JP2011077137A - Schedule generating method for substrate processing apparatus, and program thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a decrease of a throughput while avoiding an adverse effect. <P>SOLUTION: A scheduling section 27 generates a single batch schedule by generating a timing to use each resource according to a recipe with respect to each lot 1, 2, and divides each single batch schedule into blocks by a safe processing section with reference to a resource class. The scheduling section 27 generates a whole schedule, and performs a processing on each lot 1, 2 based on the whole schedule. As for a resource which may be adversely affected by a stand-by time, a flexible scheduling corresponding to the lot 2 different from the lot 1 is made possible by setting the resource as an unsafe processing section in advance. As a result, an arrangement efficiency in the process is not reduced compared with a case of setting all resources to the unsafe processing section regardless of the lots 1, 2. Thus, the decrease of the throughput can be prevented while avoiding the adverse effect. <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, etching, and drying on a glass substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate) for a semiconductor wafer or a liquid crystal display device and a program therefor.

  Conventionally, as a method of this type, for example, processing is started in a substrate processing apparatus that transports a plurality of lots between resources such as a chemical processing unit, a pure water processing unit, and a drying processing unit and processes the lots. There is a method for creating a schedule for a substrate processing apparatus in which a schedule is created in advance before actual processing and actual processing is started according to the schedule (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  As such a schedule creation method, each lot is arranged in a resource according to a recipe, but the following points are considered. For example, if a lot is made to wait for a certain resource, the lot is adversely affected, so that the lot is not made to wait for that resource. On the other hand, since there is no adverse effect even if a lot is waited for a certain resource, the lot may be waited for that resource. Among the resource types, the former is referred to as “non-safe processing unit” and the latter is referred to as “safe processing unit”. Examples of the non-safety processing unit include a chemical processing unit, and examples of the safety processing unit include a pure water processing unit and a drying processing unit. In the chemical solution processing unit, when a lot is made to wait, excessive treatment with the chemical solution has an adverse effect on the lot.On the other hand, in the pure water processing unit, even if the lot is made to wait, the process proceeds to the lot with pure water. Because there is no.

  The non-safe processing unit and the safety processing unit are set in advance in the storage unit of the substrate processing apparatus, and this is unique to each substrate processing apparatus. Therefore, it is common to all lots processed by this substrate processing apparatus.

  When creating a schedule, for each lot, a schedule for each lot corresponding to the recipe for each lot (referred to as a single batch schedule) is created. In this case, a plurality of processing steps are grouped for each block. For example, the transport processing by the transport processing unit, the chemical processing by the chemical processing unit, the transport processing by the transport processing unit, and the pure water cleaning processing by the pure water processing unit are made into one block, Place lots in blocks. Thereby, it is possible to efficiently arrange the processing steps as compared with the case where lots are arranged for each processing step, and the load required for scheduling can be reduced.

Japanese Patent No. 3758992

However, the conventional example having such a configuration has the following problems.
That is, in recent semiconductor processes, miniaturization of devices formed on the substrate has progressed, and depending on the device, if the lot is left immersed in pure water for a long time after the pure water cleaning process, There may be adverse effects on it. In other words, a resource that has been handled as a safety processing unit until now must be handled as a non-safe processing unit depending on the lot. However, since the resource types of the non-safe processing unit and the safety processing unit are fixedly set for each device, the conventional device is adversely affected depending on the lot. In addition, in order to avoid the adverse effect, if the pure water processing unit is set as a non-safe processing unit in the resource type of the substrate processing apparatus, the degree of freedom in the block arrangement of all lots is reduced, and the throughput is greatly reduced. Occurs.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is possible to create a schedule for a substrate processing apparatus that can prevent a decrease in throughput while avoiding adverse effects by flexibly setting resource types. And to provide the program.

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 the control unit controls each resource, a plurality of lots are transported to each resource and processing is performed on each lot. In the process of creating a schedule for a substrate processing apparatus that performs actual processing after creation, a process corresponding to a recipe is created independently for each lot and created as a single batch schedule, and each resource is set in advance for each lot. Based on the resource type of the safety processing unit that can wait for the lot and the non-safe processing unit that cannot wait for the lot, the safety processing unit performs each processing step of the single batch schedule for each lot. The process of dividing into blocks and all single batch schedules divided into blocks, one time axis for each block And it is characterized in that it comprises the steps of creating an entire schedule to place, and a process in which the control unit performs processing by controlling the respective lots each resource on the basis of the entire schedule.

  [Operation / Effect] According to the first aspect of the present invention, the control unit creates a timing for using each resource for each lot in accordance with the recipe, and sets this as a single batch schedule. Next, the control unit refers to the resource type for each lot for each single batch schedule, and divides each processing step of each single batch schedule into blocks by the safety processing unit. And a control part produces the whole schedule from all the single batch schedules, and performs the process with respect to each lot based on a whole schedule. A resource that may adversely affect the standby time depending on the lot can be set in advance as a non-safe processing unit, so that a flexible schedule corresponding to the lot can be made. As a result, the arrangement efficiency of the processing steps is not reduced as compared with the case where all resources that may have an adverse effect when the standby time occurs are set in the non-safe processing unit regardless of the lot. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the throughput from decreasing while avoiding adverse effects.

  The “resource” in the present invention refers to a pure water processing unit, a chemical processing unit, a drying processing unit, a coating processing unit, a plating processing unit, an etching processing unit, a transporting unit for transporting a lot, and the posture of the lot. This refers to a posture conversion unit that converts the information.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the resource type is stored in the storage unit by the user via the setting unit. Since the resource type is set in the storage unit by the user via the setting unit, flexible setting can be performed according to the lot.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the resource type is set only for a resource for processing a lot with a processing solution. With the resources of the transport system, there is very little risk of adverse effects even if waiting time occurs. Therefore, by setting the resource type only for resources that are processed with a processing solution such as pure water, a solvent, and an acid, reference items when creating a single batch schedule by the control unit can be reduced. As a result, the load in schedule creation can be reduced, and the schedule creation time can be suppressed.

  Further, in the present invention, when two pure water treatment units are provided as the resource, one of the resource types of a lot is a non-safe treatment unit, the other is a safety treatment unit, and the other In the lot resource type, it is preferable that both are safety processing units. By making the resource type different for each lot for the two pure water treatment units, it is possible to create a schedule so that one pure water treatment unit waits in one lot but does not wait in the other lots. Therefore, a schedule for flexibly using a plurality of pure water treatment units is possible.

  Further, in the invention according to claim 7, when the control unit controls each resource, a plurality of lots are transported to each resource and processing is performed on each lot. In the schedule creation program of the substrate processing apparatus that performs actual processing after creation, a function that creates a schedule according to the recipe for each lot and creates it as a single batch schedule, and each resource for each lot is preset. Based on the resource type of the safety processing unit that can wait for the lot and the non-safe processing unit that cannot wait for the lot, the safety processing unit performs each processing step of the single batch schedule for each lot. The function to divide into blocks and all single batch schedules divided into blocks to one block at a time A function for creating an overall schedule to be arranged on the top, and a function for controlling each resource based on the overall schedule and processing each lot. is there.

  According to the schedule creation method for a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the control unit creates a timing for using each resource according to a recipe for each lot, which is set as a single batch schedule. Each resource process is referred to, and each processing step of each single batch schedule is divided into blocks by the safety processing unit. And a control part produces the whole schedule from all the single batch schedules, and performs the process with respect to each lot based on a whole schedule. A resource that may adversely affect the standby time depending on the lot can be set in advance as a non-safe processing unit, so that a flexible schedule corresponding to the lot can be made. As a result, the arrangement efficiency of the processing steps is not reduced as compared with the case where all resources that may have an adverse effect when the standby time occurs are set in the non-safe processing unit regardless of the lot. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the throughput from decreasing while avoiding adverse effects.

It is the top view which showed schematic structure of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on an Example. It is the block diagram which showed schematic structure of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on an Example. It is a flowchart which shows schedule creation. It is a time chart which shows a recipe and a single batch schedule, (a) shows lot 1, (b) shows lot 2. FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a resource classification. It is a time chart which shows a single batch schedule and a block delimiter, (a) is lot 1, (b) is lot 2. It is a time chart which shows the example of a whole schedule. It is a time chart which shows the example of the whole schedule of a prior art example.

  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 processing, and drying processing on the substrate W, for example. A plurality of (for example, 25) substrates W are stacked and stored in the cassette 1 in a horizontal posture. The cassette 1 storing the unprocessed substrates W is placed on the input unit 3. The input unit 3 includes two mounting tables 5 on which the cassette 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 dispensing unit 7 stores the processed substrate W in the cassette 1 and dispenses the cassette 1 together. The payout unit 7 that functions in this manner includes two mounting bases 9 for mounting the cassette 1, similarly to the loading unit 3.

  Between the input unit 3 and the payout unit 7 described above, there is provided a setting unit 11 operated by the user for specifying a recipe, which will be described later, and setting a resource type.

  A first transport mechanism CTC configured to be movable between these is provided at a position along the input unit 3 and the payout unit 7. The first transport mechanism CTC takes out all the substrates W stored in the cassette 1 placed on the input unit 3 and then transports them to the second transport mechanism WTR. The first transport mechanism CTC stores the processed substrate W from the second transport mechanism WTR and then stores the substrate W in the cassette 1. The second transport mechanism WTR is configured to be movable along the longitudinal direction of the substrate processing apparatus.

  On the payout unit 7 side in the moving direction of the second transport mechanism WTR described above, a drying processing unit LPD for storing and drying a plurality of substrates W in a low-pressure chamber 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 processing unit ONB1 for performing pure water processing on a plurality of substrates W, and chemical processing is performed on the plurality of substrates W with a processing liquid containing a chemical. A chemical treatment unit CHB1 is provided. The first processing unit 19 includes a sub-transport mechanism LFS1 that delivers the substrate W to and from the second transport mechanism WTR and can be moved up and down only by the pure water processing unit ONB1 and the chemical solution processing unit CHB1.

  A second processing unit 21 is provided at a position adjacent to the first processing unit 19. The second processing unit 21 has the same configuration as the first processing unit 19 described above. That is, the apparatus includes the pure water treatment unit ONB2, the chemical solution treatment unit CHB2, and the sub-transport mechanism LFS2.

  The substrate processing apparatus configured as described above is comprehensively controlled by the control unit 25 as shown in the block diagram of FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

  The control unit 25 includes a CPU, a counter / timer, and the like, and includes a scheduling unit 27 and a process execution instruction unit 31. The storage unit 33 connected to the control unit 25 is a recipe that is created in advance by a user of the substrate processing apparatus and the like, and is recipe information including a plurality of processing steps that define how to process the substrate W. Data, a schedule creation program, a processing program that executes the created schedule, resource type data that is information of a resource type (safety processing unit, non-safety processing unit) described later, and the like are stored in advance.

  The scheduling unit 27 treats the substrate W stored in the cassette 1 and placed on the input unit 3 as one lot, and in accordance with a recipe stored in advance in the storage unit 33 instructed by the user of the apparatus, Before actually starting the process, a single schedule using each resource for each lot is created as a “single batch schedule”. As will be described in detail later, with respect to a single batch schedule, each processing step is divided into blocks with reference to the resource type. Thereafter, a single batch schedule for each lot is arranged on the same time axis to create an “overall schedule”. The entire schedule created in this way is stored in the storage unit 33.

  Here, the resources include control of the first transport mechanism CTC, the second transport mechanism WTR, the drying processing unit LPD, the pure water processing units ONB1, ONB2, the chemical processing units CHB1, CHB2, the sub transport mechanisms LFS1, LFS2, etc. A resource used for processing a lot under the control of the unit 25.

  The process execution instructing unit 31 instructs an operation related to processing of each processing unit at an appropriate timing based on the entire schedule created by the scheduling unit 27 and stored in the storage unit 33.

  Next, a specific schedule creation method will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 is a flowchart showing schedule creation, FIG. 4 is a time chart showing a recipe and a single batch schedule, (a) shows lot 1, (b) shows lot 2, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing examples of resource types, FIG. 6 is a time chart showing a single batch schedule and a block delimiter, (a) is lot 1, (b) is lot 2, and FIG. These are time charts showing examples of the entire schedule.

  In the following, in order to facilitate understanding of the explanation, an explanation will be given by taking as an example the case of scheduling only two lots of lots 1 and 2, but scheduling for lots of three lots or more is similarly performed. Can do.

The recipe for lot 1 in this example is, for example, as shown in FIG.
That is, the recipe of lot 1 includes a processing step 1A by the first transport mechanism CTC, a processing step 1B by the second transport mechanism WTR, a processing step 1C by the chemical solution processing unit CHB1, and a processing step 1D by the sub transport mechanism LFS1. Processing step 1E by the pure water processing unit ONB1, processing step 1F by the second transport mechanism WTR, processing step 1G by the drying processing unit LPD, processing step 1H by the second transport mechanism WTR, and processing by the first transport mechanism CTC Step 1I. The recipe viewed from the user side is generally a processing step 1C by the chemical solution processing unit CHB1, a processing step 1E by the pure water processing unit ONB1, and a processing step 1G by the drying processing unit LPD. That is, the recipe viewed from the user side generally does not include the processing step 1A by the first transport mechanism CTC, but here, these are included as the recipe viewed from the control unit 25 side.

  In addition, the recipe of lot 2 includes a processing step 2A by the first transport mechanism CTC, a processing step 2B by the second transport mechanism WTR, a processing step 2C by the pure water treatment unit ONB2, and a processing step 2D by the second transport mechanism WTR. A processing step 2E by the pure water processing unit ONB1, a processing step 2F by the second transport mechanism WTR, a processing step 2G by the drying processing unit LPD, a processing step 2H by the second transport mechanism WTR, and a first transport mechanism CTC. Process step 2I.

  Of each processing step, the actual processing is the hatched part in the figure, and the part corresponding to the blank before that is the preparatory work for preparing to use the resource, and the part after that. The part is a post-work to clean up used resources.

  As described above, a recipe is composed of a plurality of processing steps, but before creating an overall schedule, a plurality of processing steps are combined and a plurality of processing steps are combined in a block as a minimum unit of arrangement. . At that time, the scheduling unit 27 refers to the resource type in the storage unit 33. Here, the resource type will be described with reference to FIG. The resource type here is a “safe processing unit” that represents a resource that can make a lot stand by, and a “non-safe processing unit” that represents a resource that cannot make a lot stand by. For example, in general, when chemical processing is performed, excessive processing with chemicals adversely affects the lot, so that the chemical processing unit or the like is not divided into blocks so that a waiting time does not occur after the processing step. On the other hand, in the case of performing pure water treatment, since excessive treatment with pure water does not occur, a pure water treatment unit or the like can be arranged at the end of the block so that a standby time may occur after the treatment step. That is, the safety processing unit is used to delimit the blocks. However, depending on the lot, there is a possibility that even the pure water treatment may have an adverse effect. Therefore, depending on the lot, the pure water treatment unit is not arranged at the end of the block. That is, the pure water treatment can be a non-safe processing unit or a safe processing unit.

  Next, a specific example of the resource type is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, only main resources that use treatment liquids such as pure water and chemicals are described, and all resources are not described. In this example, in the lot 1, among the resources, the chemical processing units CHB1 and CHB2 are set as non-safety processing units (described as “non-standby processing”), and the pure water processing units ONB1 and ONB2 and the drying processing unit LPD are safety processing units. It is set (stated as waiting). On the other hand, in lot 2, among the resources, in addition to the chemical treatment units CHB1 and CHB2, the pure water treatment unit ONB2 is also set as a non-safety treatment unit (described as “not ready for standby”). That is, the resource type is set to be different between lot 1 and lot 2. Such setting is preset for each lot by the user before the schedule is created.

  Reference is now made to the flowchart of FIG.

Step S1
The user operates the setting unit 11 to set the resource type (FIG. 5) as described above. The set resource type is stored in the storage unit 33. As described above, since the resource type is set in the storage unit 33 by the user via the setting unit 11, a flexible setting can be performed according to the lot.

Step S2
A plurality of lots to be processed are sequentially transferred from the input unit 3 into the substrate processing apparatus. Here, it is assumed that the above-described lot 1 and lot 2 are carried in.

Steps S3 and S4
The user designates a recipe for the lot 1 and the lot 2 via the setting unit 11. Here, it is assumed that the above-described recipe of FIG. 4A is designated for lot 1 and the recipe of FIG. 4B is designated for lot 2. The scheduling unit 27 reads designated recipe data from the storage unit 33.

Step S5
The scheduling unit 27 creates a single batch schedule for each of the lots 1 and 2. Specifically, it is as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b).

Step S6
The scheduling unit 27 divides each single batch schedule into a plurality of processing steps into blocks while referring to the resource type in the storage unit 33.

  Specifically, lot 1 is as shown in FIG. 6A, and lot 2 is as shown in FIG. 6B. In lot 1, since the chemical processing units CHB1 and CHB2 are set as non-safe processing units that cannot stand by in the resource type, the processing steps other than these are divided so as to be the last of the block. Specifically, processing step 1A is block 1-A, processing steps 1B to 1E are block 1-B, processing steps 1F and 1G are block 1-C, and processing steps 1H and 1I are block 1-D. . In lot 2, processing step 2A is block 2-B, processing steps 2B to 2E are block 2-C, processing steps 2F and 2G are block 2-C, and processing steps 2H and 2I are processing step 2-D. To do. The block 1-B of the lot 1 is divided into blocks in the processing step 1E by the pure water processing unit ONB1. On the other hand, the block 2-B of the lot 2 is not divided in the processing step 2C by the pure water treatment unit ONB2 that performs the pure water treatment similar to the pure water treatment unit ONB1, and the block 2-B is the processing step 2E by the pure water treatment unit ONB1. Blocks are delimited.

  Each single batch schedule delimited by the blocks created as described above is stored in the storage unit 33.

Step S7
The scheduling unit 27 refers to each single batch schedule divided by blocks, and performs the entire schedule in which the single batch schedules of the lots 1 and 2 are arranged on the same time axis. At this time, it is not arranged for each processing step, but is arranged in units of blocks. The overall schedule is, for example, as shown in FIG. Here, in the processing step 2C in the block 2-B of the lot 2, there is a possibility that the lot 2 may be adversely affected if the waiting time occurs, but it is not positioned at the end of the block 2-B by setting the resource type. ing. Therefore, no matter how the block 2-B is arranged, it is possible to prevent the waiting time from occurring. The entire schedule created in this way is stored in the storage unit 33.

Step S8
The process execution instructing unit 31 refers to the entire schedule stored in the storage unit 33, controls each resource, and performs processing on the lots 1 and 2.

  As described above, the scheduling unit 27 creates a single batch schedule for the lots 1 and 2 by creating the timing for using each resource for each lot 1 and 2 according to the recipe. Next, the scheduling unit 27 refers to the resource type for each lot 1 and 2 for each single batch schedule, and divides each processing step of each single batch schedule into blocks by the safety processing unit. Then, the scheduling unit 27 creates an overall schedule from all single batch schedules, and executes processing for the lots 1 and 2 based on the overall schedule. A resource that may adversely affect the standby time due to lot 2 is set in advance as a non-safe processing unit, so that a flexible schedule corresponding to lot 2 different from lot 1 can be made. As a result, the arrangement efficiency of the processing steps is not lowered as compared with the case where all resources that may have an adverse effect when the standby time occurs are set in the non-safe processing unit regardless of the lots 1 and 2. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the throughput from decreasing while avoiding adverse effects.

  In addition, the resource type is set to only the resources such as the chemical processing units CHB1, CHB2, the pure water processing units ONB1, ONB2, and the drying processing unit LPD that perform processing with a processing solution such as pure water, a solvent, and an acid. Reference items when the single batch schedule is created by the unit 27 can be reduced. As a result, the load in schedule creation can be reduced, and the schedule creation time can be suppressed.

  Incidentally, when the resource type of lot 2 is set to the same setting as the resource type of lot 1 as in the conventional example, the overall schedule is as shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a time chart showing an example of the entire schedule of the conventional example.

  In this case, the number of blocks in lot 2 is five from 2-A to 2E. When the blocks are arranged at such block boundaries, the waiting time wt1 may occur in the processing step 2C of the block 2-B. As a result, lot 2 may be adversely affected.

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

  (1) In the embodiment described above, the scheduling by the substrate processing apparatus having the arrangement configuration shown in FIG. 1 has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to the substrate processing apparatus having such an arrangement configuration.

  (2) In the above-described embodiment, the recipe shown in FIG. 4 has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to such a recipe.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS W ... Board | substrate 1 ... Cassette 3 ... Input part CTC ... 1st conveyance mechanism WTR ... 2nd conveyance mechanism LPD ... Drying process part 19 ... 1st process part 21 ... 2nd process part ONB1, ONB2 ... Pure water process part LFS1, LFS2 ... Sub-transport mechanism CHB1, CHB2 ... Chemical treatment unit 25 ... Control unit 27 ... Scheduling unit 31 ... Processing execution instruction unit 33 ... Storage unit 1A-1D ... Lot 1 processing step 2A-2D ... Lot 2 processing step 1-A ~ 1-D ... Lot 1 block 2-A ~ 2-D ... Lot 2 block

Claims (5)

When the control unit controls each resource, a plurality of lots are transported to each resource and processing is performed for each lot. In the device schedule creation method,
Create a single schedule according to the recipe for each lot, create a single batch schedule,
A single batch schedule for each lot based on the resource type of the safety processing unit that can set the lot on standby and the non-safe processing unit that cannot set the lot on standby for each resource. The process of dividing each processing step into blocks in the safety processing part,
The process of creating a whole schedule that arranges all single batch schedules divided into blocks on one time axis in block units,
A process in which the control unit controls each resource based on the overall schedule and processes each lot;
A method of creating a schedule for a substrate processing apparatus, comprising: In the schedule preparation method of the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1,
The resource type is stored in a storage unit by a user via a setting unit. In the schedule preparation method of the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1 or 2,
The method of creating a schedule for a substrate processing apparatus, wherein the resource type is set only for a resource for processing a lot with a processing solution. In the schedule preparation method of the substrate processing apparatus in any one of Claim 1 to 3,
When the resource includes two pure water treatment units, one of the resource types of a lot is a non-safe treatment unit, the other is a safety treatment unit, and the resource type of another lot is A method of creating a schedule for a substrate processing apparatus, wherein both are safety processing units. When the control unit controls each resource, a plurality of lots are transported to each resource, and the processing is performed on each lot. In the device schedule creation program,
Create a single schedule according to the recipe for each lot, and create a single batch schedule.
A single batch schedule for each lot based on the resource type of the safety processing unit that can set the lot on standby and the non-safe processing unit that cannot set the lot on standby for each resource. A function to divide each processing step into blocks in the safety processing part,
A function to create a whole schedule that arranges all single batch schedules divided into blocks on one time axis in block units,
A function for controlling each resource based on the overall schedule and processing each lot;
Is executed by the control unit. A program for creating a schedule for a substrate processing apparatus.

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