KR-20260066778-A - Active thermal management of a substrate, a heated end effector, and a transfer device including a heated end effector

KR20260066778AKR 20260066778 AKR20260066778 AKR 20260066778AKR-20260066778-A

Abstract

A substrate transfer device comprises a base, a multi-joint arm, and an end effector. The multi-joint arm is connected to the base at a terminal joint to which the multi-joint arm rotates and extends. The end effector is connected to the multi-joint arm at a distal joint and has a substrate or susceptor holding station located thereon. The end effector is an electrically non-conductive or semiconductive end effector made of a ceramic material such that the end effector is substantially electrically non-conductive or semiconductive as a unit. The end effector has an active heater connected to and thermally communicating with the electrically non-conductive or semiconductive material to controllably heat the substrate or susceptor holding station to a temperature of 400°C or higher while the end effector is transferring the substrate.

Inventors

크루피셰프 알렉산더 쥐.
밥스 다니엘
메이 로버트 씨.
샤록 리 에프.
자카르스키 스티븐
트리노어 브렌던

Assignees

브룩스 오토메이션 유에스, 엘엘씨

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240906
Priority Date: 20240328

Claims (20)

In a substrate transfer device, base; A multi-joint arm connected to the base by a terminal joint and having one or more movable arm links - wherein the multi-joint arm is rotated and extended around the terminal joint -; and It includes an end effector connected to one or more movable arm links at a distal joint—the end effector having a substrate or susceptor-holding station located thereon—; At least one of the above one or more movable arm links has at least one joint arranged so that the at least one movable arm link causes extension and retraction of the multi-joint arm and articulates, and the distal joint is arranged so that the end effector articulates with respect to the one or more movable arm links. The above end effector is an electrically nonconductive or semiconductive end effector made of a ceramic material such that the above end effector is substantially electrically nonconductive or semiconductive as a unit, and A substrate transfer device having an active heater connected to and thermally communicating with the substantially electrically non-conductive or semiconductive material to controllably heat at least a portion of the end effector and the substrate or susceptor holding station to a temperature of 400°C or higher while the end effector is transferring the substrate.
A substrate transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the ceramic material is silicon carbide or alumina.
A substrate transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the active heater is a heat source which is an electrically resistive coating or an electrically resistive member in contact with the substantially electrically non-conductive or semiconductive material.
A substrate transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate or susceptor holding station has contacts that touch the substrate or susceptor on the substrate or susceptor holding station.
A substrate transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one joint is a rotary joint having a rotation axis that rotates during joint movement, wherein the at least one movable arm link causes the extension and contraction of the multi-joint arm around the at least one joint.
A substrate transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the end effector has a temperature sensor connected to the ceramic material and positioned to detect the temperature of the substrate or susceptor holding station, or the substrate or susceptor held by the substrate or susceptor holding station.
A substrate transfer device according to claim 6, further comprising a controller communically connected to a temperature sensor to register temperature sensor data embodying the temperature of the substrate or susceptor holding station, or the substrate or susceptor held by the substrate or susceptor holding station.
A substrate transfer device according to claim 7, wherein the controller is operably connected to the active heater to heat the end effector based on the registered temperature data and to raise the temperature of the substrate or susceptor holding station from a first temperature to a predetermined second temperature different from the first temperature.
A substrate transfer device according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined second temperature corresponds to a substrate temperature or susceptor temperature corresponding to a predetermined process temperature of a process chamber in which the end effector is moved.
A substrate transfer device according to claim 7, wherein the controller is operably connected to the active heater to heat the end effector based on the registered temperature data and to raise the temperature of the substrate or susceptor held by the substrate or susceptor holding station from a first temperature to a predetermined second temperature, the first temperature being less than 400°C and the second temperature being greater than 400°C.
In a substrate transfer device, base; A multi-joint arm connected to the base by a terminal joint and having one or more movable arm links—the multi-joint arm rotates and extends around the terminal joint—; and An end effector connected to one or more movable arm links at a distal joint—the end effector has substrate or susceptor-holding station pads located on the end effector, and the substrate or susceptor-holding station pads are configured to support a substrate or susceptor on the end effector—including; At least one of the above one or more movable arm links has at least one joint arranged so that the at least one movable arm link causes extension and contraction of the multi-joint arm and articulates, and the distal joint is arranged so that the end effector articulates with respect to the one or more movable arm links. The above end effector is an electrically nonconductive or semiconductive end effector made of a ceramic material such that the end effector is substantially electrically nonconductive or semiconductive as a unit, and A substrate transfer device having an active heater connected to and thermally communicated with the substantially electrically non-conductive or semiconducting material to controllably heat the substrate or susceptor-holding station pads to a temperature of 400°C or higher while the end effector is transferring the substrate.
In claim 11, the ceramic material is silicon carbide or alumina, substrate transfer device.
A substrate transfer device according to claim 11, wherein the active heater has a heat source which is an electrically resistive coating or an electrically resistive member in contact with the substantially electrically nonconductive or semiconductive material.
A substrate transfer device according to claim 11, wherein the substrate or susceptor holding station has contacts that touch the substrate or susceptor on the substrate or susceptor holding station.
A substrate transfer device according to claim 11, wherein the at least one joint is a rotary joint having a rotation axis that rotates during joint movement, wherein the at least one movable arm link causes extension and contraction of the multi-joint arm.
A substrate transfer device according to claim 11, wherein the end effector has a temperature sensor connected to the ceramic material and disposed to detect the temperature of the substrate or susceptor holding station, or the substrate or susceptor held by the substrate or susceptor holding station.
In terms of method, As a step of providing a substrate transfer device, the substrate transfer device is: base, A multi-joint arm connected to the base by a terminal joint and having one or more movable arm links—the multi-joint arm rotates and extends around the terminal joint—and A step comprising: an end effector connected at a distal joint to one or more movable arm links and having a substrate or susceptor holding station located thereon—the end effector being a silicon carbide end effector made of a silicon carbide material configured such that the end effector is substantially electrically semiconducting as a unit; A step of articulated movement of the end effector with respect to the one or more movable arm links, wherein at least one of the one or more movable arm links has at least one joint arranged such that the at least one movable arm link causes extension and contraction of the multi-joint arm and articulates movement, and the distal joint is arranged such that the end effector articulates movement with respect to the one or more movable arm links; and Step of controllingly heating the substrate or susceptor holding station to a temperature between about 400°C and about 900°C using an active heater of the end effector connected to and thermally communicating with the silicon carbide material while the end effector is transporting the substrate. A method including
A method according to claim 17, wherein the active heater has a heat source which is an electrically resistive coating or an electrically resistive member in contact with the silicon carbide material.
A method according to claim 17, wherein the substrate or susceptor holding station has contacts on the substrate or susceptor that touch the substrate or susceptor.
A method according to claim 17, wherein the at least one joint is a rotary joint having a rotation axis that rotates during joint movement, wherein the at least one movable arm link causes extension and contraction of the multi-joint arm.

Description

Active thermal management of a substrate, a heated end effector, and a transfer device including a heated end effector Cross-reference regarding related applications This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/571,225 filed March 28, 2024 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/612,210 filed December 19, 2023, the disclosures thereof are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/612,055 filed December 19, 2023, U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/581,512 filed September 8, 2023, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/685,401 filed August 21, 2024, the disclosures thereof are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Technology field The present disclosure generally relates to robot systems, and more specifically, to robot transfer systems. Generally, semiconductor processes tend toward higher temperatures, and for some process types, pre-processing substrate temperature non-uniformity can cause defects or yield loss. One cause of temperature non-uniformity stems from substrate contact points used during transfer and handling. Sensitive processes will typically preheat the substrate to match the operating temperature inside the process module, for example, on a pre-heat chuck within a load lock or at other locations within a vacuum transfer chamber. Heating the substrate at these locations can increase the processing times of the substrates and reduce throughput. Once the substrate reaches an appropriate temperature, the substrate transfer device will pick up the substrate and place it into the process module. The contact points of the substrate transfer device are typically at a lower temperature than the substrate, resulting in the local absorption of thermal energy from the substrate through conduction and radiation. The contacted areas result in lower temperatures than the uncontacted areas, thus creating non-uniformity in the substrate temperature prior to processing. One example of defects caused by the high temperature difference between the end effector and the substrate is crystal slip defects. Specifically, problems with extremely high-temperature processes arise where rapid cooling at the end effector contact points causes thermal stress and slip within the substrate. Therefore, the present disclosure solves many of such problems. The aforementioned aspects and other features of the present disclosure are described in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings:FIGS. 1a to 1i are substrate or susceptor processing apparatus according to the present disclosure (These are schematic examples of substrate or susceptor processing apparatus;FIGS. 2a through 2i illustrate exemplary substrate or susceptor transfer devices according to the present disclosure (These are schematic examples of a substrate or susceptor transport apparatus, which can be used in any of the substrate processing apparatuses of FIGS. 1a to 1i;FIGS. 3a through 3c are schematic cross-sectional examples of parts of an exemplary substrate or susceptor transfer device according to the present disclosure, which may be used in any of the substrate processing devices of FIGS. 1a through 1i;FIG. 3d is a schematic plan view example of an exemplary substrate or susceptor transfer device according to the present disclosure, which may be used in any of the substrate processing devices of FIG. 1a to 1i;FIGS. 3e and FIGS. 3f are schematic cross-sectional examples of parts of an exemplary substrate or susceptor transfer device according to the present disclosure, which may be used in any of the substrate processing devices of FIGS. 1a to 1i;FIG. 3g is a schematic example of an end effector of an exemplary substrate or susceptor transfer device described herein in accordance with the present disclosure.FIGS. 4a and 4b are schematic examples of end effectors of exemplary substrate or susceptor transfer devices described herein in accordance with the present disclosure;FIGS. 5a and 5b are schematic examples of end effectors of exemplary substrate or susceptor transfer devices described herein in accordance with the present disclosure;FIGS. 6a and 6b are schematic examples of end effectors of exemplary substrate or susceptor transfer devices described herein in accordance with the present disclosure;FIGS. 7a and 7b are schematic examples of end effectors of exemplary substrate or susceptor transfer devices described herein in accordance with the present disclosure;FIG. 8 is an exemplary flowchart according to the present disclosure;FIG. 9 is an exemplary flowchart according to the present disclosure;FIG. 10 is an exemplary flowchart according to the present disclosure;FIGS. 11a through 11f are schematic examples of parts of an exemplary substrate transfer apparatus according to the present disclosure, which may be used in any of the substrate processing apparatus of FIGS. 1a through 1i; and