✔ Case background
Wafer cleaning is the most fussy process in the chip production process, which is mainly used to remove the contamination on the wafer surface, including fine particles, organic residues and oxide layers. In the chip production process, the contamination on the wafer surface will seriously affect the final chip quality and yield.
Wafer cleaning processes are mainly divided into two categories – wet process and dry process, but at present 90% of cleaning steps are wet process. The wet process cleaning technology mainly uses specific chemical solution and deionized water, supplemented by ultrasonic, heating and other physical methods to clean the wafer surface without damage. With the shrinking of the size and the complexity of the structure, semiconductor chips are more sensitive to the content of impurities, and new requirements for cleaning technology are constantly put forward.
The traditional control systems using IO direct connection or industrial communication technology begin to show many drawbacks in the face of new requirements, such as the limitation of the number of network nodes, low communication rate, limited real-time performance, and so on, which seriously limit the development of related technologies. The flourishing EtherCAT real-time Ethernet communication technology provides a perfect solution to this problem. The 100 megabyte or even gigabit communication rate, microsecond level control cycle, 1486 bytes of communication data, and nearly all the topologies support all these bring new opportunities for the design and development of wafer cleaning equipment.
✔ Wafer cleaner based on Hongke EtherCAT interface card and IO module
The main components of the wafer cleaning machine usually include IPC+HMI, mechanical arm, servo motor, stepping motor, various sensors, solenoid valves and other modules. In combination with Hongke’s IPC, EtherCAT interface cards and IO modules, the following “one network to the end” system design can be easily realized.
IPC extends the EtherCAT interface via the PCI/PCIe slot, and then directly connects to various motor drivers, mechanical arms and IO modules through EtherCAT to achieve all data acquisition and motion control functions. The IPC terminal provides the driver of the EtherCAT interface card, and engineers can easily integrate EtherCAT communication into the system through C/C++/C # and other programming languages.
✔ HK-CIFX series multi-protocol interface card
Hongke HK-CIFX series multi protocol interface card is a communication board that supports a variety of communication protocols. With a wide range of universal drivers, users can easily and easily integrate. It supports multiple IPC slots (PCI, PCIe, miniPCI, etc.). The protocol stack is executed independently on the board, and the processing data exchange with the host is completed through dual port memory (DPM) or direct memory access (DMA). With a unified platform strategy, all boards use the same driver and configuration tool, regardless of the protocol and board interface type. At the same time, for all real-time Ethernet protocols (EtherCAT, PROFINET, Ethernet/IP, etc.), only one hardware is needed. The board can change the communication protocol by loading different firmware.
✔ HK-MKX Series EtherCAT IO Module
HK-MKX series is a flat, integrated EtherCAT industrial Ethernet bus interface. The solid metal shell provides excellent electromagnetic shielding and heat dissipation functions, ensuring reliable use in harsh environments, and the protection level is IP30. The integrated design can be used independently or distributed, while the flat design can adapt to space sensitive scenes. The wiring mode is reasonable and convenient, and there are rich choices of signal types.
