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US 2019/0164799 A1Published application
Systems and methods for wafer pod alignment
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorChao-Hsiang LIU
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In an embodiment, a wafer pod includes: a cavity configured to receive and store a wafer; an alignment fiducial within the cavity, wherein: the alignment fiducial comprises two lines orthogonal to each other, and the alignment fiducial is configured to be detected by a robotic arm alignment sensor disposed on a robotic arm, wherein the alignment fiducial defines an alignment orientation for a robotic arm gripper hand to enter into the cavity.
Claims20
A wafer pod, comprising:
- a cavity configured to receive and store a wafer;
- an alignment fiducial within the cavity, wherein:
- the alignment fiducial comprises two lines orthogonal to each other, and
- the alignment fiducial is configured to be detected by a robotic arm alignment sensor disposed on a robotic arm, wherein the alignment fiducial defines an alignment orientation for a robotic arm gripper hand to enter into the cavity.
1 more element
A system, comprising:
- a gripper hand configured to secure a wafer
- a robotic arm comprising an alignment sensor configured to detect alignment of the gripper hand to an alignment fiducial within a cavity of a wafer pod,
- wherein the robotic arm is configured to:
- determine an alignment orientation for the gripper hand to move into the cavity based on the alignment, and
- move the gripper hand in the alignment orientation into the cavity.
2 more elements
A method, comprising:
- collecting alignment sensor data that characterizes alignment of a gripper hand with an alignment fiducial within a cavity of a wafer pod;
- determining an alignment orientation for the gripper hand for entry into the cavity based on the alignment sensor data;
- and
- moving the gripper hand in the alignment orientation into the cavity.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.