JP2003158049A - Heat treatment system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a heat treatment system in which the process recipe can be prepared in a short time and the delivery schedule can be quickened. SOLUTION: A controller 12 for controlling a heat treatment system according to a process recipe is connected with a data base 5 through the Internet line 3. A plurality of process recipes created depending on the arrangement information of the heat treatment system are stored in the data base 5. When a process recipe creation is requested from the controller 12, a transmitting means 2b transmits the arrangement information of the heat treatment system 11 automatically to the data base 51 through the Internet line 3. Based on the received arrangement information, a communication control means 2 retrieves a process recipe helpful for preparing the process recipe of the heat treatment system 11 among the plurality of process recipes stored in the data base 51. The process recipe hit through retrieval is received automatically by the controller 12 through the line 3.

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a heat treatment system for heat treating a substrate, and more particularly to a heat treatment system suitable as a process recipe creation support device. 2. Description of the Related Art In general, a semiconductor manufacturing system includes a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses provided with a heating furnace, and an apparatus controller for controlling the plurality of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses. The apparatus controller controls each semiconductor manufacturing apparatus by a process recipe individually created or adjusted according to the difference in the apparatus configuration of each semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. Here, the process recipe is an apparatus-specific processing program related to a process sequence and control parameters (control target values such as temperature, pressure, gas type and gas flow rate, and time). If the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is a vertical apparatus, a boat accommodating a large number of substrates is inserted into a vertical furnace based on process conditions defined in a process recipe, and the inside of the vertical furnace is heated to a predetermined temperature. While being heated, the reaction gas is supplied into the vertical furnace, and a predetermined thin film is formed on the substrate.
The processed boat is taken out of the vertical furnace. [0004] The difference in the above-described apparatus configuration includes, for example, an oxidation diffusion apparatus and a CVD apparatus in terms of process. Parameters common to these devices include “wafer size”, “wafer number”, “film type”, “application on device”,
"Equipment type", "Batch number required", "Wafer setting position", "Load temperature", "Unload temperature", "Temperature rising speed", "Cooling speed", "Temperature control during temperature rise / fall", etc. . The parameters unique to the oxidation diffusion apparatus include "oxidation (annealing) temperature for each step", "oxidizing gas flow rate (ratio)", and "other necessary conditions". In addition, parameters unique to the CVD apparatus include “target film thickness”, “deposition temperature”, “narrow pressure”, “deposition gas flow rate (ratio)”, and “other necessary conditions”. Further, differences in the device configuration include differences in device parts in addition to the above-described differences in the process. Among the differences in the equipment parts, regarding the mechanical (hereinafter referred to as “mechanical”) parts, “elevator”, “cassette loader”, “cassette stage (orientation flat, notch)”, “cassette hand”, “transfer machine”, “ Boat rotation mechanism ". Regarding electrical components, "Distributed controller", "Temperature control unit", "Overheat protection unit", "Thermocouple", "Pressure control unit (gauge)", "MFC: Mass flow controller (MFM: Mass flow meter)" and so on. For software parts, "Block Control"
And "tube control", "mechanical control",
There are "gas pressure control" and "temperature control". In order to deliver a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus to a customer, it is necessary to incorporate a process recipe. In this regard, in the past, adjustment has been performed with reference to the process recipe of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus delivered in the past in consideration of the above-described difference in the apparatus configuration based on the past experience of the process engineer. The process recipe is composed of a huge number of setting items. At present, all the adjustments and setting item data necessary for the adjustments are manually performed. As described above, according to the prior art, the quality of a process recipe often depends on the past experience of a process engineer. In addition, all of the enormous setting items of the process recipe must be manually adjusted. In addition, it is necessary to individually input setting item data. Therefore, it takes a long time to create the process recipe, and there is a problem that the working efficiency is extremely low. An object of the present invention is to provide a heat treatment system which can solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and can efficiently create a process recipe in a short time. According to the present invention, there is provided a heat treatment system provided with an apparatus controller for controlling a heat treatment apparatus by a process recipe, wherein a plurality of process recipes created in accordance with the configuration information of the heat treatment apparatus are used. A database to be stored and, when there is a request to create the process recipe from the apparatus controller, automatically transmit the configuration information of the heat treatment apparatus to the database via a communication line such as the Internet, and transmit the information from the transmission / reception unit. A process recipe serving as a reference for creating a process recipe of the heat treatment apparatus is searched from among a plurality of process recipes stored in the database based on the configuration information to be processed. Automatically to the device controller via A heat treatment system comprising a communication control unit for receiving. The configuration information of the heat treatment apparatus refers to the configuration of the apparatus that determines the configuration of the heat treatment apparatus, constants determined by specifications, and the like, and includes, for example, the apparatus type, film type, and temperature zone. Further, the target to be received is not limited to the process recipe, and overall configuration information including other configuration information not included in the transmitted configuration information may be added. When the apparatus controller issues a request for creating a process recipe for the heat treatment apparatus, the configuration information of the heat treatment apparatus is automatically transmitted from the communication control means to the database via a communication line such as the Internet. A process recipe according to the transmitted configuration information is searched from a plurality of process recipes stored in the database. The process recipe hit by the search is automatically received by the device controller via the communication line. Based on the received process recipe, a necessary part is rewritten to create a process recipe for the heat treatment apparatus. The process recipe creation operation of the heat treatment apparatus is assisted by referring to the existing process recipes already accumulated in this manner, so that the process recipe of the heat treatment apparatus can be easily adjusted, and the process recipe can be easily adjusted. Creation time can be reduced. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a heat treatment system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The heat treatment system includes a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1, a communication control means 2, an Internet line 3, a server 5, and a router 4 for connecting the server 5 to the Internet line 3. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 has a heat treatment apparatus 11 and an apparatus controller 12. The heat treatment apparatus 11 is controlled by a process recipe stored in the apparatus controller 12, and heat-treats the wafer. The heat treatment apparatus 11 includes a vertical batch processing apparatus and a single-wafer processing apparatus. The device controller 12 has a function of loading a WWW browser, searching past data from the database 51 by inputting a search key, and displaying the search result on the screen of the device controller 12. The server 5 is composed of an HTTP server,
It has a database 51 for storing a plurality of process recipes and the like created according to the configuration information constituting the heat treatment apparatus 11. Specifically, the database 51 stores a file of the apparatus configuration, a process recipe file, and a wafer processing result (actually measured values such as temperature data, gas flow rate data, pressure data, film thickness data, and resistance data). The communication control means 2 includes a device controller 12
Means for automatically transmitting the configuration information of the heat treatment apparatus 11 to the database 51 of the server 5 via the Internet line 3 when there is a process recipe creation request from the user, and based on the configuration information transmitted from the transmission means. A process recipe (past process data) serving as a reference for creating a process recipe for the heat treatment apparatus 11 is stored in a database 51.
And a receiving means for automatically receiving the process recipe hit by the search to the device controller 12 via the Internet line 3. Next, the operation of the above-described heat treatment system will be described. Here, an example will be described in which a file of an existing process recipe or the like is searched using a part of the configuration information of the heat treatment apparatus, and an initial process recipe of the heat treatment apparatus is created based on the search result. Inside the device controller 12, there is a device configuration setting screen (device configuration item list screen) called device configuration that determines the device configuration, that is, the device configuration. This is to adjust the constants determined by the configuration and specifications of the apparatus to the specifications of the apparatus, and includes configuration information. FIG. 2 shows a search screen displayed on the screen of the device controller 12. The search screen 20 displays a search key input field 21 for inputting the above configuration information as a search key, and a search result recipe list field 22 that has been hit by the search. An operator such as a process engineer specifies the following three basic keywords in the search key input field 21 as search keys. Device type, film type, and temperature zone. These are selected from the selection items displayed in the input fields 21a to 21c. Here, a selection example of V3F (model number of the vertical CVD apparatus), POLY (polysilicon), and 850 ° C. is shown. Priority order setting fields 21e to 21g for assigning search priorities are provided for each keyword. Weighting is performed on the result of character string search for each keyword, and the keyword with the larger weight is preferentially extracted as corresponding data. Here, priorities are assigned in the order of film type, device type, and temperature zone. In addition to the basic keywords, other keywords can be specified. In this case, another keyword input window 21d is provided, and keywords (XXX, YYY, ZZZ) are listed in the input window 21d by inserting an arbitrary delimiter (for example, a semicolon;). When the search key is determined, a search execution button 23 at the center left of the screen is clicked. This click becomes a process recipe creation request. By clicking, the device controller 12 sends the database 5 via the communication control unit 2.
1 and automatically sends out a keyword, which is its configuration information, and searches according to the configuration information. That is, using the keyword specified by the operator as a search key, the database 51 of the server 5 is searched, and a predetermined number of recipe lists of search results including the keyword are displayed in the search result recipe list field 22 of the search screen 20. The displayed items include, for example, an apparatus configuration file name, a file name, a wafer processing result file name, and a creation date. By dragging the up and down scroll buttons 24 and 25, recipes not displayed in the list can be scrolled and displayed. When a specific recipe displayed in the list is selected and clicked (in the illustrated example, V3F, POLY5,
Result-POLY5, 00/01/05), the file is downloaded, and the file is automatically received by the device controller 12 via the Internet line 3. The apparatus configuration and process recipe of the heat treatment apparatus are adjusted based on the received file. By the way, the item list screen of one apparatus configuration for adjusting the heat treatment apparatus has a plurality of items, for example, a selection screen of 21 items for each purpose (there is a setting screen of 10 items per one item screen. Total 210
Item exists) is prepared. Part of the configuration is as follows. (1) Reset pattern setting screen Determines the initial operation when the operation (recipe) is not specified when the power of the apparatus is turned on. (2) Gas (MFC) setting screen Full scale and ramp rate are set according to the MFC (mass flow controller) connected to the device. (3) Gas (valve) setting screen Set the open / close of the valve. (4) Temperature parameter setting screen The temperature control operation is set in accordance with the temperature control connected to the device. (5) Pressure parameter setting screen The operation of the pressure controller is set in accordance with the pressure controller connected to the device. (6) Set the operation of the mechanical controller according to the mechanical controller connected to the mechanical parameter setting screen device. (7) Perform the interlock setting of the alarm setting screen. (8) Device type and process specification definition setting screen Device type setting (wafer diameter 200 mm, 300 m
m), film type setting, temperature zone setting) Although the number of setting screens is large as described above, the search screen example of FIG. 2 described above is limited to the key setting of the apparatus type and process specification definition setting screen of (8) above. I am searching. The limitation may be a key item worthy of use. The other process recipe for adjusting the heat treatment apparatus has 50 setting items per one event (also referred to as a step). As shown in FIG.
Usually, one process recipe is completed in 100 steps (the number of steps depends on the type of film to be formed).
The details of steps 1 and 2 are as follows. Step 1: Time = 1 hour Temperature setting = 800 ° C. Gas flow rate setting = N ₂ , 10 SLM Pressure setting = 1000 Pa Mechanical operation setting = Boat load Step 2: Time = 10 minutes Temperature setting = 900 ° C., 10 ° C./min (900 (The purpose is to raise the temperature at a rate of 10 ° C./min toward 10 ° C.) Gas flow rate setting = N ₂ , 10 SLM Pressure setting = 1000 Pa Mechanical operation setting = Boat loading Now, the adjustment work of the heat treatment apparatus according to the above embodiment. Will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
4A shows an embodiment, and FIG. 4B shows a conventional example. Step 101: setting of three items of apparatus configuration (apparatus type, film type, temperature zone) Here, the apparatus type corresponds to, for example, a wafer diameter of 200 mm and also corresponds to a wafer diameter of 300 mm. For example, the device model number set for each specification can be selected. The film types include DRY, PYRO, HT
O, Si ₃ N ₄ , D-POLY (doped polysilicon), POLY, TEOS, ANEEEL (annealing) and the like can be selected. In addition, 0, 50, 10
0, 150, 200, 250 to 1400 ° C (in 50 ° C increments) can be selected. Needless to say, other temperature steps may be used instead of the 50 ° step. Step 102: The server (Web) database 51 is searched using the configuration set in step 101 as a search key. The search result recipe list is displayed in the order of priority assigned to the search key.
Normally, the user first selects the top of the search result recipe list, downloads the file, and refers to the file contents. The downloaded files are an apparatus configuration file, a process recipe file, and a wafer processing result file (production data). Step 103: The operator checks the contents of the file, and if it is determined that the contents are significantly different from the customer specifications to be set, the operator proceeds to Step 10
Return to 2 and select another one from the search result recipe list,
Download the file and check the contents again. In this way, based on the past data file,
Select a file that fits better and determine a file that will be used as a reference for creating the initial process recipe. Step 104: When a file that fits better is determined, an adjustment operation is performed based on the downloaded file in accordance with the customer's specifications. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 is used differently for each customer or even within a customer, and there is always a task of setting conditions according to customer specifications. This condition setting is included in the adjustment work. The adjustment work is a work of correcting parameters and the like that need to be changed while leaving parameters and the like that can be specified as they are. Since the file has been selected to have a better fit, the number of corrections is far less than the number of corrections performed manually. Step 105: The operation of the apparatus is confirmed based on the adjusted initial process recipe. After checking, if there is no problem, the adjustment is completed. This makes it possible to deliver the device to the customer. As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, based on the past data, a file having a content better fitted to the customer's specification is selected, and only a slight manual tuning operation is performed on this file. Complete the process recipe. Therefore, as in the related art shown in FIG. 4B, setting of 210 items of the device configuration (Step 201), setting of 5000 items of the process recipe (Step 202), and finally checking the operation of the device (Step 202). Compared with the case where all the steps 203) are performed manually, the trouble of creating the process recipe and the like can be extremely reduced. As a result, it is possible to drastically reduce the work load such as setting the condition of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the customer specification. The download function uses valuable adjustment data created in the past by a large number of experienced process engineers, so that the initial process recipe of the next device to be delivered can be created including the inexperienced parts. This makes it possible to reduce the time required to create a process recipe including data input work, as compared with the case of creating from a single process engineer's experience. According to the present invention, since a process recipe can be created based on an existing process recipe, the process recipe can be efficiently created in a short time as compared with a case where it is created from the beginning based only on experience. Can be created.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a heat treatment system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a recipe search screen by the heat treatment system according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of one example of a process recipe including 100 steps. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of creating an initial process recipe of an apparatus in which an embodiment is compared with a conventional example. [Description of Signs] 11 Heat treatment device 12 Device controller 2 Communication control means 3 Internet line 51 Database

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A heat treatment system comprising an apparatus controller for controlling a heat treatment apparatus by a process recipe, comprising: a database for accumulating a plurality of process recipes created according to configuration information of the heat treatment apparatus; When there is a request to create the process recipe from the apparatus controller, the configuration information of the heat treatment apparatus is automatically transmitted to the database via a communication line such as the Internet, and the configuration information transmitted from the transmission / reception unit A process recipe that is a reference for creating a process recipe of the heat treatment apparatus based on the plurality of process recipes stored in the database. Communication control that automatically receives Thermal processing system comprising the Toto.