Goal: Reverse engineer a mapper end effector for a wafer.

Scope: The only necessary components to reverse engineer were the anodized aluminum housing components. The sensors themselves did not need to be replaced.

Constraints:

• Ensure equivalent dimensions with the original manufacturer's design.

• The material and finish of the components must also match the manufacturer's design.

• The components must be able to be procured in time in order to meet our promise date to the customer.

During the production of a PVD semiconductor system, ASMPT NEXX, Inc. encountered an issue where the mapper end effector assembly housing used to ensure proper wafer placement had an excessive lead time from the manufacturer. With the tight deadlines which are common in the semiconductor capital equipment industry, we had to find another solution.

Using calipers, I measured a test unit of the mapper that we had at our manufacturing facility. I took these measurements and reverse engineered the design to allow us to procure the housing with our own supply chain.

The sensors within the housing were readily available - this allowed us to meet our customer's promise date.