Development of a distributed Bernoulli gripper for ultra-thin wafer handling

Dong Liu, Wenyu Liang, Haiyue Zhu, Chek Sing Teo, Kok Kiong Tan

Abstract: Ultra-thin wafer (thickness <;100 μm) gripper is a challenging component to design since the wafer is one of the thinnest and fragile materials. In this paper, a soft acting non-contact gripper based on the distributed Bernoulli principle for ultra-thin wafer is developed and evaluated. The theoretical analysis and experimental studies of the designed gripper are carried out. The effects of the two key operation parameters: air flow rate and gap height (between the gripper and the wafer) on the gripper performance are investigated. From the experimental results, the appropriate parameters can be recommended. Finally, a performance comparison among the designed gripper and two existing grippers is studied, which shows that the designed gripper can provide a more gentle lifting force.