JP2003241818A - Schedule creation method for substrate treatment system and its program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress waiting time so as to improve an operating rate by preliminarily creating a schedule based on a process plan before beginning a processing. <P>SOLUTION: After arranging an initial processing process 1-A for any lot, with assuming the arrangement of the next processing processes 1-B, 2-A except the initial processing process 1-A, by calculating scheduled end time E1, E2 of the preceding processing processes beforehand, the processing process 2-A for a lot having the earliest scheduled end time among each lot is arranged as the next processing process. By selecting and arranging the processing process of the lot of which the preceding processing process finishes earlier, the time until finishing the next processing process is shortened. Because a substrate treatment device of a substrate treatment system is effectively used, the waiting time is suppressed to improve the operating rate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and program for creating a schedule for a substrate processing system for performing a predetermined process on a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate (hereinafter, simply referred to as a substrate) for a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly to a plurality of methods. The present invention relates to a technique of deciding a processing order of each lot so that each lot is sequentially processed by a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses based on a process plan including individual processing steps.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method for creating a schedule for a substrate processing system of this type, there is an event-driven type in which a processing step in a next substrate processing apparatus is performed upon completion of a processing step in a certain substrate processing apparatus. .

For example, a lot of substrates is processed based on a predetermined process plan as shown in Table 1 including seven types of process steps a to e.

[0004]

[Table 1]

In this process plan, for example, a, b, c,
Each processing step is performed in the order of b, d, b, e. The a to c processing steps are performed by the first substrate processing apparatus, the e processing step is performed by the second substrate processing apparatus, and the e processing step is performed by the third substrate processing apparatus. Also,
Each processing step in this example is "pre-work" and "main work"
And "post-work". Table 1 above
The numerical values described therein are examples of the processing time (minutes) in each work of the a to e processing steps.

The rough processing contents of each processing step are as follows, for example. That is, the processing step a is a step of taking out the substrate from the cassette and preparing for transportation, and
The processing step is a step of transporting the substrate between the first to third substrate processing apparatuses, and the c processing step is a chemical solution treatment, a pure water cleaning treatment, and a drying treatment. The d treatment process is a coating process, an exposure / development process, and an edge rinse process, and the e treatment process is an etching process, a pure water cleaning / drying process, and a substrate storage process in a cassette.

Further, Table 1 has the following meanings. That is, in the processing step a, after one minute of pre-work is completed, one lot of substrates is processed by the main work of five minutes, and then one-minute post-work is performed. In b process step, 1
After the preparatory work for a minute is completed, the substrate of one lot is processed by the main work for 4 minutes, and the work is completed without the postwork. Further, in the c processing step, after the pre-work for 2 minutes is finished, the processing for one lot is performed by the main work for 15 minutes, and the processing is finished by the post-work for 1 minute. Second b
In the processing step, 1 minute of pre-work and 3 minutes of main work are performed,
In the d treatment step, there are a pre-work for 2 minutes, a main work for 30 minutes, and a post-work for 1 minute. Further, in the third b processing step, 1 minute of pre-work and 4 minutes of main work are performed, and in e processing step, 2 minutes of pre-work and 6 minutes of main work are performed.

When processing is performed on one lot of substrates according to the process plan shown in Table 1, the time chart of FIG. 14 is obtained.

That is, since the end signal e (indicated by a normal arrow) is output to the substrate processing apparatus which is in charge of the next b processing step at the time when this work is completed, the next b processing step is started from this point of time. The substrate processing apparatus in charge of this will start the pre-work. Therefore, the substrate is actually conveyed to the processing step b and paid out at the time point of the symbol m (indicated by a black triangle arrow). Thereafter, in each processing step, after similarly receiving each end signal e, the lot is actually conveyed to the next processing step at the time of the symbol m.

Further, FIG. 15 shows a time chart in the case where two lots are sequentially processed by the above-mentioned event driven type. In the figure, the "white rectangle" indicates the first lot, and the "hatched rectangle" indicates the second lot. In this way, when the main work in each processing step is completed, it is notified to the next processing step and pre-preparation is started, and when the pre-preparation is completed, the substrate is actually transported and paid out. It has become.

[0011]

However, in the case of such a conventional example, there are the following problems. That is, according to the conventional schedule creation method, when this work is completed, the fact is transmitted to the next processing step, and then the processing is advanced so that the pre-work for the next processing step is started. As shown in the time chart of (4), a lot of waiting time (black portion in the figure) occurs. Therefore, there is a problem that the operating rate of each substrate processing apparatus included in the substrate processing system is significantly reduced.

According to the present invention, by preparing a schedule in advance based on a process plan before starting processing, it is possible to suppress the waiting time in each substrate processing apparatus of the substrate processing system and improve the operating rate. The purpose is to provide a method for creating a system schedule.

[0013]

The present invention has the following constitution in order to achieve such an object. That is, according to the first aspect of the invention, when a plurality of lots are processed by a substrate processing system having a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses for processing a substrate, each lot is processed based on a process plan including a plurality of processing steps. In the method of creating the schedule of the substrate processing system that determines the processing order of each lot so that each lot is sequentially processed by each substrate processing apparatus, after arranging the first processing step for any lot, Among the processing steps, the processing step for the lot having the earliest scheduled end time in each of the previous processing steps is arranged as the next processing step.

(Operation / Effect) After arranging the first processing step of any lot, the processing step for the lot having the earliest scheduled end time in the preceding processing steps among the subsequent processing steps of each lot is set. Pre-scheduled for placement as the next process step. By pre-scheduling, it is possible to arrange the post-processing of the previous processing step and the pre-processing of the subsequent processing step in an overlapping manner, and prioritize the processing step of the lot where the previous processing step ends earlier as the next processing step. By selectively arranging and arranging them, the time until the next processing step is completed can be shortened. Therefore, since the substrate processing apparatus of the substrate processing system can be effectively used, the standby time can be suppressed and the operating rate can be improved.

The invention described in claim 2 is the same as claim 1.
In the method for creating a schedule of the substrate processing system according to, in the processing steps that have already been arranged, after the processing step in which the scheduled delivery time, which is the time when the processing is finished and the lot is unloaded, is undecided, It is characterized by avoiding arranging the processing steps of the lot with the earliest scheduled end time.

(Operation / Effect) In a processing step in which the scheduled time for delivering a substrate is not determined, the time when the substrate processing apparatus used therein becomes idle is undecided. Therefore, do not arrange the processing step after the processing step. Thus, the processing steps of each lot can be arranged without affecting the schedule of the already arranged lots.

The invention described in claim 3 is the same as claim 1.
Alternatively, in the method for creating a schedule of a substrate processing system according to 2, the process plan including a process step having an allowable time defined as an upper limit time to wait until the next process step after the process in the substrate processing apparatus is finished. In the case of including, the next processing step is arranged after the processing step having the allowable time so as to be within the allowable time.

(Operation / Effect) When a process step having a permissible time is included in the process plan, the process step should be arranged so that the next process step is located within the permissible time after the process step. As a result, it is possible to perform the processing almost faithfully to the process plan and suppress the adverse effect on the lot.

The invention described in claim 4 is the same as that of claim 1.
In the method for creating a schedule of a substrate processing system according to any one of 1 to 3, there is an overtaking in which the processing step of the next lot arranged after the processing step of the previously arranged lot is temporally ahead. In this case, the processing steps of the next lot are preferentially arranged.

(Operation / Effect) When an overtaking occurs in time, the processing steps of the overtaken lot are preferentially arranged in order to use the substrate processing apparatus efficiently, so that the substrate processing of the substrate processing system is performed. You can make the most of the equipment.

The invention according to claim 5 is the same as claim 4
In the method of creating a schedule of the substrate processing system according to, when overtaking occurs, and when the subsequent processing steps cannot be arranged for the processing step of the next lot, it is non-overtaking, and When the position where each processing step of the next lot can be arranged is determined and the arrangement position is set as the certain arrangement position, the time at the certain arrangement position and the schedule reference time at the schedule reference position for the currently arranged processing step Is calculated as a schedule time difference, and a value obtained by dividing this by a preset predetermined value is calculated as a step time, and an arrangement is attempted for each processing step of the next lot at each step time from the schedule reference time. It is characterized by that.

(Operation / Effect) When "overtaking" occurs in which the processing step of the next lot is located before the processing step of the previously arranged lot, and the subsequent processing steps cannot be arranged. First, a position where the processing steps of the next lot can be arranged in a state in which the processing is not overtaking is searched. The difference between the time at the certain arrangement position and the schedule reference time at the schedule reference position (the time which is in the future from the current time and is scheduled to start executing what is currently scheduled) is obtained as a schedule time difference. This schedule time difference reflects the situation of the schedule at that time. Then, the step time is calculated by dividing the schedule time difference by a predetermined value. In this way, for each step time in which the status of the schedule is reflected, an attempt is made to arrange the processing steps of the next lot from the schedule reference time. Therefore, since the placement is roughly tried for each step time that changes depending on the situation, the time required for the schedule can be shortened regardless of the situation.

Further, the processing step having the above-mentioned allowable time includes, for example, pure water cleaning processing (claim 6).
And a method including a drying treatment (claim 7).

[0024]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 relate to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an overall view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing system according to the embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram thereof.

This substrate processing system is provided with, for example, three substrate processing apparatuses A1 to A3 and a computer A4 for centrally controlling them, and carries out a transfer process on a substrate W.
It is for sequentially performing chemical treatment, coating / exposure and development treatment, etching treatment and the like. A plurality of (eg, 25) substrates W are stored in the cassette 1. The cassette 1 containing the unprocessed substrate W is placed on the placing table 3 of the first substrate processing apparatus A1.

The first substrate processing apparatus A1 receives a plurality of substrates W together with the cassette 1 on the mounting table 3 and then, for example,
The adjustment unit 5 adjusts the number so that it can be easily processed (usually, the number of sheets forming one lot). The mounting table 3 and the adjusting section 5 constitute a receiving section 7.

The adjusted lot is carried out from the receiving section 7, but the chemical treatment unit 9 and the receiving section 7 are in a separated form. Therefore, the transport unit 11 transports the lot together with the cassette 1 to the chemical solution processing unit 9. The receiving part 7 and the chemical liquid processing unit 9 constitute a first substrate processing apparatus A1. The chemical liquid processing unit 9 performs a pure water cleaning process, a chemical liquid process, and a drying process on a plurality of substrates W. The transport unit 11 is provided with, for example, an AGV and is configured to be movable. Specifically, not only between the receiving unit 7 and the chemical liquid processing unit 9 in the first substrate processing apparatus A1 described above, but also between the first substrate processing apparatus A1 and the second substrate processing apparatus A2. It is configured to be movable between the second substrate processing apparatus A2 and the third substrate processing apparatus A3 and between the first substrate processing apparatus A1 and the third substrate processing apparatus A3. The movement of the transport unit 11 is
It is controlled by the computer A4.

The second substrate processing apparatus A2 is, for example, a process of applying a photoresist solution to a plurality of substrates W, an exposure process to a plurality of substrates W on which a photoresist coating is formed, and a plurality of exposed substrates. The substrate W is subjected to a development process, and the plurality of developed substrates W are sequentially subjected to edge rinse, back rinse, and shake-off drying process.

The third substrate processing apparatus A3, for example, performs an etching process on a plurality of developed substrates W and a pure water cleaning process on a plurality of etched substrates W.
A drying process is sequentially performed on the plurality of substrates W that have been washed with pure water.

The computer A4 centrally controls the above-mentioned first to third substrate processing apparatuses A1 to A3 on the basis of a previously designated process plan. As shown in FIG. 2, the computer A4 includes a control unit 13 and a storage unit 15. The control unit 13 is composed of a CPU and the like, and controls a plurality of lots to be processed in accordance with this schedule after the schedule is created in advance by a schedule creation program including the rules described below. Meanwhile, the first to third substrate processing apparatuses A1 to A3 are configured to perform processing according to a predetermined process plan.
Control each of the.

The schedule is a process sequence in which processing steps for each lot are arranged in a time series (also called a time chart, a Gantt chart or a time table), and the processing is actually performed on the substrate W. It is created in advance before applying.

The storage unit 15 is created in advance by a user of the present substrate processing system, and includes a process plan including a plurality of process steps that define how to process the substrate W for each lot, and a schedule creation program. The created schedule and a processing program for executing this schedule are stored in advance.

"Basic Rule" After arranging the first processing step for any one of a plurality of lots, the "scheduled end time" in the previous processing step of the next processing step of each lot And the processing step for the earliest lot among these is arranged as the next processing step.

In addition to the above "basic rules", it is preferable to consider some rules as exemplified below.

"Rule A" -Avoid placement after the processing step of the scheduled payout time. When the scheduled time to carry out the lot after finishing the process is called the “scheduled payout time”, the lot with the earliest “scheduled end time” is placed behind the process step whose scheduled payout time is undecided. Even in this case, the rule is that the processing step is not arranged.

"Rule B": The next processing step is arranged within the allowable time. Although the processing time is determined in advance for the processing in the substrate processing apparatus, there may be no problem even if the processing is waited for some time after the processing until the next processing step. For example, in the transfer process, the substrate W may be put on standby while being taken out from the cassette 1, in the deionized water cleaning process, the substrate W may be put in deionized water, and the substrate W may be dried in the drying process. There is no problem if you wait after making it. However, it is not possible to wait for a long time, and if the waiting time is too long, the substrate W may be adversely affected. Therefore, there is a rule that the upper limit time is set as “allowable time”, and this is set and the next processing step is arranged within the “allowable time”.

"Rule C" -This is referred to as "overtaking" in that a processing step of a lot placed later than a processing step of a lot placed at a priority destination of an overtaking lot is placed earlier in time. It is defined in the book. When such "overtaking" occurs, the rule is to preferentially arrange the processing steps of the overtaken lot.

The case where two lots are sequentially processed under the same process plan will be described below as an example.

The process plan shown in Table 2 will be used as an example in the case of processing by the substrate processing system described above.

[0040]

[Table 2]

The process plan is composed of seven processing steps, which are a processing step to e processing step, and a part of which is performed a plurality of times. It is divided into three blocks, ~ C.

"A block" is the first substrate processing apparatus A.
In FIG. 1, the cassette 1 which is a lot is taken out from the receiving section 7, the transport unit 11 transports the lot (a plurality of substrates W) to the chemical treatment unit 9, and the chemical treatment, pure water cleaning treatment and drying treatment are performed. Processing.

More specifically, the process a is a process in which a plurality of substrates W constituting a lot are taken out from the cassette 1 mounted on the mounting table 3 and the adjusting unit 5 adjusts the number of substrates W. The lot transport unit 11 is the chemical treatment unit 9
The process b is carried out to the process c, and the process c is carried out by the chemical solution processing unit 9 performing the chemical solution. In addition,
The numbers in the table show an example of the time (minutes) required for the pre-work, the main work, and the post-work.

The "B block" is the first substrate processing apparatus A.
The first transport unit 11 moves to transport the lot from the first substrate processing apparatus A1 to the second substrate processing apparatus A2, where the coating process, the exposure process, the developing process, the edge rinse, the back rinse, and the like. Shaking off and drying treatment are sequentially performed.

In detail, the process b is until the transfer unit 11 of the first substrate processing apparatus A1 transfers the dried lot to the second substrate processing apparatus A2, and the second substrate processing apparatus. The process d is performed until the exposure / development process is performed in A2.

"C block" is the first substrate processing apparatus A.
The first transfer unit 11 moves to transfer the lot from the second substrate processing apparatus A2 to the third substrate processing apparatus A3, where etching processing, pure water cleaning processing, and drying processing are sequentially performed. It is processing up to. After this process,
The dried lot is taken out and transported.

Specifically, the lot subjected to processing such as coating and exposure is transferred to the transport unit 1 of the first substrate processing apparatus A1.
The process b is performed until 1 is transferred to the third substrate processing apparatus A3, and the process e is performed until etching processing is performed in the third substrate processing apparatus A3.

The last processing step in the blocks A and B described above, that is, the c processing step and the d processing step may allow some time before the next processing without promptly performing the next processing. It is a processing step that has time.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 8, a case where two lots are sequentially processed with the same process plan will be described as an example.

Of these drawings, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a combination of schedules, and FIGS. 4 to 8 are diagrams showing a process of creating a schedule. Further, in FIG. 4 to FIG. 8, the processing steps are indicated by the symbol “lot-block”. That is, “1-A” in FIG. 3 represents the processing step of the block A of the first lot.

First, the control unit 13 of the computer A4
First, decide which of the two lots to schedule first.

Briefly, the first lot is scheduled first. In this case, in the time chart of the schedule, as shown in FIG. 4, the block A of the first lot is arranged from the reference time. Since the schedule is created in advance in this way, unlike the event-driven type of the prior art, the process step is started so that the main work of the next process step is started when the main work of the previous process step is finished. Can be placed. That is, the lot is paid out (reference numeral m) when the end signal e is output. Hereinafter, the time when this work ends is referred to as the scheduled payout time.

Since the block A (reference numeral 1-A) of the first lot of the two lots is arranged as described above, FIG.
As is clear from the combination of, the next selectable one is "the block B of the first lot" or "the block A of the second lot".

The control section 13 firstly determines these blocks A,
Place B on the time chart.

That is, in this example, as shown in FIG.
The block B of the first lot is arranged according to the scheduled delivery time of the first lot A, and the block A of the second lot is arranged so that its c treatment step is adjacent to the c treatment step of the first lot. To place. Then, the scheduled end time of the previous processing step, that is, the scheduled end time E1 of the block A of the first lot is compared with the scheduled end time E2 of the previous processing step of the block A of the second lot. Here, since the previous processing step does not exist in the block A of the second lot, the scheduled start time of the block A is temporarily treated as the scheduled end time E2. As a result, the scheduled end time E2 of the second lot is earlier, so the block A of the second lot is arranged.

However, even if the scheduled end time E2 in the processing step before the second lot is early, the block A of the first lot is replaced by the block B of the first lot by applying the rule A described above. Will be placed.

That is, in the block A of the first lot, the c processing step has a permissible time, so this c processing step may extend backward as shown by the dotted line in FIG. The exact scheduled delivery time of the lot in the processing process is undecided. Therefore, since the time at which the chemical treatment unit 9 used in this c treatment step can be used is undecided, after the block A of the first lot, the first treatment step including the c treatment step using the chemical treatment unit 9 is performed. It is not preferable to arrange the blocks A of two lots. Therefore, rule A avoids such an arrangement.

Block B of the first lot (reference numeral 1-B)
3 is arranged, the next process step that can be arranged from the combination of FIG. 3 is either “block C of the first lot” or “block A of the second lot”.

Therefore, as described above, they are arranged on the time chart (see FIG. 5).

Then, the scheduled end time E1 in the block B of the first lot, which is the previous processing step,
Scheduled end time E2 in the processing step before block A relating to the second lot (scheduled start time for the reasons described above)
Compare with. As a result, since the second lot is faster, the block A of the second lot is arranged so that its b processing step is adjacent to the b processing step of the first lot.

Here, the allowable time TL in the d processing step is illustrated only for the first lot.

Next, the "block C of the first lot" and the "block B of the second lot" are arranged from the combination of FIG. 3 (see FIG. 6). The block C of the first lot is arranged based on the comparison result of the scheduled end times E1 and E2 in the respective previous processing steps (1-B, 2-A).

Here, a case where the scheduled end time E2 of the second lot is earlier will be described.

In this case, the block B of the second lot
However, in this case, the arrangement of the blocks C of the first lot exceeds the allowable time TL set in the d processing step of the first lot. Then, the first lot may be adversely affected, but by applying the rule B described above, this can be avoided. That is, since the next b processing step is arranged so as not to exceed the allowable time TL set in the c processing step of the first lot, the block C of the first lot is arranged with priority. .

Next, based on the combination of FIG. 3, the blocks B of the second lot are arranged (see FIG. 7), and finally the second block is placed.
The block C of the lot is placed (see FIG. 8) to finish the schedule creation. The schedule created in this way is stored in the storage unit 15 and referred to by the processing program during actual processing. The above-mentioned processes are shown in combination by the arrows shown by the dotted and solid lines in FIG.

Although the schedule is prepared in this manner, it can be seen that the waiting time (black-painted portion in both figures) is extremely short as compared with the conventional example (FIG. 11). By thus creating a schedule in advance according to the above rules, it is possible to arrange the post-work of the previous processing step and the pre-work of the subsequent processing step in an overlapping manner, and By selecting and arranging the processing step of the lot in which the previous processing step ends earlier as the next processing step, it is possible to shorten the time until the completion of the next processing step. Therefore, each substrate processing apparatus of the substrate processing system can be effectively used, the standby time can be suppressed, and the operating rate can be improved.

Further, by considering "Rule A", since the processing step is not arranged after the processing step whose scheduled delivery time of the lot has not been determined, each processing can be performed without affecting the schedule of the already arranged lot. Lot processing steps can be arranged.

Further, by considering the "rule B", by arranging the processing step having the allowable time behind the processing step having the allowable time, the next processing step is positioned within the allowable time. The processing can be performed and the adverse effect on the lot can be suppressed.

Here, an example of applying the "rule C" will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 13 are time charts showing a process of creating a schedule when "overtaking" occurs.

Further, the origin in these time charts indicates the current time, and the symbol x corresponds to the schedule reference position for each processing step that is currently arranged and indicates the schedule reference time. Therefore, the following schedule regarding overtaking means that the schedule cannot be completed unless it is completed by the time x from the origin. Although the interval between the schedule reference time x and the current time is originally narrowed with the passage of time, it is described as constant in FIGS. 9 to 13 for the sake of illustration.

As shown in FIG. 9, for example, for the first lot, block A including the g processing step and the f processing step.
Are arranged from time t4 to t7 and time t6 to t8 (reference numeral 1-A in the figure). Second placed next
It is assumed that the block A including the f process step is arranged from time t1 to t3 for the lot of (No. 2- in the figure).
A). As a result, the block A of the second lot is arranged earlier than the block A of the first lot in terms of time. That is, "overtaking" as defined in this specification occurs. Further, it is assumed that the block B including the g processing step following the block A of the second lot is arranged from the time t2 to t5. In such a case, the block A of the second lot is preferentially arranged. By taking such rule C into consideration, each substrate processing apparatus A1 to A3 of the substrate processing system can be utilized to the maximum extent as in the basic rule.

However, in the g processing step, the first
Block A of the second lot and block B of the second lot compete with each other. Therefore, the schedule cannot be fixed as it is. Therefore, in order to overcome this situation, schedule as follows.

First, as shown in FIG. 10, the block A of the second lot and the block B of the second lot do not compete with each other and with other lots, and are not overtaking, and are reliably arranged. Find a possible position. Specifically, it is exemplified that the block A of the first lot is arranged immediately after the f processing step. Then, assuming that this position is the “certain placement position”, the difference between the time t8 at the placement position of the block B of the second lot indicating the position and the schedule reference time x is obtained. The difference thus obtained is set as the schedule time difference T1. Then, the predetermined value n set in advance and stored in the storage unit 15 is read, and the schedule time difference T1 is divided by the predetermined value n. In order to facilitate understanding of the description, here, the predetermined value n
Is "3".

The predetermined value n is preferably set in the range of 5 to 20 in consideration of the process plan and the characteristics of the substrate processing system. When the predetermined value n is decreased, the step time is increased, so that it is possible to shorten the schedule completion. Moreover, since the step time is shortened when the predetermined value n is increased, the accuracy of the schedule can be increased.

As a result of dividing the schedule time difference T1 by the predetermined value n = 3, the step time Ts is obtained. Then, the block A of the second lot and the block B of the second lot from the schedule reference time x every step time Ts.
Will try to determine whether or not can be placed. In other words,
The trial is repeated by a predetermined value n. In the process, it is preferable that the arrangement position of each processing step of the first lot is fixed and the schedule thereof is stabilized.

FIG. 11 shows a state in which the blocks A of the second lot are arranged according to the schedule reference time x.
However, in this case, it can be seen that the block B of the second lot to be subsequently arranged competes with the first lot in the f processing step. Therefore, it cannot be arranged in such a position.

FIG. 12 shows a state in which the block A of the second lot is arranged at a position separated from the schedule reference time x by the step time Ts. However, even in this case, the block B of the second lot to be arranged subsequently is
It can be seen that f competes with the first lot in the f process step. Therefore, it cannot be arranged in such a position.

FIG. 13 shows a state in which the blocks A of the second lot are arranged at positions further separated by the step time Ts. However, even in this case, it cannot be arranged in such a position for the reason described above.

Therefore, as a result of repeating the trials the number of times corresponding to the predetermined value n, it is not possible to place any of them, so that each processing step of the second lot is placed at the "certain placement position" shown in FIG. .

In this way, for each step time Ts in which the status of the schedule is reflected, an attempt is made to arrange the processing steps of the next lot from the schedule reference time x.
Therefore, the placement is roughly tried for each step time Ts that changes depending on the situation. As a result, the time required for the schedule can be shortened regardless of the situation. In addition, when repeating the trial at each step time, the arrangement position was kept fixed in order to keep the schedule stable for each processing step of the previous lot, but if there is no problem even if it is moved May add a rule to move only in that case.

Incidentally, the case of the conventional example is illustrated in FIG.
The f-processing step is indicated by the dotted line. That is, the trial is gradually repeated at short time intervals from the schedule reference time x. Therefore, it may take a long time to find a position where the arrangement is possible.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be modified as follows.

(1) It is not necessary to consider all of the above-mentioned rules. For example, only the basic rule may be applied, or only the basic rule and the rule A may be applied.

(2) In the embodiment, the case where two lots are processed at the same time has been described as an example, but the present invention can be applied even when processing three lots or more.

(3) Various substrate processing apparatuses may be provided in addition to the substrate processing apparatus of the substrate processing system described in the embodiment, and the same substrate is not limited to the serial processing flow as described above. A configuration may be adopted in which the processing devices are arranged in parallel and a part of the processing is performed in parallel.

[0086]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to arrange the post-work of the previous processing step and the pre-work of the subsequent processing step by overlapping by scheduling in advance. In addition, it is possible to shorten the time until the next processing step is completed by selecting and arranging the processing step of the lot in which the previous processing step finishes earlier among the process steps that can be arranged as the next processing step. it can. Therefore, since the substrate processing apparatus of the substrate processing system can be effectively used, the standby time can be suppressed and the operating rate can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a substrate processing system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a combination of schedules.

FIG. 4 is a time chart showing a process of creating a schedule.

FIG. 5 is a time chart showing a process of creating a schedule.

FIG. 6 is a time chart showing a process of creating a schedule.

FIG. 7 is a time chart showing a process of creating a schedule.

FIG. 8 is a time chart showing a process of creating a schedule.

FIG. 9 is a time chart showing a process of creating a schedule when an overtaking occurs.

FIG. 10 is a time chart showing a process of creating a schedule when an overtaking occurs.

FIG. 11 is a time chart showing a process of creating a schedule when an overtaking occurs.

FIG. 12 is a time chart showing a process of creating a schedule when overtaking occurs.

FIG. 13 is a time chart showing a process of creating a schedule when an overtaking occurs.

FIG. 14 is a time chart showing the flow in the case of processing one lot according to the conventional technique.

FIG. 15 is a time chart showing the flow in the case where two lots are processed by the conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

W ... Substrate A1 ... First substrate processing apparatus A2 ... Second substrate processing apparatus A3 ... Third substrate processing apparatus A4 ... Computer 1 ... Cassette 3… Mounting table 5… Adjuster 7 ... Receiving department 9 ... Chemical processing unit 11 ... Transport unit 13 ... Control unit 15 ... Storage unit

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H01L 21/304 648 H01L 21/30 562 (72) Inventor Atsushi Kawai 4-chome Tenjin, Horikawa-dori Temple, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 1 in Kitamachi No. 1 Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. In-company F-term (Reference) 2H088 FA25 HA01 3B201 AA01 BB01 BB92 CB11 CC01 CC11 CC11 CD43 3C100 AA01 BB02 BB03 BB14 EE06 5F046 JA27 KA10 LB10 MA19

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. When processing a plurality of lots by a substrate processing system having a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses for processing a substrate, each lot is processed according to a process plan including a plurality of processing steps. In the method of creating a schedule for a substrate processing system that determines the processing order of each lot for sequential processing by the device, after arranging the first processing step for any lot, The method for creating a schedule of a substrate processing system, wherein a processing step for a lot having the earliest scheduled end time in the previous processing step is arranged as the next processing step. 2. The method of creating a schedule for a substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein the scheduled delivery time, which is the time at which the processing is completed and the lot is unloaded, is undecided. A method of creating a schedule for a substrate processing system, characterized in that the processing step of the lot with the earliest scheduled end time is avoided after the processing step. 3. The method for creating a schedule of a substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein an allowable time defined as an upper limit time to wait until the next processing step after finishing the processing in the substrate processing apparatus. In the case where the process plan includes a processing step having the following, the schedule of the substrate processing system is characterized in that the next processing step is arranged after the processing step having the allowable time so as to be within the allowable time. How to make. 4. The method of creating a schedule for a substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein a processing step of a next lot arranged after the processing step of the previously arranged lot is temporally performed. A method of creating a schedule for a substrate processing system, characterized in that the processing step of the next lot is preferentially arranged when an overtaking located at the front occurs. 5. The method of creating a schedule for a substrate processing system according to claim 4, wherein when overtaking occurs and the subsequent processing steps of the processing step of the next lot cannot be arranged, If it is overtaking and the position where each processing step of the next lot can be arranged is determined and the arrangement position is set as the certain arrangement position, the time at the certain arrangement position and the currently arranged treatment step The difference from the schedule reference time at the schedule reference position is calculated as a schedule time difference, and a value obtained by dividing this by a preset predetermined value is calculated as a step time, and the next lot is calculated at each step time from the schedule reference time. A method for creating a schedule for a substrate processing system characterized by attempting to arrange each processing step of . 6. The method of creating a schedule for a substrate processing system according to claim 3, wherein the processing step having the permissible time includes a pure water cleaning process. 7. The method of creating a schedule for a substrate processing system according to claim 3, wherein the processing step having the allowable time includes a drying process. 8. When processing a plurality of lots by a substrate processing system including a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses for processing substrates, each lot is processed according to a process plan including a plurality of processing steps. In the schedule creation program of the substrate processing system that determines the processing order of each lot for sequential processing by the equipment, after arranging the first processing step for any lot, A program for creating a schedule of a substrate processing system for controlling a computer so that a processing step for a lot having the earliest scheduled end time in the preceding step is arranged as a next processing step.