Fixture for automatic calibration of substrate transfer robot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12168301-B2
Application number	US-202017435020-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 27, 2020
Priority date	Mar 4, 2019
Publication date	Dec 17, 2024
Grant date	Dec 17, 2024

Abstract

A robot calibration system includes a calibration fixture configured to be mounted on a substrate processing chamber. The calibration fixture includes at least one camera arranged to capture an image including an outer edge of a test substrate and an edge ring surrounding the test substrate. A controller is configured to receive the captured image, analyze the captured image to measure a distance between the outer edge of the test substrate and the edge ring, calculate a center of the test substrate based on the measured distance, and calibrate a robot configured to transfer substrate to and from the substrate processing chamber based on the calculated center of the test substrate.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A robot calibration system, comprising:
a calibration fixture configured to be mounted on a substrate processing chamber, wherein the calibration fixture includes at least one camera arranged to capture an image including an outer edge of a test substrate and an edge ring surrounding the test substrate; and
a controller configured to receive the captured image, analyze the captured image to measure a distance between the outer edge of the test substrate and the edge ring, calculate a center of the test substrate based on the measured distance, and calibrate a robot configured to transfer substrate to and from the substrate processing chamber based on the calculated center of the test substrate.

2. The robot calibration system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one camera corresponds to three cameras.

3. The robot calibration system of claim 1 , wherein the robot calibration system includes a seal compressed between the calibration fixture and the substrate processing chamber, and wherein the controller is configured to pump the substrate processing chamber down to vacuum while the calibration fixture is mounted on the substrate processing chamber.

4. The robot calibration system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to control the at least one camera to capture the image while the substrate processing chamber is at vacuum.

5. The robot calibration system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a width of pixels in a field of view of the at least one camera and measure the distance between the outer edge of the test substrate and the edge ring based on the determined width of the pixels.

6. The robot calibration system of claim 5 , wherein the test substrate includes at least one reference marking located in the field of view of the at least one camera, wherein the at least one reference marking has a known dimension, and wherein the controller is configured to determine the width of the pixels based on the known dimension.

7. The robot calibration system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one reference marking is a square and the known dimension is a width of the square.

8. The robot calibration system of claim 1 , wherein the test substrate includes a reference line aligned with a radius of the test substrate, and wherein the controller is configured to measure the distance between the outer edge of the test substrate and the edge ring at a location corresponding to the reference line.

9. The robot calibration system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to calculate a correction amount based on the calculated center of the test substrate and calibrate the robot based on the correction amount.

10. The robot calibration system of claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to calculate the correction amount based on an offset between the calculated center of the test substrate and a center of the edge ring.

11. The robot calibration system of claim 1 , wherein the robot is calibrated by updating a plurality of coordinates of the robot.

12. A method for calibrating a robot configured to transfer substrates to and from a substrate processing chamber, the substrate processing chamber having a calibration fixture mounted thereon, the calibration fixture having at least one camera, the method comprising:
capturing an image including an outer edge of a test substrate and an edge ring surrounding the test substrate using the at least one camera;
analyzing the captured image to measure a distance between the outer edge of the test substrate and the edge ring;
calculating a center of the test substrate based on the measured distance; and
calibrating the robot based on the calculated center of the test substrate.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the at least one camera corresponds to three cameras.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising pumping the substrate processing chamber down to vacuum.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising controlling the at least one camera to capture the image while the substrate processing chamber is at vacuum.

16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising determining a width of pixels in a field of view of the at least one camera and measuring the distance between the outer edge of the test substrate and the edge ring based on the determined width of the pixels.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the test substrate includes at least one reference marking located in the field of view of the at least one camera, wherein the at least one reference marking has a known dimension, and wherein the width of the pixels is determined based on the known dimension.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the at least one reference marking is a square and the known dimension is a width of the square.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein the test substrate includes a reference line aligned with a radius of the test substrate, and wherein the distance between the outer edge of the test substrate and the edge ring is measured at a location corresponding to the reference line.

20. The method of claim 12 , further comprising calculating a correction amount based on the calculated center of the test substrate and calibrating the robot based on the correction amount.

21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising calculating the correction amount based on an offset between the calculated center of the test substrate and a center of the edge ring.

Assignees

• Lam Res Corp

Inventors

• Blank Richard
• Alwan Aravind
• Behziz Behnam
• Thaulad Peter
• Emerson Mark E

Classifications

• H10P72/3302 Primary

  Mechanical parts of transfer devices · CPC title

• H10P72/0606

  Position monitoring, e.g. misposition detection or presence detection · CPC title

• H10P72/53 Primary

  using optical controlling means · CPC title

• B25J21/005

  Clean rooms · CPC title

• B25J11/0095

  Manipulators transporting wafers · CPC title