Substrate Edge Detection for Transfer Tilting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing substrate unloading methods in semiconductor manufacturing often result in positional displacement or tilting of substrates during transfer, leading to potential damage to the substrate and neighboring components.
Innovation Solution
A substrate transportation method involving a camera that captures images of the substrate's peripheral edge to detect positional displacement and tilting, allowing for timely intervention to prevent interference and damage during unloading.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the substrate is lifted by pins during unloading, then the substrate can be transferred from the mounting table, but the substrate may be positionally displaced or tilted on the pins
Solution Approach 1:
The camera captures an image of the substrate's peripheral edge while the substrate is still on the mounting table before it is lifted by the pins. This preliminary detection allows the system to know the substrate's initial position and orientation, enabling corrective actions to be taken before the displacement or tilting occurs during the lifting and transfer process
2Productivity
If the transfer arm moves toward the mounting table in a state where the substrate is positionally displaced or tilted, then the unloading process can proceed, but the substrate interferes with neighboring components causing damage
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the camera-captured image to detect the substrate's position and orientation, then feeds this information back to the control device. The control device processes this feedback and adjusts the transfer arm's movement accordingly, stopping or modifying the transfer when displacement or tilting is detected, thus preventing interference with neighboring components and avoiding damage while maintaining efficient unloading operations
3Reliability
If a camera is introduced to detect substrate position, then damage prevention is enabled, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The camera serves as an intermediary detection device that captures images of the substrate's peripheral edge. Rather than using complex mechanical sensors or direct measurement systems, the camera provides a non-contact, optically-based method for detecting substrate position and orientation, adding minimal complexity while significantly improving reliability and damage prevention capability
Data Source
AI summary
In a substrate transportation method, a first movement process is provided for moving a camera to a position above a predetermined region where a peripheral edge of a substrate is supposed to be located in a state where the substrate is lifted by pins protruding beyond a mounting table while a transfer mechanism that has received an instruction for starting an unloading of the substrate mounted on the mounting table is moving to the mounting table. Further, a first image capturing process is provided for controlling the camera moved in the first movement process to capture an image of the predetermined region, and a first detection process is provided for detecting a positional displacement and/or a tilting of the substrate lifted by the pins based on the image captured by the camera in the first image capturing process.