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US 7,924,159 B2Granted
Remote wafer presence detection with passive RFID
AssigneeAxcelis Technologies, Inc.
InventorsKan Ota, Michael Chen, David K. Bernhardt
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention involves a system and method of remotely detecting the presence of a wafer comprising, a passive RFID circuit, wherein the RFID circuit is attached to an end of a transfer arm located inside a vacuum chamber of an ion implantation system, a reader located outside the vacuum chamber, and wherein the RFID tag provides an indication relating to whether or not a wafer is secured by the transfer arm.
Claims25
A system for remotely detecting the presence of a wafer comprising:
- a passive RFID circuit, wherein the RFID circuit is operably coupled to a wafer gripper located at an end of a transfer arm located inside a vacuum chamber of an ion implantation system;
- a reader located outside the vacuum chamber and configured to transmit wirelessly an interrogation signal to the passive RFID circuit;
- and
- wherein the passive RFID circuit provides an indication relating to whether or not a wafer is secured by the wafer gripper in response to the interrogation signal.
1 more element
A method of detecting wafer presence within a system comprising:
- delivering a wafer to a load lock in an ion implantation system;
- gripping the wafer with a transfer arm;
- generating a first signal in a passive RFID tag induced by a reader component indicating the gripping of the wafer;
- moving the wafer to a chuck if the first signal is generated;
- generating a second signal in the passive RFID tag induced by the reader component indicating proximity to the chuck upon moving the wafer to the chuck;
- clamping the wafer to the chuck if the second signal is generated;
- and
- releasing the wafer from the transfer arm after clamping the wafer to the chuck.
5 more elements
A remote wafer detection system, comprising:
- a passive RFID circuit, wherein the RFID circuit is operably coupled to a wafer gripper located at an end of a transfer arm located inside a vacuum chamber of an ion implantation system;
- a reader located outside the vacuum chamber and configured to transmit wirelessly an interrogation signal to the passive RFID circuit;
- and
- wherein the passive RFID circuit provides a response signal related to whether or not a wafer is properly gripped by the wafer gripper in response to the interrogation signal.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.