opening shared boxes (FOSBs), open cassettes, and panel boxes, which offer advantages in isolation from the external environment and ease of use with automated machinery. While these containers are widely used, problems such as storage defects and material defects often occur. For example, wafers and substrates can have alignment issues such as missing, overlapping, or tilted parts, as well as morphological defects such as chips, cracks, warpage, and uneven thickness. If these defects are not detected early, they can lead to picking errors or damage during transport during subsequent automated processes, even resulting in equipment damage and product waste, thereby impacting production capacity and yield.

[0003] To address the above issues, existing production lines have already introduced some automated inspection equipment and processes. For example, to address the issue of preservation, technologies such as infrared light curtains, structured light scanning, laser through-beam sensors, and image recognition modules are already in research and commercial use. These technologies perform preliminary detection of the presence, position, and tilt angle of objects inside containers, detecting missing, overlapping, and tilted objects. Some systems combine side-light illumination with changes in the camera's viewing angle to reconstruct the outline of the object inside the container, improving detection accuracy. However, most of these technologies focus on whether an object is present and whether the object is positioned correctly, and do not address whether the object itself has any shape defects.

[0004] Currently, inspection of shape issues typically involves measuring the local or overall shape of a single wafer or substrate using methods such as laser triangulation, confocal displacement sensors, interferometers, 3D contour scanners, and thickness measurement modules. Some high-end equipment also integrates AI image recognition to classify and evaluate abnormalities such as wafer edge damage, microcracks, chips, warpage, and deformation. However, most of these shape inspections require the wafer or substrate to be removed from the container one by one, or at least rotated, flipped, and angled to align the sensor or optical module with the inspection surface, in order to achieve accurate measurements. Therefore, although these equipment are highly accurate, the process is complicated and they cannot achieve real-time screening.

[0005] Overall, current inspection technologies tend to treat "abnormal storage" and "defects in body shape" independently, lacking the ability to integrate the two types of inspection functions and complete the identification while the material is still in the container. Some systems claim to perform comprehensive inspection, but in reality they still require each item to be removed and measured and recognized individually, which cannot be completed simultaneously during the container opening or automatic removal process, preventing the overall efficiency of the production line from being further improved.

[0006] In addition, existing equipment requires multiple sensor modules and precision moving platforms for full shape inspection, which results in large volume, high cost, and difficult integration, making it difficult to incorporate into standard removal modules or existing wafer container door opening mechanisms. Furthermore, many inspection tasks are independent processes, making them unable to be integrated into the continuous operations of wafer container door opening, transfer, and loading. This creates bottlenecks in the production line, increasing work time and handling risks, as well as increasing the rate of miscontact and damage during chip removal, and interfering with advanced processes and automated transport systems. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] The main purpose of this invention is to provide a chip substrate condition inspection device that installs an imaging device and a flash element on the door opening device, and simply uses the reflective contours on the chip substrate as a basis for determining whether there are any abnormalities in the storage condition of the chip substrate, and uses an identification module to determine whether there are any abnormalities in the thickness and deformation of the chip substrate, thereby achieving rapid identification and integrating the identification of the storage condition and the identification of substrate defects, thereby improving overall work efficiency and reducing the risk of contact during transportation. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention will be described below. The chip substrate condition inspection device described in claim 1 includes: a platform; a container mounted on the platform for arranging a plurality of chip substrates in layers with a gap therebetween; a container lid mounted on one side of the container in an openable manner; a door opening device movably mounted on one side of the platform for opening the container lid; at least one flash member mounted on the door opening device for irradiating a front edge of each of the chip substrates with light to generate a reflection profile corresponding to a side of each of the chip substrates; at least one imaging device mounted on the door opening device and data-connected to the flash member for photographing the reflection profile and capturing a substrate outline image when the flash member is activated; a storage device storing standard state data for each of the chip substrates; and an identification module connected data-connected to the imaging device and the storage device for determining whether there are any abnormalities in the thickness and deformation of each of the chip substrates based on the substrate outline image and the standard state data.

[0009] The chip substrate state inspection device recited in claim 2 is characterized in that the identification module recited in claim 1 has therein a centerline equation used to define the thickness data of the standard state data.

[0010] The chip substrate state inspection device described in claim 3 is characterized in that the identification module in claim 2 includes a curve fitting module therein for use in calculating the amount of deformation.

[0011] The chip substrate status inspection device described in claim 4 is provided with a take-out device on one side of the door opening device in claim 1, which is data-connected to the identification module, and skips or compensates for the take-out operation of the chip substrate based on the identification result. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] When a user uses this invention to inspect the condition of chip substrates, they place multiple chip substrates in a storage container, place them on a platform, and use a door-opening device to open the storage container lid of the storage container. As the door-opening device moves up and down in front of the storage container, it uses a flashing element to shine light on the leading edge of each chip substrate, generating a reflection profile corresponding to the side of each chip substrate. When the flashing element is activated, it uses an imaging device to photograph the reflection profile and obtain a substrate outline image. After that, the identification module reads the substrate outline image and the standard condition data in the storage device to determine whether there are any abnormalities in the thickness and deformation of each chip substrate. The operation of inspecting for abnormalities in the storage state and defects in the body shape is combined with the door-opening operation, which improves overall work efficiency and reduces the risk of contact during transportation.

[0013] The above technology overcomes the problems that exist in conventional wafer or substrate inspection technology, such as the inability to simultaneously inspect for storage conditions and body shape issues, the inability to complete inspection inside the container, the need for separate transportation and separation, and the inability to integrate into the door opening and removal process, and achieves the practicality and progressiveness of the above advantages. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the standard state of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 4] 1 is a three-dimensional view showing the detection according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 5] 1 is a schematic diagram showing an abnormal state of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 6] 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an abnormal state of the first best embodiment of the present invention; FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating thickness measurement according to the second best embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating deformation measurement according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] 10 is a flowchart of a removal determination process according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] Please refer to Figures 1 to 3, which are perspective views of the best embodiment of the present invention and a schematic view showing the standard state. As can be clearly seen from these figures, the present invention: Platform 1 and a container 2 placed on the platform 1 and used to arrange a plurality of chip substrates 9 in layers while maintaining intervals; a storage container lid 21 that is openably installed on one side of the storage container 2; a door opening device 3 movably installed on one side of the platform 1 and used to open the container cover 21; At least one flash member 4 is installed on the door opening device 3, and irradiates the front edge of each chip substrate 9 with light to generate a reflective contour 41 corresponding to the side surface of each chip substrate 9; At least one image capture device 5 is installed on the door opening device 3 and is data-connected to the flash member 4, and captures the reflection contour 41 when the flash member 4 is activated, thereby obtaining a board outline image 51; a storage device 6 storing standard state data 61 of each chip substrate 9; an identification module 7 connected to the imaging device 5 and the storage device 6 for data communication, for determining whether there is any abnormality in the thickness and deformation of each chip substrate 9 based on the substrate outline image 51 and the reference state data 61; Includes.

[0016] The storage container 2 may be a Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP), a Front Opening Shared Box (FOSB), an open cassette, or a panel box. In this embodiment, a FOUP is used as an example. The stored chip substrates 9 are, for example, wafers. The platform 1 is a platform on which the storage container 2 is fixed or moved back and forth. The storage container lid 21 is a lid that closes the storage container 2. The door opening device 3 is an interface (FOUP load port) on the front of the equipment. The flash unit 4 is, for example, an infrared flash. The imaging device 5 is, for example, a camera. The storage device 6 may be a computer storage medium such as a memory or hard disk, or a network storage area such as Google Cloud. In this embodiment, a memory installed on a PCB together with a processor or IC is used as an example, and is shown in a dashed box in the drawings. The identification module 7 is, for example, a processor within the platform 1, and is shown in a dashed box in the drawings. However, the corresponding forms of the above components are merely examples of the best embodiment, and any form having similar functions falls within the scope of the present invention and is not limited to the above examples.

[0017] From the above description, the structure of the present technology can be understood, and by the corresponding combination based on this structure, inspection of the storage condition of the substrate and the defects of the substrate itself can be completed simultaneously before removing the chip substrate 9 from the storage container 2, thereby achieving advantages such as improving overall work efficiency and reducing the risk of bumping during transportation, as will be explained in detail below. [Example]

[0018] Please refer to Figures 1 to 6, which show the perspective views of the first preferred embodiment, as well as Figure 2, which shows an abnormal state. As can be clearly seen from these figures, when configured with the above-mentioned components, the structure is simple and low-cost, since the imaging device 5 and flash unit 4 are installed on the door opening device 3 and the imaging device 5 is connected to the identification module 7 and storage device 6. Specifically, the imaging device 5 and flash unit 4 can be installed directly on the door opening device 3. Alternatively, it is preferable to pivot an outer frame 31 on the door opening device 3 and install the imaging device 5 and flash unit 4 on the outer frame 31. This not only simplifies the installation process but also provides greater convenience for adjusting the light irradiation and shooting position. This embodiment exemplifies an arrangement in which three flash units 4 and two imaging devices 5 are alternately installed on the outer frame 31. The imaging device 5 and the flash member 4 are indirectly installed on the door-opening device 3, and the imaging direction and the light irradiation direction are both directed toward the opening of the storage container 2, so that the imaging direction and the light irradiation direction are maintained consistently, and the imaging device 5 and the flash member 4 are installed at the same height, so that the complete reflection contour 41 can be accurately photographed.

[0019] Before the pick-up device actually picks up the chip substrates 9, it first stores a number of chip substrates 9 and performs recognition on those that are confirmed to be in an abnormal storage state and free of defects. The matching data for the standard storage state is then stored and prepared in the storage device 6. During actual operation, the door-opening device 3 normally opens the container lid 21, and then begins to descend, gradually exposing the chip substrates 9 in the container 2. At this time, the flash unit 4 irradiates the chip substrates 9 with light, forming a reflection outline 41 on the chip substrate 9. At the same time, the imaging device 5 is driven to capture an image of the reflection outline 41. The imaging range of the imaging device 5 is displayed as shown on the left side of the screen, and the target of the image capture is the chip substrates 9 within the range directly irradiated by the light from the flash unit 4. Because the chip substrates 9 are still contained in the container 2, the reflection outline 41 is formed corresponding to the side of each chip substrate 9. The image capture device 5 captures the reflection contour 41 and generates a substrate contour image 51 (shown in a dashed frame), and finally the identification module 7 compares the substrate contour image 51 with the reference data of the standard storage state to determine the state of the chip substrate 9. Here, the reflection contour 41, substrate contour image 51, or reference state data 61 are displayed on the screen simply to facilitate user checking and recording; the identification module 7 may also operate directly internally and only provide feedback on the identification results.

[0020] Therefore, regardless of the condition of the chip substrate 9, it is possible to quickly identify abnormal storage conditions such as missing parts, tilting, overlapping, etc., and defects in the main body such as thickness, warping, deformation, etc. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the standard storage condition, Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing abnormal thickness, and Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing deformation of the main body, but since abnormal storage conditions are relatively common, we will not explain them here.

[0021] While prior art technologies require separate handling of the issues of storage condition and shape abnormalities, the present invention allows for simultaneous, simultaneous inspection of the chip substrate 9 while it is still in the storage container 2 and during the door-opening or removal process, significantly reducing the number of transfers and the need for equipment changeovers. The integration of the imaging device 5 and flashing element 4 on the door-opening device 3 shortens operation time, effectively reduces equipment integration costs, and improves automation production efficiency. Furthermore, the ability to simultaneously perform inspection and door-opening / removal reduces the additional risk of human error and chip damage, making this particularly practical for high-value or fragile workpieces. Furthermore, the present invention can be modularized, allowing it to be easily integrated into existing storage containers 2, achieving low-interference, highly compatible online inspection functionality. [Example]

[0022] 7, a perspective view of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the flowchart of removal determination in FIG. 10 are also referred to. As can be clearly seen from these figures, the main difference between this embodiment and the above-mentioned embodiments is that the numerical determination of thickness and deformation is strengthened and the removal operation is adjusted. To this end, the identification module 7 includes a centerline equation 71 used to define the thickness data of the standard state data and a curve fitting module 72 used to calculate the deformation. Furthermore, a removal device 8 is installed on one side of the door opening device 3 and is data-connected to the identification module 7, which skips or compensates for the removal operation of the chip substrate based on the identification result.

[0023] Specifically, the thickness data of the standard state data is obtained by placing a chip substrate of known thickness and no deformation and calculating the number of pixels T in the thickness direction of the reflection contour 41 of the chip substrate of known thickness and no deformation. The deformation amount data of the standard state data is obtained by calculating and obtaining the number of pixels T, and then establishing a centerline 711 on the substrate contour image 51 using a centerline equation 71. When determining whether there is a thickness abnormality (Step A), the identification module 7 calculates the number of pixels T in the thickness direction of the reflection contour 41 and compares it with the thickness data of the standard state data (Step B). A larger number of pixels T indicates a thicker substrate, and a smaller number of pixels T indicates a thinner substrate. Regarding the amount of deformation, the identification module 7 determines whether the centerline 711 of the chip substrate matches the deformation amount data of the standard state (Step C). If they match, it indicates no deformation, and the deformation determination is terminated (Step I). If they do not match, the curve fitting module 72 is used to calculate the amount of deformation. The curve fitting module 72 is a chip or software equipped with curve fitting technology. Curve fitting is the process of using a mathematical method (such as the least squares method) to "fit" a set of data points to a curve, analyze the curvature, and calculate the degree of deviation or deformation.

[0024] For example, the curve fitting module 72 calculates the difference between each data point and the center line 711, considers the center line 711 as the zero point, takes the maximum difference among all the upward curvature data points as the lifting height compensation value y of the device 8, and calculates the maximum difference between the upward curvature data points as the lifting height compensation value y of the device 8. i Let (y i is a representative sign, where i is a natural number in practice, and the maximum of y1 and y3 is y1. Similarly, the maximum difference (e.g., y2) among all the downward curvature data points is taken and used as the descending height compensation value y i Of course, before each chip substrate is taken out by the take-out device 8, the height compensation value y i (Step D), and record the deformation height and the position of the chip substrate (Step E). iIf the height compensation value y is greater than the safety value, the chip substrate removal operation is skipped (i.e., not removed) (steps F and H), and the deformation determination operation is terminated (step I). i is smaller than the safety value, the take-out device 8 adjusts the height compensation value y i The removal height is adjusted based on the above and recorded (steps F and G).

[0025] This allows the present invention to use the algorithm of the curve fitting module 72 to fit the contour curve of the chip substrate and accurately evaluate its deformation, which is more accurate and flexible than traditional threshold-based assessment methods. If the calculated deformation is within the safety value set by the system, the system records the defect data and automatically compensates for height and corrects the misalignment in the subsequent removal process, ensuring stable transport and the integrity of the chip substrate. If the deformation exceeds the safety threshold, the abnormal position is automatically marked and the removal operation is canceled, avoiding the risk of mechanism jamming or damage. This tiered response strategy based on quantitative deformation results balances precision and production line efficiency, and is also useful for subsequent quality tracking and data analysis, improving the overall level of intelligent processing. [Explanation of symbols]

[0026] 1. Platform 2. Storage container 21 Storage container lid 3 Door opening device 31 Outer frame 4 Flash components 41 Reflective Contours 5. Imaging device 51 PCB outline image 6. Storage Devices 61 Standard Condition Data 7 Identification Module 71 Centerline equation 711 Center line 72 Curve Fitting Module 8. Removal device 9 chip substrate T Number of pixels y1, y2, y3 height compensation values

Claims

1. A chip substrate state inspection device, Platform and a container placed on the platform for arranging a plurality of chip substrates in layers while maintaining a gap therebetween; a container cover installed on one side of the container in an openable manner; a door opening device movably installed on one side of the platform and used to open the container lid; at least one flash member disposed on the door opening device, irradiating a front edge of each of the chip substrates with light to generate a reflective contour corresponding to a side surface of each of the chip substrates; at least one image capture device mounted on the door opener and data-connected to the flash member for capturing an image of the reflected contour when the flash member is activated to capture a substrate contour image; a storage device storing standard state data for each of the chip substrates; an identification module connected to the imaging device and the storage device for data communication, for determining whether there is any abnormality in the thickness and deformation of each of the chip substrates based on the substrate contour image and the standard state data; 1. A chip substrate state inspection device comprising:

2. 2. The chip substrate condition inspection device according to claim 1, wherein said identification module includes therein a centerline equation used to define thickness data of said standard condition data.

3. 3. The chip substrate state inspection device according to claim 2, wherein said identification module includes a curve fitting module used to calculate said deformation amount.

4. 2. The chip substrate state inspection device according to claim 1, wherein a removal device connected to the identification module is installed on one side of the door opening device, and the removal operation of the chip substrate is skipped or compensated based on the identification result.

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