Thin Wafer Pre-Align Gripping System - A New Mechatronic Approach to Semiconductor Handling

摘要

This paper describes a new mechatronic approach to thin wafer handling and prealigning issues in the semiconductor fabrication. Thin wafers are below 200 μm thickness and call for specified handling solutions. Such a solution is found with the Bernoulli-Vacuum combined grip principle that successfully treats wafers with significant warpage up to 10 mm. Further, to reduce cycle times for wafer prealigning, a mechatronic gripper is discussed that potentially replaces standard prealigners by incorporating the functionality into the gripper. The mechatronic design and control algorithms are explained in detail. Test results show that the accuracy is 100 μm and the repeatability is 50μm.