Pick-and-place apparatus and method

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a pick-and-place apparatus that is configured to cause components to be placed on a substrate in a number of passes, and during each pass, components among a plurality of components are placed on the substrate in a respective placement pattern among a collection of interleaved placement patterns.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A pick-and-place apparatus, comprising:
 a source supporting unit configured to hold a carrier that is provided with and/or supports a plurality of components;   a target supporting unit configured to hold a substrate;   a first drive unit for driving the source supporting unit;   a second drive unit for driving the target supporting unit;   a transport unit for collecting a component from the carrier and for placing the collected component on the substrate; and   a controller for controlling the first drive unit, the second drive unit, and the transport unit;   wherein the controller is configured to cause the components to be placed on the substrate in a number of passes, and during each pass, components among the plurality of components are placed on the substrate in a respective placement pattern among a collection of interleaved placement patterns;   wherein the placement patterns are uniform placement patterns, wherein each placement pattern comprises a repetition of a unit cell, the unit cell comprising second positions to which that placement pattern corresponds, and empty positions representing second positions to which other placement patterns correspond, the unit cell having a first size in a first direction and a second size in a second direction different from the first direction, wherein each pair of unit cells has a distance between each pair that in the first direction equals an integer times the first size, and wherein each pair of unit cells has a distance between each pair that in the second direction equals an integer times the second size.   
     
     
         2 . The pick-and-place apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the carrier comprises a foil or film, and/or wherein the plurality of components comprises semiconductor dies or packaged semiconductor dies arranged on the carrier, and/or wherein the plurality of components is formed by a diced semiconductor wafer arranged on the carrier, and/or wherein the plurality of components comprises light-emitting diodes. 
     
     
         3 . The pick-and-place apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the components are arranged in a plurality of first rows and first columns of first positions on the carrier at which positions the components are to be collected, and wherein the substrate comprises a plurality of second rows and second columns of second positions on the substrate at which positions the components are to be placed. 
     
     
         4 . The pick-and-place apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the respective placement patterns are substantially translated copies of each other. 
     
     
         5 . The pick-and-place apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein each placement pattern covers substantially the entire substrate. 
     
     
         6 . The pick-and-place apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to process the unit cells corresponding to the relevant placement pattern on a line-by-line basis when performing one pass, wherein each line comprises a plurality of unit cells that are adjacently arranged in the first direction;
 wherein the pick-and-place apparatus is configured to, for each unit cell, introduce one or more offsets in the second direction when processing a line of unit cells.   
     
     
         7 . The pick-and-place apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the pick-and-place apparatus comprises a pattern determination unit that is configured to:
 receive a wafer map that indicates the performance and/or characteristics of the components on the carrier that are to be placed on the substrate;   determine, for each combination of collect and placement patterns among a plurality of the combinations:   a value of a uniformity metric that describes the uniformity of the performance and/or characteristics over the substrate if the components are pick-and-placed on the substrate on the basis of each predefined combination;   a value of a throughput metric that describes the throughput of the pick-and-place apparatus when using the predefined combination;   a value of a general metric based on a weighed combination of the value of the uniformity metric and the value of the throughput metric;   determine an optimal combination of collect and placement patterns among the plurality of combination using the determined values of the general metric; and   provide the optimal combination of collect and placement patterns to the controller;   wherein the pattern determination unit is comprised of and/or embodied by the controller.   
     
     
         8 . The pick-and-place apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the transport unit is configured to collect each component from the carrier at a same collect position in space, and wherein the controller is configured to control the first drive unit for moving the source supporting unit relative to the collect position in space to collect the components from the carrier; and/or
 wherein the transport unit is configured to release each collected component on the substrate carrier at a same release position in space, and wherein the controller is configured to control the second drive unit for moving the moveable substrate table relative to the release position in space to release the components on the substrate.   
     
     
         9 . The pick-and-place apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the components are arranged in a plurality of first rows and first columns of first positions on the carrier at which positions the components are to be collected, and wherein the substrate comprises a plurality of second rows and second columns of second positions on the substrate at which positions the components are to be placed. 
     
     
         10 . The pick-and-place apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the respective placement patterns are substantially translated copies of each other. 
     
     
         11 . The pick-and-place apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein each placement pattern covers substantially the entire substrate. 
     
     
         12 . The pick-and-place apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to process the unit cells corresponding to the relevant placement pattern on a line-by-line basis when performing one pass, and process the unit cells corresponding to the relevant placement pattern on a line-by-line basis, wherein each line comprises a plurality of unit cells that are adjacently arranged in the first direction; and
 wherein the pick-and-place apparatus is configured to, for each unit cell, introduce one or more offsets in the second direction when processing a line of unit cells.   
     
     
         13 . The pick-and-place apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the pick-and-place apparatus comprises a pattern determination unit that is configured to:
 receive a wafer map that indicates the performance and/or characteristics of the components on the carrier that are to be placed on the substrate;   determine, for each combination of collect and placement patterns among a plurality of the combinations:   a value of a uniformity metric that describes the uniformity of the performance and/or characteristics over the substrate if the components are pick-and-placed on the substrate on the basis of each predefined combination;   a value of a throughput metric that describes the throughput of the pick-and-place apparatus when using the predefined combination;   a value of a general metric based on a weighed combination of the value of the uniformity metric and the value of the throughput metric;   determine an optimal combination of collect and placement patterns among the plurality of combination using the determined values of the general metric; and   provide the optimal combination of collect and placement patterns to the controller;   wherein the pattern determination unit is comprised of and/or embodied by the controller.   
     
     
         14 . The pick-and-place apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to cause the components to be collected from the carrier in a number of passes, wherein during each pass, components among the plurality of components are collected from the carrier in accordance with a respective collect pattern among a collection of interleaved collect patterns. 
     
     
         15 . The pick-and-place apparatus according to  claim 14 , wherein for each collect pattern and for at least one direction among a direction corresponding to the first rows and a direction corresponding to the first columns, first positions corresponding to that collect pattern are separated in the at least one direction by one or more first positions corresponding to one or more of the other collect patterns. 
     
     
         16 . A method for collecting components from a carrier that is arranged on a source supporting unit and for placing the collected components on a substrate that is arranged on a target supporting unit, wherein the placing the collected components comprises placing the components on the substrate in a number of passes, wherein during each pass, components among the plurality of components are placed on the substrate in a respective placement pattern among a collection of interleaved placement patterns;
 wherein the placement patterns are uniform placement patterns, wherein each placement pattern comprises a repetition of a unit cell, the unit cell comprising second positions to which that placement pattern corresponds, and empty positions representing second positions to which other placement patterns correspond, the unit cell having a first size in a first direction and a second size in a second direction different from the first direction, wherein each pair of unit cells has a distance between each pair that in the first direction equals an integer times the first size, and wherein each pair of unit cells has a distance between each pair that in the second direction equals an integer times the second size.   
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the components are arranged in a plurality of first rows and first columns of first positions on the carrier at which positions the components are to be collected, wherein the substrate comprises a plurality of second rows and second columns of second positions on the substrate at which positions the components are to be placed, and wherein for each placement pattern and for at least one direction among a direction corresponding to the second rows and a direction corresponding to the second columns, second positions corresponding to that placement pattern are separated in the at least one direction by one or more second positions corresponding to one or more of the other placement patterns.