JP2012094599A - Substrate processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate processing technology capable of suppressing the accumulation of misalignment of the shaft action of a mechanism portion even if the action is repeated.SOLUTION: A substrate processing device comprises a substrate processing recipe memory portion; an initial recipe memory portion for positioning an origin of a mechanism portion configuring the substrate processing device; an initial reference memory portion for storing a reference number of carrying out initial processing; an executed substrate processing number memory portion; a substrate processing executing portion for executing a substrate processing recipe; an initial processing executing portion for executing an initial recipe; a processing number updating portion for updating a number of substrate processing; a processing completion determining portion for determining whether a number of the substrate processing stored in the substrate processing number memory portion reaches a reference number stored in the initial reference memory portion; and an initial propriety determining portion for determining whether the initial processing is possible or not. When the number of the substrate processing reaches the reference number, the starting of new substrate processing at the substrate processing device is suspended, and when the initial processing becomes possible, the initial recipe is executed.

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that processes a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer using a substrate processing recipe, and in particular, effectively performs origin search of axes such as a rotation axis of a mechanism unit that constitutes the substrate processing apparatus. The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that can be used.

  FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus (semiconductor manufacturing apparatus) as a substrate processing apparatus. A substrate processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 mounts a pod POD1 (POD2), which is a substrate container that accommodates a plurality of wafers, for example, 25 wafers, on a load port LP1 (LP2). The wafer in POD1 (POD2) is mounted on boat BT1 (BT2) in load lock chamber LM1 (LM2) by atmospheric transfer robot LH operating in the atmosphere, and the wafer mounted on boat BT1 (BT2) is further mounted. The substrate is processed by being transferred into the process chamber PM1 (PM2) by the vacuum transfer robot TH operating in a vacuum atmosphere.

  The atmospheric transfer robot LH and the vacuum transfer robot TH include a rotation shaft that rotates a wafer support portion that supports a wafer in the horizontal direction, a lift shaft that moves up and down in the vertical direction, and a telescopic shaft that expands and contracts in the horizontal direction. These rotary shafts, lift shafts, and telescopic shafts are originated by initial processing when the substrate processing apparatus 10 is turned on.

  Here, the origin search is, for example, determining the origin position in the axis control of the rotation axis, the lifting axis, and the telescopic axis of the vacuum transfer robot TH. In axis control, an encoder is used to specify a target position by specifying an offset from the origin position. Each axis is provided with an origin sensor at the origin position. The axis is moved to a position detected by the origin sensor at a low speed, and the encoder offset value is set to zero, for example, with the position detected by the origin sensor as the origin position. . After the origin is set, the axis is operated by specifying the target position by specifying the encoder offset. Conventionally, only in the idle state when the substrate processing apparatus is started up, the initial processing for origin detection is performed by the system standby processing, and then the state is shifted to a ready state in which the substrate processing can be executed.

  In the ready state, a process execution request from the host device (host server) or the operation unit of the substrate processing apparatus 10 can be received, and when a new process execution request is received during the process execution, the process is continuously continued. . This process execution request is issued in lot units, and the substrate processing apparatus 10 manages wafers in lot units. Here, processing a wafer in lot units is referred to as lot processing. Since a maximum of 25 wafers can be accommodated in the pod, the number of wafers in one lot is 25 at the maximum, but can be an arbitrary number of 25 or less. For example, 25 wafers accommodated in one pod may be 5 lots, with 5 wafers being one lot. One lot can also be managed in pod units.

  Therefore, once the system transitions to the ready state and continuously receives process execution requests from the host device (host server) etc., the mechanical unit such as the vacuum transfer robot TH designates the target position by the offset designation of the encoder. Since the operation continues, the encoder value slightly deviates each time the operation is repeated, that is, the encoder offset value deviates from zero at the origin position, and the deviation with respect to the stop position accumulates. There is a high risk that the wafer support portion may cause a failure such as a wafer scratch that abnormally contacts the wafer.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing technique capable of suppressing the accumulation of axial movement deviations of a mechanism portion even if the number of operations is repeated.

A typical configuration of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention for solving the above-described problems is as follows. That is,
A substrate processing apparatus comprising a substrate processing chamber for processing a substrate, a storage unit, and a control unit for controlling substrate processing,
The storage unit
A substrate processing recipe storage unit for storing a substrate processing recipe for performing substrate processing;
An initial recipe storage unit for storing an initial recipe for performing an initial process for performing origin determination of a mechanism unit constituting the substrate processing apparatus;
An initial reference storage unit that stores a predetermined number of times of substrate processing as a reference number of times for initial processing;
A processing number storage unit that stores the number of executed substrate processings,
The controller is
A substrate processing execution unit for executing the substrate processing recipe stored in the substrate processing recipe storage unit;
An initial process execution unit for executing the initial recipe stored in the initial recipe storage unit;
A processing number update unit that updates the substrate processing number stored in the processing number storage unit according to the substrate processing number;
A process end determination unit that determines whether or not the substrate processing number stored in the processing number storage unit has reached the reference number stored in the initial reference storage unit;
An initial availability determination unit that determines whether the initial processing is possible and whether or not the initial processing is possible,
When the processing end determination unit determines that the number of substrate processing times has reached the reference number, the substrate processing execution unit suspends the start of a new substrate processing in the substrate processing apparatus, and the initial availability determination unit determines the initial processing. A substrate processing apparatus configured to execute an initial recipe when the initial process execution unit determines that the initial process is possible.

  According to the above configuration, in the initial process possible state in which the operation of the mechanism unit for moving the substrate stops, the initial process for finding the origin of the mechanism unit can be performed, and the deviation of the axis operation of the mechanism unit is accumulated. Can be suppressed.

It is a top view of the substrate processing apparatus concerning the embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a process chamber of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a structural example of the functional block diagram of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the processing flow of the control part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a status transition diagram of the substrate processing apparatus concerning the embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, as an example, the substrate processing apparatus is configured as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that performs a processing step in a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device (IC: Integrated Circuit). FIG. 1 is a plan view of a substrate processing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the process chamber of the substrate processing apparatus 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the following description, the case where the substrate processing apparatus is applied to an ashing apparatus for removing a resist on a substrate will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the ashing device 10 includes load ports LP1 and LP2, an EFEM (Equipment Front End Module), load lock chambers LM1 and LM2, a transfer module TM, and a processing chamber in which an ashing process is performed. Process chambers PM1 and PM2 used are provided.

  The EFEM is an atmospheric transfer chamber provided with an atmospheric transfer robot LH. The atmospheric transfer robot LH transfers a wafer 20 as a substrate from POD1 and POD2 which are FOUPs (Front Opening Unified Pods, hereinafter referred to as pods) to the load lock chambers LM1 and LM2. Each pod contains 25 wafers 20, and a tweezer (substrate support unit) of the atmospheric transfer robot LH extracts five wafers from the pod. In this embodiment, 25 wafers accommodated in one pod are processed as one lot.

Each of the load lock chambers LM1 and LM2 includes boats BT1 and BT2 that hold 25 wafers 20 transferred from the pod in the load lock chambers LM1 and LM2, respectively. Each of the boats BT1 and BT2 includes a boat driving unit 135 (not shown) that moves the boats BT1 and BT2 up and down and rotates them in the horizontal direction. The configuration of the load lock chambers LM1 and LM2 is the same. The configurations of the boats BT1 and BT2 are the same.
The transfer module TM is provided with a vacuum transfer robot TH and is connected to the load lock chambers LM1 and LM2 via gate valves.

As will be described later, the process chamber PM1 (PM2) converts the reaction gas for ashing treatment introduced into the process chamber PM1 (PM2) into plasma, and uses the plasma to process one sheet in the process chamber PM1 (PM2). This is a processing chamber for performing ashing processing (plasma processing) for ashing the resist on the wafer 20, and is connected to the transfer module TM via a gate valve.
The process chamber PM1 (PM2) includes a susceptor 11 on which a single wafer 20 is placed. Lifter pins 13 are provided through the susceptors 11 respectively. The lifter pin 13 can be moved up and down in the vertical direction. The configuration of the process chambers PM1 and PM2 is the same.

FIG. 2 shows details of the process chamber PM1.
The process chamber PM1 is a high-frequency electrodeless discharge type process chamber that performs ashing on a semiconductor substrate or a semiconductor element by dry processing. As shown in FIG. 2, the process chamber PM1 is a high-frequency power source that supplies high-frequency power to a plasma generation chamber 30 for generating plasma, a processing chamber 45 that accommodates a wafer 20 such as a semiconductor substrate, and a plasma source such as a resonance coil 32. A frequency matching unit 46 for controlling the oscillation frequency of the power source 44 and the high frequency power source 44 is provided.

  The reaction vessel 31 is formed in a cylindrical shape with high-purity quartz glass or ceramics. A susceptor 11 supported by a plurality of (for example, four) support columns 61 is provided on the bottom surface of the processing chamber 45 below the reaction vessel 31, and the susceptor 11 includes a heater 63 for heating the wafer on the susceptor. Is done.

  An exhaust plate 65 is disposed below the susceptor 11. The exhaust plate 65 is supported by the bottom plate 69 via the guide shaft 67. Below the exhaust plate 65, an elevating board 71 is provided so as to move up and down with a guide shaft 67 as a guide. The lift board 71 supports at least three lifter pins 13. The lifter pin 13 passes through the susceptor 11. On the top of the lifter pins 13, a wafer support portion 14 that supports the wafer 20 is provided. By lifting and lowering the lifter pins 13, the wafer 20 can be placed on the susceptor 11 or lifted from the susceptor 11. An elevating shaft 73 of an elevating drive unit 136 (not shown) is connected to the elevating substrate 71 via a bottom plate 69. As the elevating drive unit 136 moves the elevating shaft 73 up and down, the wafer support unit 14 moves up and down via the elevating substrate 71 and the lifter pins 13.

A baffle ring 58 is provided between the susceptor 11 and the exhaust plate 65. The cylindrical baffle ring 58 has a large number of uniform vent holes, and the processing chamber 45 and the first exhaust chamber 74 communicate with each other through the vent holes.
An exhaust communication hole 75 is provided in the exhaust plate 65. The first exhaust chamber 74 and the second exhaust chamber 76 communicate with each other through the exhaust communication hole 75. An exhaust pipe 80 communicates with the second exhaust chamber 76, and a pressure control valve 81 and a vacuum pump 82 are provided in the exhaust pipe 80.

A gas supply pipe 55 extending from the gas supply unit and supplying a necessary plasma reaction gas is attached to the gas inlet 33 on the top plate 54 at the top of the reaction vessel 31. The gas supply unit includes a gas supply source 24, a mass flow controller (MFC) 23 that is a flow rate control unit, and an on-off valve 22. The gas supply amount is controlled by controlling the MFC 77 and the on-off valve 78.
Further, a baffle plate 60 made of quartz is provided in the reaction vessel 31 in a substantially disc shape for allowing the reaction gas to flow along the inner wall of the reaction vessel 31.
The pressure in the processing chamber 45 is adjusted by adjusting the gas supply amount and the exhaust amount by the flow rate control unit 23 and the pressure control valve 81.

  Both ends of the resonance coil 32 are electrically grounded, and at least one end of the resonance coil 32 is grounded via the movable tap 62. Reference numeral 64 in FIG. 2 indicates the other fixed ground. Further, in order to finely adjust the impedance of the resonance coil 32, a power feeding unit is constituted by the movable tap 66 between the grounded ends of the resonance coil 32.

The outer shield 52 shields leakage of electromagnetic waves to the outside of the resonance coil 32, and is formed in a cylindrical shape using a conductive material such as aluminum alloy, copper, or copper alloy.
An RF sensor 68 is installed on the output side of the high frequency power supply 44 to monitor traveling waves, reflected waves, and the like. The reflected wave power monitored by the RF sensor 68 is input to the frequency matching unit 46. The frequency matching unit 46 controls the frequency so that the reflected wave is minimized.

In the ashing apparatus 10 configured as described above, 25 wafers 20 are transferred from the pod POD1 (POD2) to the load lock chamber LM1 (LM2). At this time, the atmospheric transfer robot LH first inserts the tweezer of the atmospheric transfer robot LH into the pod PD1 (PD2) of the load port LP1 (LP2), and places five wafers on the tweezer. At this time, the tweezer of the atmospheric transfer robot LH is moved up and down in accordance with the position in the height direction of the wafer to be taken out.
After the five wafers are placed on the tweezers and taken out from the pod PD1 (PD2), the atmospheric transfer robot LH rotates horizontally in the direction of the load lock chamber LM1 (LM2), and in the load lock chamber LM1 (LM2). Five wafers are mounted on the boat BT1 (BT2). At this time, the boat BT1 (BT2) receives five wafers 20 from the atmospheric transfer robot LH by the vertical movement (Z-axis direction) of the boat BT1 (BT2). After the above operation is repeated and the boat BT1 (BT2) receives 25 wafers, the wafer in the lowermost layer of the boat BT1 (BT2) matches the height position of the finger of the vacuum transfer robot TH of the transfer module TM. The boat BT1 (BT2) is moved up and down.

Next, the fingers of the vacuum transfer robot TH are inserted into the boat BT1 (BT2) of the load lock chamber LM1 (LM2), and one of the wafers held by the boat BT1 (BT2) is vacuum transferred. Mounted on the finger (substrate support) of the robot TH.
After one wafer is mounted on the finger and taken out from the load lock chamber LM1 (LM2), the vacuum transfer robot TH rotates horizontally in the direction of the process chamber PM1 (PM2), and further extends the finger in the horizontal direction. The wafer is transferred onto the susceptor 11 in the process chamber PM1 (PM2). At this time, when the finger loaded with the wafer 20 enters the processing chamber 45, the lifter pin 13 rises, and the finger places the wafer 20 on the lifted lifter pin 13.

After placing the wafer 20 held at room temperature, ashing gas is supplied from the gas supply pipe 55 to the plasma source. As the ashing gas, oxygen, hydrogen, water, ammonia, carbon tetrafluoride (CF ₄ ), or the like is used. After the gas supply, the high frequency power supply 44 supplies power to the resonance coil 32.
Free electrons are accelerated by an induced magnetic field excited inside the resonance coil 32 and collide with gas molecules to excite gas molecules to generate plasma. In this way, the ashing process is performed using the plasmad ashing gas.

  Thereafter, when the processing of the wafer 20 is completed, the processed wafer 20 is transferred from the susceptor 11 to the boat BT1 (BT2) in the load lock chamber LM1 (LM2) by the vacuum transfer robot TH by the reverse operation. . By repeating the above operation, 25 wafers 20 mounted on the boat BT1 (BT2) are processed.

In the ashing device 10 configured as described above, 25 wafers 20 are transferred to the load lock chamber LM1 (LM2), the inside of the load lock chamber LM1 (LM2) is evacuated (vacuum replaced), and the load lock chamber LM1. One wafer 20 is transferred from (LM2) to the process chamber PM1 (PM2) via the transfer module TM, and the resist is removed from the wafer 20 in the process chamber PM1 (PM2) (removal process), and the resist is removed. The wafer 20 that has been subjected to is transferred to the load lock chamber LM1 (LM2) again through the transfer module TM.
As described above, the ashing apparatus 10 processes a maximum of 25 wafers accommodated in one pod as one lot. Further, the ashing device 10 continuously processes a plurality of lots based on a command from a host device or the like.

  Next, a functional block configuration centering on the control unit 110 in the substrate processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 110 includes an operation unit 131, a display unit 132, an atmospheric transfer robot LH, a vacuum transfer robot TH, a boat drive unit 135 of the load lock chamber LM1 (LM2), and the lifting and lowering of the lifter pin 13. The drive unit 136, the heater 63 of the susceptor 11 (not shown), a vacuum pump, a pressure valve (not shown), an MFC (mass flow controller, not shown), the storage unit 120, and the like are electrically connected. The control unit 110 controls each of these components.

  The operation unit 131 receives various operations performed by the operator on the ashing device 10. The display unit 132 displays data detected by various detection units provided in the ashing device 10, such as an operation screen for operating the ashing device 10 and a monitoring result of reflected waves by the RF sensor 68.

The storage unit 120 includes a substrate processing recipe storage unit 121, an initial recipe storage unit 122, an initial reference storage unit 123, and a processing times storage unit 124. The storage unit 120 can be configured from a hard disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like.
The substrate processing recipe storage unit 121 stores a substrate processing recipe (substrate processing sequence) for performing substrate processing.
The initial recipe storage unit 122 stores an initial recipe for performing an initial process for determining the origin of the mechanism unit constituting the substrate processing apparatus. The initial process will be described in detail later.

The initial reference storage unit 123 stores a predetermined number of times of substrate processing as a reference number of times for performing the initial processing, and the initial processing is performed each time the substrate processing for the reference number of times is performed.
In the present embodiment for performing lot processing, the initial reference storage unit 123 stores a predetermined number of times of lot processing as a reference number of times for initial processing, and each time lot processing for this reference number of times is performed, Initial processing is performed. The reference number of times for performing the initial process is set based on, for example, an instruction from an operator from the operation unit 131 or a command from a host device of the ashing device 10.
The processing count storage unit 124 stores the number of times of substrate processing that has been executed, and the processing count stored in the processing count storage unit 124 is cleared to zero when the initial process is executed. In the present embodiment in which lot processing is performed, the processing count storage unit 124 stores the number of executed lot processing.

  The control unit 110 includes a position controller (not shown) that controls the positions of movable components such as the atmospheric transfer robot LH, the vacuum transfer robot TH, the boat BT1 (BT2), and the lifter pin 13, and a heater 63 that heats the susceptor 11. A temperature controller (not shown) for controlling the temperature of the chamber, a pressure controller (not shown) for opening / closing and adjusting a vacuum pump / pressure valve as a vacuum exhaust device for exhausting the atmosphere in the process chamber PM1 (PM2), a processing chamber And a valve controller (not shown) for controlling the flow rate of the MFC disposed in the source gas supply pipe and the like.

Further, the control unit 110 includes a substrate processing execution unit 111, an initial processing execution unit 112, a processing number update unit 113, a processing end determination unit 114, and an initial availability determination unit 115. As a hardware configuration, the control unit 110 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a memory that stores an operation program of the control unit 110, and the CPU operates according to the operation program.
The substrate processing execution unit 111 reads out the substrate processing recipe stored in the substrate processing recipe storage unit 121 based on, for example, an instruction from the host device or an operator instruction from the operation unit 131, and is described in the substrate processing recipe. The process steps are executed sequentially.

  The initial process execution unit 112 performs an initial process for determining the origin of the mechanism unit constituting the substrate processing apparatus. As described above, the origination of the mechanism unit is, for example, determining the origin position in the axis control of the rotation axis, the lifting axis, and the telescopic axis of the vacuum transfer robot TH. In axis control, an encoder is used to specify a target position by specifying an offset from the origin position. Each axis is provided with an origin sensor at the origin position. The axis is moved at a low speed to the position detected by the origin sensor, and the encoder offset value is reset to zero, for example, with the position detected by the origin sensor as the origin position. To do.

  Here, an outline of status transition of the substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a status transition diagram of the control unit 110 of the substrate processing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 5, after the power is turned on, the control unit 110 transitions to an idle state S51 that is a standby state. When a standby command (standby command) C51 is received from the operation unit 131 in the idle state S51, the state transits to the standby state S52, and a standby process for setting the production ready state S53 described later is executed. The standby process includes an initial process, a process for setting the processing chamber to a predetermined temperature and pressure, and the like. When the standby process is normally completed, the process transits to a ready state S53 in which a substrate process execution instruction (job start instruction) is waited. When the standby process is abnormally terminated, the process returns to the idle state S51.

In the ready state S53, when a job start command (job start instruction) C52 is received from the operation unit 131 or a host device, the process shifts to a run state S54 in which a substrate processing recipe is being executed, and substrate processing is executed. When the substrate processing is normally completed, the process returns to the ready state S53, and waits for a substrate processing execution instruction (job start instruction) C52. When the substrate processing ends abnormally, the state transits to the idle state S51.
Conventionally, when the initial process is performed only in the idle state S51 when the substrate processing apparatus is started up, and then transitions to the ready state S53 in which the substrate process can be performed, the initial process is not performed unless the process ends abnormally. In the embodiment, also in the ready state S53, as will be described later, the processing end determination unit 114 determines that the number of substrate processings has reached a predetermined reference number, and the initial availability determination unit 115 determines that the initial processing is possible. In this case, the initial process is executed.

Here, the initial processable state is a state in which no substrate exists in the mechanism unit that can move the substrate of the substrate processing apparatus. For example, there is no product substrate in a mechanism unit that can move the substrate, such as the boat BT1 (BT2) in the load lock chamber LM1 (LM2), the atmospheric transfer robot LH, the susceptor 11 in the process chamber PM1 (PM2), and the like. .
In the present embodiment, 25 wafers that have undergone substrate processing return from the boat BT1 in the load lock chamber LM1 to the pod PD1 on the load port LP1, and from the boat BT2 in the load lock chamber LM2 to the load port LP2. Returning to the pod PD2, the state in which no wafer exists on the load port LP1 other than LP2 is the initial processing enabled state.

  In the initial processable state, the product substrate does not exist in the mechanism unit that can move the substrate. Therefore, the origin of the mechanism unit can be obtained by the initial process without affecting the quality of the product substrate. Thus, in the initial processable state, the boat BT1 (BT2) elevating mechanism in the load lock chamber LM1 (LM2), the rotation, elevating and retracting mechanism of the atmospheric transfer robot LH, and the lifter pin 13 in the process chamber PM1 (PM2) The origin of the elevating mechanism or the like can be obtained.

In the present embodiment, in addition to the above-described vacuum transfer robot TH, the boat BT1 (BT2) lifting mechanism in the load lock chamber LM1 (LM2), the rotation, lifting and retracting mechanism of the atmospheric transfer robot LH, the process chamber PM1 ( Each mechanism unit such as the lifting mechanism of the lifter pin 13 in the PM 2) has a plurality of control axes. As described above, in the present embodiment in which lot processing is performed, the processing end determination unit 114 performs the lot processing. If it is determined that the number of times has reached the predetermined reference number, the next lot processing is held without performing the next lot processing while the ready state is maintained. The current lot processing is continued, and thereafter, there is no substrate in the mechanism unit capable of moving the substrate of the substrate processing apparatus, and the initial availability determination unit 115 is initialized. If it is determined that the turbocharger is Le processable state, that is, wait until the initial processing state, and in the ready state, the axis of the mechanism so that initial processing.
Thereby, the error of the accumulated shaft position can be corrected. Further, in the initial processable state, the plurality of axes in the plurality of mechanism units are initially processed in parallel, so that the error can be corrected efficiently in a short time. Preferably, all the axes in all the mechanism units are simultaneously processed in parallel.
In addition, since the initial processing is performed between the lot processing, the position of the substrate in the same lot can be made substantially the same when transporting or processing the substrate, and the processing quality of the substrate in the same lot can be improved. Variations can be suppressed.

  The processing number update unit 113 updates the number of substrate processings stored in the processing number storage unit for each substrate processing, for example, according to the number of substrate processings. In the present embodiment in which lot processing is performed, the processing count update unit 113 updates the lot processing count stored in the processing count storage unit 124 for each lot processing. In this embodiment, 25 substrates accommodated in one pod are handled as one lot. That is, one lot processing is processing 25 substrates accommodated in one pod, and 25 substrates are taken out from one pod placed on the load port LP1 (LP2) and processed. It means returning to the original pod again.

  The processing end determination unit 114 determines whether or not the number of substrate processings stored in the processing number storage unit 124 has reached the reference number stored in the initial reference storage unit 123. In the present embodiment in which lot processing is performed, the processing end determination unit 114 determines whether the number of lot processing stored in the processing number storage unit 124 has reached the reference number of lots stored in the initial reference storage unit 123. .

  The initial availability determination unit 115 determines whether or not the initial processing is possible and the initial processing is possible. In the present embodiment in which lot processing is performed, the initial availability determination unit 115 finishes the lot processing and removes the substrate from the pods PD1 and PD2 in a state where no substrate exists in the mechanism unit that can move the substrate of the substrate processing apparatus. Then, it is determined whether or not all of the processed substrates are returned to the pods PD1 and PD2.

  Next, a processing flow of the control unit 110 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow of the control unit 110 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the control unit 110 determines whether or not there is a process execution request from the operation unit 131 or the host device (step S1). If there is no process execution request (No in step S1), the process waits until there is a process execution request. If there is a process execution request (Yes in step S 1), has the processing end determination unit 114 reached the reference lot number stored in the initial reference storage unit 123 as the lot processing number stored in the processing number storage unit 124? It is determined whether or not (step S2). If the number of times of lot processing has not reached the reference number of times (No in step S2), the process proceeds to step S6, and based on the process execution request in step S1, the process proceeds to the next lot process.

  If the number of lot processing has reached the reference number of lots (Yes in step S2), the process execution request in step S1 is suspended, that is, the next lot processing is suspended, and the initial availability determination unit 115 Whether the process (preceding job) is not being executed, that is, the initial lot processing is completed, and all the wafers of the preceding lot are returned to the pod PD1 (PD2) on the load port LP1 (LP2). It is determined whether it is in a state (step S3). If the preceding lot processing has not been completed and the initial processing is not possible (Yes in step S3), the process waits until the end. That is, 25 substrates accommodated in the pod PD1 (PD2) placed on the load port LP1 (LP2) are processed in the process chamber PM1 (PM2), and the pod PD1 on the load port LP1 (LP2). Wait until returning to (PD2). Therefore, when an unprocessed substrate exists in the pod PD1 (PD2), the process waits until the unprocessed substrate is processed in the process chamber PM1 (PM2) and returned to the pod PD1 (PD2).

  When the preceding lot processing is completed and the substrate of the preceding lot is returned to the pod PD1 (PD2) and is ready for initial processing (No in step S3), the initial processing execution unit 112, for example, The axes are simultaneously processed in parallel (initial processing for all axes), and the lot processing count stored in the processing count storage unit 124 is cleared to zero. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S6, and the process proceeds to the next lot process based on the process execution request that has been suspended in the case of Yes in step S2.

  In step S <b> 6, the processing count update unit 113 counts up and updates the lot processing count stored in the processing count storage unit 124. Next, in step S7, using the atmospheric transfer robot LH, 25 substrates in the pod PD1 (PD2) on the load port LP1 (LP2) are transferred to the boat BT1 (BT2) in the load lock chamber LM1 (LM2). In step S8, substrate processing is performed in units of lots.

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In the embodiment, in the substrate processing apparatus that performs the lot processing, the example in which the initial processing is performed between the lot processing and the lot processing has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, regardless of the lot processing, When the number of substrate processing times reaches the reference number of times for initial processing, wait until the substrate is not present in the mechanism for performing the origin search, not between lot processing and one substrate processing, Initial processing can also be performed between processing of one substrate. For example, if the reference number of times for initial processing is set to 100 and 100 substrates are processed, the initial processing can be performed by waiting until the substrate does not exist in the mechanism for performing the origin search.
Further, the present invention can be applied not only to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus but also to an apparatus for processing a glass substrate such as an LCD manufacturing apparatus and other substrate processing apparatuses. The processing content of the substrate processing may be not only film formation processing for forming CVD, PVD, oxide film, nitride film, metal-containing film, etc., but also exposure processing, lithography, coating processing, and the like.

Note that the present specification includes the following inventions relating to a substrate processing apparatus or a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device. That is, the first invention is
A substrate processing apparatus comprising a substrate processing chamber for processing a substrate, a storage unit, and a control unit for controlling substrate processing,
The storage unit
A substrate processing recipe storage unit for storing a substrate processing recipe for performing substrate processing;
An initial recipe storage unit for storing an initial recipe for performing an initial process for performing origin determination of a mechanism unit constituting the substrate processing apparatus;
An initial reference storage unit that stores a predetermined number of times of substrate processing as a reference number of times for initial processing;
A processing number storage unit that stores the number of executed substrate processings,
The controller is
A substrate processing execution unit for executing the substrate processing recipe stored in the substrate processing recipe storage unit;
An initial process execution unit for executing the initial recipe stored in the initial recipe storage unit;
A processing number update unit that updates the substrate processing number stored in the processing number storage unit according to the substrate processing number;
A process end determination unit that determines whether or not the substrate processing number stored in the processing number storage unit has reached the reference number stored in the initial reference storage unit;
An initial availability determination unit that determines whether the initial processing is possible and whether or not the initial processing is possible,
When the processing end determination unit determines that the number of substrate processing times has reached the reference number, the substrate processing execution unit suspends the start of a new substrate processing in the substrate processing apparatus, and the initial availability determination unit determines the initial processing. A substrate processing apparatus configured to execute an initial recipe when the initial process execution unit determines that the initial process is possible.
According to the above configuration, in the initial process possible state in which the operation of the mechanism unit for moving the substrate stops, the initial process for finding the origin of the mechanism unit can be performed, and the deviation of the axis operation of the mechanism unit is accumulated. Can be suppressed.

A second invention is the substrate processing apparatus of the first invention, wherein
A substrate processing apparatus in which, after the initial processing execution unit executes an initial recipe, the substrate processing execution unit automatically executes a substrate processing recipe for the next substrate processing.
According to the above configuration, in the initial process possible state in which the operation of the mechanism unit for moving the substrate stops, the initial process for finding the origin of the mechanism unit can be performed, and the deviation of the axis operation of the mechanism unit is accumulated. Can be suppressed. Further, since the substrate processing can be subsequently performed, the operation rate of the substrate processing apparatus is improved, and as a result, the throughput can be improved.

A third invention is the substrate processing apparatus of the first invention or the second invention,
Even when the processing end determination unit determines that the number of times of substrate processing has reached the reference number of times, if the initial availability determination unit determines that the initial processing is not possible, the initial processing execution unit determines that the initial recipe is executed. The substrate processing apparatus in which the substrate processing execution unit executes the substrate processing recipe until the initial processing is possible without executing the process.
According to said structure, in the initial process possible state in which operation | movement of the mechanism part which moves a board | substrate stops, the initial process which carries out the origin search of a mechanism part can be performed.

A fourth invention is the substrate processing apparatus of the first invention to the third invention, wherein
The substrate processing apparatus in which the initial processing execution unit performs initial processing of a plurality of mechanism units constituting the substrate processing apparatus.
According to the above configuration, in the initial process possible state in which the operation of the mechanism unit for moving the substrate stops, the initial process for performing the origin search of the plurality of mechanism units can be efficiently performed.

The fifth invention is the substrate processing apparatus of the fourth invention,
The substrate processing apparatus in which the initial process execution unit performs initial processes of a plurality of mechanism units constituting the substrate processing apparatus in parallel.
According to the above configuration, in the initial process possible state in which the operation of the mechanism unit for moving the substrate stops, the initial process for performing the origin search of the plurality of mechanism units can be performed more efficiently.

A sixth invention is the substrate processing apparatus of the fifth invention, wherein
The substrate processing apparatus in which the initial processing execution unit performs initial processing on all the drive shafts of a plurality of mechanism units constituting the substrate processing apparatus in parallel.
According to the above configuration, in the initial process possible state in which the operation of the mechanism unit for moving the substrate stops, the initial process for performing the origin search of the plurality of mechanism units can be performed more efficiently.

A seventh invention is the substrate processing apparatus of the first invention,
The substrate processing apparatus has an idle state when the apparatus starts up, a ready state in which the substrate processing can be performed, and a run state in which the substrate processing is being performed,
In the ready state, the initial process execution unit determines that the process end determination unit determines that the number of times of substrate processing has reached the reference number of times, and the initial availability determination unit determines that the initial process is possible In addition, the substrate processing apparatus is configured to execute the initial recipe and also execute the initial recipe when transitioning from the idle state to the ready state.
According to the above configuration, in the initial process possible state in which the operation of the mechanism unit for moving the substrate stops, the initial process for finding the origin of the mechanism unit can be performed, and the deviation of the axis operation of the mechanism unit is accumulated. Can be suppressed.

The eighth invention
An initial reference storage step for storing a predetermined number of times of substrate processing in the initial reference storage unit as a reference number of times for performing initial processing for performing origin of the mechanism unit;
A processing number update step of updating the substrate processing number stored in the processing number storage unit;
A substrate processing step for executing a substrate processing recipe;
A process end determination step for determining whether or not the number of substrate processes stored in the processing number storage unit has reached the reference number stored in the initial reference storage unit;
An initial availability determination step for determining whether the initial processing is possible and whether or not the initial processing is possible;
An initial processing step of performing initial processing when it is determined in the processing end determination step that the number of times of substrate processing has reached the reference number of times, and in the initial availability determination step, it is determined that the initial processing is possible; ,
A substrate processing method comprising:
According to the above configuration, in the initial process possible state in which the operation of the mechanism unit for moving the substrate stops, the initial process for finding the origin of the mechanism unit can be performed, and the deviation of the axis operation of the mechanism unit is accumulated. Can be suppressed.

The ninth invention
A substrate processing apparatus including a substrate processing chamber for processing a substrate, a storage unit, and a control unit for controlling substrate processing, and processes a plurality of substrates as one lot,
The storage unit
A substrate processing recipe storage unit for storing a substrate processing recipe for performing substrate processing;
An initial recipe storage unit for storing an initial recipe for performing an initial process for performing origin determination of a mechanism unit constituting the substrate processing apparatus;
An initial reference storage unit for storing a predetermined number of times of lot processing as a reference number of times for initial processing;
A processing number storage unit for storing the number of executed lot processings,
The controller is
A substrate processing execution unit for executing the substrate processing recipe stored in the substrate processing recipe storage unit;
A processing number update unit that updates the lot processing number stored in the processing number storage unit according to the lot processing number;
A process end determination unit that determines whether the number of times of lot processing stored in the processing number storage unit has reached the reference number stored in the initial reference storage unit;
An initial availability determination unit that determines whether the initial processing is possible and whether or not the initial processing is possible;
The initial recipe stored in the initial recipe storage unit when the processing end determination unit determines that the number of times of lot processing has reached the reference number of times and the initial availability determination unit determines that the initial processing is possible An initial process execution unit for executing
A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
According to the above configuration, the initial process for finding the origin of the mechanism unit can be performed at the lot separation (between the lots) where the operation of the mechanism unit for moving the substrate stops, and the axis operation of the mechanism unit It is possible to suppress the accumulation of deviations.

The tenth invention is
A substrate processing method in a substrate processing apparatus for processing a plurality of substrates as one lot,
An initial reference storage step for storing a predetermined number of times of lot processing in the initial reference storage unit as a reference number of times for performing initial processing for determining the origin of the mechanism unit;
A process count storage step of storing the number of executed lot processes in the process count storage unit;
A substrate processing step for executing a substrate processing recipe;
A process end determination step for determining whether the number of times of lot processing stored in the processing number storage unit has reached the reference number stored in the initial reference storage unit;
An initial availability determination step for determining whether the initial processing is possible and whether or not the initial processing is possible;
An initial processing step for performing initial processing when it is determined in the processing end determination step that the number of times of lot processing has reached the reference number of times, and in the initial availability determination step, it is determined that the initial processing is possible; ,
A substrate processing method comprising:
According to the above configuration, the initial process for finding the origin of the mechanism unit can be performed at the lot separation (between the lots) where the operation of the mechanism unit for moving the substrate stops, and the axis operation of the mechanism unit It is possible to suppress the accumulation of deviations.

The eleventh invention is
A substrate processing apparatus comprising a substrate processing chamber for processing a substrate, a storage unit, and a control unit for controlling substrate processing,
The storage unit
A substrate processing recipe storage unit for storing a substrate processing recipe for performing substrate processing;
An initial recipe storage unit for storing an initial recipe for performing an initial process for performing origin of the mechanism unit constituting the substrate processing apparatus,
The controller is
A substrate processing execution unit for executing the substrate processing recipe stored in the substrate processing recipe storage unit;
An initial process execution unit for executing the initial recipe stored in the initial recipe storage unit,
When the substrate processing execution unit has performed the substrate processing a predetermined number of times, the start of a new substrate processing in the substrate processing apparatus is suspended and waits until the initial processing is possible and the initial processing is possible. A substrate processing apparatus configured such that an initial process execution unit executes an initial recipe.
According to the above configuration, in the initial process possible state in which the operation of the mechanism unit for moving the substrate stops, the initial process for finding the origin of the mechanism unit can be performed, and the deviation of the axis operation of the mechanism unit is accumulated. Can be suppressed.

  BT1 ... Boat, BT2 ... Boat, LH ... Atmospheric transfer robot, LM1 ... Load lock chamber, LM2 ... Load lock chamber, LP1 ... Load port, LP2 ... Load port, PM1 ... Process chamber, PM2 ... Process chamber, TH ... Vacuum transfer Robot, TM ... transfer module, 11 ... susceptor, 13 ... lifter pin, 30 ... plasma generating chamber, 31 ... reaction vessel, 32 ... high frequency coil, 33 ... gas inlet, 45 ... processing chamber, 46 ... frequency matching unit, 110 ... Control unit, 111 ... Substrate processing execution unit, 112 ... Initial processing execution unit, 113 ... Processing frequency update unit, 114 ... Processing end determination unit, 115 ... Initial availability determination unit, 120 ... Storage unit, 121 ... Substrate processing recipe storage , 122 ... initial recipe storage unit, 123 ... initial reference storage , 124 ... processing count storage section, 131 ... operation unit, 132 ... display unit.

Claims (1)

A substrate processing apparatus comprising a substrate processing chamber for processing a substrate, a storage unit, and a control unit for controlling substrate processing,
The storage unit
A substrate processing recipe storage unit for storing a substrate processing recipe for performing substrate processing;
An initial recipe storage unit for storing an initial recipe for performing an initial process for performing origin determination of a mechanism unit constituting the substrate processing apparatus;
An initial reference storage unit that stores a predetermined number of times of substrate processing as a reference number of times for initial processing;
A processing number storage unit that stores the number of executed substrate processings,
The controller is
A substrate processing execution unit for executing the substrate processing recipe stored in the substrate processing recipe storage unit;
An initial process execution unit for executing the initial recipe stored in the initial recipe storage unit;
A processing number update unit that updates the substrate processing number stored in the processing number storage unit according to the substrate processing number;
A process end determination unit that determines whether or not the substrate processing number stored in the processing number storage unit has reached the reference number stored in the initial reference storage unit;
An initial availability determination unit that determines whether the initial processing is possible and whether or not the initial processing is possible,
When the processing end determination unit determines that the number of substrate processing times has reached the reference number, the substrate processing execution unit suspends the start of a new substrate processing in the substrate processing apparatus, and the initial availability determination unit determines the initial processing. A substrate processing apparatus configured to execute an initial recipe when the initial process execution unit determines that the initial process is possible.

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