Abstract:
Disclosed is a device for handling devices, such as reticles, in a semiconductor manufacturing environment. In one illustrative embodiment, the device includes a body, a plurality of spaced-apart grippers and a plurality of magnets for producing a magnetic force to secure a semiconducting substrate or reticle between the spaced-apart grippers. In one illustrative embodiment, the method includes providing a pick comprised of a plurality of spaced-apart grippers and generating a magnetic force to grasp a semiconducting substrate or a reticle between the grippers.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/469,185 filed Aug. 31, 2006, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention is generally directed to material handling devices in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, and, more particularly, to a device for handling devices, such as reticles, in a semiconductor manufacturing environment. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    The manufacture of integrated circuit devices, e.g., memory devices, logic devices, etc., is a very complex activity that requires very precise tools and processes. Manufacturing such integrated circuit products may involve hundreds of complex process operations that involve well-known deposition, etching, photolithography and planarization techniques and equipment. Manufacturers of integrated circuit devices go to great lengths in attempting to insure that the manufacturing environment for such integrated circuit devices is extremely clean. If the integrated circuit devices have sufficient particle contamination, the operational capability of the integrated circuit device may be reduced or, in some cases, destroyed. 
         [0006]    The manufacture of integrated circuits involves many processes. One process that is universally employed in manufacturing such devices is photolithography. In general, photo-lithography involves forming a layer of photoresist material above a semiconducting substrate and, thereafter, irradiating the photoresist material with light that is projected through a reticle. Through this process, the pattern on the reticle is transferred to the layer of photoresist material. Ultimately, the exposed layer of photoresist will be developed to thereby define a photoresist mask layer. The mask layer may be used to pattern an underlying layer of material using etching processes that are well known to those skilled in the art. 
         [0007]    Reticles used in manufacturing modern integrated circuit devices must exhibit a very high degree of precision and are very expensive to manufacture. For example, a typical reticle employed in manufacturing memory devices may cost approximately $60,000-$90,000 depending upon the complexity of the image formed on the reticle. 
         [0008]    Unfortunately, it is frequently necessary for personnel to handle or move such reticles for a variety of reasons, e.g., a new product is being processed. The reticles are typically made of glass and may have a generally rectangular or square shape. A reticle may have a thickness of approximately 0.25-0.325 inches. Thus, great care must be exercised when handling such reticles as they may break or crack if dropped or otherwise subjected to undesirable impact loads or stresses. It is also extremely important that such reticles be free of particle contaminants as such particles may scratch the surface of the reticle and/or adversely impact the pattern transferred to the underlying layer of photoresist during the photolithography process. 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  depicts an illustrative prior art reticle pick  10  that is employed in handling a reticle  12 . The pick  10  generally comprises a body  14 , a trigger  16 , a spring  18 , a pivot point  20 , and a plurality of grippers  22 . In operation, the trigger  16  is depressed which compresses the spring  18 . The force generated by the compressed spring  18  tends to force the upper gripper  22 A in the direction indicated by the arrow  24 . Thus, the compression of the spring  18  provides the force to clamp the reticle  12  within the grippers  22 . 
         [0010]    There are several problems associated with the use of the prior art pick  10  depicted in  FIG. 1 . For example, the compression/relaxation cycle experienced by the spring  18  during operation can lead to the generation of undesirable particles that may contaminate the reticle  12  or other aspects of the semiconductor manufacturing environment. Additionally, over time, the spring  18  may tend to rust, thereby generating additional particles. Typically, such a spring-type pick  10  is subjected to relatively frequent maintenance procedures, such as frequent removal and cleaning, in an effort to reduce the contaminants resulting from the spring  18 . Such maintenance efforts are time-consuming and may not effectively prevent the problems caused by such spring-type picks  10 . 
         [0011]    The present invention is directed to a device and various methods that may solve, or at least reduce, some or all of the aforementioned problems. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    The invention may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative prior art spring-type substrate pick; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of one illustrative embodiment of a pick in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional side view of one illustrative embodiment of a pick in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional side view of yet another illustrative embodiment of a pick in accordance with the present invention; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged view of a shield ring that may be employed with magnets of the present invention. 
       
    
    
       [0018]    While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of any such actual embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers&#39; specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. 
         [0020]    The present invention will now be described with reference to the attached figures. For purposes of clarity and explanation, the relative sizes of the various features depicted in the drawings may be exaggerated or reduced as compared to the actual size of those features or structures. Nevertheless, the attached drawings are included to describe and explain illustrative examples of the present invention. The words and phrases used herein should be understood and interpreted to have a meaning consistent with the understanding of those words and phrases by those skilled in the relevant art. No special definition of a term or phrase, i.e., a definition that is different from the ordinary and customary meaning as understood by those skilled in the art, is intended to be implied by consistent usage of the term or phrase herein. To the extent that a term or phrase is intended to have a special meaning, i.e., a meaning other than that understood by skilled artisans, such a special definition will be explicitly set forth in the specification in a definitional manner that directly and unequivocally provides the special definition for the term or phrase. 
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view depicting one illustrative embodiment of a pick  40  in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.  FIG. 3  is a side view of the illustrative pick  40 . The pick  40  comprises a body  42 , a handle  44 , a trigger  46 , a pivot point  48 , and a plurality of grippers  50 . The pick  40  further comprises at least one magnet  52  coupled to the trigger  46  and at least one magnet  54  coupled to the handle  44 . As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a semiconducting substrate or reticle  12  is securely positioned between the grippers  50 . The shape of the grippers  50  may vary depending upon the shape of the object that is to be grasped using the pick  40 . 
         [0022]    In the illustrative embodiment depicted in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the magnets  52 ,  54  are positioned such that like poles of the magnets  52 ,  54  are facing each other, e.g., the positive pole of the magnet  52  faces the positive pole of the magnet  54 . Of course, the magnets  52 ,  54  could be positioned such that the negative poles of the magnets  52 ,  54  are facing one another. With like poles of the magnets  52 ,  54  facing one another, they repel from one another the closer they are brought together, i.e., by depressing the trigger  46 . The force generated by the magnetic repulsion of the magnets  52 ,  54  in this configuration generates a force that tends to bias the upper gripper in the direction indicated by arrow  58 , e.g., a clamping force. This magnetic force is employed to provide the necessary clamping force to hold the reticle  12  between the grippers  50 . Note that, in this illustrative embodiment, the magnets  52 ,  54  and the grippers  50  are positioned on opposite sides of the pivot point  48 . In this illustrative embodiment, when the trigger  46  is actuated, e.g., depressed, the spacing between the magnets  52 ,  54  is decreased and the upper gripper  50  is urged to its open position, as indicated by the dashed lines in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . Due to the magnetic repulsion of the like poles of the magnets  52 ,  54 , when the trigger  46  is released, the upper gripper  50  is urged in the direction indicated by the arrow  58 , i.e., toward its closed position, to thereby grasp the semiconducting substrate or reticle  12  between the grippers  50 . 
         [0023]    In the particular embodiment depicted in  FIG. 2 , the magnet  52  is positioned within a recess  62  formed in the trigger  46  and the magnet  54  is positioned within a recess  64  formed in the handle  44 . A cap  66  is positioned over the recess  62  and secured to the trigger by pins  68 . A cap  70  is positioned over the recess  64  and secured to the handle by pins (not shown). Of course, the magnets  52 ,  54  may be retained in the recesses  62 ,  64  by a variety of known mechanical techniques. 
         [0024]      FIG. 4  depicts an alternative aspect of the present invention. In this embodiment, the magnets  52 ,  54  are positioned between the pivot point  48  and the grippers  50 , i.e., the magnets  52 ,  54  and the grippers  50  are positioned on the same side of the pivot point  48 . In this illustrative embodiment, the magnets  52 ,  54  are positioned such that opposite poles of the magnets  52 ,  54  are facing one another. In this configuration, the attractive magnetic force created by the magnetic attraction between the magnets  52  and  54  creates a force that tends to urge the upper gripper in the direction indicated by the arrow  58 , e.g., a clamping force. By depressing the trigger  46 , the spacing between the magnets  52 ,  54  and the grippers  50  is increased. Releasing the trigger  46  allows the attractive magnetic force between the opposite poles of the magnets  52 ,  54  to urge the grippers  50  to a closed position so as to grasp the semiconducting substrate or reticle  12 . It should also be noted that, in some embodiments, the cavity or area under the pivot point  48  can be exhausted or a negative pressure (vacuum) V can be established through the body  44  in an effort to remove any particles generated in the area of the pivot point  48 . 
         [0025]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of an illustrative application wherein it may be desirable to position some form of magnetic shielding  80  around the side surfaces of the magnets  52 ,  54  to limit the reach of the magnetic field generated by the magnets  52 ,  54 . In one illustrative embodiment, this magnetic shielding  80  may be a nickel-based material having a thickness of approximately 0.04-0.08 inches. The shielding  80  may be attached by various means, e.g., tape, glue, pins, etc. 
         [0026]    The magnets  52 ,  54  may be of any size and strength to provide the necessary clamping force to the grippers  50 . The size, type and strength of the magnets  52 ,  54  may vary depending upon the particular application. Additionally, it should be understood that the schematically depicted magnets  52 ,  54  may be a single magnet or a plurality of magnets. In one illustrative embodiment, neodymium type magnets (type N38) having a flux density of 12.4 KGs are employed in the substrate picks  40  of the present invention. More information regarding such magnets may be obtained by visiting the following website: http://www.kjmagnetics.com/specs.asp. 
         [0027]    As indicated above, traditional magnets  52 ,  54  may be employed in the present invention. However, it should also be understood that electromagnets may also be employed with the present invention to generate the magnetic force used to provide the necessary clamping force to the grippers  50 . Power for such electromagnets may be supplied by a battery or by electrical power supplied via a wire. 
         [0028]    The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the invention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. For example, the process steps set forth above may be performed in a different order. Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the claims below. It is therefore evident that the particular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the protection sought herein is as set forth in the claims below.