Semiconductor wafer processing system and method
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsKai-Hung Hsiao, Chi-Chung Jen, Yu-Chun Shen, Jhang-Jie Jian, Wen-Chih Chiang
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Abstract
A semiconductor wafer processing system includes a stocker having an interior surface, a wafer carrier disposed within the stocker, a wafer shelf disposed within the wafer carrier for storing a semiconductor wafer, and a discharge circuit including a first conductor electrically coupled to the wafer shelf and a first current controller electrically coupled to the first conductor and to the interior surface of the stocker.
Claims20
A semiconductor wafer processing system, comprising:
- a stocker, comprising:
- an interior surface;
- a wafer carrier disposed within the stocker;
- a wafer shelf disposed within the wafer carrier for storing a semiconductor wafer;
- and
- a discharge circuit, comprising:
- a first conductor electrically coupled to the wafer shelf;
- and
- a first current controller electrically coupled to the first conductor and to the interior surface of the stocker;
- and
- a sensor-controlled circuit module electrically coupled to the first conductor.
A semiconductor wafer processing system, comprising:
- a wafer carrier for storing a semiconductor wafer;
- a conductor electrically coupled to the wafer carrier;
- a current controller electrically coupled to the conductor;
- and
- a wafer carrier transport tool electrically coupled to the current controller;
- and
- a sensor-controlled circuit module electrically coupled to the conductor and to the wafer carrier transport tool.
A semiconductor wafer processing system, comprising:
- a discharge circuit, comprising:
- a stocker contact;
- and
- a first sensor-controlled circuit module configured to:
- detect whether a first charge at a conductor electrically coupled to a wafer shelf of a wafer carrier is greater than a second charge at the stocker contact, and
- close a first conductive path from the conductor to the stocker contact when the first charge is greater than the second charge.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.