WAFER CONTAINER WIHT SHOCK CONDITION PROTECTION

Abstract

A front opening wafer container has a container portion and a door sized to close an open front of the container portion. The container portion has shelves for holding wafers defining a seating position and has forward and rearward wafer supports to suspend wafers therebetween in a transport position above the seating position. Shock condition cushion portions are arranged adjacent the transport position for protecting the wafers during a shock condition. The wafers may be bonded wafers having a thinned wafer side and a carrier substrate side. Wafer engagement pads and finger members extend in opposing directions from a central strip on the door providing a balance wafer engagement. When closing the door, a primary wafer support portion engages the wafers first and a secondary elastomeric wafer support engages the wafer secondly. A V-groove for receiving the wafers in the wafer supports has a greater angle defined between the V-groove and the thinned wafer side than the angle defined between the V-groove and carrier substrate side providing enhanced protection for the bonded wafers.

Claims

1. A wafer container for receiving and transporting wafers, the wafer container comprising a container portion with an open front and a door that closes the open front defining an open interior, the door having an inside surface and the container surface having a back wall with an inside surface, the wafer container further comprising a wafer support for securing a plurality of wafers axially aligned in the wafer container in an orientation with the wafers horizontal in a normal orientation and rotatable rearwardly to an orientation with the wafers vertical in a transport orientation; each of the plurality of wafers to be received and transported having an upper side and a lower side and comprising a carrier substrate at the lower side and a thinned wafer adhered to the carrier substrate at the upper side, the carrier substrate having an edge and the thinned wafer having an edge displaced radially inward from the edge of the carrier substrate, the wafer support formed of polymer and being attached to one of the inside surface of the front door and the container portion at the back wall, the wafer support having a plurality of pairs of wafer edge engagement portions, each wafer edge engagement portion having a normal wafer seating region providing a normal wafer seating position and a shock condition contact region, the shock condition contact region not in contact with a wafer when the wafer is in the normal wafer seating position; wherein the normal wafer seating region is formed of a polymer more rigid than the material of the shock condition contact region.

2. The wafer container of claim 1 wherein the shock deflection contact region is positioned above the normal seating region.

3. The wafer container of claim 1 wherein the shock deflection contact region comprises a thermoplastic elastomer.

4. (canceled)

5. A wafer container for receiving and transporting bonded wafers, the wafer container comprising a container portion with an open front for receiving wafers horizontally and a door that closes the open front defining an open interior, the door having an inside surface and the container surface having a back wall with an inside surface, the wafer container further comprising a wafer support for securing a plurality of bonded wafers axially aligned in the wafer container in an orientation with the bonded wafers horizontal in a normal orientation and the wafer container rotatable rearwardly to an orientation with the bonded wafers vertical in a transport orientation; each of the plurality of bonded wafers comprising a carrier substrate at one side and a thinned wafer at the other side, the thinned wafer adhered to the carrier substrate; the carrier substrate having an edge extending around the substrate, the thinned wafer having an outwardly exposed edge corner displaced radially inward from the edge of the carrier substrate; the wafer support formed of polymer and being attached to one of the inside surface of the front door and the container portion at the back wall, the wafer support having a plurality of pairs of wafer edge engagement portions, each wafer edge engagement portion having a normal seating region, the wafer support having a shock deflection region corresponding to each normal seating region, wherein the edge is contacting the normal seating region when not in a shock condition; the wafer container further comprising a shock deflection contact portion corresponding to each shock deflection region, the shock deflection contact portion comprised of a material softer than the material comprising the normal seating region, the shock deflection contact portion positioned to contact the thinned wafer side of the wafer when the wafer is deflected in a shock condition.

6. The wafer container of claim 5 wherein the shock deflection contact region is positioned above the normal seating region when the wafers are horizontal.

7. The wafer container of claim 5 wherein the shock deflection contact region comprises a thermoplastic elastomer.

8. The wafer container of claim 5 wherein each shock deflection contact region is part of a strip formed of thermoplastic elastomer.

9. The wafer container of claim 8 wherein each shock deflection region of wafer edge engagement portion is positioned inwardly more than the portion of the wafer edge engagement portion at the normal seating region.

10.-18. (canceled)

19. A wafer container with a first wafer support with a plurality of primary wafer edge engagement portions and an opposing second wafer support with a plurality of primary wafer edge engagement portions, the first and second wafer supports arranged to suspend a plurality of wafers therebetween in a normal wafer seating position, the wafer container having a plurality of shock condition cushion portions at at least one of the first and second wafer supports for protecting the plurality of wafers, the shock condition cushion portions not in engagement with the wafers when the wafers are in the normal wafer seating position.

20. The wafer container of claim 19 wherein the shock condition cushion portions are of a material softer than a material of which the at least one of the first and second wafer supports.

21. The wafer container of claim 19 wherein the shock condition cushion portions are attached to the at least one of the first and second wafer supports.

22. The wafer container of claim 19 wherein each shock condition cushion portion has a projection that extends radially inward beyond a circumference of a respective wafer.

23-27. (canceled)

28. A wafer container comprising a container portion with a front opening for receiving wafers and seating the wafers in the container portion in a horizontal orientation, and a door sized to the front opening, the door having a latch for attaching to the container portion and a forward wafer support on an inwardly facing door surface, the wafer support having a vertical polymer strip positioned centrally on the inside of the front door, the strip having a plurality of pairs of opposing finger members and wafer engagement pads integral with the strip and in vertical alignment, each one of the pair configured as a mirror image of the other of the pair about a vertical plane perpendicular to the door and through the vertical polymer strip; the vertical polymer strip having side peripheries and wherein the pairs of opposing finger portions extend from the side peripheries; wherein the vertical polymer strip is attached to a planar surface on the door and each finger extends at an acute angle with respect to the planar surface; wherein each individual finger member and wafer engagement pad of each pair provides a force moment to the central polymer strip that is counteracted by the other individual finger member and wafer engagement pad of each pair.

29. The wafer container of claim 28 further comprising a shock condition cushion that has a separate shock condition engagement portion associated with each pair of opposing finger portions.

30. The wafer container of claim 29 wherein the shock condition cushion is formed of a material softer than the material of the pairs of opposing finger portions.

31. (canceled)

32. The wafer container of claim 28, wherein the shock condition cushion portions of the first or second wafer support are all unitary with one another.

33. The wafer container claim 28, wherein the shock condition cushion portions are formed of an elastomer.

34. The wafer container of claim 33, wherein the shock condition cushion portions are overmolded on a primary wafer support portion.

35.-36. (canceled)

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0018] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a 300 mm wafer container in accord with the embodiments of the invention herein.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the front opening wafer container of FIG. 1.

[0020] FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the container portion of the wafer carrier of FIG. 1.

[0021] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the inside surface of the front door of the wafer container of FIG. 1 illustrating the wafer support system with shock protection.

[0022] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the inside surface of the front door of the wafer container of FIG. 1 without forward wafer support system in place.

[0023] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the wafer support for the door of FIG. 5.

[0024] FIG. 7 is an elevational view of the backside, facing the door, of the wafer support of FIG. 1.

[0025] FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the wafer support system of FIG. 4.

[0026] FIG. 9A is a detailed perspective view of the wafer support on the inside of the front door of the wafer container of FIG. 1.

[0027] FIG. 9B is a more detailed perspective view of the wafer support of FIG. 9A and with a wafer shown in phantom.

[0028] FIG. 9C is a cross sectional view through adjacent wafer edge engagement portions both shown engaged with bonded wafers.

[0029] FIG. 9D is a perspective view of the back side, facing away from the wafers, of a shock event wafer engagement cushion.

[0030] FIG. 10 is an elevational view of the rearward wafer support of FIG. 3.

[0031] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the back side of the wafer support of FIG. 10.

[0032] FIG. 12 is a front side perspective view of the rear side wafer support system with shock protection of FIG. 3.

[0033] FIG. 13 exploded perspective view of the wafer support system of FIG. 12.

[0034] FIG. 14 is a side elevational view of a rearward wafer support system with shock feature suitable for bonded wafers.

[0035] FIG. 15 is a diagrammatic view of a front opening wafer container with the wafers seated on shelves and the door displaced from the front opening.

[0036] FIG. 16 is a diagrammatic view of the front opening wafer container of FIG. 15 with the front door in place—closed.

[0037] FIG. 17 is a diagrammatic view of the front opening wafer container of FIG. 15.

[0038] FIG. 18 is a cross sectional view of the forward and backward wafer supports suspending a wafer therebetween in a vertical transport orientation.

[0039] FIG. 19A is a perspective view of a forward wafer container that has a shock condition cushion with undulation extending down the center of a primary wafer support portion.

[0040] FIG. 19B is a perspective view of the primary wafer support portion of FIG. 19A without a secondary wafer support portion attached.

[0041] FIG. 19C is a perspective view of the elastomeric secondary wafer support portion of FIG. 19A.

[0042] FIG. 19D is a perspective view of another elastomeric secondary wafer support portion suitable for attachment to the primary wafer support portion of FIG. 19B.

[0043] FIG. 19 E is a cross sectional view of the secondary wafer support portion of FIG. 19D attached to a primary wafer support portion with the wafer in a static condition (no-shock).

[0044] FIG. 19F is a cross sectional view of the secondary wafer support portion of FIG. 19D attached to a primary wafer support portion with the wafer in a shock condition with the thin wafer engaging the elastomeric shock engagement portion.

[0045] FIG. 20 is a cross sectional view of bonded wafer engagement with the wafer support of FIG. 19.

[0046] FIG. 21 is a side cross sectional view of a wafer edge engagement portion that deflects upon compressive loading of a wafer to allow shock condition cushions to be exposed to the wafer.

[0047] FIG. 22 is a cross sectional view of the wafer edge engagement portion of FIG. 19 deflected with shock cushions exposed and with the associated wafer container in a transport position with the wafers vertical.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] Referring to FIGS. 1-6, a wafer container 20 generally comprises a container portion 30 and a door 32 defining an open interior 33 for holding wafers 34. The container portion has a door frame 36 defining an open front 38, A left side 42 a right side 44, a back side 45, a top side 46 and a bottom side 48, with respectively a left side wall 52, a right side wall 54, a top side wall 56, a back wall 57, and a bottom wall 58, each wall with respective inside facing surface and outside surface. The back wall 57 has feet 59 adjacent the top wall and bottom wall for seating the container on the back side after rotating the container 90 degrees, such as for transporting same.

[0049] The front door 32 has a pair of latch mechanism 60, 62, latch containments 63, and a seal 64 that encircles a periphery 66 of the door. The door has a chassis 68, an inside surface 70 and an outside surface 72.

[0050] The wafer container has wafer engagement features on in the container portion and on the inside surface of the front door. In the container portion, the wafers seat on wafer shelves 80 at the inside surfaces of the left and right side walls and engage a rearward wafer support system 82 with shock event protection feature 84. The rearward wafer support system cooperates with a forward wafer support system to compressively restrain the wafers therebetween such as is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,245; see FIG. 11B. This patent is owned by the owner of the instant application and is hereby incorporated herein by reference. The wafer container illustrated herein and in the '245 patent, falls within the FOSB category, an acronym for “front opening shipping box”. These wafer containers are configured for receiving and transporting 300 mm wafers. The wafers may be received in the open front door, the door then attached and latched to the container portion, and then the container may be rotated rearwardly 90 degrees to orient the wafers vertically, such as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18. Similar wafer containers for 300 mm wafers that are used more exclusively in the fabrication facility setting, as opposed to shipping, are known as FOUPS, or front opening unified pods. The inventions disclosed may be suitable for use in FOUPS and may also be applicable to containers for other wafer sizes. For example, front opening wafer containers are also being developed for 450 mm wafers and the inventions herein will be suitable for incorporating in such containers.

[0051] In embodiments illustrated, each of the forward and rearward wafer supports may be provided with shock event protection and are particularly suitable for bonded wafers. Referring to FIGS. 14, 18, and 20, bonded wafers 100, have a carrier substrate 102, a thinned wafer 104, and an adhesion layer 106 that secures the thinned layer to the carrier substrate during processing. The bonded wafers have a thinned wafer side 108, a carrier substrate side 110, a wafer edge 112, and edge corners 114.

[0052] Details of forward wafer supports are provided in FIGS. 4-9D and 19A-20. Referring first to FIGS. 7-9D, the forward wafer support 88 has two components, a primary wafer support portion 120 and a secondary wafer support portion configured as a shock event wafer engagement cushion 122. The primary wafer support portion has a rectangular frame 124 with latching portions 126 on the long rails 128. A window 130 defined by the rectangular frame, frames central base strip 134 with opposing pairs of unitary cantilevered spring finger portions 136 extending outwardly toward the wafers and laterally toward the sides of the wafer container, each spring finger portion connecting and unitary with a wafer edge receiving portion 140 configured as a pad with a V-shaped recess 141 for receiving the edge of the wafer 100. The rectangular frame 124 engages elongate ribs 144 on the inside surface 70 of the door 32 and the central base strip 134 seats on the central attachment portion 146 configured as rib and structural projections and attached with nubs 152 engaging apertures 154 in the base strip. The base strip is attached at the top and bottom of the strip to the rectangular frame and the spring fingers and pads on the left side, when engaged with wafers in the container portion, provide a moment to the central base strip that is offset by the moment provided by the spring fingers and pads on the right side. Such balancing of the forces allows less structure to be used for supporting the compressive forces provided by the forward wafer support.

[0053] The shock event wafer engagement cushion 122 comprises a central strip 160 with a plurality of pairs 162 of arms 164 extending therefrom that correspond with each pair 168 of spring fingers and pads. Inwardly extending projections 172 are positioned axially and/or circumferentially offset from the primary seating positions 176. In embodiments, the primary wafer support portion 120 is formed of a more rigid polymer such as polycarbonate, nylon, or polyethylene, than the polymer of the shock event cushion 122 which may be a thermoplastic elastomer or other elastomeric material. The shock event cushion may be attached such as by the protrusions or nubs 180 that plug into apertures 182 in the primary wafer support portion 120. In other embodiments, individual discrete shock event cushions may be provided on the wafer supports for each wafer such as illustrated by the cushion 186 on FIG. 8. In other embodiments, the shock event cushion may be overmolded on the primary wafer support portion (or vice versa). The shock event cushion may be positioned to be engaged only upon a shock condition, that is, not engaged in a non-shock condition, or it may be positioned to be lesser engaged during a non-shock condition than during a shock condition. Or it may have a portion that is engaged in a normal non-shock condition and another portion that is engaged in a shock condition.

[0054] Referring to FIGS. 19A-20, a primary wafer support portion 188, has engagement structure 189 for attachment to the front door and has a secondary wafer support portion 192 configured as a shock condition cushion. FIG. 19D illustrates another embodiment of a secondary wafer support portion 191. The secondary wafer support portion may be a strip extending lengthwise on the primary wafer support portion with undulations 193 and with inward projections 194. Cooperating engagement structure such as nubs 196 of the secondary wafer support portion may be secured into apertures 197 in the primary wafer support portion. The wafer edge 112 may be engaging, slightly engaging, or spaced from the shock condition cushion during a non shock condition. The projections 194 may be positioned to engage the thinned wafer side 108 of the bonded wafer when in a shock condition thereby preventing the thinned wafer side from contacting other surfaces that would be more likely to damage the thinned wafer. FIG. 19E illustrates a bonded wafer in a static normal seating position in a recess 199 and a wafer deflection region 273. FIG. 19F illustrates a shock condition with the thinned wafer portion of the bonded wafer 100 engaging the projection 192 at a shock deflection contact region 198. In the shock condition, the wafer may or may not be still engaged with the pad. In embodiments, the secondary wafer support portion may be overmolded onto the primary wafer support portion.

[0055] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 10-14, embodiments of a rearward wafer support 82 are illustrated. The rear wafer support comprises a primary wafer support portion 200 and a shock event cushion 202. The primary wafer support portion has a rectangular framework 210, with rails 212 that snap-in or otherwise engage the back wall 57 for retaining the rearward wafer support attached thereto. The shock condition cushions may be a strip as illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13 or may be discrete cushions position for each wafer. The shock condition cushion, like the forward shock condition cushion(s) may be engaged, partially engaged, or separated from the wafer edge in a non-shock condition. Upon a shock condition the engagement will be increased, or will occur. The shock condition cushion may be an elastomeric material or other material softer than the material of the primary rear wafer support. The materials are typically polymers.

[0056] Referring to FIGS. 13, 14, and 18, the rearward primary wafer support portion has a plurality of wafer edge engaging portions 222 that overall present a U-shape, see element 226, and have an internal V-shaped recess 228 that includes the non-shock seating position 232 for the wafer 102. The V-shaped recess has a pair of faces 238, 239 or legs 242, 244 in the cross section with a juncture 246 connecting the faces or legs. The juncture essentially defines the non-shock seating position of the wafers and has an apex 248. The angle 250 between the wafer and face 237 facing the carrier substrate side 110 of the wafer is less than the angle of the face 238 facing the thinned wafer side 108 and the wafer. Described in another way, the region 270, defined by the carrier substrate and the face of the V-shaped recess facing the carrier substrate is sharper or narrower towards the seating position compared to the region 272 defined by the thinned wafer and the face of the V-shaped recess facing the thinned wafer. A wafer deflection region 273 is defined where the edge of the wafer is anticipated to extend in a shock condition. As illustrated in other views, a shock condition cushion is suitably positioned to contact the wafer when the wafer extends into the wafer deflection region. The above configurations provide more clearance for the thinned wafer in a shock condition so that engagement of the thinned wafer with the primary wafer support portion is less likely. This configuration may also be provided to the springed pads 260 of the forward wafer supports, also shown in FIG. 18.

[0057] The wafer edge engagement portions 222 of the primary rearward wafer support have apertures 280 that may facilitate precisely molding the components and control of the interface between the thinned wafer and the wafer edge engagement portion. In embodiments, apertures may receive inserts that provide a shock condition cushion insert 283. Such may be molded and inserted or joined to the primary wafer support portion by an overmolding process. In embodiments, the shock condition cushion insert is a softer polymer material than the polymer material of the wafer edge engagement portion. Although the wafer edge engagement apertures are illustrated in the rearward wafer support, such may be used in the forward wafer support as well.

[0058] Referring to FIGS. 15-17, diagrammatic illustration of a front opening wafer container 300, has a container portion 302, a front door 304, wafer shelves 306 defining a wafer seating position 310, forward wafer supports 314 and rearward wafer supports 318. The forward wafer supports have a spring 320. In a horizontal position with the door open, the wafers 324 are seated on the shelves. When the door is latched to the open front 326, the wafers are elevated by the wafer engagement portions 330 of the wafer supports 314, 318 to the transport position 327 as shown in FIG. 16. The wafer container may be partially rotated to the position of FIG. 17 for transport. FIG. 17 illustrates a shock condition with a force impacting a lower corner of the container causing displacement of the wafers such that they engage the shock condition cushions 333. The shock condition cushion may be fixed to the wafer support or may be attached to the front door wall or back wall. The wafer 324 as illustrated may be a bonded wafer as described herein and with the thinned wafer side facing upward in FIGS. 15 and 16 and to the right in FIG. 17 such that the engagement in the shock condition is with the thinned wafer side.

[0059] Referring to FIGS. 21 and 22, embodiments of the invention may have shock condition cushions 350 on both sides of the primary non-shock seating position 353 of the wafer edge engagement portions 356. In a front loading wafer carrier, the wafer 360 may engage a lower ramp of the wafer engagement portion, ride up the ramp to the primary seating position 353 and upon complete closure of the door deflect the spring portion 364 and pad 366 such that the shock condition cushions 350 are exposed. In a shock condition, the shock condition cushions are available to protect the wafer, for example prevent disengagement with the wafer edge engagement portion and to provide shock absorption.

[0060] “Shock condition cushion portions” when used herein may refer to a discrete component or a part or section of a component. Shock condition cushions and portions may be formed of more than one polymer, for example a rigid polymer with a coating or overmolded portion of a softer and/or elastomeric polymer.

[0061] The above references in all sections of this application are herein incorporated by references in their entirety for all purposes. For purposes of interpreting the claims for the present invention, it is expressly intended that the provisions of Section 112, sixth paragraph of 35 U.S.C. are not to be invoked unless the specific terms “means for” or “step for” are recited in a claim

[0062] All of the features disclosed in this specification (including the references incorporated by reference, including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

[0063] Each feature disclosed in this specification (including references incorporated by reference, any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

[0064] The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment (s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any incorporated by reference references, any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed The above references in all sections of this application are herein incorporated by references in their entirety for all purposes.

[0065] Although specific examples have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose could be substituted for the specific examples shown. This application is intended to cover adaptations or variations of the present subject matter. Therefore, it is intended that the invention be defined by the attached claims and their legal equivalents, as well as the following illustrative aspects. The above described aspects embodiments of the invention are merely descriptive of its principles and are not to be considered limiting. Further modifications of the invention herein disclosed will occur to those skilled in the respective arts and all such modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the invention.