Back to results
US 12,374,519 B2Granted
Wafer positioning method and apparatus
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsChia-Cheng Chen, Chun-Liang Chen, Liang-Yin Chen, Huicheng Chang, Yee-Chia Yeo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In an embodiment, a method includes: placing a wafer on an implanter platen, the wafer including integrated circuit dies; measuring a position of the wafer by measuring a position of an outer edge of the integrated circuit dies with a camera; determining an angular displacement between the position of the wafer and a reference position of the wafer; and rotating the implanter platen by the angular displacement.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- placing a wafer on an implanter platen, the wafer comprising integrated circuit dies laid out in a grid;
- measuring a current position of the wafer by measuring a position of an outer borderline of the grid of the integrated circuit dies with a camera, wherein the outer borderline of the grid of the integrated circuit dies is defined by a border of a photoresist pattern that extends along the outer borderline of the grid of the integrated circuit dies, wherein measuring the position of the outer borderline of the grid of the integrated circuit dies comprises:
- capturing an image of the border of the photoresist pattern defining the outer borderline of the grid of the integrated circuit dies with the camera;
- and
- detecting the position of the outer borderline of the grid of the integrated circuit dies in the image using machine vision;
- determining an angular displacement between the current position of the wafer and a reference position of the wafer;
- and
- rotating the implanter platen by the angular displacement.
5 more elements
A method comprising:
- placing a wafer on an implanter platen, the wafer comprising a grid of integrated circuit dies;
- measuring a current position of an outer edge of the grid of the integrated circuit dies, wherein the outer edge of the grid of the integrated circuit dies is a continuous segment of a border of a photoresist pattern for forming the integrated circuit dies;
- determining an angle between a first line and a second line, the first line extending along the current position of the outer edge, the second line being along a reference position for the outer edge;
- and
- rotating the implanter platen by the angle.
2 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a chamber;
- a platen in the chamber, the platen operable to support a wafer comprising a grid of integrated circuit dies;
- a drive mechanism connected to the platen, the drive mechanism operable to move the platen within the chamber;
- an ion beam generator operable to direct an ion beam at the platen;
- a camera operable to capture an image of an outer borderline of the grid of the integrated circuit dies;
- and
- a controller communicatively coupled to the camera, the ion beam generator, and the drive mechanism, the controller configured to:
- determine a current position of the wafer by detecting a position of the outer borderline of the grid of the integrated circuit dies in the image using machine vision, wherein the outer borderline of the grid of the integrated circuit dies is defined by a border of a photoresist pattern that extends along the outer borderline of the grid of the integrated circuit dies;
- determine a displacement between the current position of the wafer and the ion beam;
- and
- reduce the displacement between the current position of the wafer and the ion beam by controlling the drive mechanism to move the platen within the chamber.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.