U.S. patent application number 17/199313 was filed with the patent office on 2022-05-26 for substrate transfer system with tray aligner.
The applicant listed for this patent is SKY TECH INC.. Invention is credited to JUNG-HUA CHANG, JING-CHENG LIN.
Application Number | 20220165600 17/199313 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | |
Filed Date | 2022-05-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220165600 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LIN; JING-CHENG ; et
al. |
May 26, 2022 |
SUBSTRATE TRANSFER SYSTEM WITH TRAY ALIGNER
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a substrate transfer system,
which includes a main body, a tray cassette base, a tray aligner, a
tray robot, a substrate cassette base, a substrate aligner, a
substrate robot and a Bernoulli robot. The tray can be transferred
to the tray aligner by the tray robot. The substrate can be
transferred to the substrate aligner by the substrate robot. By the
Bernoulli robot, the substrate can be transferred from the
substrate aligner to the tray on the tray aligner.
Inventors: |
LIN; JING-CHENG; (Hsinchu
County, TW) ; CHANG; JUNG-HUA; (Hsinchu County,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
SKY TECH INC. |
Hsinchu County |
|
TW |
|
|
Appl. No.: |
17/199313 |
Filed: |
March 11, 2021 |
International
Class: |
H01L 21/677 20060101
H01L021/677; B65G 47/90 20060101 B65G047/90; H01L 21/67 20060101
H01L021/67; H01L 21/68 20060101 H01L021/68; H01L 21/683 20060101
H01L021/683; H01L 21/687 20060101 H01L021/687 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 20, 2020 |
TW |
109140896 |
Claims
1. An substrate transfer system, comprising: a main body, having a
substrate picking-and-placing area and a transfer area; at least
one tray cassette base, connected to the transfer area, fixing a
tray cassette; at least one tray aligner, located within the
transfer area, rotating a tray to a first specific angle according
to a first positioning block on the tray; at least one tray robot,
located within the transfer area, transferring the tray from the
tray cassette to the tray aligner, and transferring the tray from
the tray aligner to the tray cassette; at least one substrate
cassette base, located within the substrate picking-and-placing
area, fixing at least one substrate cassette; at least one
substrate aligner, located within the transfer area, rotating a
substrate to a predetermined angle according to a second
positioning block on the substrate; at least one substrate robot,
located within the transfer area, transferring the substrate from
the substrate cassette to the substrate aligner, and transferring
the substrate from the substrate aligner to the substrate cassette;
and at least one Bernoulli robot, located within the transfer area,
transferring the substrate from the substrate aligner to the tray
on the tray aligner, and transferring the substrate from the tray
on the tray aligner to the substrate aligner; wherein after the
Bernoulli robot transfers the substrate from the substrate aligner
to the tray on the tray aligner, the tray aligner rotates the tray
to a second specific angle.
2. The substrate transfer system according to claim 1, further
comprising: a substrate cassette sensor, located within the
substrate picking-and-placing area, detecting whether the substrate
cassette is correctly disposed on the substrate cassette base.
3. The substrate transfer system according to claim 2, wherein when
the substrate cassette sensor detects that the substrate cassette
is correctly disposed on the substrate cassette base, the substrate
cassette base and the substrate cassette are locked to each
other.
4. The substrate transfer system according to claim 1, further
comprising: a tray cassette sensor, connected to the transfer area,
detecting whether the tray cassette is correctly disposed on the
tray cassette base.
5. The substrate transfer system according to claim 4, wherein when
the tray cassette sensor detects that the tray cassette is
correctly disposed on the tray cassette base, tray cassette base
and the tray cassette are locked to each other.
6. The substrate transfer system according to claim 1, further
comprising: substrate displacement sensor, located within the
substrate picking-and-placing area, detecting whether the substrate
in the substrate cassette protrudes the substrate cassette.
7. The substrate transfer system according to claim 1, further
comprising: a tray displacement sensor, located within the transfer
area, detecting whether the tray in the tray cassette protrudes the
tray cassette.
8. The substrate transfer system according to claim 1, further
comprising: a barcode reader, located within the substrate
picking-and-placing area, reading a barcode on the substrate
cassette to determine a type of the substrate cassette.
9. The substrate transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the
substrate robot has a substrate mapping function, before the
substrate is transferred to the substrate aligner from the
substrate cassette, the substrate robot vertically displaces in
respect to substrate cassette, so as to know a number and a
location of the substrate by using the substrate mapping
function.
10. The substrate transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the
tray robot has a tray mapping function, before the tray is
transferred to the tray aligner from the tray cassette, the tray
robot vertically displaces in respect to tray cassette, so as to
know a number and a location of the tray by using the tray mapping
function.
11. The substrate transfer system according to claim 1, wherein
when the substrate transfer system has multiple substrate cassette
bases, the substrate cassette bases are arranged in an adjacent
allocation or a vertical allocation.
12. The substrate transfer system according to claim 1, further
comprising: at least one load lock, connected to the transfer area,
wherein the tray robot transfers the tray from the tray aligner to
the load lock, and transfers the tray from the load lock to the
tray aligner.
13. The substrate transfer system according to claim 12, wherein
the substrate transfer system further has a cooling area connected
to the transfer area, the tray robot transfers the tray from the
load lock to the cooling area to cool down the substrate on the
tray, and the tray robot transfers the tray from the cooling area
to the tray aligner.
14. The substrate transfer system according to claim 13, wherein
the cooling area is the tray cassette.
15. The substrate transfer system according to claim 1, further
comprising: a tray optical character recognition (OCR), connected
to the transfer area, recognizing a coding number on the tray.
16. The substrate transfer system according to claim 1, further
comprising: a substrate OCR, connected to the transfer area or the
substrate picking-and-placing area, recognizing a coding number on
the substrate.
17. The substrate transfer system according to claim 1, further
comprising: a lens, connected to the transfer area, capturing an
image of the tray.
18. The substrate transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the
substrate transfer system adopts SEMI Equipment Communication
Standard/Generic Equipment Model (SECS/GEM), so as to search
history information of the substrate via a coding number of the
substrate.
19. The substrate transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the
first positioning block is a notch or a flat edge.
20. The substrate transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the
second positioning block is a notch or a flat edge.
Description
BACKGROUND
1. Technical Field
[0001] The present disclosure relates to a substrate transfer
system, in particular to a substrate transfer system that transfers
a substrate to a tray through a tray robot, a substrate robot, and
a Bernoulli robot in an automated manner.
2. Description of Related Art
[0002] In the integrated circuit industry, 4-inch or 6-inch wafers
are often used as a substrate. In some 4-inch or 6-inch fabs,
semi-automated processes are adopted. For example, before the main
process is performed on the substrate, the operator often manually
places the substrate in the tray, and then the tray carrying the
substrate is transferred into the chamber of the machine for
subsequent processes. However, the semi-automated process is not
only time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the substrate is also
prone to be misaligned, contaminated or even fragmented, resulting
in poor product yields or incurring excess costs. Furthermore,
manual transfer cannot record transfer information (event log), so
when it is necessary to track the historical process of the
substrate, it is difficult to obtain information, thereby
increasing the difficulty of debugging the historical process of
the substrate.
SUMMARY
[0003] In order to overcome the shortcomings of the conventional
technology, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a
substrate transfer system, which replaces the manual transfer
process of the substrate through an automated process.
[0004] The substrate transfer system can transfer a tray from a
tray cassette to a tray aligner through a tray robot, and transfer
a substrate from a substrate cassette to a substrate aligner
through a substrate robot. Furthermore, a Bernoulli robot can
transfer the substrate rotated to a predetermined angle to the tray
rotated to a specific angle. In this way, automated processes can
replace manual processes, thus reducing the rate of errors during
transmission, and reducing the probability of contamination or
fragmentation of the substrate.
[0005] According one objective of the present disclosure, an
embodiment of the present disclosure provides a substrate transfer
system comprising a main body, a tray cassette base, a tray
aligner, a tray robot, a substrate cassette base, a substrate
aligner, a substrate robot and a Bernoulli robot. The main body has
a substrate picking-and-placing area and a transfer area. The tray
cassette base is connected to the transfer area and used to fix a
tray cassette. The tray aligner is located within the transfer area
and used to rotate a tray to a first specific angle according to a
first positioning block on the tray. The tray robot is located
within the transfer are, used to transfer the tray from the tray
cassette to the tray aligner, and used to transfer the tray from
the tray aligner to the tray cassette. The substrate cassette base
is located within the substrate picking-and-placing area and used
to fix at least one substrate cassette. The substrate aligner is
located within the transfer area and used to rotate a substrate to
a predetermined angle according to a second positioning block on
the substrate. The substrate robot is located within the transfer
area, used to transfer the substrate from the substrate cassette to
the substrate aligner, and used to transfer the substrate from the
substrate aligner to the substrate cassette. The Bernoulli robot is
located within the transfer area, used to transfer the substrate
from the substrate aligner to the tray on the tray aligner, and
used to transfer the substrate from the tray on the tray aligner to
the substrate aligner. After the Bernoulli robot transfers the
substrate from the substrate aligner to the tray on the tray
aligner, the tray aligner rotates the tray to a second specific
angle.
[0006] Optionally, the substrate transfer system further comprises
a substrate cassette sensor (placement sensor) and a tray cassette
sensor (placement sensor). The substrate cassette sensor is located
within the substrate picking-and-placing area and used to detect
whether the substrate cassette is correctly disposed on the
substrate cassette base. The tray cassette sensor is connected to
the transfer area and used to detect whether the tray cassette is
correctly disposed on the tray cassette base.
[0007] Optionally, the substrate transfer system further comprises
a substrate displacement sensor (slide sensor) and a tray
displacement sensor (slide sensor). The substrate displacement
sensor is located within the substrate picking-and-placing area and
used to detect whether the substrate in the substrate cassette
protrudes the substrate cassette. The tray displacement sensor is
located within the transfer area and used to detect whether the
tray in the tray cassette protrudes the tray cassette.
[0008] Optionally, the substrate transfer system further comprises
a barcode reader. The barcode reader is located within the
substrate picking-and-placing area and used to reading a barcode on
the substrate cassette to determine a type of the substrate
cassette.
[0009] Optionally, the substrate robot has a substrate mapping
function. Before the substrate is transferred to the substrate
aligner from the substrate cassette, the substrate robot vertically
displaces in respect to substrate cassette, so as to know a number
and a location of the substrate by using the substrate mapping
function.
[0010] Optionally, the tray robot has a tray mapping function.
Before the tray is transferred to the tray aligner from the tray
cassette, the tray robot vertically displaces in respect to tray
cassette, so as to know a number and a location of the tray by
using the tray mapping function.
[0011] Optionally, when the substrate transfer system has multiple
substrate cassette bases, the substrate cassette bases are arranged
in an adjacent allocation or a vertical allocation.
[0012] Optionally, the substrate transfer system further comprises
a load lock. The load lock is connected to the transfer area,
wherein the tray robot transfers the tray from the tray aligner to
the load lock, and transfers the tray from the load lock to the
tray aligner.
[0013] Optionally, the substrate transfer system further has a
cooling area connected to the transfer area, the tray robot
transfers the tray from the load lock to the cooling area to cool
down the substrate on the tray, and the tray robot transfers the
tray from the cooling area to the tray aligner.
[0014] Optionally, the substrate transfer system further comprises
a tray optical character recognition (OCR) and a substrate OCR. The
tray OCR is connected to the transfer area and used to recognize a
coding number on the tray. The substrate OCR is connected to the
transfer area or the substrate picking-and-placing area and used to
recognize a coding number on the substrate.
[0015] Optionally, the substrate transfer system further comprises
a lens. The lens is connected to the transfer area and used to
capture an image of the tray.
[0016] In short, the substrate transfer system provided by the
embodiment of the present disclosure can use the tray robot, the
substrate robot and the Bernoulli robot to transfer substrate in an
automated manner, so as to improve production efficiency and reduce
the rate of error. Thus, the present disclosure has advantages over
the market of the demands on automated transfer (for example,
integrated circuit market).
[0017] In order to make the above and other objectives, features
and advantages of the present disclosure more comprehensible, with
the accompanying drawings, a detailed description is given as
follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a substrate transfer system
according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0019] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a substrate transfer system
according to another one embodiment of the present disclosure.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
[0020] To understand the technical features, content and advantages
of the present disclosure and its efficacy, the present disclosure
will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying
drawings. The drawings are for illustrative and auxiliary purposes
only and may not necessarily be the true scale and precise
configuration of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of
the present disclosure should not be limited to the scale and
configuration of the attached drawings.
[0021] Refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of
a substrate transfer system according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure, and
[0022] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a substrate transfer system
according to another one embodiment of the present disclosure. The
present disclosure provides a substrate transfer system 1
comprising a main body 11, a tray cassette base 13, a tray aligner
15, a substrate cassette base 17, a substrate aligner 19, a tray
robot R1, a substrate robot R2 and a Bernoulli robot R3, wherein a
number of each of the tray cassette base 13, the tray aligner 15,
the substrate cassette base 17, the substrate aligner 19, the tray
robot R1, the substrate robot R2 and the Bernoulli robot R3
installed in the substrate transfer system 1 can be one or more
than one, and there is no restriction on the positions set of the
same components, for example, a pairwise symmetry arrangement or no
specific arrangement.
[0023] Specifically, the main body 11 includes a substrate
picking-and-placing area 12 and a transfer area 14 connected to
each other. The tray cassette base 13 is connected to the transfer
area 14, and the tray aligner 15, the substrate aligner 19, the
tray robot R1, the substrate robot R2 and the Bernoulli robot R3
are located within the transfer area 14. The substrate cassette
base 17 is located within the substrate picking-and-placing area
12.
[0024] The tray cassette base 13 is used to fix the tray cassette
131. When there are multiple tray cassette bases 13, each tray
cassette base 13 can fix a tray cassette 131.
[0025] Specifically, the substrate transfer system 1 also includes
a tray cassette sensor (placement sensor) (not shown) and is
connected to the tray cassette base 13 to detect whether the tray
cassette 131 is correctly placed in the tray cassette base 13. For
example, when the detection result shows that the tray cassette 131
is correctly placed in the tray cassette base 13, the substrate
transfer system 1 can obtain information, and the tray cassette
base 13 and the tray cassette 131 can be locked to each other so
that the tray 131 will not fall off. Or, when the detection result
shows that the tray cassette 131 is not properly placed in the tray
cassette base 13, the substrate transfer system 1 can send a
warning message to remind the user.
[0026] The substrate transfer system 1 may also include a tray
displacement sensor (slide sensor) (not shown) and located within
the transfer area 14. When the tray cassette 131 is placed in the
tray cassette base 13, the tray displacement sensor can detect
whether the tray in the tray cassette 131 protrudes from the tray
cassette 131. For example, if the tray displacement sensor detects
that the tray protrudes from the tray cassette 131, the substrate
transfer system 1 can send a warning message to remind the user, so
as to prevent the tray from falling or being hit.
[0027] The substrate transfer system 1 may also include a tray
optical character recognition (OCR) and a lens (such as, CCD) (not
shown), and the tray OCR and the lens are both connected to the
transfer area 14. The tray OCR is used to read and recognize a
coding number on the tray to avoid using the wrong tray. When event
log tracing is required, it is possible to select the substrate
transfer system 1 to adopt SECS/GEM (SEMI Equipment Communication
Standard/Generic Equipment Model), and the historical information
of the tray can be inquired according to the coding number of the
tray to be tracked. This is beneficial to the follow-up tracking
and debugging of the previous process. The lens is used to obtain
an image of the tray to detect defects on the tray (for example,
whether the tray is back-plated), so as to help understand whether
the tray can be reused.
[0028] The substrate cassette base 17 is used to fix the substrate
cassette 171. When there are multiple substrate cassette bases 17,
each substrate cassette base 17 can fix one substrate cassette 171,
and the substrate cassette bases 17 may be arranged adjacently or
vertically. Or, the substrate cassette bases 17 are arranged
adjacently and vertically.
[0029] Specifically, the substrate transfer system 1 may also
include a substrate cassette sensor (placement sensor) (not shown),
located in the substrate picking-and-placing area 12 (for example,
connected to the substrate cassette base 17), and used to detect
whether the substrate cassette 171 is correctly placed in substrate
cassette base 17. For example, when the detection result shows that
the substrate cassette 171 is correctly placed on the substrate
cassette base 17, the substrate transfer system 1 can obtain
information, and the substrate cassette base 17 and the substrate
cassette 171 can be locked to each other so that the substrate
cassette 171 will not fall off. Or, when the detection result shows
that the substrate cassette 171 is not properly placed in the
substrate cassette base 17, the substrate transfer system 1 can
send a warning message to remind the user.
[0030] The substrate transfer system 1 may also include a barcode
reader (not shown), located in the substrate picking-and-placing
area 12, and used to read the barcode on the substrate cassette 171
to distinguish the type of the substrate cassette 171. For example,
the substrate cassette 171 can be classified into different types
according to different process attributes. When the barcode reader
determines that the barcode on the substrate cassette 171 is the
target type, the substrate cassette base 17 and the substrate
cassette 171 can be locked to each other. Or, when the barcode
reader determines that the barcode on the substrate cassette 171 is
not the target type, the substrate transfer system 1 can send out a
warning message to remind the user. In this way, the wrong
substrate can be prevented from being misused.
[0031] The substrate transfer system 1 may also include a substrate
displacement sensor (slide sensor) (not shown) and is located in
the substrate picking-and-placing area 12. After the substrate
cassette171 is placed on the substrate cassette base17, the
substrate displacement sensor can detect whether the substrate in
the substrate cassette171 protrudes from the substrate cassette171.
For example, if the substrate displacement sensor detects that the
substrate protrudes from the substrate cassette 171, the substrate
transfer system 1 can issue a warning message to remind the user,
which can prevent the substrate from falling or being hit.
[0032] The substrate transfer system 1 may also include a substrate
OCR (not shown), and the substrate OCR and the lens are both
connected to the transfer area 14, or the substrate OCR can also be
connected to the substrate picking-and-placing area 12. The
substrate OCR is used to read and recognize the coding number on
the substrate to avoid using the wrong substrate. When historical
event tracking is required, it is possible to choose whether to
conducts the substrate transfer system 1 to adopt SECS/GEM. The
historical information of the substrate can be searched according
to the coding number of the substrate to be tracked, and this is
conducive to subsequent tracking and debugging of the previous
process.
[0033] Please continue to refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 to understand the
transfer process of the substrate before entering the manufacturing
process. When the target tray cassette 131 is placed on the tray
cassette base 13, the tray cassette 131 and the tray cassette base
13 are locked to each other, and the tray displacement sensor
detects whether the tray in the tray cassette 131 protrudes from
the tray cassette 131. In other one embodiment, after the tray
cassette 131 is placed in the tray cassette base 13, the tray
cassette 131 and may not be locked with the tray cassette base 13.
Then, the tray robot R1 can displace vertically in respect to the
tray cassette 131, so as to know the number and position of the
tray through its tray mapping function, and to confirm whether the
tray is placed incorrectly (for example, whether the tray is
inserted obliquely), and to recognize the coding number of the tray
via the tray OCR. Further, the tray robot R1 transfers the tray
from the tray cassette 131 to the tray aligner 15.
[0034] After the target substrate cassette 171 is placed on the
substrate cassette base 17, the substrate cassette 171 and the
substrate cassette base 17 are locked to each other, and the
substrate displacement sensor detects whether the substrate in the
substrate cassette 171 protrudes from the substrate cassette 171.
In other one embodiment, after the substrate cassette 171 is in the
substrate cassette base 17, and the substrate cassette 171 may not
be locked with the substrate cassette base 17. Then, the substrate
robot R2 can vertically displace in respect to the substrate
cassette 171, so as to know the number and position of the
substrate through its substrate mapping function, and to confirm
whether the substrate is placed incorrectly (for example, whether
the substrate is inserted obliquely), and to recognize the coding
number of the substrate via the substrate OCR. Further, the
substrate robot R2 transfers the substrate from the substrate
cassette 171 to the substrate aligner 19.
[0035] Then, the tray aligner 15 can rotate the tray to the first
specific angle according to the first positioning block (for
example, the notch or flat edge of the tray) (not shown) on the
tray, and the substrate aligner 19 can rotate the tray to the first
specific angle according to the second positioning block on the
substrate (for example, the notch or flat edge of the substrate)
(not shown), so as to make the substrate rotate to a predetermined
angle.
[0036] Further, the Bernoulli robot R3 transfers the substrate from
the substrate aligner 19 to the tray on the tray aligner 15. Please
note that a tray can carry multiple substrates, and the process of
sending multiple substrates to the same tray can repeat the
above-mentioned substrate transfer steps.
[0037] Specifically, when the Bernoulli robot R3 transfers the
first substrate from the substrate aligner 19 to the tray on the
tray aligner 15, the tray aligner 15 will rotate the tray carrying
the first substrate to a second specific angle. Then, the next
substrate that has been rotated by substrate aligner 19 is
transferred by Bernoulli robot R3 to the tray on tray aligner 15,
and the first substrate and the next substrate are placed in the
same position relative to substrate transfer system 1 (for example,
but not limited to, without considering the position of the first
positioning block of the tray, the first substrate and the next
substrate are placed in the 12 o'clock direction of the tray). The
process of sending other substrates to the same tray can repeat the
above-mentioned substrate transfer steps. Furthermore, different
substrates are not restricted to be placed in the same position
relative to substrate transfer system 1 (for example, but not
limited to, the last substrate is placed in the middle of the
tray).
[0038] For example, if the tray can hold seven substrates in total,
after the Bernoulli robot R3 transfers the first substrate to the
tray, the tray aligner 15 will rotate the tray carrying the first
substrate by 60 degrees. Then, the next substrate that has been
rotated by the substrate aligner 19 is transferred to the tray by
the Bernoulli robot R3, so that the first substrate and the second
substrate are placed in the same position relative to the substrate
transfer system 1. Then, the tray aligner 15 will rotate the tray
carrying the two substrates by 60 degrees again, and continue to
place the next substrate through the Bernoulli robot R3. After
placing the first six substrates in sequence, the seventh substrate
is sent to the middle of the tray by the Bernoulli robot R3. Of
course, the first substrate can also be transferred to the middle
of the tray.
[0039] Please continue to refer to FIGS. 1 and 2. The substrate
transfer system 1 also includes single one or multiple load locks
16, and the load lock 16 is connected to the transfer area 14. The
tray carrying the target quantity of the substrates can be
transferred from the tray aligner 15 to the load lock 16 through
the tray robot R1 to perform pre-processing of the process (for
example, vacuuming).
[0040] Next, please continue to refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 to
understand the transfer process of the substrate after the process
is completed. After the process performed on the substrate in the
chamber is finished, the tray robot R1 can transfer the tray from
the load lock 16 to the tray aligner 15.
[0041] Alternatively, after the process is completed, the tray
carrying the substrate can be selected to be transferred to the
cooling area 18 connected to the transfer area 14 for cooling
according to process requirements. The cooling area 18 is, for
example, but not limited to, another tray cassette 131 for
providing a cooling environment.
[0042] When cooling is required, the tray carrying the substrate
can be transferred from the load lock 16 to the cooling area 18
through the tray robot R1 to cool down the substrate. After the
cooling is completed, the tray carrying the substrate is
transferred from the cooling area 18 back to the tray aligner 15
through the tray robot R1.
[0043] When cooling is not required or the cooling is completed,
the Bernoulli robot R3 transfers the substrate from the tray on the
tray aligner 15 back to the substrate aligner 19.
[0044] Specifically, after the Bernoulli robot R3 transfers the
first substrate from the tray on the tray aligner 15 back to the
substrate aligner 19, the tray aligner 15 can rotate the tray
carrying other substrates to a third specific angle. Then, after
the first substrate leaves substrate aligner 19, the next substrate
is transferred to substrate aligner 19 by Bernoulli robot R3, and
the first substrate and the next substrate can be placed at the
same position relative to substrate transfer system 1 and be taken
away by Bernoulli robot R3 (for example, but not limited to,
without considering the position of the first positioning block of
the tray, the first substrate and the next substrate are taken away
by Bernoulli robot R3 at 12 o'clock in the tray). The transfer
process of other substrates can repeat the above transfer steps.
Furthermore, different substrates are not restricted to be taken
away from the same position relative to substrate transfer system 1
(for example, but not limited to, the first or last substrate is
taken away by Bernoulli robot R3 in the middle of the tray).
[0045] Next, the substrate robot R2 transfers the substrate from
the substrate aligner 19 to the substrate cassette 171. The process
of transferring the substrates from the tray back to the substrate
cassette 171 is the same as mentioned above.
[0046] After all the substrates are transferred from the tray back
to the substrate cassette 171, the tray robot R1 transfers the tray
from the tray aligner 15 to the tray cassette 131 and completes the
substrate transfer process before and after the process.
[0047] Please refer to Table 1 and Table 2 to understand the
advantages of the substrate transfer system 1 in the present
disclosure (compared to manual transfer). Table 1 is a comparison
table of substrate quality and production efficiency, and Table 2
is a comparison table of transfer accuracy and function. As shown
in the tables, the substrate transfer system 1 described in the
present disclosure can achieve better particle control of the
substrate, and achieve a lower substrate fragmentation rate and
more quantity of good dies, and can improve production efficiency.
Furthermore, the accuracy of substrate placement can also be
improved. The substrate transfer system 1 also has the function of
substrate mapping function, historical event tracking, remote
operation and support for SECS/GEM, which can reduce the
transmission error rate, or facilitate the subsequent debugging of
the previous process, and improve the convenience of operation.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 substrate transfer item system manual
transfer particle control better no substrate fragmentation rate
low high number of good die many little production per hour high
low
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 substrate transfer item system manual
transfer substrate placement accuracy high low substrate mapping
function yes no event log tracing yes no remote control yes no
support SECS/GEM yes no
[0048] In summary, compared with the prior art, the technical
effects of the substrate transfer system described in the
embodiment of the present disclosure are described as follows.
[0049] In the conventional technology, the transmission of some
substrates still adopts manual operations, which is prone to
operational errors and difficult to control, and may cause problems
such as product quality degradation or even fragmentation. In
contrast, the substrate transfer system described in the present
disclosure adopts an automated process to transfer the substrate,
which can not only reduce the contamination rate and fragmentation
rate of the substrate, but also accelerate the production
efficiency, and when the historical process of the previous process
must be tracked later, Information can be easily obtained.
[0050] The above-mentioned descriptions represent merely the
exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, without any
intention to limit the scope of the present disclosure thereto.
Various equivalent changes, alternations or modifications based on
the claims of present disclosure are all consequently viewed as
being embraced by the scope of the present disclosure.
* * * * *