Abstract
News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “In semiconductor wafer processing tools, wafer handling robots with end effectors may be used to transfer substrates between different loc ations within a tool, such as processing stations, front-opening universal pods (FOUPs), aligners, load locks, etc. In some types of end effector, when a substr ate is handled by a wafer handling robot, the substrate sits on end effector pad s located on the end effector. The end effector pads may be used to secure the s ubstrate to the wafer handling robot through the use of vacuum and frictional fo rce. If the substrate is not properly secured to the wafer handling robot, the s ubstrate may slip when being transferred. A substrate slipping may create a vari ety of risks such as breaking substrates, crashing substrates, misalignment of s ubstrates in processing stations, and other tool errors.”
NETL
NSTL