Patent ID: 11894253
Assignee: BROOKS AUTOMATION US, LLC
Field: Semiconductors (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  B | IPC B  H

Claim 21:
22. A semiconductor wafer transport apparatus comprising:
a frame;
a transport arm movably mounted to the frame and having at least one end effector movably mounted to the transport arm so that the at least one end effector traverses relative to the frame;
an optical edge detection sensor, connected to the frame and communicably coupled to a static wafer aligner station on the frame, the optical edge detection sensor configured so as to register and effect edge detection of a wafer supported by the at least one end effector; and
an illumination source connected to the frame configured so as to illuminate a contrast face reflected from a surface of the wafer, supported by the at least one end effector, which surface delineates a peripheral edge of the wafer, the contrast face being disposed with respect to the optical edge detection sensor so that the reflected contrast face directed from the surface towards the optical edge detection sensor optically obscures, at the peripheral edge of the wafer, background light reflection from the surface of the wafer viewd by the optical edge detection sensor coincident with traverse to the static wafer aligner station, of the wafer supported by the at least one end effector;
wherein the peripheral edge of the wafer is defined in relief in image contrast, formed by and between the reflected contrast face and a lighted background, registered by the optical edge detection sensor so as to effect edge detection coincident with traverse of the wafer supported by the at least one end effector.