JP2002343694A - Processor, and information-accumulating apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To readily provide a processor capable of grasping processing hysteresis, and to provide an information-accumulating apparatus, and to provide a method capable of easily accumulating such processing hysteresises. SOLUTION: The processor and the information accumulating apparatus have a processor body 101, where there are provided a plurality of processing portions for executing predetermined processings to a processed body W and carrying apparatuses for carrying the processed body among the respective processing portions; a first control portion 103 for controlling the overall processor, including the carrying apparatuses; a second control portion 104 for controlling a plurality of processing portions; an information-accumulating portion 106 for taking therein the signals given/received between the first and second control portions and for accumulating plural kinds of informations corresponding to the signals; and an information-accumulation-start timing selecting mechanism 107 for selecting the information-accumulation start timings of the informations which corresponds to the kinds of the information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a processing apparatus for performing a predetermined processing on an object to be processed, and more particularly, to a processing apparatus including a first control unit and a second control unit for controlling a processing apparatus main body, and The present invention relates to an information storage device and an information storage method used therein.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, a film forming process for forming a predetermined film on a semiconductor wafer as a substrate to be processed, a photolithography process for forming a pattern on the predetermined film, Various processes such as an etching process for etching a predetermined film are used, and a processing device such as a film forming device, a resist coating and developing device, and an etching device is used for each of these processes.

[0003] Among these processing apparatuses, a resist coating and developing apparatus for performing a photolithography step will be described as an example. In such a photolithography process, the semiconductor wafer that has been cleaned is first subjected to a hydrophobic treatment in an adhesion processing unit, cooled in a cooling unit, and then coated with a photoresist film in a resist coating unit. I do. After subjecting the semiconductor wafer on which the photoresist film is formed to a pre-bake process in a hot plate unit for performing a heat process,
After cooling by a cooling unit, a predetermined pattern is exposed by an exposure device. Subsequently, the exposed semiconductor wafer is subjected to post-exposure bake processing by a hot plate unit, then cooled by a cooling unit, and a developing solution is applied by a developing unit to develop an exposure pattern. Finally, a post-baking process is performed in a hot plate unit to enhance the thermal denaturation for polymerization and the adhesion between the semiconductor wafer and the pattern. The above-described resist coating / developing apparatus performs a step except for the exposure processing in such a series of processing steps, and is configured by integrally integrating a plurality of processing units performing each processing. It has a transfer device capable of loading and unloading wafers from and to all units.

[0004] Such control of the resist coating and developing apparatus is performed, for example, by a first control unit that performs processing recipes, management of a transport device, communication with a host computer, and the like, and a command from the first control unit. The processing is performed by the second control unit that controls each processing in the processing unit.

In the apparatus control as described above, the first control section outputs information necessary for processing of each processing unit to the second control section, and the second control section outputs information from sensors required for control. And the information from the first controller controls the elements of each processing unit, and the control information at that time is transmitted from the first controller to the host computer.

[0006]

By the way, in the above-described control, information necessary for control is prepared and information after control is also managed. In addition, there is a demand for quicker response to equipment troubles and the like, so that not only information after control, but also measurement data such as temperature in actual processing, alarm data, and drive system It is desired to obtain the data of the above and grasp the processing history in detail.

However, in order to grasp such a history in the conventional processing device, it is necessary to prepare a measuring device for each data whose history is to be grasped, which is complicated. Further, the number of processing elements whose history needs to be grasped is enormous, and it is extremely impractical to attach such a measuring device or the like to each processing element.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a processing apparatus capable of easily grasping a processing history and an information storage apparatus capable of easily accumulating such processing history. And an information storage method.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing apparatus having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber; A control mechanism for controlling the processing device main body, an information storage unit for receiving a signal output from the control mechanism and storing a plurality of types of information based on the signal, and selecting an information storage start timing according to the type of the information And an information storage start timing selection mechanism.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a processing apparatus main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber; a control mechanism for controlling the processing apparatus main body; An additional detection unit for detecting information not transmitted to the control mechanism in the main body; and an information storage unit for receiving signals output from the control mechanism and the additional detection unit and storing a plurality of types of information based on the signals. And an information storage start timing selection mechanism for selecting the information storage start timing according to the type of the information.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a processing apparatus main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, a first control unit for controlling the processing apparatus main body, and a second processing unit. A control mechanism having a control unit, an information storage unit that captures a signal transmitted and received between a first control unit and a second control unit of the control mechanism, and stores a plurality of types of information based on the signal; An information storage start timing selection mechanism for selecting an information storage start timing in accordance with the type of the information is provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing apparatus main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, a first control unit for controlling the processing apparatus main body, and a second control unit. A control mechanism having a control unit, an additional detection unit that detects information that is not exchanged between the first control unit and the second control unit, and a first control unit of the control mechanism. An information storage unit that receives a signal transmitted to and received from the second control unit and a signal output from the additional detection unit and stores a plurality of types of information based on the signals; And an information storage start timing selection mechanism for selecting an information storage start timing.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing apparatus having a processing unit having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, and a control mechanism for controlling the processing apparatus. An information storage device for storing information, comprising: an information storage unit that receives a signal output from the control mechanism and stores a plurality of types of information based on the signal; and an information storage start timing according to the type of the information. An information storage device, comprising: an information storage start timing selection mechanism for selecting.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing apparatus comprising: a processing apparatus main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber; and a control mechanism for controlling the processing apparatus main body. An information storage device for storing information, wherein an additional detection unit for detecting information not transmitted to the control mechanism, and a signal output from the control mechanism and the additional detection unit are fetched in the processing device main body. An information storage device comprising: an information storage unit that stores a plurality of types of information based on the signal; and an information storage start timing selection mechanism that selects information storage start timing according to the type of the information. provide.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, a processing apparatus main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, a first control unit for controlling the processing apparatus main body, and a second processing unit. An information storage device for storing information in a processing device including a control mechanism having a control unit, wherein a signal transmitted and received between a first control unit and a second control unit of the control mechanism is captured. An information storage device comprising: an information storage unit that stores a plurality of types of information based on a signal; and an information storage start timing selection mechanism that selects an information storage start timing according to the type of the information. I do.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, a processing apparatus main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, a first control unit for controlling the processing apparatus main body, and a second processing unit. An information storage device for storing information in a processing device comprising a control mechanism having a control unit, wherein the information storage device stores information that is not exchanged between the first control unit and the second control unit. Target detection unit, and the first of the control mechanism
An information storage unit for receiving a signal transmitted and received between the control unit and the second control unit, and a signal output from the additional detection unit, and storing a plurality of types of information based on the signals; An information storage start timing selecting mechanism for selecting the information storage start timing according to the type of the information storage device.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing apparatus comprising a processing unit having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, and a control mechanism for controlling the processing unit. An information storage method for storing information, comprising: extracting a signal output from the control mechanism, and storing a plurality of types of information corresponding to the signal, and storing the information in accordance with the type of information. Selecting a start timing.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing apparatus including a processing unit having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, and a control mechanism for controlling the processing unit. An information storage method for storing information, comprising: extracting a signal output from the control mechanism and a detection signal that detects information not transmitted to the control mechanism; and storing a plurality of types of information corresponding to the signals. At this time, a step of selecting an information accumulation start timing according to the type of information.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, a processing apparatus main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, a first control section for controlling the processing apparatus main body, and a second processing section. An information storage method for storing information in a processing device comprising a control mechanism having a control unit of
Extracting a signal transmitted and received between a first control unit and a second control unit of the control mechanism and storing a plurality of types of information corresponding to the signal; Selecting an information storage start timing by using the information storage method.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, a processing apparatus main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, a first control section for controlling the processing apparatus main body, and a second processing section. An information storage method for storing information in a processing device comprising a control mechanism having a control unit of
A signal transmitted and received between a first control unit and a second control unit of the control mechanism and information that is not transmitted and received between the first control unit and the second control unit are detected. An information storage method comprising: extracting a detection signal and storing a plurality of types of information corresponding to the detection signals; and, at that time, selecting a storage start timing of the information according to the type of the information. I will provide a.

As a result of repeated studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention takes out a signal output from the control mechanism, in particular, exchanges a signal between the first control unit and the second control unit. By extracting the signals, the information necessary for grasping the processing history can be easily obtained without using a special measuring instrument. The present invention has been completed by assuming that the information to be stored can be reduced as much as possible by selecting the information storage start timing according to the type of the information. That is, the signal output from the control mechanism, in particular, the first
The information exchanged between the control unit and the second control unit includes information necessary for grasping the processing history, such as detection information for processing, etc. By storing the information in the section, the processing history can be grasped very easily without using any special measuring instrument, and
The information storage start timing is selected according to the type of information. For example, information that needs to be obtained before the object enters the processing chamber of the processing unit is stored in the information storage unit before the object enters the processing chamber. To start the information storage in the information storage unit after the object enters the processing chamber for the unnecessary information. By starting the information storage in the information storage unit after the processing is started, it is possible to prevent unnecessary information from being stored and minimize the amount of information to be stored.

As a more specific example, a processing apparatus main body having a plurality of processing units for performing predetermined processing on a processing target and a transfer device for transferring the processing target between the processing units is controlled. In doing so, a first control unit that controls the entire processing device including the transport device and a second control unit that controls a plurality of processing units are used, and a first control unit and a second control unit are used. There is a case where signals to be transmitted and received are stored in an information storage unit. In this case, the second control unit outputs detection information of each processing unit to the first control unit. By capturing a signal, the operation history of the processing in the processing unit can be easily grasped.

The control mechanism has an additional detection unit for detecting information that is not transmitted, in particular, information that is not exchanged between the first control unit and the second control unit. It is preferable that the information storage unit captures and stores the signal from the unit. For example, when a drive signal is given from the second control unit to a drive member such as a valve, this signal is not transmitted to the control mechanism, and is not transmitted and received between the first control unit and the second control unit. However, this information cannot be extracted from the control mechanism, but by detecting such information with the additional detection unit and storing it in the information storage unit, the processing history can be grasped with higher accuracy. .

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 4
1 shows an overall configuration of a resist coating and developing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view, FIG. 3 is a schematic front view, and FIG. 4 is a schematic side view. .

The resist coating and developing apparatus 100 includes an apparatus main body 101 and a control / data accumulation section 102 for controlling the apparatus main body 101 and accumulating information.
The apparatus main body 101 loads a substrate to be processed, for example, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as a “wafer”) W, into a substrate processing apparatus from the outside in a wafer cassette CR in units of, for example, 25 wafers, or unloads the wafer from the substrate processing apparatus. Cassette CR
A cassette station 10 for loading / unloading wafers W from / to the wafer and various single-wafer processing units for performing predetermined processing on the wafers W one by one in the coating and developing process are arranged in multiple stages at predetermined positions. Processing station 12,
An interface unit 14 for transferring a wafer W between the processing station 12 and an exposure apparatus (not shown) provided adjacent to the processing station 12 is integrally connected. The control / data storage section 102 is provided below the cassette station 10.

The cassette station 10 has a display 16
And a cassette mounting table 20, a wafer transfer arm 22 movable in the X, Y, and Z directions and rotatable in the θ direction.
A plurality of wafer cassettes CR, for example, four wafer cassettes CR can be mounted on the cassette mounting table 20.

The processing station 12 includes a first processing unit group G in which liquid processing units for performing a predetermined processing by placing the wafer W on a spin chuck in the cup CP are arranged in multiple stages.
_1, the second processing unit group _{G 2,} table S mounting the wafer W
A third processing unit group G ₃ and a fourth processing unit group G _{4 in} which heat treatment units for performing predetermined processing on the P are arranged in multiple stages, a vertical transfer type main wafer transfer mechanism 24, and resist film thickness measurement And an inspection / measurement device 30 for performing various inspections / measurements such as measurement of a developing line width. Note that the inspection / measurement device 30 may be provided outside the resist coating and developing device 100.

As shown in FIG. 4, the main wafer transfer mechanism 24 is provided with a wafer transfer device 90 inside a tubular support 91 so as to be able to move up and down in the vertical direction (Z direction). The cylindrical support 91 is rotatable by the rotational driving force of a motor (not shown), and accordingly, the wafer transfer device 9 is rotated.
0 can also be integrally rotated.

The wafer transfer device 90 includes a plurality of holding members (tweezers) 9 movable in the front-rear direction of the transfer base 92.
The transfer of the wafer W between the processing units is realized by the holding members 93.

[0030] In the first processing unit group G _1, the resist coating unit a resist film is coated and formed on the wafer surface, for example, by a spin coating method as a liquid process unit (CO
T), a developing unit (DEV) for developing a circuit pattern after exposure is stacked in two stages. Second processing even unit group _{G 2,} a resist coating unit (COT) and a developing unit (DEV) are two-tiered.

In the third processing unit group G ₃ and the fourth processing unit group G ₄ , as a thermal processing unit, for example, a cooling unit (CO) for cooling a wafer W to a predetermined temperature.
L), an adhesion unit (AD) for hydrophobizing the photoresist before applying it to the wafer W, and an alignment unit (A) for adjusting the position of the wafer W
LIM), an extension unit (EXT) for transferring the wafer W between the stations, a hot plate unit (HP) for heating the wafer W at a predetermined temperature, and the like are stacked in eight stages.

A portable pickup cassette CR is disposed at the front of the interface section 14, a peripheral exposure device 28 is disposed at the rear, and a wafer transfer mechanism 26 is disposed at the center. The wafer transfer mechanism 26 has a wafer transfer arm 26a. The wafer transfer arm 26a moves in the X direction and the Z direction to move the cassette C.
The R and the peripheral exposure device 28 can be accessed. Further, the wafer transfer arm 26a is rotatable in θ direction, the extension unit (EXT) belonging to the fourth processing multistage unit of the unit group G ₄ of the processing station 12 side, the adjacent exposure device side The wafer delivery table (not shown) can also be accessed.

Next, the control / data storage section 102 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control / data storage section 102. The control / data storage section 102 includes a control box 105 including a first controller 103 and a second controller 104, and a plurality of signals based on the signals received and transmitted between the first controller 103 and the second controller 104. A data accumulation box 106 for accumulating types of data (information), and a data accumulation start timing selection mechanism 1 for selecting a timing for accumulating data in the data accumulation box 106 according to the type of data
07.

The first controller 103 in the control box 105 controls the entire processing apparatus main body 101, and mainly performs recipe management, wafer transfer management, and display screen management. In addition, the first controller 103 is connected to the host computer 118 and also communicates with the host computer 118. Then, a command is given to the second controller 104 based on the data relating thereto.

The second controller 104 in the control box 105 controls each processing unit of the apparatus main body 101, and is connected to sensors, driving members and the like via a plurality of I / O boards. Measurement data such as temperature and humidity, alarm data, detection data, and the like are output to the first controller 103, and elements such as a drive system of each processing unit are controlled based on a command from the first controller 103, sensor information, and the like.

A signal line 108 connected to the first controller 103 and a signal line 109 connected to the second controller 104 are connected to the HUB 110.
B110 and the data storage box 106 are connected via a data storage start timing selection mechanism 107.
That is, the HUB 110 and the data storage start timing selection mechanism 107 are connected by the signal line 112, and the data storage start timing selection mechanism 107 and the data storage box 106 are connected by the signal line 113. Therefore, the first controller 103 and the second controller 1
At least a part of the signal transmitted / received at 04 can be selected and stored in the data storage box 106 by the data storage start timing selecting mechanism 107 and stored. At this time, the supply of the signal from the HUB 110 is performed, for example, every two seconds.

The first controller 103 and the second controller 103
A plurality of additional sensors (additional detection units) 111 for detecting signals that are not transmitted and received by the controller 104, for example, drive signals given to drive members such as valves, and a part of measurement data such as temperature and humidity are provided. These additional sensors 111 are connected to the data accumulation start timing selection mechanism 107 via a signal line 114. Therefore, the information of the additional sensor 111 can be stored in the data storage box 106 after the storage start timing is selected by the data storage start timing selection mechanism 107. At this time, the supply of the signal from the additional sensor 111 can be performed at intervals of, for example, 2 seconds or less.

The first controller 103 is connected to the HUB 116 via a signal line 115, and the HUB 116 is connected to a host computer 118 via a signal line 117. The HUB 116 transmits information of the first controller 103 to the host computer 118. It has become. In addition, HUB
A signal line 119 extending from the data storage box 106 is connected to the data storage box 106, and information stored in the data storage box 106 is also transmitted to the host computer 1 via the HUB 116.
18 is transmitted. Therefore, the host computer 118 can analyze the data by processing the information from the first controller 103 and the information from the data storage box 106.

As shown in FIG. 6, the data storage box 106 includes a device main body interface 121 for receiving signals transmitted and received by the first controller 103 and the second controller 104 via the data storage start timing selection mechanism 107, , An additional sensor interface 123 that takes in information from the additional sensor 111 via the data accumulation start timing selection mechanism 107, an additional sensor agent 124 that processes the signal, and an A storage data manager 125 for exchanging data with 122 and additional sensor agents 124 for further processing and storage of data
And database management software 126
And a database storage unit 127 for storing a database for storing data, and a stored data storage unit 128 for storing stored data.

Data accumulation start timing selection mechanism 107
Is connected to the first controller 103 by a signal line 120, and the data storage start timing selecting mechanism 107
Then, the transfer information of the wafer W is input from the first controller 103. On the other hand, in the data storage start timing selection mechanism 107, information on the timing of starting data storage in the data storage box 106 is set in advance according to the type of data, and the first controller 103 and the second controller 103 input via the HUB 110 are input. 2 controller 104
And the type of information input from the additional sensor 111 is identified, a data accumulation start timing is selected according to the data, and based on the timing information and the wafer transfer information from the first controller, Data storage in the data storage box 106 is started at a predetermined timing. For example, of a plurality of types of data, predetermined data is stored in the data storage box 10 before the wafer W enters the processing chamber of the target processing unit.
6, and for the other predetermined information, the data storage in the data storage box 106 is started after the wafer W enters the processing chamber of the target processing unit. As data for starting data accumulation in the data accumulation box 106 before the wafer W enters the processing chamber,
Some may affect wafer processing even before the wafer is loaded. On the other hand, as data for starting data storage in the data storage box 106 after the wafer W enters the processing chamber, there is data that does not affect wafer processing before the wafer is carried into the processing chamber. Depending on the data, the accumulation in the data accumulation box 106 may be started after the processing on the wafer is started, that is, after the recipe is started. Some data may be stored continuously before and after the wafer is loaded. In such a case, the data storage start timing selection mechanism 107 is set to a mode for constantly storing data.

In the resist coating and developing apparatus 100 configured as described above, the unprocessed wafers W are unloaded one by one from the wafer cassette CR by the wafer transport mechanism 22 and loaded into the alignment unit (ALIM). Next, the wafer W positioned here is carried out by the main wafer transfer mechanism 24, and the adhesion unit (AD)
To be subjected to adhesion processing. After the completion of the adhesion process, the wafer W is unloaded by the main wafer transfer mechanism 24 and transferred to a cooling unit (COL) where it is cooled. Next, the wafer W is transported to a resist coating unit (COT) to perform resist coating, and is further subjected to a pre-baking process by a hot plate unit (HP), and to the interface unit 14 via an extension cooling unit (EXTCOL). The wafer is conveyed and then conveyed to an adjacent exposure apparatus. Further, the wafer W subjected to the exposure processing by the exposure apparatus is transferred to the processing station 12 by the wafer transfer mechanism 26 via the interface unit 14 and the extension unit (EXT). In the processing station 12, the main wafer transfer mechanism 24 transfers the wafer W to the hot plate unit (HP) to perform post-exposure processing, and further transfers the wafer W to the developing unit (DEV) to perform development processing. (HP) to perform post-baking, and then to the cooling unit (COL)
After cooling in the extension unit (EX
T) to the cassette station 10. The wafer W subjected to the predetermined processing as described above is stored in the wafer cassette CR by the wafer transfer mechanism 22.

As described above, such a series of processing is performed in the control box 105 of the control / data storage section 102.
Is controlled by And the first of the control box 105
At least a part of the signal transmitted and received between the controller 103 and the second controller 104 is sent to the data accumulation start timing selection mechanism 107 via the HUB 110, for example, every two seconds, and from there, it is determined in advance according to the type of data. When the set data accumulation timing comes, the data is sent to the data accumulation box 106 and accumulated. At this time, the data from the data accumulation start timing selection mechanism 107 is transmitted to the data
22 and the stored data manager 125, and are stored in the stored data storage unit 128.

On the other hand, information from the additional sensor 111 is sent to the data accumulation start timing selection mechanism 107 in a cycle of, for example, 2 seconds or less, and when the data accumulation timing is set in advance according to the type of data. Is sent to the data storage box 106 and stored. At this time, the data accumulation start timing selection mechanism 10
7 is processed in the data storage box 106 via the additional sensor interface 123 by the additional sensor agent 124 and the stored data manager 125, as well as in the stored data storage 12
8 is stored.

The database for storing data stored in the database storage unit 127 and the data stored in the storage data storage unit 128 are processed by predetermined database management software 126, and are stored in the HUB.
Output to the host computer 118 via 116.

As the data sampled and stored in the data storage box 106, the following five are exemplified as typical examples. (1) Measurement data such as temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, etc. (2) Alarm data generated when a trouble occurs during processing (3) Dispensing data of processing liquid in a liquid processing unit such as a coating processing unit (COT) (4) ) Drive system data such as cylinders (5) Wafer transfer and processing unit processing information

Of the above, the measurement data of (1) is controlled by the second controller 104, and is normally output from the second controller 104 to the first controller 103. Therefore, the first controller 103 and the second controller 104 Is stored in the data storage box 106 via the HUB 110 between the two. However, if the measurement data is not used for normal control, the additional sensor 111
, And can be directly stored in the data storage box 106.

Since the alarm data of (2) is normally issued by each processing unit, the alarm is received by the second controller 104 and is output from the second controller 104 to the first controller 103. Therefore, this data is stored in the data storage box 1 via the HUB 110.
06 and can be stored. By accumulating this data, it is possible to grasp a very detailed history such as when the alarm was issued, and in which processing unit and where the processing was performed when the alarm was issued.

Regarding the dispense data of (3),
As shown in FIG. 7, when the discharge of the processing liquid from the nozzle 131 through the pipe 132 is controlled by opening and closing the air operation valve 133, the air operation valve 133 is transmitted from the second controller 104 via the I / O board 130. ON to solenoid valve 134 to open and close
An / OFF signal is output. An additional sensor 111 can be connected to the control line 135, and the ON / OFF signal can be detected by the additional sensor 111 and the data can be stored in the data storage box 106. Such data is usually stored in the first controller 103 and the second controller 103.
Since the data is not exchanged with the controller 104, the data is stored directly in the data accumulation box 106 from the additional sensor 111 as described above, and such data is exchanged between the first controller 103 and the second controller 104. In that case, the data can be stored in the data storage box 106 via the HUB 110. By accumulating such data, it is possible to ascertain at which time the air operation valve 133 was opened or closed, and to ascertain the history by associating the data with actual dispense data, for example. .

A typical example of the drive system (4) is an air cylinder used for elevating and lowering a wafer. In this case, the control is performed by the second controller 104 as shown in FIG. First via the / O board 140
The control signal is output to one of the solenoid valve (SOL1) 144 and the second solenoid valve (SOL2) 145 of the air cylinder 141, and the piston 141 of the air cylinder 141 is output.
a of the first position sensor (sensor 1) 142 and the second position sensor (sensor 2) 1
43 is output to the second controller 104 via the I / O board 140, and the movement of the piston 141a of the air cylinder 141 is stopped based on the signal. At this time, the signal lines 14 of the first and second position sensors 142 and 143
6, 147 and control lines 148, 149 of the first and second solenoid valves 144, 145, respectively, to connect additional sensors 111 to detect the detection signals of the first and second position sensors 142, 143 and the first and second position sensors. Open / close signals of the second solenoid valves 144 and 145 can be detected by the additional sensor 111 and the data can be stored in the data storage box 106. Thereby, the history of the operation timing of the air cylinder 141 can be grasped, and for example, the variation of the operation timing for each air cylinder, which cannot be grasped so far, can be grasped. Therefore, fine adjustment of the operation timing and the like can be performed.

As shown in FIG. 9, the actually stored data includes first and second solenoid valves 144, 14
5 and the ON / OFF timing of the first and second position sensors 142 and 143 are grasped in a time-series manner. That is, first, when the first solenoid valve (SOL1) 144 is opened, the piston 1
At the time when the first position sensor (sensor 1) 142 is activated (ON), the piston 141
The rise of a stops. Next, when the first solenoid valve (SOL1) 144 is closed and the second solenoid valve (SOL2) 145 is opened, the piston 141a is opened.
Starts descending, and the second position sensor (sensor 2)
The lowering of the piston 141a stops when the 143 operates (ON).

Since data of such a driving system is not normally transmitted and received between the first controller 103 and the second controller 104, the data is stored directly in the data storage box 106 from the additional sensor 111 as described above. Data can be transmitted and received between the first controller 103 and the second controller 104.
The data can be stored in the data storage box 106 via the UB 110.

Regarding the processing information of the wafer transfer and the processing unit of (5), the management information of the wafer transfer of the first controller 103, the transfer information of each processing unit in the second controller 104, and the processing information of each processing unit are these. This data is taken out via the HUB 110 and stored in the data storage box 106. As wafer transfer information to be stored,
There is information such as the start of loading of wafers into each processing unit and the end of each unloading. The accumulated processing information of each processing unit includes information such as the start and end of processing in each processing unit.

Of the above data, measurement data such as temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure are necessary during the processing, and thus are preferably accumulated continuously at regular cycles. However, the accumulation frequency may be reduced if it is known that the fluctuation is small. The unit of data accumulation in other data may be for each wafer, for each lot, or for each process. In this case, the data may be stored during one data storage unit, or at least once in the data storage unit, such as at the start and / or end thereof. . Further, data is stored in the data storage box 106 in time series. Therefore, the processing history can be grasped from the data stored in the data storage box 106.

Thus, the first controller 103
And the signal transmitted and received between the second controller 104 and the second controller 104 are taken out via the HUB 110 at a predetermined timing and stored in the data storage box 106, so that the data can be automatically stored at the time of processing, and special measurement can be performed. It is possible to easily obtain the data necessary for grasping the processing history without using a device. That is, the first controller 1
Data exchanged between the controller 03 and the second controller 104 includes data necessary for grasping the processing history, such as detection data for processing, alarm data, processing data, wafer transfer data, and the like. Then, by taking this out and storing it in the data storage box 106, the processing history can be grasped very easily.

In addition, as described above, the additional sensor 11
1, data that is not exchanged between the first controller 103 and the second controller 104 is detected and stored in the data storage box 106, so that the data to be stored can be diversified. In addition, the processing history can be grasped with higher accuracy.

Among the stored data, for example, the hot plate temperature of the hot plate unit (HP), the plate temperature of the cooling plate (COL), the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere in the resist coating unit (COT) and the developing unit (DEV) , Such as the temperature of each processing solution and the wind speed of the down flow, which affect the wafer processing even before the wafer is loaded, are stored in the processing chamber of the target processing unit.
Before the wafer enters the processing chamber, such as various inspections and measurements such as resist film thickness measurement and development line width measurement, and exposure, etc., before the wafer enters the processing chamber. The data that does not affect the data may be stored in the data storage box 106 after the wafer W is loaded into the processing chamber of the target processing unit. Since the data such as the speed, the moving distance / moving speed of each nozzle arm, the up / down time of the wafer lifting / lowering pin, and the up / down time of the wafer chuck are data from the start of the processing to the end of the processing, The accumulation in the data accumulation box 106 may be started after the processing on the wafer is started, that is, after the recipe is started. Further, some measurement data is continuously accumulated as described above. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described above, the data accumulation start timing selection mechanism 107 selects the data accumulation timing according to the type of data. The data accumulation start timing selection mechanism 107 selects the accumulation timing of the input data based on the data accumulation start timing information set in advance according to the type of data and the wafer transfer information from the first controller 103.

Hereinafter, an example of a data accumulation start timing selection flow in the data accumulation start timing selection mechanism 107 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, data transmitted and received between the first controller 103 and the second controller 104 via the HUB 110 and data from the additional sensor 111 are fetched at predetermined intervals (ST1). Next, the captured data is identified (ST2). Next, for the acquired data, a data accumulation start timing is selected based on preset information (ST3), and data accumulation is performed based on the data accumulation start timing information and the wafer transfer information input from the first controller 103. It is determined whether or not it is time to start storing data in box 106 (ST4). If it is time to start data accumulation, data accumulation in the data accumulation box 106 is started (ST5), and if not, data accumulation in the data accumulation box 106 is not started (ST6).

As described above, since the data accumulation start timing selecting mechanism 107 selects the data accumulation start timing according to the type of data and accumulates data, it is possible to prevent the accumulation of extra data, The information stored in the storage box 106 can be minimized. For example, information that needs to be obtained before the wafer W enters the processing chamber of the processing unit starts data accumulation before the wafer W enters the processing chamber, but information that does not need to be acquired is stored in the processing chamber. By starting the data storage after entering, or by starting the data storage after the start of the processing on the wafer W, the data storage is started after the start of the processing. The amount of data storage can be greatly reduced as compared with the case of storing. The resist coating and developing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment needs to accumulate enormous data. However, since the amount of accumulated data can be reduced in this manner, data can be accumulated more effectively.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be variously modified within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the first controller 103
Although the data transmitted and received between the first controller 103 and the second controller 104 are fetched and stored in the data storage box 106, the data from the first controller 103 may be fetched and stored.
4 or may receive two or more of data from the first controller 103, data from the second controller 104, and data transmitted and received between the first controller 103 and the second controller 104. You may take in and accumulate. Also, not necessarily 2
There is no need to have one controller, and the signal output from the control mechanism may be captured and accumulated. Further, the data from the additional sensor 111 is directly stored in the data storage box 106. However, if all information is exchanged between the first controller 103 and the second controller 104, the additional sensor 111 is not always necessary.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the data accumulation start timing is set before and after the loading of a wafer or after the start of processing, but the present invention is not limited to this.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a resist coating and developing apparatus has been described. However, in consideration of the idea of the present invention, the present invention is applicable not only to the resist coating and developing apparatus but also to any processing apparatus. .

[0063]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Extracting signals output from the control mechanism, in particular,
By extracting the signals transmitted and received between the control unit and the second control unit, it is possible to easily obtain information necessary for grasping the processing history without using a special measuring instrument. That is, the signal output from the control mechanism, in particular, the first
The information exchanged between the control unit and the second control unit includes information necessary for grasping the processing history, such as detection information for processing, etc. By accumulating the data in the section, the processing history can be grasped very easily without using any special measuring instrument. Further, by selecting the information storage start timing according to the type of information, the amount of information to be stored can be reduced as much as possible, and it is easy to cope with the case of storing a large amount of information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the overall configuration of a resist coating and developing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the overall configuration of a resist coating and developing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view showing the overall configuration of a resist coating and developing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing the overall configuration of a resist coating and developing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control / data storage section of the resist coating and developing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a data storage box in the control / data storage section of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of data accumulation when a processing liquid is discharged in the resist coating and developing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of air cylinder operation control and data accumulation in the resist coating and developing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a timing chart showing data accumulated by the configuration of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in a data accumulation start timing selection mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

100; resist coating and developing apparatus (processing apparatus) 101; apparatus main body (processing apparatus main body) 102; control / data storage section 103; first controller (first control unit) 104; second controller (second control unit) 105; control box 106; data storage box (information storage unit) 107; data storage start timing selection mechanism (information storage start timing selection mechanism) 110, 116; HUB 111; additional sensor (additional detection unit) 118;

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kunie Ogata 5-36 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo TBS Transmission Center Inside Tokyo Electron Limited (72) Inventor Yoichi 5-3-Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo No. 6 TBS broadcasting center Tokyo Electron Limited F term (reference) 5F046 CD01 CD05 DA29 JA22 KA04 KA07 LA18 5H223 AA05 CC08 DD09 EE06

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. A processing apparatus main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber; a control mechanism for controlling the processing apparatus main body; and a signal output from the control mechanism. A processing apparatus comprising: an information storage unit that stores a plurality of types of information based on the signal; and an information storage start timing selection mechanism that selects an information storage start timing according to the type of the information. 2. A processing apparatus main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber; a control mechanism for controlling the processing apparatus main body; An additional detection unit that detects information that is not transmitted, an information storage unit that captures a signal output from the control mechanism and the additional detection unit, and stores a plurality of types of information based on the signal, A processing device comprising: an information storage start timing selection mechanism that selects information storage start timing in accordance with the information. 3. A processing device main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, and a control mechanism having a first control unit and a second control unit for controlling the processing device main body. An information storage unit that receives a signal transmitted and received between a first control unit and a second control unit of the control mechanism and stores a plurality of types of information based on the signal; A processing device comprising: an information storage start timing selection mechanism that selects information storage start timing. 4. A processing device main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, and a control mechanism having a first control unit and a second control unit for controlling the processing device main body. An additional detection unit that detects information that is not exchanged between the first control unit and the second control unit; and a first control unit and a second control unit of the control mechanism. An information storage unit that captures a signal transmitted and received between the plurality of signals and a signal output from the additional detection unit and stores a plurality of types of information based on the signals; A processing device comprising: an information storage start timing selection mechanism for selecting. 5. The processing apparatus main body includes a plurality of processing units, and includes a transfer device that transfers an object to be processed between the plurality of processing units, and the first control unit includes the transfer device. The processing device according to claim 3, wherein the entire processing device is controlled, and the second control unit controls the plurality of processing units. 6. The information storage start timing selection mechanism stores information stored in the information storage unit for a predetermined information of the plurality of types of information before the object enters the processing chamber of the processing unit. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the storage of the predetermined information is started after the object to be processed enters the processing chamber of the processing unit. The processing device according to claim 1. 7. The information storage start timing selection mechanism starts information storage in the information storage unit after processing of another predetermined information among the plurality of types of information is started on the object to be processed. 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein
A processing device according to claim 1. 8. The information stored in the information storage unit is at least one of measurement information, alarm information, processing operation information in the processing device main body, and processing object transport information.
The processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the processing apparatus is a seed. 9. An information storage device for accumulating information in a processing device including a processing unit having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, and a control mechanism for controlling the processing unit. An information storage unit that receives a signal output from the control mechanism and stores a plurality of types of information based on the signal, and an information storage start timing selection unit that selects an information storage start timing according to the type of the information. An information storage device comprising a mechanism. 10. An information storage device for storing information in a processing apparatus including a processing apparatus main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, and a control mechanism for controlling the processing apparatus main body. In the processing device main body, an additional detection unit that detects information that is not transmitted to the control mechanism, and a plurality of types of signals based on the signals output by capturing signals output from the control mechanism and the additional detection unit. An information storage device, comprising: an information storage unit that stores information; and an information storage start timing selection mechanism that selects an information storage start timing according to a type of the information. 11. A processing unit having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, and a control mechanism having a first control unit and a second control unit for controlling the processing unit. An information storage device for storing information in a processing device comprising: a plurality of types of information based on a signal obtained by receiving a signal transmitted and received between a first control unit and a second control unit of the control mechanism. An information storage device, comprising: an information storage unit that stores information, and an information storage start timing selection mechanism that selects information storage start timing according to the type of the information. 12. A processing device main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on a target object in a processing chamber, and a control mechanism having a first control unit and a second control unit for controlling the processing device main body. An information storage device for storing information in a processing device comprising: an additional detection unit configured to detect information that is not exchanged between the first control unit and the second control unit; An information storage unit for receiving a signal transmitted and received between a first control unit and a second control unit of the mechanism and a signal output from the additional detection unit and storing a plurality of types of information based on the signals And an information storage start timing selection mechanism for selecting information storage start timing according to the type of the information. 13. The information storage start timing selection mechanism stores information stored in the information storage unit for a predetermined information of the plurality of types of information before the object enters the processing chamber of the processing unit. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein the storage of the information is started in the information storage unit after the object to be processed enters the processing chamber of the processing unit. Item 2. The information storage device according to item 1. 14. The information storage start timing selection mechanism starts information storage in the information storage unit after processing of another predetermined information among the plurality of types of information is started on the object to be processed. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein
3. The information storage device according to 3. 15. The storage device according to claim 9, wherein the stored information is at least one of measurement information, alarm information, processing operation information in the processing apparatus main body, and processing object transport information. 15. The information storage device according to any one of 14. 16. An information storage method for storing information in a processing apparatus including a processing apparatus main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, and a control mechanism for controlling the processing apparatus main body. A step of extracting a signal output from the control mechanism and storing a plurality of types of information corresponding to the signal, and at this time, a step of selecting an information storage start timing according to the type of information, An information storage method comprising: 17. An information storage method for storing information in a processing apparatus including a processing apparatus main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, and a control mechanism for controlling the processing apparatus main body. A step of extracting a signal output from the control mechanism and a detection signal that detects information not transmitted to the control mechanism, and accumulating a plurality of types of information corresponding to the signals,
Selecting an information storage start timing according to the type of the information at that time. 18. A processing apparatus main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, and a control mechanism having a first control unit and a second control unit for controlling the processing apparatus main body. An information storage method for storing information in a processing device comprising: extracting a signal transmitted and received between a first control unit and a second control unit of the control mechanism; An information storage method comprising: a step of storing the information of step (a), and a step of selecting an information storage start timing in accordance with the type of information. 19. A processing device main body having a processing unit for performing a predetermined process on an object to be processed in a processing chamber, and a control mechanism having a first control unit and a second control unit for controlling the processing device main body. An information storage method for storing information in a processing device comprising: a signal transmitted and received between a first control unit and a second control unit of the control mechanism; Extracting a detection signal for detecting information that is not exchanged with the second control unit, and accumulating a plurality of types of information corresponding to the signals, and, at that time, accumulating information according to the type of information. Selecting a start timing. 20. Among the plurality of types of information, for predetermined information, information storage is started before an object enters a processing chamber of the processing unit, and for other predetermined information, processing of the processing unit is started. The information storage method according to any one of claims 16 to 19, wherein the information storage is started after the object enters the room. 21. The information storage according to claim 20, wherein information storage of another predetermined information among the plurality of types of information is started after processing of the object is started. Method. 22. The information according to claim 16, wherein the stored information is at least one of measurement information, alarm information, processing operation information in the processing apparatus main body, and processing object transport information. 22. The information storage method according to any one of 21.