JP2982039B2 - Processing method and processing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a processing method for processing a semiconductor wafer, for example, and a processing apparatus therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a semiconductor manufacturing process, various processes such as film formation, etching, diffusion, ion implantation, and electron drawing for performing electron beam exposure are repeatedly performed as necessary. Have been done. Since the semiconductor manufacturing equipment used for these processes is very expensive, it is a major problem how to efficiently perform each process and improve the throughput in order to improve cost performance.

For example, in the case of a single-wafer type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that processes wafers one by one, conventionally, wafer management when processing semiconductor wafers generally involves a plurality of wafers, for example, 25 semiconductor wafers. For example, if a cassette is placed on a cassette stage of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, processing conditions for the wafer, that is, a recipe are designated, and processing is performed on a cassette basis. In this case, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus sequentially mechanically performs processing under the same processing conditions on all wafers in the same cassette. When wafers having different processing conditions are mixed in the same cassette, a recipe is designated for each wafer in one cassette, and the same recipes are grouped and processed continuously. In this case as well, wafers are managed in cassette units.

[0004]

In the case where the diameter of the semiconductor wafer is relatively small, for example, in the case of a 6-inch wafer or an 8-inch wafer, the number of chips that can be obtained from a unit wafer is relatively small. Although managing the wafers in cassette units did not cause much problem, when the diameter of the wafers became large, for example, as large as 12 inches, the number of chips that could be taken from a unit wafer became very large. In some cases, a large number of wafers having different processing conditions exist.

In this case, if wafers are managed in cassette units as in the conventional apparatus, even if a plurality of cassettes containing wafers with the same processing conditions are mounted on the cassette stage, the processing of wafers in one cassette is performed. After all the processes are completed, the wafers in the next cassette are processed. Therefore, in the case where wafers of the processing condition A and wafers of the processing condition B are mixed in the first cassette, and wafers of the processing condition A and wafers of the processing condition B are also mixed in the second cassette, Since the control is performed for each cassette as described above, for example, the wafer group of the processing condition A in the first cassette is first processed, and then the wafer group of the processing condition B in the first cassette is processed. Process all wafers in one cassette.

Next, the wafer group of the processing condition A in the second cassette is processed, and then the processing condition B in the second cassette is processed.
Is processed, and the entire process is completed. For this reason, in the case of the above-described management method, the number of switching of the processing conditions becomes very large, and in each case, much time is required for switching the processing conditions, and there is a problem that the throughput is reduced. The processing conditions include, for example, a processing gas, a processing pressure, a processing temperature, and the like.In particular, when the processing temperature changes, it takes a lot of time to stabilize by changing the temperature. Takes 1 to 2 hours depending on the temperature to be changed, during which time the process must be stopped.

In the case of an ion implantation apparatus for implanting ions such as boron, for example, when changing the implanted ion which is one of the processing conditions, it takes 15 to 20 until the ion source is replaced and the ion beam is stabilized.
It takes minutes, and it takes a lot of time to set up. Furthermore, in the case of an electron beam exposure apparatus that performs drawing by an electron beam for exposure, when a drawing pattern, which is one of the processing conditions, is changed, a time of several tens of minutes is similarly used to stabilize the beam pattern. I need it.

As described above, when wafers are managed in units of cassettes, there is a problem that as the number of switching of the processing conditions increases, it takes more time to set up each time, and the throughput is greatly reduced.

The present invention focuses on the above problems,
It was created to solve this effectively. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a processing method and a processing apparatus capable of integrally managing objects to be processed in a plurality of objects to be processed and scheduling the order of processing.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide a receiving container mounting apparatus capable of mounting a plurality of processing object storage containers capable of storing a plurality of processing objects. Unit, processing means for performing a desired process on the object to be processed one by one, object transfer means for transferring the object between the storage container mounting unit and the processing means, Input means for inputting the processing conditions of the processing object as data in association with the processing object storage container which has been stored, first storage means for storing data input from the input means,
Grouping schedule means for fetching the contents of the first storage means to group the objects to be processed under the same processing conditions and determining a processing order of the grouped objects to be processed, and setting the grouping; A second storage unit for storing a schedule result set by the schedule unit; and a processing instruction for outputting a predetermined instruction to various drive systems of the processing unit based on the schedule stored in the second storage unit. Means.

The grouping / scheduling means includes:
The objects to be processed under the same processing conditions are scheduled to perform the processing continuously and to start the processing from the objects to be processed in the object container having few types of processing conditions.

The grouping / scheduling means is configured to store the new object container in which the object to be processed is placed in the first container means when the new object container accommodating the object is placed in the container container mounting portion. A new schedule is set by taking in the processing conditions of the object to be processed in the new object to be processed container.

[0013]

According to the method of the present invention, which is carried out by the first invention, first, when a plurality of processing object storage containers storing a plurality of processing objects are mounted on the storage container mounting portion for processing. Then, the information of the processing conditions of all the objects to be processed is input from the input means in association with the information of the object container in which the objects are stored, and the data input step is performed.

The input data is first stored in the first storage means, and the grouping / scheduling means fetches the contents of the first storage means to group objects to be processed under the same processing conditions. The processing order of the grouped objects, that is, the processing order of the groups is determined and a schedule is established. Therefore, when the objects to be processed under the same processing conditions are dispersedly accommodated in the respective objects accommodating containers, the objects to be processed are continuously processed across the accommodating containers. Is scheduled. The schedule set here is stored in the second storage means, thereby completing the group schedule process.

Next, the processing command means transports the object to be processed to the processing means by the processing object transport means on the basis of the schedule contents stored in the second storage means, and executes the processing means. And outputs a drive command to each drive system to start the actual processing. With this, among the objects to be processed positioned on the accommodation container mounting portion, all of the objects having the same processing conditions are continuously processed irrespective of the object storage container in which they are accommodated, and the same processing conditions are satisfied. When the processing of the object to be processed is completed, the processing is temporarily interrupted in order to perform the processing of the next processing object having different processing conditions, and in the case of electron beam exposure, such as a processing temperature, an ion source in the case of ion implantation, and the like. The processing conditions such as the beam pattern are changed. Then, when the operation of the processing means is stabilized, the processing shifts to the next processing.

Therefore, since the entire object to be processed is managed collectively, the number of switching of the processing conditions is a minimum number,
The number of interruptions of the processing is reduced, and the processing efficiency, that is, the throughput can be improved. In this case, if the processing is started from the processing object in the processing object housing container having a small number of processing conditions, all the processing objects in the processing object housing container can be early processed, Instead of the storage container, the next new container to be processed containing the unprocessed object can be mounted on the storage container mounting portion at an early stage and set up.

When a new container to be processed as described above is placed on the container mounting portion during processing of the object to be processed, the processing conditions for each of the objects to be processed in the container are changed. , A new schedule is set according to the rules as described above, and dynamic management is performed. Accordingly, when a new object container accommodating the object under the same processing conditions as the object currently being processed is placed, the object under the same processing conditions in the new container becomes The processing is performed before the processing of the object to be processed having different processing conditions placed earlier, and the number of switching of the processing conditions is managed to be reduced.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a processing method and a processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a processing apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a processing system using the processing apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the apparatus, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an object conveying means of the processing apparatus.

In the present invention, an electron beam exposure apparatus for drawing a circuit pattern on a resist film applied to a semiconductor wafer by electron beam exposure will be described as an example of the processing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 2, such an electron beam exposure apparatus 2 includes, for example, a cleaning apparatus for performing various types of cleaning processing on a semiconductor wafer as an object to be processed, a coating apparatus for applying a resist, and a developing apparatus for developing a resist after exposure. Are incorporated in the processing system 4 combined with the above.

The processing system 4 includes a resist coating and developing apparatus 6 for applying an electron beam sensitive resist solution to a semiconductor wafer W as an object to be processed and developing the exposed wafer W, and a resist coating and developing apparatus 6. Beam exposure apparatus 2 that irradiates an electron beam onto a wafer W on which a resist film is formed to perform exposure processing, and forms a part of the electron beam exposure apparatus 2 and includes an electron beam exposure unit 2A and a resist coating and developing apparatus 6 And a transfer device 10 for transferring the wafer W between the transfer device 10 and the transfer device 10.

The resist coating and developing apparatus 6 includes a loader section 12 for loading / unloading the wafer W, a brush cleaning section 14 for brush cleaning the wafer W, a jet water cleaning section 16 for cleaning the wafer W with high-pressure jet water, An adhesion section 18 for hydrophobizing the surface, a resist coating section 20 having a function of applying a resist solution to the surface of the wafer W and removing excess resist on the periphery of the wafer by side rinsing, and a wafer before and after resist coating. A baking unit 22 for performing pre-bake and post-bake by heating W, a cooling unit 24 disposed below the adhesion unit 18 for cooling the wafer W to a predetermined temperature, and developing the wafer W exposed by the electron beam exposure apparatus 2 And a developing unit 26 having a function of rinsing the processed and developed resist pattern. To have.

At the center of the resist coating and developing apparatus 6, main transport paths 28 and 30 divided into two along the longitudinal direction are arranged, and main transport arms 32 and 34 are respectively movable. It is provided in. The processing units 14 to 26 are disposed on both sides of the main transfer paths 28 and 30, and are between the main transfer paths 28 and 30 for transferring the wafer W between the main transfer arms 32 and 34. A table 36 is provided.

At the end of the resist coating / developing apparatus 6, the processed wafer is loaded with an object container,
For example, there is provided a cassette standby section 64 for housing in the cassette C and waiting until the next processing. Further, the electron beam exposure apparatus 2 has a carrier stage 40 as an accommodation container mounting portion for mounting a plurality of, for example, 25 wafers, for example, 25 wafers, i.e., a cassette C. Between the cassette stage 40 and the cassette standby section 64, there is provided a cassette transport mechanism 66 movable in the X, Y (horizontal), Z (vertical), and θ (rotation) directions. Delivery is done.

Then, between the cassette stage 40 and the electron beam exposure section 2A, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the cassette stage 40 moves in the X, Y (horizontal), Z (vertical), and θ (rotation) directions. A wafer transfer mechanism 42 is provided as a possible object transfer means.

In the processing system described above, the wafer W is taken out from the cassette 44 containing the unprocessed wafer W of the resist coating and developing apparatus 6 by one main transfer arm 32 and provided on both sides of one main transfer path 28. After being conveyed to the respective processing units 14 to 22 sequentially and subjected to the resist coating process, they are transferred to the other main transfer arm 34 via the standby table 36 and are transferred to the respective cassettes C of the cassette standby unit 64.
To be housed. The cassette in the standby section 64 is moved by the cassette transport mechanism 66 to the cassette stage 4 of the transport device 10.
After that, the wafer W is carried into the electron beam exposure unit 2A according to a predetermined processing order by using the wafer transfer mechanism 42 and subjected to exposure processing. Further, the wafer W is transferred from the electron beam exposure device 2 into the resist coating and developing device 6.
When the wafer W is loaded, the processed wafer W is received by the wafer delivery transfer mechanism 42 from the electron beam exposure unit 2A, returned to the original cassette C, and then transferred through the cassette transfer mechanism 66 and the cassette standby unit 64. The other main transfer arm 3
Passed to 4.

Then, the wafer W is transferred to the developing section 26 by the other main transfer arm 34 and subjected to development processing, and then transferred to the one main transfer arm 72 via the standby table 36, and is then transferred to the loader section 12 And is stored in the cassette 46 for processed wafers.

Next, the electron beam exposure apparatus 2 according to the present invention
Will be specifically described. This electron beam exposure apparatus 2
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the wafer W
The electron beam exposure unit 2A includes a vacuum container 48 as a processing unit for storing and processing a wafer to be processed and an electron beam on the wafer W in the container. And irradiates the wafer according to a predetermined processing condition one by one, that is, for each wafer.
The vacuum container 48 is connected to a vacuum exhaust system 56 provided with an opening / closing valve 52 and a vacuum pump 54 and a gas supply system 60 for supplying an inert gas or the like to the inside, so that the inside of the container can be evacuated and gas purged. And

A gate valve 58 which can be opened and closed is provided on one side of the vacuum container 48.
When the container is closed, the inside of the container is kept airtight, and when the container is opened, the wafer can be loaded and unloaded.

The electron gun 50 includes an electron gun driving system 50.
A, the evacuation system 56 is driven by the evacuation system drive system 56A, and the wafer transfer mechanism 42 is driven by a transfer mechanism drive system 42A including a motor and the like.
Further, other movable parts are driven by a drive system (not shown) provided corresponding thereto. These various drive systems are operated by commands according to processing conditions from a control unit 62 such as a microcomputer.

More specifically, the control unit 62 and its related parts are configured as shown in FIG. 1, and the control unit 62 includes a first storage unit such as a RAM for storing data input from the input unit 68. A grouping / scheduling means 70 for taking in the contents of the first storage means 70, grouping wafers having the same processing conditions, determining the processing order of the grouped wafers, and setting a schedule;
2 and R for storing the schedule result set here
A second storage means 74 comprising an AM or the like;
Based on the schedule result of No. 4, the transport mechanism drive system 42
A, a processing command unit 78 for outputting a predetermined command to various driving systems 76 such as an electron gun driving system 50A and an evacuation system driving system 56A to actually perform processing.

The input means 68 is connected to the cassette stage 4
The processing conditions of each unprocessed wafer in each cassette C placed on the cassette 0, that is, the recipe and the cassette in which it is stored are associated and input as data.
The input may be made by an operator, or may be made by communication from a host computer (not shown).

The grouping schedule means 72
When grouping wafers, wafers in each cassette are not managed for each wafer in the cassette, but are managed collectively as a whole. Wafers under the same processing conditions are grouped in order to perform processing continuously. Then, in order to process all the wafers in the cassette at an early stage and take in the next new cassette, the number of processing conditions, that is, the processing is performed preferentially from the wafer in the cassette having a small number of types. Schedule the process to do so.

In the schedule set here, the wafer to be processed, the cassette in which the wafer is to be processed, and the processing conditions thereof are stored in the form of a table as data, as described above. . in this case,
The processing conditions are encoded and stored, and the specific contents are stored in, for example, a RAM
May be stored in advance in a memory 80 or the like, and this may be referred to when instructing.

When a new cassette C containing an unprocessed wafer is placed on the cassette stage 40 while the processing means 48 is actually processing the wafer,
The processing conditions and the like relating to the wafers are immediately tabulated and stored in the first storage unit 70, and are regrouped and scheduled by the grouping schedule unit 72 excluding wafers that have already been processed. The content is stored again in the second storage means 74, and the schedule content is updated. At this time, if the new carrier contains a wafer with the same processing conditions as the currently processed wafer, this wafer is also succeeded by the currently processed wafer or in the existing carrier. If any wafers are present, they are dynamically scheduled to be processed following or preceding them.

Next, the method of the present invention performed based on the processing apparatus configured as described above will be specifically described. First, the overall flow in the electron beam exposure apparatus 2 will be described. When resist coating processing is performed on wafers in the resist coating processing apparatus 6 on the upstream side, these wafers W are stored in a cassette C and They are sequentially placed on the cassette stage 40 of the beam exposure apparatus 2. In the illustrated example, four cassettes can be placed, but the number is not limited, and a new cassette may be added during processing. When the processing of the wafer is completed, the cassette is successively transported to the resist coating and developing device 6 side for the next processing, for example, development, and is ready to receive the next cassette.

Now, the cassette C is set on the cassette stage 40.
Is loaded from the data input means 68 together with the information of the cassette in which the processing conditions for each wafer are stored, and this data is tabulated and stored in the first storage means 70. If the diameter of the wafer W becomes as large as 12 inches due to an increase in the diameter of the wafer W, processing conditions, for example, a drawing pattern by an electron beam may differ for each wafer or for a plurality of wafers, and such a difference in the processing conditions may be associated with each wafer. And the data input process is completed.

Next, the grouping / scheduling means 7
2 fetches the contents of the first storage means 70, groups the contents, and sets up a schedule for processing.
When grouping wafers, wafers housed in each cassette C are collectively managed, and wafers having the same processing conditions are grouped together so that wafers having the same processing conditions can be continuously processed. Become Further, in order to process all the wafers in the cassette at an early stage so that the next cassette can be received, a schedule is set to preferentially process the wafers in the cassette having few types of processing conditions. For example, the processing condition A wafer and the processing condition B
For example, a wafer in a cassette that accommodates only wafers with the processing condition A is processed with priority over a cassette that includes two types of processing conditions for the wafer. The schedule thus set is tabulated and stored in the second storage means 74, thereby completing the group schedule process.

Next, the process proceeds to the processing step, and the second storage means 7
4, the processing command means 78
Issues a drive command to the various drive systems 76, and
8, the electron gun 50 irradiates a beam onto the surface of the wafer carried into the processing container 48 by the wafer transfer mechanism 42 in this embodiment, thereby drawing a circuit pattern. Such writing is performed continuously on the same processing conditions, that is, for example, continuously on wafers having the same circuit pattern. If all of the processing is performed, the circuit pattern is changed to the next processing condition. Process will be performed. Here, if the circuit pattern to be drawn is changed, the processing is interrupted for about several tens of minutes in order to stabilize the changed electron beam. Since the wafers under the same processing conditions are continuously processed by managing the processing conditions, the number of interruptions and the interruption time for switching the processing conditions can be minimized, and the processing efficiency can be improved. Becomes

Further, even when processing wafers under the same processing conditions, processing is started from wafers in a cassette having a small number of processing conditions, so that all wafers in a specific cassette are processed as soon as possible. The next new cassette can be delivered.

When a new cassette C is placed on the cassette stage 40 during wafer processing, information on the processing conditions of each wafer in this cassette is fetched in the same manner as described above.
They are regrouped and scheduled. Then, the next processing is performed based on the newly set schedule. In this case, if the new cassette contains wafers having the same processing conditions as the wafers currently being processed, the wafers having the same processing conditions are continuously processed in order to reduce the switching of the processing conditions. Become.

Next, a specific example of a schedule established based on the processing conditions of each wafer in each cassette will be described. FIG. 6 shows a state in which three cassettes C1 to C3 are placed on the cassette stage. In the drawing, a circle indicates a wafer under processing condition A, a double circle indicates a wafer under processing condition B, and a black circle indicates processing condition. C shows the respective wafers. In the illustrated example, three cassettes are mounted on the cassette stage from the beginning, and a state where a new cassette is not inserted during processing is shown.

The sequence for processing the wafer in the cassette in the shortest time by the above-described method will be described. First, 1)
Wafers W under the same processing conditions are grouped and classified over a plurality of cassettes. In the illustrated example, the wafers are grouped into a wafer under processing condition A, a wafer under processing condition B, and a wafer under processing condition C.

2) Next, the processing is performed from the wafer in the cassette having the smallest number (type) of the grouped wafer processing conditions. In the illustrated example, since only the wafer of the processing condition A is accommodated in the cassette C2, a schedule is set to perform the processing in the order of the wafer of the processing condition A in the cassette C2 and the wafer of the processing condition A of the cassette C1.

3) Next, a schedule is set to process wafers under the same processing conditions with the same logic as in 2) above. In this case, processing of all wafers in the cassette is completed early. However, it goes without saying that wafers for which scheduling has already been completed are excluded.

As a result, in the case shown in FIG. 6, a schedule is set to perform the processing in the following order. (1) Wafer of processing condition A in cassette C2 (2) Wafer of processing condition A in cassette C1 (3) Wafer of processing condition C in cassette C1 (4) Wafer of processing condition C in cassette C3 (5 ) Wafer of processing condition B in cassette C3

FIG. 7 shows a case where the cassettes C1 and C2 are previously mounted on the cassette stage, and a new cassette C3 containing a wafer of the processing condition A is additionally mounted during the processing of the previous wafer. The state of is shown. 1) Scheduled in the same way as shown in FIG.
When the cassette C3 is added during the actual processing, the processing conditions for each sheet in the cassette C3 are input.

2) The processing conditions for each newly input wafer and the processing conditions for each wafer already processed or unprocessed are collectively regrouped.

3) Based on the regrouped schedule, wafers are continuously processed across the cassettes C1, C2 and C3. Therefore, if the wafer of the processing condition A is processed when the new cassette C3 is added, the processing of the cassette C3 is performed after the processing of the wafer of the processing condition A of the cassette C1 or the cassette C2 or the cassette of either of them. The schedule is set so that the processing of the wafer under the condition A is performed. The cassette C1
Alternatively, if the cassette C3 is added while the wafer of the processing condition A of the other cassette is being processed and the wafer of the processing condition A of the other cassette is not yet processed, all the wafers in the cassette can be quickly replaced without switching the processing conditions. In order to process the wafers in the cassette C3, a schedule is set immediately or after all the wafers of the processing condition A in the cassette are processed, to shift to the processing of the wafers in the cassette C3.

FIG. 8 is similar to the case shown in FIG. 7, in which the cassettes C1 and C2 are previously mounted on the cassette stage, and the wafers of the processing conditions A and B are accommodated while the wafers of the processing condition A are being processed. 7 shows a state where a new cassette C3 is additionally placed. Also in this case, the cassette C3 having the wafers of the processing conditions A and B was placed during the processing of the wafers of the processing conditions A of the cassette C1 or C2.
After the processing of the wafers of the processing condition A in the cassette C1 or C2 or the other of them is completed, a schedule is set to continuously process the wafers of the processing condition A in the cassette C3.

The above processing method is summarized in a flowchart shown in FIG. First, the cassette stage 40
One or a plurality of cassettes accommodating wafers are placed in the storage unit (S1), and the processing conditions for each wafer in each cassette are input from the data input unit 68 and stored in a table in the first storage unit 70. (S2). In this case, the processing conditions for each wafer and the cassette information in which the processing conditions are stored are tabulated and stored.

Next, the grouping / scheduling means 7
2 fetches the contents of the first storage means 70, groups the wafers under the same processing conditions so that they can be processed continuously, and sets a schedule from which wafers in which cassettes should be processed (S3). The result of the schedule is stored in the second storage means 74 (S4). The scheduling method performed here will be described later.

The processing command means 78 is adapted to store various driving systems 7 based on the schedule stored in the second storage means 78.
A drive command is issued to 6, and the processing is started and adjusted by, for example, adjusting the drawing pattern by the electron gun, the processing temperature, the processing pressure, and the like (S5). In this manner, wafers under the same processing conditions are sequentially transferred across the respective cassettes, and the processing is performed continuously.

During this process, it is determined whether or not a new cassette containing unprocessed wafers is separately placed on the cassette stage 40 (S6).
In the case of NO, that is, when a new cassette is not loaded, the process returns to S5 and the processing based on the schedule stored in the second storage means 74 first is performed continuously. In the case of YES, that is, when a new cassette is placed, the processing conditions of each wafer in the new cassette are fetched and stored in the first storage means, and the contents are added to the grouping schedule. The means 72 performs grouping and scheduling again, and updates the storage contents of the second storage means 74 based on the grouping and scheduling (S7).
Then, the subsequent processing is performed based on the updated schedule content. Such a schedule update is performed every time a new cassette is introduced.

Here, the method of grouping and scheduling wafers in S3 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. In this description, it is assumed that, as shown in FIG. 12A, seven cassettes C1 to C7 are mounted on the cassette stage in advance, and the processing conditions of each wafer are already taken and stored. In the drawings, symbols A to G in each cassette indicate processing conditions, and each symbol indicates a wafer under each processing condition. For example, it is shown that two wafers of the processing condition A are included in the cassette C1. The scheduling logic is such that wafers under the same processing conditions are processed continuously, and all wafers in the cassette are processed early so that the next cassette can be received. To Here, it is assumed that the processing time of each processing condition is not considered for the sake of simplicity.

First, the processing conditions of each wafer are fetched from the first storage means 70 together with the information of the cassette in which they are stored (S3-1), and wafers having the same processing conditions are grouped. Is selected (S3-2). Here, the cassettes C1, C
2. The number of types of wafer processing conditions in C5 is 1 each.
And the least, these cassettes are selected.

Next, among the cassettes selected in S3-2,
Select the cassette with the smallest number of first wafers (S3-
3). In the illustrated example, since there is only one wafer in the cassette C2, the cassette C2 is selected.

Next, among the cassettes selected in S3-3, a processing condition with the smallest number of wafers is selected (S3).
-4). In the illustrated example, the processing condition B is selected because only the wafer in the cassette C2 has the processing condition B.

Next, when processing wafers under the processing conditions selected in S3-4, an operation for determining the order of cassettes from which wafers are to be taken out is started (S3-5). for that reason,
First, the cassettes are arranged in ascending order of the processing conditions of the cassettes including the wafers of the processing conditions selected in S3-4 (S3-6). In this case, each of the cassettes C2 and C5 has one type of processing condition, and the cassette C7 has two types of processing conditions because the cassette C7 includes wafers of processing conditions B and E. Therefore, in the illustrated example, C2 or C2
5, C7.

Next, the cassettes are arranged in the order of the cassette satisfying the condition of S3-6 and having the smaller number of wafers under the processing conditions (S3-7). In the illustrated example, the number of wafers in the processing condition B in the cassette C2 is one, and the number of wafers in the processing condition B in the cassette C5 is two.
2, C5 and C7.

Next, except for the wafer under the processing conditions selected in S3-1 to S3-7, that is, the wafer under the processing condition B, S3-1 to S3-7 are repeated again until there are no more wafers. The priority of the processing condition and the permutation of the cassette accommodating the wafer to be processed at that time are obtained (S3-8). In the illustrated example, the processing condition is B →
This shows a state in which a schedule has been set to perform the order of E → A → F → G → C → D. FIG. 12B shows the processing condition B
FIG. 12 (3) shows the state when the wafer of processing condition E is scheduled and removed, and FIG. 12 (3) shows the state when the wafer of processing condition E is removed.
(4) shows the state when the wafer under the processing condition A is scheduled and removed, and FIG.
FIG. 12 (6) shows a state when the wafer of the processing condition G is scheduled and removed, and FIG.
(7) shows a state when the wafer under the processing condition C is scheduled and removed. Consequently, the cassette order for processing is C2 (B), C5 (B), C7 (B), C
7 (E), C4 (E), C1 (A), C4 (A), C6
(F), C6 (G), C3 (C), and C3 (D).
The symbol in parentheses indicates a wafer to be processed under the processing conditions of the symbol.

From the state shown in FIG. 12 (3), the order of the cassettes for processing the wafers under the processing condition A is determined to be the leading one because the wafer conditions in each of the cassettes C1 and C4 are the same. You may do so. Further, from the state shown in FIG. 12 (4), the processing conditions F and G may be prioritized because the conditions are the same even when priority is given to the wafers under the two processing conditions.

As described above, when the permutation of the wafers to be processed is determined and the schedule is established, the actual processing is performed based on the schedule. A new cassette is placed on the cassette stage during the processing of the wafers. If the wafer has been placed, the processing conditions of each wafer in the cassette are fetched, wafers that have already been processed are excluded, and S3-1 to S3-8 are performed again to establish a new schedule. in this case,
If a wafer under the processing condition currently being processed is included in the new cassette, the wafer is prioritized and processed so as to be processed (S3-9).

As described above, in the present invention, wafers to be processed are collectively managed irrespective of the cassette in which the wafers are accommodated, so that wafers having the same processing conditions are grouped, and these are continuously processed. Unlike the conventional method in which wafers are managed in cassette units as in the conventional method, the number of processing interruptions and the processing interruption time for switching processing conditions can be minimized, and processing efficiency can be improved. Throughput can be improved. Even if one cassette contains wafers having different processing conditions due to the large diameter of the wafers, it is possible to easily manage the wafers and perform desired processing.

Further, even when processing wafers under the same processing conditions, processing is started from wafers in a cassette having a small number of processing conditions, so that all wafers in the cassette can be processed early. Therefore, the next new cassette can be placed earlier, so that the processing efficiency can be improved more than this point.

Further, during execution of wafer processing,
When a new cassette is placed, dynamic management can be performed by setting a new schedule each time in addition to the processing conditions of the wafers contained in the cassette, thereby further improving the processing efficiency. Can be achieved.

In the above embodiment, the case where the electron beam exposure apparatus as the processing apparatus is incorporated in the processing system has been described. However, the present invention is also applicable to the case where these are separated and only the exposure apparatus is provided alone. In this case, an operator or an AGV
The cassette is placed by the (automatic transfer device).

In this embodiment, an electron beam exposure apparatus has been described as an example of a single-wafer processing apparatus. However, the present invention can be applied to any single-wafer processing apparatus. As a single wafer processing apparatus, the present invention can be applied to an etcher apparatus, a coating and developing apparatus, a metal film forming apparatus, a CVD film forming apparatus, and the like. In this case, by controlling various driving systems in response to the switching of the processing conditions, the processing gas, the processing pressure, the processing temperature, and the like are appropriately switched to perform the desired processing.

[0068]

As described above, according to the processing method and the processing apparatus of the present invention, the following excellent operational effects can be exhibited. The objects to be processed under the same processing conditions are grouped together by managing the objects to be processed in a plurality of object storage containers collectively, and these are continuously processed. Thus, the number of switching of the processing conditions can be greatly reduced as compared with the case where the object is managed. Therefore, the number of processing interruptions and the processing interruption time for switching processing conditions can be reduced, processing efficiency can be greatly improved, and throughput can be improved. Further, in the case where a schedule is set so as to continuously process the objects to be processed under the same processing conditions, a schedule is set so that the processing is started from the objects to be processed in the container to be processed which has a small number of types of processing conditions. Throughout the entire period, all the objects to be processed in the object storage container can be processed at an early stage, and the next storage container can be placed in an installable state early. In addition, when a new container for the object to be processed is installed during the processing of the object to be processed, dynamic management is performed so as to establish a new schedule by adding the processing conditions of the object to be processed in this container. Since the processing can be performed, the processing efficiency can be further increased and the throughput can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a processing system using the processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the processing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a processing object transfer means of the processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining processing conditions and a processing order of a processing object in a processing object storage container.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of a processing order of a processing target when a processing target container is added in the middle of the processing;

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining another example of the processing order of the processing target when a processing target container is added in the middle of the processing;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of the object to be processed.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the first half of grouping and scheduling of objects to be processed.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the latter half of the flow of grouping and scheduling of objects to be processed.

12 is a diagram illustrating a state of a processing target on an image in the processing target container when performing the grouping and the scheduling illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Electron Beam Exposure Device 2A Electron Beam Exposure Unit 4 Processing System 6 Resist Coating and Developing Device 40 Cassette Stage (Mounting Container Placement Unit) 42 Wafer Delivery Transfer Mechanism (Workpiece Transfer Means) 48 Vacuum Container (Processing Means) 56 Vacuum Exhaust system 68 Data input means 70 First storage means 72 Grouping / scheduling means 74 Second storage means 76 Various drive systems 78 Processing command means C Object storage container (cassette) W Semiconductor wafer (Object)

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A storage container mounting portion on which a plurality of processing object storage containers capable of storing a plurality of processing objects can be mounted, and processing means for performing a desired process for each of the processing objects. And a processing object transporting unit that transfers the processing object between the storage container mounting unit and the processing unit, and a processing object storage container that stores the processing conditions of the processing object. Input means for inputting data as input data, first storage means for storing data input from the input means, and the contents of the first storage means are fetched to group the objects to be processed under the same processing conditions. Grouping schedule means for determining a processing order of the objects to be processed and grouping the grouped objects, and setting a schedule;
Second storage means for storing a schedule result set by the schedule means, and processing command means for outputting a predetermined command to various drive systems of the processing means based on the schedule stored in the second storage means A processing device comprising: 2. The grouping / scheduling means schedules objects to be processed under the same processing conditions continuously so as to start processing from the objects in an object-receiving container having a small number of types of processing conditions. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein 3. The grouping / scheduling means is stored in the first storage means when a new container for accommodating an object to be processed is placed on the container placement section. 3. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a new schedule is established by taking in processing conditions of the object to be processed in the new object to be processed container. 4. The grouping / scheduling means is configured to execute the processing when a new object container is placed on the container container while the predetermined processing is being performed by the processing means. 4. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a schedule is set to continue the predetermined processing. 5. An object to be processed is transported from an accommodation container mounting portion on which a plurality of object storage containers capable of accommodating a plurality of objects are mounted, and is processed by a processing means for each sheet. In the processing method, the processing conditions of the processing object in the processing object storage container placed on the storage container mounting portion are input as data in association with the stored processing object storage container. A data input step, based on the input data, a group schedule step of grouping the processing objects having the same processing condition and determining a processing order of the grouped processing objects and setting a schedule; A processing step of processing the object to be processed based on the established schedule. 6. The group scheduling step is performed so that the objects to be processed under the same processing conditions are continuously processed, and the processing is performed from the objects to be processed in the container to be processed having a small number of processing conditions. The processing method according to claim 5, wherein 7. The group / scheduling step includes, when a new object container accommodating an object to be processed is placed on the accommodation container mounting portion, the new object container is placed in the new object container. 7. The processing method according to claim 5, wherein a new schedule is established by taking in the processing conditions of each object to be processed.