Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Hung-Jen Lu

Ming-Hsien Lee

Po-Tao Chu

Chia-Yuan Chen

Chih-Hung Huang

Feng-Lung Hsieh

Kuo-Hsiang Huang

Chuan-Pu Chen

The present disclosure, in some embodiments, relates to a method of transporting a semiconductor wafer. The method includes transferring a semiconductor wafer into a first wafer slot of a second plurality of wafer slots within an adaptive inset. The adaptive inset is arranged within an interior cavity of a wafer cassette having a first plurality of wafer slots while transferring the semiconductor wafer into the first wafer slot. The wafer cassette and the adaptive inset are transported into a loading port of a semiconductor processing tool configured to perform a fabrication process on the semiconductor wafer.

Adaptive inset for wafer cassette system

The present disclosure, in some embodiments, relates to a wafer cassette system. The wafer cassette system includes a wafer cassette includes a first plurality of wafer slots respectively having a first width. An adaptive inset is fastened to the wafer cassette in a rigid connection. The adaptive inset includes a second plurality of wafer slots respectively having a second width that is less than the first width. The second plurality of wafer slots are configured to receive a substrate after the adaptive inset has been fastened to the wafer cassette.

In an embodiment a system includes: a wafer store comprising a wafer configured for processing by a semiconductor processing tool; a cart configured to transport the wafer from the wafer store along a predetermined path; a robotic arm, the robotic arm configured to: read wafer data from the wafer store, transport the wafer from the wafer store to the cart, send the wafer data to the cart, wherein the cart is configured to transport the wafer to a location in response to the wafer data.

Systems and methods for automated wafer handling

The present disclosure relates to a wafer cassette system having an adaptive inset configured to enable wafers having a first diameter to be held by a wafer cassette configured to hold wafers having a second diameter larger than the first diameter. The wafer cassette system includes a wafer cassette having a first plurality of wafer slots configured to receive one or more wafers having a first diameter. An adaptive inset is arranged in an interior cavity of the wafer cassette. The adaptive inset has a second plurality of wafer slots configured to receive one or more wafers having a second diameter that is less than the first diameter. The adaptive inset allows for the wafer cassette to hold wafers having the second diameter, thereby enabling semiconductor processing tools to processes wafer having a different diameter than those able to be held by wafer cassettes that the tools can receive.

A wafer container is provided. The wafer container includes a pod base having a top surface and a bottom surface, a cassette disposed on the top surface, and a damping device, disposed on the bottom surface. The damping device includes a housing disposed in the pod base, and a damping mechanism disposed in the housing and protruding over the bottom surface. The damping mechanism is configured to provide a damping force.

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Hsinchu, Taiwan

Hung-Jen Lu