JP2003259015A - Electronic conference method and electronic conference system about semiconductor device process utilizing communication line or semiconductor manufacturing apparatus performance - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic conference method and an electronic conference system which is utilized with the use of a communication line such that semiconductor manufacturing apparatus vendors and customer process engineers hold a conference about semiconductor device processes or the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus performance, without mutually visiting to their offices. <P>SOLUTION: The electronic conference method comprises the steps of: making conference participants access an electronic conference system, utilizing a communication line; certifying and authenticating that the conference participants are permitted to access; displaying a list of conference materials prepared for the conference participants which have described evaluation results about semiconductor device processes or semiconductor manufacturing apparatus performances on displays the participants use; and making the conference participants select desired conference materials among the list describing the evaluation results. Thus the conference participants hold the electronic conference, using the conference materials. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic conferencing method and an electronic conferencing system for conducting a conference on semiconductor device processes or semiconductor manufacturing device performance in a semiconductor manufacturing device business using an electronic conferencing system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a process engineer of a semiconductor manufacturing equipment vendor has compiled a report that evaluates the performance of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment as a preliminary activity for selling the semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and went to a semiconductor device maker (customer) to visit it. He was giving presentations and meetings to his process engineers. Alternatively, the customer went to the vendor and received an explanation.

[0003]

However, the recent technological advances in high integration and miniaturization of semiconductor devices are showing an accelerating trend year by year, and it is necessary to shorten the process technology development and verification time of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The situation is forced. In addition, the market demand for semiconductor devices with higher system performance is required to be provided at a lower price, which inevitably requires corporate efforts to reduce device development costs. Under such circumstances, how to solve the shortening of the verification lead time of the semiconductor device process and the cost reduction is one of the challenges.

On the other hand, in the semiconductor device process, knowledge based on many years of experience is of utmost importance. However, there are limits to the number of customers an experienced process engineer from a vendor can accommodate. In order for the vendor to deal with more customers, how to solve the problem of reducing the number of meetings and visiting the customer and shortening the process is an issue.

Therefore, the object of the present invention was made in view of the above problems, and a process technology engineer of a vendor and a customer does not go to each other to hold a conference on the semiconductor device process or the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus performance. An electronic conference method and an electronic conference system that can be realized are provided.

[0006]

The present invention adopts the following means in order to solve the above problems. Corresponding to the conference participant, a step of accessing the electronic conference system by using a communication line, an authentication step for confirming that the conference participant is allowed to access, A step of displaying a list of conference materials in which the evaluation results regarding the created semiconductor device process or semiconductor manufacturing apparatus performance are displayed on a display device used by the conference participants, and the conference materials in which the conference participants describe the evaluation results. A step of selecting a desired conference material from the list, and the conference participant uses the conference material to conduct an electronic conference.

Alternatively, a conference participant who is permitted to access through a communication line from an information terminal equipped with a display device and an input device is an electronic device for conducting a conference on semiconductor device processes or semiconductor manufacturing device performance. In the conference system, on the screen of the display device, an area for displaying a moving image of the conference participant of the other party, and an area for displaying the conference material in which the evaluation result regarding the semiconductor device process or the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus performance is described, The electronic conferencing system has a chat area in which an input text document can be stored.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Action steps of a semiconductor manufacturing equipment business in a semiconductor manufacturing equipment vendor will be described. First, it begins with the development of equipment that meets market needs and customer needs. Next, using the developed equipment, a demonstration will be conducted to show to the customer that the process result of the semiconductor device that actually meets the customer's needs can be obtained (process evaluation activity). In this process evaluation activity, if the performance of the device is recognized by the customer and if an order can be accepted, the step of designing and manufacturing the device based on the customer's specifications is started. Next, in the inspection step, after confirming the quality of the device, it is shipped to the customer. The shipped equipment is carried into the customer's semiconductor device manufacturing line, and the equipment is set up locally. It will be finished when the local start-up is completed and the customer can receive the inspection. However, after the equipment is in operation, after-sales activities will be carried out to deal with equipment failures and improve performance.

The present invention realizes, among the above-mentioned activity steps, necessary steps for a conference by an electronic conference system using a communication line.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of an electronic conferencing system that implements a conference on semiconductor device processes or semiconductor manufacturing apparatus performance using a communication line. 1 is a business office of a vendor that sells semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Reference numeral 2 denotes a business office of a semiconductor device manufacturer (customer) who purchases semiconductor manufacturing equipment to manufacture semiconductor devices, and has a plurality of bases domestically or overseas.

At the vendor's office 1, a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing devices 3, such as an etching device, an exposure device, and a coating / developing device, and a measuring device 4 for measuring a process result of a semiconductor device, such as a scanning electron microscope, are used. A plurality of units such as an optical microscope and a film thickness measuring device are installed, and each device is connected to LAN8 (Intranet). Also,
A server 5 for storing and managing various process results, an electronic conference server 6, and a WEB server 7 for disclosing information on the Internet 12 are installed, and each is connected to a LAN 8. Each semiconductor manufacturing device 3 and each measuring device 4
Communicates various process information with the server 5 that stores and manages the results of various processes using the packet communication protocol (TCP / IP). The electronic conference server 6 provides a personal computer connected to the Internet 12 with information such as moving images, voices, and texts using a communication protocol (TCP / IP). In the present invention, the case where it is installed in the business office of the vendor will be described as an example, but it may be an electronic conference server provided by a third party provider. The WEB server 7 is connected to the Internet 12 and provides a personal computer connected to the Internet 12 with a menu for using various information by performing communication using the http port and the https port of the communication protocol (TCP / IP). To do. The personal computer 9 for using the electronic conference,
A camera 10 and a microphone 11 are connected, and the personal computer 9 is connected to the LAN 8. The personal computer 9, the server 5 that stores and manages the results of various processes, the electronic conference server 6, and the WEB server 7 use the packet communication protocol (TCP / IP) to provide process evaluation information and a moving image for the electronic conference. Communicate voice.

Office 2 of semiconductor device manufacturer (customer)
Has a personal computer 9 to which a camera 10 and a microphone 11 are respectively connected, and it is sufficient if the personal computer 9 can be connected to the Internet 12 by a LAN 8 or the like.

In the electronic conferencing system of the present invention, the customer does not have to have any complicated system, so that the customer is not burdened. By simply connecting to the vendor's WEB server 7 and electronic conference server 6 using a browser, communication of moving images and voice for electronic conference, various device process evaluation materials displayed on the screen, and image and text documents You can get information.

Next, the details of the process evaluation activity will be described. FIG. 2 shows a flow of process evaluation activities using an etching apparatus which is one of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses as an example. First, the process engineer of the vendor confirms the customer specifications, for example, the etching characteristics such as the device pattern and the cross-sectional shape, by having a meeting with the customer (step 10).
1). Next, an etching condition for achieving the required customer specifications, for example, an etching rate, a gas type, a gas flow rate, etc. is planned (step 102). The planned etching conditions are set in a vendor-owned apparatus, and the sample wafer supplied by the customer is actually etched (step 10).
3). Next, the SEM (Scannin
g Electron Microscope: Scanning electron microscope) and optical microscope are used for measurement (step 10).
4). Then, it is evaluated whether or not the obtained process result satisfies the customer specification (step 105). If not, the etching condition is re-planned, and the evaluation is repeated many times until the customer specification is satisfied. If the process result satisfies the customer specification, next, in order to measure another etching characteristic, for example, etching uniformity or etching rate in the wafer, actual etching is again performed under the same etching condition (step 106). ). Next, the sample wafer subjected to the etching treatment is measured (step 107) using a measuring device such as a film thickness measuring device or a step measuring device. Here again, as described above, the etching conditions are repeatedly reviewed and evaluated until the customer specifications are satisfied.

Generally, the more experienced the process engineer, the shorter the time to find the etching conditions that satisfy the customer's requirements. In other words, by observing the process result obtained under a certain etching condition, it is largely empirical to determine which etching condition is changed next and how much it can be brought closer to the customer specification.

The vendor process engineer prepares a process evaluation report consisting of a result report general report for reporting the results of the above process evaluation activities and a detailed data sheet summarizing the measurement results obtained by the evaluation activities (step 10
9). Based on this process evaluation report, an evaluation result confirmation meeting is held with the customer (step 110), and it is determined whether the customer satisfies the specifications (step 111). At this meeting, if the customer is not satisfied, the etching conditions are set again and the evaluation is repeated many times.

As described above, in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment business, it is necessary to meet with the customer many times until the customer specifications are satisfied, and the customer must go to the customer site each time. Therefore, by conducting this conference efficiently, time and cost can be reduced. If the customer has a base overseas, the effect will be great.

Next, the process evaluation report will be described in detail. FIG. 3 shows an example of a procedure for creating a process evaluation report. First, a vendor process engineer registers management information for each process evaluation, for example, a customer number and a project number for each customer specification, in a database of the server 5 that stores and manages various process results (step 12).
1). Next, the etching information for each processing under a certain etching condition, for example, the etching condition, the end point determination information, the device state such as temperature, the processing time, etc., is registered in the database in association with the above management information for each process evaluation (step 122). Next, the sectional shape of the etched wafer is measured, and the electronic image of the measurement result is registered in the database in association with the management information for each process evaluation (step 123). Further, for example, data such as film thickness measurement information obtained by a film thickness measuring device or a step measuring device is stored (step 125), and the results of calculating the uniformity within the wafer, the etching rate, etc. are also associated with the management information and stored in the database. Register (step 126). In addition to this, the server 5 that stores and manages various process results includes a process evaluation activity step and progress, a report completion sign that sets whether or not the process evaluation report is completed, and a completed process evaluation report. A WEB disclosure permission sign or the like for setting whether or not to publish on the WEB is registered. Further, each registered data is confirmed and edited by the process engineer (step 127), and a series of process evaluation report is completed.

As a detailed data sheet of the process evaluation report, (1) the etching condition values for each sample wafer are shown in a list, and the optimum etching condition setting or plural condition setting which meets the customer specifications is listed. Process data sheet created for the purpose of confirming the conditions with the customer,
(2) SEM measurement sheet created for the purpose of comparing and examining the cross-sectional shape of the sample wafer processed under each etching condition with an image, (3) uniformity of etching depth in each sample wafer subjected to etching processing, and There is a process rate sheet or the like created for the purpose of confirming the etching rate and the selection ratio between the etched portion and the non-etched portion. These sheets can be referred to immediately during the meeting at the electronic conference, for example, by clicking the row indicating the etching conditions on the page of the result report summary, a window separate from the result report summary is displayed. It is recommended to display the detailed data sheet related to. Alternatively, a hyperlink of the detailed data sheet may be set at a predetermined position on the electronic conference screen described later.

FIG. 4 shows a flow from the completion of preparation of the process evaluation report to the start of WEB publication. When the process evaluation report completion sign is registered (step 141), it is determined whether the WEB disclosure permission sign of the management information for each process evaluation is set (step 142). If the WEB disclosure permission sign is set, the process evaluation report is copied from the server 5 which stores and manages the process result to the WEB server 7 (step 143). When copied, one line 50 of the evaluation report list list shown in FIG. 5 is created in accordance with the process evaluation activity step recorded in the management information (step 144). By creating one line 50 in this evaluation report list, it becomes possible to publish on the WEB (step 145).

The evaluation report list shown in FIG.
Since it is arranged in the order of activity steps of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales business, it is clear which process the current activity steps are.

One line 50 created in the evaluation report list
Displays the management number of the specification for each customer, and sets a hyperlink 51 to the process evaluation report. Also,
In the field of meeting status, a sign "waiting for reservation" is set. In the conference status column 52, "end" is set when the conference is over.

The customer can submit the process evaluation report at an arbitrary time during the period in which the process evaluation report is registered in the WEB server, that is, while the meeting status column is set to "Waiting for reservation" or "End". You can see. That is, regardless of the meeting date, the evaluation result can be quickly known at the moment when the process evaluation result is published on the WEB server. In addition, since it is possible to hold a meeting after reading the process evaluation report in advance, it is possible to hold a deep meeting. Furthermore, past process evaluation reports can be viewed, which is very useful for comparative examination.

FIG. 6 shows a flow regarding security when a customer accesses the electronic conference system of the present invention using the Internet 12. First, the customer is requested to enter the login ID and password provided for each customer (step 161). Next, it is determined whether the login ID and the password match (step 162). Next, it is determined whether or not there is a list of customer management numbers corresponding to the login ID (step 163). Evaluation Report List List 53
If exists, only the evaluation report list is displayed (step 164). By using such a system, it is possible to prevent access by customers other than those who are allowed to attend the conference, and to display only the evaluation report list corresponding to the login ID corresponding to the customer. Security is ensured.

Further, when the customer uses the browser of the personal computer to access the WEB server 7 of the vendor, packet communication is performed on the Internet 12 by a communication means that has been subjected to encryption / complex processing. Improves information security.

On the other hand, the vendor's process engineer makes available the evaluation report list list 53 of all the customers as necessary, regardless of the login ID of each, so that the information in the office can be saved. We are trying to share.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the electronic conference screen. The screen 70 is a moving image area 71 for displaying a moving image displayed by the other party's camera 10, a material display area 72 for displaying information necessary for the meeting, a chat area 73 for displaying the meeting contents in text in real time, and a screen operation. Operation right button 74, which is provided so as not to conflict with each other,
The information area 75 includes a name of the participant, a display indicating who has the operation right, a material to be used in the electronic conference, and the like, and an information area 75. Since a hyperlink for displaying in the material display area 72 is also set in this meeting material list, the meeting can be performed while clicking on the related detailed data sheet as needed to display the material in the material display area 72. You can go forward. However, the material may be displayed by opening another window. Further, since an arbitrary portion 76 on the displayed material can be marked with a line drawing or characters, it is necessary to clarify, for example, which portion of the etching shape is being described. it can.

By storing the text document input in the chat area 73 as data, the minutes of the electronic document can be distributed to the parties other than the conference participants by e-mail after the conference.

Also, the voices of the conference participants can be input from the microphone and displayed as a text document in the chat area via the voice-to-character conversion function.

The voice input from the microphone 11 can be stored as electronic data.

Since what is displayed on the electronic conference screen 70 can be recorded and played back, the conference can be reproduced at any time by storing it as electronic data together with the voice input from the microphone 11.

The voice input from the microphone 11 is output from both speakers or headphones via communication. In addition, streaming technology may be used for moving image and voice communication.

FIG. 8 shows the steps up to the screen display of the electronic conference and the steps up to the reservation screen display of the electronic conference. In the electronic conference system of the present invention, an electronic conference room is set for each report and conference link 51 corresponding to the management number of the customer. When the report and the conference link 51 in the list 53 are clicked after the evaluation report list list 53 is displayed through the authentication steps shown in (step 161) to (step 164) of FIG. 6, the electronic conference system It is determined whether or not the meeting status column 52 of the evaluation report list 53 is "waiting for reservation" (step 181). If it is "waiting for reservation" and the reservation has not been established yet, the electronic conference reservation list is displayed (step 184). If "reserved", then
It is determined whether the current date and time are within the reserved conference holding time (step 182). If it is within the reserved time, the electronic conference screen 70 is displayed (step 18).
3).

FIG. 9 shows an example of an electronic conference reservation screen. The conference reservation list 90 displayed on the reservation screen is created for each person in charge of vendor described in the evaluation report list list 53. 91 indicates the date and 92 indicates the time. In the screen, a shaded cell 93 indicates a reserved or unsupported time zone, and a blank cell 94 is a supported time zone. The customer's process engineer can make a reservation for the electronic conference by clicking the desired blank cell 94 in the conference reservation list 90 at the desired date and time of the conference. When the electronic conference is reserved, the conference status column 52 of the evaluation report list is set to "reserved".

When the reservation of the electronic conference is established, the electronic conference guide is automatically delivered to the process engineers of the customer and the vendor. Further, the e-mail of the conference holding guide is automatically delivered again a predetermined time before the conference holding time.

To start the electronic conference, the customer first connects to the vendor's public WEB server 7 from the information terminal 9 such as a personal computer using the Internet browser through the above-mentioned authentication step. Once connected,
Since the evaluation report list list 53 for each customer is displayed on the screen, the desired conference link 51 is clicked from the displayed list. As a result, the electronic conference screen 70 of the reserved electronic conference server 6 is displayed, and the process evaluation report is displayed. Similarly, the process engineer of the vendor can make a conference via communication by displaying the electronic conference screen 70 and the process evaluation report. The conference proceeds from the information area 75 by displaying the explanatory material in the material display area 72 by clicking the related detailed data sheet link as needed.

The conferencing method and electronic conferencing system of the present invention are not limited to the above embodiments. Another embodiment will be described below.

The office 1 of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment vendor shown in FIG. 1 is a semiconductor device manufacturing contractor (hereinafter referred to as a manufacturing company), and the office 2 of a semiconductor device maker (customer) is, for example, a semiconductor manufacturing line. It can be a semiconductor device circuit design company that does not have one (hereinafter, referred to as a design company). The design company requests the manufacturing company to manufacture the semiconductor device based on the circuit design drawing of the semiconductor device developed by itself. The manufacturing company that receives the request actually manufactures the semiconductor device and evaluates the semiconductor device itself. In the process of developing a semiconductor device, performance, for example, arithmetic processing, operating frequency, processing speed, operating voltage, power consumption, etc., are repeatedly evaluated until a desired result is obtained. Here, by using the above-mentioned conferencing method and electronic conference system, it is possible to hold a conference based on the evaluation result quickly and at low cost. In addition, the manufacturing company pays for the manufacturing of semiconductor devices or the usage time of the electronic conference system,
Usage fees or consulting fees can be charged. On the other hand, not only do design companies rely on simulations for circuit design, but also they can feed back the results of actually manufacturing and evaluating semiconductor devices to circuit design without having their own semiconductor manufacturing line. Therefore, a better semiconductor device can be developed within a short period of time.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, by using the electronic conferencing system using the communication line, the conference on the semiconductor device process or the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus performance is performed.
The process engineer of the vendor and the customer can go to the other party without going to the other party, because the conference can be carried out while sequentially confirming the voice, image and text documents, or the facial expression of the other party with the moving image. Comparable meetings can be carried out quickly and at low cost.

Further, according to the present invention, the time required for business trips for meetings and the like can be reduced, so that a process engineer with abundant experience of a vendor can deal with more customers. In other words, it is possible to improve customer satisfaction such as proposing optimal process conditions within a short period of time. That is, the business opportunity as a semiconductor manufacturing equipment vendor can be expanded.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of an electronic conference system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed flow of a process evaluation activity.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of a procedure for creating a process evaluation report.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow up to the start of WEB publication.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an evaluation report list list.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an access flow to an electronic conference system.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic conference screen.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing steps up to screen display and reservation list display of an electronic conference.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a reservation screen for an electronic conference.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Semiconductor manufacturing equipment vendor's office, 2 ... Semiconductor device manufacturing capability (customer) office, 3 ... Semiconductor manufacturing equipment, 4
... measuring device, 5 ... server for storing and managing process results, 6 ... electronic conference server, 7 ... WEB server, 8 ... LA
N, 9 ... Personal computer, 10 ... Camera, 11
... Microphone, 12 ... Internet, 53 ... Evaluation report list list, 70 ... Screen, 71 ... Moving image area, 72 ... Material display area, 73 ... Chat area, 74 ... Operation right button, 75 ... Information area.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Koichiro Otani             Yamaguchi Prefecture Kudamatsu City Oita Toyoi 794 Stock Association             Inside Hitachi Kasado Works (72) Inventor Fumio Shimizu             Yamaguchi Prefecture Kudamatsu City Oita Toyoi 794 Stock Association             Hitachi High-Technologies Kasado Works (72) Inventor Tomoki Inoue             Yamaguchi Prefecture Kudamatsu City Oita Toyoi 794 Stock Association             Hitachi High-Technologies Kasado Works F-term (reference) 5C064 AA02 AC05 AC06 AC12 AC18                 5K015 AA10 AB01 JA01

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A step for a conference participant to access an electronic conference system using a communication line, an authentication step for confirming that the conference participant is permitted to access, and the conference participation. Displaying a list of conference materials on the display device used by the conference participants, which lists the evaluation results regarding the performance of the semiconductor device process or the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus created corresponding to the conference participant, And a step of selecting a desired conference material from the list of conference materials described in 1., wherein the conference participants hold an electronic conference using the conference material. 2. The electronic conferencing method according to claim 1, wherein a list of conference materials in which the evaluation results regarding the semiconductor device process or the performance of semiconductor manufacturing equipment are described is arranged in the order of activity steps of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales business. The electronic conferencing method characterized by. 3. The electronic conferencing method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of displaying a screen for electronic conference on the display device after the step of selecting the conference material, if the reservation of the electronic conference is established. An electronic conferencing method comprising: 4. The electronic conference method according to claim 1, further comprising: after the step of selecting the conference material, displaying an electronic conference reservation list on the display device if the electronic conference reservation is not established. And a step in which the conference participant selects a date and time for a conference from the electronic conference reservation list. 5. The electronic conferencing method according to claim 4, wherein when the reservation of the electronic conference is established, an electronic mail for informing the conference is delivered to the conference participants. 6. An electronic device for allowing a conference participant, who is permitted to access through a communication line from an information terminal equipped with a display device and an input device, to hold a conference on semiconductor device process or semiconductor manufacturing device performance. A conference system, the screen of the display device, an area for displaying a moving image of the other party of the conference, an area for displaying a conference material that describes the evaluation results regarding the semiconductor device process or semiconductor manufacturing apparatus performance, An electronic conferencing system having a chat area capable of storing an input text document as data. 7. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 6, wherein the screen of the display device displays a conference material list in which hyperlinks are pasted, and the evaluation results regarding the performance of the semiconductor device process or semiconductor manufacturing device are described. An electronic conferencing system having an area for displaying. 8. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 6, when the hyperlink is clicked, the conference material corresponding to the hyperlink is displayed on a screen different from the screen already displayed. An electronic conferencing system. 9. The electronic conference system according to claim 6, wherein the electronic conference system has a function of distributing the text document data input and stored in the chat area by electronic mail. 10. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 6,
An electronic conferencing system having a function of marking an arbitrary place on the conference material. 11. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 6,
An electronic conferencing system, wherein the voice of the conference participant is input from a microphone and displayed as a text document in the chat area via a voice-to-character conversion function. 12. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 6,
An electronic conferencing system having a function of storing the content spoken by the conference participant as voice data of the conference participant. 13. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 6,
An electronic conferencing system having a function of recording and reproducing what is displayed on the screen of the display device. 14. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 6,
An electronic conferencing system having a function of charging according to the usage time of the electronic conferencing system.