Equipment front end module for semiconductor panel and side surface inspection method thereof

Abstract

A device front-end module is provided, including at least one first interface, at least one door opening mechanism, at least one measuring device, and a control system. The at least one first interface interfaces with at least one storage carrier. The at least one door opening mechanism is used to open the at least one interface. The at least one measuring device is disposed adjacent to the at least one first interface and is used to measure a first side of a semiconductor panel within the at least one storage carrier. The control system is coupled to the at least one measuring device and determines whether a defect exists on the first side based on the measurement results of the first side.

Claims

1. A device front-end module, comprising: at least one first interface for docking with at least one storage carrier; at least one door opening mechanism for opening the at least one first interface; at least one measuring device disposed adjacent to the at least one first interface for measuring a first side of a semiconductor panel within the at least one storage carrier; and a control system coupled to the at least one measuring device for determining whether the first side has a defect based on the measurement result of the first side.

2. The device front-end module as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one measuring device is disposed on the at least one door opening mechanism and measures the semiconductor panel during the opening process of the at least one door opening mechanism.

3. The device front-end module as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one measuring device captures an image of the first side of the semiconductor panel.

4. The device front-end module as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one measuring device performs distance measurements at various positions on the first side of the semiconductor panel to establish a distance distribution between the at least one measuring device and the first side, and the control system determines whether the first side has defects such as dents, protrusions or foreign objects by analyzing the linear changes in the distance distribution.

5. The device front-end module as described in claim 1, wherein: the at least one measuring device performs the measurement during the opening process of the at least one door opening mechanism; and the at least one storage carrier has a plurality of slots corresponding to a plurality of semiconductor panels, wherein when the at least one door opening mechanism is opened to the position of the corresponding slot, the at least one measuring device performs the measurement of the semiconductor panel in the slot.

6. The device front-end module as described in claim 5, wherein: when the at least one door opening mechanism opens to the position of the corresponding slot, the at least one measuring device performs measurement of the semiconductor panel in the slot along a first direction; and when the at least one door opening mechanism further opens to the next layer slot, the at least one measuring device performs measurement of the semiconductor panel in the next layer slot along a second direction opposite to the first direction.

7. The device front-end module as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one door opening mechanism triggers the at least one measuring device to perform a measurement on one or more semiconductor panels after each predetermined distance of opening.

8. The device front-end module as described in claim 1 further includes a second interface, a material handling mechanism, and a sensing device. The second interface is connected to a back-end manufacturing device. The material handling mechanism is used to transport the semiconductor panel between the at least one first interface and the second interface. The sensing device is disposed on the transport path between the at least one first interface and the second interface to obtain information of the other sides of the semiconductor panel. The control system is coupled to the sensing device and determines whether there are defects on all sides of the semiconductor panel based on the measurement results of the first side and the information of the other sides of the semiconductor panel.

9. The device front-end module as described in claim 1 further includes a material handling mechanism, a first image sensing device, and a second image sensing device, wherein: the material handling mechanism takes out the semiconductor panel from the at least one receiving carrier and delivers the semiconductor panel to a back-end manufacturing device via a second interface of the device front-end module; and the first image sensing device and the second image sensing device are respectively disposed on both sides of the second interface, and capture images of a second side and a third side of the semiconductor panel during the process of the material handling mechanism carrying the semiconductor panel through the second interface.

10. The device front-end module as described in claim 9 further includes a third image sensing device, which is fixedly or movably disposed near the second interface, to capture an image of a fourth side of the semiconductor panel during the process of the material handling mechanism transporting the semiconductor panel.

11. The device front-end module as described in claim 10, wherein the control system determines whether the second side, the third side and the fourth side have defects based on images captured by the first, the second and the third image sensing devices.

12. A method for inspecting the side surface of a semiconductor panel in a device front-end module, comprising the following steps: during the opening process of at least one opening mechanism of a device front-end module, controlling at least one measuring device adjacent to at least one first interface to measure a first side surface of a semiconductor panel within at least one receiving carrier; and determining whether the first side surface has a defect based on the measurement result of the first side surface; wherein, The at least one first interface docks with the at least one storage vehicle.

13. The semiconductor panel side inspection method for the device front-end module as described in claim 12, wherein, The at least one measuring device is disposed on the at least one door opening mechanism, and measures the semiconductor panel as the at least one door opening mechanism opens.

14. The semiconductor panel side inspection method for the device front-end module as described in claim 12, wherein, The at least one measuring device captures an image of the first side of the semiconductor panel.

15. The semiconductor panel side inspection method for the device front-end module as described in claim 12, wherein, In the step of measuring the first side of the semiconductor panel within the at least one housing carrier, distance measurements are performed at various positions on the first side to establish a distance distribution between the at least one measuring device and the first side.

16. The semiconductor panel side inspection method for the device front-end module as described in claim 15, wherein, In the step of determining whether there is a defect on the first side based on the measurement results of the first side, the linear change of the distance distribution is analyzed to determine whether the first side has defects such as dents, protrusions or foreign objects. If the distance distribution has a part that changes non-linearly, it is determined that there are defects such as dents, protrusions or foreign objects on the first side.

17. The semiconductor panel side inspection method for the device front-end module as described in claim 12, wherein, In the step of measuring the first side of the semiconductor panel in the at least one storage carrier by controlling the at least one measuring device disposed near the at least one first interface, the at least one storage carrier has a plurality of slots, and the at least one measuring device performs the measurement of the semiconductor panel in the slot when the at least one door opening mechanism is opened to the position of the corresponding slot.

18. The semiconductor panel side inspection method of the device front-end module as described in claim 17, wherein: when the at least one door opening mechanism opens to the position of the corresponding slot, the at least one measuring device performs measurement of the semiconductor panel in the slot along a first direction; and when the at least one door opening mechanism further opens to the next layer slot, the at least one measuring device performs measurement of the semiconductor panel in the next layer slot along a second direction opposite to the first direction.

19. The semiconductor panel side inspection method for the device front-end module as described in claim 12, wherein, In the step of controlling the at least one measuring device located near the first interface to measure the first side of the semiconductor panel inside the at least one housing carrier, the at least one measuring device is triggered to perform a measurement on one or more semiconductor panels after the at least one door opening mechanism opens a predetermined distance.

20. The semiconductor panel side inspection method of the device front-end module as described in claim 12, wherein the device front-end module further has a second interface for interfacing with a back-end manufacturing device, and after the opening process of the at least one opening mechanism of the device front-end module, the method further includes: controlling a sensing device disposed between the at least one first interface and the second interface to acquire information of the remaining sides of the semiconductor panel on the transport path of the semiconductor panel, and determining whether there are defects on all sides of the semiconductor panel based on the measurement results of the first side and the information of the remaining sides of the semiconductor panel.

21. The semiconductor panel side inspection method of the device front-end module as described in claim 12, wherein the device front-end module further has a second interface for interfacing with a back-end manufacturing device, the method further comprising: during the process of a material handling mechanism of the device front-end module transporting the semiconductor panel through the second interface to the back-end manufacturing device, taking images of a second side and a third side of the semiconductor panel by means of a first image sensing device and a second image sensing device disposed on both sides of the second interface respectively.

22. The semiconductor panel side inspection method for the device front-end module as described in claim 21 further includes: capturing an image of a fourth side of the semiconductor panel using a fixed or movable third image sensing device, wherein the third image sensing device is disposed near the second interface; and determining whether the second side, the third side, and the fourth side of the semiconductor panel have defects based on the images of the second side, the third side, and the fourth side of the semiconductor panel captured by the first image sensing device, the second image sensing device, and the third image sensing device.

23. A front-end module for semiconductor panel side inspection, comprising: at least one first interface for docking with at least one receiving carrier; a second interface for docking with a back-end manufacturing device; a material handling mechanism for transporting a semiconductor panel between the at least one first interface and the second interface; at least one measuring device disposed adjacent to the at least one first interface for measuring a first side of the semiconductor panel within the at least one receiving carrier; a sensing device disposed on the transport path between the at least one first interface and the second interface for acquiring information on the remaining sides of the semiconductor panel; and a control system coupled to the at least one measuring device and the sensing device, and determining whether all sides of the semiconductor panel have defects based on the measurement results of the first side and the information on the remaining sides of the semiconductor panel.

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