SOLUTION SET: 6" Wafer Conversion Kit for Asyst Spartan EFEM
Emerging technology companies serving the MEMS, Power and related markets require robust and cost effective wafer handling platforms that can support a full range of wafer form factors. These markets demand a standard platform that can be easily modified for 6 inch to 300mm wafer handling.
Owens Design has collaborated with Asyst Technologies, the leading fab automation manufacture for atmospheric robotics, to develop a system to meet these challenging requirements. Building on the industry leading reliability of Asyst’s Spartan EFEM, Owens Design has developed a Spartan conversion kit for 6 inch wafer operation. The conversion kit consists of a customized Asyst 5X aligner, vacuum end effectors, and MOCA inserts for Vesaport 6 inch open cassette operation. Each modification has been engineered to meet the EFEM’s original performance for wafer throughput, reliability, and cleanliness. No software modifications to the Asyst Spartan software are required. The customized wafer handling platform meets Semi S2 (operator safety) and Semi S8 (operator ergonomics) requirements.
Customization includes:
Wafer Aligner: The vacuum based wafer aligner is mechanically modified to handle wafers down to the 6 inch diameter requirement. Careful attention is paid to backside wafer contact to minimizing backside particle contamination.
Robot End Effector: A vacuum SS end effector has been designed to cleanly transfer wafers from the various cassette types to the aligner and into the customer’s process chamber. Again, careful engineering attention has been made to minimize backside contact to minimize backside particles.
MOCA Inserts: Custom inserts have been designed to allow 6 inch cassette wafer handling when using the Asyst MOCA with EFEM integrated Vesaports. The inserts allow direct placement of the 6 inch open cassette into the MOCA which is the direct open cassette interface to the Versaport. All Vesaport functions, including wafer mapping are fully supported by using the customized inserts. In addition, all Asyst standard BOLTS compatible I/O modules including 300mm FOUPS and 200mm SMIF are still supported.
Specifications
Wafer Sizes- Wafer Sizes: 6 inch, 200mm, 300mm
- Substrate Types: Si, GaAs, Quartz
- Repeatability in X,Y,Z axis: 0.003 inches
- Repeatability in theta axis: 0.1 degrees
- Total throughput (excluding host tool process time): 150wph
- Expected time to first wafer: 18 seconds
- Expected swap time (single end effector): 12 seconds
- Front side: < 0.01 particles @ 0.1 µm, PWP
- Backside: < 1,500 particles @ 0.2 µm, PWP
- Mini-environment ISO Class 2 environment
- MTBF > 10,000hrs
- MTBS > 6-months
- Availability > 1000hrs
- MTTR < 2 hrs
- Wafer and Carrier Identification
- OCR (SEMI T7, M12 and M13 scribes)
- Carrier Auto ID ( Asyst SMART-Tag and Asyst Advan-Tag)
- User Interface: 15” Flat Panel Display with Trackball and Keyboard
- Facilities
- 110VAC, 50/60Hz, 8 amps
- 22 - 26in Hg vacuum required
- Certifications (SEMI S2, S8 and CE Mark)
- SEMI E15.1, E44.1, E45, E46-95, E47.1, E57 E62, E63, E64, E84, E99
- I300I Integrated Mini-environment Design Best Practices
- I300I Factory Guideline, Version 4.1
Design Analysis
We achieve state of the art solutions through careful analysis of reliability, airflow, throughput, and vibration requirements. CFD modeling and attention to design details allow us to meet stringent cleanliness targets. Reliability goals are proven through highly accelerated life testing (HALT) to identify problems before reaching the field. Owens Design's solutions reflect a long history of developing mature designs.
Additional Information
“Owens Design met our requirements on an extremely compressed schedule, contributing to our product launch being an overwhelming success.”
Lee Snorteland, Program ManagerLAM Research
