JP2852696B2 - Exposure equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus for photolithography, in particular,
The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus suitable for manufacturing semiconductor devices such as ICs, LSIs, and VLSIs.

[Related Art] A semiconductor exposure apparatus includes an operation unit and a main body.

The operation unit includes an operation unit CPU, a display device, an input device, an auxiliary input device, an auxiliary storage device, and a communication I / F, and inputs various control data relating to wafer printing and an instruction for controlling operation of the device. , Display of the operation status of the device body,
It has functions such as saving input control data and reusing saved data.

The main unit consists of a wafer transfer device, wafer stage, printing lens, exposure certification source, various environment / position sensors, actuators, main unit CPU, and communication I / F, and functions to execute the wafer printing sequence. have.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a main unit and an operation unit are connected by a communication path having a relatively low speed of about 1 Kbps (bit / second) and a short transmission distance to transmit and receive various control data or commands. For this reason, conventionally, the main unit and the operation unit are arranged close to each other in a one-to-one manner.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] At present, with the miniaturization and high integration of semiconductors, dust generation in each step of semiconductor manufacturing has a very bad influence on semiconductor productivity. Therefore, in the exposure apparatus, measures against dust generation are considered to be one of the important performances of the apparatus. By the way, in the prior art, since the apparatus main body and the operation section are integrally configured, it is necessary for an operator to enter the clean room where the apparatus is installed and operate the apparatus, and human beings start the operation in the clean room. There was the disadvantage that the problem of dust was inevitable.

At present, improvement of operation efficiency for improving the productivity of semiconductors is also considered as an important issue of the exposure apparatus. In the conventional technology, one operation unit is always required for one of the main units of the apparatus. Therefore, when one operator tries to operate a plurality of apparatuses, the operator moves and operates one by one. However, there is a disadvantage that the operation efficiency is not improved.

Similarly, when setting data related to wafer printing set by one operation unit in another apparatus, the data is once stored in a medium such as a floppy disk, and the operator carries the data to another apparatus and sets the data. Therefore, there is a drawback that not only is it time-consuming but also highly likely to cause data setting errors.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to enable a plurality of exposure apparatus main units arranged in a clean room to be operated without trouble by an operation unit arranged outside the clean room. It is an object of the present invention to provide an exposure apparatus with improved operability.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, an exposure apparatus according to the present invention includes a plurality of exposure apparatus main units that execute a printing sequence on a wafer, and a communication path for each of the exposure apparatus main units. A display unit for displaying a display area for each of the exposure apparatus main units on a display screen, and an operation unit for each of the exposure apparatus main units on the display screen of the display unit. The display unit has an auxiliary input unit for selecting a display area, and the display unit displays data selected through the auxiliary input unit by displaying the display area different from other display areas. Alternatively, it is possible to identify which of the exposure apparatus the command is intended for.

Each of the exposure apparatus main units has an address, the operation unit sends the input data or command to the communication path with an address attached thereto, and the exposure apparatus main unit transmits the data or command in accordance with the address. Or receiving a command from the communication path, wherein the communication path has a bus-type communication path, the exposure apparatus main body is disposed in a clean room, and the operation unit is disposed outside the clean room. Features.

Further, a plurality of the operation units are connected to each other via the communication path and are provided. The data in the auxiliary storage device provided in one operation unit is fetched from the other operation unit via the communication path, and the other operation unit is fetched. The operation unit edits the data from the auxiliary storage device and sends the edited data to the exposure device main unit via the communication path, and the display unit further transmits data from the exposure device main unit to the exposure device main unit. It is characterized in that it is displayed so that it can be identified for each.

[Operation] According to the present invention, it is possible to operate a plurality of exposure apparatus main units with one operation unit. Also, even if they are far apart, the operator can give appropriate data or commands to each exposure apparatus main body from the operation unit side. For this reason, for example, it is possible to remotely operate the plurality of exposure apparatus main units in the clean room from outside the clean room, so that the problem of dust generation in the clean room by the operator can be solved, and further, the operability does not decrease. . Further, according to the present invention, since a single operator can operate a plurality of exposure apparatus main bodies without moving, the operation efficiency can be dramatically improved.

Further, if the auxiliary storage device provided in one operation unit can be shared by another operation unit, it is possible to efficiently set data such as printing data relating to a wafer for each exposure apparatus main unit, and a floppy disk drive. Compared with the case where data is set for each exposure apparatus main body using a medium such as a disk, problems such as erroneous settings can be made less likely to occur.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a block circuit configuration of a semiconductor exposure apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an outer wall of a clean room in which the exposure apparatus main body is installed. Reference numeral 2 denotes a high-speed (several mega bps) bus communication channel having a long transmission distance.
) And one operation unit. 3,4,5
Denotes exposure apparatus main units I, II, III, 6, 7, and 8 denote CPUs of the respective main units, and 9, 10, and 11 denote communication interfaces. Reference numeral 12 denotes a CPU of the device operation unit I, 13 denotes a device unit I communication interface, 14 denotes an operation unit I display device, 15 denotes an operation unit I input device, 16 denotes an auxiliary input device, and 17 denotes an auxiliary storage device.

FIG. 2 is an external view showing details of the operation unit I in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 32 denotes a display area I obtained by dividing the screen of the display unit, 33 denotes a display area II, and 34 denotes a display area II.
I and 35 represent the display of the auxiliary input device.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the main bodies I, II, and III for performing the operation of baking a semiconductor are installed in a clean room surrounded by a clean room outer wall 1. These main units are controlled by CPUs 6, 7, and 8 in actual operation. These CPUs are connected to a bus-type communication path 2 with high speed and long transmission distance by communication interfaces 9, 10, and 11. The communication path 2 generally has a transmission distance of several hundred meters and a transmission speed of several megabytes / sec. Also, an address used to identify a communication partner is set in each interface unit or communication software. With this address, the CPU connected to this communication bus path can specify a communication partner and can communicate with itself. Can be identified. The operation CPU 12 is also connected via the communication interface 13 to the high-speed, long transmission distance bus-type communication path 2. Therefore, by this communication method, the operation unit composed of the operation unit CPU and its peripheral devices can be installed up to about 500 meters away from the main unit, and the operation of the device from outside the clean room becomes possible.

Next, to operate a plurality of main units with one operation unit,
As shown in FIG. 2, the screen of the display unit 14 is divided into a plurality of display areas I and I.
Pseudo-division into I, III (32, 33, 34). This quasi-divided area is managed by software. The auxiliary input device 16 can specify two-dimensional coordinates in the display screen. The coordinates are specified by an arrow-shaped display such as the auxiliary input display 35. This auxiliary input is also managed by software, and the display of the arrow shape moves on the display unit screen by operating the auxiliary input device 16. In order for the operator to control the main unit I3, first, the auxiliary input device 16 is operated, and the auxiliary input display 35 is moved to the display area I32. At this time, the software can know from the coordinates in the screen of the auxiliary input display 35 that the auxiliary input display 35 has entered the display area I32. The software changes the background color in the display area I, for example, to notify the operator that the display area I is currently selected by entering the display area. This notification method also displays the frame of the display area with a thicker frame,
A method of changing characters in the area may be used. Similarly, the display areas II and III are assigned to the main units II and III. All data and commands input from the display area I in this manner are input to the main unit I, those from the display area II are input to the main unit II, and those from the display area III are input to the main unit III. This function is easily realized by the communication address setting function of the bus system. For example, display area I
The relationship between and the main body I will be described as follows. The software of the operation unit CPU attaches the communication address I of the main unit I to the data input from the display area I, and sends the data to the high-speed, long-distance communication path 2 via the interface 13 by the operation unit CPU. The data or command sent to the bus is identified by the CPU 6 of the main unit I through the interface 9 as being transmitted to the address 1, and the CPU 6 receives the data or command as its own data or command and controls the operation of the main unit I. use. Also,
When displaying data on the operation unit from the main unit I, the main unit ICPU 6 transmits the data to the bus 2 with the address 0 of the operation unit I attached, so that the operation unit CPU 12 can display the data on the display area I. With such a contrivance, a plurality of main units can be operated with one operation unit, and one operation unit can be used as if it were a plurality of operation units.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which two operating units I and II and six main units I to VI are connected by a high-speed and long transmission distance bus-type communication path. In this figure, parts common to those in FIG. 1 are denoted by common numbers. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 18 denotes a CPU of the device operating unit II, 19 denotes a device II communication interface, 20 denotes an operating unit II display device, 21 denotes an operating unit II input device, 22
Is the auxiliary input device, 23, 24, and 25 are the exposure device main unit I, respectively.
V, V, VI, 26, 27, 28 are the CPUs of each main unit, 29, 30, 31
Is a communication interface.

Next, the bus communication path 2 is extended as shown in FIG. 3 with respect to the apparatus shown in FIG.
A configuration in which the II CPU 18 and the main units IV, V, VI (23, 24, 25) are connected will be described. The operation unit I creates data relating to wafer baking and stores it in the auxiliary storage device. Here, when this burning data is set from the operation unit I to the main units I, II, III, IV, V, VI, the operation unit I CPU uses the addresses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, assigned to each main unit. When the information of, 6,7 is loaded and the burn-in data is sent to the bus communication path, each main unit CPU (6,7,8,2
6, 27, 28) can take in data relating to the printing of a wafer to which its own address has been added and use it as its own setting data.

Further, the same operation can be performed from the operation unit II by the following procedure. Since the operation unit II CPU 18 does not have the auxiliary storage device, the CPU 18 transmits to the bus communication path 2 a print data request for a wafer to which the address 4 of its own and the address 0 of the operation unit I having the auxiliary storage device are added. The operation unit I receives this request transmission and transmits data relating to wafer baking to the operation unit II (address 4). The operation unit II takes in the transmission data, edits the data in the operation unit II, and transmits the data to each main unit from the operation unit II. By such a method, the auxiliary storage device 17 is connected to the operation unit I.
It can be used by apparently sharing with II.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to operate a plurality of exposure apparatus main units with one operation unit.
Further, even if the both are separated from each other, the operator can give appropriate data or commands to each exposure apparatus main body from the operation unit side. For this reason, for example, it is possible to remotely operate the plurality of exposure apparatus main units in the clean room from outside the clean room, so that the problem of dust generation in the clean room by the operator can be solved, and further, the operability does not decrease. . Further, according to the present invention, since a single operator can operate a plurality of exposure apparatus main bodies without moving, the operation efficiency can be dramatically improved.

Further, if the auxiliary storage device provided in one operation unit can be shared by another operation unit, it is possible to efficiently set data such as printing data relating to a wafer for each exposure apparatus main unit, and a floppy disk drive. Compared with the case where data is set for each exposure apparatus main body using a medium such as a disk, problems such as erroneous settings can be made less likely to occur.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an exposure apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external view showing details of an operation unit in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an exposure apparatus sharing an auxiliary storage device according to the example. 1: Clean room outer wall, 2: High-speed, long transmission distance bus-type communication path, 3: Main unit I, 4: Main unit II, 5: Main unit III,
6: Main unit I CPU, 7: Main unit II CPU, 8: Main unit III CPU, 9:
Main unit I communication interface, 10: Main unit II communication interface, 11: Main unit III communication interface, 1
2: Operation unit I CPU, 13: Operation unit I communication interface, 1
4: Operation unit I display unit, 15: Operation unit I input device, 16: Operation unit I
Auxiliary input device, 17: Auxiliary storage device, 18: Operation unit II CPU, 1
9: Operation unit II communication interface, 20: Operation unit II display unit, 21: Operation unit II input device, 22: Operation unit II auxiliary input device, 23: Main unit IV, 24: Main unit V, 25: Main unit VI, 26: Main unit IV CPU, 27: Main unit V CPU, 28: Main unit VI CPU, 29: Main unit IV communication interface, 30: Main unit V communication interface, 31: Main unit VI communication interface, 32: Display Area I, 33: display area II, 34: display area III, 35: auxiliary input display.

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] A plurality of exposure apparatus main units for executing a printing sequence on a wafer; and an operation unit connected to each of the exposure apparatus main units via a communication path, wherein the operation unit is provided on a display screen. A display unit that displays a display area for each of the exposure device main units, and an auxiliary input unit for selecting a display area for each of the exposure device main units on a display screen of the display unit, wherein the display unit is The display area selected via the auxiliary input unit is displayed differently from the other display areas, so that the data or command input by the operation unit is directed to which of the exposure apparatus main units. An exposure apparatus characterized in that an exposure device can be identified. 2. The exposure apparatus main body has an address. The operation section sends the input data or command to the communication path with an address attached thereto, and the exposure apparatus main body responds to the address. 2. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data or the command is received from the communication path. 3. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said communication path has a bus-type communication path, said exposure apparatus main body is disposed inside a clean room, and said operation section is disposed outside said clean room. apparatus. A plurality of operation units connected to each other via the communication path, wherein data in an auxiliary storage device provided in one operation unit is fetched from the other operation unit via the communication path; 2. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the other operation section edits data from the auxiliary storage device and sends the edited data to the exposure apparatus main body via the communication path. 5. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display section further displays data from said exposure apparatus main body so as to be identifiable for each of said exposure apparatus main bodies.