阅读说明：本技术 包含多个对准器的设备前端模块、组件及方法 (Equipment front end module including multiple aligners, assembly and method ) 是由 尼古拉斯·迈克尔·伯甘茨 于 2020-04-22 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种设备前端模块,可包含形成设备前端模块腔室的设备前端模块主体。设备前端模块主体可包含多个壁。一个或多个装载锁定腔室或处理腔室可耦合一个或多个第一壁。一个或多个装载端口可设置在一个或多个第二壁中,其中一个或多个装载端口中的每个装载端口配置为对接基板载体。多个对准基座可被容纳在设备前端模块腔室内。装载/卸除机器人可至少部分地容纳在设备前端模块腔室内,其中装载/卸除机器人可包括多个叶片。公开了其他设备和方法。(An equipment front end module may include an equipment front end module body forming an equipment front end module chamber. The device front end module body may include a plurality of walls. One or more load lock chambers or process chambers may be coupled to one or more of the first walls. One or more load ports may be disposed in the one or more second walls, wherein each of the one or more load ports is configured to dock with a substrate carrier. A plurality of alignment pedestals may be housed within the equipment front end module chamber. The loading/unloading robot may be at least partially housed within the equipment front end module chamber, wherein the loading/unloading robot may include a plurality of blades. Other apparatuses and methods are disclosed.)

1. A device front-end module comprising:

an equipment front end module body forming an equipment front end module chamber, the equipment front end module body including a plurality of walls;

one or more load locks or process chambers coupled to one or more first walls;

one or more load ports disposed in the one or more second walls, each of the one or more load ports configured to dock with a substrate carrier;

a plurality of alignment pedestals housed within the equipment front end module chamber; and

a loading/unloading robot at least partially housed within the equipment front end module chamber, the loading/unloading robot including a plurality of blades.

2. The equipment front end module of claim 1, comprising a side storage bay device coupled to a wall, wherein a bay opening to the side storage bay device is located at a higher position than the plurality of alignment pedestals.

3. The equipment front end module of claim 1, where the load/unload robot comprises two blades.

4. The equipment front end module of claim 1, wherein the load/unload robot is configured and operable to simultaneously transfer a plurality of substrates between the one or more load ports and the plurality of alignment pedestals.

5. The device front-end module of claim 1, wherein at least two alignment pedestals of the plurality of alignment pedestals are vertically offset relative to each other.

6. The apparatus front end module of claim 5, wherein the substrate carrier comprises a plurality of support members, wherein at least two support members of the plurality of support members are vertically spaced apart from each other by a distance substantially equal to a distance at which at least two alignment pedestals of the plurality of alignment pedestals are vertically offset relative to each other.

7. The equipment front end module of claim 5, comprising a side storage bay equipment comprising bay support members vertically spaced from each other by a spacing substantially equal to a distance by which at least two of the plurality of alignment pedestals are vertically offset relative to each other.

8. The equipment front-end module of claim 5, wherein at least two of the plurality of alignment pedestals are vertically offset with respect to each other by a distance in a range from 7mm to 40 mm.

9. The equipment front-end module of claim 5, wherein at least two of the plurality of alignment pedestals at least partially overlap each other, wherein at least two of the plurality of alignment pedestals overlap each other a distance in a range of 120mm to 300 mm.

10. The equipment front end module of claim 1, wherein the load/unload robot is configured to provide vertical alignment of the plurality of blades relative to each other upon reaching the one or more load ports.

11. The equipment front end module of claim 1, wherein the load/unload robot is configured to provide a vertical misalignment of the plurality of blades relative to each other upon reaching the plurality of alignment pedestals, wherein the vertical misalignment between the plurality of blades is proportional to a spacing between the plurality of alignment pedestals.

12. An electronic device processing assembly comprising:

an equipment front end module body forming an equipment front end module chamber;

one or more load locks coupled to one or more first walls of the apparatus front end module body, the one or more load locks configured to exchange substrates into and out of a transfer chamber or a processing chamber;

one or more load ports disposed in one or more second walls of the equipment front end module body, each of the one or more load ports configured to dock with a substrate carrier;

a plurality of alignment pedestals housed within the equipment front end module chamber; and

a load/unload robot at least partially housed within the equipment front end module chamber, the load/unload robot including a plurality of blades configured to simultaneously transfer a plurality of substrates between the one or more load ports and the plurality of alignment pedestals.

13. The electronic device processing assembly of claim 12, wherein at least two of the plurality of alignment pedestals are vertically offset with respect to each other, and wherein at least two of the plurality of blades are vertically spaced apart from each other by a distance such that at least two of the plurality of alignment pedestals are vertically offset with respect to each other.

14. The electronic device processing assembly of claim 12, wherein at least two of the plurality of alignment pedestals are horizontally spaced relative to each other, and wherein at least two of the plurality of blades are movable to be vertically misaligned with each other by a distance by which at least two of the plurality of alignment pedestals are horizontally spaced from each other.

15. A method of operating an equipment front-end module, comprising the steps of:

moving a blade of a loading/unloading robot to a vertically aligned position to reach the vertically stacked substrate storage; and

moving the blade of the loading/unloading robot to a vertically misaligned position to simultaneously reach a plurality of alignment pedestals.

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an Equipment Front End Module (EFEM), an electronic device processing assembly, and a method for operating an equipment front end module.

Background

Substrate processing in semiconductor device manufacturing is performed in a plurality of processing tools, wherein substrates are moved between processing tools in a substrate carrier, such as a Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP). The substrate carrier may be docked to a front wall of an Equipment Front End Module (EFEM) that includes a load/unload robot. The load/unload robot is operable to transfer substrates between the substrate carrier and one or more destinations (e.g., load locks or process chambers) coupled to a back wall of the EFEM opposite the front wall. However, in some cases, existing EFEMs have certain substrate throughput limitations.

Disclosure of Invention

In some embodiments, a device front end module is provided. The equipment front end module includes: an equipment front end module body forming an equipment front end module chamber, the equipment front end module body including a plurality of walls; one or more load locks or process chambers coupled to the one or more first walls; one or more load ports disposed in the one or more second walls, each of the one or more load ports configured to dock with a substrate carrier; a plurality of alignment pedestals housed within the equipment front end module chamber; and a loading/unloading robot at least partially housed within the equipment front end module chamber, the loading/unloading robot including a plurality of blades.

In some embodiments, an electronic device processing assembly is provided. An electronic device processing assembly comprising: an equipment front end module body forming an equipment front end module cavity; one or more load locks coupled to one or more first walls of the apparatus front end module body, the one or more load locks configured to exchange substrates into and out of the transfer chamber or the processing chamber; one or more load ports disposed in one or more second walls of the equipment front end module body, each of the one or more load ports configured to dock with a substrate carrier; a plurality of alignment pedestals housed within the equipment front end module chamber; and a load/unload robot at least partially housed within the equipment front end module chamber, the load/unload robot including a plurality of blades configured to simultaneously transfer a plurality of substrates between the one or more load ports and the plurality of alignment pedestals.

In some embodiments, a method of operating a device front-end module is provided. The method includes moving a blade of the loading/unloading robot to a vertically aligned position to reach the vertically stacked substrate storage device; and moving the blade of the loading/unloading robot to a vertically misaligned position to simultaneously reach the plurality of alignment pedestals.

In accordance with these and other embodiments of the present disclosure, numerous other aspects and features are provided. Other features and aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claims and the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

The drawings described below are for illustration purposes only and are not necessarily drawn to scale. The drawings are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

Fig. 1A shows a schematic top view of an electronic device handling assembly including an Equipment Front End Module (EFEM) having a plurality of alignment pedestals and a loading/unloading robot including a dual end effector, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 1B shows a schematic top view of an electronic device handling assembly including an Equipment Front End Module (EFEM) having multiple alignment bases and a loading/unloading robot including dual end effectors in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1C illustrates a cross-sectional side view of an EFEM including multiple alignment bases and a load/unload robot including dual end effectors in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a partial schematic front view of an EFEM including a plurality of alignment bases and side storage compartment devices taken along the line of sight 2-2 in FIG. 1C in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3A shows a schematic top view of a plurality of blades (e.g., dual blades) of a loading/unloading robot, the blades shown in vertical alignment, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3B shows a schematic top view of a plurality of blades (e.g., dual blades) of a loading/unloading robot, the blades shown vertically misaligned, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic top view of an EFEM including two alignment bases positioned side-by-side and in a non-overlapping configuration according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a partial schematic cross-sectional elevation view of an interior of an EFEM including two alignment pedestals positioned in a non-overlapping side-by-side orientation in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic top view of a plurality of blades (e.g., dual blades) of a loading/unloading robot, the blades being vertically misaligned, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart depicting a method of operating an EFEM including a plurality of alignment bases in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the present exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Features of the various embodiments described herein may be combined with each other, unless specifically noted otherwise.

In substrate processing in electronic device manufacturing, an Equipment Front End Module (EFEM) receives substrates from one or more substrate carriers. The substrate carrier may dock to a load port located on a front wall thereof (e.g., to a load port configured on a front surface of the EFEM body). The EFEM may include an EFEM chamber formed at least in part by an EFEM body.

In order to properly position the substrate prior to transfer to the processing chamber for processing, prior art EFEMs may include an alignment pedestal that rotates the substrate to a proper rotational orientation prior to processing. In some embodiments, the EFEM may also include a side storage compartment for storing substrates. For example, the side storage pods may store substrates returned from processing in the processing chambers. In some embodiments, the substrate may be subjected to degassing and/or cooling in a side storage compartment. The load/unload robot may be located in the EFEM chamber and may transfer the substrate to the alignment pedestal and/or to one or more load locks or processing chambers coupled to a wall (e.g., a rear wall) of the EFEM. However, such prior art EFEM may suffer from low throughput. Thus, according to embodiments described herein, enhanced throughput of EFEM is provided.

In one or more embodiments described herein, an EFEM including improved throughput includes an EFEM body forming an EFEM chamber, wherein the EFEM body may include a front wall, a back wall, and side walls. A plurality of alignment pedestals and a loading/unloading robot including a plurality of blades may be housed within the EFEM chamber. The substrates may be transferred from the load port simultaneously and placed on multiple alignment pedestals simultaneously. After the alignment pedestals align the substrates, the substrates may be transferred simultaneously from multiple alignment pedestals to one or more load locks or processing chambers. Thus, the throughput of EFEM is improved. In some embodiments, the plurality of alignment pedestals may be vertically offset from each other, horizontally offset from each other, or the alignment pedestals may include a combination of vertical and horizontal offsets.

Further details of various embodiments of the EFEM, the EFEM including multiple alignment pedestals and a load/unload robot with multiple blades, an electronic device handling assembly, and methods of operation of the EFEM providing improved (increased) substrate throughput are further described herein with reference to fig. 1A-7.

FIG. 1A illustrates a schematic top view of an electronic device processing assembly 100 according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the electronic device processing assembly 100 including an EFEM116, the EFEM116 including a plurality of alignment bases 126. The electronic device processing assembly 100 may include a mainframe 102, the mainframe 102 including a mainframe wall defining a transfer chamber 104. A transfer robot 106 (shown as a dashed circle) may be at least partially housed within the transfer chamber 104. The transfer robot 106 may be configured to place the substrates 105 to and extract the substrates 105 from the respective destinations via operation of a robot arm (not shown) of the transfer robot 106. The substrate 105 described herein may be any suitable article for fabricating an electronic device or circuit component, such as a semiconductor wafer, a silicon-containing wafer, a patterned or unpatterned wafer, a glass plate, a mask, and the like.

The movement of the various robot arm components of the transfer robot 106 may be controlled by appropriate commands to a drive assembly (not shown) comprising a plurality of drive motors commanded by the controller 108. The signals from the controller 108 may cause various arm motions of the transfer robot 106. Suitable feedback mechanisms may be provided for one or more of the robotic arms by various sensors, such as position encoders. The controller 108 may include suitable processors (e.g., one or more microprocessors), memory, drive units, and sensors to enable communication and control of the transfer robot 106 and the loading/unloading robot 122. The controller 108 may further control the operation of other system components, such as the load lock 112, the process chambers 110A-110F, the process chambers 110A ', 110B' (fig. 1B), the slit valves (not shown), the door opener (not shown), the substrate carrier docking device (not shown), and the plurality of alignment pedestals 126, as will be described more fully herein. The controller 108 may control other components.

For example, the transfer robot 106 may include interconnected robotic arms that may rotate about a shoulder axis, which may be located substantially at the center of the transfer chamber 104. The transfer robot 106 may include a pedestal (not shown) configured to attach to a chamber wall (e.g., a chamber floor) forming a lower portion of the transfer chamber 104. However, in some embodiments, the transfer robot 106 may be attached to a ceiling (e.g., a chamber ceiling). The transfer robot 106 may be a dual-type robot configured to service dual chambers (e.g., side-by-side processing chambers, as shown) when the transfer chamber 104 includes dual processing chambers (as shown). Other types of process chamber orientations (e.g., radially oriented process chambers) may be used, as well as other types of transfer robots (e.g., Selective Compliance Articulated Robot Arm (SCARA) robots).

The destination of the transfer robot 106 may be one or more process chambers, such as a first process chamber set 110A, 110B, the first process chamber set 110A, 110B coupled to a first facet that may be configured and operable to perform processing on the substrate 105 transferred thereon. Other destinations for the transfer robot 106 may also be a second processing chamber set 110C, 110D, the second processing chamber set 110C, 110D coupled to a second facet opposite the first processing chamber set 110A, 110B. Similarly, the transfer robot 106 may also be destined for a third processing chamber group 110E, 110F, the third processing chamber group 110E, 110F being coupled to a third facet opposite the load lock 112.

The load lock apparatus 112 may include one or more load lock chambers (e.g., load lock chambers 112A, 112B) coupled to the fourth facet. The load lock chambers 112A and 112B included in the load lock apparatus 112 may be Single Wafer Load Lock (SWLL) chambers, multi-wafer chambers, batch load lock chambers, or a combination thereof. For example, some load locks (e.g., load lock chamber 112A) may be used to flow substrates 105 into the transfer chamber 104, while other load lock chambers (e.g., load lock chamber 112B) may be used to move substrates 105 out of the transfer chamber 104.

The processing chambers 110A-110F may be configured and operable to perform any suitable processing on the substrate 105, such as Plasma Vapor Deposition (PVD) or Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), etching, annealing, pre-cleaning, pre-heating, degassing, removal of metals or metal oxides, and the like. Other deposition, removal, or cleaning processes may be performed on the substrate 105 contained therein.

The substrate 105 may be received into the transfer chamber 104 from the EFEM116 through a load lock 112 coupled with one or more first walls (e.g., the back wall 116R) of the EFEM116 and may also exit the transfer chamber 104 to the EFEM 116. With additional reference to FIG. 1C, the EFEM116 may be any enclosure having an EFEM body 116B that includes chamber walls, such as a front wall 116F, a rear wall 116R, side walls 116S, an upper wall 116CL (e.g., ceiling) and a bottom wall 116FL (e.g., floor), for example, to form the EFEM chamber 116C. One of the sidewalls 116S may include an access door 116D that may be opened to access the EFEM chamber 116C. One or more load ports 118 may be provided on one or more second walls (e.g., front wall 116F) of the EFEM body 116B, and the load ports 118 may be configured to receive one or more substrate carriers 120 (e.g., FOUPs) thereon. Three substrate carriers 120 are shown, but a greater or lesser number of substrate carriers 120 may be docked to the EFEM 116. The load lock apparatus 112, the substrate carrier 120, and other devices that can stack the substrates 105 in the vertical direction may be collectively referred to as a vertically stacked substrate storage device.

The EFEM116 may include a suitable load/unload robot 122 within its EFEM chamber 116C. The load/unload robot 122 may include a plurality of blades 124 (e.g., dual blades) and is configured and operable to simultaneously extract a plurality of substrates 105 from the substrate carrier 120 upon opening a door of the substrate carrier 120, for example, by a door opener mechanism (not shown). Once extracted, the blade 124 may move the substrate 105 throughout the EFEM chamber 116C and ultimately into one or more load lock chambers 112A, 112B of the load lock apparatus 112. The load/unload robot 122 may be further configured to extract a plurality of substrates 105 from the substrate carrier 120 at the load port 118 and simultaneously transfer the plurality of substrates 105 to the plurality of alignment pedestals 126 through the EFEM chamber 116C. The blades 124 may include an upper blade 124U and a lower blade 124L. The upper blade 124U and the lower blade 124L may be configured to have a vertical offset 124O (fig. 1C) relative to each other. Also, the upper blade 124U and the lower blade 124L may be configured to be independently rotatable and/or movable relative to each other.

The alignment pedestal 126 may include a means for orienting the substrate 105 to a predetermined orientation. For example, the alignment pedestal 126 may optically scan the substrate 105 and identify a notch (not shown) located on the substrate 105. The alignment pedestal 126 may then align the substrate 105 by rotating the substrate 105 until the notch is oriented in a predetermined direction. Examples of alignment procedures and alignment bases are described in us patent 3,972,424; 5,102,280, respectively; and 6,275,742.

After alignment at the multiple alignment pedestals 126, the substrates 105 may be transferred simultaneously into one or more load lock chambers 112A, 112B of the load lock apparatus 112. The substrate 105 may then be subsequently processed in one or more of the processing chambers 110A-110F. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1B, the process chambers 110A 'and 110B' are located on the back wall 116R of the EFEM 116. In the embodiment of fig. 1B, after aligning the substrate 105 on the plurality of alignment pedestals 126, the substrate 105 may be simultaneously transferred into one or more process chambers 110A ', 110B'. For example, the blade 124 of the loading/unloading robot 122 may simultaneously transfer a plurality of substrates 105 to or from the process chambers 110A ', 110B'.

The plurality of alignment pedestals 126 may be coupled to one or more walls of the EFEM116, including the side walls 116S, the front wall 116F, and/or the rear wall 116R. Alternatively, the plurality of alignment pedestals 126 may be coupled to the bottom wall 116FL of the EFEM116 (FIG. 1C). The plurality of alignment pedestals 126 may be mounted in any suitable manner such that the alignment pedestals are accessible to the blade 124 of the loading/unloading robot 122.

The load/unload robot 122 may be configured and operable to extract the substrate 105 from the load lock apparatus 112 (or the process chambers 110A ', 110B' in fig. 1B) and simultaneously transfer the substrate 105 into the side storage bay apparatus 128. For example, the transfer may occur after processing of the substrate 105 in one or more of the process chambers 110A-110F (or process chambers 110A ', 110B'). In some embodiments, the load/unload robot 122 may be configured and operable to extract a plurality of substrates 105 from the substrate carrier 120 and simultaneously transfer the substrates 105 into the side storage bay device 128 prior to processing.

The EFEM chamber 116C may be provided with an environmental control system 129, the environmental control system 129 including an environmental controller 130 and a purge gas supply 131, the purge gas supply 131 configured to provide a controlled gas environment to the EFEM chamber 116C. In particular, the environmental controller 130 may be used to monitor and/or control environmental conditions within the EFEM chamber 116C. Monitoring may be performed by one or more sensors. In some embodiments, and at certain times, such as during processing of the substrate 105, the EFEM chamber 116C may receive a non-reactive gas therein. The non-reactive gas may be an inert gas, such as argon (Ar), nitrogen (N)₂) And/or helium (He) and may be provided from a purge gas supplier 131. Other gases may be used. The environmental controller 130 may interface with the controller 108 to synchronize operations within the EFEM 116.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1C, the side storage compartment apparatus 128 may house one or more side storage containers 128a, 128 b. Each side storage container 128a, 128b may define a respective side storage container chamber 132a, 132b therein, the side storage container chambers 132a, 132b configured to store substrates 105. Two side storage containers 128a, 128b are shown, one above the other. However, other suitable orientations are possible, such as side-by-side, where space permits. Further, more or less than two side storage containers 128a, 128b may be provided in the side storage container apparatus 128.

The side storage compartment apparatus 128 may be fully enclosed within the retention housing 134, and the retention housing 134 may also be coupled and sealed to the sidewall 116S of the EFEM116 by any suitable means, such as gaskets, O-rings or other seals and suitable coupling devices. The side storage containers 128a, 128b may be loaded into the holding housing 134 or removed from the holding housing 134 through the access door 134 d. The access door 134d allows for easy maintenance and cleaning of the side storage compartment chambers 132a, 132 b. The access door 134d also allows the ability to quickly add new or clean side storage containers 128a, 128b therein.

The access door 134d and the retention housing 134 may be configured to provide a sealed environment around the side storage containers 128a, 128 b. In some embodiments, the side storage containers 128a, 128b may be located in a fixed position on the sidewall 116S of the EFEM 116. The substrates 105 may be transferred to and from the side storage compartment chambers 132a, 132b through the compartment openings 136 in the side storage compartment apparatus 128. The pod opening 136 may be coupled to a similar opening formed in the sidewall 116S of the EFEM 116. The pod opening 136 may remain open at all times, allowing the blade 124 of the loading/unloading robot 122 unrestricted access to the substrates 105 stored therein. Thus, a plurality of substrates 105 may be simultaneously inserted into or withdrawn from the side storage compartment chambers 132a or 132b of the side storage compartment apparatus 128.

With additional reference to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 illustrates a partially schematic front cross-sectional view of the EFEM116 taken along section line 2-2 in FIG. 1C. The view of fig. 2 includes a plurality of alignment pedestals 126 and side storage bay devices 128 in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. The storage locations within the side storage containers 128a, 128b may be formed by a plurality of pod support members 138, which pod support members 138 may be vertically spaced apart in defined increments (e.g., every 10 mm). The plurality of pod support members 138 may be spaced apart from one another by pod vertical spacing 202. The pod vertical spacing 202 may be of sufficient distance to allow the upper blade 124U and the lower blade 124L of the load/unload robot 122 to simultaneously load and unload multiple substrates 105 (e.g., two substrates 105) from the pod support member 138.

The plurality of pod support members 138 are configured to support the substrate 105 horizontally thereon at pod vertical intervals 202. For example, the cabin support members 138 may comprise suitable support brackets that extend laterally toward each other from each side of the side storage containers 128a and 128 b. The pod support members 138 may be configured to support a portion of each substrate 105, such as a substrate edge. The pod support members 138 may be short enough so that they do not interfere with the blades 124 of the loading/unloading robot 122.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 2, the plurality of pod support members 138 in the side storage containers 128a and 128b are configured to provide pod vertical spacing 202 (e.g., which may be in the range of 7mm to 35mm, or even 7mm to 40mm in some embodiments) between the supported substrates 105. In some embodiments, the cabin vertical spacing 202 may be about 10 mm. In other embodiments, the vertical cabin spacing 202 may be greater than 40 mm. Other ranges may be used. A similar storage rack configuration with the same carrier vertical spacing as the pod vertical spacing 202 may be implemented in the substrate carrier 120 (fig. 1A and 1B). Likewise, a spacing configuration of multiple supports having the same load lock vertical spacing as the bay vertical spacing 202 may be implemented in the load lock chambers 112a and 112B (fig. 1A and 1B).

A plurality of alignment pedestals 126 may be arranged side-by-side within the EFEM chamber 116C. Two alignment pedestals 126 are shown here, but more than two alignment pedestals 126 may be provided, such as three, four, or more. The number of blades 124 of the loading/unloading robot 122 may be equal to the number of alignment pedestals 126. In the depicted embodiment, the upper and lower alignment pedestals 126U, 126L are disposed side-by-side, but vertically offset relative to each other. A plurality of alignment pedestals 126 are shown coupled to the side walls 116S at a level below the bay opening 136 of the side storage bay device 128. However, as noted above, other suitable coupling orientations are possible, as space permits.

The upper and lower alignment pedestals 126U and 126L may be arranged to provide a vertical offset 204 between the respective support surfaces 226S1 and 226S2, and a vertical offset 204 between the substrates 105 (shown in phantom in fig. 2) positioned on each support surface 226S1, 226S 2. Some embodiments of the alignment pedestal 126 may not include the support surfaces 226S1, 226S 2. Conversely, the alignment pedestal 126 may include a device that supports the substrate 105 on a plane defined by the support surfaces 226S1, 226S 2. For example, in some embodiments, the vertical offset 204 may range from 7mm to 35mm, or even 7mm to 40 mm. In some embodiments, the vertical offset 204 may be about 10 mm. In other embodiments, the vertical offset 204 may be greater than 40 mm. Other vertical offset ranges may be used.

The vertical spacing 202 of the bays between the plurality of bay support members 138 within the side storage containers 128a, 128b, and the vertical offset 204 between each support surface 226S1, 226S2 of the plurality of alignment pedestals 126, may be equal to or greater than the vertical offset 124O (fig. 1C) between the upper blade 124U and the lower blade 124L of the loading/unloading robot 122. If more than two blades are used in the loading/unloading robot 122, the pod vertical spacing 202 and vertical offset 204 may be equal to the vertical offset 124O between each blade 124 of the loading/unloading robot 122. Further, the vertical offset 204 between each support surface 226S1, 226S2 of the plurality of alignment pedestals 126 may be greater than the bay vertical spacing 202 between the plurality of bay support members 138 within the side storage containers 128a and 128 b. In some embodiments, the minimum vertical offset 204 is the vertical offset 124O between the plurality of blades 124 of the loading/unloading robot 122.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, a plurality of alignment pedestals 126 are arranged side-by-side along the sidewalls 116S of the EFEM116 such that the substrates 105 partially overlap each other when nominally positioned on the upper and lower alignment pedestals 126U, 126L. The substrates 105 on the upper and lower alignment pedestals 126U, 126L may overlap sufficiently to provide an overlap 206 of the substrates 105 supported on each of the plurality of support surfaces 226S1, 226S2 of the alignment pedestal 126. In some embodiments, the overlap 206 of the substrate 105 supported on each of the plurality of support surfaces 226S1, 226S2 may be in the range of 120mm to 300 mm. In some embodiments, the overlap 206 may be enlarged as desired, so long as the thickness T21 of the upper alignment pedestal 126U has a sufficient thickness to support the substrate and/or the support surface 226S 1. In some embodiments, the thickness T21 is about 80 mm. In other embodiments, the thickness T21 may be as low as about 5 mm.

Referring to fig. 3A and 3B, top views of the blade 124 of the loading/unloading robot 122 (fig. 1B) are shown in aligned and misaligned states, respectively. In the aligned state, the blades 124 may be vertically aligned as shown in FIG. 3A. The aligned condition enables the blade 124 to access a substrate 105 located in a vertically aligned storage area, such as in a side storage bay device 128. In the misaligned state, the blade 124 may reach a vertically offset substrate 105, such as a substrate located on the alignment pedestal 126 shown in fig. 1A-2.

The extent of the overlap 206 between each substrate 105 on the plurality of alignment pedestals 126 may be within a range of vertical misalignment between the upper blade 124U and the lower blade 124L of the loading/unloading robot 122 relative to each other. Vertical misalignment between the upper blade 124U and the lower blade 124L allows for the simultaneous placement and removal of the substrate 105 from each of the plurality of alignment pedestals 126. The overlap 206 also allows the width of the EFEM116 to be made smaller while allowing multiple substrates 105 to be placed on the alignment pedestal 126 simultaneously. To achieve simultaneous placement of the substrate 105 on the plurality of alignment pedestals 126 using the upper blade 124U and the lower blade 124L, the upper blade 124U and the lower blade 124L may be separately rotated via operation of independent rotational movement of the blades 124. To avoid supports on the alignment base 126, etc., the upper blade 124U and the lower blade 124L may move together and/or apart when the blades 124 reach the alignment base 126 or other components.

Fig. 3A shows a top view of two blades 124 in vertical alignment. According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the blade 124 may be vertically aligned when the blade 124 reaches the substrate 105 (fig. 1A-1C) located in the substrate carrier 120, the side storage compartment apparatus 128, and the load lock apparatus 112. In the vertically aligned configuration, the upper blade 124U is vertically aligned with the lower blade 124L (not visible in fig. 3A). For example, upper blade 124U and lower blade 124L may be rotated toward each other such that any offset between centers 302 of blades 124 is minimized. In some embodiments, the vertical alignment aligns centerlines 303U, 303L of blades 124.

Fig. 3B illustrates a top view of two blades 124 that are not vertically aligned to reach multiple alignment pedestals 126, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Fig. 3B illustrates a wrist joint 310 that may be coupled to the blade 124 to enable the blade 124 to rotate about an arc 312. In such a misaligned configuration, the upper blade 124U and the lower blade 124L may be vertically misaligned (e.g., vertically offset) with respect to each other upon reaching each of the plurality of alignment pedestals 126 (fig. 2). In particular, from the previously discussed vertically aligned orientation, upper blade 124U may be rotated in a first direction and lower blade 124L may be rotated in a second direction opposite the first direction via wrist joint 310. The rotation of each blade 124 provides an offset 304 between the center 302 of the blade 124 and/or the base plate 105 supported on each blade 124. The vertical misalignment may also be described as the centerlines 303U, 303L of the blades 124 being angled with respect to each other.

The offset 304 between the centers 302 of the blades 124 and/or the base plates 105 supported on each blade 124 may substantially match the horizontal spacing 207 (fig. 2) between each of the centers of the plurality of support surfaces 226S1, 226S2 of the alignment pedestal 126. This configuration allows for the simultaneous transfer of multiple substrates 105 (two as shown) to and from multiple alignment pedestals 126. In particular, the upper blade 124U may be used to simultaneously transfer substrates 105 to or from the upper alignment susceptor 126U and the lower blade 124L may be used to simultaneously transfer substrates 105 to or from the lower alignment susceptor 126L. As shown in fig. 2, the substrates 105 on the support surfaces 226S1, 226S2 may be overlapped by an overlap 206.

The blade 124 may be moved in the direction 318A to reach the support surfaces 226S1, 226S2 of the alignment pedestal 126. For example, the plurality of blades 124 may be moved in the direction 318A to position the substrate 105 on the support surfaces 226S1, 226S2 or retrieve the aligned substrate 105 from the support surfaces 226S1, 226S 2. When moving away from the support surfaces 226S1, 226S2, the blade 124 may move in the direction 318B. In some embodiments, the support surface 226S1 may include a plurality of lift points 320A, and the support surface 226S2 may include a plurality of lift points 320B. As shown in fig. 3B, if the blade 124 is in a vertically misaligned position and is moved in the direction 318A or the direction 318B while approaching the support surfaces 226S1, 226S2, the blade 124 may contact the lift points 320A, 320B. In some embodiments, as the vane 124 moves proximate the support surfaces 226S1, 226S2, the vane 124 transitions between vertically aligned and vertically misaligned positions to avoid the lift points 320A, 320B. For example, as the blade 124 moves closer to the alignment base 126, the blade 124 may rotate about the arc 312 about the wrist joint 310. The path taken by the blades 124 to approach the alignment pedestal 126 may depend on the location of the lift points 320A, 320B and other obstacles.

Referring to FIG. 4, FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the EFEM116 in which the EFEM116 includes two alignment pedestals 426 disposed side-by-side. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the EFEM116 includes two alignment pedestals 426, the two alignment pedestals 426 being referred to as a first alignment pedestal 426A and a second alignment pedestal 426B, respectively. In other embodiments, the EFEM116 may include more than two alignment pedestals 426. The alignment pedestal 426 may not provide any vertical overlap of the substrate 105 positioned on the alignment pedestal 426. The lack of vertical overlap of the substrate 105 may provide independent lifting of the substrate 105. For example, the substrate 105 positioned on the second support surface 426S2 will not contact the substrate 105 positioned on the first support surface 426S1 during vertical lift.

With additional reference to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 illustrates a view of the EFEM116 similar to FIG. 2, but without overlap between the alignment pedestal 426 or the substrate 105 positioned thereon. As shown in fig. 5, there is a horizontal space 506 between the edges of the substrate 105 on the first support surface 426S1 of the first alignment pedestal 426A and the second support surface 426S2 of the second alignment pedestal 426B. A similar horizontal spacing may exist between the edges of the first support surface 426S1 and the second support surface 426S 2. In some embodiments, the alignment pedestal 426 may support the substrate 105 using a device (not shown) other than the first support surface 426S1 and the second support surface 426S 2. These devices may be separated by a horizontal interval, which may be similar to horizontal interval 506.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 5, the first support surface 426S1 and the second support surface 426S2 are vertically offset by the vertical offset 204. In some embodiments, the first support surface 426S1 and the second support surface 426S2 are not vertically offset and are on the same plane. Accordingly, the substrates 105 supported by the first and second support surfaces 426S1 and 426S2 may be located on the same plane.

With additional reference to FIG. 6, the vanes 124 may be extended to a misaligned position in which there is no overlap between the substrates 105 when the alignment base 426 is reached. For example, the edges of the substrate 105 may be separated by a horizontal space 506. As blade 124 moves relative to alignment base 426 (fig. 4), blade 124 may be rotated by wrist joint 126 to avoid lift points 420A, 420B and/or other obstacles.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart 700, the flow chart 700 depicting a method of operating an equipment front end module (e.g., the EFEM 116). The method may include, at 702, moving a blade (e.g., blade 124) of a load/unload robot (e.g., load/unload robot 122) to a vertically aligned position to reach a vertically stacked substrate storage device (e.g., load lock apparatus 112). The method may include, at 704, moving a blade of the loading/unloading robot to a vertically misaligned position to simultaneously reach multiple alignment pedestals (e.g., alignment pedestals 126).

It should be readily understood that the present disclosure is susceptible to broad use and application. Many embodiments and adaptations of the present disclosure as well as many variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements, in addition to those described herein, will be apparent from or reasonably suggested by the present disclosure and the foregoing description thereof, without departing from the substance or scope of the present disclosure. Thus, although the present disclosure has been described herein in detail with respect to specific embodiments, it should be understood that this disclosure is intended for purposes of illustration only and that examples of the present disclosure are provided solely for purposes of providing completeness and practice. The disclosure is not intended to be limited to the particular devices, assemblies, systems and/or methods disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the scope of the claims.