A substrate inspection method includes: capturing, while transporting a substrate with a fork, an image of a rear surface of the substrate using a line camera in which light receiving elements are arranged in a width direction orthogonal to a transport direction of the substrate; generating a corrected image by correcting the image captured in the capturing the image based on locus information of the fork when the substrate is being transported; and specifying feature information including a position of an abnormal portion existing on the rear surface of the substrate based on the corrected image.

A substrate transport apparatus includes: a support configured to support a substrate; a moving mechanism configured to move the support in a lateral direction in order to transport the substrate from a first placement portion to a second placement portion, each of the first placement portion and the second placement portion being configured to place thereon the substrate; and an ultrasonic sensor provided on the support and configured to detect the substrate placed on the first placement portion.

Provided is a substrate storing container in which a latching mechanism includes an engagement latch 32, an engagement latch lifting/lowering cam 35 that causes the engagement latch 32 to advance to and retreat from an engagement concave portion and causes the engagement latch 32 in the engagement concave portion to move toward/away from the other end portion of a container main body by advancing and retreating in a direction in which the engagement latch 32 advances and retreats, and a rotating cam 31, and the engagement latch lifting/lowering cam 35 includes an engagement latch connection portion 357 that causes the engagement latch 32 to be engaged with the engagement concave portion and thereafter causes the engagement latch 32 to approach the other end portion of the container main body by moving in a direction in which the engagement latch 32 approaches the engagement concave portion.

A substrate transfer apparatus includes a base, an arm, an end effector provided at a tip of the arm and having first and second tip portions that are bifurcated, a light emitting unit, a light receiving unit, and a control device controlling an operation of the arm. The control device controls an operation of the arm so that light straightly traveling through a tip of the end effector scans edges of a plurality of substrates accommodated in a front opening unified pod (FOUP), and compares shape patterns of a measured waveform of an output value continuously changed in the light receiving unit with shape patterns of a reference waveform for comparison according to a relative positional relationship between the light and substrate during the operation of the arm and diagnoses at least one of a state of the substrate, the FOUP, and the end effector based on a comparison result.

The application relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing, and in particular relates to a front opening unified pod, a wafer transfer system and a wafer transfer method. The front opening unified pod includes a body, a wafer scanning device and a cover. The body is provided with an opening communicating with an interior of the body. The wafer scanning device includes a first wafer scanning device, is arranged on an inner wall of the body, and is configured to scan a storage condition of wafers in the body. The cover is fastened at the opening. The wafer scanning device is arranged on the inner wall of the body of the front opening unified pod, and the wafer scanning device scans and confirms the storage condition of the wafers in the front opening unified pod in real time.

A method for transferring a plurality of die operatively associated with a transfer apparatus to a glass substrate to form a circuit component. The transfer occurs by positioning the glass substrate to face a first surface of a die carrier carrying multiple die. A reciprocating transfer member thrusts against a second surface of the die carrier to actuate the transfer member thereby causing a localized deflection of the die carrier in a direction of the surface of the glass substrate to position an initial die proximate to the glass substrate. The initial die transfers directly to a circuit trace on the glass substrate. At least one of the die carrier or the transfer member is then shifted such that the transfer member aligns with a subsequent die on the first surface of the die carrier. The acts of actuating, transferring, and shifting are repeated to effectuate a transfer of the multiple die onto the glass substrate.

A bonding apparatus configured to bond substrates comprises a first holder configured to vacuum-exhaust a first substrate to attract and hold the first substrate on a bottom surface thereof; a second holder disposed under the first holder, and configured to vacuum-exhaust a second substrate to attract and hold the second substrate on a top surface thereof; a mover configured to move the first holder and the second holder relatively in a horizontal direction; a laser interferometer system configured to measure a position of the first holder or the second holder which is moved by the mover; a linear scale configured to measure a position of the mover; and a controller configured to control the mover based on a measurement result of the laser interferometer system and a measurement result of the liner scale.

A substrate mapping device 4 maps a plurality of substrates 10 inside a container where the substrates 10 are accommodated so as to be arrayed in a given arrayed direction. The substrate mapping device 4 includes a sensor 16 configured to detect a state of the substrate 10, a manipulator 14 configured to move the sensor 16, and a control device 18 configured to control the manipulator 14 to move the sensor 16 along a mapping course. The control device 18 sets a first mapping position and a second mapping position different in the position in the arrayed direction of the substrates 10 from the first mapping position, and sets the mapping course based on the first mapping position and the second mapping position.

Various examples include a system and network to map of substrates within a substrate carrier (e.g., such as silicon wafers within a wafer cassette), and a classification of a state of each substrate, as well as the carrier in which the substrates are placed. In various examples provided herein, an image acquisition system, such as a camera, acquires multiple images of the substrates within the carrier. The image or images are then processed with a deep-convolutional neural-network to classify a state of the substrate relative to a substrate slot including empty slots, occupied slots (e.g., properly loaded slots), double-loaded slots, cross-slotted, and protruded (where a substrate is not fully loaded into a slot).

A method of detecting a deviation amount of a substrate transport position includes: setting a temperature of a substrate support surface to the same temperature over an entire substrate support surface; etching a first etching target film formed on a substrate; acquiring a first etching rate that is an etching rate of the first etching target film; setting the temperature of the substrate support surface to be concentrically and gradually increased from a central portion to a peripheral edge portion; etching a second etching target film formed on the substrate, the second etching target film being same kind as the first etching target film; acquiring a second etching rate that is an etching rate of the second etching target film; calculating a difference between the acquired first etching rate and second etching rate; and calculating the deviation amount of the substrate transport position based on the calculated difference.