Method of characterizing dynamics of a workpiece handling system

• US 5,814,733 A
• Filed: 09/12/1996
• Issued: 09/29/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. (NXP Semiconductors NV)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Khoury, Theodore A., O'Connell, Richard, Katrenick, Greg A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Williams, Hezron E.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Miller, Rose M.
• Application Number:
  US08/713,271
• Time in Patent Office: 747 Days
• Field of Search: 73/649, 73/650, 73/651, 73/652, 73/653, 73/654, 73/655, 73/656, 73/657, 73/658, 73/659, 73/660, 73/661, 364/468.01, 364/468.16, 364/468.17, 364/474.17, 364/474.19, 364/552, 364/566, 324/72.5, 324/754, 324/755, 324/756, 324/757, 324/758, 324/765
• US Class Current: 73/658
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/2831 Testing of materials or semi-finished products, e.g. semiconductor wafers or substrates G01R31/318511 takes precedence; testing during manufacture H01L22/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/2887 involving moving the probe head or the IC under test; docking stations moving single probes G01R1/06705; moving individual probes in multiple probes G01R1/07392
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/08 by combining tones G10H1/14, G10H1/16 take precedence; chord G10H1/38

Abstract

A method of characterizing dynamics of a workpiece handling system includes providing a workpiece or substrate (14), supporting the substrate (14) with a workpiece handler (13), providing a motion for the workpiece handler (13), transforming the motion into a signal, converting the electrical signal into a measurement of distance, and using the measurement of distance to determine a vibration in the motion.

Claims

1. A method of fabricating a component comprising the steps of:

providing a substrate;

processing the substrate by probing the substrate;

determining a presence of a vibration near the substrate during the step of processing the substrate; and

re-processing the substrate when the vibration exceeds a threshold value.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining the presence of the vibration includes measuring the vibration along a plurality of orthogonal axes.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining the presence of the vibration includes representing the vibration as a distance in a frequency domain.

4. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising:

providing a semiconductor substrate;

providing a substrate handler having a wafer chuck;

disposing the semiconductor substrate over the substrate handler;

monitoring a vibration in the substrate handler comprising;

sensing a vibration in the substrate handler;

transforming the vibration into a voltage; and

converting the voltage into a measurement of the vibration;

processing the semiconductor substrate by electrically testing at least a portion of the semiconductor substrate; and

removing the semiconductor substrate from the substrate handler.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising re-processing the semiconductor substrate when the measurement of the vibration exceeds a threshold value and wherein the step of monitoring the vibration includes monitoring the vibration during the step of processing the semiconductor substrate.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the step of converting the voltage comprises:

using a calibration curve to convert the voltage into an acceleration of the substrate handler; and

converting the acceleration of the substrate handler into a displacement of the substrate handler.

7. The method of claim 6 herein the step of converting the acceleration of the substrate handler comprises:

integrating the acceleration of the substrate handler to determine a velocity of the substrate handler; and

integrating the velocity of the substrate handler to determine the displacement of the substrate handler.

8. The method of claim 4 wherein the step of monitoring the vibration includes using a computer to control the step of monitoring the vibration and wherein the step of processing the semiconductor substrate includes using the computer to control the step of processing the semiconductor substrate.