Recently, the National Intellectual Property Administration announced thatHuawei Technologies Co., Ltd. applied for a patent titled "Wafer Processing Device and Wafer Processing Method" and was approved. The publication number is CN117219552A, and the application date is June 2022. The patent abstract shows that embodiments of the present disclosure relate to wafer processing apparatuses and wafer processing methods.
The wafer processing device includes: a wafer carrier, which can rotate along a rotation axis; a robotic arm, including a robot hand, for transporting the wafer and placing the wafer on the wafer carrier; a controller; and a calibration component.
It includes: a grating plate fixed relative to the wafer stage; a light source fixed relative to the grating plate; and an imaging element fixedly provided on the mechanical arm and adapted to receive light emitted from the light source and transmitted through the grating plate.
Wherein, the controller is configured to control the robotic arm or an adjustment device on the robotic arm to adjust the position of the wafer based on detection of the received light by the imaging element.
When the wafer carrier carries the wafer, the grating plate and the imaging element are respectively located on opposite sides of the plane where the upper surface of the wafer carrier is located, and the upper surface is used to carry the wafer.
The devices and methods provided by embodiments of the present disclosure can improve wafer alignment efficiency and alignment accuracy.
It is reported that as of the end of 2022, Huawei holds more than 120,000 valid authorized patents, mainly distributed in China, Europe, America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.
Among them, Huawei holds more than 40,000 patents in China and Europe each, and more than 22,000 patents in the United States.