Our technologies

Through the successful integration of mechatronic’s stand-alone systems with the MES system (as implemented in modern semiconductor factories), mechatronic has gained experience in setting up communication protocols with the MES System, according to the relevant SEMI standards.

This know-how enables mechatronic to support OEM partners to create the respective interfaces according to the automation specifications of the semiconductor factories.

One of the key elements for mechatronic technology leadership in the handling of non-standard substrates is the various end effectors that we have designed over the past 20 years. Divided into six main families, our suite of end effectors can be configured and optimized to address every wafer handling need.

Our systems can be equipped with either our proprietary pre-aligners or third-party pre-aligners from Isel. Especially for non-standard requirements, such as glass wafers or notch alignment on wafers boned on quartz wafer mechatronic’s pre aligners are used. We also offer various chucks for its pre aligners. Options range from contact points at the technical edge only and combination with flipping to Bernulli Vacuum type of wafer holding for thin wafers. All mechatronic's pre-aligners are capable of handling two wafer sizes (6”/8” or 8”/12”).

Another very important aspect for the successful and safe handling of non-standard substrates is the knowledge of how the substrates are sitting in the cassette. Multiple factors contribute to the ideal position of the end effector when picking or placing the substrate. These include substrate-driven factors (e.g. bow and warpage), cassette-driven factors (e.g. tilt or deformation), and hardware-driven factors (e.g. the thickness of the end effector). With non-standard substrates, there is a very tight margin of error and this calls for very precise mapping.

As an additional service to our partners, mechatronic offers its design know-how and fabrication processes by supplying inspection plates for the placement of the substrates on metrology and lithography equipment. With special proprietary technologies substrates (e.g. eWLP wafers), our chucks can handle a warpage of >10mm. The resulting flatness of the substrates when in the chuck can be below 10µm.

Across mechatronic’s product range, we can integrate up to 12 different end effectors into a system. This capability opens up more possibilities in the optimization of end effectors for various handling tasks. End effectors are stored in a dedicated change station, which is fully automated based on the various handling recipes. For added assurance, the end effectors are individually coded to avoid misprocessing.

Unlike most other suppliers, our sytems integrate wafer flipping onto the robot. By eliminating the flipping station, we reduce the impact to throughput. This feature, along with the supply of multiple media and electrical connections to the end effector, enable a very fast and cost-effective approach to this task.

Our systems are designed to offer maximum handling safety and reliability to the semiconductor industry. In order to meet this target, mechatronic systemtechnik gmbh has always integrated multiple sensors into its system, including wafer detection sensors on the end effectors, integrated metrology in the ring remover modules, and the sensing capabilities on the packing chuck. Sensors and signal processing capabilities are constantly improving and mechatronic systemtechnik gmbh is closely following the developments in this area, implementing new technology for better performance. One such recent addition is the automated detection of hand-off position in combination with automated correction of the robot settings.