JP2002016123A - Sample processor and processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vacuum processing system and a vacuum processing method for reducing the number of used dummy samples while performance is maintained and for reducing cost. SOLUTION: A vacuum processor, a foreign matter detection device detecting the number of particles on the surface of the dummy sample, and an automatic transportation device which automatically transports the sample between the vacuum processor and the foreign mater detection device, are arranged. Then, a transportation control means stopping the carry-in of the dummy sample by the transportation device in the vacuum processor when the number of particles measured by the foreign matter detection device becomes smaller than a previously decided number is also disposed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a processing apparatus, particularly to a sample processing apparatus and a sample processing method using the same.
In particular, a sample processing apparatus suitable for performing single-wafer or batch processing such as etching, CVD (chemical vapor deposition), sputtering, ashing, rinsing (washing with water), and CMP on a sample as a semiconductor element substrate. Regarding the processing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A vacuum processing apparatus for processing a sample is roughly divided into a cassette block and a vacuum block. The cassette block has a front surface extending in a longitudinal direction facing a bay passage of a semiconductor manufacturing line. Then, there are a sample cassette, an alignment unit for adjusting the orientation of the sample, and an atmospheric robot. The vacuum processing block includes a lock chamber, a vacuum processing chamber, a post-vacuum processing chamber, a vacuum pump, a vacuum robot, and the like. In these vacuum processing apparatuses, the sample taken out of the cassette in the cassette block is transported to the lock chamber of the vacuum processing block by an atmospheric robot. The sample transferred from the lock chamber to the processing chamber by the vacuum robot and set on the electrode structure is subjected to processing such as plasma etching. Thereafter, it is transported to a post-processing chamber and processed as needed. The processed sample is transported to the cassette of the cassette block by the vacuum robot and the atmospheric robot.

As an example of vacuum processing using a dummy sample and a sample for manufacturing as a sample, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-361
No. 98 publication. In this publication, sample cassettes are classified into product cassettes and dummy sample cassettes. Three or four cassettes are arranged on the same horizontal plane in the air block, and each cassette has a diameter of 300 mm.
It is described that a predetermined number of (12 ″) wafers are stored, and a dummy wafer is used for checking the number of foreign particles (particles) in a vacuum processing unit and for cleaning a vacuum processing chamber forming a vacuum processing area. I have.

As another example of performing vacuum processing using a dummy sample and a manufacturing sample as a sample, see, for example, JP-A-7-3
No. 35708 can be mentioned. This publication describes a vacuum processing apparatus having means for accommodating a dummy substrate or a foreign substance check sample used in a cleaning process in the atmosphere, and further includes a foreign substance check sample after processing by the vacuum processing apparatus. Is inspected by an external inspection device to check the state of foreign matter in the processing chamber.

[0005]

As described above, the dummy sample stored in the dummy sample cassette is used at the time of cleaning the vacuum processing chamber, but is set to be used for each dummy sample cassette at the time of the cleaning process. Based on past empirical rules, all dummy samples in some dummy sample cassettes have been unloaded and used.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a sample processing apparatus and a sample processing method capable of reducing the number of dummy samples used while maintaining performance, and realizing cost reduction by adopting a simple method. With the goal.

[0007] Also, the check of the number of foreign substances in the processing apparatus at the time of starting the product is usually performed manually on a daily basis. In this case, in the worst case, there is a possibility that a product sample for one day of processing will be defective. In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum processing apparatus and a vacuum processing method capable of reducing the number of defective product samples while maintaining performance and realizing cost reduction.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the number of particles adhering to a dummy sample is carried out to a processing chamber and detected, the use of the dummy sample is stopped in accordance with the number of particles, and the cleaning process is terminated. Then, the production sample is carried out from the production sample cassette to the vacuum processing block and subjected to vacuum processing. It is not necessary to immediately perform the cancellation, and it is a matter of course that a predetermined number of dummy samples may be unnecessarily carried out in order to ensure more abnormal cleanliness. Here, the number of particles is defined as a method of detecting the number of particles on the surface of the dummy sample by a method of directly detecting the number of particles on the surface of the dummy sample, and a method of measuring particles floating just above the dummy sample during plasma processing. Predict the particles on the surface of the dummy sample,
Based on the fact that there is a method of indirect detection. The latter is a method of injecting laser light into plasma, detecting scattered light from floating particles and estimating the number of particles,
A wavelength / frequency separation method focusing on the frequency characteristics of plasma emission described in JP-A-11-330053 and the like, a back scattered light detection method focusing on the polarization characteristics of foreign matter scattered light, and the like are known.

As the former, there is known an apparatus which uses a mirror-surface wafer and a patterned product wafer as an on-wafer foreign matter inspection apparatus. These are composed of a detection optical system and a laser scanning system.
It moves in the axial direction, scans on the XY axis secondary plane, and directly detects the number of particles on the sample surface.

The present invention specifically provides the following apparatus and method.

The present invention comprises a cassette block and a sample processing block, and the cassette block has a cassette base on which a product sample cassette, a dummy sample cassette, or a cassette for mixing a product sample and a dummy sample is mounted. A sample processing block provided with a processing chamber for processing the dummy sample and the product sample, and a transfer device for transferring the dummy sample and the product sample from the cassette table to the sample processing block; Apparatus, a foreign matter inspection device that detects the number of particles on the surface of the dummy sample or the product sample, and an automatic transport device that automatically transports the sample between the sample processing device and the foreign material inspection device, When the number of particles transmitted from the foreign matter inspection device becomes smaller than a predetermined number,
And a transport control means for stopping loading of the dummy sample by the transport device into a vacuum processing block in the sample processing device.

The transport control means includes a storage medium for storing the operation module and the number of particles for instructing the transport stop of the dummy sample in a map form.

The dummy wafers in the cassette supplied by the automatic transfer device are first measured for the total number of particles by a foreign matter inspection device and then sent to a sample processing device, and the measured value of the particle number is processed for each dummy sample. The number of previous particles is stored in a storage device in the sample processing apparatus or the host computer. A predetermined number of product samples, a predetermined number of product lots, a predetermined number of product cassettes, and a predetermined number of cycles, and a dummy sample is processed by the sample processing device, and the dummy sample is sent to the foreign substance inspection device via an automatic transport device. The number of particles is measured, and the measured value is returned to the sample processing apparatus or the host computer. The value is stored in the storage device as the number of particles after the processing of the dummy sample, and the difference from the number of particles before the processing of the sample is calculated. If the value is equal to or greater than a reference value stored in a storage device corresponding to the operation module, a cleaning process of the sample processing apparatus is automatically started to provide a sample processing system.

In the above-mentioned cleaning step, the number of particles is sent to the foreign substance inspection apparatus by an automatic transport apparatus for each of a plurality of preset dummy samples, and the number of particles is measured.
Return the value to the sample processing device or host computer,
The number of particles after the processing of the dummy sample is stored in a storage device, and the difference from the number of particles before the processing of the sample is calculated. A vacuum processing system for automatically stopping the transfer of the dummy sample by the transfer device in the vacuum processing device if the value is equal to or less than the number of particles for indicating the stop of transfer of the dummy sample stored in the storage device corresponding to the operation module. I will provide a.

An automatic computer having a vacuum processing apparatus and a foreign substance inspection apparatus and a host computer having communication means determine the automatic start of the cleaning step and the instruction to stop the transfer of the dummy sample in the cleaning step. To provide a sample processing system.

The present invention comprises a cassette block and a sample processing block. The cassette block has a cassette table on which a product sample cassette and a dummy sample cassette are mounted, and transports the dummy sample and the product sample. And a processing chamber for processing the dummy sample and the product sample, loading the dummy sample and the product sample into the processing chamber, and unloading from the processing chamber. A lock chamber, vacuum transfer means for transferring the dummy sample and the product sample between the processing chamber and the lock chamber are arranged, and the dummy sample and the lock between the cassette table and the lock chamber by the atmospheric transfer means. A sample processing device that transports product samples, and a foreign material inspection device that directly detects the number of particles on the surface of a dummy sample Having an automatic transport device for automatically transporting a sample between the sample processing device and the foreign material inspection device, and when the number of particles transmitted from the foreign material inspection device becomes smaller than a predetermined number. And a transport control means for stopping the loading of the dummy sample by the atmospheric transport means into a sample processing block in the sample processing apparatus. It is preferable that the product sample cassette and the dummy sample cassette are placed in different places on the cassette table in terms of the overall processing throughput.However, the same place is shared and used in a time-sharing manner. Alternatively, a cassette in which a product sample and a dummy sample are mixed may be used.

A sample processing apparatus characterized in that a difference between the number of particles on a surface of a dummy sample before and after processing is determined, and it is determined whether the number is smaller than a predetermined number using the determined number of particles. Provide system.

A sample having a size of 12 inches or more is used as the dummy sample, and the number of particles in an area of 8 inches or less of the dummy sample is detected by the foreign matter inspection apparatus.

The present invention further comprises a stocker for stocking the dummy sample, wherein the loading of the dummy sample into the sample processing block in the sample processing apparatus is stopped, and a dummy sample cassette holding remaining unused dummy samples. To a stocker for supplying a dummy sample cassette newly holding a predetermined number of dummy samples to the processing apparatus.

According to the present invention, a cassette holding a pre-processing dummy sample whose number of foreign substances has been measured by a foreign substance inspection apparatus is sent to the sample processing apparatus by an automatic transport apparatus, and then, when a product sample is started in the sample processing apparatus. A dummy sample is automatically processed at a predetermined timing, such as a predetermined number of product samples, a predetermined number of product lots, or a predetermined product cassette, and the dummy sample is sent to a foreign matter inspection device via an automatic transfer device, where the dummy sample is sent. The number of foreign substances after the processing of the sample is measured, and when the number of foreign substances after the processing or the difference between the number of foreign substances before and after the processing becomes a predetermined value or more, the cleaning process of the processing chamber in the sample processing apparatus is automatically started. A sample processing method is provided.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a control block diagram thereof. In these figures, a vacuum processing apparatus 104 (processing apparatus)
Is composed of a cassette block 16 and a vacuum processing block 17 (processing block) each having a rectangular parallelepiped shape. Cassette block 16 and vacuum processing block 17
Are planar shapes. The cassette block 16 extends in the longitudinal direction facing the bay passage of the semiconductor manufacturing line, and exchanges cassettes 1-1, 1-2, and 1-3 each containing a sample with the bay passage on the front side. A transfer device 2 such as a cassette table and an atmospheric pressure transfer device is provided. A vacuum processing block 17 installed on the back of the cassette block 16 extends in a direction perpendicular to the cassette block 16 and performs various processes, that is, vacuum processing chambers 8-1, 8-2, 8-3, 8 for performing vacuum processing. -4 (processing chamber), vacuum transfer chamber 18 (transfer chamber), and vacuum transfer device 7 (transfer device).

The vacuum processing block 17 is provided with lock chambers which are the load side lock chamber 4 and the unload side lock chamber 5. The vacuum transfer chamber 18 is provided with a vacuum transfer device, for example, a robot, which takes in the sample placed in the load-side lock chamber 4 and transfers the sample to the unload-side lock chamber 5. This robot transports the sample from the load-side lock chamber 4 to the vacuum processing chambers 8-1, 8-2, 8-3, 8-4, and also performs vacuum processing chambers 8-1, 8-2, 8-3, 8-4,
The sample is transported between the unload-side lock chambers 5.

The vacuum processing chamber 8 is a chamber for processing samples one by one, for example, a plasma etching process, and is provided in a vacuum processing block 17.

The load-side lock chamber 4 and the unload-side lock chamber 5 are provided on opposite sides of the vacuum processing chamber 8 with respect to the robot, that is, on the cassette block side of the vacuum processing block 17.

The transfer device of the cassette block 16 has a rail 19 and an atmospheric robot 2 juxtaposed to the cassettes 1-1, 1-2 and 1-3. The atmospheric robot has a telescopic arm, and the trajectory of the telescopic arm that expands and contracts while moving on the rail 19 is the cassette 1-1, 1-2, and 2 of the loader.
1-3, load side lock room 4, unload side lock room 5
The trajectory includes the centering and orienteering device 3.

The sample cassette comprises product sample cassettes 1-1 and 1-2 and dummy sample cassette 1-3. All of the sample cassettes store a product sample or a product and a dummy sample. The dummy sample cassette 1-3 stores a mirror wafer or a dummy wafer, which is a sample for checking particles (foreign matter) and cleaning (cleaning). 1-1 and 1-2 are atmospheric cassettes for product samples, and 1-3 are atmospheric cassettes for dummy samples.

In the atmospheric pressure block which is the cassette block 16, three (or four) cassettes 1-1, 1-2 and 1-3 are juxtaposed on the same horizontal plane. In each case, the sample diameter in each cassette is 300 mm (1 mm).
2 ") of semiconductor element substrates (wafers) are stored in a predetermined number.

Of the three to four cassettes, two to three cassettes contain samples (wafers before processing) to be subjected to a predetermined vacuum process in a vacuum processing unit. The remaining one cassette contains, for example, 25 dummy wafers.

Although it is preferable that the number of cassettes to be set is large in terms of throughput, in some cases, it is preferable that the number of cassettes be small in order to reduce the size of the apparatus. The present invention can be applied to a case where the cassette is installed in one place and a case where the product sample cassette and the dummy sample cassette are used in a time-division manner.

An in-bay AGV 102 for transporting in a bay in a clean room is installed in front of the vacuum processing apparatus 104, and a foreign substance inspection apparatus 115 is installed in the same bay together with many other sample processing apparatuses. . Foreign matter inspection device 1
15 is a cassette block 29 similar to the vacuum processing apparatus 104 but simplified, and a foreign matter measurement block 3
0. The cassette block 29 is a cassette 31-installed in the atmospheric pressure for foreign substance inspection, which holds a measurement sample.
1, 31-2 and a transport unit 32 in the atmospheric pressure. The transport unit 32 in the atmosphere moves samples into and out of the foreign matter measuring block 30 one by one.

An unused dummy sample cassette fed from the stocker via the line AGV 101, the bay stocker 103, and the in-bay AGV 102 first receives the foreign matter inspection device 1
15 and counts the number of foreign substances before processing all the samples in the cassette.

The dummy sample cassette for which the measurement of the number of foreign substances has been completed is subjected to the corresponding vacuum processing apparatus 1 in the AGV 102 in the bay.
04.

After the processing of the product sample is started in the vacuum processing apparatus 104, the unused dummy sample is subjected to the same processing conditions as the product sample in the processing chamber 8 or to the stabilization of the processing chamber at a predetermined timing such as a predetermined lot. And the dummy sample is returned to the dummy sample cassette.

Next, the cassette is inserted into the AGV 102 in the bay.
To the foreign matter inspection device 115, and is notified from the vacuum processing device 104. The number of foreign substances in the dummy sample after the above processing is measured and reported to the vacuum processing apparatus 104 or the host computer 13, and the dummy sample after the foreign substance measurement is returned to the dummy sample cassette, and the AGV 10 in the bay is returned.
The dummy sample cassette is returned to the vacuum processing apparatus by 2.

In the host computer 13 or the controller 10 in the vacuum processing apparatus 104, the number of foreign substances in the dummy sample after the processing or the increase in the number of foreign substances in the dummy sample before and after the processing is determined by the processing chamber NO. Or a predetermined number of times or more than a value set in advance corresponding to the classification of the processing process or a predetermined number of times, the cleaning process of the processing chamber in the vacuum processing apparatus 104 is performed. Command start.

In the cleaning process of the vacuum processing apparatus, the dummy sample cassette 1-
After taking out the dummy sample from 3 and cleaning the processing chamber in the processing chamber, the dummy sample is returned to the dummy sample cassette 1-3 again. This step is performed continuously. After a predetermined number of cleaning treatments of several or more than ten are performed, the dummy sample cassette is fed to the foreign matter inspection device by the AGV 102 in the bay, and is used in the cleaning process, and the number of foreign matters after the processing is still measured. The number of foreign substances in a plurality of dummy samples is measured, and the vacuum processing apparatus 1
04 or the host computer 13 and return the dummy sample cassette to the vacuum processing apparatus.

The increase in the number of foreign substances or the number of foreign substances in the dummy sample before and after the processing is determined by the processing chamber NO. If the predetermined number of sheets becomes equal to or less than a preset value or equal to or less than a preset value corresponding to the classification of the processing process, the cleaning process of the processing chamber in the vacuum processing apparatus 104 is terminated. Let it. If the above condition is not satisfied, the same cleaning process as before is continued.

If the particles on the wafer before vacuum processing are controlled to be sufficiently low, the measurement of the number of foreign substances before vacuum processing can be deleted.

In FIG. 1, a normal open type cassette has been described as the cassette. SMIF (Standard) in which clean gas for mini environment is sealed near atmospheric pressure
Mechanical Inter Face) and FOUP (Front Opening U)
niversal Pod) is used to manufacture semiconductors, etc., using a closed cassette, which reduces the cleanliness of the entire clean room and reduces energy consumption.
The invention is equally applicable.

In detecting the number of particles, the same operation can be performed by detecting the number of particles as described above.

The vacuum processing chamber 8 has a processing chamber monitoring sensor 9-
1, 9-2, 9-3 and 9-4 are provided. The processing room monitoring sensor 9 includes an emission analyzer, a thermometer, a particle monitor, a plasma impedance measuring device, a mass analyzer, and the like.
Measurement of particles during plasma processing, measurement of change in plasma, and the like are performed, and these data are used for processing room monitoring.

A wafer sensor is mounted near the dummy sample cassette 1-3, and the count value of the number of placed dummy wafers is input to the controller 10. In addition, the controller 10 is transmitted from the foreign substance inspection device 115 by a communication unit. The number of particles on the wafer surface and the number of particles equivalent to the number of particles measured by the processing chamber monitoring sensor 9 (hereinafter, the number of particles will be described as an example) are input as detection values, and further data obtained from the processing chamber monitoring sensor 9. Is entered.

The instruction to the controller 10 is given from the data input device 12 or the host computer 13, and the processing usually proceeds automatically. The details of the progress can be confirmed on the display device 11.

The controller 10 stores sequences such as an overall control sequence, a transfer control sequence, and a processing chamber control sequence. A storage unit 10-1 is provided for storing the number of dummy sample loading stop instruction particles in a map form corresponding to the classification of the process or the processing condition to be used.

The controller 10 includes a data processing section 10-2 mainly composed of a microcomputer for performing calculations and judgments, and a processing control interface section 10- serving as an interface with a processing chamber for controlling plasma processing. 3, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 19, etc., a transfer interface 10-4, which is an interface with a transfer control mechanism, and a sensor interface 10, which is an interface with the processing room monitoring sensor 9, etc. -5
And The processing room monitoring sensor 9 may be input to the controller 10 via the processing control interface unit 10-3.

Vacuum processing device 104 and foreign matter inspection device 115
Is executed via the host computer 13 or directly by a communication means using a LAN in the bay.

If it is determined that the cleaning step has been sufficiently performed and the number of particles has decreased to a predetermined value or less, the dummy sample cassette 1 is placed in a state where unused dummy samples remain in the dummy sample cassette 1-3. -3 and loading into the load lock chamber 4 is stopped. In this state, usually, the sample of
The next and subsequent dummy samples may be present in the processing chamber 8, the vacuum transfer chamber 18, the load-side lock chamber 4, and the cassette block 16 other than the cassette 1. The dummy sample being processed in the processing chamber 8 is returned to the cassette 1-3 as a used dummy sample after the processing is completed, and the dummy sample before processing is returned to the cassette 1-3 as an unused dummy sample.

Thus, the loading of the dummy sample is stopped, and the number of used dummy samples and the number of unused dummy samples are stored in the memory of the controller 10. After performing processing for normally terminating the dummy processing task in the transport control sequence, the control is returned to the overall control sequence. Unused dummy samples are transported together with the used dummy samples by means of transport (A in the bay).
GV: 102, AGV for line: 101), and is collected on the work dummy sample cassette shelf 110 in the cassette transfer area 100. By doing so, the dummy samples are made to flow more than necessary, and the use of excess dummy samples, which has increased the cost, is prevented.

As described above, the number of particles measured after processing by the foreign substance inspection apparatus is basically used as a control factor, but the difference between the number of particles before processing and the number of particles after processing,
Alternatively, the cleaning step may be started in consideration of processing chamber monitoring data of the vacuum processing apparatus, or loading of the dummy sample in the cleaning step may be stopped.

FIG. 3 shows a modification of the vacuum processing apparatus in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in which one lock chamber 14 is provided. That is, the lock chamber 14 has two functions of the load-side lock chamber 4 and the unload-side lock chamber 5 in FIG. Other functions are the same as those of the vacuum processing apparatus in the example shown in FIG. 1 and will not be described again here.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the foreign matter measuring block 30 for performing two-dimensional scanning in the foreign matter inspection apparatus. The particle sensor of FIG. 4 is an example including a laser scanning system, a detection optical system, and a sample moving unit. The dummy sample 15 is moved in the sample scanning direction (X-axis direction) by the sample moving means.

The laser scanning system includes a laser 20, a lens 2
1, a galvanometer mirror 22, an f lens, and a θ lens 23,
The dummy sample is scanned in the Y-axis direction by the laser beam spot 27.

The detection optical system includes a condenser lens + analyzer 24,
The reflected light at the laser beam scanning point is detected by the condenser lens and the analyzer, and is detected by the detector 25 through the slit. Thus, dummy sample 1
The surface of No. 5 is two-dimensionally scanned on the XY axis, the entire surface is covered, and the number of particles is detected. When a sample of 12 inches or more is used as a dummy sample, the number of particles in an area of 8 inches or less, for which a technique has already been established, may be detected, and the number of particles of the entire sample may be estimated.

FIG. 5 shows an example of execution of a cleaning process processing task in the controller 10 when a request for a cleaning process in the j-th process is input to the controller 10 from the i-th chamber in the vacuum processing apparatus 104. .

In this example, the amount of particle increase: ΔK
Is the number of particles instructing to stop loading the dummy sample in the i chamber j process continuously for Mo times, and the reference foreign matter amount is:
An example in which the cleaning process is normally terminated when the amount becomes lower than (reference foreign matter amount) ij will be described.

Ni is the number of dummy processed samples No is the upper limit of the number of dummy processed samples Lo is the number of dummy processed samples stored in the cassette L is the number of unprocessed samples in the dummy cassette Mi is continuously ΔK ) Number of samples lower than ij Mo is the set number of Mi to be continued If Ni exceeds No, the following abnormal processing is performed.

The contents of the abnormality are displayed on the display device 11 and an alarm is issued.

The number of unused dummy samples and the abnormal end of the cleaning process processing task are reported to the host computer 13.

The abnormal end of the cleaning process task is reported to the overall control sequence in the controller 10.

The dummy sample in the apparatus is returned to the dummy sample cassette 1-3, the dummy sample cassette is transferred to the in-bay AGV 102, and an unused dummy sample cassette is received from the in-bay AGV 102.

The following processing is performed in the normal processing sequence.

The dummy sample in the apparatus is returned to the dummy sample force set 1-3, and the upper computer 13 is requested to report the number of unused dummy samples and to exchange the dummy sample cassette.

The dummy sample cassette is transferred to the AGV 102 in the bay, and the unused dummy sample cassette is transferred to the AGV 102 in the bay.
Received from 102.

The completion of the cleaning process processing task is displayed on the display device 11 and reported to the host computer 13, and is reported to the overall control sequence in the controller 10.

By incorporating a multitasking operating system in the controller 10, a plurality of tasks can be executed in parallel, so that efficient processing can be performed.

FIG. 6 shows an example of an automation line in a semiconductor manufacturing plant.

A semiconductor sample vacuum processing apparatus 104 for vacuum processing or atmospheric pressure processing is arranged to face each bay.

In each bay 105, an in-bay AGV 102 as a means for transporting an in-bay sample cassette is disposed, and the sample cassette is transferred to the line AGV 101 via the bay stocker 103.

A foreign substance inspection device 115 is provided for each bay to perform the above-described foreign substance measurement of the dummy sample and the foreign substance measurement of the product sample. Although the throughput of the foreign substance measurement is reduced, one foreign substance inspection device 115 may be installed in a plurality of bays.

The line AGV 101 is movably disposed in the cassette transfer area 100.

The automatic transport means of the cassette is not limited to the automatic transport vehicle AGV, but may be an OHT (Over Head Transp.
The same applies when other means such as ort) are used.

In the cassette transfer area 100, the following cassette shelves are arranged.

Cassette shelf for product sample before processing 107 Cassette shelf for processed product sample 108 Cassette shelf for dummy sample before processing 109 Cassette shelf for dummy sample after processing 111 Dummy sample cassette shelf for work 110 Although not shown in the figure, The cassette for the pre-process product sample and the cassette for the dummy sample before the process are loaded into the cassette shelf in the cassette transfer area 100 by another transport means in a state where each sample is stored.

Further, the cassette for the processed product sample and the cassette for the dummy sample after the processing are carried out from the cassette shelf in the cassette transfer area 100 by another transport means in a state where each sample is stored.

The work dummy sample cassette shelf is a shelf for temporarily installing a cassette in which only unused dummy samples are partially stored.

It should be noted that the AG in the bay is
V102, bay stocker 103, line AGV10
The used dummy sample cassette and the unused dummy sample are mixed in the dummy sample cassette collected via the first dummy sample cassette.

A work station 113 is provided in the cassette transfer area 100 in order to divide the collected sample in the dummy sample cassette into an unused dummy sample cassette and a processed dummy sample cassette. In addition, a particle sensor for checking foreign substances such as a collected unused dummy sample and a cleaning device for cleaning a sample when the level of foreign substances becomes higher than the control value are adjacent to the cassette transfer area 100 or the cassette transfer area. By installing
The exchange of the dummy sample with the outside can be greatly reduced.

In the clean room such as the bay 105 in which the front part of the vacuum processing device 104 is arranged, the line portion, the cassette transfer area 100 and the like, foreign matter reduction and temperature and humidity control are performed by an air conditioner. As mentioned earlier, SMI
By using a closed cassette such as F or FOUP, the management of the foreign matter level in the clean room can be relaxed. However, even in this case, the sample is transported under the atmospheric pressure, such as near the opening / closing portion of the closed type cassette, the cassette block 16 in the vacuum processing device 104, or the work station 113 in the cassette transfer area 100. It is necessary to control the foreign matter level of the part low.

A maintenance passage 106 is provided outside the clean room, through which the vacuum processing apparatus 1 is connected.
04 has access to the back. In this maintenance area, the foreign matter management level is set to be looser than in the clean room section.

The front part and the rear part of the vacuum processing apparatus 104 are partitioned by a partition 114 to separate a clean room part having a high cleanness level from a maintenance part having a low cleanness degree.

The entire production line shown in FIG. 6 is controlled by the above-mentioned host computer 13. FIG. 6 shows an example of the flow of the dummy cassette collection task executed by the host computer 13.

In this example, foreign matter measurement of an unused sample in the collected old dummy sample cassette is performed, and if the number exceeds the control value, the sample is transported to a cleaning device to wash the sample, and then the foreign matter measurement is performed again. Is performed. If the number of repetitions exceeds the upper limit Qmax, the sample is placed in a dummy sample cassette after processing.

If the number of foreign particles to be measured is equal to or smaller than the control value, the sample is stored in a dummy sample cassette for work. Thereafter, the next unused sample in the collected old dummy sample cassette is taken out and the same processing is performed.

As described above, when the foreign substance measuring device and the cleaning device are installed in or adjacent to the clean room and the collected unused dummy sample is cleaned, the exchange with the outside of the clean room is greatly reduced.

However, in this patent, the foreign matter measurement and cleaning device in the clean room is not an essential requirement. Further, the basic part of the present invention can be similarly applied to a production line in which a human carries a cassette.

If a dummy sample regenerating device for shaving the surface of a used dummy sample and regenerating it into a mirror-finished sample is installed in the clean room, in the cassette transfer area 100 or adjacent thereto, the dummy sample can be connected to the outside of the clean room. Interactions are further reduced significantly.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a reduction in the number of particles when the processing chamber is cleaned using a dummy sample.

Each time five dummy samples are processed, the dummy sample cassette of the vacuum processing apparatus is sent to the foreign substance inspection apparatus, and after measuring the five sheets together, the cassette is returned to the vacuum processing apparatus, and the cleaning process is continued. Was.

An example in which the cleaning step of the processing chamber using the dummy sample is completed when the number of particles that have been added twice (Mo = 2) falls below the (reference foreign matter amount) ij of 10 particles. . In this example, the process is terminated when the number of processed dummy samples (Ni) reaches fourteen. However, since five foreign materials have been inspected for the processed dummy samples at a time, the cleaning process is performed up to the fifteenth sample. I have.

Actually, the number of processed sheets at the end of this processing fluctuated to about 8 to 40 even in a normal state.

In a conventional apparatus in which the processing apparatus is not equipped with a particle sensor, the maximum value in a normal state (40 in the above case)
Of the dummy sample must be used each time, but in the application example of the present invention using the processing apparatus equipped with the particle sensor, the number of used dummy samples is 1/2 to 1 /
3 has an effect that can be reduced. As described above, in the conventional apparatus, the use of dummy samples is usually performed in units of cassettes, and the reduction effect of dummy samples is further increased as compared with this case (using 2 cassettes = 48 sheets). I do.

That is, there is a great effect that the cost of consumables spent on the dummy sample can be greatly reduced.

By implementing the present invention in which a particle sensor for measuring particles on the sample surface is provided in each vacuum processing apparatus 104, the present invention is not limited to the effect of reducing the dummy sample during the cleaning process, but is shown below. Other effects can also be obtained.

During the flow of the product sample in the vacuum processing device 104, a dummy sample is automatically flowed for each of a predetermined number of product samples, a predetermined product lot, and a predetermined product cassette, and the amount of increase or the estimated amount of particles due to the processing is increased. Measure
When the amount is larger than the reference amount or when the number of times greater than the reference amount becomes equal to or more than the set value, the apparatus can automatically enter the above-described cleaning step. If a processing room monitoring monitor (processing room foreign substance monitor, etc.) 9 associated with the particle increase amount on the sample due to the processing is used, the use of the dummy sample before the start of the cleaning step becomes unnecessary.
Furthermore, it can contribute to cost reduction.

Conventionally, particle checking when a product sample is flowing has been performed manually on a daily basis.
By applying the present invention, fine-grained particle management can be performed, and the defect rate of a product sample can be reduced, while improving throughput and reducing costs.

[0097]

As described above, according to the present invention, the number of particles on the surface of the dummy sample is carried out of the processing chamber and detected, whereby the conveyance of the dummy sample is stopped and the cleaning step is completed. Therefore, not only can the number of equivalent particles be easily detected, but also the dummy sample is not excessively carried out, and the manufacturing cost of the semiconductor element substrate can be reduced.

[0098] Further, when the product sample is started, a particle check with a cycle of less than one day is automatically performed, and a cleaning process of the processing chamber can be automatically started based on the measurement result. The loss can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost of the semiconductor element substrate can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing another embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a particle sensor.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of an entire production line.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a decrease in the number of particles.

[Explanation of symbols]

1-1, 1-2: Cassette installed in atmospheric pressure for product sample, 1
-3: cassette installed in the atmospheric pressure for dummy sample, 2 ... atmospheric pressure transport device, 3 ... centering and orienteering device, 4 ... load side lock chamber, 5 ... unload side lock chamber, 6 ... particle sensor, 7 ... in vacuum Conveying means, 8
-1 to 8-4: vacuum processing chamber, 9-1 to 9-4: processing chamber monitoring sensor, 10: controller, 11: display device, 12
... data input device (keyboard, mouse, touch panel, etc.), 13 ... host computer, 14 ... lock chamber, 15 ... sample, 16 ... cassette block, 17 ... vacuum processing block, 18 ... vacuum transfer chamber, 19 ... rail, 29 ... Cassette block, 30 Foreign particle measuring block, 33 Controller for foreign particle inspection device, 102 AGV in the bay, 104 Vacuum processing device, 114 Partition, 115 Foreign particle inspection device.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yoichi Uchimaki 794, Higashi-Toyoi, Kazamatsu, Kudamatsu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture Inside the Kasado Plant, Hitachi, Ltd. 4K029 DA03 EA00 FA04 FA09 4K030 DA03 DA06 GA12 HA11 KA28 KA39 KA41 5F031 CA02 CA11 DA17 FA01 FA11 FA12 FA15 GA43 JA02 JA06 JA43 JA51 KA13 MA04 MA28 MA32 NA02 NA08

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cassette block comprising a cassette block and a processing block, wherein the cassette block is provided with a single or mixed cassette table on which a product sample cassette and a dummy sample cassette are mounted. In the block, a processing chamber for processing the dummy sample and the product sample is provided, and in a sample processing apparatus provided with a transfer device for transferring the dummy sample and the product sample from the cassette table to the processing block, A particle sensor that unloads the dummy sample to the outside and detects the number of particles on the surface of the unloaded dummy sample, and transports the particle when it detects that the equivalent number of particles has decreased below a predetermined number. Transport control means for stopping transport of the dummy sample by the apparatus. Processing apparatus. 2. A cassette block comprising a cassette block and a processing block, wherein the cassette block is provided with a cassette table on which a product sample cassette and a dummy sample cassette are mounted individually or mixedly. In the block, a processing chamber for processing the dummy sample and the product sample is provided, and in a sample processing method using a processing apparatus provided with a transfer device for transferring the dummy sample and the product sample from the cassette table to the processing block. Unloading the dummy sample to the outside of the processing block, detecting the number of particles on the surface of the unloaded dummy sample, and detecting that the equivalent number of particles is less than a predetermined number, A sample processing method characterized by terminating a cleaning step using a dummy sample. 3. The sample processing method according to claim 2, wherein the number of particles of the dummy sample is detected at intervals of a predetermined number of the dummy samples. 4. A cassette block comprising a cassette block and a processing block, wherein the cassette block is provided with a cassette table on which a product sample cassette and a dummy sample cassette are mounted individually or mixedly. In the block, a processing chamber for processing the dummy sample and the product sample is provided, and in a sample processing apparatus provided with a transfer device that transfers the dummy sample and the product sample from the cassette table to the processing block, Equipped with a stocker for stocking, unloading the dummy sample outside the processing block, detecting the number of particles on the surface of the unloaded dummy sample, and stopping transport of the dummy sample to the processing block based on the detection result. Return the dummy sample cassette holding the remaining dummy sample to the stocker, Sample processing apparatus and supplying the dummy sample cassette carrying a dummy sample of a predetermined number of sheets.