JP2010225890A - Scheduling method of substrate treatment apparatus and program of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To create a schedule again so that a lot required to be treated with the highest priority can be more preferentially treated than other lots even if treatment is performed based on a schedule. <P>SOLUTION: In the case that a treatment command is given to the lot required to be treated with the highest priority when the treatment is performed based on the schedule, a control unit temporarily deletes the schedule after a resource capable of safely waiting for a lot to be treated when the treatment command is given, temporarily deletes all the schedules for the lots to each of which the treatment is not yet started, adds the schedule of the lot to be treated with the highest priority with a hard link to the blank schedule created by the deletion, and creates the schedule again by adding the temporarily deleted schedules of the lots. Thereby, the schedule can be created again so that the lot required to be treated with the highest priority can be more preferentially treated without affecting the substrate treatment of the lot which is currently treated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a schedule creation method for a substrate processing apparatus for performing predetermined processing such as cleaning and drying on a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate) and a program therefor.

  Conventionally, as a method of creating a schedule for this type of substrate processing apparatus, there is a method for determining which lot uses the resources of each processing unit in what order before executing the actual processing (for example, , See Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 10 is a time chart showing an example of the schedule of the substrate processing apparatus created by the conventional example. In FIG. 10, the time bar hatched with diagonal lines represents the first lot, and the time bar hatched with vertical lines represents the second lot. Further, the symbols on the vertical axis in FIG. 10 indicate the configuration of each part of the substrate processing apparatus which will be described later with reference to FIG.

  By performing scheduling in advance in this way, it is possible to determine which lot is to be processed at which point at which point before executing the processing for the lot, so that each processing step of the lot can be arranged efficiently. The operating rate of the substrate processing apparatus can be improved.

JP 2002-341923 A

However, the conventional example having such a configuration has the following problems.
That is, once scheduling is performed and processing is executed, even if there is a lot to be processed with the highest priority (hereinafter, simply referred to as “priority lot”), the schedule can be processed so that the lot can be processed with the highest priority. There is a problem that it cannot be changed. FIG. 11 shows a time chart when the problem occurs. The time bar filled in the figure indicates the priority lot. When a schedule as shown in FIG. 10 is created and processing is executed, if a priority lot processing instruction is input at time t indicated by a dotted line in the drawing, the schedule of the lot that has already been processed is affected. This is to add a priority lot schedule.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and even if the process has already been executed based on the schedule, the schedule of the lot that has been started under a predetermined condition can be obtained. Provided is a substrate processing apparatus schedule creation method and program capable of preferentially processing a lot that needs to be processed with priority over other lots by deleting and adding a priority lot schedule. The purpose is to do.

  In order to achieve such an object, the present invention has the following configuration. That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when a plurality of lots are processed by using a substrate processing apparatus having a plurality of processing units for processing a substrate while using the resources of each processing unit, the processing is actually performed. In the method of creating a schedule for a substrate processing apparatus in which the control unit determines the use timing of each resource before execution, the control unit has the highest priority while executing processing for each lot according to the schedule based on the use timing of each resource. When receiving an instruction to add a lot to be processed to the schedule, the deletion of the schedule of the lot that has not been processed among the schedules being executed and the lot that has been processed are as follows: An empty schedule is generated by deleting the schedule after the resource that can wait until processing, The usage timing of each resource of the deleted lot is added so that it is added to the vacant schedule at the usage timing of each resource of the lot to be processed in step 1, and the usage timing of each resource of the lot to be processed with the highest priority is not changed. Is re-determined.

  [Operation / Effect] According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a schedule based on the use timing of each resource is created for each lot and processing is being executed, there is an instruction to add a priority lot to the schedule. If there is an unprocessed lot, the schedule is temporarily deleted, and for the lot being processed, the schedule after the resource that can be waited for is deleted, and a free space is created in the schedule. Add a priority lot schedule. Therefore, priority lots can be processed earlier than other lots. In addition, because lots that have already been processed delete the schedule after the resources that can wait until the next process, adding a priority lot to the schedule causes a waiting state for the lot being processed. However, it is possible to wait for processing with resources that can be waited, and it is possible to prevent overprocessing of the lot being processed.

  The “resource” in the present invention means a pure water cleaning processing unit, a chemical processing unit, a drying processing unit, a coating processing unit, a plating processing unit, an etching processing unit, a transport processing unit for transporting a substrate, This indicates a posture conversion unit that converts the posture.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the standby resource is a pure water cleaning processing unit that performs pure water cleaning processing on a lot. In the pure water cleaning processing section, the lot subjected to the chemical processing is cleaned, but even if the time is prolonged, it is possible to prevent the substrate from being excessively processed by the chemical or the like.

  Further, in the present invention, the use timing of each resource of the lot to be processed with the highest priority is scheduled so that the processing of the lot to be processed with the highest priority is completed in the shortest time. (Claim 3). Processing can be performed with priority by scheduling the use timing of each resource in preference to other lots.

  In the present invention, the lot in which the processing is not performed is preferably a lot in which the substrate is not unloaded from the container that accommodates the substrate. If the substrate is not carried out of the container, even if the schedule is once deleted, adhesion of particles to the substrate can be prevented.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, when a plurality of lots are processed by using a substrate processing apparatus having a plurality of processing units for processing a substrate while using the resources of each processing unit, the processing is actually performed. In the schedule creation program of the substrate processing apparatus in which the control unit determines the use timing of each resource before execution, the control unit has the highest priority while executing processing for each lot according to the schedule based on the use timing of each resource. When receiving an instruction to add a lot to be processed in the schedule, a step of deleting a schedule of a lot that has not been processed among the schedules that are being executed, and a lot that is being processed, A step that deletes a schedule after a resource that can wait until the next processing, and The step of adding to the empty schedule at the use timing of each resource of the lot to be processed with the highest priority in the empty schedule, and the use timing of each resource to which the lot to be processed with the highest priority is added are not changed. Thus, the step of re-determining the use timing of each resource of the deleted lot is executed by a computer.

  According to the schedule creation method for a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, when there is an instruction to add a priority lot to a schedule that has already been executed, the control unit deletes the schedule for a lot that has not been processed. For the lot for which processing is being executed, the priority lot schedule is added to the free schedule generated by deleting the schedule after the resource that can wait until the next processing. Therefore, it is possible to process the priority lot without affecting the lot being processed, such as excessive processing.

It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on an Example. It is a block diagram of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on an Example. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of a recipe. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of rescheduling when the interruption command of a priority lot is entered. It is a time chart of the Example before rescheduling. It is a time chart of the Example after deleting the 1st lot on the predetermined conditions. It is a time chart of the Example after deleting the 2nd lot on the predetermined conditions from the time chart of FIG. It is the time chart which added the priority lot with the hard link to the time chart of FIG. It is the time chart which added the 1st lot and the 2nd lot which were once deleted to the time chart of Drawing 8, and rescheduled. It is a time chart of the prior art example before a priority lot is added. It is the time chart which the priority lot was added by the prior art example, and rescheduling was complete | finished.

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

  FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a schematic configuration of the substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

  This substrate processing apparatus is an apparatus for performing chemical liquid processing, pure water cleaning processing, and drying processing on the substrate W, for example. A plurality of (for example, 25) substrates W are stored in a horizontal posture with respect to the FOUP 1 which is a substrate container. The FOUP 1 containing the unprocessed substrate W is placed on the loading unit 3. The input unit 3 includes two mounting tables 5 on which the FOUP 1 is mounted. On the opposite side of the loading unit 3 across the center of the substrate processing apparatus, a dispensing unit 7 is provided. The payout unit 7 stores the processed substrate W in the FOUP 1 and pays out the FOUP 1 together. The payout unit 7 that functions in this manner includes two mounting bases 9 for mounting the FOUP 1, similarly to the input unit 3.

  A first transport mechanism CTC that is movable between these is disposed at a position along the input unit 3 and the payout unit 7. The first transport mechanism CTC unloads the plurality of substrates W from the FOUP 1 placed on the placement table 5 of the loading unit 3 and converts the posture of the substrate W from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction, and then the second transport mechanism. Deliver the substrate W to the WTR. Further, after receiving the processed substrate W from the second transport mechanism WTR, the first transport mechanism CTC changes the posture of the substrate W from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction, and carries the substrate W into the FOUP 1 of the dispensing unit 7. To do.

  The second transport mechanism WTR is movable along the longitudinal direction of the substrate processing apparatus. A plurality of processing units are arranged along the movement direction of the second transport mechanism WTR. Among the plurality of processing units, the plurality of substrates W are placed in the low-pressure chamber on the most front side of the first transport mechanism CTC. And a drying processing unit LPD for drying a plurality of substrates W is provided.

  A first processing unit 19 is disposed at a position adjacent to the drying processing unit LPD in the moving direction of the second transport mechanism WTR. The first processing unit 19 includes a pure water cleaning processing unit ONB1 for performing pure water cleaning processing on a plurality of substrates W, and performs chemical processing on the plurality of substrates W with processing liquid. A chemical treatment unit CHB1 for application is provided. The first processing unit 19 includes a sub transport mechanism LFS1 that transports the substrate W between the pure water cleaning processing unit ONB1 and the chemical solution processing unit CHB1. The sub transport mechanism LFS1 delivers the substrate W to and from the second transport mechanism WTR in addition to the substrate transport in the first processing unit 19.

  A second processing unit 27 is disposed at a position adjacent to the first processing unit 19. The second processing unit 27 has the same configuration as the first processing unit 19 described above. In other words, the second processing unit 27 has the same functions as the pure water cleaning processing unit ONB1, the chemical processing unit CHB1, and the sub-transport mechanism LFS1, and includes the pure water cleaning processing unit ONB2, the chemical processing unit CHB2, and the sub-transport mechanism LFS2. It has.

  The substrate processing apparatus configured as described above is comprehensively controlled by the control unit 37 as shown in the block diagram of FIG.

  The control unit 37 includes a CPU and the like, and includes a scheduling unit 39 and a process execution instruction unit 41. The storage unit 43 connected to the control unit 37 is created in advance by a user of the substrate processing apparatus, and includes a recipe including a plurality of processing steps that define how to process the substrate W, and a schedule creation A program and a processing program for executing the created schedule are stored in advance. A schedule created by the schedule creation program is also stored. Further, the control unit 37 controls the drying processing unit LPD, the first transport mechanism CTC, the second transport mechanism WTR, the first processing unit 19, and the second processing unit 27.

  The scheduling unit 39 treats a plurality of substrates W accommodated in the FOUP 1 mounted on the mounting table 5 of the loading unit 3 as one lot, is instructed by the operator of the apparatus, and is stored in the storage unit 43 in advance. Depending on the recipe, before actually executing the process, a schedule is created so that the process steps for each lot can be efficiently arranged in time series.

  The process execution instructing unit 41 issues an operation instruction related to processing of each processing unit at an appropriate timing based on the schedule created by the scheduling unit 39 and stored in the storage unit 43.

  Here, an example of the recipe will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a recipe.

  There are various recipes depending on the substrate W and the like. For example, the first transport mechanism CTC, the second transport mechanism WTR, the pure water cleaning processing unit ONB1, the chemical processing unit CHB1, the pure water cleaning processing unit ONB1, and the drying A plurality of substrates W are transported in the order of the processing unit LPD, the second transport mechanism WTR, and the first transport mechanism CTC, and predetermined processing such as pure water cleaning, chemical processing, and drying processing is performed in each processing unit.

  In FIG. 3, the parallel processing unit indicates a processing unit that has the same mechanism as the processing unit described on the left side and can be replaced. For example, even when the pure water cleaning processing unit ONB1 and the chemical solution processing unit CHB1 are used to process other lots, the first transport mechanism CTC, the second transport mechanism WTR, the pure water cleaning processing unit ONB2, the chemical solution A predetermined process can be performed on the plurality of substrates W in the order of the processing unit CHB2, the pure water cleaning processing unit ONB2, the drying processing unit LPD, the second transport mechanism WTR, and the first transport mechanism CTC.

  Next, rescheduling when a priority lot processing instruction is input will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation.

Step S1
First, the processing execution instructing unit 41 receives a processing command for a lot (priority lot) to be processed with priority from an operator. In this case, even if a schedule for another lot has already been executed, processing of the priority lot is interrupted and executed.

Step S2
The process execution instructing unit 41 determines whether or not there is a lot being processed at the time when the priority lot processing command is received from the operator in the schedule being executed, that is, when the priority lot processing command is interrupted. Branch processing. If there is no lot being processed, the process branches to step S4. If there is a lot being processed, the process branches to step S3.

Step S3
When the process execution instructing unit 41 determines that there is a lot that is being processed at the time when the priority lot processing instruction is interrupted, the scheduling unit 39 is behind the resource that can safely wait after the priority lot interrupt point. Delete the schedule once. Specifically, the resource that can safely wait is a resource in the pure water cleaning processing unit ONB1 (ONB2).

Step S4
The process execution instructing unit 41 branches the process by determining whether there is an unprocessed lot that has not been processed in the schedule being executed. If there is no unprocessed lot, the process branches to step S6, and if there is an unprocessed lot, the process branches to step S5. Specifically, the unprocessed lot is a lot in which the substrate W has not been unloaded from the FOUP 1 when a priority lot processing instruction is received from the operator.

Step S5
When the processing execution instruction unit 41 determines that there is an unprocessed lot at the time when the priority lot processing instruction is interrupted, the scheduling unit 39 temporarily deletes the schedule of the unprocessed lot at the priority lot interruption time. .

Step S6
The scheduling unit 39 adds the schedule of the priority lot as a hard link to the vacant schedule that has been deleted once in steps S3 and S5. Further, if there is no schedule to be deleted in step S3 and step S5, it is not necessary to change the schedule for adding the priority lot, so a new schedule may be created using the priority lot as a hard link.

Step S7
If there is a schedule once deleted in step S3 and step S5, the scheduling unit 39 performs rescheduling by adding the deleted schedule to the schedule in which the priority lot is added by a hard link.

Step S8
Through the above steps, the creation of the schedule with the priority lot added is completed.

Next, specific lot processing will be described. FIG. 5 shows a time chart showing a series of processing steps of the first lot and the second lot created by the scheduling unit 39 based on the recipe of FIG. In the figure, the time bar hatched with diagonal lines is the first lot, and the time bar hatched with vertical lines means the second lot. Further, the time bar drawn with a dotted line means a standby time in which the substrate W waits in the processing unit ONB1 that can wait.
Here, the time chart of FIG. 5 is referred.

At time t when the priority lot processing instruction is input, the substrate W of the first lot has already started processing, and the substrate W has been transferred from the first transport mechanism CTC to the second transport mechanism WTR. Further, the substrate W of the second lot is not yet delivered to the first transport mechanism CTC, that is, the substrate W of the second lot is not unloaded from the FOUP 1.
According to the present invention, the schedules of the first lot and the second lot are changed according to the processing state of each scheduled lot, and rescheduling is performed so that the priority lot can be processed with the highest priority.

  The rescheduling method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  When the process execution instruction unit 41 is executing the process for the first lot and the second lot based on the schedule of FIG. 5, if the process instruction for the priority lot is interrupted at time t, the process execution instruction unit 41 The processing status of the first lot and the second lot at time t is confirmed, and a rescheduling instruction is given to the scheduling unit 39.

  The scheduling unit 39 leaves resources up to the pure water cleaning processing unit ONB2 so that the first lot that has already been processed can continue processing up to the pure water cleaning processing unit ONB2, which is a standby resource. The later schedule is once deleted (FIG. 6). Further, all schedules are temporarily deleted for the second lot that has not been processed at time t (FIG. 7).

  Here, in the present embodiment, the pure water cleaning processing unit ONB1 and the pure water cleaning processing unit ONB2 are resources that make it possible to wait for the substrate W without damaging the substrate W. Further, the lot that has not been processed is a lot in which the substrate W has not been unloaded from the FOUP 1, that is, a lot for which processing of the first transport mechanism CTC has not started in the time chart.

  As described above, after deleting the schedules of the first lot and the second lot under a predetermined condition, the priority lot is added as a hard link to the schedule (FIG. 8). The time bar filled in the figure indicates the priority lot.

  Here, the hard link is a schedule in which each resource is arranged so that the processing of one lot can be processed in the shortest time, and the arrangement of the resource is not changed due to resource competition with other lots.

  After adding the priority lot to the schedule with a hard link, do not change the use timing of each resource of the lot that should be processed with the highest priority, and the resources of the first lot and the second lot that have been deleted will not conflict. In this way, the resources of each lot are arranged in front of each other (FIG. 9).

  According to this method, even when processing based on a schedule has already been started, a schedule that can preferentially process a lot to be prioritized without affecting the substrate processing of other lots is recreated. be able to.

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

  (1) In the above-described embodiment, the configuration of the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is taken as an example. However, the substrate processing apparatus includes a plurality of processing units, and performs processing while moving a plurality of lots to each processing unit by a transport mechanism. If it is a thing, it will not be limited to such a structure.

  (2) In the above-described embodiment, the pure water cleaning processing unit ONB1 or the pure water cleaning processing unit ONB2 is given as a resource that can be on standby. However, if the resource does not adversely affect the substrate during standby, such a configuration is used. It is not limited to.

1 FOUP
19 First processing unit 27 Second processing unit 37 Control unit 39 Scheduling unit 41 Processing execution instruction unit 43 Storage unit CHB1 Chemical solution processing unit CHB2 Chemical solution processing unit CTC First transport mechanism LFS1 Sub-transport mechanism LFS2 Sub-transport mechanism LPD Drying processing unit ONB1 Pure water cleaning processing section ONB2 Pure water cleaning processing section W Substrate WTR Second transport mechanism

Claims (5)

When a plurality of lots are processed using a resource of each processing unit by a substrate processing apparatus including a plurality of processing units that perform processing on the substrate, the control unit performs the processing of each resource before actually executing the processing. In the substrate processing apparatus schedule creation method for determining the use timing,
When the control unit receives an instruction to add the lot to be processed with the highest priority to the schedule while executing the processing for each lot according to the schedule based on the use timing of each resource,
Of the schedules that are being executed, the schedules of lots that have not been processed are deleted, and the lots that are being processed are deleted by deleting schedules after resources that can wait until the next process. Generate a free schedule,
At the use timing of each resource of the lot to be processed with the highest priority, add to the empty schedule,
A method of creating a schedule for a substrate processing apparatus, comprising: re-determining the use timing of each resource of a deleted lot so as not to change the use timing of each resource of the lot to be processed with the highest priority. In the schedule preparation method of the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1,
The resource that can stand by until the next processing is a resource in a pure water cleaning processing section, and a schedule creation method for a substrate processing apparatus. In the schedule preparation method of the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1 or 2,
The substrate processing apparatus schedule characterized in that the use timing of each resource of the lot to be processed with the highest priority is the use timing of each resource to complete the processing of the lot to be processed with the highest priority in the shortest time. How to make. In the schedule preparation method of the substrate processing apparatus in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 3,
The method for creating a schedule for a substrate processing apparatus, wherein the lot for which the processing is not performed is a lot for which a substrate is not unloaded from a container for storing a substrate. When a plurality of lots are processed using a resource of each processing unit by a substrate processing apparatus including a plurality of processing units that perform processing on the substrate, the control unit performs the processing of each resource before actually executing the processing. In the schedule creation program of the substrate processing apparatus that determines the use timing,
When the control unit receives an instruction to add the lot to be processed with the highest priority to the schedule while executing the processing for each lot according to the schedule based on the use timing of each resource,
Deleting a schedule of a lot that has not been processed among the schedules being executed;
For the lot that is being processed, deleting the schedule after the resource that can wait until the next processing;
Adding to the empty schedule generated at the time of use of each resource of the lot to be processed with the highest priority to the empty schedule generated by deletion;
Re-deciding the use timing of each resource of the deleted lot so as not to change the use timing of each resource to which the lot to be processed with the highest priority is added;
A program for creating a schedule of a substrate processing apparatus, characterized in that a computer is executed.