Substrate Carrier Deterioration Detection and Repair
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsJen-Ti Wang, Chih-Wei Lin, Fu-Hsien Li, Yi-Ming Chen, Cheng-Ho Hung
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for semiconductor manufacturing includes an input port to receive a carrier, wherein the carrier includes a carrier body, a housing installed onto the carrier body, and a filter installed between the carrier body and the housing. The apparatus further includes a first robotic arm to uninstall the housing from the carrier and to reinstall the housing into the carrier; one or more second robotic arms to remove the filter from the carrier and to install a new filter into the carrier; and an output port to release the carrier to production.
Claims20
An apparatus for semiconductor manufacturing, comprising:
- an input port to receive a carrier, wherein the carrier includes a carrier body, a housing installed onto the carrier body, and a filter installed between the carrier body and the housing;
- a first robotic arm to uninstall the housing from the carrier and to reinstall the housing into the carrier;
- one or more second robotic arms to remove the filter from the carrier and to install a new filter into the carrier;
- and
- an output port to release the carrier to production.
A system, comprising:
- a plurality of semiconductor processing tools;
- a carrier purge station;
- a carrier repair station;
- and
- an overhead transport (OHT) loop for transporting one or more substrate carriers among the plurality of semiconductor processing tools, the carrier purge station, and the carrier repair station,
- wherein the carrier purge station is configured to receive a substrate carrier from one of the plurality of semiconductor processing tools, purge the substrate carrier with an inert gas, and determine if the substrate carrier needs repair,
- wherein the carrier repair station is configured to receive a substrate carrier to be repaired and replace one or more parts in the substrate carrier.
An automatic method for semiconductor manufacturing, comprising:
- receiving a carrier, wherein the carrier includes a carrier body, a housing installed onto the carrier body, and a first filter installed between the carrier body and the housing;
- uninstalling the housing from the carrier;
- removing the first filter from the carrier;
- installing a second filter into the carrier;
- reinstalling the housing on the carrier;
- and
- returning the carrier to production, wherein at least one of the uninstalling, the removing, the installing, and the reinstalling is performed by a robotic arm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.