A working system for a semiconductor packaging process includes a machine equipment, a supply unit and a return device. The supply unit is correspondingly connected to the machine equipment and includes an input device and an output device. The return device is connected to the input device and the output device. As such, a magazine is transferred from the input device to the output device via the return device, thereby accelerating the operation speed of a production line.

A wafer transfer tool has a mounting end portion and a blade connected to and extending from the mounting end portion. The blade has a bottom exterior and a top exterior having a support configuration. The support configuration has a center point and steps having treads with inner edges. The treads are located in different levels in a direction of a thickness of the blade between the top exterior and the bottom exterior, wherein there are one or more of the treads at each level and wherein at least some of the inner edges have at least one of circular shapes or partially circular shapes.

A process chamber for fabricating a semiconductor is disclosed. In one aspect, the process chamber includes a chamber body defining a chamber volume. The process chamber also includes a pedestal having a heater arranged to heat a substrate disposed on the pedestal. The pedestal is movable within the chamber volume between a first position and a second position. When the pedestal is in the first position, the pedestal at least partially defines a process cavity in which the substrate is processed. The process chamber further includes a magnet coupled with the chamber body below the process cavity. With the pedestal in the second position and the heater heating the substrate, the magnet is arranged to expose the substrate to a magnetic field in-situ within the chamber volume.

The Embodiments of the present invention relate to an equipment for handling semiconductor carriers, comprising: a processing chamber, n heating chambers, at least n+1 stockers, a lifter, and a robot. The n heating chambers are communicated with the processing chamber. The at least n+1 stockers are disposed within the processing chamber. The lifter is disposed within the processing chamber and configured to transfer a high-temperature-resistant, transferable metal cassette to one of the n heating chambers or the at least n+1 stockers, the transferable metal cassette being configured to accommodate and batch-transfer a plurality of semiconductor carriers; the at least n heating chambers and the at least n+1 stockers being configured to accommodate the transferable metal cassette. The robot is disposed within the processing chamber and configured to sequentially transfer the plurality of semiconductor carriers to the transferable metal cassette via a carrier loading system.

Provided is a transfer unit for transferring a substrate. The transfer unit includes: a hand on which a substrate is placed; and a detector for detecting the degree to which the substrate placed on the hand is out of a correct position of the substrate on the hand. The detector includes: a light emitting sensor located on one side between an upper side and a lower side of the substrate placed at the correct position on the hand to emit light; and a light receiving sensor located on the other side between the upper side and the lower side of the substrate placed at the correct position on the hand to receive the light emitted by the light emitting sensor. The light emitting sensor is installed to emit light obliquely to the substrate in a direction toward an outside of a radial direction of the substrate placed at the correct position on the hand.

A substrate processing method includes forming a sealed space housing a substrate held by a substrate holder between a shielding member and the substrate holder by sealing a gap between the shielding member and the substrate holder in a state in which a component liquid is present on an upper surface of the substrate, and increasing gas pressure in the sealed space to a value higher than gas pressure outside the sealed space by supplying a component gas that generates a processing liquid together with the component liquid to the sealed space in a state in which the component liquid is present on the upper surface of the substrate.

A calibration object is transferred from a processing chamber to an aligner station by one or more robot arms. The calibration object has a first processing chamber orientation in the processing chamber and a second orientation at the aligner station. A first characteristic error value associated with a transfer path between the processing chamber and the aligner is determined based on the first processing chamber orientation and the second orientation of the calibration object at the aligner station. In response to detecting an object at the aligner station to be transferred to the processing chamber along the transfer path, the object is aligned by the aligner station to be placed in the processing chamber according to a target processing chamber orientation based on a target aligner orientation as adjusted by the first characteristic error value determined for the transfer path between the processing chamber and the aligner station.

A closed gas circulation system may include a sealed plenum, circulation fans, and a fan filter unit (FFU) inlet to contain, filter, condition, and re-circulate a gas through a chamber of an interface tool. The gas provided to the chamber is maintained in a conditioned environment in the closed gas circulation system as opposed to introducing external air into the chamber through the FFU inlet. This enables precise control over the relative humidity and oxygen concentration of the gas used in the chamber, which reduces the oxidation of semiconductor wafers that are transferred through the chamber. The closed gas circulation system may also include an air-flow rectifier, a return vent, and one or more vacuum pumps to form a downflow of collimated gas in the chamber and to automatically control the feed-forward pressure and flow of gas through the chamber and the sealed plenum.

A substrate is held by an upper holding device, and a lower-surface center region of the substrate is cleaned. During this cleaning, a suction holder of a lower holding device located below the upper holding device is rotated. The substrate held by the upper holding device is transferred to a suction holder of the lower holding device. A lower-surface outer region of the substrate held by the suction holder is cleaned. After the lower-surface center region of the substrate is cleaned and until the substrate is transferred to the suction holder of the lower holding device, rotation of the lower holding device is stopped. Further, the suction holder is moved in a horizontal direction by a base device. A rotation stopping operation for the suction holder and a horizontal moving operation for the suction holder are performed such that the periods for these operation at least partially overlap with each other.

The system includes a robot interface disposed on a robot arm, and an end effector configured to selectively couple to the robot arm via the robot interface. The end effector includes an upper jaw, a lower jaw, and a pair of arms configured to carry a substrate. The upper jaw and the lower jaw are spaced apart in a first direction and biased together, and the pair of arms are spaced apart in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. When the end effector is coupled to the robot arm, the robot interface is disposed between the upper jaw and the lower jaw. To exchange the end effector, the upper jaw and the lower jaw can be separated to release the robot interface.