Wafer transportation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12538744-B2
Application number	US-202217832605-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 4, 2022
Priority date	Jun 4, 2022
Publication date	Jan 27, 2026
Grant date	Jan 27, 2026

Abstract

System and method for cross-fab wafer transportation are provided. An exemplary system includes a first control unit coupled to an associated first automatic material handling system (AMHS), the first AMHS includes a first overhead transport (OHT) track comprising a first portion and a first vehicle movable along the first OHT track and carrying a container, the container is operable to carry semiconductor wafers therein. The system includes a second control unit coupled to an associated second AMHS, the second AMHS includes a second OHT track comprising a second portion adjacent to the first portion and a second vehicle movable along the second OHT track. When the first vehicle is within the first portion of the first OHT track and the second vehicle is within the second portion of the second OHT track, the first and second vehicles are operable to transfer the container directly from the first vehicle to the second vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system, comprising:
a first control system coupled to an associated first automatic material handling system (AMHS), the first AMHS comprising:
a first overhead transfer (OHT) track comprising a first portion;
a first vehicle movable along the first OHT track and carrying a container, the container is operable to carry semiconductor wafers therein; and
a second control system coupled to an associated second AMHS, the second AMHS comprising:
a second OHT track comprising a second portion adjacent to the first portion; and
a second vehicle movable along the second OHT track,
wherein, the first and second vehicles are operable to transfer the container directly from the first vehicle to the second vehicle, and wherein, the first vehicle is operable to move along the first portion at a first speed and the second vehicle is operable to move along the second portion at a second speed, the first speed is substantially equal to the second speed during the transfer of the container.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the first OHT track and the second portion of the second OHT track are substantially parallel, and the first vehicle and the second vehicle are operable to move along a same direction.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein both the first vehicle and the second vehicle are stationary during the transfer of the container.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first portion and the second portion are substantially at a same height.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first portion and the second portion are at different heights.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first vehicle comprises:
at least a gripper operable to take the container from an interface equipment, and a tray configured to hold the container before the container being transferred to the second vehicle.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first vehicle comprises:
a processing unit; a data storage coupled to the first processing unit and containing a program of instructions that, when executed by the processing unit, cause the first vehicle to perform operations to take the container from an interface equipment and transfer the container to the second vehicle, the operations comprising:
receiving a signal from the first control system;
in response to the signal, arriving at a first predetermined location;
gripping the container from the predetermined location;
after gripping the container, moving along the first OHT track and arriving at a second predetermined location at a predetermined time, the second predetermined location being within the first portion; and
after aligning with the second vehicle, passing the container to the second vehicle.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the container comprises a front opening universal pod (FOUP).

9 . A system for wafer transportation between two fabs, comprising:
a container arranged in a first fab and operable to carry semiconductor wafers; a target equipment arranged in a second fab; a bridging area between the first fab and the second fab; a first overhead transfer (OHT) track comprising a first portion in the first fab and a second portion in the bridging area; a first vehicle operable to carry the container and move along the first OHT track; a second OHT track comprising a first portion in the second fab and a second portion in the bridging area, wherein the second portion of the second OHT track is in parallel with and adjacent to the second portion of the first OHT track; and a second vehicle configured to move along the second OHT track, wherein, the first vehicle is configured to move along the second portion of the first OHT track towards a first direction, and the second vehicle is configured to move along the second portion of the second OHT track towards the first direction, and the second vehicle is operable to take the container directly from the first vehicle.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the first vehicle is configured to travel along the second portion of the first OHT track at a first speed, the second vehicle is configured to travel along the second portion of the second OHT track at a second speed, a speed difference between the first speed and the second speed is less than 0.1 m/sec during taking the container.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the first vehicle is configured to travel along the first portion of the first OHT track at a third speed, the third speed is different from the first speed.

12 . The system of claim 10 , further comprising:
a first control system configured to directly communicate with the first vehicle; a second control system configured to directly communicate with the second vehicle; and a master control system configured to communicate with the first control system and the second control system, wherein the first vehicle is configured to report its location to the first control system, and the first control system further reports the location to the master control system.

13 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the first vehicle comprises an alignment mark, the second vehicle comprises an alignment mark detector configured to detect the alignment mark.

14 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the bridging area extends lengthwise along the first direction.

15 . A method, comprising:
selecting a wafer at a first location in a first fab for transferring to a second fab, the first fab comprising a first automatic material handling system (AMHS) that includes a first overhead transfer (OHT) track and a first vehicle movable along the first OHT track, the second fab comprising a second AMHS that includes a second OHT track and a second vehicle movable along the second OHT track; determining whether the first OHT track has a first portion that is in proximity of a second portion of the second OHT track; if the first OHT track does not have a portion that is in proximity of a portion of the second OHT track, instructing the first vehicle to send the wafer to an interface device; and if the first OHT track has a first portion that is in proximity of a second portion of the second OHT track, then:
determining a first route for the first vehicle, the first route including the first portion;
determining a second route for the second vehicle, the second route including the second portion;
configuring the first vehicle to carry the wafer from the first location, travel along the first route, and arrive at a first predetermined location within the first portion in a predetermined time period;
configuring the second vehicle to travel along the second route and arrive at a second predetermined location within the second portion in the predetermined time period; and
instructing the first vehicle and the second vehicle to start wafer transfer between the first vehicle and the second vehicle.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
after the first vehicle arriving at the first predetermined location, configuring the first vehicle to move along the first portion at a first speed; after the second vehicle arriving at the second predetermined location, configuring the second vehicle to move along the second portion at a second speed; and wherein the first speed is substantially equal to the second speed.

17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
after the first vehicle arriving at the first predetermined location, configuring the first vehicle to stay at the first predetermined location; and after the second vehicle arriving at the second predetermined locat

Assignees

• Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hsu Chieh
• Li Guancyun
• Chang Ching-Jung
• Tung Chi-Feng

Classifications

• H01L21/67733

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L21/6773

  Electricity · mapped topic

• B65G17/12

  comprising a series of individual load-carriers fixed, or normally fixed, relative to traction element · CPC title

• H01L21/67724 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H10P72/3221 Primary

  Overhead conveying · CPC title