Granted Patent B2

US 12,728,540 · App. 18/244,679 · Granted Sep 8, 2026

Inventors: Jagan Rangarajan (San Jose, CA); Edward Golubovsky (San Jose, CA); Edwin Velazquez (Union City, CA); Adrian S. Blank (Gilroy, CA); Steven M. Zuniga (Soquel, CA); Balasubramaniam C. Jagannathan (Bangalore, IN)

Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.

B25J11/0095B25J9/042B25J11/0085B25J15/0206H10P72/3211H10P72/3402H10P72/7602

Abstract

Claims (51)

1 . A substrate handling device, comprising:

a first blade assembly comprising:

a first gripping assembly comprising a first pair of gripping blades and a first gripping actuator, wherein the first gripping actuator is configured to cause a substrate to be retained between the first pair of gripping blades during a first transferring process;

a first blade actuator for rotating the first gripping assembly about a first axis, the first blade actuator comprising a first actuator motor that is coupled to a first drive gear and a first offset gear, wherein the first actuator motor is configured to rotate the first drive gear, which causes the first offset gear to rotate about the first axis, and causes the rotation of a second blade actuator and the first gripping assembly; and

the second blade actuator configured for rotating the first gripping assembly about a second axis, wherein the second axis is substantially parallel to a front surface of the substrate, the second blade actuator comprising a second actuator motor that is coupled to a second drive gear and an second offset gear, wherein the second actuator motor is configured to rotate the second drive gear, which causes the second offset gear to rotate about the second axis, and causes the rotation of the first gripping assembly,

wherein rotation about the first axis by the first blade actuator results in rotation of the second blade actuator and the first gripping assembly, and rotation about the second axis by the second blade actuator results in rotation of the first gripping assembly;

a first vertical actuator assembly comprising a first vertical rail and a first vertical actuator, wherein the first blade assembly is coupled to a portion of the first vertical rail and is configured to be positioned along the first vertical rail by the first vertical actuator; and

a horizontal actuator assembly comprising a horizontal rail and a first rail actuator, wherein the first vertical actuator assembly is coupled to a first portion of the horizontal rail and is configured to be positioned along the horizontal rail by the first rail actuator.

2 . The substrate handling device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a second blade assembly comprising:

a second gripping assembly comprising a second pair of gripping blades and a second gripping actuator, wherein the second gripping actuator is configured to cause a substrate to be retained between the second pair of gripping blades during a second transferring process; and

a second vertical actuator assembly comprising a second vertical rail and a second vertical actuator, wherein the second blade assembly is coupled to a portion of the second vertical rail and is configured to be positioned along the second vertical rail by the second vertical actuator,

wherein the second vertical actuator assembly is coupled to a second portion of the horizontal rail and is configured to be positioned along the horizontal rail by a second rail actuator.

3 . The substrate handling device of claim 2 , wherein the second gripping assembly of the second blade assembly is configured to retain the substrate between the second pair of gripping blades in a vertical orientation.

4 . The substrate handling device of claim 2 , wherein both the first blade assembly and the second blade assembly are independently movable along the horizontal rail by use of the first and second rail actuators, respectively.

5 . The substrate handling device of claim 2 , wherein the first blade assembly further comprises optical means of determining a position of the first pair of griping blades relative to the substrate.

6 . The substrate handling device of claim 2 , further comprising:

a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions for performing a method, comprising:

translating a substrate retained by the first blade assembly from a processing region of a first cleaning module, wherein the substrate retained by the first blade assembly is oriented in a horizontal orientation with a device side of the substrate facing up;

rotating the substrate and the first blade assembly from the horizontal orientation to a vertical orientation using the first blade actuator of the first blade assembly;

rotating the substrate and the first blade assembly while the substrate is positioned in the vertical orientation using the second blade actuator of the first blade assembly, causing the device side of the substrate to face an opposite direction;

translating the substrate and the first blade assembly along the horizontal rail, using a first rail actuator, to a location above a second cleaning module;

inserting the substrate into a processing region of the second cleaning module using the first vertical actuator;

translating the first blade assembly along the horizontal rail, using the first rail actuator, to a third cleaning module;

transferring the substrate from the second cleaning module to the third cleaning module using the second blade assembly and the second rail actuator;

retrieving the substrate from a processing region of the third cleaning module using the first blade assembly and the first vertical actuator;

rotating the substrate and the first blade assembly from the vertical orientation to a horizontal orientation using the first blade actuator of the first blade assembly, wherein the substrate is oriented with the device side up; and

inserting the substrate and the first blade assembly into a processing region of a fourth cleaning module using the first rail actuator.

7 . The substrate handling device of claim 2 , wherein the horizontal actuator assembly and the first vertical actuator and the second vertical actuator of the substrate handling device are positioned at an external edge of a cleaning system disposed within a chemical mechanical polishing system.

8 . The substrate handling device of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of electrical cabling and/or pneumatic tubing associated with at least one of the second blade actuator and the first gripping actuator to pass through an opening formed within the second offset gear.

9 . A substrate handling device, comprising:

a first blade assembly comprising:

a first gripping assembly comprising a first pair of gripping blades and a first gripping actuator, wherein the first gripping actuator is configured to cause a substrate to be retained between the first pair of gripping blades during a first transferring process;

a first blade actuator for rotating the first gripping assembly about a first axis, the first blade actuator comprising a first actuator motor that is coupled to a first drive gear and an first offset gear, wherein the first actuator motor is configured to rotate the first drive gear, which cause the first offset gear to rotate about the first axis, and causes the rotation of a second blade actuator and the first gripping assembly, wherein rotating the first gripping assembly about the first axis is configured to cause the substrate to be rotated between a horizontal and a vertical orientation during the first transferring process; and

a second blade actuator configured for rotating the first gripping assembly about a second axis, the second blade actuator comprising a second actuator motor that is coupled to a second drive gear and an second offset gear, wherein the second actuator motor is configured to rotate the second drive gear, which causes the second offset gear to rotate about the second axis, and causes the rotation of the first gripping assembly, wherein the second axis is substantially parallel to a front surface of the substrate, and rotating the first gripping assembly about a second axis is configured to cause the front surface of the substrate to face an opposite direction during the first transferring process,

wherein rotation about the first axis by the first blade actuator results in rotation of the second blade actuator and the first gripping assembly, and rotation about the second axis by the second blade actuator results in rotation of the first gripping assembly;

a first vertical actuator assembly comprising a first vertical rail and a first vertical actuator, wherein the first blade assembly is coupled to a portion of the first vertical rail and is configured to be positioned along the first vertical rail by the first vertical actuator;

a second blade assembly comprising:

a second gripping assembly comprising a second pair of gripping blades and a second gripping actuator, wherein the second gripping actuator is configured to cause a substrate to be retained between the second pair of gripping blades during a second transferring process; and

a second vertical actuator assembly comprising a second vertical rail and a second vertical actuator, wherein the second blade assembly is coupled to a portion of the second vertical rail and is configured to be positioned along the second vertical rail by the second vertical actuator,

a horizontal actuator assembly comprising:

a horizontal rail;

a first horizontal rail actuator; and

a second horizontal rail actuator,

wherein:

the first vertical actuator assembly is coupled to a first portion of the horizontal rail and is configured to be positioned along the horizontal rail by the first horizontal rail actuator, and

the second vertical actuator assembly is coupled to a second portion of the horizontal rail and is configured to be positioned along the horizontal rail by the second horizontal rail actuator.

10 . The substrate handling device of claim 9 , wherein the second gripping assembly of the second blade assembly is configured to retain the substrate between the second pair of gripping blades in a vertical orientation.

11 . The substrate handling device of claim 9 , wherein the first blade assembly further comprises optical means of determining a position of the first pair of griping blades relative to the substrate.

12 . The substrate handling device of claim 9 , wherein both the first blade assembly and the second blade assembly are independently movable along the horizontal rail by use of the first and second horizontal rail actuators, respectively.

13 . The substrate handling device of claim 9 , wherein the horizontal actuator assembly and the first and second vertical actuators of the substrate handling device are positioned at an external edge of a cleaning system disposed within a chemical mechanical polishing system.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (266)