Professional Documents
Culture Documents
T R A N S M I T T E R S T R A N S D U C E R S P R OX S E N S O R S E N C O D E R S
A N D
M E A S U R E M E N T
L O A D C E L L S W E I G H I N G SYS T E M S B A R C O D E S C A N N E R S V I S I O N SYS T E M S
P H OTO C E L L S
E X E C U T I V E
E D I T O R
achines have personalities. At least thats how it seems to a lot of engineers working on machine startups. Two machines with exactly the same bill of materials can have unique operating quirks that only a master engineer can tame. This is often the case with tool subsystems such as semiconductor wafer-handlers, and in particular waferhandling robots for cleanroom wafer processing stations (Figure 1). If only a fab techniciansomeone skilled at maintaining material flow and performing general maintenance,
German builder of wafer-handling robots for semiconductor tool systems installed in North America, Europe, and Asia, believes it has found both the solution and the advantages that come with it.
6 2 8 3
1 5 1 Input load port 2 Master server robot 3 Carousel buffer 4 4 Load lock 1 5 Slave server robot 6 Output load port 7 Cleanroom workstation 8 Process module
Robots handle fragile semiconductor wafers valued at $80,000, and each has unique operating parameters that must be tightly controlled to avoid causing damage and production loss when transporting wafers between processing stations.
but not an expert robot teachercould install, setup, and restart a robot at the touch of a single button. If a robot builder could find and embed a system like that, the value-add to its customers would provide a significant market advantage. Asys (www.asys-micro.de), a
REPRINTED
FROM
M AY
2003
CONTROL
DESIGN
MAGAZINE
S E N S I N G
T R A N S M I T T E R S T R A N S D U C E R S P R OX S E N S O R S E N C O D E R S
A N D
P H OTO C E L L S
M E A S U R E M E N T
L O A D C E L L S W E I G H I N G SYS T E M S B A R C O D E S C A N N E R S V I S I O N SYS T E M S
tion technology. Thats a huge reduction in tool downtime. It was therefore imperative for Asys to thoroughly investigate the available technology and determine the appropriate autocalibration tool for its systems. The search led to Berkeley Process Controls.
Wafer-handling robots are positioned within carousel buffers to transport wafers to and from the process modules that make up semiconductor fabrication tools.
The controller is programmed to drive an Asys robot motor to move its arm to a commanded position and to process I/O data. High-resolution encoders provide feedback to the controller indicating the present position of each motor. The controller software continuously compares the actual motor feedback position and the softwarecommanded motor position to generate appropriate drive signals. The controllers integrated drives provide necessary drive motor current. Touch calibration is the most powerful Autocalibration feature, says Nate Harding, Berkeleys mechanical engineering manager. No added hardware or sensors are required. The controller has real-time knowledge of the present velocity and torque of each robot motor and the present position of the robots end effector. The controller also knows the approximate location of the wafer handoff positions and the geometry of the end effector based upon previous information provided by the tool application developer, adds Harding. When some users first hear about touch calibration, they picture robots being intentionally crashed into something. Thats because theyve seen tool-damaging crash-
S E N S I N G
T R A N S M I T T E R S T R A N S D U C E R S P R OX S E N S O R S E N C O D E R S
A N D
M E A S U R E M E N T
L O A D C E L L S W E I G H I N G SYS T E M S B A R C O D E S C A N N E R S V I S I O N SYS T E M S
P H OTO C E L L S
es due to robot control inadequacies, adds David Taylor, Berkeleys director of engineering. One OEM has even developed a foam block test. The robot theyre evaluating is run into a reference foam block at a specified speed and the deflection of the foam block is measured. They have a maximum deflection specification. The touch of our touch calibration is very gentleas required when youre dealing with sensitive semiconductor manufacturing tools. With touch calibration, the controller commands the Asys robot to slowly move the end effector into the predefined nominal location of a wafer handoff position. When the end effector makes light contact, that axis slows further and the motor torque changes, indicating physical contact. The controller instantly captures the encoder
position as the calibration point. Since the controller is aware in real time of the precise torque requirements of each motor, touch calibration is achieved with very low contact forces. Sophisticated torque data processing algorithms eliminate false triggers and ensure calibration consistency despite robot mechanism aging and changing friction characteristics.
No Options Required
Autocalibration technology implemented via a robots laser wafer-mapping device also has the appeal of requiring no additional hardware or sensors. Such mappers are normally used to accurately detect the edges of wafers in a wafer carrier or FOUP [front opening unified pod], says Walk. In this type of autocalibration implementation, the robot moves the
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS A typical autocalibration sequence in a simple semiconductor front end proceeds as follows: Laser wafer mapper calibration to height reference (Z position) of the master FOUP (a calibration fixture) on each pod door opener (PDO). Touch calibration to reference post on master FOUP (X, Y position) on each PDO. Laser wafer mapper calibration to top (Z position) of chuck on pre-aligner. Touch calibration to pre-aligner chuck (X, Y position). Calibration to pre-aligner optical sensor using the sensor (X, Y position). Application-specific (sensor, mapper, and/or touch) calibration to wafer process handoff location (X, Y, Z position).
End effector
laser mapper a small distance up and down while moving it slowly toward the nominal reference location. Upon the mappers reflective optical detection of the reference edge, the controller instantly captures encoder position data as the calibration point. Autocalibration technology can be implemented in a similar manner by adding through-beam or reflective optical sensors physically associated with wafer handoff positions. Autocalibration technology has been implemented with a wide variety of robot vendors mechanical designs, says Taylor. The controller architecture enables an effective implementation of the technology with both legacy belt-drive robot designs and state-of-the-art direct drive robots. In addition to having typically greater positioning accuracy and repeatability, newer direct-drive robots have greater torque sensitivity, which enables superb touch calibration sensitivity. Although autocalibration technology provides an automated teaching process, its value can only be recognized if it can demonstrate repeatable recognition of devices. In a laboratory test, we recorded positions calculated by our Autocalibration technology for a wafer transfer station using a modern direct-drive robot, says Harding. The data shows repeatability of better than 0.2 mm. In a different semiconductor application, Berkeley reports autocalibration technology eliminates the need for precision mechanical alignment of shelves in a 12-FOUP (wafer cassette) storage buffer. The buffer employs a fast two-axis gantry equipped with a FOUP gripper. The autocalibration routine uses optical emitter-detectors and torque sensitivity to rapidly reference features on each storage shelf and on a master FOUP, thereby precisely and repeatably calibrating the m system in minutes.