Method and apparatus for semiconductor wafer alignment
First Claim
1. A wafer alignment system, comprisingA. a rotatable platform,B. an image acquisition device having a field of view that includes at least a portion of a wafer on the platform,C. an illumination source that illuminates at least a portion of the wafer,D. an image processor that is coupled to the image acquisition device and that processes an image showing one or more characteristics of the wafer in a first frame of reference, the image processor determining therefrom a position and/or orientation of the wafer, or a portion thereof, in a second frame of reference, andE. the image processor including a mapping element that maps coordinates in the first frame of reference to coordinates in the second frame of reference at each of a plurality of angles of rotation of the platform.
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Abstract
The invention provides, in some aspects, a wafer alignment system comprising an image acquisition device, an illumination source, a rotatable wafer platform, and an image processor that includes functionality for mapping coordinates in an image of an article (such as a wafer) on the platform to a “world” frame of reference at each of a plurality of angles of rotation of the platform.
102 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A wafer alignment system, comprising
A. a rotatable platform, B. an image acquisition device having a field of view that includes at least a portion of a wafer on the platform, C. an illumination source that illuminates at least a portion of the wafer, D. an image processor that is coupled to the image acquisition device and that processes an image showing one or more characteristics of the wafer in a first frame of reference, the image processor determining therefrom a position and/or orientation of the wafer, or a portion thereof, in a second frame of reference, and E. the image processor including a mapping element that maps coordinates in the first frame of reference to coordinates in the second frame of reference at each of a plurality of angles of rotation of the platform.
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16. A method of wafer alignment comprising
A. acquiring an image of a wafer that is disposed on a rotatable platform, the image showing one or more characteristics of the wafer in a first frame of reference, B. processing the image to determine therefrom a position and/or orientation of the wafer, or a portion thereof, in a second frame of reference, C. the processing step including determining the position and/or orientation by using a mapping element that maps coordinates in the first frame of reference to coordinates in the second frame of reference at each of a plurality of angles of rotation of the platform, and D. using the position and/or orientation determined in step (B) to position the wafer for any of processing and inspection.
Specification