Mechanical hand

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a processing apparatus that uses a robotic arm to transport wafers, and that can store cleaned wafers into a wafer cassette in a completely non-contact manner. [Solution] A robotic arm includes: a non-contact holding part having a first air jet port that radially sprays air from the center toward the periphery, the air sprayed from the first air jet port flowing radially to generate negative pressure and holding the wafer in a non-contact manner; and a peripheral support part having a second air jet port configured to spray air toward the center of the wafer held by the non-contact holding part and toward the outer periphery of the wafer, and the wafer being supported by the air sprayed from the second air jet port to prevent it from moving.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a robotic arm for holding wafers in a non-contact manner. Prior Technology

[0002] In a processing apparatus that holds wafers in a chuck and performs grinding, polishing, and other processing on them, the processed wafers are transferred from the chuck to a rotary table for cleaning, and a robot collects the cleaned wafers into a wafer cassette. The robot is equipped with a robotic arm, the holding surface of which is connected to a suction source. Wafers whose lower surface is held by the rotary table are removed and collected into the wafer cassette by the holding surface of the robotic arm, with their upper surface held by the suction. Because of concerns about damage to the upper surface of the wafer from robotic arms that contact the wafer's upper surface for suction and holding, non-contact robotic arm solutions have also been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Previous technical documents Patent documents

[0003] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 5918771 Summary of the Invention

[0004] The problem the invention aims to solve

[0005] The robotic arm described in Patent Document 1 is not entirely non-contact because it comes into contact with the outer periphery of the wafer. Therefore, there is a concern that it may damage the wafer, and there is also a concern that the contact may cause contamination of the cleaned wafer.

[0006] Accordingly, the purpose of this invention is to provide a processing apparatus that uses a robotic arm to transport wafers, and that can store cleaned wafers into a wafer cassette in a completely non-contact manner. The means to solve the problem

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, a robotic arm that is mounted on a robot and holds a wafer in a non-contact manner is provided. The robotic arm includes: a non-contact holding portion having a first air jet port that radially sprays air from the center toward the periphery, wherein the air sprayed from the first air jet port flows radially to generate negative pressure and holds the wafer in a non-contact manner; and a peripheral support portion having a second air jet port configured to spray air toward the center of the wafer held by the non-contact holding portion and toward the periphery of the wafer, wherein the wafer is supported by the air sprayed from the second air jet port to prevent it from moving. Preferably, the non-contact holding portion has a plurality of grooves, the plurality of grooves extending radially with one end located at the center and the other end not reaching the periphery, and arranged radially with the center of the holding surface as the center. The holding surface holds the wafer in a non-contact manner. The grooves become shallower towards the other end. The first air injection port is disposed at one end of the groove and injects air into the groove. The peripheral support portion has at least a first peripheral support portion and a second peripheral support portion arranged facing each other. Each of the first peripheral support portion and the second peripheral support portion has at least two second air injection ports. Invention Effects

[0008] According to one aspect of the present invention, since the wafer is held non-contactly by the negative pressure generated by the air injected from the first air jet of the non-contact holding part, and the wafer is supported by the air injected from the second air jet of the outer peripheral support part to prevent movement, the wafer can be held completely non-contactly, thereby preventing damage to the wafer and preventing contamination of the cleaned wafer due to dirt generated by contact. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0009] Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a grinding apparatus. Figure 2 is a perspective view showing one example of a robotic arm. Figure 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a non-contact holding part of a robotic arm. Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view along line AA in Figure 2. Figure 5 is a perspective view showing an example of the peripheral support of a robotic arm. Figure 6 is a plan view showing one example of a robotic arm. Figure 7 is a bottom view showing the state of the robotic arm holding the wafer entering the inside of the wafer cassette. Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view showing how a robotic arm maintains the state of a wafer without contact. Figure 9 is a bottom view showing the attraction generation area formed in the non-contact holding part of the robot. Figure 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the state in which the wafer is supported by the peripheral support. Figure 11 is a bottom view showing the second example of the robotic arm. Figure 12 is a bottom view showing the third example of the robotic arm. Figure 13 is a perspective view showing the peripheral support of the robot arm in the third example. Implementation

[0010] Forms used to implement inventions

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0012] 1. Composition of Grinding Equipment The grinding apparatus 1 shown in Figure 1 is a processing apparatus that grinds a wafer 10 held on a work chuck 2 by means of a grinding unit 3. A wafer cassette loading area 4 is provided at the front (-Y direction side) of the grinding apparatus 1, and the aforementioned wafer cassette loading area 4 can hold a wafer cassette 41 that holds the wafer 10 to be ground.

[0013] Near the wafer cassette loading area 4, a robot 5 is provided for removing wafers 10 from the wafer cassette 41 and moving wafers 10 into the wafer cassette 41. The robot 5 has a flexible and rotating arm 51, a lifting drive unit 52 for raising and lowering the arm 51, and a rotation drive unit 53 equipped with a motor that rotates the manipulator 6 around a horizontal rotation axis.

[0014] A temporary holding area 42 is provided in the movable area of ​​the robotic arm 6 to hold the wafer 10 pairs in a fixed position. The temporary holding area 42 includes a placing stage 43 for placing the wafer 10 and a plurality of support pins 44 that can move in the radial direction of the placing stage 43. The wafer 10 pairs placed on the placing stage 43 can be held in a fixed position.

[0015] Furthermore, a rotary cleaning unit 45 for cleaning the wafer 10 after cleaning is provided in the movable area of ​​the robot arm 6. The rotary cleaning unit 45 includes a rotary table 46 for holding and rotating the wafer 10, and a nozzle (not shown) for spraying cleaning fluid toward the wafer 10 held on the rotary table 46.

[0016] Near the temporary area 42, there is a first transfer unit 81 for transferring the wafer 10 from the temporary area 42 to the work table 2. The first transfer unit 81 has a rotatable and lifting arm 82 and an adsorption part 83 installed at the front end of the arm 82.

[0017] A second transfer unit 84 is provided on the -X direction side of the first transfer unit 81 to transfer the wafer 10 from the work chuck 2 to the rotary worktable 46. The second transfer unit 84 has a rotatable and lifting arm 85 and an adsorption part 86 installed at the front end of the arm 85.

[0018] The worktable 2 is composed of an attraction section 20 made of porous components and a frame 21 surrounding the attraction section 20. An attraction source (not shown) is connected to the attraction section 20, which allows the attraction force to act on a holding surface 200 on the upper surface of the attraction section. The holding surface 200 and the upper surface 210 of the frame 21 are formed to be flush.

[0019] The work chuck 2 is designed to rotate around the Z-axis and move horizontally in the Y-axis direction. A thickness measuring device 67 is provided on the side of the movement path in the Y-axis direction of the work chuck 2. The thickness measuring device 67 measures the thickness of the wafer 10 held in the work chuck 2. The thickness measuring device 67 includes: a first measuring unit 68, which measures the height of the holding surface 200 by measuring the height of the upper surface 210 of the frame 21; and a second measuring unit 69, which measures the height of the wafer 10 held in the holding surface 200. The thickness of the wafer 10 can be calculated by the difference between the measured value of the first measuring unit 68 and the measured value of the second measuring unit 69.

[0020] The grinding unit 3 consists of a spindle 30 with a Z-axis axis, a housing 31 supporting the spindle 30 in a rotatable configuration, a motor 32 that rotates the spindle 30, a mounting base 33 connected to the lower end of the spindle 30, and a grinding wheel 34 mounted on the mounting base 33. The grinding wheel 34 is composed of a base 340 mounted on the mounting base 33 and a plurality of grinding stones 341 fixed in a ring shape to the lower surface of the base 340. The grinding wheel 34 rotates when the spindle 30 is rotated by the motor 32.

[0021] The grinding unit 3 is supported by the grinding feed unit 7 and is height-adjustable. The grinding feed unit 7 consists of a ball screw 70 with a Z-axis axis, a pair of guide rails 71 arranged parallel to the ball screw 70, a motor 72 that rotates the ball screw 70, a lifting plate 73 with a nut screwed into the ball screw 70 and slidably attached to the guide rails 71, and a support 74 connected to the lifting plate 73 and holding the grinding unit 3. When the motor 72 rotates the ball screw 70, the lifting plate 73 is guided up and down by the guide rails 71, and the grinding unit 3 also rises and falls accordingly.

[0022] The grinding device 1 is covered by a cover 80, and a touch panel 87 for inputting or displaying processing conditions is provided on the front surface side (-Y direction side).

[0023] As shown in Figure 2, the robotic arm 6 mounted on the robot 5 is formed into a flat plate shape and has a circular non-contact holding part 60 for holding the surface of the wafer 10 by non-contact, an outer peripheral support part 61 for supporting the outer periphery of the wafer 10 by non-contact, and a mounting part 62 mounted on the rotary drive part 53 shown in Figure 1.

[0024] An air inlet 621 is formed by opening an opening in the upper surface 620 of the mounting part 62. The air inlet 621 communicates with the air flow path 622 that has been formed inside.

[0025] A first air jet 601, communicating with the air flow path 622 and opening on the upper surface 600, is provided at the center of the upper surface 600 of the non-contact holding portion 60. As shown in FIG3, a groove 602 extending radially from the first air jet 601 is formed on the outer periphery of the first air jet 601. The groove 602 extends radially in the non-contact holding portion 600, with one end 603 being the portion connected to the first air jet 601 at the center of the non-contact holding portion 600, and the other end 604 being a position further outward than the first air jet 601 and not reaching the outer periphery of the non-contact holding portion 600. The depth of the groove 602 is deepest at one end 603 and becomes shallower towards the other end 604, reaching the same height as the upper surface 600 at the other end 604. The other end 604 of the groove 602 is located closer to the inner periphery than the wafer 10 to be held.

[0026] The first air injection port 601 is covered by a circular plate 605. The circular plate 605 is attached to the portion of the upper surface 600 where the groove 602 is not formed. As shown in FIG4, there is a space between one end 603 of the groove 602 and the circular plate 605, and the air 63 ejected from the first air injection port 601 is guided in this space, and the air 63 flows along the groove 602 and along the upper surface 600. Furthermore, the trench 602 should preferably be arranged symmetrically with the center of the upper surface 600 as the center. Also, the other end 604 of the trench 602 can be enlarged to form a fan shape.

[0027] As shown in Figure 5, the outer peripheral support portion 61 has an upper surface 600 and a thick-walled portion 611 that protrudes upward in an arc shape from the upper surface 600. In the example shown in Figure 2, the two outer peripheral support portions 61 are formed facing each other.

[0028] Inside the thick-walled portion 611, an airflow path 612 is formed along its arc. A second air jet 613 is formed on the inner circumferential surface of the thick-walled portion 611. The aforementioned second air jet 613 communicates with the airflow path 612 and faces the center of the wafer 10 held by the non-contact holding portion 60, and ejects air 65 toward the center of the wafer 10. In the illustrated example, three second air jets 613 are formed. Although it is sufficient to provide at least one second air jet 613 on each outer peripheral support portion 61 and to provide a total of three or more, it is desirable to provide two or more on each outer peripheral support portion 61. As shown in FIG6, the airflow path 622 passes from one outer peripheral support portion (first outer peripheral support portion) 61 through the lower part of the first air jet 601 to the other outer peripheral support portion 61 (second outer peripheral support portion). Furthermore, the diameter of the non-contact retaining part 60 is larger than the width of the outer peripheral support part 61. That is, the sizes of the first air jet 601 and the second air jet 613 are set such that the air supplied from the air source to the air inlet 621 can be ejected from the first air jet 601 and the second air jet 613 in a predetermined amount of air 63 and air 65.

[0029] 2. Operation of the grinding device The wafer cassette 41 of the grinding apparatus shown in Figure 1 contains the wafer 10 before grinding. When grinding the wafer 10, the lifting drive unit 52 of the robot 5 initially aligns the height of the robotic arm 6 with the height of the wafer 10 to be retrieved, and bends and rotates the arm 51, so that the robotic arm 6 enters the interior of the cassette 41 from the opening 411 side as shown in Figure 7. At this time, the robotic arm 6 can be flipped by the rotation drive unit 53 shown in Figure 1, so that the upper surface 600 side of the robotic arm 6 faces downward. The wafer 10 is supported by a pair of racks 410 inside the cassette 41 with its opposing ends placed on them. The robotic arm 6 enters above the wafer 10 to be retrieved with the wafer 10 located on the inner periphery side of the outer peripheral support unit 61. Furthermore, the cartridge 41 is configured such that an opening is formed on the rear side 412 of the standard cartridge, and the second peripheral support 61 of the robot arm 6 will not interfere with the rear side of the cartridge 41.

[0030] Next, the robotic arm 6 is slightly lowered, causing it to rotate and move towards the upper surface 600 of the wafer 10, while air is supplied to the air inlet 621. This generates, as shown in FIG8, a radial airflow 63 from the first air jet 601 toward the groove 602, and then from the groove 602 toward the outer periphery of the non-contact holding portion 60. This creates a negative pressure based on the Bernoulli effect, generating an upward attraction between the upper surface 600 and the upper surface 101 of the wafer 10, allowing the wafer 10 to be held in the non-contact holding portion 60 in a non-contact state with both the upper surface 600 and the upper surface of the disc 605.

[0031] As shown in Figure 9, air 63 flows radially along the extension of groove 602. Furthermore, regions 64, based on the Bernoulli effect, can be formed on both sides of the air 63 to generate attraction.

[0032] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 10, air 65 can also be injected from the second air jet port 613 of the opposing peripheral support portion 61. In this way, the outer periphery 103 of the wafer 10 is supported in a non-contact manner within the peripheral support portion 61. As shown in Figure 9, because the two peripheral support portions 61 are arranged facing each other, the outer periphery 103 of the wafer 10 can be supported from both sides, so the wafer 10 is supported without any horizontal displacement.

[0033] As shown in Figure 9, the other end 604 of the groove 602 faces the direction where the thick-walled portion 611 of the outer peripheral support 61 does not exist. That is, viewed from the first air jet port 601, the other end 604 is located in the region where the thick-walled portion 611 does not exist. Therefore, the air 63 will not face the thick-walled portion 611 and will not interfere with the air 65 ejected from the second air jet port 613 of the outer peripheral support 61. Thus, without causing adverse effects on each other, both the planar holding of the wafer 10 performed by the non-contact holding portion 60 and the horizontal holding of the wafer 10 performed by the outer peripheral support portion 61 can be achieved, thereby holding the wafer 10 completely non-contactly. The wafer 10, held by the robot arm 6 in this way, is then transported to the loading table 43 in the temporary area 42 for loading.

[0034] Furthermore, the robotic arm 9 shown in Figure 11 can be used instead of the robotic arm 6. The difference between the robotic arm 9 and the robotic arm 6 is that the robotic arm 9 has four points of peripheral support 61, and points where the airflow path 622 branches in the non-contact holding part 60 corresponding to these points.

[0035] When using the robotic arm 9, it is desirable to use the wafer cassette 47 shown in FIG. 11. The robotic arm 9 has only the portion with the outer peripheral support 61 protruding outwards, and the portion in which the air 63 flows is formed with a smaller diameter than the outer peripheral support 61. The wafer cassette 47 has a mounting plate 470 corresponding to one of the shapes of this robotic arm 9. That is, the mounting plate 470 is formed in a shape that does not interfere with the non-contact holding portion 60 and the outer peripheral support portion 61, and supports the wafer 10 from below only at the position in which the air 63 flows.

[0036] Like robot arm 6, robot arm 9 enters the wafer cassette 47 in a flipped state. It holds the upper surface 101 of wafer 10 by negative pressure generated from air injected through the first air jet 601 of the non-contact holding section 60 and flowing along the groove 602, and supports the outer periphery 103 of wafer 10 by air injected through the second air jet 613 of the peripheral support section 61. Because robot arm 9 has four peripheral support sections 61 that support the outer periphery 103 of wafer 10 from the front, back, left, and right, it can hold wafer 10 more stably without causing it to move, and can also flip it while holding wafer 10. Therefore, robot arm 9 can also enter below wafer 10 to hold it, and then flip it during transport to the temporary holding area 42.

[0037] Alternatively, the robotic arm 90 shown in Figure 12 can be used to replace robotic arms 6 and 9. This robotic arm 90 has a non-contact holding part 91 that holds the surface of the wafer 10 by non-contact, three peripheral support parts 92 that support the outer periphery of the wafer 10 by non-contact, and a mounting part 93 that is mounted on the rotary drive part 53 shown in Figure 1.

[0038] A first air inlet 931 and a second air inlet 932 are formed by openings on the upper surface 930 of the mounting part 93. The first air inlet 931 is connected to the first air flow path 933 already formed inside, and the second air inlet 932 is connected to the second air flow path 934 already formed inside.

[0039] The upper surface 910 of the non-contact holding portion 91 has a first air jet 911 at its center, which communicates with the first air flow path 933 and opens toward the upper surface 910. Three grooves 912 extending radially from the first air jet 911 are formed on the outer periphery of the first air jet 911. Similar to the grooves 602 of the robotic arms 6 and 9, the grooves 912 are deepest at one end 913 and become shallower towards the other end 914, reaching the same height as the upper surface 910 at the other end 914. The aforementioned one end 913 is located at the center of the non-contact holding portion 91 and is connected to the first air jet 911. The aforementioned other end 914 is located further outward than the first air jet 911 and does not reach the outer periphery of the non-contact holding portion 91. The other end 914 is located on a more inner periphery than the outer periphery of the wafer 10 to be held.

[0040] The first air jet 911 is covered by a circular plate 915. The circular plate 915 is attached to the portion of the upper surface 910 where the groove 912 is not formed. Air ejected from the first air jet 911 flows towards the upper surface 910 through the groove 912. Furthermore, the groove 912 can also be widened at its other end 914 to form a fan shape.

[0041] As shown in Figure 13, each peripheral support portion 92 has a cylindrical protrusion 920 protruding upward from the upper surface 910, and a second air injection port 921 formed on the side of the protrusion 920 and opening towards the center of the non-contact holding portion 91. The second air injection port 921 is connected to the second air flow path 934 shown in Figure 12. The three second air injection ports 921 are arranged at equal intervals, that is, every 120 degrees.

[0042] When air is supplied to the first air inlet 931, the air is ejected from the first air jet 911 through the first air flow path 933 and flows radially along the upper surface 910, generating an attraction force based on the Bernoulli effect around the air. On the other hand, when air is supplied to the second air inlet 932, the air is ejected as air 922 through the second air flow path 934 from the second air jet 921 shown in FIG. 13. This air 922 is ejected toward the outer periphery 103 of the wafer 10, and supports the wafer 10 in a non-contact manner without horizontal displacement.

[0043] As shown in Figure 12, the other end 914 of the groove 912 faces the direction where the protrusion 920 does not exist. That is, viewed from the first air jet 911, the other end 914 is located in the region where the protrusion 920 does not exist. Therefore, since the air 922 does not face the protrusion 920, it will not interfere with the air 922 ejected from the second air jet 921. Thus, without causing adverse effects on each other, the wafer 10 can be held in the planar direction by the non-contact holding part 91 and in the horizontal direction by the peripheral support part 92. In this way, the wafer 10 can be held completely by non-contact means. Furthermore, in the robotic arm 90 shown in Figure 12, since the first air inlet 931 and the first air flow path 933, and the second air inlet 932 and the second air flow path 934 are independent of each other, the amount of air ejected from the first air jet 911 and the amount of air ejected from the second air jet 921 can be controlled individually. In particular, by controlling the amount of air ejected from the second air jet 921 according to the thickness of the wafer 10, stable support can be provided regardless of the thickness of the wafer 10. Furthermore, each of the second air jets 921 can be individually equipped with a connected air flow path, and each air flow path can be provided with an air inlet.

[0044] The wafer 10, which has been moved to the temporary storage area 42 by robotic arms 6, 9, or 90 and is already mounted, is placed on the mounting table 43 with its upper surface 101 facing upwards. Furthermore, by stopping the air supply to the air inlet 621 shown in FIG. 2, the air jets 63 and 65 from the robotic arms 6 can be stopped and exited from the wafer 10. Afterwards, the wafer 10 can be positioned at a predetermined location by moving the plurality of support pins 44 toward the center of the mounting table 43.

[0045] Secondly, the upper surface 101 of the wafer 10 can be adsorbed by the adsorption part 83 of the first conveying unit 81, and then conveyed to the work chuck 2 by the rotation of the arm part 82. In the work chuck 2, the lower surface 102 of the wafer 10 is attracted and held on the holding surface 200.

[0046] Next, the work chuck 2 moves in the +Y direction and positions itself below the grinding unit 3. Then, the work chuck 2 is rotated, and the motor 32 rotates the grinding wheel 34, while the motor 72 of the grinding feed unit 7 rotates the ball screw 70. This causes the grinding unit 3 to gradually descend, bringing the rotating grinding stone 341 into contact with the upper surface 101 of the wafer 10 for grinding. During grinding, the thickness of the wafer 10 is measured by the thickness gauge 67. If the wafer 10 reaches the predetermined thickness, the grinding feed unit 7 raises the grinding stone 341 to end the grinding process.

[0047] After grinding, the work chuck 2 moves in the -Y direction and positions itself near the second transport unit 84. Next, the suction section 86 of the second transport unit 84 suctions the ground upper surface 101, and the wafer 10 is placed onto the rotary table 46 of the rotary cleaning unit 45 by the rotation of the arm 85, with the lower surface 102 side being attracted and held. Then, the rotary table 46 rotates and sprays cleaning fluid towards the upper surface 101 of the wafer 10 from a nozzle (not shown) to clean the upper surface 101.

[0048] After the upper surface 101 is cleaned, the robot 5 moves the robotic arm 6 above the wafer 10, with the non-contact holding part 60 of the robotic arm 6 facing downwards so that it faces the upper surface 101 of the wafer 10. Air is supplied to the air inlet 621 shown in FIG. 2, and air 63 is ejected from the first air jet port 601, and air 65 is ejected from the second air jet port 613 shown in FIG. 10, thus holding the upper surface 101 side of the wafer 10 and supporting it so that the wafer 10 does not move in the horizontal direction. Furthermore, the second air injection port 613 should preferably inject air towards the center of the outer periphery 103 of the wafer 10 in the thickness direction. However, if the wafer 10 has been ground thinner, the second air injection port 613 should be configured such that the air 65 injected from the second air injection port 613 flows toward the lower surface 102 of the wafer 10. Also, if a protective tape is attached to the lower surface 102 of the wafer 10, the air 65 should preferably flow toward the front side (lower surface) of the protective tape. That is, the wafer 10 can also be supported in a horizontal position by the friction between the air 65 and the lower surface 102 of the wafer 10. Furthermore, the second air nozzle can also be configured to spray air 65 in a spiral shape.

[0049] In this state, the lifting drive unit 52 raises the robot arm 6 and rotates the arm 51, allowing the robot arm 6 to enter the interior of the wafer cassette 41. Then, with the end of the wafer 10 positioned above the shelf 410 as shown in FIG. 7, the robot arm 6 is lowered to place the wafer 10 onto the shelf 410. Then, the wafer 10 is released from its holding position by stopping the air supply to the air inlet 621. This process is repeated to store the wafer 10 in the wafer cassette 41. Afterward, the robot arm 6 is retracted from the wafer cassette 41. Furthermore, when using the robotic arm 9 shown in Figure 11 to transfer the wafer 10 from the rotary table 46 to the wafer cassette 41, the robotic arm 9 can be flipped during transport. At this time, the robotic arm 9 enters the wafer cassette 47 while holding the wafer 10 from below. When placing the wafer 10 on the shelf 470, the robotic arm 9, which holds the wafer 10 on its upper surface, is lowered after the robot 5 has positioned it at a height between the shelves 470 and the non-contact holding part 60 and the peripheral support part 61, as viewed from above. As the robotic arm 9 passes the shelf 470, the airflow 63 is obstructed by the portion of the shelf 470 that supports the wafer 10 from below, and the attractive force weakens. The wafer 10 is then placed on the shelf 470, thereby removing it from the robotic arm 9. Furthermore, the air supply can be stopped when the robotic arm 9 passes downward through the frame 470.

[0050] When placing the wafer 10 into the wafer cassette 41, the wafer 10 can be held in a non-contact manner, just as it is when being removed from the wafer cassette 41, preventing it from shifting horizontally. In particular, although grinding debris may adhere to the upper surface 101 after cleaning in the rotary cleaning unit 45, the non-contact method prevents the grinding debris from adhering to the robot arm 6, thus preventing it from adhering to the wafer 10 that will be ground and placed into the wafer cassette 41 later. Furthermore, it prevents damage to the wafer 10 due to contact and prevents contamination of the cleaned wafer 10 due to dirt generated by contact. Furthermore, in order to facilitate subsequent processing such as transport, even when a wafer with a concave center is formed by grinding only the center of the wafer and not the outer periphery, and is transported to the wafer cassette 41 after being rotated and cleaned, the wafer can be kept in contact.

[0051] Furthermore, when transferring the wafer 10 before grinding from the wafer cassette 41 to the temporary storage area 42, a contact-type robotic arm can also be used. In this case, as shown in Japanese Patent No. 6853646, one side can be configured as a contact type and the other side as a non-contact type, and the non-contact type side can be configured as described in this invention.

[0052] Furthermore, in this embodiment, although the non-contact holding part 60 is configured to have a radially extending groove 602, a mortar-shaped airflow path can also be used instead of the groove 602.

[0053] Furthermore, in this embodiment, although the air 63 is radially ejected by covering the top of the first air jet 601 with the circular plate 605, it is also possible to form a plurality of first air jets, each of which is configured to eject air toward the outer periphery. In this case, the circular plate becomes unnecessary.

[0054] Furthermore, although this embodiment has been described in relation to a grinding apparatus, the present invention can also be applied to a polishing apparatus.

[0055] 1: Grinding equipment 10: Wafer 102: Lower surface 103: Peripheral part 2: Work clamp 20: Attraction Section 21: Frame 200: Maintain surface 210,600,620,910,930,101: Upper surface 3: Grinding Unit 30: Spindle 31: Shell 32: Motor 33: Mounting bracket 34: Grinding wheel 340:Abutment 341: Grinding stone 4: Disc tray placement area 41,47: Film Box 42: Temporary Area 43: Placement worktable 44: Sales 45: Rotary Washing Unit 46: Rotary worktable 410, 470: Shelves 411: Opening 412: Rear side 5: Robot 51: Arm 52: Lifting Drive Unit 53: Rotary drive unit 6,9,90: Robotic Arm 60, 91: Non-contact holding part 61: Peripheral support section (first peripheral support section, second peripheral support section) 62, 93: Installation Department 63,65,922: Air 64: Area of ​​Attraction 67: Thickness measuring instrument 68: First Measurement Department 69: Second Measurement Department 601,911: First air injection port 602,912: Ditch 603,913: One end 604,914: The other end 605,915: Round plate 611: Thick-walled section 612, 622: Airflow path 613,921: Second air injection port 621: Air Inlet 7: Grinding feed unit 70: Ball screw 71: Guide rail 72: Motor 73:Lifting plate 74: Supporter 80: Cover 81: First transport unit 82, 85: Arm 83, 86: Adsorption section 84: Second transport unit 87: Touch panel 92: Peripheral support 920: Protrusion 931: First Air Inlet 932: Second Air Inlet 933: First airflow path 934: Second airflow path AA: Line +X, -X, +Y, -Y, +Z, -Z: Directions

Claims

1. A robotic arm, mounted on a robot and holding a wafer in a non-contact manner, the robotic arm comprising: a non-contact holding portion having a first air jet port that radially ejects air from a center toward a periphery, the air ejected from the first air jet port flowing radially to generate negative pressure and holding the wafer in a non-contact manner; and a peripheral support portion having a second air jet port configured to eject air toward the center of the wafer held by the non-contact holding portion and toward the periphery of the wafer, and the wafer being supported by the air ejected from the second air jet port to prevent movement, the non-contact holding portion having a plurality of grooves, the plurality of grooves extending radially with one end located at the center and the other end not reaching the periphery, and arranged radially with the center of the holding surface as the center, the holding surface being the surface that holds the wafer in a non-contact manner, the grooves becoming shallower toward the other end, the first air jet port being disposed at one end of the groove and ejecting air toward the groove. The outer peripheral support portion has at least a first outer peripheral support portion and a second outer peripheral support portion configured to face each other, and each of the first outer peripheral support portion and the second outer peripheral support portion has at least two of the second air injection ports.

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