Granted Patent B2

US 8,509,938 · App. 13/366,968 · Granted Aug 13, 2013

Inventor: Alexander G. Krupyshev (Chelmsford, MA)

Assignee: Brooks Automation, Inc.

Abstract

Claims (58)

1. A substrate processing apparatus comprising:

a frame;

a substrate alignment device connected to the frame;

at least one substrate transport apparatus movably connected to the frame;

at least one substrate station accessible by the at least one substrate transport apparatus; and

a control system configured to calibrate the substrate alignment device with a motion of the at least one substrate transport apparatus and to calibrate a coordinate system of the at least one substrate station with the substrate alignment device.

2. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one substrate station comprises at least one substrate processing module and the control system is further configured to

cause placement of a substrate at a known location in the at least one substrate processing module with the at least one substrate transport apparatus,

cause picking of the substrate from the at least one substrate processing module with the at least one substrate transport apparatus for transport to the substrate alignment device,

record a misalignment of the substrate, and

calculate new location coordinates for the at least one substrate processing module using the recorded misalignment of the substrate.

3. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one substrate station comprises at least one load lock and the control system is further configured to

cause placement of a substrate in one of the at least one load lock with the at least one substrate transport apparatus,

cause movement of the substrate to another of the at least one load lock with the at least one substrate transport apparatus,

cause picking of the substrate from the another of the at least one load lock with the at least one substrate transport apparatus for transport to the substrate alignment device,

record a misalignment of the substrate, and

calculate new location coordinates for the another of the at least one load lock using the recorded misalignment of the substrate.

4. A substrate processing apparatus comprising:

a frame;

a substrate alignment device connected to the frame;

at least one substrate transport apparatus movably connected to the frame and having a coordinate system;

at least one substrate station accessible by the at least one substrate transport apparatus; and

a control system configured to generate calibrated spatial coordinates identifying a location of the at least one substrate station based on a measured spatial relationship obtained by the aligner and an uncalibrated spatial coordinate within the coordinate system identifying a location of the at least one substrate station.

5. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the calibrated spatial coordinates based on a spatial relationship between an object placed on the substrate alignment device and the substrate alignment device.

6. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the at least one substrate station comprises at least one substrate processing module.

7. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the at least one substrate station comprises at least one load lock.

8. A substrate processing apparatus comprising:

at least one substrate transport apparatus;

a substrate alignment device accessible by one of the at least one substrate transport apparatus; and

a control system connected to the at least one substrate transport apparatus and the substrate alignment device and configured to calibrate the substrate alignment device with a motion of the one of the at least one substrate transport apparatus and to calibrate a coordinate system of another of the at least one substrate transport apparatus with the substrate alignment device wherein the substrate alignment device is inaccessible by the other of the at least one substrate transport apparatus.

9. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the control system is configured to

cause the one of the at least one substrate transport apparatus to pick a substrate from the substrate alignment device with a first offset,

record a first misalignment of the substrate,

cause the one of the at least one substrate transport apparatus to pick the substrate from the substrate alignment device with a second offset,

record a second misalignment of the substrate, and

calculate a first calibration factor for the substrate alignment device from the first and second misalignments.

10. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the first and second offsets are radial offsets.

11. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the control system is further configured to retrieve a previously stored calibration factor for the substrate alignment device from a memory location, store the first calibration factor in the memory location, and recalculate the first calibration factor if a ratio of the first calibration factor and the previously stored calibration factor is not less than a predetermined threshold.

12. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the control system is further configured to

cause the other of the at least one substrate transport apparatus to place a substrate from the substrate alignment device with a first offset,

record a first misalignment of the substrate,

cause the other of the at least one substrate transport apparatus to place the substrate from the substrate alignment device with a second offset,

record a second misalignment of the substrate, and

adjust the coordinate system of the other of the at least one substrate transport apparatus using the first and second misalignments.

13. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the first offset comprises a radial offset.

14. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the second offset comprises a tangential offset.

15. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the first and second misalignments each comprise a linear misalignment and an angular misalignment.

16. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising at least one substrate processing module and the control system is further configured to

cause placement of a substrate at a known location in the at least one substrate processing module with the at least one substrate transport apparatus,

cause picking of the substrate from the at least one substrate processing module with the at least one substrate transport apparatus for transport to the substrate alignment device,

record a misalignment of the substrate, and

calculate new location coordinates for the at least one substrate processing module using the recorded misalignment of the substrate.

17. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising at least one load lock and the control system is further configured to

cause placement of a substrate in one of the at least one load lock with the at least one substrate transport apparatus,

cause movement of the substrate to another of the at least one load lock with the at least one substrate transport apparatus,

cause picking of the substrate from the another of the at least one load lock with the at least one substrate transport apparatus for transport to the substrate alignment device,

record a misalignment of the substrate, and

calculate new location coordinates for the another of the at least one load lock using the recorded misalignment of the substrate.

Assignments (8)

Continuity (3)