CN113013059A

CN113013059A - Method and apparatus for updating cleaning configuration in semiconductor processing equipment

Info

Publication number: CN113013059A
Application number: CN202110184132.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 庄璐
Original assignee: Beijing Naura Microelectronics Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Naura Microelectronics Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-02-10
Filing date: 2021-02-10
Publication date: 2021-06-22
Anticipated expiration: 2041-02-10
Also published as: CN113013059B

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a method and a device for updating cleaning configuration in semiconductor process equipment, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the control end receives magazine information sent by the semiconductor process equipment, determines a processing technology corresponding to a workpiece to be processed in the magazine and a target cleaning configuration corresponding to the processing technology based on the magazine information, inquires the current cleaning configuration of a process chamber used for processing the workpiece to be processed in the semiconductor process equipment, judges whether the current cleaning configuration is matched with the target cleaning configuration or not, and if not, sends a configuration updating instruction to the semiconductor process equipment, and updates the current cleaning configuration to the target cleaning configuration. The control end can directly update the cleaning configuration of the process chamber in the semiconductor process equipment, so that the process of manually setting the cleaning configuration by a user is avoided, and the production efficiency of the chip can be improved.

Description

Method and apparatus for updating cleaning configuration in semiconductor processing equipment

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of semiconductors, in particular to a method and a device for updating cleaning configuration in semiconductor process equipment.

Background

With the continuous expansion of chip scale and the complication of the generation process, the chip manufacturing technology based on the EAP (electronic Automation Program) is applied more and more widely in the field of chip manufacturing.

The EAP system comprises a control end and semiconductor process equipment in communication connection with the control end, wherein the semiconductor process equipment comprises a certain number of process chambers, and different process chambers correspond to different processing procedures in a processing process.

In a process chamber included in semiconductor process equipment, the chamber environment of a part or all of the process chambers needs to be cleaned in the chip processing process, the chip processing process is different, and the cleaning configuration in the cleaning process is different. In the prior art, a user can only manually set cleaning configuration in the cleaning process in semiconductor process equipment, so that the operation is more complicated, and the production efficiency of chips is reduced.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical problem to be solved by the embodiment of the invention is to provide a method and a device for updating a cleaning configuration in semiconductor process equipment so as to solve the problem that an EAP system needs a user to manually set the cleaning configuration.

In order to solve the above problems, an embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for updating a cleaning configuration in semiconductor process equipment, including:

receiving material box information sent by the semiconductor process equipment; the information of the material box is acquired from the material box by the semiconductor process equipment and is used for marking the material box, and the material box is used for accommodating a workpiece to be machined;

determining a processing technology corresponding to the to-be-processed part in the material box and a target cleaning configuration corresponding to the processing technology based on the information of the material box; the target cleaning configuration matches a chamber environment requirement of the processing process for a process chamber in the semiconductor processing equipment;

inquiring the current cleaning configuration of a process chamber used for processing the workpiece to be processed in the semiconductor process equipment, and judging whether the current cleaning configuration is matched with the target cleaning configuration;

and if not, sending a configuration updating instruction to the semiconductor process equipment, and updating the current cleaning configuration into the target cleaning configuration.

Preferably, after the determining whether the current washing configuration matches the target washing configuration, the method further includes: if so, the current wash configuration is maintained.

Preferably, the target wash arrangement comprises: a target cleaning type and a target cleaning recipe.

Preferably, the configuration update instruction includes:

the main node is used for indicating the semiconductor process equipment to update the current cleaning configuration;

and the plurality of child nodes are used for respectively storing the name of the process chamber, the name of the target cleaning type, the name of the target cleaning formula, the name of each parameter in the target cleaning formula and the value of each parameter in the target cleaning formula, which are aimed at by the configuration updating instruction.

Preferably, the method further comprises the following steps:

maintaining the current cleaning configuration without receiving the cartridge information; or,

and executing the step of judging whether the current cleaning configuration is matched with the target cleaning configuration according to a default target cleaning configuration under the condition that the information of the material box is not received.

In order to solve the above problem, an embodiment of the present invention discloses another method for updating a cleaning configuration in semiconductor processing equipment, including:

acquiring material box information; the magazine information is used for identifying the magazine, and the magazine is used for accommodating workpieces to be machined;

sending the information of the material box to enable a control end to determine a processing technology corresponding to the workpiece to be processed in the material box and a target cleaning configuration corresponding to the processing technology based on the information of the material box, inquiring the current cleaning configuration of a process chamber for processing the workpiece to be processed in the semiconductor process equipment, and judging whether the current cleaning configuration is matched with the target cleaning configuration; the target cleaning configuration matches the processing process requirements for a chamber environment of a chamber in the semiconductor processing equipment;

and receiving a configuration updating instruction sent by the control end when the current cleaning configuration is judged not to be matched with the target cleaning configuration, and responding to the configuration updating instruction to update the current cleaning configuration into the target cleaning configuration.

Preferably, after the sending the cartridge information, the method further includes:

and if the configuration updating instruction is not received, maintaining the current cleaning configuration.

Preferably, the target wash arrangement comprises: a target cleaning type and a target cleaning recipe;

the configuration update instruction includes:

Preferably, the updating the current washing configuration to the target washing configuration in response to the configuration updating instruction includes:

triggering the updating operation of the current cleaning configuration according to the main node;

and updating the cleaning type and the cleaning formula corresponding to the process chamber according to the name of the process chamber, the name of the target cleaning type, the name of the target cleaning formula, the name of each parameter in the target cleaning formula and the value of each parameter in the target cleaning formula, which are stored by the plurality of child nodes and are aimed at by the configuration updating instruction.

Preferably, the acquiring cartridge information includes:

receiving the cartridge information input by a user; or,

and controlling an information acquisition device to acquire the information of the material box arranged on the material box.

The embodiment of the invention also discloses a device for updating the cleaning configuration in the semiconductor process equipment, which comprises the following components:

the information receiving module is used for receiving the material box information sent by the semiconductor process equipment; the information of the material box is acquired from the material box by the semiconductor process equipment and is used for marking the material box, and the material box is used for accommodating a workpiece to be machined;

the configuration determining module is used for determining a processing technology corresponding to the workpiece to be processed in the material box and a target cleaning configuration corresponding to the processing technology based on the information of the material box; the target cleaning configuration matches a chamber environment requirement of the processing process for a process chamber in the semiconductor processing equipment;

the query judging module is used for querying the current cleaning configuration of a process chamber used for processing the workpiece to be processed in the semiconductor process equipment and judging whether the current cleaning configuration is matched with the target cleaning configuration;

and the configuration updating module is used for sending a configuration updating instruction to the semiconductor process equipment when the query judging module judges that the current cleaning configuration is not matched with the target cleaning configuration, and updating the current cleaning configuration into the target cleaning configuration.

Preferably, the configuration updating module is further configured to maintain the current cleaning configuration when the query judging module judges that the current cleaning configuration matches the target cleaning configuration.

Preferably, the configuration update instruction includes:

Preferably, the configuration update module is further configured to maintain the current cleaning configuration if the cartridge information is not received; or, in a case where the cartridge information is not received, the step of determining whether the current cleaning configuration and the target cleaning configuration match is performed according to a default target cleaning configuration.

The embodiment of the invention also discloses another device for updating the cleaning configuration in the semiconductor process equipment, which comprises:

the information acquisition module is used for acquiring the information of the material box; the magazine information is used for identifying the magazine, and the magazine is used for accommodating workpieces to be machined;

the information sending module is used for sending the magazine information so that the control end can determine the processing technology corresponding to the workpiece to be processed in the magazine and the target cleaning configuration corresponding to the processing technology based on the magazine information, inquire the current cleaning configuration of a process chamber used for processing the workpiece to be processed in the semiconductor process equipment, and judge whether the current cleaning configuration is matched with the target cleaning configuration; the target cleaning configuration matches the processing process requirements for a chamber environment of a chamber in the semiconductor processing equipment;

and the configuration updating module is used for receiving a configuration updating instruction sent by the control end when the current cleaning configuration is judged not to be matched with the target cleaning configuration, and updating the current cleaning configuration into the target cleaning configuration in response to the configuration updating instruction.

Preferably, the configuration update module is further configured to maintain the current washing configuration when the configuration update instruction is not received.

the configuration update instruction includes:

Preferably, the configuration updating module is specifically configured to trigger an updating operation on the current cleaning configuration according to the master node;

Preferably, the information acquisition module is specifically configured to receive the cartridge information input by a user; or the information acquisition equipment is controlled to acquire the material box information arranged on the material box.

Embodiments of the present application provide an electronic device comprising a processor, a memory, and a program or instructions stored on the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, implement the steps of the method for updating a cleaning configuration in a semiconductor processing apparatus as described above.

Embodiments of the present application provide a readable storage medium, on which a program or instructions are stored, which when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method for updating a cleaning configuration in a semiconductor processing apparatus as described above.

Embodiments of the present application provide a chip, which includes a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to execute a program or instructions to implement the steps of the method for updating a cleaning configuration in semiconductor process equipment as described above.

Compared with the background art, the invention has the following advantages:

in this embodiment, the control end receives magazine information sent by the semiconductor process equipment, determines a processing technology corresponding to a workpiece to be processed in the magazine and a target cleaning configuration corresponding to the processing technology based on the magazine information, queries a current cleaning configuration of a process chamber for processing the workpiece to be processed in the semiconductor process equipment, determines whether the current cleaning configuration is matched with the target cleaning configuration, and if not, sends a configuration update instruction to the semiconductor process equipment to update the current cleaning configuration to the target cleaning configuration. In the operation process of the EAP system, the control end can directly update the cleaning configuration of the process chamber in the semiconductor process equipment, so that the process of manually setting the cleaning configuration by a user is avoided, and the production efficiency of the chip can be improved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of the operation of an EAP system in the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the steps of an embodiment of a method for refreshing a cleaning configuration in semiconductor processing equipment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a signaling diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method for updating a cleaning configuration in semiconductor processing equipment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a cartridge information input interface of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the steps of an embodiment of a method of controlling a plant automation system of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an apparatus for refreshing a cleaning arrangement in semiconductor processing equipment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an apparatus for refreshing a cleaning arrangement in semiconductor processing equipment in accordance with the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more comprehensible, embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and the detailed description.

For a clearer explanation of the present invention, the operation principle of the EAP system in the present embodiment will be briefly described first. The EAP system is an EAP system of a 200 mm SEMI standard specified by the Semiconductor industry association (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International, SEMI), and includes a control end and a Semiconductor process device, where the control end may be a computer, a server, a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), and the like, the Semiconductor process device may include a computer, a PLC, and other controllers, and a certain number of process chambers, each of the process chambers may be respectively configured with different processing devices to perform corresponding process on a workpiece to be processed, and the workpiece to be processed may be a wafer in a chip manufacturing process. In the chip manufacturing process, the control end sends corresponding process parameters to the semiconductor process equipment according to process requirements, and the semiconductor process equipment can carry out different process treatments on the workpieces to be processed in different process chambers according to the process parameters sent by the control end to manufacture the chips.

For example, a process chamber for Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), i.e., a PVD chamber, may be included in the semiconductor process apparatus, and the PVD chamber may be configured with process apparatuses such as a power supply, an evaporator, a vacuum pump, an inert gas source, a heating apparatus, a cooling apparatus, and a driving apparatus. In the chip manufacturing process, the control terminal can send the process parameters to the semiconductor process equipment, and the semiconductor process equipment can control the processing equipment in the PVD chamber according to the process parameters sent by the control terminal to carry out PVD processing on the wafer in the PVD chamber. Meanwhile, the semiconductor process equipment can upload the processing data in the processing process to the control end, and the control end processes and stores the processing data. In practice, different types and numbers of process chambers may be included in a semiconductor processing apparatus.

The operation process of the EAP system is as shown in fig. 1, and fig. 1 shows an operation schematic diagram of an EAP system in the prior art, in a processing process, a control end first performs an initialization operation, and then sends a loading instruction to a semiconductor process device, the semiconductor process device loads a process parameter acquired in advance in response to the loading instruction sent by the control end, after the loading of the process parameter is completed, the control end may send a start instruction to the semiconductor process device, and the semiconductor process device may process a wafer put into the semiconductor process device in response to the start instruction. For example, in the initialization operation, the control end may first establish a communication connection with the semiconductor process equipment, then set the system time of the EAP system, synchronize the system times of the control end and the semiconductor process equipment, and finally clear the report information of the system, define the variables in the report, associate the variables in the report with the variables in the semiconductor process equipment, set the connection time, and start time reporting. The above is merely an exemplary description of the initialization operation, and the specific process of the initialization operation may be set according to requirements, which is not limited by the embodiment.

In the wafer processing process, the chamber environment of the PVD chamber needs to be cleaned according to the corresponding cleaning configuration such as the cleaning type and the cleaning formula, so that the chamber environment of the PVD chamber meets the corresponding process requirements. In the prior art, a user can only set a cleaning configuration of the PVD chamber in the semiconductor process equipment, and in the wafer processing process, the semiconductor process equipment can clean the chamber environment of the PVD chamber according to the cleaning configuration set by the user, so that the chamber environment of the PVD chamber is matched with the processing technology of the wafer. When a user manually sets the cleaning configuration of the process chamber in the semiconductor process equipment, the operation is more complicated, and the production efficiency is lower.

Referring to fig. 2, a flow chart of steps of an embodiment of a method for updating a cleaning configuration in a semiconductor process equipment, which is applied to a control end in an equipment automation system, according to the present invention, may include the following steps:

step 201, receiving the magazine information sent by the semiconductor process equipment.

The magazine information is acquired from the magazine by the semiconductor process equipment and used for marking the magazine, and the magazine is used for accommodating workpieces to be machined.

In this embodiment, the semiconductor processing apparatus may include one or more process chambers, and the magazine, for example, a wafer cassette in the semiconductor processing apparatus, for accommodating wafers, i.e., workpieces, put into the semiconductor processing apparatus. The semiconductor process equipment controls processing equipment in the semiconductor process equipment to process the wafer in the wafer box, and the wafer is manufactured to obtain the chip. Wherein, different magazine information corresponds different processing technology, and the technological parameter of different processing technology is different. The semiconductor process equipment can acquire the material box information of the material box and send the material box information to the control end, and the control end can determine the process parameters of the machining process corresponding to the material box information and stored in advance according to the material box information and send the determined process parameters to the semiconductor process equipment. The semiconductor processing equipment can control processing equipment in the semiconductor processing equipment to process the wafer according to the process parameters to obtain the chips meeting the corresponding process requirements.

For example, the semiconductor processing equipment may perform different processes on the wafer through process a and process B. The material box information can be a two-dimensional code which is arranged on the surface of the material box and used for identifying the material box, the two-dimensional code A corresponds to a processing technology A, and the two-dimensional code B corresponds to a processing technology B. When the material box containing the wafer is put into the semiconductor process equipment, the semiconductor process equipment can control the camera to scan to obtain the two-dimensional code on the surface of the material box and send the two-dimensional code to the control end. After receiving the two-dimensional code a sent by the semiconductor process equipment, the control end can determine that the processing technology of the wafer is the processing technology a according to the two-dimensional code a and send the technological parameters of the processing technology a to the semiconductor process equipment. Similarly, after receiving the two-dimensional code B sent by the semiconductor process equipment, the processing technology of the wafer can be determined as the processing technology B according to the two-dimensional code B, and the process parameters of the processing technology B are sent to the semiconductor process equipment.

In practical application, the magazine information may also be an electronic tag, and the semiconductor process equipment may read the electronic tag through a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and transmit the electronic tag to the control terminal. The cassette information may include, but is not limited to, information of two-dimensional code, electronic tag, bar code (Barcode), smart tag (SmartTag), and the like, and the process of acquiring the cassette information by the semiconductor processing equipment may be set according to a specific type of the cassette information, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Step 202, determining a processing technology corresponding to a workpiece to be processed in the material box and a target cleaning configuration corresponding to the processing technology based on the information of the material box.

Wherein the target cleaning configuration matches the chamber environment requirements of the processing process for the process chamber in the semiconductor processing equipment.

In this embodiment, after receiving the magazine information sent by the semiconductor process equipment, the control end may determine, based on the magazine information, a processing process corresponding to the wafer, and further may determine a target cleaning configuration matched with the processing process. In combination with the above example, if the chamber environment of the PVD chamber needs to be cleaned in the processing process a and the processing process B, the user may set and store a cleaning configuration combination a matching the processing process a in the control end in advance, and the cleaning configuration combination a may include cleaning configurations of one or more process chambers in the semiconductor processing equipment, such as cleaning configurations of the PVD chamber. Similarly, a cleaning configuration set B that matches the processing process B may be pre-configured and stored in the control terminal, and the cleaning configuration set B may include cleaning configurations of one or more process chambers in the semiconductor processing equipment. After receiving the two-dimensional code a sent by the semiconductor process equipment, the control end can firstly determine the processing technology a corresponding to the two-dimensional code a, and then determine the cleaning configuration combination a matched with the processing technology a, wherein the cleaning configuration combination a is the target cleaning configuration. Similarly, after the two-dimensional code B sent by the semiconductor process equipment is received, the processing technology B corresponding to the two-dimensional code B can be determined first, and then the cleaning configuration combination B matched with the processing technology B is determined, wherein the cleaning configuration combination B is the target cleaning configuration.

Optionally, the target cleaning configuration may include: a target cleaning type and a target cleaning recipe.

In one embodiment, a cleaning configuration may include a cleaning type and a corresponding cleaning recipe. For example, the cleaning type may include count cleaning, time cleaning, and status cleaning, and in the count cleaning process, when the number of wafers processed by the process chamber reaches a preset number of wafers, the process chamber is controlled to clean the chamber environment according to parameters in the cleaning recipe; in the time cleaning process, when the idle time of the process chamber reaches the preset idle time, the process chamber is controlled to clean the chamber environment according to the parameters in the cleaning formula; in the state cleaning process, when the process chamber is in an idle state, the process chamber is controlled to clean the chamber environment according to parameters in the cleaning formula. The specific content included in the cleaning configuration may be set according to the requirement, which is not limited in this embodiment.

In one embodiment, the cleaning configuration may be part of the data included in the process parameters. For example, the process parameters of process a include a cleaning configuration combination a matching process a. After receiving the two-dimensional code a sent by the semiconductor process equipment, the control end can determine the processing technology a corresponding to the two-dimensional code a and determine the cleaning configuration combination a from the technological parameters of the processing technology a.

Step 203, inquiring the current cleaning configuration of the process chamber for processing the workpiece to be processed in the semiconductor process equipment, and judging whether the current cleaning configuration is matched with the target cleaning configuration.

And 204, if not, sending a configuration updating instruction to the semiconductor process equipment, and updating the current cleaning configuration to the target cleaning configuration.

The configuration updating instruction is used for enabling the semiconductor processing equipment to update the current cleaning configuration to a target cleaning configuration, and cleaning the cavity environment of the process cavity according to the target cleaning configuration in the process of processing the workpiece to be processed, so that the cavity environment of the process cavity meets the requirements of the processing technology. The current cleaning configuration is the cleaning configuration of the semiconductor processing equipment before the configuration update instruction is received.

In this embodiment, before sending the configuration update command to the semiconductor process equipment, the control end may first determine whether the current cleaning configuration is the same as the target cleaning configuration. And if the current cleaning configuration is different from the target cleaning configuration, sending a configuration updating instruction to the semiconductor process equipment to update the current cleaning configuration to the target cleaning configuration by the semiconductor process equipment. For example, the control terminal may store the cleaning configuration sent to the semiconductor process equipment each time. After determining the target cleaning configuration according to the material box information, the control end can inquire the cleaning configuration sent to the semiconductor process equipment last time from the recorded cleaning configurations, namely the current cleaning configuration of the semiconductor process equipment at the current moment, and if the cleaning type in the cleaning configuration sent last time is count cleaning and the cleaning type in the target cleaning configuration is count cleaning, the control end can determine that the target cleaning configuration is the same as the current cleaning configuration. In contrast, if the wash type in the last sent wash configuration is status wash and the wash type in the target wash configuration is count wash, it may be determined that the target wash configuration is different from the current wash configuration. Alternatively, when the cleaning recipe in the cleaning configuration transmitted last time is different from the cleaning recipe in the target cleaning configuration, it may be determined that the target cleaning configuration is different from the current cleaning configuration.

In another embodiment, the control end may send a cleaning configuration acquisition instruction to the semiconductor process equipment after determining the target cleaning configuration. Accordingly, the semiconductor process equipment can respond to the cleaning configuration acquisition instruction sent by the control end and send the current cleaning configuration to the control end, and the control end can compare the current cleaning configuration sent by the semiconductor process equipment with the target cleaning configuration to determine whether the target cleaning configuration is the same as the current cleaning configuration. The specific method for determining whether the current cleaning configuration is the same as the target cleaning configuration by the control end may be set according to the requirement, which is not limited in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, the control end may send a configuration update instruction including the target cleaning configuration to the semiconductor process equipment when determining that the current cleaning configuration is different from the target cleaning configuration, and the semiconductor process equipment may update the current cleaning configuration to the target cleaning configuration in response to the configuration update instruction after receiving the configuration update instruction. In combination with the above example, the configuration update instruction may include a type name of the target cleaning type in the target cleaning configuration and a recipe name of the target cleaning recipe, such as a type name including count cleaning, a recipe name a. After the semiconductor process equipment receives the configuration updating instruction, the semiconductor process equipment can update the cleaning type in the current cleaning configuration to be counting cleaning, and update the cleaning formula to be the cleaning formula corresponding to the formula name A. The specific form of the configuration update instruction may be set according to the requirement, and this implementation is not limited thereto.

Correspondingly, after the current cleaning configuration is updated to the target cleaning configuration by the semiconductor process equipment, the wafers entering the PVD chamber can be counted in the process of processing the wafers through the processing technology A, and when the number of the wafers processed by the PVD chamber reaches the preset number of the wafers, the semiconductor process equipment controls the PVD chamber to be cleaned according to the parameters in the cleaning formula. The specific method for cleaning the process chamber may be set according to the requirement, and this embodiment does not limit this.

To sum up, in the embodiment, the control end receives the magazine information sent by the semiconductor process device, determines the processing technology corresponding to the workpiece to be processed in the magazine and the target cleaning configuration corresponding to the processing technology based on the magazine information, queries the current cleaning configuration of the process chamber for processing the workpiece to be processed in the semiconductor process device, determines whether the current cleaning configuration is matched with the target cleaning configuration, and if not, sends a configuration update instruction to the semiconductor process device to update the current cleaning configuration to the target cleaning configuration. In the operation process of the EAP system, the control end can directly update the cleaning configuration of the process chamber in the semiconductor process equipment, so that the process of manually setting the cleaning configuration by a user is avoided, and the production efficiency of the chip can be improved.

It should be noted that, before sending the loading command to the semiconductor process equipment, the control end may receive the magazine information, determine the target cleaning configuration according to the magazine information, and send the target cleaning configuration to the semiconductor process equipment. Alternatively, the control end can also receive the information of the material box, determine the target cleaning configuration according to the information of the material box and send the target cleaning configuration to the semiconductor process equipment in the process of initialization operation.

Referring to fig. 3, a signaling interaction diagram of an embodiment of a method for updating a cleaning configuration in semiconductor process equipment according to the present invention is shown, and the method specifically includes the following steps:

step 301, the semiconductor process equipment acquires the magazine information.

Optionally, step 301 may be implemented as follows:

receiving material box information input by a user; or,

and controlling the information acquisition equipment to acquire the information of the material box arranged on the material box.

In this embodiment, the information of the magazine may be manually input into the semiconductor process device by a user, or may be actively collected from the magazine by the semiconductor process device. For example, the semiconductor process equipment can display the box information input interface through the display screen, and a user can operate the box information input interface to input box information into the semiconductor process equipment. As shown in fig. 4, fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a magazine information input interface according to the present invention, a semiconductor processing device may control a first production line and a second production line simultaneously, each production line processes one workpiece to be processed, and each production line includes one or more process chambers, the first production line corresponds to a first input box 401, and the second production line corresponds to a second input box 402. The cassette information may be, for example, a cassette code corresponding to a process, the user may input the cassette code 001 in the first input box 401 and then click the write button 403, and the semiconductor process device may use the cassette code 001 as the cassette information corresponding to the first production line in response to the click operation of the user. Similarly, the user may input the magazine code 002 in the second input box 402 and then click the write button 404, and the semiconductor process equipment may respond to the click operation of the user to use the magazine code 002 as the magazine information corresponding to the second production line. The material box code 001 corresponds to the processing technique A, and the material box code 002 corresponds to the processing technique B. The specific form of the cartridge information input interface can be set according to the requirement, and the embodiment does not limit the form.

In one embodiment, the electronic device may control the information collecting device to collect information of the cartridge disposed on the cartridge. In combination with the above example, the information of the material box may be an electronic tag disposed on the material box, the information collecting device may be, for example, an RFID scanning device, and the semiconductor process device may control the RFID scanning device to scan the material box put into the semiconductor process device, so as to obtain the electronic tag on the material box. The specific method for collecting the information of the material box by the semiconductor process equipment control information collecting device can be determined according to the specific type of the information of the material box, and the embodiment is not limited to this.

In practical application, the semiconductor process equipment can directly receive the information of the material box input by a user, so that the user can conveniently input the information of the material box according to the process requirement, and the cleaning configuration can be selected according to the input information of the material box. Meanwhile, the semiconductor process equipment can acquire the material box information through the information acquisition equipment, so that the semiconductor process equipment can conveniently and automatically acquire the material box information, and the automation efficiency of chip manufacturing can be improved.

Step 302, the semiconductor process equipment determines that the material box information is different from the material box information obtained last time.

In this embodiment, the semiconductor process equipment may store the cartridge information acquired each time, after the cartridge information is acquired, it may be first compared whether the cartridge information acquired this time is the same as the cartridge information acquired last time, and if the cartridge information acquired this time is different from the cartridge information acquired last time, it may be determined that the process technology corresponding to the cartridge this time is different from the process technology in the process of last time, and the cleaning configuration of the process chamber needs to be updated. At this point, the semiconductor processing equipment may perform step 303 to send the pod information to the control end to obtain the target cleaning configuration from the control end and update the cleaning configuration of the process chamber.

On the contrary, if the obtained material box information is the same as the material box information obtained last time, it may be determined that the processing technology corresponding to the material box is the same as the processing technology in the last processing process, and the cleaning configuration of the process chamber does not need to be updated, at this time, step 303 is not performed, the target cleaning configuration is not obtained from the control end, and the cleaning configuration may be prevented from being updated.

In practical application, when the material box information acquired at this time is the same as the material box information acquired at last time, the semiconductor process equipment does not send the material box information to the control end and does not update the current cleaning configuration, so that unnecessary configuration updating can be avoided, and the production efficiency is improved.

And step 303, the semiconductor process equipment sends the material box information to the control end.

In this embodiment, the semiconductor process equipment may send the magazine information to the control end, so that the control end determines the processing technology corresponding to the workpiece to be processed in the magazine and the target cleaning configuration corresponding to the processing technology based on the magazine information, queries the current cleaning configuration of the process chamber for processing the workpiece to be processed in the semiconductor process equipment, and determines whether the current cleaning configuration is matched with the target cleaning configuration.

And step 304, the control end receives the magazine information sent by the semiconductor process equipment.

Optionally, the method may further include:

the control end determines that the material box information is different from the material box information received last time.

In an embodiment, the control end may store the received cassette information each time, after receiving the cassette information sent by the semiconductor process equipment each time, compare whether the cassette information received last time is the same as the cassette information received this time, and if the cassette information received last time is the same as the cassette information received this time, determine that the process corresponding to the cassette this time is the same as the process in the last process without updating the cleaning configuration of the process chamber, and at this time, prohibit performing step 305 and step 307.

On the contrary, if the last received magazine information is different from the last received magazine information, it may be determined that the process technology corresponding to the magazine is different from the process technology in the last process, at this time, step 305 and step 307 may be executed to send a configuration update instruction to the semiconductor process equipment, so that the semiconductor process equipment updates the current cleaning configuration to the target cleaning configuration corresponding to the process technology in this time.

In practical application, when determining that the information of the material box is the same as the information of the material box received last time, the control end prohibits determining the target cleaning configuration and prohibits sending a configuration updating instruction to the semiconductor process equipment, so that unnecessary configuration updating operation can be avoided, and the production efficiency can be improved.

And 305, determining a processing technology corresponding to the workpiece to be processed in the material box and a target cleaning configuration corresponding to the processing technology by the control end based on the information of the material box.

Step 306, the control end inquires the current cleaning configuration of the process chamber used for processing the workpiece to be processed in the semiconductor process equipment, and judges whether the current cleaning configuration is matched with the target cleaning configuration.

And 307, if not, the control end sends a configuration updating instruction to the semiconductor process equipment, and updates the current cleaning configuration to the target cleaning configuration.

And 308, the semiconductor process equipment receives a configuration updating instruction sent by the control terminal when judging that the current cleaning configuration is not matched with the target cleaning configuration, and updates the current cleaning configuration to the target cleaning configuration in response to the configuration updating instruction.

Optionally, before step 308, the method may further include:

the semiconductor processing equipment determines that the current cleaning configuration is different from the target cleaning configuration.

In this embodiment, after the semiconductor process equipment receives the configuration update instruction sent by the control end, it may first determine whether the target cleaning configuration sent by the control end is the same as the current cleaning configuration, and if the current cleaning configuration is the same as the target cleaning configuration, step 308 is not performed, and the current cleaning configuration is not updated. Conversely, if the target cleaning configuration is different from the current cleaning configuration, the current cleaning configuration is updated to the target cleaning configuration. The method for determining whether the current cleaning configuration is the same as the target cleaning configuration by the semiconductor process equipment may refer to the control end, which is not described in detail in this embodiment.

In practical application, when the current cleaning configuration of the semiconductor process equipment is different from the target cleaning configuration, the current cleaning configuration is not updated, so that unnecessary configuration updating can be avoided, and the production efficiency can be improved.

Optionally, the method may further include:

and if the semiconductor process equipment does not receive the configuration updating instruction, maintaining the current cleaning configuration.

In combination with the above example, the control end may prohibit sending the configuration update command to the semiconductor process equipment when the current cleaning configuration is the same as the target cleaning configuration. At this time, the semiconductor process equipment cannot receive the configuration update command, and can maintain the current cleaning configuration. When the semiconductor process equipment does not receive the configuration updating instruction, the current cleaning configuration is kept, and unnecessary configuration updating can be avoided, so that the production efficiency can be improved.

Optionally, the configuration update instruction may include:

Accordingly, step 308 may include the following sub-steps:

substep 3081, triggering the updating operation of the current cleaning configuration according to the main node;

and a substep 3082, updating the cleaning type and the cleaning formula corresponding to the process chamber according to the name of the process chamber, the name of the target cleaning type, the name of the target cleaning formula, the name of each parameter in the target cleaning formula and the value of each parameter in the target cleaning formula, which are targeted by the configuration updating instruction stored in the plurality of child nodes.

For example, the configuration update instruction may include a main node and four groups of sub-nodes, where the main node is named as a first fixed name and is used to trigger the semiconductor process equipment to update the cleaning configuration. The first group of child nodes comprises a first child node and a second child node, wherein the first child node is a second fixed name and is used for triggering the semiconductor process equipment to update the cleaning type; the second child node is a type name of a cleaning type, for example, the type name of a count cleaning is "wafer count", the type name of a time cleaning is "IdleTime", and the type name of a status cleaning is "IdlePurge", and is used for notifying a target cleaning type in a target cleaning configuration of semiconductor process equipment. The second group of sub-nodes comprises a third sub-node and a fourth sub-node, wherein the third sub-node is a third fixed name and is used for triggering semiconductor process equipment to update a cleaning formula; the fourth child node is a recipe name of the target cleaning recipe and is used for informing the target cleaning recipe in the target cleaning configuration of the semiconductor process equipment. The third group of child nodes comprises a fifth child node and a sixth child node, wherein the fifth child node is a fourth fixed name and is used for triggering semiconductor process equipment to update parameters in a target cleaning formula; the sixth child node is a parameter name and value. The fourth group of sub-nodes comprises a seventh sub-node and an eighth sub-node, wherein the seventh sub-node is a fifth fixed name and is used for triggering the semiconductor process equipment to update the cleaning configuration of the process chamber; the eighth sub-node is a chamber name of the process chamber for determining the process chamber. The specific form of the configuration update instruction may be set according to the requirement, and this embodiment does not limit this.

The cleaning recipe includes cleaning conditions, such as temperature and pressure, corresponding to the target cleaning type. In combination with the above example, the chamber name in the fourth set of sub-nodes may be the chamber identifier CH1 of the PVD chamber, the type name in the first set of sub-nodes may be "wafer count", the recipe name X in the second set of sub-nodes, and the parameter name may be pressure, and the value may be 3 mpa. After receiving a configuration updating instruction sent by a control end, the semiconductor process equipment can determine to update the cleaning configuration of the PVD chamber according to the chamber identifier CH1, and update the cleaning type of the PVD chamber into counting cleaning according to the type name 'wafer count'; and updating the cleaning formula to be the target cleaning formula corresponding to the formula name X according to the formula name X, and updating the pressure in the cleaning formula X to be 3 MPa.

Correspondingly, in the process of processing the wafer by the semiconductor processing equipment, when the counted number of the PVD chambers reaches the preset number of wafers, the PVD chambers can be cleaned according to the temperature and the pressure limited by the target cleaning formula X.

In practical application, the target cleaning configuration includes a chamber identifier, a type name, recipe information, and the like, and the semiconductor process equipment can update the cleaning type, the cleaning recipe, and the like of the target process chamber according to the chamber identifier, so that the cleaning configuration in the target process chamber can be rapidly updated.

In summary, in the embodiment, the semiconductor process device acquires magazine information of a magazine in the semiconductor process device, and sends the magazine information to the control end, and the control end determines a cleaning configuration corresponding to a processing process of a workpiece to be processed according to the magazine information and sends a configuration update instruction to the semiconductor process device. The semiconductor processing equipment may update the cleaning configuration of the process chamber according to the configuration update instruction. In the operation process of the EAP system, the control end can directly update the cleaning configuration of the process chamber in the semiconductor process equipment, so that the process of manually setting the cleaning configuration by a user is avoided, and the production efficiency of the chip can be improved.

Optionally, before receiving the magazine information sent by the semiconductor process equipment, the control end may further include:

receiving a configuration storage instruction sent by semiconductor process equipment; the configuration storage instruction comprises material box information and target cleaning configuration corresponding to the material box information;

and responding to the configuration storage instruction, and storing the target cleaning configuration into the process parameters corresponding to the material box information.

In this embodiment, a user may manually set a cleaning configuration in the semiconductor process equipment, and control the semiconductor process equipment to send the cleaning configuration to the control terminal for storage, so as to automatically update the cleaning configuration of the process chamber in the next processing procedure. For example, a user may enter cassette information in a semiconductor processing apparatus and enter a corresponding type name, recipe information, and chamber identification. The semiconductor processing equipment can respond to user input, such as clicking operation of clicking a sending button, and send configuration storage instructions to the control terminal, wherein the configuration storage instructions comprise type names, formula information, chamber identifications and material box information.

Correspondingly, after receiving the configuration storage instruction, the control end can determine the process parameters corresponding to the processing process according to the material box information, and add the data such as the type name, the formula information, the cavity identification and the like into the process parameters.

In practical application, the control terminal can receive and store the magazine information and the cleaning configuration sent by the semiconductor process equipment, so that the cleaning configuration of the process chamber is updated according to the stored cleaning configuration in the next processing process, and a user can modify and update the cleaning configuration of the processing process conveniently.

Optionally, the method may further include:

the control end keeps the current cleaning configuration under the condition that the information of the material box is not received; or,

and executing a step of judging whether the current cleaning configuration is matched with the target cleaning configuration according to the default target cleaning configuration under the condition that the information of the material box is not received.

In one embodiment, the control end may not send the configuration update instruction to the semiconductor process equipment when the magazine information sent by the semiconductor process equipment is not received, so that the semiconductor process equipment maintains the current cleaning configuration.

In one embodiment, a user can set and store a default target cleaning configuration in the control terminal, and when the control terminal does not receive the magazine information sent by the semiconductor process equipment, the control terminal can execute the step of judging whether the current cleaning configuration is matched with the target cleaning configuration according to the default target cleaning configuration so as to determine whether to send a configuration updating instruction to the semiconductor process equipment.

In practical application, the control end can keep the current cleaning configuration when the material box information sent by the semiconductor process equipment is not received; or, according to the default target cleaning configuration, whether a configuration updating instruction is sent to the semiconductor process equipment or not is determined, the cleaning configuration of the process chamber is updated, and the cleaning configuration of the process chamber can be automatically updated when the control end cannot receive the material box information.

Referring to fig. 5, a flowchart illustrating steps of an embodiment of a method for controlling a device automation system according to the present invention is shown, where the method is applied to a control end of the device automation system, and specifically includes the following steps:

step 501, initializing the EAP system.

Step 502, receiving the magazine information sent by the semiconductor process equipment.

Step 503, determining a processing technology corresponding to the to-be-processed part in the material box and a target cleaning configuration corresponding to the processing technology based on the information of the material box.

Step 504, querying a current cleaning configuration of a process chamber of the semiconductor processing equipment for processing the workpiece to be processed, and determining whether the current cleaning configuration is matched with a target cleaning configuration.

In this embodiment, the control end executes step 505 when determining that the target cleaning configuration does not match the current cleaning configuration, and executes step 507 when determining that the target cleaning configuration matches the current cleaning configuration.

Step 505, sending a configuration update command to the semiconductor process equipment.

Step 506, receiving an update success command sent by the semiconductor process equipment.

In this embodiment, after the semiconductor processing equipment updates the current cleaning configuration to the target cleaning configuration, the semiconductor processing equipment may return an update success instruction to the control end, and the control end may perform step 507 and step 508 in response to the update success instruction to process the wafer.

Step 507, sending a loading instruction to the semiconductor process equipment.

Step 508, sending a start-up command to the semiconductor processing equipment.

In summary, in the embodiment, before the semiconductor process device is started to process the workpiece to be processed, the control end may receive the magazine information sent by the semiconductor process device, and update the cleaning configuration of the semiconductor process device according to the magazine information, and during the operation of the EAP system, the control end may directly update the cleaning configuration of the process chamber, so as to avoid a process in which a user manually sets the cleaning configuration, and thus, the production efficiency of the chip may be improved.

Referring to fig. 6, which is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an apparatus for updating a cleaning configuration in a semiconductor process equipment according to the present invention, the apparatus 600 is disposed at a control end of an equipment automation system, and may include the following modules:

the information receiving module 601 is used for receiving the magazine information sent by the semiconductor process equipment; the information of the material box is acquired from the material box by the semiconductor process equipment and is used for marking the material box, and the material box is used for accommodating the workpiece to be processed;

the configuration determining module 602 is configured to determine, based on the information of the material box, a processing technology corresponding to a to-be-processed member in the material box and a target cleaning configuration corresponding to the processing technology; the target cleaning configuration matches the chamber environment requirements of the processing technology on the process chamber in the semiconductor process equipment;

a query and determination module 603, configured to query a current cleaning configuration of a process chamber in a semiconductor processing apparatus for processing a workpiece to be processed, and determine whether the current cleaning configuration matches a target cleaning configuration;

a configuration updating module 604, configured to send a configuration updating instruction to the semiconductor process equipment to update the current cleaning configuration to the target cleaning configuration when the query determining module 603 determines that the current cleaning configuration does not match the target cleaning configuration.

Preferably, the configuration updating module 604 is further configured to maintain the current washing configuration when the query judging module 603 judges that the current washing configuration matches the target washing configuration.

Preferably, the configuration update instruction comprises:

Preferably, the configuration update module 604 is further configured to maintain the current cleaning configuration if no cartridge information is received; or, in the case where the cartridge information is not received, the step of determining whether the current cleaning configuration and the target cleaning configuration match is performed according to a default target cleaning configuration.

Referring to fig. 7, which is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an apparatus for updating a cleaning configuration in a semiconductor processing tool according to the present invention, an apparatus 700 is provided in a semiconductor processing tool in a tool automation system, and may include the following modules:

an information acquisition module 701, configured to acquire cartridge information; the material box information is used for marking the material box, and the material box is used for accommodating the workpiece to be machined;

the information sending module 702 is configured to send the information of the material box, so that the control end determines a processing technology corresponding to the to-be-processed member in the material box and a target cleaning configuration corresponding to the processing technology based on the information of the material box, queries a current cleaning configuration of a process chamber for processing the to-be-processed member in the semiconductor process equipment, and determines whether the current cleaning configuration is matched with the target cleaning configuration; the target cleaning configuration matches the requirements of the processing technology on the chamber environment of the chamber in the semiconductor processing equipment;

the configuration updating module 703 is configured to receive a configuration updating instruction sent by the control end when it is determined that the current cleaning configuration is not matched with the target cleaning configuration, and update the current cleaning configuration to the target cleaning configuration in response to the configuration updating instruction.

Preferably, the configuration updating module 703 is further configured to maintain the current cleaning configuration when the query judging module judges that the current cleaning configuration matches the target cleaning configuration.

the configuration update instruction includes:

Preferably, the configuration updating module 703 is specifically configured to trigger an updating operation on the current cleaning configuration according to the master node;

and updating the cleaning type and the cleaning formula corresponding to the process chamber according to the name of the process chamber, the name of the target cleaning type, the name of the target cleaning formula, the name of each parameter in the target cleaning formula and the value of each parameter in the target cleaning formula, which are targeted by the configuration updating instruction and stored by the plurality of child nodes.

Preferably, the information acquisition module 701 is specifically configured to receive cartridge information input by a user; or the information acquisition equipment is controlled to acquire the information of the material box arranged on the material box.

For the device embodiment, since it is basically similar to the method embodiment, the description is simple, and for the relevant points, refer to the partial description of the method embodiment.

The embodiments in the present specification are described in a progressive manner, each embodiment focuses on differences from other embodiments, and the same and similar parts among the embodiments are referred to each other.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications of these embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the embodiments of the invention.

Finally, it should also be noted that, herein, relational terms such as first and second, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Also, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or mobile device that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or mobile device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or mobile device that comprises the element.

The method for updating a cleaning configuration and the device for updating a cleaning configuration in semiconductor process equipment provided by the embodiment of the invention are described in detail, and a specific example is applied to explain the principle and the implementation mode of the embodiment of the invention, and the description of the embodiment is only used for helping to understand the method and the core idea of the embodiment of the invention; meanwhile, for a person skilled in the art, according to the idea of the embodiment of the present invention, there may be a change in the specific implementation and application scope, and in summary, the content of the present specification should not be construed as a limitation to the embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for updating a cleaning configuration in semiconductor processing equipment, comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, after said determining whether said current wash configuration matches said target wash configuration, further comprising:

if so, the current wash configuration is maintained.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the target cleaning configuration comprises: a target cleaning type and a target cleaning recipe.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the configuration update instruction comprises:

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, further comprising:

6. A method for updating a cleaning configuration in semiconductor processing equipment, comprising:

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising, after the sending the cartridge information:

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the target cleaning configuration comprises: a target cleaning type and a target cleaning recipe;

the configuration update instruction includes:

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the updating the current cleansing configuration to the target cleansing configuration in response to the configuration update instruction comprises:

10. The method according to any one of claims 6-9, wherein the obtaining cartridge information comprises:

receiving the cartridge information input by a user; or,

11. An apparatus for updating a cleaning arrangement in semiconductor processing equipment, comprising:

12. An apparatus for updating a cleaning arrangement in semiconductor processing equipment, comprising: