Position sensitive substrate device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9620400-B2
Application number	US-201414536428-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 7, 2014
Priority date	Dec 21, 2013
Publication date	Apr 11, 2017
Grant date	Apr 11, 2017

Abstract

Some aspects of the present disclosure relate to a system having a substrate device, a substrate support surface, and a substrate handler that positions the substrate device on the substrate support surface. The substrate device and the substrate support surface may have counterpart coarse position units and fine position units. The system may measure coarse positional offsets between the first and second coarse position units, re-position the substrate device on the substrate support surface based on the coarse positional offsets, and subsequently measure fine positional offsets between the first and second fine position units. In some implementations, the substrate device is integrally coupled to the substrate handler via a wireless communication link in order to communicate position information as feedback for further placement.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A substrate device, comprising:
a first coarse position unit that is a counterpart to a second coarse position unit of a substrate support surface, and
a first fine position unit that is a counterpart to a second fine position unit of the substrate support surface,
wherein the substrate device is configured to measure coarse positional offsets between the first and second coarse position units, and
wherein the substrate device is configured to measure fine positional offsets between the first and second fine position units.

2. The substrate device of claim 1 , further comprising a wireless communication link, wherein the substrate device is configured to convey position information regarding the coarse positional offsets and the fine positional offsets via the wireless communication link in real-time.

3. The substrate device of claim 1 ,
wherein the first coarse position unit comprises at least one optical detector,
wherein the second coarse position unit of the substrate support surface comprises at least one coarse target,
wherein the substrate device is configured to measure the coarse positional offsets by measuring a relative position of the at least one coarse target via the at least one optical detector.

4. The substrate device of claim 3 ,
wherein the at least one coarse target is at least two spaced apart crosshair targets.

5. The substrate device of claim 4 ,
wherein the at least one optical detector is at least two spaced apart sets of position sensitive detectors in which each set of the at least two sets comprises one or more optical detectors.

6. The substrate device of claim 4 ,
wherein each crosshair target of the at least two crosshair targets comprises an outwardly extending portion that increases in width as it extends away from a center of the crosshair target.

7. The substrate device of claim 3 , wherein the at least one optical detector is a two-dimensional (2D) position sensitive detector configured to detector illumination from the at least one coarse target.

8. The substrate device of claim 1 ,
wherein the first fine position unit of the substrate device comprises at least one first Vernier pattern that is complementary to at least one second Vernier pattern in the second fine position unit of the substrate support surface, wherein the first fine position unit further comprises a set of photodetectors, and
wherein the substrate device is configured to measure the fine offsets by measuring offsets between the complementary first and second Vernier patterns via the set of photodetectors.

9. The substrate device of claim 8 ,
wherein the at least one first Vernier pattern is at least two spaced apart first Vernier patterns, and
wherein the at least one second Vernier pattern in the second fine position unit of the substrate support surface is at least two spaced apart second Vernier patterns complementary to the at least two spaced apart first Vernier patterns.

10. The substrate device of claim 1 , further comprising at least one illuminator configured to illuminate a passive back illumination unit on a backside of the second coarse position unit and the second fine position unit.

11. The substrate device of claim 10 ,
wherein the passive back illumination unit of the substrate support surface is a phosphor and the at least one illuminator is at least one light source configured to provide illumination to the phosphor.

12. The substrate device of claim 11 , wherein the passive back illumination unit includes an optical element configured to guide light from the light source to the phosphor.

13. The substrate device of claim 11 , wherein the passive back illumination unit includes an optical element disposed between the light source and the phosphor, wherein the optical element is configured to make uniform illumination provided by the phosphor to a coarse target.

14. The substrate device of claim 10 wherein the passive back illumination unit of the substrate support surface is a non-phosphor illumination unit.

15. The substrate device of claim 1 , further comprising at least one motion, orientation, or acceleration sensor configured to measure one or more of motion, orientation, or acceleration of the substrate device in three complementary axes.

16. The substrate device of claim 1 , further comprising a particulate detector configured to measure particulate matter in surrounding air.

17. The substrate device of claim 1 ,
wherein the substrate device comprises a wafer substrate and electronics disposed on the wafer substrate,
wherein the first coarse position unit and the first fine position unit are disposed on the wafer substrate.

18. The substrate device of claim 17 ,
wherein the wafer substrate is a silicon wafer having a diameter of 100 to 450 millimeters.

19. The substrate device of claim 1 ,
wherein the coarse position offsets include X-direction coarse offsets, Y-direction coarse offsets, and rotational coarse offsets, and
wherein the fine position offsets include X-direction fine offsets, Y-direction fine offsets, and rotational fine offsets.

20. The substrate device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a wireless communication link,
wherein the substrate device is configured to convey position information regarding the coarse positional offsets and the fine positional offsets via the wireless communication link in real-time,
wherein the second coarse position unit of the substrate support surface comprises at least at least two spaced apart crosshair targets,
wherein the first coarse position unit comprises at least two spaced apart sets of position sensitive detectors in which each set of the at least two sets comprises a pair of substantially perpendicular position sensitive detectors,
wherein the substrate device is configured to measure the coarse positional offsets by measuring a relative position of each of the at least two spaced apart crosshair targets via each of the at least two spaced apart sets of position sensitive detectors,
wherein the first fine position unit comprises a set of photodiodes and at least two spaced apart first Vernier patterns in which each of the first Vernier patterns are complementary to at least two spaced apart second Vernier patterns in the second fine position unit of the substrate support surface,
wherein the substrate device is configured to measure the fine offsets by measuring offsets between the complementary first and second Vernier patterns via the set of photodiodes.

21. The substrate device of claim 20 , further comprising:
at least one motion, orientation, or acceleration sensor configured to measure at least one of motion, orientation, or acceleration of the substrate device in three complementary axes;
at least one particulate detector configured to measure particulate matter in surrounding air; and
at least one illuminator configured to illuminate a passive back illumination unit on a backside of the second coarse position unit and the second fine position unit of the substrate support surface,
wherein the substrate device comprises a wafer substrate and electronics disposed on the wafer substrate,
wherein the first coarse position unit, the first fine position unit, the at least one motion, orientation, or acceleration sensor, the at least one particulate detector, and the illuminator are disposed on the wafer substrate.

22. A method of using the substrate device of claim 1 , the method comprising:
initially positioning the

Assignees

• Kla Tencor Corp

Inventors

• Jensen Earl
• O'Brien Kevin

Classifications

• H10P72/53

  using optical controlling means · CPC title

• H10P72/50 Primary

  for positioning, orientation or alignment · CPC title

• H10P74/203

  Structural properties, e.g. testing or measuring thicknesses, line widths, warpage, bond strengths or physical defects · CPC title

• H10P72/0606

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

• H01L21/681

  Electricity · mapped topic