Inclined Door Opener for Substrate Carrier Humidity Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In semiconductor manufacturing, maintaining a clean environment within cleanrooms is challenging due to the development of highly integrated devices and larger substrates, leading to difficulties in preventing humidity increases during substrate processing.
Innovation Solution
A substrate processing device and method that involves a door opener system to control the door of a substrate carrier, aligning it at an inclination angle to reduce humidity ingress by minimizing external air flow into the carrier during substrate retrieval, and using a transfer robot to manage substrate transfer within a controlled environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the door is completely opened to allow substrate transfer, then substrate retrieval is enabled, but humidity and external air flow into the substrate carrier causing contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The door is designed to be dynamically adjustable between fully open and inclined positions. During substrate transfer, the door opens completely to allow robot access. After transfer, the door is adjusted to an inclined position (e.g., 45 degrees) that partially blocks the entrance while still allowing the robot arm to access substrates. This dynamic positioning resolves the contradiction by providing both full access during transfer and partial blocking during storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The door opening operation is segmented into distinct phases: full opening for substrate insertion/extraction, and partial opening (inclined position) for humidity protection. The door opener mechanism enables independent control of the door's angular position, allowing the system to transition between these segmented states based on operational requirements, thus resolving the contradiction between access and protection.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the door remains closed to maintain clean environment, then humidity is prevented, but substrate transfer becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The door transitions from a static closed state to a dynamic system that can assume multiple positions: fully closed for protection, fully open for transfer, and inclined at various angles for partial access. This dynamic capability allows the door to adapt to different operational phases, maintaining cleanliness when closed and enabling transfer when opened, thus resolving the contradiction.
Solution Approach 2:
The door opener mechanism acts as an intermediary that enables controlled door movement between closed and open states. It provides precise angular control, allowing the door to stop at intermediate inclined positions that balance contamination prevention and substrate accessibility, resolving the binary contradiction between closed and fully open states.
3Ease of operation
If the door is fully opened during substrate transfer, then access is improved, but external air flow increases causing humidity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The door positioning system dynamically adjusts the door angle based on operational needs. During substrate transfer, the door is fully open to maximize access. During substrate storage, the door is positioned at an inclined angle (e.g., 45 degrees) that reduces the opening area, thereby reducing external air flow and humidity ingress while still allowing robot access. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction between access and air flow control.
Solution Approach 2:
The door's angular parameter is changed from 0 degrees (fully open) to an inclined angle (e.g., 45 degrees) after substrate transfer. This parameter change reduces the effective opening area, thereby reducing external air flow and humidity entry while maintaining sufficient access for the transfer robot. The parameter change resolves the contradiction by optimizing the balance between access and protection.
4Productivity
If frequent door opening occurs for substrate retrieval, then productivity is improved, but humidity control deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The door system dynamically transitions between fully open and inclined positions based on operational phase. During active substrate retrieval, the door remains fully open for efficient access. After retrieval operations complete, the door transitions to an inclined position to minimize humidity ingress during storage periods. This dynamic behavior allows frequent retrieval operations while maintaining humidity control during non-operational periods, resolving the contradiction between productivity and humidity control.
Solution Approach 2:
The door operates periodically: fully open during substrate transfer operations, then inclined during storage intervals. This periodic switching between open and protected states allows frequent substrate retrieval while limiting cumulative humidity exposure during storage periods, resolving the contradiction between productivity and humidity control.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of controlling a substrate processing device includes aligning a door opener with a front side of a door, wherein the door has closed an entrance of a substrate carrier, coupling the door opener to the door, detaching the door from the substrate carrier after the coupling of the door opener to the door, lowering the door opener coupled to the door and exposing the entrance of the substrate carrier, taking out one of a plurality of substrates from the substrate carrier, aligning the door opener coupled to the door to be adjacent to a front side of the entrance of the substrate carrier, the door coupled with the door opener being inclined at an inclination angle with respect to the entrance, lowering the door opener coupled to the door in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and taking another substrate out of the substrate carrier.