Wafer transfer robots including end effectors having integrated antennas for communication with sensors

Abstract

A wafer handling system includes a wafer handling robot, which includes a base, one or more arm segments coupled to an end effector configured to transfer a substrate, an antenna embedded in the end effector, wherein the antenna is configured to receive sensor data from at least one sensor arranged within the wafer handling system, and a router in communication with the antenna, wherein the router is configured to receive the sensor data from the antenna embedded in the end effector.

Description

WAFER TRANSFER ROBOTS INCLUDING END EFFECTORS HAVING INTEGRATED ANTENNAS FOR COMMUNICATION WITH SENSORSCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 674,562, filed on July 23, 2024. The entire disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to wafer transfer robots including end effectors having integrated antennas for communication with sensors.BACKGROUND

[0003] The background description provided here is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

[0004] A substrate processing system typically includes a plurality of processing chambers (also called process modules) to perform deposition, etching, and other treatments of substrates such as semiconductor wafers. Examples of processes that may be performed on a substrate include, but are not limited to, a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process, a chemically enhanced plasma vapor deposition (CEPVD) process, and a sputtering physical vapor deposition (PVD) process. Additional examples of processes that may be performed on a substrate include, but are not limited to, etching (e.g., chemical etching, plasma etching, reactive ion etching, etc.) and cleaning processes.

[0005] During processing, a substrate is arranged on a substrate support such as a pedestal, an electrostatic chuck (ESC), and so on in a processing chamber of the substrate processing system. During deposition, gas mixtures including one or more precursors are introduced into the processing chamber, and plasma is struck to activate chemical reactions. During etching, gas mixtures including etch gases are introduced into the processing chamber, and plasma is struck to activate chemical reactions. Acomputer-controlled robot typically transfers substrates from one processing chamber to another in a sequence in which the substrates are to be processed.SUMMARY

[0006] An example wafer handling system includes a wafer handling robot, which includes a base, one or more arm segments coupled to an end effector configured to transfer a substrate, an antenna embedded in the end effector, wherein the antenna is configured to receive sensor data from at least one sensor arranged within the wafer handling system, and a router in communication with the antenna, wherein the router is configured to receive the sensor data from the antenna embedded in the end effector.

[0007] In some examples, the wafer handling system includes at least one wire electrically connected between the antenna and the router to transmit the sensor data from the antenna to the router, wherein the at least one wire is routed through at least a portion of the one or more arm segments and a rotational joint, and the at least one wire is configured to relay the sensor data from the antenna to the router.

[0008] In some examples, the rotational joint comprises a ferrofluidic seal, and the at least one wire is routed through the ferrofluidic seal. In some examples, the antenna is configured to transmit the sensor data to the router via a wireless communication interface.

[0009] In some examples, the at least one sensor arranged within the wafer handling system includes at least one of an imaging sensor, a vibration sensor, an orientation sensor, or a proximity sensor.

[0010] In some examples, the at least one sensor is located on a wafer, the at least one sensor is an imaging sensor configured to capture a video signal, and the antenna is configured to transmit the video signal to the router to enable real-time video observation by a controller.

[0011] In some examples, the antenna is located between two or more ceramic layers of the end effector. In some examples, the antenna comprises a printed antenna material or a thin foil antenna.

[0012] In some examples, the ceramic layers comprise two near net shape ceramic layers sintered together from a green state.

[0013] In some examples, the at least one sensor is arranged on or within an adaptive positioning system (APS) wafer.

[0014] In some examples, the antenna is configured to receive the sensor data from the at least one sensor via a 2.4 Gigahertz radio frequency (RF) wireless signal.

[0015] In some examples, the wafer handling system includes a transfer module chamber configured to house the wafer handling robot in a vacuum.

[0016] In some examples, the router is located outside of the transfer module chamber, and the antenna is in communication with the router via a feedthrough of the transfer module chamber.

[0017] An example wafer handling robot includes a base, one or more arm segments connected to an end effector via a rotational joint, and an antenna embedded in the end effector, wherein the antenna is configured to receive sensor data from at least one sensor arranged with in a substrate processing tool, and the antenna is configured to transmit a received sensor data to a router arranged within the substrate processing tool.

[0018] In some examples, the rotational joint comprises a ferrofluidic seal, and at least one wire is routed through the ferrofluidic seal to link the antenna with the router.

[0019] In some examples, the antenna is configured to transmit the received sensor data to the router via wireless communication. In some examples, the antenna is located between ceramic layers of the end effector.

[0020] In some examples, the antenna comprises a printed antenna material or a thin foil antenna. In some examples, the ceramic layers comprise two near net shape ceramic layers sintered together from a green state.

[0021] In some examples, the at least one sensor is arranged on or within an adaptive positioning system (APS) wafer.

[0022] Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description, the claims, and the drawings. The detailed description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The present disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0024] FIG. 1 shows an example of a substrate processing tool;

[0025] FIG. 2 shows an example arrangement of the substrate processing tools in a fabrication facility;

[0026] FIGS. 3 and 4 show various example configurations of substrate processing tools;

[0027] FIG. 5 is a plan view of an example substrate processing system including a transfer robot;

[0028] FIG. 6 is a plan view of an example transfer robot having an antenna embedded in an end effector for communication with a sensor;

[0029] FIG. 7 depicts a line drawing plan view of an example autocalibration wafer having multiple sensors;

[0030] FIG. 8 is an isometric view of an example end effector including an embedded antenna for communication with a sensor; and

[0031] FIG. 9 is a line drawing of an example antenna pattern for an antenna embedded in an end effector.

[0032] In the drawings, reference numbers may be reused to identify similar and / or identical elements.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] Sensors, such as an adaptive positioning system (APS) wafer, are often used in a vacuum, and communicate with a router. For example, a router with a dipole antenna may be located in atmosphere (e.g., non-vacuum conditions), such as mounted to an equipment front end module (EFEM). A radio frequency (RF) wireless signal (such as a 2.4 Gigahertz signal) may travel between the router and the sensor wafer, via a combination of free space propagation and surface propagation. The surface propagation allows the wireless signal to travel between the vacuum and atmosphere.

[0034] Surface propagation may only be viable when coupling to the surface is efficient, and the vacuum chamber is “leaky” in the RF context. For example, a transfer module chamber may have RF “leakiness” due to an artifact of chamber architecture and dimensional tolerancing, and the RF leakiness may be variable from chamber to chamber. In contrast, process modules may not be RF “leaky” when they are intentionally designed to be RF grounded to inhibit or prevent RF signals from propagating out of theprocess module. In addition to inhibiting RF propagation out of the process module, RF grounding may also inhibit or prevent RF signals from propagating into the process module, which creates difficulties for the RF signal to propagate from the router to the sensor when the sensor is located inside the process module. This may result in poor wireless connectivity and low data transfer rates between a sensor wafer and the router.

[0035] In some example embodiments described herein, an antenna may be integrated into an end effector, such as an end effector of a vacuum transfer module (VTM). In some examples, the antenna may be located within a dielectric material of the end effector. For example, the antenna may be sandwiched between two pieces of near net shape ceramic in a green state, followed by sintering and machining. Ceramic may provide sufficient stiffness properties to function as desired for wafer transfer. As another example, glass may be used with the antenna embedded in the glass. The antenna may include any suitable material, such as printed antenna material or thin foil. Encapsulating the antenna within the layers of ceramic (or other suitable dielectric material) may inhibit or prevent deterioration of the antenna due to chemical attack. The antenna in the end effector may be connected to the router in any suitable manner, such as a vacuum feedthrough or as part of a wireless array.

[0036] Embedding an antenna in the end effector may facilitate high data transfer rates needed for high resolution video and other data intensive sensor outputs, for real-time observation and analysis while the sensor wafer is in the process module. The embedded antenna may provide for faster and more efficient data transfer from the sensor wafer to the router, compared with taking still images in the process module and then removing the adaptive positioning system to the VTM to wirelessly transmit the images for processing, for example. While small amounts of data may be transmitted to and from the adaptive positioning system while it is in the process module without an embedded antenna in the end effector, that approach may experience wireless dropout which can terminate an APS measurement routine and negatively impact system reliability and frequency using the APS.

[0037] In some examples, an antenna electrode pattern may be printed onto a surface of an end effector ceramic layer in a green state, which may allow for printing of complicated and thin antenna geometries. Another piece of ceramic in the green state may be placed on top of the antenna to sandwich the antenna between ceramic layers. The ceramic layers may then be sintered together (e.g., via a hot isostatic press), to forma ceramic body without a seam. For example, the ceramic layers may form one piece where the antenna is sandwiched within the ceramic. Sintering creates one material without a need for an adhesion layer, where an adhesion layer may be a source of mechanical failure or subject to chemical attack. Sintering ceramic layers around an antenna may increase a lifetime of the component while reducing contamination risk. In other example embodiments, the antenna may be provided in the end effector via other approaches, such as an adhesion layer, a seal between different sides of the end effector, insertion of the antenna though an opening or into a cavity space within the end effector, etc.

[0038] The end effector may have one or more exposed electrical contacts (e.g., located at an outer surface of the ceramic), which are connected with the antenna. The electric contact(s) may allow for connection to a wire which is routed outside of the VTM. For example, the wire may be routed through one or more rotational joints of a robot on which the end effector is located. In some examples, the wire may be routed through a ferrofluidic seal in the rotational joint connected to the end effector or another robot arm. Once the wire reaches the base of the robot, the wire may be routed outside of the VTM to connect with the router, such as a coaxial cable that feeds the router. In some examples, the router may be mounted at the VTM near the robot, located at the EFEM, etc.

[0039] The antenna may have any suitable geometry and size, such as about one inch by one inch (or smaller or larger). The antenna may have a two-dimensional geometry in some examples, and may include any suitable material. For example, the antenna may be made out of thin foil, such as by cutting a microscopic material, or using additive manufacturing to print the antenna design on the end effector ceramic.

[0040] The end effector may have any suitable size and shape, such as a ceramic piece having a greater length than width, with four points that contact a wafer. The antenna may be positioned at any suitable location within the end effector. In some examples, the antenna and the sensor wafer may be located in a same reference frame, where the sensor wafer has a flat antenna design. The antenna in the end effector may be designed with or without a matching condition (e.g., a driving circuit to match a 50 ohm standard). The matching condition may not be important in some examples where a high transmission power is not needed.

[0041] FIG. 1 shows a top-down view of an example of a substrate processing tool 100. The substrate processing tool 100 includes a plurality of process modules 104. For example only, each of the process modules 104 may be configured to perform one or more respective processes on a substrate. Substrates to be processed are loaded into the substrate processing tool 100 via ports of a loading station of an equipment front end module (EFEM) 108 and then transferred into one or more of the process modules 104. For example, a substrate may be loaded into each of the process modules 104 in succession. As will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 5-9, an end effector of a robot may include an antenna configured to send and receive sensor data to and from an adaptive positioning system (APS) wafer, and transfer sensor data to a router 110 located outside of the EFEM 108. The APS wafer may be configured to send and receive data to and from the antenna.

[0042] FIG. 2 shows an example arrangement 200 of a fabrication room 204 including a plurality of substrate processing tools 208 such as the substrate processing tool 100. FIG. 3 and 4 show examples of configurations in which the plurality of substrate processing tools 208 such as the substrate processing tool 100 can be arranged. In these examples, the wafers travel through varying paths. Accordingly, the configuration and operation of the robots used to transport the wafers through these paths vary. Further, a variety of sensors are used in these examples to sense various aspects of robots and the wafers. In addition, in these examples, a robot arm can be installed in various configurations, and may include an antenna located in an end effector of the robot, to receive signals from the variety of sensors (such as an APS wafer) to propagate signals to a router located outside of the substate processing tools 208.

[0043] FIG. 3 shows a first example configuration 300 including a first substrate processing tool 304 and a second substrate processing tool 308. The first substrate processing tool 304 and the second substrate processing tool 308 are arranged sequentially and are connected by a transfer stage 312, which is under vacuum. As shown, the transfer stage 312 includes a pivoting transfer mechanism configured to transfer substrates between a vacuum transfer module (VTM) 316 of the first substrate processing tool 304 and a VTM 320 of the second substrate processing tool 308. In other examples, the transfer stage 312 may include other suitable transfer mechanisms, such as a linear transfer mechanism.

[0044] For example only, a first robot of the VTM 316 may place a substrate on a support 324 arranged in a first position, the support 324 is pivoted to a second position, and a second robot of the VTM 320 retrieves the substrate from the support 324 in the second position. In some examples, the second substrate processing tool 308 may include a storage buffer 328 configured to store one or more substrates between processing stages. The transfer mechanism may also be stacked to provide two or more transfer systems between the substrate processing tools 308 and 304. Transfer stage 312 may also have multiple slots to transport or buffer multiple substrates at one time. In the configuration 300, the first substrate processing tool 304 and the second substrate processing tool 308 are configured to share a single equipment front end module (EFEM) 332.

[0045] FIG. 4 shows an eighth example configuration 400 including a substrate processing tool 404 having a plurality of process modules 408. The substrate processing tool 404 includes a linear VTM 412 and robot 416 configured to transfer substrates between EFEM 420 and the process modules 408. The VTM 412 is configured to adjust a linear position of the robot 416 relative to the process modules 408 (i.e., adjust an end- to-end position of the robot 416 relative to the VTM 412).

[0046] In some examples, any of the processing tools described herein may implement loading stations having a stacked configuration. In a stacked configuration, a loading station may include two or more vertically stacked loading stations. In some examples, the stacked configuration may also include a process module or chamber (such as an integrated critical strip (ICS) chamber) vertically stacked with one or more loading stations.

[0047] FIGS. 5 shows a plan view of an example configuration of another substrate processing tool 500. The substrate processing tool 500 includes an equipment front end module (EFEM) 504 configured to accommodate at least a portion of one or more load locks 508. In other words, instead of being located entirely outside of the EFEM 504 in a gap between the EFEM 504 and a vacuum transfer module (VTM) 512, the load locks 508 extend into an interior of the EFEM 504. Accordingly, the EFEM 504 can be located closer to the VTM 512, reducing the overall footprint, and increasing the pitch of a plurality of the substrate processing tools 500.

[0048] As shown, the substrate processing tool 500 includes ten process modules 516. However, other configurations of the substrate processing tools 500 may include moreor less than ten of the process modules 516. For example, a length of the VTM 512 may be extended to accommodate additional process modules 516. Similarly, the VTM 512 may include vacuum one or more transfer robots 520 having various configurations. As shown, the transfer robot 520 include one arm having three arm segments 528 and one end effector 532. In other configurations, the transfer robot(s) 520 may include one, two, or more arms, each having more or less arm segments 528. In some examples, the robot(s) 520 may include two or more of the end effectors 532 on each of the arms.

[0049] In FIG. 5, the substrate processing tool 500 includes a single vacuum transfer robot 520-1 arranged off-center (i.e., shifted to the right or left toward the process modules 516) relative to the center lengthwise axis of the VTM 512. In other words, a primary pivot point of the robot 520 is off-center. The robot 520 is positioned and configured to access each of the ten process modules 516 and the load lock(s) 508. In configurations where the substrate processing tool 500 includes storage buffers 536, the robot 520-1 is also configured to access the storage buffers 536.

[0050] FIG. 6 is a plan view of an example transfer robot 620, which may be similar to the transfer robot 520 of FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 6, the transfer robot 620 includes three arm segments 628, and an end effector 632. The end effector 632 is connected to one of the arm segments 628 via a rotational joint 642, and the base 644 is coupled to another one of the arm segments 628 via another rotational joint 642. Each arm segment 628 is connected with at least one other arm segment 628 via a rotational joint 642.

[0051] Each rotational joint 642 may include any suitable construction to allow components to rotate relative to one another, such as a ferrofluidic seal. For example, in some implementations the robot arm includes vacuum-tight rotary seals at each rotational joint 642. Examples of such vacuum-tight seals are ferrofluidic seals, which provide a robust, low-friction vacuum-tight seal that does not produce much, if any, particulate contamination (any metal particles that are abraded off during operation are immediately captured by the magnetic field of the seal, thereby preventing the migration of such particles onto, for example, a wafer being transported by the wafer handling robot).

[0052] The vacuum tight seals may be integrated into bearing assemblies or used in combination with rotational bearings that allow for smooth rotational motion through the vacuum-tight seal. This allows the interior of the movable links that are sealed with vacuum-tight seals to be kept at atmospheric pressure, while the environment around the movable links is kept at vacuum. In some examples, only the outermost seals for eachmovable link that is held at atmospheric pressure may be provided by vacuum-tight seals; the other rotational bearings may not be equipped with such seals. By sealing the beltdrive systems in atmospheric sections of the movable links, any particulates generated by the belts will be kept isolated from the vacuum environment, thereby preserving its cleanliness.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 6, a sensor wafer 636 is positioned on the end effector 632. The sensor wafer 636 may be an adaptive positioning system (APS) wafer, including one or more sensors 638. Each sensor 638 may be configured to obtain data (e.g., indicative of positioning of the sensor wafer 636, indicative of conditions within a transfer module, a process module or other substrate processing tool or chamber, etc. Further details regarding example sensor wafers are provided below with reference to FIG. 7.

[0054] The end effector 632 includes at least one antenna 634. The antenna 634 may be embedded in ceramic of the end effector 632, to protect the antenna 634 from conditions in a substrate processing tool. The antenna 634 is configured to receive data from the sensor(s) 638 of the sensor wafer 636, and transmit the sensor data to a router 610. For example, the antenna 634 may be in a same reference frame as an antenna of the sensor wafer 636 corresponding to the sensor(s) 638, and the antenna 634 may receive a wireless signal 640 from the sensor wafer 636. Any suitable wireless signal 640 may be used, such as a radio frequency (RF) signal at any suitable frequency or frequency range (e.g., a frequency range of 500 MHz to 100 GHz, such as a 2.4 Gigahertz signal), a near-field communication (NFC) communication signal, a short- range wireless signal (e.g., BLUETOOTH), etc.

[0055] A wire 650 may be connected between external contacts of the antenna 634 (e.g., contacts at an outer surface of ceramic of the end effector 632), and the router 610. As shown in FIG. 6, the wire 650 may be routed through the arm segments 628 of the arm of the transfer robot 620. For example, the wire 650 may be routed through a ferrofluidic seal in each rotational joint 642. The wire 650 then exits the base 644, and may pass through a vacuum feedthrough 648, for connection with the router 610 (which may be located outside of the EFEM or other chamber of the substrate processing tool). In some examples, a vacuum may be maintained within each arm segment 628, or atmospheric pressure may be used in each arm segment 628. A vacuum may be maintained within enclosures of each rotational joint 642, or atmospheric pressure may be used in rotational joint 642. The wire 650 may be any suitable wire, such as a coaxialcable. In other examples, the antenna 634 may be part of, or connected with, a wireless antenna array configured to communicate with the router 610.

[0056] Although FIG. 6 illustrates the antenna 634 receiving data from the sensor wafer 636, in other example embodiments the antenna 634 may be configured to receive data from other components of the system. For example, sensors may be placed on a load lock, on an actuating mechanism around a pedestal, etc., and the antenna 634 may be configured to receive data (e.g., wireless signals) from those sensors at the different locations.

[0057] FIG. 7 depicts a line drawing plan view of another example autocalibration wafer 700. The autocalibration wafer 700, in this example, has a generally circular substrate 702 that has three lobes spaced around the outer circumference, each lobe housing a corresponding first imaging sensor 722. In this example, the substrate 702 generally has a diameter that is the same as a typical semiconductor wafer; the lobes extend beyond this diameter and allow the first imaging sensors 722 to be positioned such that the photosensitive areas of the first imaging sensors 722 may be centered, for example, over the outer edge of a semiconductor wafer placed beneath, and centered under, the autocalibration wafer 700.

[0058] The autocalibration wafer 700 in this example also includes two power sources 714, e.g., rechargeable batteries, which may be charged using a wireless charging feature 716, e.g., an inductive charging coil. The batteries may provide power to various electrical components of the autocalibration wafer 700, such as processor 710, memory 712, wireless communications interface 718, the first imaging sensors 722, the second imaging sensor 724, proximity sensors 734, and accelerometers 736, which may be used as orientation or tilt sensors.

[0059] FIG. 8 is an isometric view of an example end effector 832. As shown in FIG. 8, the end effector 832 includes an antenna 834, which is embedded in ceramic material of the end effector 832. The end effector 832 in the example of FIG. 8 is a spatula type end effector having two prongs 854, where the spatula type end effector is configured to support a wafer (such as a sensor wafer), although other examples may have other suitable designs for the end effector. For example, material between the two prongs 854 may be cut out to avoid interference with other chamber features.

[0060] The antenna 834 is configured to receive sensor data from a sensor wafer supported by the end effector 832. The antenna 834 then relays sensor data to a router,via a wire 856 and an electrical connector 852. The electrical connector 852 may be located on an external surface of the end effector 832. The wire 856 may also be located within ceramic of the end effector 832 in some examples.

[0061] Although FIG. 8 illustrates the antenna 834 embedded in the end effector 832, in other examples the antenna may be located in other portions of the process module. For example, the antenna may be embedded in an arm of a transfer robot, in a rotational joint of a transfer robot, etc. Some example embodiments may include multiple antennas, which may be located in same or different locations within the process module. For example, two antennas may be embedded in a same end effector, a first antenna may be located in a transfer robot arm while a second antenna is located in a rotational joint of the transfer robot, etc. When multiple antennas are used, each antenna may be the same type, or different antennas may have different patterns, arrangements, materials, etc.

[0062] FIG. 9 is a plan view of an example antenna 934. The antenna 934 includes an antenna pattern 960, which may be thin foil, printed between ceramic layers of the end effector 932 (shown in dotted lines in FIG. 9), etc. The antenna pattern 960 is for example only, and other antennas may have any other suitable antenna patterns. As shown in FIG. 9, the antenna pattern includes a connector 962 for connecting with a wire to transmit sensor data to a router (where the wire may be routed through arm segments of a transfer robot, and through a vacuum feedthrough to a router located outside of the EFEM or other substrate processing tool).

[0063] In some examples, the end effector including the antenna may extend into a process module (PM) that is used in a substate processing tool. For example, the robot arms discussed herein may transport wafers (e.g., APS sensor wafers) between the process modules in a tool as well as across the tools. While an example process module is described in the context of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), teachings of the present disclosure can be applied to other types of substrate processing such as atomic layer deposition (ALD), plasma enhanced ALD (PEALD), CVD, or also other processing including etching processes. The system may include a processing chamber that encloses other components and contains an RF plasma (if used). The processing chamber may include an upper electrode and an electrostatic chuck (ESC) or other substrate support, where during operation a substrate is arranged on the ESC.

[0064] For example, the upper electrode may include a gas distribution device such as a showerhead that introduces and distributes process gases. A substrate-facing surface or faceplate of the base portion of the showerhead includes a plurality of holes through which vaporized precursor, process gas, or purge gas flows. The ESC may include a baseplate that acts as a lower electrode, and the baseplate may support a heating plate. The baseplate may include one or more channels for flowing coolant through the baseplate.

[0065] If plasma is used, an RF generating system generates and outputs an RF voltage to one of the upper electrode and the lower electrode (e.g., the baseplate of the ESC). The other one of the upper electrode and the baseplate may be DC grounded, AC grounded, or floating. A gas delivery system includes one or more gas sources, which are connected by valves and mass flow controllers to a manifold. A vapor delivery system supplies vaporized precursor to the manifold that is connected to the processing chamber.

[0066] A temperature controller may be connected to a plurality of thermal control elements arranged in a heating plate. The temperature controller may be used to control the plurality of TCEs to control a temperature of the ESC and the substrate. The temperature controller may communicate with a coolant assembly to control coolant flow through the channels. For example, the coolant assembly may include a coolant pump, a reservoir, and one or more temperature sensors.

[0067] The foregoing description is merely illustrative in nature and is not intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses. The broad teachings of the disclosure can be implemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while this disclosure includes particular examples, the true scope of the disclosure should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent upon a study of the drawings, the specification, and the following claims. It should be understood that one or more steps within a method may be executed in different order (or concurrently) without altering the principles of the present disclosure.

[0068] Further, although each of the embodiments is described above as having certain features, any one or more of those features described with respect to any embodiment of the disclosure can be implemented in and / or combined with features of any of the other embodiments, even if that combination is not explicitly described. In other words, thedescribed embodiments are not mutually exclusive, and permutations of one or more embodiments with one another remain within the scope of this disclosure.

[0069] Spatial and functional relationships between elements (for example, between modules, circuit elements, semiconductor layers, etc.) are described using various terms, including “connected,” “engaged,” “coupled,” “adjacent,” “next to,” “on top of,” “above,” “below,” and “disposed.” Unless explicitly described as being “direct,” when a relationship between first and second elements is described in the above disclosure, that relationship can be a direct relationship where no other intervening elements are present between the first and second elements, but can also be an indirect relationship where one or more intervening elements are present (either spatially or functionally) between the first and second elements.

[0070] As used herein, the phrase at least one of A, B, and C should be construed to mean a logical (A OR B OR C), using a non-exclusive logical OR, and should not be construed to mean “at least one of A, at least one of B, and at least one of C.”

[0071] In some implementations, a controller is part of a system, which may be part of the above-described examples. Such systems can comprise semiconductor processing equipment, including a processing tool or tools, chamber or chambers, a platform, or platforms for processing, and / or specific processing components (a wafer pedestal, a gas flow system, etc.). These systems may be integrated with electronics for controlling their operation before, during, and after processing of a semiconductor wafer or substrate.

[0072] The electronics may be referred to as the “controller,” which may control various components or subparts of the system or systems. The controller, depending on the processing requirements and / or the type of system, may be programmed to control any of the processes disclosed herein, including the delivery of processing gases, temperature settings (e.g., heating and / or cooling), pressure settings, vacuum settings, power settings, radio frequency (RF) generator settings, RF matching circuit settings, frequency settings, flow rate settings, fluid delivery settings, positional and operation settings, wafer transfers into and out of a tool and other transfer tools and / or load locks connected to or interfaced with a specific system.

[0073] Broadly speaking, the controller may be defined as electronics having various integrated circuits, logic, memory, and / or software that receive instructions, issue instructions, control operation, enable cleaning operations, enable endpoint measurements, and the like. The integrated circuits may include chips in the form offirmware that store program instructions, digital signal processors (DSPs), chips defined as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and / or one or more microprocessors, or microcontrollers that execute program instructions (e.g., software).

[0074] The program instructions may be instructions communicated to the controller in the form of various individual settings (or program files), defining operational parameters for carrying out a particular process on or for a semiconductor wafer or to a system. The operational parameters may, in some embodiments, be part of a recipe defined by process engineers to accomplish one or more processing steps during the fabrication of one or more layers, materials, metals, oxides, silicon, silicon dioxide, surfaces, circuits, and / or dies of a wafer.

[0075] The controller, in some implementations, may be a part of or coupled to a computer that is integrated with the system, coupled to the system, otherwise networked to the system, or a combination thereof. For example, the controller may be in the “cloud” or all or a part of a fab host computer system, which can allow for remote access of the wafer processing. The computer may enable remote access to the system to monitor current progress of fabrication operations, examine a history of past fabrication operations, examine trends or performance metrics from a plurality of fabrication operations, to change parameters of current processing, to set processing steps to follow a current processing, or to start a new process.

[0076] In some examples, a remote computer (e.g., a server) can provide process recipes to a system over a network, which may include a local network or the Internet. The remote computer may include a user interface that enables entry or programming of parameters and / or settings, which are then communicated to the system from the remote computer. In some examples, the controller receives instructions in the form of data, which specify parameters for each of the processing steps to be performed during one or more operations. It should be understood that the parameters may be specific to the type of process to be performed and the type of tool that the controller is configured to interface with or control.

[0077] Accordingly, as described above, the controller may be distributed, such as by comprising one or more discrete controllers that are networked together and working towards a common purpose, such as the processes and controls described herein. An example of a distributed controller for such purposes would be one or more integrated circuits on a chamber in communication with one or more integrated circuits locatedremotely (such as at the platform level or as part of a remote computer) that combine to control a process on the chamber.

[0078] Without limitation, example systems may include a plasma etch chamber or module, a deposition chamber or module, a spin-rinse chamber or module, a metal plating chamber or module, a clean chamber or module, a bevel edge etch chamber or module, a physical vapor deposition (PVD) chamber or module, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber or module, an atomic layer deposition (ALD) chamber or module, an atomic layer etch (ALE) chamber or module, an ion implantation chamber or module, a track chamber or module, and any other semiconductor processing systems that may be associated or used in the fabrication and / or manufacturing of semiconductor wafers.

[0079] As noted above, depending on the process step or steps to be performed by the tool, the controller might communicate with one or more of other tool circuits or modules, other tool components, cluster tools, other tool interfaces, adjacent tools, neighboring tools, tools located throughout a factory, a main computer, another controller, or tools used in material transport that bring containers of wafers to and from tool locations and / or load ports in a semiconductor manufacturing factory.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:1 . A wafer handling system comprising: a wafer handling robot including: a base; one or more arm segments coupled to an end effector configured to transfer a substrate; an antenna embedded in the end effector; wherein the antenna is configured to receive sensor data from at least one sensor arranged within the wafer handling system; and a router in communication with the antenna, wherein the router is configured to receive the sensor data from the antenna embedded in the end effector.

2. The wafer handling system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one wire electrically connected between the antenna and the router to transmit the sensor data from the antenna to the router, wherein: the at least one wire is routed through at least a portion of the one or more arm segments and a rotational joint; and the at least one wire is configured to relay the sensor data from the antenna to the router.

3. The wafer handling system of claim 2, wherein: the rotational joint comprises a ferrofluidic seal; and the at least one wire is routed through the ferrofluidic seal.

4. The wafer handling system of claim 1 , wherein the antenna is configured to transmit the sensor data to the router via a wireless communication interface.

5. The wafer handling system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor arranged within the wafer handling system includes at least one of an imaging sensor, a vibration sensor, an orientation sensor, or a proximity sensor.

6. The wafer handling system of claim 5, wherein: the at least one sensor is located on a wafer; the at least one sensor is an imaging sensor configured to capture a video signal; and the antenna is configured to transmit the video signal to the router to enable realtime video observation by a controller.

7. The wafer handling system of claim 1 , wherein the antenna is located between two or more ceramic layers of the end effector.

8. The wafer handling system of claim 7, wherein the antenna comprises a printed antenna material or a thin foil antenna.

9. The wafer handling system of claim 7, wherein the ceramic layers comprise two near net shape ceramic layers sintered together from a green state.

10. The wafer handling system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor is arranged on or within an adaptive positioning system (APS) wafer.1 1 . The wafer handling system of claim 1 , wherein the antenna is configured to receive the sensor data from the at least one sensor via a 2.4 Gigahertz radio frequency (RF) wireless signal.

12. The wafer handling system of claim 1 , further comprising a transfer module chamber configured to house the wafer handling robot in a vacuum.

13. The wafer handling system of claim 12, wherein: the router is located outside of the transfer module chamber; and the antenna is in communication with the router via a feedthrough of the transfer module chamber.

14. A wafer handling robot comprising: a base; one or more arm segments connected to an end effector via a rotational joint; an antenna embedded in the end effector, wherein: the antenna is configured to receive sensor data from at least one sensor arranged with in a substrate processing tool; and the antenna is configured to transmit a received sensor data to a router arranged within the substrate processing tool.

15. The wafer handling robot of claim 14, wherein: the rotational joint comprises a ferrofluidic seal; and at least one wire is routed through the ferrofluidic seal to link the antenna with the router.

16. The wafer handling robot of claim 14, wherein the antenna is configured to transmit the received sensor data to the router via wireless communication.

17. The wafer handling robot of claim 14, wherein the antenna is located between ceramic layers of the end effector.

18. The wafer handling robot of claim 17, wherein the antenna comprises a printed antenna material or a thin foil antenna.

19. The wafer handling robot of claim 17, wherein the ceramic layers comprise two near net shape ceramic layers sintered together from a green state.

20. The wafer handling robot of claim 19, wherein the at least one sensor is arranged on or within an adaptive positioning system (APS) wafer.

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