Apparatus and method for transferring a substrate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10529610-B2
Application number	US-201815906478-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 27, 2018
Priority date	Feb 28, 2017
Publication date	Jan 7, 2020
Grant date	Jan 7, 2020

Abstract

Apparatus and method for transferring a substrate are disclosed. The substrate transfer apparatus includes: a substrate conveyance assembly disposed between a mechanical arm and a wafer stage, the substrate conveyance assembly including a substrate loading conveyor and a substrate unloading conveyor parallelly arranged in a first direction, each of the substrate loading conveyor and the substrate unloading conveyor configured for transferring a substrate between the wafer stage and the mechanical arm along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; an integral frame; and a transition air suspension assembly fixed to the integral frame at the end thereof proximal to the wafer stage, the transition air suspension assembly being able to engage with either of the substrate loading conveyor and the substrate unloading conveyor for producing an air film to levitate the substrate during the conveyance of the substrate by the substrate loading conveyor or the substrate unloading conveyor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A substrate transfer apparatus, comprising:
a substrate conveyance assembly disposed between a mechanical arm and a wafer stage, the substrate conveyance assembly comprising a substrate loading conveyor and a substrate unloading conveyor parallelly arranged in a first direction, each of the substrate loading conveyor and the substrate unloading conveyor configured for conveying a substrate between the wafer stage and the mechanical arm along a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction;
an integral frame; and
a transition air suspension assembly fixed to the integral frame at an end thereof proximal to the wafer stage, the transition air suspension assembly being able to engage with either of the substrate loading conveyor and the substrate unloading conveyor and configured to produce an air film to levitate the substrate during the conveyance of the substrate by the substrate loading conveyor or the substrate unloading conveyor.

2. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the substrate loading conveyor and the substrate unloading conveyor are fixed relative to each other and in slidable connection with the integral frame.

3. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the substrate loading conveyor and the substrate unloading conveyor is provided with a substrate transfer assembly at an end thereof proximal to the mechanical arm.

4. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 3 , wherein each of the substrate transfer assembly of the substrate loading conveyor and the substrate transfer assembly of the substrate unloading conveyor comprises a motion assembly disposed on the integral frame and a plurality of suction cups disposed on the motion assembly, the plurality of suction cups being configured for sucking the substrate so that the substrate is able to be moved with the motion assembly in the second direction.

5. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the motion assembly is implemented as a motor/screw assembly.

6. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the substrate loading conveyor and the substrate unloading conveyor comprises a substrate guiding assembly and a front-end air suspension assembly, which are disposed along the second direction and are vertically flush with each other.

7. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the substrate guiding assembly comprises a plurality of guide roller rows each comprising a plurality of guide rollers arranged along the second direction at an interval.

8. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the front-end air suspension assembly is configured for producing another air film to levitate the substrate.

9. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 7 , wherein each of the substrate loading conveyor and the substrate unloading conveyor further comprises a substrate position adjustment assembly interlaced with the substrate guiding assembly.

10. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the substrate position adjustment assembly comprises a plurality of universal roller ball groups interlaced with the plurality of guide roller rows, each of the plurality of universal roller ball groups comprising a plurality of universal roller ball units arranged along the second direction at an interval.

11. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 10 , wherein each of the plurality of universal roller ball units comprises a support, a plurality of universal roller balls disposed on the support and a cylinder for driving the support to move vertically.

12. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 6 , wherein each of the substrate loading conveyor and the substrate unloading conveyor further comprises edge protection assemblies disposed on both sides of the corresponding substrate guiding assembly in the first direction and configured to prevent any shift of the substrate in the first direction.

13. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the edge protection assemblies comprise a plurality of T-shaped protrusions arranged on both sides of the corresponding substrate guiding assembly in the first direction.

14. The substrate transfer apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the substrate loading conveyor and the substrate unloading conveyor have identical structures.

15. A substrate transfer method for use with the substrate transfer apparatus as defined in claim 1 , comprising the steps of:
S1) placing a substrate onto the substrate conveyance assembly by the mechanical arm;
S2) sucking the substrate onto a substrate transfer assembly of the substrate loading conveyor and conveying the substrate by the substrate transfer assembly of the substrate loading conveyor toward the wafer stage; and
S3) upon the substrate approaching the end of the substrate conveyance assembly proximal to the wafer stage, the transition air suspension assembly producing an air film to levitate the substrate and transferring the substrate by the substrate transfer assembly of the substrate loading conveyor onto the wafer stage along the second direction.

16. The substrate transfer method of claim 15 , wherein in step S2, the substrate is sucked onto a plurality of suction cups of the substrate transfer assembly of the substrate loading conveyor and conveyed by the motion assembly toward the wafer stage, and wherein movement of the substrate drives a plurality of guide rollers of the substrate conveyance assembly to rotate and thereby guide the movement of the substrate.

17. The substrate transfer method of claim 15 , wherein the substrate conveyance assembly further comprises a plurality of universal roller ball units arranged along the second direction at an interval, each of the plurality of universal roller ball units comprising a support, a plurality of universal roller balls disposed on the support and a cylinder for driving the support to move vertically, and wherein the substrate transfer method further comprises, between steps S1 and S2, driving the supports of the plurality of universal roller ball units to move upward by the cylinders of the plurality of universal roller ball units so that the substrate is positioned on a plane defined by the plurality of universal roller ball units and adjusted in position and driving the supports to move downward by the cylinders of the plurality of universal roller ball units so that the substrate again resides on the substrate conveyance assembly.

18. A substrate transfer method for use with the substrate transfer apparatus as defined in claim 1 , comprising the steps of:
S10) upon a substrate approaching the end of the substrate conveyance assembly proximal to the wafer stage, the transition air suspension assembly producing an air film to levitate the substrate and transferring the substrate from the wafer stage onto the substrate conveyance assembly by a substrate transfer assembly of the substrate unloading conveyor along the second direction;
S20) sucking the substrate onto the substrate transfer assembly of the substrate unloading conveyor and conveying the substrate by the substrate transfer assembly of the substrate unloading conveyor toward the mechanical arm; and
S30) removing the substrate from the substrate conveyance assembly by the mechanical arm.

Assignees

• Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co Ltd

Inventors

• Liang Xiao
• Li Yang

Classifications

• H10P72/3411

  involving loading and unloading of wafers · CPC title

• H10P72/3202

  Mechanical details, e.g. rollers or belts · CPC title

• H10P72/36

  using air tracks · CPC title

• H10P72/3604 Primary

  the workpieces being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading · CPC title

• B65G49/068

  Stacking or destacking devices; Means for preventing damage to stacked sheets, e.g. spaces (stacking in general B65G57/00; destacking in general B65G59/00; spacer sheets in general B65H) · CPC title