Bill Shaner Vice President – General Manager, Microenvironments Division Entegris, Inc.

Major Considerations in 450 mm Wafer Handling

Major Considerations in 450 mm Wafer Handling | 2

Wafer Carrier Challenges

Heavy payload: 22 kg

SEMI E156 Compliant (FOUP)

SEMI E158 Compliant (MAC)

Very low moisture environment

UV light protection Advanced static

protection

Transparent equipment interoperability between FOUP and MAC

450 mm Requirements and Challenges

Customer Requirements

300 mm scale up

SEMI® Compliant

32 nm / 22 nm performance

Equipment interoperability between shipping box and process carrier

Equipment Challenges

Heavy payload handling

SEMI E154 compliant (FOUP loadport)

SEMI E162 compliant (MAC loadport)

Interface to FOUP purge

Opaque FOUP (black box)

Equipment interoperable with FOUP and MAC

Major Considerations in 450 mm Wafer Handling | 3

450 mm Requirements and Challenges

Microenvironment Level

Wafer sag

Wafer fragility

Wafer positioning and support

22 nm and below micro-contamination control

Major Considerations in 450 mm Wafer Handling | 4

Wafer Sag

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

(mm)

Angle of Opening (degrees)

Wafer Sag

Wafer Sag

Excessive sag indicated in red

Additional support yields measurable improvement

Opening of less than 90° remain relatively constant in the amount of wafer sag. An opening of 85° – 120° would be a zone in which you achieve a good balance between sag performance and ability to manufacture the support structure

Major Considerations in 450 mm Wafer Handling | 5

Wafer Sag - Automation Interface with Wafer

Excessive sag indicated in red

Additional support yields measurable improvement

The SEMI exclusion zone limits the area available to support the wafers within a carrier

Major Considerations in 450 mm Wafer Handling | 6

Wafer Fragility

Wafer orientation during transport

Graphs below show the relative difference in wafer fragility based on horizontal and vertical wafer orientation

Wave-form screen shot of glass wafer before failure in flat-on-back (wafer vertical) orientation

Wave-form screen shot of glass and polysilicon wafer before failure in flat-on-KCplate (wafer horizontal) orientation

Due to the low fragility values of 450 mm wafers on a horizontal wafer impact the packaging will be a critical part of the overall wafer shipping system performance

Major Considerations in 450 mm Wafer Handling | 7

Wafer Fragility - 300 mm Elastic Wafer (35G)

The above video shows the displacement of a 300 mm wafer during a 35G shock event

Major Considerations in 450 mm Wafer Handling | 8

Wafer Fragility - 450 mm MAC Prototype Side Columns (Approx 15G)

The above video shows the displacement of a 450 mm wafer in an Entegris prototype during a 15G shock event

Major Considerations in 450 mm Wafer Handling | 9

Wafer Fragility - 450 mm MAC Prototype Side Columns (Approx 17G)

The above video shows the displacement of a 450 mm wafer in an Entegris prototype during a 17G shock event

The difference between successful wafer transport is less than 2 G’s during a shock event

Defining this threshold is difficult as each wafer is slightly different due to variation in structure

This type of testing enables a better definition of the critical wafer fragility boundary used for designing secondary packaging

Major Considerations in 450 mm Wafer Handling | 10

Wafer Positioning and Retention

Wafer backstop location was examined to understand better its effects on wafer centering and retention forces.

As the wafer backstop moves closer to the rear of the carrier, the force generated at the backstop decreases

The expected variability for wafer center is related to the location of the wafer backstops

Major Considerations in 450 mm Wafer Handling | 11

Wafer Positioning and Retention

Wafer positioning for automation

Wafer positioning for shipping

Bac

k o

f M

AC

Fro

nt

of

MA

C

Step 1

Door moves in

Step 2

Door contacts wafers

Step 3

Lifts and secures wafers into position

Major Considerations in 450 mm Wafer Handling | 12

22 nm and Below Micro-Contamination Control

FOUP Stocker OHT Buffer Purge station

Load port

On-tool or

Near-tool

Buffering FOUP

FOUP

FOUP

FOUP

OHV

Photo courtesy www.muratec.net

Photo courtesy www.daifuku.com

FOUP purge

Key elements to control the wafer environment are carrier material properties, purging in select areas within the process and maintaining seal integrity

450 mm Program Review and Update | 13

22 nm and Below Micro-Contamination Control

Seal integrity is critical to maintaining a controlled environment