450mm Wafer Handling System
450mm Wafer Handling System
Genmark’s 450mm Wafer Handling Systems for atmospheric and vacuum applications, developed and tested in conjunction with ISMI’s Interoperability Test Bed (ITB) program for interoperability testing of prototype automation and equipment interfaces, are the newest highly configurable and SEMI standards compliant wafer substrate handlers that effectively deliver high performance with cost competiveness.
Two, three or four load port EFEM configurations and Vacuum Cluster tools with various robot arm/reach configurations are available to meet a wide range of 450mm wafer processing requirements.
The systems are designed to handle larger, heavier wafers that sag due to their own weight. Genmark’s breakthrough patented GPR™ Technology is deployed to handle the tighter constraints due to wafer sag. Deflection compensation technology is deployed to correct the total sag arising from the arm, end effector, and the wafer. Three vertical Z-axes tilt the entire assembly to keep heavy payloads horizontally aligned. The servo-controlled robot interfaces intelligently with misaligned cassettes, FOUPs and process modules. For long reach robot configurations, the module pitch and roll corrections, of 2 degrees or less, are significant.
The patented unique YAW technology feature enables access of in-line process modules, FOUPS and cassettes from a fixed centralized location. Optional dual yaw enables fast wafer swaps. G-Rex series robots are applied on EFEM applications requiring a linear track solution.
End-effector design has been optimized to account for the heavier wafer. More advanced servo control algorithms provide smoother end effector alignment accuracy with the carrier slots. Motion profile planning and trajectory blending strategies have been refined to maximize process throughput. Enhancements in actuation and control of the prealigner, adequate to the increased wafer size, guarantee same or better performance as compared with 300mm wafers.
The simplified modular designs with fewer moving parts increases equipment reliability to lower cost of ownership. The 450mm EFEM system is designed for seamless integration with the 450mm Vacuum Cluster system to form a truly turn-key automation solution.
The 450mm Wafer Handling Systems are easy to install, teach, program and service. GIFT Server and ECS300 Automation Software Suite are highly customizable application programming user host interfaces offering off-the-shelf factory functions and libraries,
which are compliant with all related SEMI standards. The presets for 450mm wafer handling can be easily integrated with custom user modules for process monitoring or recipe editing. GIFT/ECS300 can be used with Genmark’s EZTeach™ and Autoteach technologies to help automate the process of robot teaching.
