Automated substrate processing system
First Claim
1. A method of positioning a substrate, comprising:
- supporting the substrate on a substrate support of a substrate handling apparatus comprising a base and a transfer arm connected to the base;
acquiring at least one image of the substrate supported on the substrate support using at least one image acquisition sensor connected to the base;
determining an initial position of the substrate based on the at least one acquired image; and
moving the substrate support based on the initial position to adjust for a misalignment of the substrate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A substrate handling apparatus includes a transfer arm having a substrate support. The apparatus includes at least one image acquisition sensor configured to acquire images of a substrate supported by the substrate support. In addition, the apparatus includes a controller coupled to the image acquisition sensor and configured to control the image acquisition sensor to acquire at least one image of the substrate supported on the substrate support. The controller is further configured to receive the images acquired by the image acquisition sensor and to determine an initial position of the substrate based on the acquired images. The controller is further coupled to the substrate support to control movement thereof to move the substrate to a new position based on the substrate'"'"'s initial position. The apparatus also can be used to determine a substrate identification and to detect certain substrate defects either before or after processing the substrate in a thermal processing chamber. A method of positioning a substrate on a transfer arm also is disclosed.
87 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of positioning a substrate, comprising:
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supporting the substrate on a substrate support of a substrate handling apparatus comprising a base and a transfer arm connected to the base;
acquiring at least one image of the substrate supported on the substrate support using at least one image acquisition sensor connected to the base;
determining an initial position of the substrate based on the at least one acquired image; and
moving the substrate support based on the initial position to adjust for a misalignment of the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
translating the substrate support vertically while the substrate is supported thereon;
acquiring an image that includes substantially an entire surface of the substrate; and
determining whether defects exist in the substrate based on the image of substantially the entire substrate surface.
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11. The method of claim 1 comprising determining an initial angular orientation of the substrate based on the at least one acquired image.
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12. The method of claim 11 further comprising comparing the initial position and initial angular orientation to an ideal position and an ideal angular orientation.
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13. The method of claim 11 comprising rotating the substrate support based on the initial position to adjust for an angular misalignment of the substrate.
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14. The method of claim 1 wherein acquiring at least one image comprises acquiring at least one image of at least one edge of the substrate and wherein determining an initial position of the substrate comprises using an edge detection algorithm.
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15. The method of claim 14 comprising acquiring at least one image from each of a plurality of image acquisition sensors.
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16. The method of claim 14 comprising acquiring a plurality of images from each of the at least one image acquisition sensors.
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17. The method of claim 1 wherein acquiring at least one image comprises acquiring at least one image of a corner of the substrate.
Specification