JP2001143979A - Processing system of semiconductor substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide process of a semiconductor substrate using a plurality of processing systems continuously without a deterioration in operating ratio of each processing system or a trouble on control. SOLUTION: A processing system of a semiconductor wafer includes a process unit group for processing a semiconductor substrate, a carriage unit for carrying the substrate between the process units, and a host controller for managing these members. A flow shop line 1, in which process units 5 to 9 and a carriage unit 10 are continuously mounted in series of process sequence, is provided. A block controller 22 for controlling operation inside the flow shop line 1 is provided. Data is transmitted between a host controller 20 and the block controller 22, and the flow ship line 1 is recognized as one stage and controlled as a whole.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor substrate processing system having a flow shop line in which a processing device and a transfer device are continuously arranged in a series of processing steps.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the manufacture of a semiconductor substrate having a complicated structure, several hundreds of various processing steps such as film formation, photolithography, and etching must be performed, and processing apparatuses are completely different in each step. Since the processing equipment differs depending on the material even in the similar processing steps, many different processing equipment must be used.

[0003] In semiconductor manufacturing equipment, generally, these processing units are concentrated in a fixed area in a clean room for each functional unit, and a layout called a job shop in which processing units of the same function are densely employed is adopted. .
Semiconductor substrates are usually stored in a carrier cassette in units of 24 to 25 substrates, and are transported between processing units by a manual or automatic transfer device in units of carrier cassettes.

When operating semiconductor manufacturing equipment,
Operation information of each processing apparatus is transmitted from the apparatus controller to a host controller that manages the entire semiconductor manufacturing facility, and the host controller directly manages the progress of processing of each semiconductor substrate. Each time the host controller receives the information on the completion of the processing of the semiconductor substrate, the host controller refers to the operation status of the processing apparatus in the next process, searches for an acceptable processing apparatus, issues an instruction to allocate the processing to the processing apparatus, and issues a transfer apparatus between the apparatuses. Is instructed to transport the carrier cassette containing the corresponding semiconductor substrate to the assigned processing apparatus.

For this reason, the semiconductor substrate must be moved between areas of each functional unit (between job shops) every time the process proceeds, and in some cases, a single moving distance may extend between both ends of the clean room. And the travel time increases. In addition, when processing high priority products in parallel, it is difficult to predict the processing end time of the current process and the time that the processing device can be accepted in the next process. Increase. As a result, a situation such as a decrease in the operation rate of the processing apparatus or a stagnation of the semiconductor substrate processing has occurred. Therefore, a great deal of effort has been put into progress management, storage, handling of priority products, and the like of semiconductor substrates in semiconductor manufacturing facilities, and investment in automatic systemization has been enormous.

In order to solve such a problem, a method called a flow shop system in which processing apparatuses are arranged continuously in a series of processing steps is adopted particularly for a step in which the same processing apparatus group is repeatedly used. ing. In this flow shop method, since the flow line of the semiconductor substrate is simplified, in addition to being able to significantly reduce the transport distance,
There is an advantage that stagnation due to transport between processing apparatuses is unlikely to occur.

[0007]

In the flow shop system, however, conventionally, processing apparatuses are simply arranged, and although the transfer distance of the semiconductor substrate is reduced, the difference in processing time between the processing apparatuses in each process is reduced. And stagnation always occurs from a process having a long unit processing time. For this reason, a significant decrease in the operation rate occurs in most processing apparatuses, and there is a problem that the overall production capacity is inevitably reduced as compared with the job shop method.

[0008] In the host controller, since processing apparatuses having the same function exist in the flow shop and the job shop, the operation management of the processing apparatus and the progress management of the semiconductor substrate are complicated, and a control trouble may occur. However, there is a problem that data processing takes a long time and productivity decreases.

In order to solve such a problem, a method of transporting a semiconductor substrate by one sheet has been considered. For example, JP-A-4-130618 and JP-A-4-199709
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication, there is also known a semiconductor manufacturing system in which some systems convey a plurality of successive processing apparatuses one by one on a single semiconductor substrate basis. However, as pointed out in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-122622, these two methods have not been widely put into practical use due to some drawbacks.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-122622 proposes a method in which processing devices are arranged in a pipeline to overcome the disadvantages. However, it is difficult to cope with the change of the processing apparatus due to a change in the processing process of the semiconductor substrate, and there is a problem that long-term practical use is difficult in a semiconductor manufacturing process in which the change is drastic. In addition, since the semiconductor substrates flow sequentially, the system does not have a high degree of freedom because instructions such as jumping of the processing apparatus are not defined for semiconductor substrates having different processing modes, and in this sense, the system is not suitable for long-term practical use. In addition, the part of loading and unloading the semiconductor substrate with respect to the pipeline is not defined, so that the system is difficult to put into practical use.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-122622 points out that in the system of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-199709, it is necessary to increase the number of processing devices and to connect all the processing devices in a straight line. The scheme is very useful for some continuous processes. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-130618 has pointed out the complication due to complicated routes. However, this point is based on the idea that the entire factory is connected. Conversely, it is useful in a continuous process. Conversely, when the facilities are arranged in a ring, the degree of freedom in arranging the facilities is extremely low as described above, and the system is not suitable for short repetitive processes or continuous processes.

However, the systems disclosed in JP-A-4-199709 and JP-A-4-130618 include:
Since the system for managing the entire system, the means for controlling the transfer of the semiconductor substrate, and the like are lacking, the whole system is mechanically very complicated and is not suitable for practical use.

Further, regarding the delivery of the semiconductor substrate,
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2546027,
SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Material Ins
titute) "Semi Equipment Communications Standard E5;
Although an operation plan based on "stream 4" for material transport control specified in the abbreviation "SECS-II" has been proposed, "stream 4" itself has already been turned into a skeleton and is not even supported in actual manufacturing facilities. May not.
This means that the uppermost control system is always inquired about the material transport instruction, and it is impossible to operate without receiving the instruction, and the huge amount of data such as the equipment status and processing status, and the processing instruction and processing procedure for the equipment, Due to the fatal drawback that the semiconductor substrate transport instruction that must be responded to most quickly must be co-located on the line to be exchanged, there is a great danger that the semiconductor substrate transport instruction can not be realized at the correct timing. It is big and not suitable for practical use.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus capable of processing semiconductor substrates by continuously arranging processing apparatuses without lowering the operation rate of each processing apparatus or causing control problems. It aims to provide a system.

[0015]

A semiconductor substrate processing system according to the present invention comprises a processing apparatus group for performing various types of processing of semiconductor substrates, a transfer apparatus for transferring substrates between the processing apparatuses, and a host controller for managing these. In the provided semiconductor substrate processing system, a flow shop line in which a processing apparatus and a transfer apparatus are continuously arranged in a series of processing steps is provided,
A line controller for controlling operation inside the flow shop line is provided, and the host controller recognizes and controls the entire flow shop line as one device by performing data transmission with the line controller. A host controller that needs to perform a large amount of complicated data processing, such as a case where commands and data are directly transmitted and controlled one by one between the host controller and each processing device and transport device. It does not require time to wait for data processing and data transmission, thereby improving the operation rate of each processing device and preventing control trouble.

The dedicated controller can be constituted by a block controller provided with an input / output path for the controllers of the various processing units and the transport device and a processing unit. An area provided with an input / output path and arithmetic processing means may be set in the host controller.

Further, a flow shop line comprising a series of processing apparatuses arranged continuously in the order of processing steps, a transport apparatus for transporting substrates between adjacent processing apparatuses, and a controller for a line for managing these. In the configuration, the transfer device is configured to take out the substrate from each processing device and put it into the next processing device as a series of operations, making it easy to control the controller by utilizing the features of the flow shop line, and simple control With the configuration, high-speed processing becomes possible.

Further, when the transfer device is constituted by a guide path connecting the substrate take-out port of the processing apparatus and the substrate input port of the subsequent processing apparatus, and a robot that runs on the guide path by itself, the transfer is performed by the robot. Therefore, it can be efficiently transported with good controllability.

Further, the transfer device is provided along with a guide path for connecting a substrate take-out port of the processing apparatus and a substrate loading port of a subsequent processing apparatus, a carriage traveling on the guide path, and a processing apparatus. A robot that transfers a substrate between the processing apparatus and the cart can be used, and the same operation is achieved.

Further, when the substrate is loaded, processed, and unloaded into the processing apparatus in the minimum unit of the substrate, the substrate processing can be performed efficiently even in the case of multi-product small-quantity production by single-wafer processing of the substrate. .

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a semiconductor substrate processing system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a combination of a processing apparatus group and a transport apparatus group so that a semiconductor substrate (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer) is sequentially processed through various processing apparatuses arranged in a series of processing steps. This is a flow shop line. In the semiconductor manufacturing facility of the present embodiment, the processing apparatus having the same or similar function as that of the semiconductor processing system of the flow shop system is arranged in a concentrated manner in a predetermined area, and the substrate is transported to an area corresponding to the processing. It is installed in combination with a job shop type semiconductor processing system which is designed to process the wafers by passing the substrates one by one through a flow shop type semiconductor processing system through a repetitive processing step such as a wiring step. It is configured to process efficiently.

In FIG. 1A, reference numeral 2 denotes a charging unit,
3 is a processing unit and 4 is a discharge unit. Reference numerals 5 to 9 denote various processing devices provided in the units 2 to 4,
For example, it is composed of a vacuum cluster device 5, an inspection device 6, an atmospheric processing type device 7, a vacuum processing type device 8, a wafer track type device 9, and the like. The processing unit 3 has the configuration shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), a unit housing 11 including a clean unit for maintaining the environment, a transfer robot 12 for transferring a substrate, a robot trajectory 13 on which the transfer robot 12 moves, and an adjacent unit Delivery unit 1
And a carrier stage 15 for loading and unloading wafers by installing a wafer carrier and serving as a buffer for evacuating the wafers.
The loading unit 2 that only loads substrates is composed of a transport device 10a including a unit housing 11, a transport robot 12, a robot track 13, and a plurality of carrier stages 15, and a discharging unit 4 that discharges substrates. Is provided with a transfer device 10b including a unit housing 11, a transfer robot 12, a robot trajectory 13, a transfer unit 14, and a plurality of carrier stages 15. In the present embodiment, a processing device 9 is also provided in the discharge unit 4. By appropriately combining these three types of units 2, 3, and 4, a line as shown in FIG. 1A can be formed.

In FIG. 1A, an arrow a shown by a solid line is a flow line of a normal wafer, and an arrow b shown by a dashed line is a flow line of a wafer retreating operation when equipment is abnormal.
In addition, when equipment abnormality etc. occur in the discharge unit 4,
Since there is no difference from the normal take-out operation, a flow line indicated by a broken line does not occur.

In operation, the wafer is housed in a wafer carrier such as a Teflon cassette or SMIF pod, and any carrier stage 1
5 The wafers in the wafer carrier are taken out one by one by the transfer robot 12 of the loading unit 2 in response to a processing request from a higher-level controller or by the loading unit 2 detecting the wafer carrier. It is placed on the delivery unit 14. The adjacent processing unit 3 has its own transfer unit 14
, And issues a transfer instruction to its own transfer robot 12. At this time, the wafers to be processed by the processing apparatuses 5 and 6 connected to the processing unit 3 are input to the receiving side of the processing apparatus, and the unprocessed wafers are transferred to the transfer unit 14 of the next adjacent processing unit 3. I do. In addition, a wafer that has been processed by the processing apparatus 5 is instructed to be sent to the transfer apparatus 10 from a higher-order controller in response to a discharge request from the processing apparatus 5, or that the wafer has been discharged to the unloading side of the processing apparatus 5. The transfer robot 12 takes out the sheet when the processing unit 3 detects it. When a plurality of processing apparatuses 5 and 6 are connected to the same processing unit 3 and processing is performed in a subsequent processing apparatus 6, the transfer robot 12 sequentially loads wafers into the processing apparatus 6 and does not perform processing. Is transported to the transfer unit 14 of the adjacent processing unit 3.

The operation method at the time of transport includes “SECS-
II, “Stream 4”, but “SEMI Standard”, “SEMI E23”, “Cassette transport parallel I / O interface specification (Specific
ation for Cassete TransferParallel I / O Interface
) ”Is used. Although this standard is a rule for a wafer transfer cassette, it may be considered that the wafer itself is a wafer cassette storing one wafer. With this idea,
Transfer robot 12 and processing unit (5 to 9), or transfer unit 1 of processing unit 3 adjacent to transfer robot 12
Since communication with the device 4 can be performed only by turning on / off signals between parallel I / Os (PI / Os), it is easy to transfer a single wafer without depending on a higher-level controller. By applying this concept, it is not necessary for the host controller to recognize the individual processing devices (5 to 9) as individual processing devices, and the entire flow shop line 1 can be treated as one composite device. Becomes

The above-described processing operations are sequentially repeated in the processing units 5 to 9 of the respective processing units 3 and the discharge unit 4, and the processed wafer is transferred to the carrier stage 15 of the discharge unit 4.
Is collected by the wafer carrier. When the processed wafer is stored in the wafer carrier with the same configuration as when it is loaded, it is collected by a human or an automatic carrier by making a removal request to a higher-level controller, etc., and a job shop or the like that performs the subsequent processing steps Transported to

If a failure or the like occurs in any of the processing units 5 to 9 and the processing of the wafer cannot be continued, the wafer is transferred to the evacuation wafer carrier installed on the carrier stage 15 provided in each processing unit 3. And wait until the processing device recovers from the failure, or continue processing with an alternative processing device. This means that a plurality of processing devices (5 to 9) are arbitrarily divided by a block controller so that each can be recognized as a separate device, and the device definition pattern is changed to a higher controller (cell controller) or the like. It can be realized by providing functions that can be used.

In general, when a wafer is transferred between processing apparatuses in a single wafer, a difference in processing capacity among the processing apparatuses (5 to 9) becomes a problem. However, if this system is utilized, a plurality of units having the same function can be used. By connecting the processing devices (5 to 9), the processing cycle of the wafer can be equalized for each step of the processing process, so that it can be used from a very small production line to a mass production line. is there.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a main part of the control system of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to the present embodiment.
Reference numeral 20 denotes a host controller which controls and manages the entire semiconductor manufacturing equipment, under which a cell controller (not shown) for managing various job shop type semiconductor substrate processing systems, and a flow shop type semiconductor substrate. A cell controller 21 for managing the entire processing system is connected. This cell controller 2
One or a plurality of block controllers 22 that manage the input unit 2, the processing unit 3, the discharge unit 4, and the like for each of one or a plurality of units are connected to the lower part of the unit.

The block controller 22 includes a transport controller 23 for controlling the transport system (transport device) 10.
And various processing devices (5 to 9) connected to the transport device 10
Is connected. Further, the transport system controller 23 and the device controller 24,
A PI / O controller 25 is provided to control the exchange of signals with the P / O 24.

The control system by the block controller 22 in the processing unit 3 shown in FIG.
More specifically, referring to FIG. 3, below the block controller 22, the device controllers 24 of the individual processing devices 5 and 6, the controller 26 of the transfer unit 14, the controller 23 of the robot 12 of the transport device 10, the carrier controller The controller 27 of the stage 15 and two of the entrance and the exit
The controllers 28 of the two wafer I / Os 16 and 17 are arranged and generally controlled, and the upper cell controller 21
It is configured to transmit and execute a request from the host controller 20 and to transmit the requested data. Further, a P which controls the exchange of signals between the robot 12 and the processing devices 5 and 6, the transfer unit 14, the carrier stage 15, the wafer I / Os 16 and 17, and the robot 12.
An I / O controller 25 is provided.

The processing flow in the semiconductor substrate processing system having the above configuration is shown in detail in the flowcharts of FIGS. To explain the basic flow schematically,
The controller 20 confirms that the loading unit 2 of the flow shop line 1 can be received, and instructs to feed a pod such as a wafer cassette or SMIF containing wafers into the loading unit 2 (steps # 1 and #).
2). When the pod is placed in the loading unit 2, the block controller 22 reads the recognition ID of the loaded wafer group (hereinafter referred to as a lot), and sends the processing history of the lot to the host controller 20 via the cell controller 21. An inquiry is made to determine the content to be processed in the processing system controlled by itself, or the content of the process itself is inquired, and a processing procedure is prepared based on the answer (step # 3).
~ # 5).

Next, the state of the leading processing unit 5 is checked,
If acceptable, a processing instruction is given to the corresponding processing device 5 (steps # 6, # 7). Upon receiving the processing instruction, the processing device 5 issues an input request to the transfer unit 10 of the input unit 2 and the processing unit 3 by the PI / O controller 25 and the robot controller 23 in the input unit 2.
The state is further confirmed by the PI / O controller 25 between the wafer I / O 16 and the wafer I / O 16, and a wafer loading operation is performed on the first processing apparatus 5 according to a predetermined flow (steps # 8 to # 10). And. The processing apparatus 5 processes the wafer according to a predetermined procedure (steps # 11 to # 1).
5).

For a wafer that has been processed by the first processing apparatus 5, a payout request from the processing apparatus 5 is transmitted to the transfer apparatus 10, and the PI / O controller 25 between the devices in the input unit 2 in the same manner as when the wafer is input. (Step # 16). Block controller 2
2 receives the completion of the delivery of the wafer from the processing apparatus 5 side, and executes the above steps # 3 to # 15 for the subsequent wafer.
Is repeated.

When the block controller 22 receives the completion of the unloading of the wafer from the processing apparatus 5, the block controller 22 checks the state of the next processing apparatus 6 (step # 17). If the processing device 6 cannot accept the request, an exception process (step # 1)
Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the process is transferred to the carrier stage 15 and waits until it can be processed in some form and discharged (steps # 41 to # 45).

If the processing device 6 can accept the wafer, it issues a wafer processing command to the next processing device 6, processes the wafer in the same manner as described above, and after processing is completed, discharges the wafer (step # 19). ~ # 26).

Next, the block controller 22 checks the state of the next processing unit 3 (steps # 27, # 2).
8) If it is not the final processing, it is determined whether the delivery unit 14 of the next processing unit 3 can accept the processing (step #).
29) If it is not acceptable, the process proceeds to the exception process of FIG. 7 (step # 30). If it is acceptable, it is transported to the next transfer unit 14 of the processing unit 3 (steps # 31 to # 30).
33, # 39, # 40), and repeats the processing of steps # 3 to # 26 as in the processing unit 3.

In the case of the final processing as determined in step # 28, the wafer is transferred to the carrier stage 1 of the discharge unit 4
5 in a pod such as a wafer carrier,
The controller 22 notifies the host controller 20 of the completion of the wafer processing (steps # 34 to # 38).

In the above processing flow, a push-type control processing method in which the block controller 22 checks the state of the processing devices 5 and 6 and issues a processing instruction is ideal for guaranteeing the processing history. Since the substrate can be transported only by the PI / O sequence between each of the processing devices 5 and 6 and the transport device 10 when the process 5 starts processing, the processing devices 5 and 6 themselves always block the substrate loading request. It is also possible to process the substrate by pull-type control in which the wafer is sent to the controller 22 and the wafer is given priority to the processing devices 5 and 6, and this method is more advantageous in terms of total cost.

The processing history of wafers in this system is as follows:
Ideally, each node (processing system, transfer system such as loading, discharging, relaying, etc.) always checks the wafer ID, and manages it while always verifying it in the block controller 22. Since it flows, if the in / out of the wafer is traced, the processing history can be managed without directly confirming the ID of the wafer itself, which is advantageous in terms of cost.

In an actual factory, it is appropriate to use the most suitable control method from the above-mentioned control methods in consideration of the scale of the entire line and the amount of wafers to be processed.

In the above-described embodiment, the block controller 22 is provided separately from the host controller 20 and the cell controller 21. May be set in the host controller 20 or the cell controller 21. In addition, the transport device 10
As an example, the one using the transfer robot 12 is illustrated,
It may also be configured by a guide path connecting between the processing apparatuses, a truck running on the guide path by itself, and a robot installed along with the processing apparatus and transferring the substrate between the processing apparatus and the cart.

[0044]

According to the semiconductor substrate processing system of the present invention, as is apparent from the above description, in the semiconductor substrate processing performed by using a plurality of processing apparatuses continuously, the operating rate of each processing apparatus can be reduced. Since the operation can be performed without lowering or causing trouble in control, there is a great effect in securing the production capacity and shortening the manufacturing period.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a semiconductor substrate processing system according to the present invention, in which (a) is an overall plan view and (b) is a plan view of a standard transfer device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of the control system of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system in the processing unit of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Flow shop line 3 Processing unit 5-9 Processing device 10 Transfer device 12 Transfer robot 13 Robot trajectory 20 Host controller 21 Cell controller 22 Block controller 23 Transfer system controller 24 Device controller 25 PI / O controller

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A semiconductor substrate processing system comprising: a processing apparatus group for performing various types of processing of a semiconductor substrate; a transfer apparatus for transferring a substrate between the processing apparatuses; and a host controller for managing the processing apparatus. A flow shop line that is continuously arranged in a series of processing steps,
A line controller for controlling operation inside the flow shop line is provided, and the host controller recognizes and controls the entire flow shop line as one device by performing data transmission with the line controller. A semiconductor substrate processing system characterized in that: 2. The semiconductor substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein the line controller includes a block controller having an input / output path for a controller of various processing apparatuses and a transport apparatus, and an arithmetic processing unit. . 3. The line controller according to claim 1, wherein an area provided with input / output paths for the controllers of the various processing units and the transfer unit and an arithmetic processing unit is set in the host controller. Semiconductor substrate processing system. 4. A flow shop line comprising a series of processing apparatuses arranged continuously in the order of processing steps, a transport apparatus for transporting substrates between adjacent processing apparatuses, and a line controller for managing these. 4. The semiconductor substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein the transfer device is configured to take out the substrate from each processing device and put the substrate into the next processing device as a series of operations. . 5. The transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the transfer device includes a guide path connecting the substrate take-out port of the processing apparatus and a substrate input port of a subsequent processing apparatus, and a robot that runs on the guide path. Item 5. A semiconductor substrate processing system according to item 4. 6. A transfer device, comprising: a guide path connecting a substrate take-out port of a processing apparatus to a substrate input port of a subsequent processing apparatus; a carriage traveling on the guide path by itself; 5. The semiconductor substrate processing system according to claim 4, wherein the robot is configured to transfer a substrate between the processing apparatus and a carriage. 7. The semiconductor processing system according to claim 1, wherein input, processing, and unloading of the substrate into and from the processing apparatus are performed in a minimum unit of the substrate.