Wafer Carrier Layout for Integrated Immersion, Spray, and Drying
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wafer processing methods are inefficient due to high equipment costs and time-consuming wafer conveyance between stations, leading to suboptimal production efficiency and space utilization in manufacturing lines.
Innovation Solution
A wafer processing method utilizing a carrier that is liftable, lowerable, turnable, and rotatable, allowing multiple steps such as immersion, spraying, rinsing, and drying to be performed on the same carrier, reducing the need for robotic conveyance and repositioning of stations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple processing steps are performed on separate stations with robotic conveyance, then each step can be performed with dedicated equipment, but the equipment costs are high and the conveyance is time consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate processing stations (spray station, rinse station, dry station) into a single integrated processing device. The carrier can perform spray, rinse, and dry operations sequentially within one device, eliminating the need for multiple separate stations and robotic conveyance between them, thus reducing equipment costs and improving production efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The carrier is designed as a multi-functional device that can perform multiple processing operations (spray, rinse, dry) and accommodate multiple wafers simultaneously. The single processing device serves multiple functions that previously required separate dedicated equipment, reducing overall system complexity and cost
2Extent of automation
If robotic hands are used to convey wafers between stations, then wafer transfer is automated, but the conveyance is time consuming and requires repositioning
Solution Approach 1:
By merging all processing steps into a single integrated device, the patent eliminates the need for robotic conveyance between multiple stations. The carrier moves wafers between processing zones within the same device, dramatically reducing conveyance time while maintaining automation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the conveyance function from the robotic hand system and integrates it directly into the carrier mechanism. The carrier itself performs the positioning and movement functions previously handled by external robotic hands, eliminating repositioning delays
3Ease of manufacture
If separate stations are used for each processing step, then each step has dedicated equipment, but the production efficiency is not good enough
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines spray, rinse, and dry processing functions into a single integrated device with a unified carrier system. This merging maintains the specialized processing capabilities of each step while eliminating the inefficiencies of separate stations, thereby improving production efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated carrier enables continuous processing by moving wafers sequentially through spray, rinse, and dry zones without interruption or repositioning. This continuous action eliminates the idle time and repositioning delays inherent in separate station systems, maintaining processing quality while improving efficiency
4Productivity
If multiple carriers are used for simultaneous processing, then throughput is increased, but the space requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The carrier is designed to hold multiple wafers in a nested or stacked arrangement, allowing multiple wafers to be processed simultaneously within a compact volume. This nesting approach increases throughput without proportionally increasing the space requirement of the production line
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure provides a wafer processing method having the following steps: providing a wafer (10), an immersion device (100), a carrier (200), and a spray device (300); turning the wafer (10) from a horizontal manner to an upright manner; upright placing the wafer (10) into the immersion device (100) for immersion; taking the wafer (10) out from the immersion device (100) and placing that onto the carrier (200) horizontally; spraying a liquid on the wafer (10) by the spray device (300); rinsing the wafer (10); rotating the carrier (200) to dry the wafer (10). Multiple steps for processing the wafer (10) may be performed on the same carrier (200) to accelerate the process.