Image based substrate mapper
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsEng Sheng Peh, Karthik Balakrishnan, Sriskantharajah Thirunavukarasu
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus for detecting warpage in a substrate are provided herein. In some embodiments, a warpage detector for detecting warpage in substrates includes: one or more light sources to illuminate one or more substrates when present; a camera for capturing images of exposed portions of one or more substrates when present; a motion assembly having a mounting stage for supporting the camera; and a data acquisition interface (DAI) coupled to the camera to process substrate images and detect warpage of substrates based upon the processed substrate images.
Claims20
A warpage detector for detecting warpage in substrates, the warpage detector comprising:
- one or more light sources to illuminate one or more substrates when present;
- a camera for capturing images of exposed portions of one or more substrates when present;
- a motion assembly having a mounting stage for supporting the camera;
- and
- a data acquisition interface (DAI) coupled to the camera to process substrate images and detect warpage of substrates based upon the processed substrate images.
A substrate processing system, comprising:
- one or more process chambers;
- a transfer chamber;
- a pair of load lock chambers;
- a plurality of substrate storage cassettes having a front opening and configured to receive and hold a plurality of substrates;
- a substrate storage cassette loader to shuttle cassettes of substrates between the pair of load lock chambers and the plurality of substrate storage cassettes;
- and
- a warpage detector for detecting warpage of substrates in the plurality of substrate storage cassette, the warpage detector comprising:
- one or more light sources to illuminate one or more substrates when present;
- a camera for capturing images of exposed portions of one or more substrates when present;
- a motion assembly having a mounting stage for supporting the camera;
- and
- a data acquisition interface (DAI) coupled to the camera to process substrate images and detect warpage of substrates based upon the processed substrate images.
A method for detecting warpage in a substrate for processing, comprising:
- (a) capturing an image of an edge of the substrate;
- (b) processing the image of the edge of the substrate;
- and
- (c) determining an extent of warpage in the substrate from the processed image.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.