Analysis and evaluation of methods for automated wafer handling in high volume manufacturing

Reduction in wafer and solar cell thicknesses today creates stricter requirements and conditions for automated handling processes. To remain competitive in the production of silicon based photovoltaic cells, it is necessary to optimize these processes or even develop new ones. For most of the automated processes, gripping as a handling technique is of vital importance. Numerous factors and aspects have to be taken into consideration in order to deliver the best productivity, i.e. short cycle times and low damage rates. Today, there is a wide variety of grippers available, working with different principles in these processes along the entire production line. With regards to the developments mentioned above, this paper is aimed towards the analysis of the gripping forces of various state-ofthe-art grippers and prototypes during the handling process. In addition a method for the evaluation of the vibration behavior of substrates during a pick-and-place operation will be presented.