# US 11,908,720 B2 · CMP wafer cleaning equipment, wafer transfer robot and wafer flipping method

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- Number: US 11,908,720 B2
- Document ID: US11908720B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/283,958
- Filed: 2019-09-26
- Published: 2021-12-23
- Granted: 2024-02-20
- Earliest claimed: 2018-10-15
- Assignees: Hangzhou Sizone Electronic Technology Inc.
- Applicants: Hangzhou Sizone Electronic Technology Inc.
- Inventors: Linghan Shen; EdwardLiCang Lee
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11908720B2

## CPC

- B24B 37/27: Work carriers
- B08B 1/10: characterised by the type of cleaning tool
- B08B 7/026: {Using sound waves}
- B08B 7/04: by a combination of operations
- B08B 13/00: Accessories or details of general applicability for machines or apparatus for cleaning
- B24B 37/345: {Feeding, loading or unloading work specially adapted to lapping}
- H10P 52/00: Grinding, lapping or polishing of wafers, substrates or parts of devices
- H10P 72/0406: {for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like}
- H10P 72/0456: {in-line arrangement}
- H10P 72/0472: {comprising at least one polishing chamber}
- H10P 72/3202: {Mechanical details, e.g. rollers or belts}
- H10P 72/3206: {the substrate being handled substantially vertically}
- H10P 72/3211: {Changing orientation of the substrate, e.g. from a horizontal position to a vertical position}
- H10P 72/3308: {Vertical transfer of a single workpiece}
- H10P 72/50: for positioning, orientation or alignment
- H10P 72/7602: {the wafers being placed on a robot blade or gripped by a gripper for conveyance}
- H10P 72/7606: {characterised by edge clamping, e.g. clamping ring}
- H10P 72/7612: {characterised by lifting arrangements, e.g. lift pins}
- H10P 72/7618: {characterised by a movable susceptor, stage or support, others than those only rotating on their own vertical axis, e.g. susceptors on a rotating carrousel}
- H10P 72/7626: {characterised by the construction of the shaft}
- B24B: MACHINES, DEVICES, OR PROCESSES FOR GRINDING OR POLISHING (grinding of gear teeth B23F, of screw-threads B23G1/36; by electro-erosion B23H; abrasive or related blasting B24C; tools for grinding, buffing or sharpening B24D; polishing compositions C09G1/00; abrasives C09K3/14; electrolytic etching or polishing C25F3/00; grinding arrangements for use on assembled railway tracks E01B31/17); DRESSING OR CONDITIONING OF ABRADING SURFACES; FEEDING OF GRINDING, POLISHING, OR LAPPING AGENTS
- B08B: CLEANING IN GENERAL; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10

## Abstract

Disclosed are a CMP wafer cleaning apparatus, and a wafer transfer manipulator and a wafer overturn method for same. The wafer transfer manipulator includes: a transverse transfer shaft, with same only being located at a side of a cleaning unit; a transverse transfer carriage provided on the transverse transfer shaft, and capable of transversely moving along the transverse transfer shaft; a first vertical lifting shaft provided on the transverse transfer carriage, and capable of vertically moving on the transverse transfer carriage; a rotary table provided on the first vertical lifting shaft; and a first claw clamping arm connected to the rotary table, and driven by the rotary table to move in a rotational manner. The CMP wafer cleaning apparatus is provided, and when the CMP wafer cleaning apparatus fails, safe storage of a polished wafer can be realized.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) wafer cleaning equipment, comprising a cleaning input unit, a megasonic cleaning unit, a number of scrubbing units, and a spin-drying unit arranged in sequence, in addition, the megasonic cleaning unit further comprises a transfer robot located above the cleaning equipment, comprising a horizontal movement axis, a vertical movement axis and a number of wafer grabbing devices, which transports wafers between the units, the wafer grabbing device near the side of the spin-drying unit grabs and flips the wafers with own wafer flipping function,
wherein the CMP wafer cleaning equipment further comprises a buffer unit, which is located in front of the cleaning input unit and temporarily stores a number of wafers,
wherein a water injector is installed in the buffer unit to prevent the wafers from being dried without being cleaned.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The CMP wafer cleaning equipment of claim 1, wherein a polishing wafer channel is located between the cleaning input unit and the megasonic cleaning unit, so that the wafer to be subjected to chemical-mechanical polishing passes through the cleaning equipment when the wafer enters a polishing area.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The CMP wafer cleaning equipment of claim 2, wherein both the polished wafer channel and a wafer bracket in the cleaning input unit are moved out simultaneously or separately to facilitate wafer loading.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The CMP wafer cleaning equipment of claim 1, wherein the wafers are in the vertical direction during cleaning and brushing, and in the horizontal direction during spin-drying.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The CMP wafer cleaning equipment of claim 1, wherein the wafers are in the vertical direction during cleaning, brushing, and spin-drying.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The CMP wafer cleaning equipment of claim 1, wherein the transfer robot comprises the first wafer grabbing device and the second wafer grabbing device.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The CMP wafer cleaning equipment of claim 1, wherein the CMP wafer cleaning equipment further comprises an independent flipping robot that is designed to eliminate the need for the wafer grabbing device close to the spin-drying unit to turn the wafers.

### Claim 8

A wafer transfer robot used to transfer wafers in a cleaning module of a chemical mechanical planarization equipment, to take out the wafers that have been cleaned in a cleaning unit in a vertical state, and to flip over and place them horizontally into a drying unit of the cleaning module, comprising:
a horizontal transfer shaft only located on one side of the cleaning unit;
a horizontal transfer carriage that is arranged on the horizontal transfer shaft and moves laterally along the horizontal transfer shaft;
a first vertical lifting shaft that is arranged on a lateral transfer pallet and performs vertical movement on a lateral transfer carriage;
a rotating platform arranged on the first vertical lifting shaft;
a first jaw clamping arm which is connected to a rotating table and driven by the rotating platform to make rotational movement for wafer grabbing and placement,
wherein the cleaning unit and drying unit is installed with switchable doors for automatic opening or closing when the wafer transfer robot grabs and places wafers,
wherein the cleaning unit comprises a pre-drying unit and other units of cleaning module, which are located on both sides of the pre-drying unit; the pre-drying unit works in vertical direction; the wafers in the pre-drying unit are transferred to the drying unit by the first jaw clamping arm; the other units of cleaning module may be one or more of the wafer transition unit, megasonic cleaning unit, and scrubbing unit,
wherein the cleaning module further comprises a buffer unit, which is located in front of the cleaning input unit and temporarily stores a number of wafers,
wherein a water injector is installed in the buffer unit to prevent the wafers from being dried without being cleaned.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The wafer transfer robot of claim 8, wherein the wafer transfer robot further comprises: at least one second vertical lifting shaft, which is arranged on the lateral transfer carriage and preforms vertical movement on the lateral transfer carriage; the first vertical lifting shaft is located between the second vertical lifting shaft and the drying unit; each of the second vertical lifting shafts is also provided with a second claw clamping arm that is used to transfer wafers from the other units of cleaning module to the pre-drying unit in combination with the first claw clamping arm.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

A wafer flipping method by wafer transfer robot of claim 8, wherein the method comprises a wafer placement and robot returning;
the placement of wafer comprises the following steps: after taking out the wafer from the pre-drying unit of cleaning unit, the first jaw clamping arm performs interactive or non-interactive actions in three movement directions: horizontal, vertical, and rotation, flips the wafer from the vertical state to the horizontal state, and places it in the drying unit;
the robot returning comprises the following steps: after placing the wafer in the drying unit, the first jaw clamping arm restores from horizontal state to vertical state through interactive or non-interactive actions in three movement directions: horizontal, vertical, and rotation, and returns to the original position.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The wafer flipping method by wafer transfer robot of claim 10, wherein the placement of wafer comprises the following steps:
after taking out the wafer from pre-drying unit, the first jaw clamping arm moves in the following three directions simultaneously: the horizontal transfer carriage drives the first jaw clamping arm to make transverse motion in the direction away from the drying unit; the rotating platform drives the first jaw clamping arm to rotate to the side close to the drying unit until the wafer reaches a horizontal state, and the first vertical lifting shaft drives the first jaw clamping arm to move vertically to a certain position;
then the horizontal transfer carriage drives the first jaw clamping arm to move laterally towards the drying unit until the wafer is positioned above drying unit; the first vertical lifting shaft drives the first jaw clamping arm to move vertically downwards until the wafer is positioned on the designated mechanism inside the drying unit; the first jaw clamping arm releases the wafer so that the wafer is positioned on the designated mechanism inside the drying unit.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The wafer flipping method by wafer transfer robot of claim 10, wherein the placement of wafer comprises the following steps: after the first jaw clamping arm takes out the wafer from the pre-drying unit, the horizontal transfer carriage drives the first jaw clamping arm to make transverse motion away from the drying unit; the rotating platform drives the first jaw clamping arm to rotate to the side close to the drying unit until the wafer reaches a horizontal state, and the first vertical lifting shaft drives the first jaw clamping arm to move vertically to a certain position; then the horizontal transfer carriage drives the first jaw clamping arm to move laterally towards the drying unit until the wafer is positioned above drying unit; the first vertical lifting shaft drives the first jaw clamping arm to move vertically downwards until the wafer is positioned on the designated mechanism inside the drying unit; the first jaw clamping arm releases the wafer so that the wafer is positioned on the designated mechanism inside the drying unit.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The wafer flipping method by wafer transfer robot of claim 10, wherein the placement of wafer comprises the following steps: after the first jaw clamping arm takes out the wafer from the pre-drying unit, the horizontal transfer carriage drives the first jaw clamping arm to make transverse motion away from the drying unit; the rotating platform drives the first jaw clamping arm to rotate to the side close to the drying unit until the wafer reaches a horizontal state, and then the horizontal transfer carriage drives the first jaw clamping arm to move laterally towards the drying unit until the wafer is positioned above drying unit; the first vertical lifting shaft drives the first jaw clamping arm to move vertically downwards until the wafer is positioned on the designated mechanism inside the drying unit; the first jaw clamping arm releases the wafer so that the wafer is positioned on the designated mechanism inside the drying unit.

### Claim 14 (depends on 10)

The wafer flipping method by wafer transfer robot of claim 10, wherein the placement of wafer comprises the following steps: after the first jaw clamping arm takes out the wafer from the pre-drying unit, the rotating platform drives the first jaw clamping arm to rotate to the side close to the drying unit until the wafer reaches a horizontal state, and then the horizontal transfer carriage drives the first jaw clamping arm to move laterally towards the drying unit until the wafer is positioned above drying unit; the first vertical lifting shaft drives the first jaw clamping arm to move vertically downwards until the wafer is positioned on the designated mechanism inside the drying unit; the first jaw clamping arm releases the wafer so that the wafer is positioned on the designated mechanism inside the drying unit.

### Claim 15 (depends on 10)

The wafer flipping method by wafer transfer robot of claim 10, wherein the robot returning comprises the following steps: the first jaw clamping arm moves in the following three directions simultaneously when the wafer is positioned at drying unit: the horizontal transfer carriage drives the first jaw clamping arm to make transverse motion away from the drying unit; the rotating platform drives the first jaw clamping arm to rotate downward unit until the latter is in a vertical state, and the first vertical lifting shaft drives the first jaw clamping arm to move up vertically to a certain position.

### Claim 16 (depends on 10)

The wafer flipping method by wafer transfer robot of claim 10, wherein the robot returning comprises the following steps: when the wafer is positioned at drying unit, the first vertical lifting shaft drives the first jaw clamping arm to move up vertically to a certain position; the horizontal transfer carriage drives the first jaw clamping arm to make transverse motion to a certain position away from the drying unit; and then the rotating platform drives the first jaw clamping arm to rotate downward unit until the latter is in a vertical state.

### Claim 17 (depends on 10)

The wafer flipping method by wafer transfer robot of claim 10, wherein the robot returning comprises the following steps: when the wafer is positioned at drying unit, the horizontal transfer carriage drives the first jaw clamping arm to make transverse motion to a certain position away from the drying unit; the first vertical lifting shaft drives the first jaw clamping arm to move up vertically to a certain position; and then the rotating platform drives the first jaw clamping arm to rotate downward unit until the latter is in a vertical state.