JP2023032956A - Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a substrate processing apparatus that can appropriately resume processing for a substrate during processing even when the substrate is taken out in the middle of processing.SOLUTION: A substrate processing apparatus 100 comprises: a substrate processing section 10; a carry-in/out apparatus 20 that performs carrying-in/out of a substrate 1 for the substrate processing section 10; and a control section 30 that causes the substrate processing section 10 to perform processing of the substrate 1 on the basis of a processing recipe 50 including a processing step PS. The control section 30 records a progress status 51 of processing of the processing step PS being executed when a carrying-out interruption condition 52a to interrupt processing which is accompanied with carry-out of the substrate 1 from the substrate processing section 10 is satisfied, causes a substrate 1b during processing to be taken out from the substrate processing section 10 by interrupting the processing, acquires the progress status 51 and a resumption point 66 of processing when the taken-out substrate 1b during processing is again carried in the substrate processing section 10, and controls the substrate processing section 10 to resume processing of the interrupted processing of the processing step PS from the resumption point 66.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method, and more particularly to a substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method for executing substrate processing based on a processing recipe.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a substrate processing apparatus that performs substrate processing based on a processing recipe (see Patent Document 1, for example).

The aforementioned Patent Document 1 discloses a substrate processing apparatus that performs reactive ion etching (RIE) processing on a substrate based on a recipe including a plurality of steps. In Patent Document 1, when an error occurs during RIE processing corresponding to a recipe, the RIE processing is interrupted, an operator's correction input of the recipe is accepted, and an error is detected in the corrected recipe according to the content of the correction. It is disclosed that the step immediately before the error occurrence step is executed, and then the error occurrence step is executed for the remaining processing time when the error occurred. As a result, in Patent Document 1, the processing is re-executed without taking out the substrate for which the processing has been stopped from the processing chamber.

Japanese Patent No. 4900904

However, in substrate processing, an event may occur in which it is necessary to interrupt the processing of the substrate and unload the substrate from the substrate processing section. In Patent Document 1, no consideration is given to the case where the processing according to the recipe is interrupted in the middle and the substrate is unloaded from the substrate processing section. Therefore, even if the substrate is unloaded during processing, it is desired to be able to appropriately restart the processing of the substrate unloaded during processing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and one object of the present invention is to appropriately process a substrate during processing even when the substrate is unloaded during processing. An object of the present invention is to provide a restartable substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method.

In order to achieve the above object, a substrate processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a substrate processing section for processing a substrate, a loading/unloading device for loading/unloading the substrate with respect to the substrate processing section, and processing steps. a control unit for controlling the substrate processing unit to process the substrate based on the processing recipe including the substrate processing unit, wherein the control unit satisfies a carry-out interruption condition for interrupting the processing when the substrate is carried out from the substrate processing unit. In the event that the processing step is executed, the progress of the processing step being executed is recorded, the processing is interrupted, the substrate under processing is carried out from the substrate processing section, and the substrate under processing that has been carried out is reloaded into the substrate processing section. At this time, the progress status and the restart time point of the processing are acquired, and the substrate processing section is controlled so that the interrupted processing step is restarted from the restart time point.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, as described above, when the unloading interruption condition for interrupting the processing with unloading of the substrate from the substrate processing section is satisfied, the progress status of the processing step being executed is determined. is recorded, and the processing is interrupted and the substrate under processing is carried out from the substrate processing section. can be recorded. Then, when the unloaded substrate under processing is reloaded into the substrate processing section, the progress status and the restart time point of the processing are acquired, and the processing of the interrupted processing step is restarted from the restart time point. Even with the substrate being processed that has been carried out to the outside, the processing can be resumed from the restart point of the interrupted processing step. As a result, even if the substrate is unloaded during processing, it is possible to appropriately restart the processing of the substrate being processed.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention, preferably, the control unit selects either the interruption point of processing or a specified specified point of time as the restart point of time. As a result, it is possible to select whether the processing of the substrate in process is to be resumed from the interrupted point of the processing or from the specified point of time specified by the operator, depending on the interrupted situation or the like.

In this case, the control unit is preferably configured to acquire the interruption point based on the progress recorded at the interruption when the interruption point is the restart point. With this configuration, by using the progress recorded at the time of interruption, the process can be automatically restarted from the point of interruption without the operator specifying the point of interruption.

In the configuration for acquiring the interruption time point based on the progress recorded at the time of interruption, preferably, the control unit includes a processing control unit that controls the operation of the substrate processing unit, and a process control unit that interrupts and and a main control unit that instructs restart, and the processing control unit outputs the progress status to the main control unit when the unloading interruption condition is satisfied, and when reloading the unloaded substrate under processing, the main control unit The unit outputs a restart instruction based on the progress to the processing control unit, and restarts the processing of the substrate in process from the point of interruption. With this configuration, it is not necessary for the processing control unit to keep the progress status after unloading the substrate under processing. , the substrate processing section can be caused to perform another process.

In the configuration for selecting either the interruption time point or the specified time point as the restart time point, preferably, the control unit further includes an input unit that receives an operation input, and the control unit selects the specified time point as the restart time through the input unit. is configured to capture the specified point in time. By configuring in this way, the operator can restart the processing from an arbitrary point in time according to the interrupted situation.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect, preferably, the control unit acquires the processing status in the substrate processing unit at the restart time based on the processing recipe, and obtains the processing status at the restart time before restarting the processing of the substrate being processed. The substrate processing section is controlled so as to execute a reproduction process for reproducing the processing situation in. With this configuration, it is possible to reproduce a situation that would have been realized at the time of resuming the process if the process had not been interrupted, and to resume the process based on the process recipe.

In this case, preferably, when the processing step to be resumed includes processing for changing parameter values during processing, the processing status at the time of resuming includes the parameter values at the time of resuming. With this configuration, the processing can be resumed with the parameter values reached at the time of resuming unless the processing is interrupted.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention, the unloading interruption condition preferably includes occurrence of a predetermined unloading event set in advance. According to this configuration, even if an event requiring substrate unloading occurs, the processing of the in-process substrate that was being processed when the unloading event occurred can be resumed without resetting the processing recipe.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention, preferably, the unloading interruption condition includes occurrence of interrupt processing other than the processing of the processing step being executed. According to this configuration, it is possible to restart the processing of the substrate once carried out from the substrate processing section due to the interrupt processing that occurred during the processing, without dividing the processing recipe or the like.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect, preferably, after suspending the processing of the substrate under processing and unloading the substrate under processing, the control unit instructs the substrate processing unit to carry out other processes than the processing of the interrupted processing step. control to execute the process of Normally, when a substrate is unloaded during processing and another process is executed, the first half of the process before unloading and the second half of the process after the other process are executed are prepared as separate processing recipes. There is a need to. On the other hand, with the above configuration, it is possible to restart the processing of the transported in-process substrate with the same one processing recipe.

In this case, the other processing preferably includes cleaning processing for the processing chamber of the substrate processing section. With this configuration, the processing can be restarted by reloading the substrate under processing into the processing chamber after the cleaning processing without changing the recipe.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention, preferably, when a temporary interruption condition for interrupting processing without unloading the substrate is satisfied, the control unit controls the substrate processing unit without unloading the substrate during processing. is interrupted, and the substrate processing section is controlled so as to restart the interrupted processing step from a designated point in time when restarting the processing of the substrate being processed. According to this configuration, even when the temporary interruption condition that the unloading of the substrate is unnecessary is satisfied, the processing can be resumed as it is without carrying in/unloading the substrate when it becomes possible to resume the processing.

A substrate processing method according to a second aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing method for performing processing on a substrate, and includes a step of loading the substrate into a processing chamber and processing of the substrate in the processing chamber based on a processing recipe including a plurality of processing steps. executing the process, and recording the progress of the process step being executed when the unloading interruption condition for interrupting the process with unloading of the substrate is satisfied during the process; a step of suspending the processing and unloading the substrate under processing from the processing chamber, obtaining the progress status and the restart point of the processing when the unloaded substrate under processing is reloaded into the processing chamber; and resuming the processing of the processing step being performed from the resuming point.

In the substrate processing method according to the second invention, as in the first invention, even when the processing in progress is interrupted and the substrate under processing is carried out from the processing chamber, the progress of the interrupted processing is recorded. Thus, even if the substrate under processing has been temporarily carried out of the processing chamber, the processing can be resumed from the restart point of the interrupted processing step. As a result, even if the substrate is unloaded during processing, it is possible to appropriately restart the processing of the substrate being processed.

According to the present invention, as described above, even when the substrate is unloaded during processing, it is possible to appropriately restart the processing of the substrate being processed.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus; FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of a control unit; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a processing recipe; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the flow of interruption of processing in the substrate processing section, and unloading and reloading of the substrate; FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining interrupt processing; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the progress of processing when processing is interrupted; FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a processing restart instruction for a substrate being processed; FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining selection of a restart point; FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the reproduction of the processing status at the time of restart; FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of substrate processing; FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the flow of unloading interruption processing; FIG. 10 is a flow chart when resuming processing of a substrate in process; FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of temporary interruption processing; It is the figure which showed the specific example of the processing recipe. 4 is a timing chart showing temporal changes in each parameter of an etching gas flow rate (a), a protective film forming gas flow rate (b), and an exhaust gas flow rate (c) during a processing step. 4 is a timing chart showing a specific example when parameters change over time; 4 is a timing chart for explaining reproduction processing when parameters change over time;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13. FIG. The substrate processing apparatus 100 is an apparatus that processes a substrate 1 according to a processing recipe 50 (see FIG. 3) including processing steps PS (see FIG. 3). The substrate 1 is a semiconductor substrate.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the substrate processing apparatus 100 includes a substrate processing section 10 , a loading/unloading device 20 and a control section 30 . A load lock chamber 40 and a plurality of substrate processing units 10 are radially connected to the vacuum transfer chamber 21 centered on the vacuum transfer chamber 21 in which the loading/unloading device 20 is installed. Two load lock chambers 40 and four substrate processing sections 10 are provided. A cassette 41 for holding the substrate 1 is installed in the load lock chamber 40 .

The loading/unloading device 20 is configured by a vacuum transport robot that grips and transports the substrate 1 . The loading/unloading device 20 loads/unloads the substrate 1 to/from the substrate processing section 10 . The loading/unloading device 20 takes out the substrate 1 from the cassette 41 installed in the load lock chamber 40 , loads the substrate 1 into the processing chamber 11 of one of the substrate processing sections 10 , and loads the substrate 1 into the processing chamber 11 of the substrate processing section 10 . The substrate 1 can be unloaded from the inside and transported to another location.

Each of the substrate processing units 10 processes the substrate 1 . Processing includes etching, deposition, removal of films on the substrate surface, and the like. The substrate processing section 10 includes a processing chamber 11 for processing the substrate 1 , and processes the substrate 1 in the processing chamber 11 .

The control unit 30 controls the overall operation of the substrate processing apparatus 100 including the substrate processing unit 10 and the loading/unloading device 20 . The control unit 30 controls the loading/unloading device 20 to carry out the operation of transporting the substrate 1 .

As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 30 controls the substrate processing unit 10 to process the substrate 1 based on a processing recipe 50 including a plurality of processing steps PS (see FIG. 3). The control unit 30 includes a main control unit 31 , a processing control unit 32 and a transport control unit 33 . The main control unit 31 is a computer including a processor and a storage unit 31a. The main control section 31 is connected to an input section 34 that receives operation inputs.

A program executed by the main control unit 31, data of the processing recipe 50, and data of the progress 51 of processing in each substrate processing unit 10 are recorded in the storage unit 31a. In the storage unit 31a, unloading interruption conditions 52a and temporary interruption conditions 52b, which will be described later, are recorded. The progress status 51 data may be recorded in a storage unit (not shown) of the processing control unit 32 .

The processing control section 32 is a controller that controls the operation of the substrate processing section 10 . One processing control unit 32 is provided for each substrate processing unit 10 . The processing control unit 32 controls the substrate processing unit 10 to process the substrate 1 according to the processing recipe 50 transmitted from the main control unit 31 . The transport control unit 33 is a controller that controls the operation of the loading/unloading device 20 . The transport control unit 33 controls the loading/unloading device 20 based on information transmitted from the main control unit 31 .

As shown in FIG. 3, the processing recipe 50 defines the processing of the substrate 1 in units of processing steps PS. The processing recipe 50 includes one or more processing steps PS. Setting information defining processing conditions (parameters) for each processing step PS is registered in the processing recipe 50 .

During the execution of the processing step PS by the substrate processing section 10 according to the processing recipe 50, an event that interrupts the processing being executed may occur. For example, an event occurs in which the process is interrupted at time Ta of "Step 3" shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the control unit 30 (main control unit 31 or processing control unit 32) causes the substrate processing unit 10 to interrupt the processing being executed when a preset interruption condition is satisfied.

In this specification, the interruption conditions are classified into two types depending on whether or not the substrate is unloaded at the time of interruption. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, one of the interruption conditions is the unloading interruption condition 52a for interrupting the process when the substrate 1 is unloaded from the substrate processing section 10. FIG. Another interruption condition is a temporary interruption condition 52b that interrupts the process without unloading the substrate 1 .

As shown in FIG. 4, in this specification, the substrate 1 on which a series of processes according to the process recipe 50 has not started is referred to as an unprocessed substrate 1a. A substrate 1 whose processing is interrupted during execution of any of the processing steps PS is called an in-process substrate 1b. In this embodiment, the processing can be resumed without changing the processing recipe 50 by reloading the in-process substrate 1 b into the substrate processing section 10 .

In the present embodiment, the unloading interruption condition 52a includes occurrence of a preset predetermined unloading event. The unloading event set in the unloading interruption condition 52a is not particularly limited, but it corresponds to, for example, an abnormality that requires the substrate 1 to be unloaded and the status inside the processing chamber 11 to be checked. The carry-out event is not limited to the occurrence of an abnormality, and may be an event other than an abnormality such as an elapsed time exceeding a threshold. The source of the unloading event (trigger of the unloading event) includes timer measurement time (e.g. high frequency application time), detection values of various sensors (e.g. refrigerant flow rate, electrostatic chuck current value, pressure control valve opening, etc.). be.

In addition, the unloading interruption condition 52a includes occurrence of interrupt processing other than the processing of the processing step PS being executed. As shown in FIG. 5, when an interrupt process occurs, the control unit 30 suspends the processing of the substrate under processing 1b and causes the substrate under processing 1b to be unloaded. control to execute other processes other than the process of Other processing includes cleaning processing for the processing chamber 11 of the substrate processing section 10 . For example, interruption of the cleaning process is determined based on the luminous intensity detected by OES (optical emission spectroscopy) during the process. Interruption may be determined based on the high-frequency application time and the interval setting value of the cleaning process. The cleaning process may be performed by carrying a dummy substrate into the processing chamber 11, or may be performed without the substrate.

The temporary interruption condition 52b shown in FIG. 2 includes occurrence of a predetermined interruption event other than the unloading event set in the unloading interruption condition 52a. The interruption event set in the temporary interruption condition 52b is not particularly limited, but may correspond to, for example, a temporary abnormality in a measurement parameter monitored within the processing chamber 11 or the like.

<Control operation based on unloading interruption conditions>
(At the time of interruption) When the unloading interruption condition 52a is satisfied, the control unit 30 records the progress 51 (see FIG. 2) of the processing step PS being executed, interrupts the processing, and causes the substrate processing unit to 10 to unload the substrate 1b during processing.

The progress status 51 includes, as shown in FIG. 6, board identification information 61, a recipe name 62, an interruption step 63, and an interruption point 64. As shown in FIG. The board identification information 61 is individual identification information (ID) of the board 1 . The recipe name 62 is a name (or number) that identifies the processing recipe 50 that has been executed on the substrate 1 . The interrupted step 63 is information (step number) specifying the interrupted processing step PS. The interruption point 64 is information specifying the interruption point in the interrupted processing step PS (elapsed time from the start of the processing step).

Referring to FIG. 2, progress status 51 is generated by process control unit 32 that controls substrate processing unit 10 that satisfies unloading interruption condition 52a. The progress 51 is output from the processing control unit 32 to the main control unit 31, and the main control unit 31 records the progress 51 in the storage unit 31a. Then, the main control unit 31 causes the loading/unloading device 20 to carry out the substrate under processing 1 b from the processing chamber 11 via the transfer control unit 33 . Even if the data of the progress 51 for the substrate under processing 1b is cleared in the processing control unit 32, when the substrate under processing 1b is carried into the processing chamber 11 again, the progress 51 recorded in the storage unit 31a is used. Then, the processing of the in-process substrate 1b is resumed.

(At the time of reloading) When reloading the unloaded substrate 1b in process into the substrate processing unit 10, the control unit 30 acquires the progress 51 and the processing restart point 66 (see FIG. 7), The substrate processing section 10 is controlled so that the process of step PS is restarted from the restart point 66 .

Specifically, when the unloaded substrate under processing 1b is reloaded into the substrate processing unit 10, the main control unit 31 sends a restart instruction 53 (see FIG. 7) based on the progress 51 to the substrate processing unit 10. This is output to the processing control unit 32 to restart the processing of the substrate under processing 1b from the restart point 66. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the restart instruction 53 includes board identification information 61 , recipe name 62 , restart step 65 , and restart time point 66 . The resuming step 65 is information (step number) specifying the processing step PS for resuming the processing of the in-process substrate 1b. The restart time point 66 is information (elapsed time from the start of the processing step) specifying the time point at which the process is restarted in the restart step 65 .

In this embodiment, the processing restart point 66 is not limited to the processing interruption point 64 . As shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 30 (main control unit 31) selects either a processing interruption point 64 or a specified point 67 specified in a specified processing step PS as a restart point 66. do.

The control unit 30 is configured to acquire the interruption point 64 based on the progress 51 recorded at the time of interruption, when the restart point 66 is the interruption point 64 . In this case, the restart step 65 and the restart point 66 of the restart instruction 53 coincide with the interruption step 63 and the interruption point 64 of the progress 51 recorded in the storage unit 31a.

When the restart time point 66 is the specified time point 67 , the control unit 30 acquires the specified time point 67 via the input unit 34 . When the restart point 66 is the designated point 67, any processing step PS included in the processing recipe 50 can be designated as the restart step 65, and any point in the designated restart step 65 is designated as the restart point 66. be able to. The specified time point 67 may be specified by an elapsed time from the start of the processing step PS, or may be specified by an offset value with respect to the suspension time point 64, such as "resume from Z seconds before the suspension time point 64".

<Processing when restarting>
The control unit 30 acquires the processing status in the substrate processing unit 10 at the restart point 66 based on the processing recipe 50, and reproduces the processing situation at the restart point 66 before restarting the processing of the substrate under processing 1b. The substrate processing unit 10 is controlled so as to execute the reproduction processing of .

The reproduction process is a process of adjusting the parameter values set as the processing conditions so as to approach the values at the restart point 66 of the restart step 65 . If the processing step PS to be resumed includes processing that changes parameter values during processing, the processing status at the restart point 66 includes the parameter values at the restart point 66 . For example, as shown in FIG. 9, when restart point 66 is given as elapsed time Tb, control unit 30 calculates parameter value Vr at elapsed time Tb from the initial value, final value, and total processing time Tc. Then, the control unit 30 executes the reproduction process so that the parameter becomes the parameter value Vr before resuming the process on the substrate under process 1b.

<Control based on suspension conditions>
When the temporary suspension condition 52b is satisfied, the control unit 30 suspends the processing of the substrate processing unit 10 without unloading the substrate 1b during processing. The control unit 30 controls the substrate processing unit 10 so as to resume the processing of the interrupted processing step PS from a designated point in time when the processing of the substrate 1b during processing that is still accommodated in the processing chamber 11 is resumed. do. The designated point in time may be a point of interruption or a point of time other than the point of interruption.

(Operation of substrate processing apparatus)
The operation of the substrate processing apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 13. FIG. The substrate processing apparatus 100 implements the substrate processing method of this embodiment.

<Substrate processing>
First, with reference to FIG. 10, the flow of basic substrate processing will be described. In step S<b>1 , the loading/unloading device 20 loads the substrate 1 to be processed (unprocessed substrate 1 a ) from the cassette 41 into the processing chamber 11 of the substrate processing section 10 . The unprocessed substrates 1a to be carried in are individually identified by the controller 30 based on the substrate identification information 61 (see FIG. 6). In step S<b>2 , the substrate processing section 10 processes the unprocessed substrate 1 a carried into the processing chamber 11 based on the processing recipe 50 . Substrate processing is completed when all the processing steps PS included in the processing recipe 50 are completed. In step S<b>3 , the loading/unloading device 20 unloads the processed substrate 1 from the substrate processing section 10 and transports it to the cassette 41 . The substrate identification information 61 corresponding to the substrate 1 for which processing has been completed is treated.

In step S4, the control unit 30 determines whether or not there is an unprocessed substrate 1a to be processed. If there is an unprocessed substrate 1a, the control unit 30 sets the unprocessed substrate 1a as the next processing target, returns the process to step S1, and starts substrate processing. If there is no unprocessed substrate 1a, the control section 30 terminates the substrate processing.

<Unloading interruption process>
Next, referring to FIG. 11, the flow of unloading suspension processing will be described. The unloading interruption process is a process executed when the unloading interruption condition 52a is satisfied in the process of repeating steps S1 to S4 in FIG.

In step S11, the control unit 30 determines whether or not the unloading interruption condition 52a is satisfied. If the unloading interruption condition 52a is not satisfied, step S11 is repeated. If the unloading interruption condition 52a is satisfied in any of the substrate processing units 10, the control unit 30 advances the processing from step S12 onward.

In step S12, the control section 30 suspends substrate processing in the substrate processing section 10 that satisfies the unloading suspension condition 52a. In step S13, the control unit 30 records the progress 51 of the processing of the processing step PS being executed in the storage unit 31a. In step S<b>14 , the loading/unloading device 20 unloads the in-process substrate 1 b from the processing chamber 11 of the substrate processing section 10 in which substrate processing has been interrupted, and transports it to the cassette 41 . The unloading destination of the in-process substrate 1b may be a hand of a vacuum transfer robot, a buffer stage, a cooling stage, or the like.

In step S15, the control section 30 determines whether or not there is another process for the substrate processing section 10 that has carried out the substrate 1b during processing, based on the content of the unloading interruption condition 52a. The control unit 30 determines that there is another process when the unloading interruption condition 52a is satisfied due to the occurrence of the interrupt process. In this case, in step S16, the control unit 30 causes the substrate processing unit 10 after unloading the substrate under processing 1b to execute another process (interrupt process).

On the other hand, when there is no interrupt processing, the control unit 30 determines that there is no other processing. In step S<b>17 , the control section 30 determines whether or not to restart the processing operation of the substrate processing section 10 after unloading the substrate. For example, when an instruction to resume processing is received via input unit 34, control unit 30 determines to resume the processing operation. If the instruction to resume processing is not accepted, the control unit 30 repeats the determination of step S17. Although not shown in FIG. 11, when the unloading interruption condition 52a is satisfied due to the occurrence of an abnormality and the processing cannot be restarted, the substrate processing itself is aborted.

After execution of step S16, or when it is determined in step S17 that the processing operation is to be resumed, the unloading interruption processing is terminated and the substrate processing in the substrate processing section 10 is resumed.

<Control when resuming processing of a substrate under processing>
Next, with reference to FIG. 12, the flow of processing for restarting the substrate processing of the substrate under processing 1b by reloading the substrate under processing 1b into the substrate processing section 10 will be described. The substrate processing of the substrate under processing 1b may be performed immediately after the substrate processing in the substrate processing section 10 is resumed after the unloading is interrupted, or may be performed after substrate processing of other unprocessed substrates 1a.

In step S<b>21 , the control unit 30 determines whether or not the substrate 1 to be processed is the in-process substrate 1 b based on the substrate identification information 61 . If the object to be processed is not the in-process substrate 1b (the unprocessed substrate 1a), the normal substrate processing shown in FIG. 10 is performed. When the substrate to be processed is the substrate under processing 1b, the control unit 30 acquires the progress 51 of processing for the substrate under processing 1b from the storage unit 31a in step S22.

In step S23, the control unit 30 determines whether or not there is a designation of the processing restart point 66 for the substrate under processing 1b. When the control unit 30 receives the designation of the restart point 66, the control unit 30 sets the designated point 67 to the restart point 66 in step S24. If the control unit 30 does not specify the time or receives an input to select the interruption point 64, the control unit 30 sets the interruption point 64 to the restart point 66 in step S25.

In step S<b>26 , the control unit 30 acquires the processing status in the substrate processing unit 10 at the set restart point 66 based on the processing recipe 50 .

In step S27, the control unit 30 causes the substrate processing unit 10 to resume processing the substrate 1b during processing. First, the in-process substrate 1 b is carried (re-carried) into the processing chamber 11 of the substrate processing section 10 by the loading/unloading device 20 . The main control unit 31 outputs the restart instruction 53 and the processing status at the restart point 66 to the processing control unit 32 of the substrate processing unit 10 . The processing control unit 32 causes the substrate processing unit 10 to execute the reproduction processing corresponding to the restart point 66 . Upon completion of the reproduction process, the process control unit 32 controls the substrate processing unit 10 to restart from the restart point 66 of the restart step 65 .

After the process is restarted, control returns to step S2 in FIG. That is, after the restarted processing step PS, the processing steps PS are executed in order until all remaining processing steps PS included in the processing recipe 50 are completed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the processing of the in-process substrate 1b is completed after unloading and reloading.

<Temporary interruption processing>
Next, referring to FIG. 13, the flow of temporary suspension processing will be described.

In step S31, the control unit 30 determines whether or not the temporary interruption condition 52b is satisfied. If the suspension condition 52b is not satisfied, step S31 is repeated. If the temporary interruption condition 52b is satisfied, the control unit 30 advances the process to step S32.

In step S32, the control section 30 suspends substrate processing in the substrate processing section 10 that has satisfied the temporary suspension condition 52b. In step S33, the control unit 30 determines whether or not to restart the processing operation. For example, if the instruction to resume processing is not accepted, the determination in step S33 is repeated.

When resuming the processing operation, in step S34, the control unit 30 determines whether or not there is a designation of the resuming point of the temporarily interrupted processing. If there is a designation of the restart time point, the control unit 30 sets the designated time point as the restart time point in step S35. If there is no designation or if an input to select the interruption time point is received, the control unit 30 advances the process to step S36 and sets the temporary interruption time point of the process to the restart time point.

After step S37, the control unit 30 causes the substrate processing unit 10 to resume the temporarily interrupted processing from the restart point. If the restart point is different from the interruption point, reproduction processing may be performed to reproduce the processing status at the restart point.

(Concrete example)
A specific example of the operation of the substrate processing apparatus 100 will be described below.

FIG. 14 shows an example of a processing recipe 50. As shown in FIG. The processing recipe 50 shown in FIG. 14 repeats two processing steps PS of a dry etching process and a film formation (formation of a protective film) on the substrate 1, which is a silicon substrate, so that the substrate 1 has a high aspect ratio. Deep drilling is performed to form concave portions (holes, grooves or through-holes) of a ratio. The substrate processing section 10 is an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) device. Note that the processing step PS may be defined in a multi-layered structure including a plurality of steps (child steps) such as etching processing and film formation in one processing step (parent step).

FIG. 15 is a timing chart of the processing steps PS defined by the processing recipe 50 of FIG. 14, showing an example of a multi-phase process (MPP) in which parameter values change during the processing steps PS. The horizontal axis indicates elapsed time, and the vertical axis indicates parameter values. By increasing the efficiency of gas replacement in the processing chamber 11 by changing parameters (gas flow rate), the MPP makes it possible to increase the etching speed, increase the mask selectivity, and obtain a highly accurate etching shape. It is a processing method to

In the process steps PS of Step 1 and Step 3, the etching process is performed during the process time T _etch set in the process recipe 50 . In the etching process, the substrate processing section 10 supplies an etching gas (SF ₆ ) into the processing chamber 11 and supplies a predetermined high-frequency power to turn the etching gas into plasma. F radicals contained in the plasma chemically react with silicon atoms, and ions contained in the plasma move toward and collide with the substrate 1 due to the potential difference, resulting in the formation of recesses in the substrate 1 .

In the processing steps PS of Step 2 and Step 4, the film forming process is performed during the processing time T _depo set in the processing recipe 50. FIG. In the film forming process, the substrate processing section 10 supplies a protective film forming gas (C ₄ F ₈ ) into the processing chamber 11 and also supplies a predetermined high-frequency power to turn the protective film forming gas into plasma. A polymer is produced from radicals contained in the plasma and isotropically deposited on the sidewalls and bottom of the recess of the substrate 1 . The deposited polymer forms a protective film that does not react with radicals generated from the etching gas.

As shown in FIG. 15C, the inside of the processing chamber 11 is evacuated between the etching process and the film forming process, and the etching gas and the protective film forming gas are exchanged.

When the etching process is performed after the protective film is formed, the protective film is removed by the ion irradiation on the bottom surface of the concave portion where the ion irradiation is high due to the directionality of the ions, while the protective film is removed on the side wall of the concave portion where the ion irradiation is low. remains. Therefore, while the side walls where the protective film remains are protected from etching, the bottom surface of the recess from which the protective film has been removed is etched by radical and ion irradiation. As a result, etching proceeds only in the depth direction of the recesses, and recesses with a high aspect ratio are formed in the substrate 1 . A processing step PS for removing the protective film on the bottom surface of the recess and a processing step PS for etching processing after removing the protective film may be provided separately.

Here, it is assumed that the unloading interruption condition 52a is satisfied in the substrate processing section 10 at time Td in the processing step PS of etching (Step 3). In this case, as the progress 51, the substrate identification information 61, the recipe name 62, the information of the interruption step 63 (etching process), and the information of the time Td at the interruption point 64 (elapsed time Pa from the start of the process step PS). ) are recorded in the storage unit 31a.

When processing is resumed from the interruption point 64 , the control unit 30 identifies parameter values for the restart point 66 . In the example of FIG. 15, the etching gas flow rate V ₁ , the protective film forming gas flow rate V ₂ , and the exhaust gas flow rate V ₃ are specified at the elapsed time Pa from the start of the processing step PS. The gas control parameters also include the pressure value within the processing chamber 11 and the like.

In addition, the parameter values include the frequency of the high frequency power source connected to the coil for generating plasma, the power supply, the frequency of the high frequency power source connected to the base on which the substrate 1 is placed, and the bias power supplied to the base. , and temperature control parameters such as the temperature of the base.

In the case of FIGS. 14 and 15, the processing of the in-process substrate 1b after reloading is the processing after time Td of the interrupted third processing step PS and the processing of the fourth processing step PS.

Next, an example of reproduction processing will be described with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17. FIG. FIG. 16 shows an example of changes in the parameter value of a certain parameter X in the Nth processing step PS in the processing recipe 50. FIG. The horizontal axis indicates elapsed time, and the vertical axis indicates parameter values. FIG. 16 shows an example of a processing technique called parameter ramping that changes parameter values over time as processing progresses. The parameter is based on binary switching between high value Hv (High) and low value Lv (Low), and high value Hv and low value Lv have a predetermined change rate (slope) with respect to elapsed time. A change in the parameter X is preset in the processing recipe 50 .

Assume that the process is restarted with the time Te of the Nth process step PS as the restart point 66 . In FIG. 16, the solid line indicates the parameter change before the time Te, and the dotted line indicates the parameter change after the time Te, indicating that the processing was interrupted at the time Te.

The control unit 30 acquires the parameter value at the restart point 66 from the parameter change in FIG. In the example of FIG. 16, the parameter value Vr corresponding to the high value Hv at time Te is acquired.

When resuming the process, the control unit 30 sets a preparation period PP for executing the reproduction process immediately before the resuming point 66 (time Te), as shown in FIG. The time point at which the preparation period PP ends is the restart time point 66 . Reproduction processing is performed in the preparation period PP.

On the other hand, the controller 30 controls various parameters so that the substrate processing does not proceed during the preparation period PP. For example, when performing etching or film formation processing with the above-described inductively coupled plasma apparatus, control of parameters related to plasma generation is stopped during the preparation period PP. At the end of the preparation period PP (when the restart point 66 is reached), the control unit 30 starts applying the high-frequency power. As a result, reproducible processing conditions are prepared in advance during the preparation period PP from time Tf to restart point 66, and then the process is restarted from restart point 66 (time Te).

The length of the preparation period PP is set to a predetermined time that allows various parameters to be stabilized. The set value for the length of the preparation period PP can be set and changed by receiving an input via the input unit 34 .

(Effect of this embodiment)
The following effects can be obtained in this embodiment.

In the substrate processing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, as described above, when the unloading interruption condition 52a for interrupting the processing with the unloading of the substrate 1 from the substrate processing section 10 is satisfied, the processing step PS being executed is terminated. Since the processing progress 51 is recorded and the processing is interrupted and the substrate under processing 1b is unloaded from the substrate processing unit 10, the processing in progress is interrupted and the substrate under processing 1b is unloaded from the substrate processing unit 10. However, the progress 51 of the interrupted process can be recorded. Then, when the unloaded substrate under processing 1b is reloaded into the substrate processing section 10, the progress 51 and the processing restart point 66 are acquired, and the processing of the interrupted processing step PS is restarted from the restart point 66. Thus, even the in-process substrate 1b that has been temporarily carried out of the substrate processing section 10 can be restarted from the restart point 66 of the interrupted processing step PS. As a result, even if the substrate 1 is unloaded during processing, the processing of the substrate 1 being processed can be restarted appropriately.

In addition, in the present embodiment, as described above, the control unit 30 selects either the interruption point 64 of the process or the specified specified point 67 as the restart point 66 . As a result, it is possible to select whether the processing of the substrate under processing 1b is resumed from the interrupted point 64 or from the specified point 67 specified by the operator, depending on the interrupted situation.

Further, in the present embodiment, as described above, when the restart point 66 is set to the interruption point 64, the control unit 30 is configured to acquire the interruption point 64 based on the progress 51 recorded at the time of interruption. there is With this configuration, the processing can be automatically resumed from the interruption point 64 without the operator specifying the interruption point 64 .

Further, in the present embodiment, as described above, when the unloading interruption condition 52a is satisfied, the processing control unit 32 outputs the progress status 51 to the main control unit 31, and reloads the unloaded substrate under processing 1b. At this time, the main control unit 31 outputs a restart instruction 53 based on the progress 51 to the processing control unit 32 to restart the processing of the substrate under processing 1 b from the interruption point 64 . As a result, the processing control unit 32 does not need to keep the progress status 51 after unloading the substrate under processing 1b. 10 can perform other processing.

Further, in the present embodiment, as described above, the control unit 30 is configured to acquire the designated time point 67 via the input unit 34 when the restart time point 66 is set to the designated time point 67 . As a result, the operator can resume the processing from an arbitrary point in time according to the interrupted situation.

Further, in the present embodiment, as described above, the control unit 30 obtains the processing status in the substrate processing unit 10 at the restart point 66 based on the processing recipe 50, and obtains the processing status in the substrate processing unit 10 before restarting the processing of the substrate under processing 1b. Execute the reproduction process. As a result, based on the processing recipe 50, the situation that would have been realized at the restart point 66 if the processing had not been interrupted can be reproduced, and the processing can be restarted.

Further, in the present embodiment, as described above, when the processing step PS to be restarted includes the processing of changing the parameter value during processing, the processing status at the restart point 66 includes the parameter value at the restart point 66 . As a result, the processing can be resumed with the parameter values that would have been reached at the restart point 66 if the processing had not been interrupted.

Further, in the present embodiment, as described above, the unloading interruption condition 52a includes occurrence of a preset predetermined unloading event. As a result, even if an event requiring unloading of the substrate 1 occurs, the processing of the in-process substrate 1b that was being processed at the time of occurrence of the unloading event can be resumed without resetting the processing recipe 50 or the like.

Further, in the present embodiment, as described above, the unloading interruption condition 52a includes occurrence of interrupt processing other than the processing of the processing step PS being executed. As a result, the processing of the substrate 1 once carried out from the substrate processing section 10 by interrupt processing can be resumed without dividing the processing recipe 50 or the like.

In addition, in the present embodiment, as described above, the control unit 30 causes the substrate processing unit 10 to perform other processes other than the process of the interrupted processing step PS after interrupting the processing of the substrate under processing 1b and unloading it. control. As a result, there is no need to prepare separate processing recipes 50 before unloading and after reloading after another process is executed, and the same single processing recipe 50 is used to process the unloaded substrate 1b during processing. can resume.

Further, in the present embodiment, as described above, other processing includes cleaning processing for the processing chamber 11 of the substrate processing section 10 . With this configuration, the process can be restarted by reloading the substrate 1b in process into the process chamber 11 after the cleaning process without changing the recipe.

Further, in the present embodiment, as described above, when the temporary interruption condition 52b for interrupting the processing without unloading the substrate 1 is satisfied, the control unit 30 stops the substrate 1b during processing without unloading the substrate 1b. When the processing of the processing section 10 is interrupted and the processing of the substrate under processing 1b is restarted, the substrate processing section 10 is controlled so that the processing of the interrupted processing step PS is resumed from a specified time point. As a result, even when the temporary suspension condition 52b that the unloading of the substrate 1 is unnecessary is satisfied, the processing can be restarted as it is without loading/unloading the substrate 1 when it becomes possible to resume the processing.

Further, in the substrate processing method of the present embodiment, even when the processing in progress is interrupted and the substrate 1b under processing is unloaded from the processing chamber 11, the progress 51 of the interrupted processing can be recorded. Even the in-process substrate 1b carried out of the processing chamber 11 can be restarted from the restart point 66 of the interrupted processing step PS. As a result, even if the substrate 1 is unloaded during processing, the processing of the substrate 1 being processed can be resumed appropriately.

[Modification]
It should be noted that the embodiments disclosed this time should be considered as examples and not restrictive in all respects. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the scope of the claims rather than the description of the above-described embodiments, and includes all modifications (modifications) within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of the claims.

For example, although the substrate processing apparatus 100 includes a plurality of (four) substrate processing units 10 in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. The number of substrate processing units 10 is arbitrary. Similarly, the substrate processing apparatus 100 may include multiple loading/unloading devices 20 .

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the main control section 31, the processing control section 32, and the transport control section 33 are provided separately was shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. These separate controllers may be integrated as a single controller (single hardware).

Further, in the above-described embodiment, etching, film formation, film removal, and the like are shown as examples of the processing performed by the substrate processing section 10, but the present invention is not limited to this. The processing performed by the substrate processing section 10 is not particularly limited as long as it is performed within the processing chamber 11 .

Moreover, although the substrate 1 is a silicon substrate (semiconductor substrate) in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. The substrate 1 may be a semiconductor substrate other than a silicon substrate, or may be a substrate other than a semiconductor such as a glass substrate.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which the processing restart time point 66 for the substrate under processing 1b is selected from the interruption time point 64 and the specified time point 67, but the present invention is not limited to this. Only the interruption point 64 may be the restart point 66 . Only the specified time point 67 may be used as the restart time point 66 .

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example of executing a reproduction process for reproducing the processing state at the restart point 66 before restarting the processing of the substrate under processing 1b has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. Processing may be restarted from restart point 66 without replay processing.

1: substrate, 1b: substrate in process, 10: substrate processing unit, 11: processing chamber, 20: loading/unloading device, 30: control unit, 31: main control unit, 32: processing control unit, 34: input unit, 50 : processing recipe, 51: progress, 52a: unloading interruption condition, 52b: temporary interruption condition, 53: restart instruction, 64: interruption point, 66: restart point, 67: specified point, 100: substrate processing apparatus, PS: process step

Claims (13)

a substrate processing unit that performs processing on a substrate;
a loading/unloading device for loading/unloading the substrate with respect to the substrate processing unit;
a control unit that controls the substrate processing unit to process the substrate based on a processing recipe including processing steps;
The control unit
When a carry-out interruption condition for interrupting the process with the unloading of the substrate from the substrate processing unit is satisfied, the progress of the processing step being executed is recorded, the process is interrupted, and the substrate is interrupted. unloading the substrate being processed from the processing unit;
When the unloaded substrate under processing is reloaded into the substrate processing part, the progress status and the processing restart point are acquired, and the processing of the interrupted processing step is restarted from the restart point. A substrate processing apparatus that controls a processing unit. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control unit selects, as said restart time point, either an interruption time point or a designated specified time point. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, when the restart time point is the interruption time point, the control unit acquires the interruption time point based on the progress recorded at the time of interruption. . The control unit includes a processing control unit that controls the operation of the substrate processing unit, and a main control unit that instructs the processing control unit to interrupt and resume processing,
The processing control unit outputs the progress status to the main control unit when the unloading interruption condition is satisfied,
When the unloaded substrate under processing is reloaded, the main control unit outputs a restart instruction based on the progress status to the processing control unit, and restarts the processing of the substrate under processing from the interruption point. 4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3. further comprising an input unit for receiving operation input,
5. The substrate according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the control unit is configured to acquire the designated time point via the input unit when the restart time point is the designated time point. processing equipment. The control unit
Acquiring the processing status in the substrate processing unit at the time of restart based on the processing recipe;
6. The substrate processing unit according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, before resuming processing of the substrate under processing, the substrate processing unit is controlled so as to execute reproduction processing for reproducing a processing state at the time of resuming. substrate processing equipment. 7. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein when the processing step to be restarted includes processing of changing a parameter value during processing, the processing status at the time of restarting includes the parameter value at the time of restarting. 8. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said unloading interruption condition includes occurrence of a predetermined unloading event set in advance. 9. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said unloading interruption condition includes occurrence of interrupt processing other than processing of said processing step being executed. After suspending the processing of the substrate under processing and unloading the substrate under processing, the control unit controls the substrate processing unit to perform processing other than the processing of the interrupted processing step, The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1-9. 11. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said other processing includes cleaning processing for a processing chamber of said substrate processing section. The control unit
suspending the processing of the substrate processing unit without unloading the substrate under processing when a temporary suspension condition for suspending the processing without unloading the substrate is satisfied;
12. The substrate processing unit according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein when resuming the processing of the in-process substrate, the substrate processing unit is controlled so as to resume the processing of the interrupted processing step from a specified time point. substrate processing equipment. A substrate processing method for processing a substrate, comprising:
loading the substrate into a processing chamber;
performing processing of the substrate in the processing chamber based on a processing recipe including processing steps;
When a carry-out interruption condition for interrupting the process with the unloading of the substrate during the process is satisfied,
recording progress of processing of the processing step being performed;
interrupting the process and unloading the substrate in process from the process chamber;
When re-carrying the unprocessed substrate into the processing chamber,
obtaining the progress status and a restart point of the process;
resuming the processing of the processing step being performed at the time of interruption from the resuming point.

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