TWI872005B - Adsorption device and adsorption machine - Google Patents

Abstract

An adsorption device includes a carrier with a top surface. The carrier includes a peripheral wall, a partition wall, and a plurality of air suction ports. The peripheral wall is connected to an edge of the top surface. The top surface and the peripheral wall surround to form an air extraction space. The partition wall is connected to the top surface and divides the air extraction space into a plurality of air extraction subspaces. The air extraction ports are communicated to the top surface and respectively located in the air extraction subspaces.

Description

Adsorption device and adsorption machine

The present disclosure relates to a suction device, and more particularly to a suction device for suctioning wafers.

During the wafer processing process, the wafer is placed on a carrier, and the space between the carrier and the wafer is evacuated to form a vacuum state, so that the pressure difference can be used to fix the wafer for subsequent processing.

However, during the processing, the vacuum state may be destroyed due to many circumstances. The cause of this problem may be that particles are attached to the wafer or the stage due to contamination, making the space between the stage and the wafer unable to be sealed, or that the wear and bending of the wafer causes a gap in the space between the stage and the wafer, which should have been sealed.

The carrier whose vacuum state is destroyed is prone to cause the wafer to fall and break or contaminate due to the loss of pressure difference to fix the wafer, resulting in product loss.

Therefore, how to come up with an adsorption device that can solve the above problems is one of the problems that the industry is eager to invest research and development resources to solve.

In view of this, an object of the present disclosure is to provide an adsorption device that can solve the above-mentioned problem.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an adsorption device includes a carrier having a top surface. The carrier is configured to adsorb a wafer. The carrier includes an exhaust space and a plurality of exhaust ports. The exhaust space is formed on the top surface and includes a plurality of exhaust sub-spaces separated from each other. The plurality of exhaust ports are connected to the top surface and are respectively located in the exhaust sub-spaces.

In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the adsorption device further comprises a vacuum sensor. The vacuum sensor is located in the evacuation space.

In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, there are plural vacuum sensors, which are respectively located in plural vacuum sub-spaces.

In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the adsorption device further includes an air extraction module. The air extraction module is connected to the air extraction port.

In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, there are plural exhaust modules, which are respectively connected to plural exhaust ports, and each exhaust module is configured to independently adjust the exhaust rate.

In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the carrier further includes an outer wall. The outer wall is connected to the edge of the top surface and surrounds the top surface to form an exhaust space. The exhaust subspace includes a first exhaust subspace and a second exhaust subspace. The first exhaust subspace is closer to the outer wall than the second exhaust subspace. When the adsorption device performs an adsorption process, the exhaust module connected to the second exhaust subspace is activated before the exhaust module connected to the first exhaust subspace.

In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the carrier further comprises a partition wall. The partition wall is connected to the top surface and divides the pumping space into the pumping sub-spaces. The partition wall comprises a linear wall.

In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the carrier further includes a partition wall. The partition wall is connected to the top surface and divides the pumping space into the pumping sub-spaces. The partition wall includes an annular wall.

In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the carrier further includes an outer wall and a protrusion. The outer wall is connected to the edge of the top surface and surrounds the top surface to form an exhaust space. The protrusion is arranged in the exhaust space. The height of the protrusion relative to the top surface is less than the height of the outer wall relative to the top surface.

In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the carrier further includes a partition wall. The partition wall is connected to the top surface and divides the exhaust space into exhaust sub-spaces. The protrusion is connected to at least one of the peripheral wall and the partition wall.

In order to solve the adsorption problem of wafers more efficiently, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an adsorption machine includes an adsorption device and a server. The adsorption device includes a carrier, a plurality of vacuum modules and a plurality of vacuum sensors. The carrier has a top surface and is configured to adsorb wafers. The carrier includes an exhaust space and a plurality of exhaust ports. The exhaust space is formed on the top surface and includes a plurality of exhaust sub-spaces separated from each other. A plurality of exhaust ports are respectively located in the exhaust sub-spaces. A plurality of exhaust modules are respectively connected to the exhaust ports. A plurality of vacuum sensors are respectively located in the exhaust sub-spaces. The server is connected to the exhaust modules and the vacuum sensors. The server is configured to receive vacuum value data transmitted by the vacuum sensor, and independently adjust the exhaust rate of each exhaust module based on the vacuum value data.

In summary, since the suction device has a partition wall to divide the exhaust space, the wafer will not fall due to the destruction of the vacuum state of a single exhaust sub-space. In addition, since the exhaust device has an exhaust port and a vacuum sensor in each exhaust sub-space, the exhaust rate can be independently adjusted based on the vacuum value data to optimize the vacuum level of each exhaust sub-space in real time. Finally, since the exhaust machine has a server, it can more efficiently control the exhaust device to adjust the vacuum level of each exhaust sub-space.

The above description is only used to explain the problem to be solved by the present invention, the technical means for solving the problem, and the effects produced, etc. The specific details of the present invention will be introduced in detail in the following implementation method and related drawings.

The following will disclose multiple embodiments of the present disclosure with drawings. For the purpose of clarity, many practical details will be described together in the following description. However, it should be understood that these practical details should not be used to limit the present disclosure. In other words, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, these practical details are not necessary. In addition, in order to simplify the drawings, some commonly used structures and components will be depicted in the drawings in a simple schematic manner. The same reference numerals will be used to represent the same or similar components in all drawings.

Spatially relative terms (e.g., "below," "beneath," "below," "above," "on," and related terms) are used herein to simply describe the relationship of an element or feature as shown in the figure to another element or feature. These spatially relative terms encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation shown in the figure. Furthermore, these devices may be rotated (90 degrees or other angles), and the spatially relative descriptors used herein may be interpreted accordingly. In addition, the term "made of" may mean "comprising" or "consisting of."

Please refer to Figure 1, which is a three-dimensional diagram of an adsorption device 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The adsorption device 100 includes a carrier 110 having a top surface 1102. The carrier 110 includes a bump 112, a peripheral wall 114, a partition wall 116, and a plurality of exhaust ports 119. The bump 112 is configured to carry a wafer (not shown). The peripheral wall 114 is connected to the edge of the top surface 1102. The top surface 1102 and the peripheral wall 114 surround to form an exhaust space s1. The partition wall 116 is connected to the top surface 1102 and divides the exhaust space s1 into a plurality of exhaust sub-spaces s2. A plurality of exhaust ports 119 are connected to the top surface 1102 and are respectively located in the exhaust sub-space s2. That is, in this embodiment, each air pumping subspace s2 is provided with an air pumping port 119.

Please continue to refer to Figure 1. The partition wall 116 of Figure 1 includes an annular wall 1162 and a linear wall 1164. In this embodiment, the partition wall 116 includes a plurality of linear walls 1164. And both ends of the linear wall 1164 are connected to the outer wall 114. The linear wall 1164 and the annular wall 1162 divide the exhaust space s1 into a plurality of exhaust sub-spaces s2. When the adsorption device 100 carries a wafer, each exhaust sub-space s2 can be airtight relative to the wafer, so that the adsorption device 100 has a better adsorption effect. For example, even if an accident occurs (e.g., the surface of the wafer contacting the carrier 110 is worn, the wafer is bent, or the carrier 110 is contaminated by particles) causing part of the evacuated subspace s2 to no longer be in a vacuum state, the remaining evacuated subspace s2 can still maintain a vacuum state to absorb the wafer, greatly reducing the probability of wafer drop.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the linear walls 1164 intersect at the center point of the carrier 110. In some embodiments, the linear walls 1164 may be in the shape of a chessboard.

Please continue to refer to Figure 1. In this embodiment, the bump 118 is connected to the top surface 1102. The bump 118 is configured to reduce the volume of the pumping subspace s2. It should be noted that when exhausting air from the pumping subspace s2 at the same pumping rate, the smaller the volume of the pumping subspace s2, the faster the air is exhausted, and the stronger the adsorption force. Therefore, in this embodiment, the bump 118 is connected to the partition wall 116 or the outer wall 114, and is configured to reduce the volume of the pumping subspace s2 to ensure that the pumping subspace s2 can maintain a vacuum.

Please refer to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is another three-dimensional view of the adsorption device 100 in FIG. 1. The carrier 110 further has a bottom surface 1104. The top surface 1102 and the bottom surface 1104 are located at opposite sides of the carrier 110. The air outlet 119 located at the top surface 1102 is connected to the bottom surface 1104.

Please refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an adsorption device 100 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the adsorption device 100 includes a carrier 110. It can be clearly observed that the partition wall 116 of this embodiment has two linear walls 1164. In some embodiments, the linear walls 1164 can have different numbers, such as two, three, four or other suitable numbers of linear walls 1164.

In some embodiments, the annular wall 1162 may have a larger radius than the annular wall 1162 shown in FIG. 3 . The larger the radius and the closer the annular wall 1162 is to the peripheral wall 114 , the smaller the pumping subspace s2 between the annular wall 1162 and the peripheral wall 114 . At the same pumping rate, the smaller the pumping subspace s2 is, the stronger the adsorption force is, and the wafer can be better fixed. In some embodiments, the annular wall 1162 may have a smaller radius than the annular wall 1162 shown in FIG. 3 . The annular wall 1162 with a smaller radius will form a smaller pumping subspace s2 near the center point of the top surface 1102, and can be better fixed to the center point of the wafer. In some embodiments, there may be plural annular walls 1162. By dividing the evacuation space s1 into smaller parts, a more stable adsorption capacity can be provided.

In some embodiments, the carrier 110 may have different shapes to match the shape of the object to be adsorbed, such as square, round, or any suitable shape. The present disclosure does not intend to limit the shape of the carrier 110.

In some implementations, the carrier 110 may be made of different materials, such as metal, plastic, or any suitable material. The present disclosure is not intended to limit the material of the carrier 110.

Please refer to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the adsorption device 100 in FIG. 3 along line segment 4-4. In the present embodiment, it can be clearly observed that the exhaust space s1 is formed by the top surface 1102 and the outer wall 114, and the annular wall 1162 and the straight wall 1164 that divide the exhaust space s1 into a plurality of exhaust sub-spaces s2. In each exhaust sub-space s2, there is at least one exhaust port 119, and the exhaust port 119 is configured to connect to the exhaust module 130 (not shown, see FIG. 5), and the exhaust module 130 is configured to exhaust air from the exhaust sub-space s2 through the exhaust port 119. The exhaust module 130 can adjust the adsorption force applied to the wafer by increasing or decreasing the exhaust rate. If the vacuum rate is insufficient, the suction force will be too small, causing the wafer to fall. If the vacuum rate is too high and too much force is applied, unnecessary force will be applied to the wafer, causing physical damage.

In some embodiments, an exhaust module 130 is connected to a plurality of exhaust ports 119 and is configured to simultaneously increase or decrease the exhaust rates of the plurality of exhaust ports 119 .

Please continue to refer to Figure 4. In the present embodiment, at least one vacuum sensor 120 is disposed in each pumping sub-space s2, and is configured to measure the vacuum level in each pumping sub-space s2. In some embodiments, a vacuum sensor 120 is disposed in a portion of the pumping sub-space s2. As shown in Figure 4, in the present embodiment, the vacuum sensor 120 may be embedded in the bump 118, with only a portion exposed to contact the pumping sub-space s2 to sense the vacuum level value data of the pumping sub-space s2. In another embodiment, the vacuum sensor 120 may be disposed at any suitable position, such as between the bumps 112 or bonded to one side of the outer wall 114 or the partition wall 116.

In some embodiments, the exhaust modules 130 are connected to the exhaust ports 119, respectively, and are configured to independently adjust the exhaust rate of each exhaust module 130. In some embodiments, the exhaust modules 130 are connected to the exhaust ports 119, respectively, and are configured to independently adjust the exhaust rate of each exhaust module 130 according to the vacuum value data sensed by the vacuum sensor 120 in each exhaust subspace s2.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the exhaust space s1 includes a first exhaust subspace s2a and a second exhaust subspace s2b, wherein the first exhaust subspace s2a is closer to the outer wall 114. When performing the exhaust procedure, the exhaust module (not shown) connected to the second exhaust subspace s2b is activated before the exhaust module (not shown) connected to the first exhaust subspace s2a. In other words, the air in the second exhaust subspace s2b will be exhausted before the air in the first exhaust subspace s2a. In this way, the center of the wafer can be first adsorbed and fixed, and then the edge of the wafer can be fixed, so that the wafer can be more accurately adsorbed without deviation.

Please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 at the same time. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an adsorption machine 200 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The adsorption machine 200 includes an adsorption device 100 and a server 210. The adsorption device 100 includes a carrier 110, a plurality of vacuum modules 130, and a plurality of vacuum sensors 120. The carrier 110 includes a protrusion 112, an outer wall 114, a partition wall 116, and a plurality of vacuum ports 119. The vacuum sensor 120 and the vacuum port 119 are respectively disposed in the vacuum subspace s2. The vacuum module 130 is connected to the vacuum port 119. The server 210 is connected to the vacuum module 130 and the vacuum sensor 120, and is configured to receive the vacuum value data transmitted by each vacuum sensor 120, and independently adjust the vacuum rate of each vacuum module 130 based on the vacuum value data. In this way, by the server 210 independently adjusting the vacuum rate of the vacuum module 130 in real time, the adsorption machine 200 has the effect of stably adsorbing the wafer without applying unnecessary force to the wafer.

From the above detailed description of the specific implementation method of the present disclosure, it can be clearly seen that in the present adsorption device, since the partition wall divides the exhaust space, the occurrence of wafers falling due to insufficient vacuum in some exhaust sub-spaces can be reduced. In addition, since a vacuum sensor and an exhaust port are provided in each exhaust sub-space, the vacuum in each exhaust sub-space can be independently adjusted to the most suitable value in real time by the vacuum value data transmitted by the vacuum sensor. Finally, the server included in the exhaust machine can independently adjust the exhaust rate in real time. Compared with the previous technology, it is not only more efficient and less likely to fall due to insufficient vacuum, but also less likely to be damaged due to excessive suction.

The above content summarizes the features of several implementation methods so that those familiar with this technology can better understand the state of this case. Those familiar with this technology should understand that without departing from the spirit and scope of this case, the above content can be easily used as a basis for designing or modifying other changes to implement the same purpose and/or achieve the same advantages of the implementation methods introduced in this article. The above content should be understood as an example of this disclosure, and its protection scope should be based on the scope of the patent application.

100: adsorption device 110: carrier 1102: top surface 1104: bottom surface 112: bump 114: peripheral wall 116: partition wall 1162: annular wall 1164: linear wall 118: bump 119: vacuum port s1: vacuum space s2: vacuum subspace s2a: first vacuum subspace s2b: second vacuum subspace 120: vacuum sensor 130: vacuum module 200: adsorption machine 210: server 4-4: line segment

In order to make the above and other purposes, features, advantages and embodiments of the present disclosure more clearly understandable, the attached drawings are described as follows: FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional diagram of an adsorption device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is another three-dimensional diagram of the adsorption device in the first figure. FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional diagram of an adsorption device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of the adsorption device in FIG. 3 along line segment 4-4. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an adsorption machine according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

100: adsorption device 110: carrier 1102: top surface 112: bump 114: outer wall 116: partition wall 1162: annular wall 1164: linear wall 118: bump 119: exhaust port s1: exhaust space s2: exhaust subspace

Claims (11)

A suction device includes a carrier having a top surface, the carrier being configured to suction a wafer, the carrier including: a vacuum space formed on the top surface and including a plurality of vacuum sub-spaces separated from each other; and a plurality of vacuum ports connected to the top surface and respectively located in the vacuum sub-spaces. The adsorption device as described in claim 1 further comprises at least one vacuum sensor, which is located in the vacuum space. An adsorption device as described in claim 2, wherein the number of the at least one vacuum sensor is plural, and the vacuum sensors are respectively located in the vacuum subspaces. The adsorption device as described in claim 1 further comprises at least one vacuum module, which is connected to the vacuum ports. An adsorption device as described in claim 4, wherein the number of the at least one vacuum module is plural, the vacuum modules are respectively connected to the vacuum ports, and each of the vacuum modules is configured to independently adjust a vacuum rate. An adsorption device as described in claim 5, wherein the carrier further includes an outer wall, the outer wall is connected to the edge of the top surface and surrounds the top surface to form the pumping space, the pumping space includes a first pumping sub-space and a second pumping sub-space, wherein the first pumping sub-space is closer to the outer wall than the second pumping sub-space, and when the adsorption device performs an adsorption process, one of the pumping modules connected to the second pumping sub-space is activated earlier than one of the pumping modules connected to the first pumping sub-space. An adsorption device as described in claim 1, wherein the carrier further comprises a partition wall, which is connected to the top surface and divides the vacuum space into the vacuum sub-spaces, and the partition wall comprises a linear wall. An adsorption device as described in claim 1, wherein the carrier further comprises a partition wall, which is connected to the top surface and divides the pumping space into the pumping sub-spaces, and the partition wall comprises an annular wall. An adsorption device as described in claim 1, wherein the carrier further includes an outer wall and a protrusion, the outer wall is connected to the edge of the top surface and surrounds the top surface to form the exhaust space, the protrusion is arranged in the exhaust space, and the height of the protrusion relative to the top surface is less than the height of the outer wall relative to the top surface. An adsorption device as described in claim 9, wherein the carrier further includes a partition wall, which is connected to the top surface and divides the exhaust space into the exhaust sub-spaces, and the protrusion is connected to the outer wall and at least one of the partition walls. A suction machine comprises: A suction device comprising: A carrier having a top surface and configured to suction a wafer, the carrier comprising: A vacuum space formed on the top surface and comprising a plurality of vacuum sub-spaces separated from each other; and A plurality of vacuum ports, the vacuum ports being respectively located in the vacuum sub-spaces; A plurality of vacuum modules, the vacuum modules being respectively connected to the vacuum ports; and A plurality of vacuum sensors, the vacuum sensors being respectively located in the vacuum sub-spaces; and A server, connected to the vacuum modules and the vacuum sensors, configured to receive vacuum value data transmitted by the vacuum sensors, and independently adjusting the vacuum rate of each of the vacuum modules based on the vacuum value data.

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