JP2004311612A - Semiconductor manufacturing equipment and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide semiconductor manufacturing equipment and its control method wherein high speed processing of the equipment and increase in efficiency of processing are realized, while maintaining miniaturization and space saving of the equipment. <P>SOLUTION: The semiconductor manufacturing equipment is provided with a first control unit, a second control unit which is connected with the first control unit by wiring saving, and a driving part which is controlled by the second control unit. The first control unit supplies a control signal to the second control unit which signal is for controlling a series of performances to be performed by the driving part at a prescribed position. Based on the control signal, the second control unit performs feedback control of the driving part relating to a series of the performances without interposing the first control unit. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a control method thereof, and more particularly to a control method of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus using reduced wiring. Here, “wiring saving” refers to a wiring system that reduces the number of wirings (cables) for the number of input / output points, which is required for conventional parallel wiring. The present invention is suitable, for example, for a handler control method.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses have been required not only to be reduced in size and space, but also to be more efficient and faster to manufacture. For example, a handler as an example of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is used in an inspection process performed after an assembling process (post-process) in a semiconductor manufacturing process, and automatically supplies a workpiece that has been assembled to a test system, based on a test result. It is a device that automatically sorts and stores it in a tray. Since the handler drives and controls many motors, in recent years, wiring saving has been adopted from the viewpoint of miniaturization and space saving. The wiring saving is a wiring system that reduces the number of wirings for the number of input / output points (for example, reduces the number of wirings to one) by serializing data communication. In the reduced wiring, the connection between the input port and the output port is limited to the main wiring, and the other subordinate wirings are connected to the main wiring, so that the wiring operation is also easy.
[0003]
A control system of a conventional handler typically includes a higher-order controller, a lower-order controller, necessary motor drive circuits, and a drive unit. The driving unit includes an air valve, a camera, and the like, in addition to the motor. The reduced wiring is applied between the upper controller and the lower controller, and enables serial communication between them.
[0004]
In control, in response to a command from the upper controller, the lower controller sends a command to the drive unit, and then, if necessary, the lower controller sends a command to the motor drive circuit, so that the drive unit operates. I do. The operation information of the driving unit is transmitted to the upper controller via the necessary motor driving circuit and the lower controller, and in response, the upper controller sends a predetermined command to the driving unit via the lower controller and the necessary motor driving circuit. Output.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional reduced wiring has a problem that, although the device can be reduced in size and space, the processing speed cannot be sufficiently achieved. For example, when driving the second motor to a predetermined position or opening the air valve when the first motor is driven to the first position, the host controller sets the first motor to the first position. Is transmitted to the lower controller and the motor drive circuit, and the operation information indicating that the first motor has reached the first position is received via the motor drive circuit and the lower controller. In response to the feedback, a command for driving the second motor or the air valve is transmitted. For this reason, the second motor and the air valve will not be driven until a predetermined period has elapsed since the first motor reached the first position.
[0006]
The predetermined period includes a communication time between the upper controller and the lower controller, and a response time for the upper controller to perform necessary calculations. In the parallel communication, the time lag due to the communication time did not matter, but in the wiring saving system, the signal is transmitted serially, so that the communication time becomes longer. In addition, real-time characteristics for feedback control are increasingly required in accordance with recent demands for speeding up of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. However, real-time feedback control could not be realized because of excessively large values.
[0007]
Furthermore, the conventional reduced wiring has not been able to efficiently use the processing capacity of the host controller. That is, the host controller needs to perform not only the position control but also the image processing operation and the whole sequence control, but there is a problem that other processes cannot be performed if real-time feedback control is performed.
[0008]
To solve these problems, it is conceivable to perform real-time processing by increasing the number of wirings by connecting the wirings in parallel as in the related art, but this makes it impossible to reduce the size and space of the device. Therefore, it is not preferable.
[0009]
Accordingly, it is an exemplary object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a method for realizing high-speed processing and efficient processing of a device while keeping the size and space of the device small.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention is connected to a first control unit and the first control unit with reduced wiring, and is controlled by the first control unit. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, comprising: a second control unit; and a drive unit controlled by the second control unit, wherein the first control unit includes a second control unit and a second control unit. A control signal for controlling a series of operations to be performed at a position is supplied, and the second control unit performs feedback control of the driving unit on the series of operations based on the control signal, based on the first signal. It is characterized in that it is performed without going through a control unit. According to this semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, the first control section first collectively supplies information necessary for controlling a series of operations of the drive section to the second control section, so that the second control section controls the drive section. Does not need to communicate with the first control unit, so that high-speed control can be realized. In particular, this is effective in a case where wires for the number of normal input / output points are provided between the second control unit and the drive unit, instead of wiring saving. As a result, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can achieve high-speed processing and improve productivity. Further, since the first control unit does not need to control the driving unit thereafter, the first control unit performs a process different from the control of the driving unit during the operation of the second control unit. And the processing efficiency can be improved.
[0011]
A semiconductor manufacturing method according to another aspect of the present invention includes a first control unit, a second control unit connected to the first control unit with reduced wiring, and controlled by the first control unit. A method of controlling a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having a driving unit controlled by the second control unit, wherein the first control unit sends the second control unit a series of operations to be performed at a predetermined position by the driving unit. Transmitting a control signal for controlling the operation of the second control unit, the second control unit, based on the control signal, the feedback control of the drive unit regarding the series of operations, the first control unit, And a step performed without intervention. This control method has the same effect as the above-described semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and is realized, for example, as software used in the above-described semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
[0012]
Other objects and further features of the present invention will become apparent in the embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a handler 100 as an example of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The handler 100 is used in an inspection process performed after an assembly process (post-process), and has a function of automatically supplying a workpiece to be assembled to a test system and automatically classifying and storing the workpiece based on a test result. . In some cases, the handler simply stores the work singulated by dicing in a tray.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the handler 100 includes a higher controller 110, a lower controller 120, a motor drive circuit 130, and a drive unit 140. Here, FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a control system of the handler 100 according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing signal communication when the upper and lower controllers shown in FIG. 1 perform feedback control of the operation of the drive unit.
[0014]
The host controller 110 controls various parts of the apparatus and performs various processes. The host controller 110 has a master station 112 and an image processing system 114. The upper controller 110 includes a sequencer and an FA personal computer. The master station 112 is an interface communicably connected to the lower controller 120, and uses reduced wiring for connection. The image processing system 114 processes an image captured by the camera 146 of the driving unit 140. In an embodiment described later with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the upper controller 110 also controls a storage tray driving unit that drives the position of the storage tray that stores the work.
[0015]
The lower controller 120 is controlled by the upper controller 110, and in the handler 100 of the present embodiment, mainly controls the driving unit 140 (that is, once the control information is received from the upper controller 110, the information is transmitted to the upper controller 110. Do without feedback). However, the control of the driving unit 140 does not include the control of the host controller 110 that is to be directly controlled, for example, the position control of the tray that stores the work W.
[0016]
The lower controller 120 has a slave station 121, a microcomputer 122, a pulse transmission circuit 123, an I / O (input / output) circuit 124, and a video capture timing circuit 126.
[0017]
The slave station 121 is an interface communicably connected to the master station 112 of the host controller 110, and uses reduced wiring for connection. The microcomputer 122 controls various units and performs various processes, and includes a processing unit, such as a CPU and an MPU, regardless of its name. The pulse transmission circuit 123 generates a drive pulse for driving the motor, and is connected to the motor drive circuit 130. The I / O circuit 124 is an interface through which a signal for opening and closing the air valve 144 and a signal indicating the state of the air valve 144 pass. The video capture timing circuit 126 is connected to the camera 146 and supplies an imaging timing signal to the camera 146.
[0018]
The motor drive circuit 130 is provided between the pulse transmission circuit 123 and the motor 142 of the drive unit 140, and drives the motor 142. Specifically, the motor drive circuit 130 controls the power supplied from the power supply for driving the motor 142 based on the signal from the pulse oscillation circuit 123.
[0019]
The drive unit 140 is driven by the handler 100 to perform various processes (that is, transport, suck, store, and sort the work W, image and position the work W and a pickup mechanism that grips the work W, and the like). Do. The driving unit 140 includes a motor 142, an air valve 144, and a camera 146, but is not limited thereto. Another example of the driving unit 140 includes an A / D converter. However, the drive unit 140 of the present embodiment does not include a drive that is to be directly controlled by the host controller 110.
[0020]
Hereinafter, the function of the driving unit 140 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. Here, FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of the arrangement of the driving unit 140. In FIG. 3, the handler 100 picks up a work W from an adhesive wafer sheet WS on which a work W as a semiconductor device is mounted, and transports the work W to a predetermined position (for example, a test position or a storage position). The handler 100 further includes a pickup mechanism 150 as shown in FIG.
[0021]
The motor 142 is connected to the pickup mechanism 150 and moves the pickup mechanism 150. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, three motors 142 are provided, and in these motors 142, the pickup mechanism 150 moves three-dimensionally.
[0022]
The air valve 144 is openably and closably connected between a suction pump (not shown) and the pickup mechanism 150, and is also connected to the I / O circuit 124 of the lower controller 120. As a result of the opening and closing of the air valve 144, the inside of the main body (cylinder block) 152 of the pickup mechanism 150 is evacuated or the vacuum is released. When the air valve 144 is opened, the pickup mechanism 150 sucks the work W. When the air valve 144 is closed, the vacuum in the pickup mechanism 150 is released and released to the atmospheric pressure. And separate.
[0023]
The camera 146 is provided above the wafer sheet WS. The camera 146 is used to align the pickup mechanism 150 with the work W when picking up the work W, and to store the work W at a specific position on the tray. In order to align the position with the work, these are photographed. The camera 146 includes a CCD camera or the like, and the number and arrangement thereof are not limited.
[0024]
The image acquired by the camera 146 is processed by the image processing system 114 of the host controller 110. Based on the information processed by the image processing system 114, the position of the pickup mechanism 150 or the wafer sheet WS is controlled by a motor 142 or an XY moving device (not shown) so as to pick up a specific work W or a specific position on a tray (not shown). The work W is stored in the position. In an embodiment which will be described later with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the upper controller 110 two-dimensionally controls the position of the tray based on the information of the camera 146.
[0025]
In FIG. 3, the pickup mechanism 150 is located above the work W, picks up the work W from the wafer sheet WS, and transports the work W to a test position or a storage position. Further, the pickup mechanism 150 can also transport the work W for which the test has been completed to a predetermined position on the storage tray, but illustration of the storage tray and the like is omitted.
[0026]
The pickup mechanism 150 has a suction portion 154 at the bottom of the main body (or arm) 152, and the suction portion 154 has a suction hole for vacuum-sucking the upper surface of the work W. Further, a suction hole is provided on the upper surface of the main body 152, and is connected directly or via a pipe or the like to an air valve 144 connected to a suction pump (not shown). As described above, when the air valve 144 is opened, the suction unit 154 sucks the upper surface of the work W, and when the air valve 144 is closed, the suction unit 154 separates the work W.
[0027]
The pickup mechanism 150 is connected to the motor 142 of the driving unit 140 and can be moved three-dimensionally by the three motors 142. The present invention does not limit the number of motors 142 shown in FIG.
[0028]
Hereinafter, the operation of the control system of the handler 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control system of the handler 100. First, when driving the driving unit 140, the higher-level controller 110 controls the slave station 121 of the lower-level controller 120 via the master station 112 to control a series of operations to be performed by the driving unit 140 at a predetermined position. The information is transmitted collectively (step 1002). Such control information is, for example, when the first motor 142 is driven to the first position in the horizontal direction, the second motor 142 is driven to lower the main body 152 of the pickup mechanism 150 to the second position in the vertical direction. Then, it is information on a series of operations of the drive unit 140, such as opening the air valve 144 and picking up the work W.
[0029]
In the case of the conventional configuration, the upper controller 110 transmits an operation command for moving the first motor 142 to the first position to the lower controller 120, and then the lower controller 120 transmits the first motor 142 to the first motor driving circuit. By controlling 130, the first motor 142 is driven to the first position. Subsequently, the lower controller 120 receives operation information indicating that the first motor 142 has reached the first position from the first motor drive circuit 130, and transmits such information to the upper controller 110. Next, the upper controller 110 transmits an operation command for moving the second motor 142 to the second position to the lower controller 120. In response, the lower controller 120 controls the second motor drive circuit 130 to drive the second motor 142 to the second position. Subsequently, the lower controller 120 receives operation information indicating that the second motor 142 has reached the second position from the second motor drive circuit 130, and transmits such information to the upper controller 110. Next, the upper controller 110 transmits an operation command for opening the air valve 144 to the lower controller 120. In response, the lower controller 120 controls the I / O circuit 124 to open the air valve 144.
[0030]
As described above, in the conventional configuration, the lower controller 120 needs to feed back information of the first and second motors 142 to the upper controller 110, and such communication is performed with reduced wiring (that is, performed by serial communication). Communication time was taking a long time. Further, when information is fed back from the lower controller 120, the upper controller 110 must immediately calculate the control information of the second motor 142 and the air valve 144 in order to maintain the real-time property, and the load is applied. . In addition, the communication time when the higher-level controller 110 transmits the control information of the second motor 142 and the air valve 144 to the lower-level controller 120 with reduced wiring is also long.
[0031]
On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, the upper controller 110 first collectively supplies information necessary for controlling a series of operations of the drive unit 140 to the lower controller 120, and the lower controller 120 controls the drive unit 140. 120 need not communicate thereafter with the first controller. For this reason, the communication time is shortened. Further, since the wiring between the lower controller 120 and the drive unit 140 is not a reduced wiring but a parallel wiring, the real-time property is improved. Further, the load on the host controller 110 is reduced.
[0032]
When acquiring the control information, the lower-level controller 120 performs feedback control of the driving unit 140 (Step 1004). As described above, the microcomputer 122 of the lower controller 120 performs feedback control of the drive unit 140 without communicating with the upper controller 110. Specifically, the motor axes of the plurality of motors 142 are monitored in real time, and the timing between the axes is adjusted. Further, the microcomputer 122 controls opening and closing of the valve 144 via the I / O circuit, and controls the image capturing timing of the camera 146 via the image capturing timing circuit 126.
[0033]
For example, the lower controller 120 controls the first motor drive circuit 130 to drive the first motor 142 to the first position, and the operation information indicating that the first motor 142 has reached the first position. From the first motor drive circuit 130. In response, the lower controller 120 controls the second motor drive circuit 130 to drive the second motor 142 to the second position, and that the second motor 142 has reached the second position. Is received from the second motor drive circuit 130. In response, the lower controller 120 controls the I / O circuit 124 to open the air valve 144.
[0034]
On the other hand, the upper controller 110 executes other processes in parallel while the lower controller 120 performs the feedback control of the driving unit 140 (step 1006). In the present embodiment, other processing includes image processing and driving of the storage tray. As described above, in the present embodiment, the upper controller 110 can perform other processing by leaving the feedback control of the driving unit 140 to the lower controller 110, and thus the handler 100 can efficiently perform various processing. .
[0035]
Hereinafter, the processing of the upper controller 110 will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an operation example of the drive unit 140 to be set by the host controller 110, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the host controller 110.
[0036]
As shown in FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, the main body 152 (arm) of the pickup mechanism 150 sucks the work at point 1 and stores the work in the tray at point 7. The work points include points 1 to 7, and the work contents at each point are as follows.
[0037]
That is, at point 1, the air valve 144 is opened to suck the workpiece, and then the main body 152 (hereinafter, referred to as an arm Z axis) of the pickup mechanism 150 corresponding to the third (or Z axis) motor 142 is raised. I do. At point 2, the main body 152 (hereinafter, referred to as an arm Y axis) of the pickup mechanism 150 corresponding to the second (or Y axis) motor 142 is activated. At point 3, when the arm Y axis passes through point 3, it is checked whether the movement of the arm Z axis has been completed. If the movement has not been completed, the entire system is emergency stopped. At point 4, the camera 146 is instructed to emit a flash and capture an image of a work. At point 5, a command to lower the arm Z axis is issued. At point 6, a command is issued to close the air valve 144. At point 7, a command is issued to return the arms Y and Z axes to their original positions.
[0038]
Referring to FIG. 6, first, upper controller 110 transmits a series of operations from points 1 to 7 to lower controller 120 (step 1102).
Next, the upper controller 110 instructs the lower controller 120 to start transport (step 1104). Note that the start 1 is only the first time, and the second and subsequent times are started from the start 2.
[0039]
Accordingly, at point 1, the lower-level controller 120 opens the air valve 144 via the I / O circuit 124 and drives the third motor 142 via the third motor drive circuit 130. At point 2, the lower controller 120 drives the second motor 142 via the second motor drive circuit 130. At point 3, the lower controller 120 determines from the information from the second motor drive circuit 130 that the arm Y axis has reached point 3, and determines whether the movement of the arm Z axis has been completed by the third motor. The determination is made by the drive circuit 130. When the lower controller 120 makes an emergency stop of the entire system, the microcomputer 122 requests the upper controller 110 to do so. At point 4, the lower controller 120 controls the video capture timing circuit 126 to execute flash emission and image capture. At point 5, the lower controller 120 drives the third motor 142 via the third motor drive circuit 130. The lower controller 120 closes the air valve 144 via the I / O circuit 124 at the point 6. At point 7, the lower controller 120 returns the second and third motors 142 to the initial position via the second and third motor drive circuits 130.
[0040]
Next, the host controller 110 determines whether or not the vehicle has passed the point 4 (step 1106). The host controller 110 receives an image captured by the camera 146, and the image processing system 114 performs image processing. Next, the host controller 110 calculates the displacement amounts X and Y of the work by image processing (step 1108). The host controller 110 can perform image processing while the lower controller 120 is driving the driving unit 140, so that the processing of the handler 100 is efficient.
[0041]
Next, the host controller 110 instructs movement of the storage tray XY based on the displacement amount (step 1110). The upper controller 110 can drive the storage tray while the lower controller 120 is driving the arm Z axis down, so that the processing of the handler 100 is efficient. Next, the host controller 110 determines whether or not point 7 has been reached (step 1112).
[0042]
As described above, according to this embodiment, the lower-level controller 120 can perform high-accuracy multiple-axis coordinated positioning processing, secure workpiece braking and stable braking time, and perform stable video capture control at high speed. As a result, a stable material handling system with high repeatability can be constructed. Further, the load on the host controller 110 is reduced, and the host controller 110 can perform processing other than the control of the drive unit 140.
[0043]
As described above, the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the gist. For example, the present embodiment has been described using a handler as an example of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. However, the present invention can be applied to other semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses.
[0044]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a control method thereof that realize high-speed processing and efficient processing of the apparatus while maintaining the size and space saving of the apparatus. .
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a control system of a handler shown in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing signal communication when the upper and lower controllers shown in FIG. 1 perform feedback control of the operation of a driving unit.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a driving unit of the handler illustrated in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a control system of the handler shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation example of a drive unit to be set by a higher-level controller illustrated in FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the host controller when implementing the operation of the drive unit shown in FIG. 5;
[Explanation of symbols]
100 Handler (semiconductor manufacturing equipment)
110 Upper controller 114 Image processing system 120 Lower controller 122 Microcomputer 130 Motor drive circuit 140 Drive unit 142 Motor 144 Air valve 146 Camera 150 Pickup mechanism

Claims (2)

A first control unit, a second control unit connected to the first control unit with reduced wiring and controlled by the first control unit, and a driving unit controlled by the second control unit. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having
The first control unit supplies a control signal for controlling a series of operations to be performed by the driving unit at a predetermined position to the second control unit,
The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second control unit performs feedback control of the driving unit on the series of operations based on the control signal without passing through the first control unit. A first control unit, a second control unit connected to the first control unit with reduced wiring and controlled by the first control unit, and a driving unit controlled by the second control unit. A method for controlling a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having
Causing the first control unit to transmit a control signal for controlling a series of operations to be performed at a predetermined position by the drive unit to the second control unit;
Performing the feedback control of the drive unit on the series of operations based on the control signal without passing through the first control unit.

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