JPH0446746A - Progress control system for batch processing - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent lots different in processing to each other and erroneous dummy lot from being charged by providing a batch processing judgement part including a judging means for a lot number, dummy position, use of a dummy, and lot processing, a lot processing display means and judgement stopping means. CONSTITUTION:As an ID and lot number of a processing equipment 50 are inputted in a terminal 52, a host computer 70 searches in its process flow memory part 71a the kind and process of a lot in a batch. Thus, when there exist no unregistered lot, the host computer 70 draws a lot processing conditions, usable equipment and batch combination condition from a process information memory part 71b, and stores them in a temporarily memory part 71d. Subsequently, the total numbers of the lots are searched from the processing condition and is then compared with the lot numbers stored in the temporarily memory part 71d, and when being corresponded to each other, it is confirmed whether or not the dummy lot contained in the batch is usable. Thus, it is confirmed that the lots contained in the batch are all under the same processing condition, and the terminal 52 display permission for batch processing and its processing condition.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a batch processing progress management system that is used in wafer processing and the like in semiconductor manufacturing processes and manages manufacturing processing using a computer.

(Prior Art) When semiconductor wafers are loaded into semiconductor manufacturing equipment and processed, batch processing refers to combining and processing multiple lots at the same time. When performing this batch processing, even if the types and processes of the lots to be input are different, simultaneous processing is possible as long as the processing conditions to be set in the manufacturing equipment match between the lots. Further, in order to correct the number of wafers in a lot to be input, gross wafers that will not be used as products may be processed together with the product lot.

This is called a dummy lot. If it is necessary to input this dummy lot, check the ID (number, name, etc. for m) of the manufacturing processing equipment that can be used for this dummy lot, and check the number of times the dummy lot is processed. It is necessary.

Conventionally, in semiconductor factories where manufacturing processes are managed using computers, when processing a lot, the lot number is entered into a worker terminal near the manufacturing processing equipment, and the validity of the process progress of that lot is checked. A batch that confirms whether the lot can be processed by the manufacturing processing equipment, and only when this is approved, the fact that the lot can be processed and the processing conditions for that lot are displayed on the worker's terminal. This is done using a processing progress management system.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, when batch processing is performed using the above batch processing progress management system, there are the following problems.

The operator must inquire about the processing conditions for each displayed lot, and then input the lot after confirming that the processing conditions for each lot match. There was a problem in that lockouts occurred when lots that were processed differently were input into the manufacturing processing equipment.

In addition, regarding manufacturing processing equipment that can use dummy lots, if the wrong dummy lot is put into the manufacturing processing equipment due to insufficient confirmation by the operator, other lots may be contaminated by the gas etc. contained in that dummy lot. There was a problem that a failure occurred.

The present invention solves the problems of the prior art in that lockouts occur due to input of lots to be processed differently.
The present invention also provides a batch processing progress management system that solves the problem of contaminating the apparatus due to input of erroneous dummy lots.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides predetermined batch processing for a plurality of lots with defined product types and processes, or for batches made up of the lots and dummy lots. batch processing that determines whether or not the batch processing can be executed based on manufacturing processing equipment that performs the batch processing, lot identification information for identifying each lot, and equipment identification information for identifying the manufacturing processing equipment; a determination unit; a display unit that displays processing conditions for the batch processing when the batch processing determination unit determines that execution of the batch processing is possible;
This batch processing progress management system is equipped with the following measures.

a dummy information storage unit storing dummy lot management information corresponding to dummy lot identification information for identifying the dummy lot; a composition condition storage area in which batch composition conditions defined in accordance with the batch composition are stored, and the batch processing determination section extracts the total number of lots to be processed in the batch from the processing conditions of the batch processing, Lot number determining means for determining whether the number of lots specified by the lot identification information matches or mismatches; Dummy position determining means for determining whether the position of the dummy lot within the batch matches or mismatches the batch organization condition; dummy use determining means for determining whether or not the dummy lot can be used based on the dummy lot management information when the position of the dummy lot matches the batch organization condition; and the manufacturing method corresponding to the device identification information. lot processing determining means for determining whether or not the batch processing can be performed on each lot by the processing device; and when the lot processing determining means determines that each lot can be processed, the determination result is displayed on the display section; The determination results of the lot processing display means to be displayed and the lot number determination means do not match, the determination results of the dummy position determination means do not match, the determination results of the dummy use determination means are unusable,
Alternatively, the apparatus further includes determination stopping means for stopping the determination processing of the batch processing determining section when the determination result of the lot processing determining means indicates that the batch processing determination section cannot process.

Further, the dummy use determination means is a number-of-times determination unit that determines whether the current number of times the dummy lot is used is equal to or less than the maximum number of times of use, based on information on the number of times the dummy lot is currently used and information on the number of times the dummy lot is used within the dummy lot management information. means, and when it is determined by the number of times determination means that the number of times of use is equal to or less than the usage limit,
a used device determining means for determining whether or not the device identification information exists in the usable device information in the dummy lot management information, and when it is determined by the number of times determining means that the current number of times of use has exceeded; The apparatus may also include processing determining means that determines that the device cannot be used when the device identification information is determined to be absent by the device in use determining means.

Further, the lot processing determining means includes processing capability determining means for determining whether or not the device identification information exists in available device information indicating the manufacturing processing device capable of processing each lot; loft processing condition determining means for determining whether or not the processing conditions of each loft match when the device identification information is determined to exist by the processing possibility determining means; Processing impossibility determining means may be configured to determine that processing is impossible when it is determined that a lot exists or when the loft processing condition determining means determines that a lot with different processing conditions exists.

(Function) Since the present invention configures the batch processing progress management system as described above, the lot number determining means determines whether the total number of rods to be processed in a batch and the number of lots specified by the lot identification information match or do not match. The determination is made, and if there is a mismatch, the determination stopping means stops the determination processing of the batch processing determining section, and accurately executes the number of simultaneous processes of lots to be batched. The dummy position determining means determines whether the position of the dummy lot in the batch matches or does not match the batch formation conditions, and in the case of a mismatch, the determination stopping means stops the determination processing of the batch processing determination section and forms the dummy lot. Works to prevent position errors. The dummy use determination means determines whether or not the dummy lot can be used based on the dummy lot management information, and if the dummy lot is unusable, the determination stop means stops the determination processing of the batch processing determination section and the dummy lot is determined to be unusable. Works to prevent the use of dummy lots.

Therefore, the above problem can be solved.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a batch processing progress management system showing an embodiment of the present invention.

This batch processing progress management system includes a manufacturing processing device 50 that performs predetermined batch processing on batches organized in a plurality of lofts and dummy lots.9 This manufacturing processing device 50 is equipped with a terminal control device 51. A terminal 52 is connected thereto. This terminal 52 has a display unit including a keyboard for inputting a lot number as lot identification information and an ID as equipment identification information for identifying the manufacturing processing equipment 50, and a display for displaying processing conditions for batch processing, etc. 52a.

A local computer 53 that communicates with a plurality of terminals 52 near the manufacturing equipment via a serial line is connected to a terminal control device 51 that controls this terminal 52, and this local computer is connected to a LAN (L).

It is connected to the host computer 70 via the cal Area Network>60. In addition to performing various controls, the host computer 70 has a management storage area 71 consisting of a magnetic disk or the like that stores internal management information for managing lots and batches, and corresponds to the ID of the manufacturing processing device 50 input from the terminal 52. It has a batch processing determination unit 72 that determines whether batch processing of a lot with an unspecified lot number is possible using the manufacturing processing apparatus 50 that has been processed, and is composed of a central processing unit, an internal memory, an arithmetic unit, etc. ing.

A database 80 for external memory is connected to this host computer 70.

2(a), (b), (c), and (d) are diagrams showing the storage format of the management storage area 71 in FIG.
) is the storage format of the process flow storage section, (b) is the storage format of the process information storage section, (C) is the storage format of the dummy information storage section, and (d) is the storage format of the -time storage section. Each storage format is shown.

As shown in FIG. 2 (a>, (b), (c), and (d), the management storage area 71 of the host computer includes a process flow storage section 71a, a process information storage section 71b, and a dummy information storage section 71c. , and a time storage section 71d'''c111.The process flow storage section 71a stores the type of lot, the order of processes from input to completion, etc. in association with the lot number of each lot. Further, the process information storage unit 71b includes an available equipment area where usable manufacturing processing equipment determined by a combination of lot type and process is stored, and a processing condition area where processing conditions of the manufacturing processing equipment 50 are stored. , and a composition condition storage area 71b-1 in which batch composition conditions are stored.Here, the batch composition conditions are expressed by an alphabetic letter or D, as shown in FIG. 2(d). The number of characters indicates the number of lots in the batch.

Furthermore, for each lot within the batch, shi represents a "lot" and D represents a "dummy lot." The dummy information storage unit 71c includes a dummy lot number storage area for storing a dummy lot number (dummy lot identification information) attached to each dummy lot, a use limit number area for storing a use limit number corresponding to each dummy lot number, It consists of a current usage count area where the current usage count is stored and an available equipment area where usable manufacturing processing equipment is stored. The maximum number of times of use, the current number of times of use, and the usable manufacturing processing equipment constitute dummy management information.

The temporary storage unit 71d is provided for each manufacturing processing device 50 capable of batch processing, and stores a lot number storage area or a dummy lot number input from the keyboard of the terminal 52, and a processing corresponding to each lot number. It is composed of a processing condition area for storing conditions, an available device area for storing usable manufacturing processing equipment, and a composition condition storage area 71b-1 for storing batch composition conditions. The time storage section 71d is made up of a magnetic disk, a RAM, etc., and has a function of preserving its storage contents until it receives a notification regarding new batch input from the same manufacturing processing apparatus.

Furthermore, the batch processing determination unit 72 extracts the total number of lots to be processed in batch from the processing conditions of batch processing,
Lot number determining means 72a for determining whether the total number of lots matches or does not match the number of lots specified by the lot number;
A dummy position determination means 72b that determines whether the position of a dummy lot in a batch matches or mismatches the batch formation conditions, and a dummy position determination means 72b that determines whether the dummy lot can be used based on the dummy lot when the position of the dummy lot matches the batch formation conditions. dummy use determining means 72c for determining whether batch processing is possible for each lot by the manufacturing processing device corresponding to the device identification information; and lot processing determining means 72 for determining whether batch processing can be executed for each lot by the manufacturing processing device corresponding to the device identification information.
d.

In addition, the batch processing determining unit 72 includes a lot processing display unit 72e that displays the determination result on the display unit 52a when the lot processing determining unit 72d determines that each lot can be processed, and a dummy position determining unit 72b. Judgment stopping means for stopping the judgment processing of the batch processing judgment section 72 when the judgment results do not match, the judgment result of the dummy use judgment means 72c is unusable, or the judgment result of the lot processing judgment means 72d is unprocessable. 72f.

The dummy use determining means 72c is a number determining means for determining whether the current number of times the dummy lot is used is equal to or less than the maximum number of times the dummy lot is used, based on the current number of times the dummy lot is used and information about the maximum number of times the dummy lot is used in the dummy lot management information. 2cm1, a used device determining means for determining whether or not the ID of the manufacturing processing apparatus 50 exists among the usable devices in the dummy lot management information when the number of times determining means 72cm1 determines that the number of times of use is below the usage limit; When the determining means 72cm1 determines that the current number of times of use has been exceeded, or when the used device determining means 72cm2 determines that the ID of the manufacturing processing apparatus 50 does not exist, the processing determining means 72d determines that the manufacturing processing apparatus 50 is unusable. It is made up of.

Further, the lot processing determination means 72d includes a processability determination means 72d-1 that determines whether or not device identification information exists in the usable device information indicating a manufacturing processing device that can process each lot. The lot processing condition determining means 72d-2 determines whether all the processing conditions of each lot match when the determining means 72d-1 determines that the device identification information exists, and the processability determining means 72d-1. When it is determined that the device identification information does not exist, or when the lot processing condition determining means 72d-2 determines that a lot with different processing conditions exists, processing impossible determining means 72d-3 determines that the lot cannot be processed. It is made up of.

FIG. 3 is an operational flowchart of FIG. 1, and the operation of FIG. 1 will be explained with reference to this diagram.

First, when performing bat processing, the operator inputs the ID and lot number of the manufacturing processing apparatus 50 that performs the processing into the terminal 52 (steps 100 and 101). In this case, the order of the lots corresponds to the order in the manufacturing processing apparatus 50 that performs batch processing, and for example, in the case of a heat treatment furnace, the order corresponds to the furnace opening, the center, and the back of the furnace. Furthermore, if a batch includes dummy lots, input the dummy lot number assigned to each dummy lot. Information on the ID, loft number, and dummy lot number of the manufacturing processing apparatus 50 is transmitted to the host computer 70, and the host computer 70 starts the following processing.

First, the product type and process of each lot in the batch are checked using the process flow storage unit 71a (step 102).

If any of the notified lot numbers are unregistered, terminal 5
2, an error message indicating that "a non-existing lot has been input" is displayed and the process is terminated (steps 103, 104>).

If there is no unregistered lot, step 105) of extracting the processing conditions, usable devices, and batch organization conditions of the lot from the process information storage section 71b using the product type and process of each lot, and - time storage section 71d. Save (Step 10)
6).

Next, it is determined whether batch formation is possible using the various conditions of each lot stored in the -time storage section 71d.

First, the processing conditions for the first lot of the batch are extracted. The total number of lots to be processed is checked from this processing condition and compared with the number of lots in the -time storage section 71d. At this time, if they do not match, an error message saying "The lot numbers do not match" is displayed on the terminal 52 and the process is terminated (steps 107 and 108).
>. If they match, then the position of the dummy lot within the batch is checked. The position check of this dummy lot is performed as follows.

First, the batch composition conditions of the first lot of the batch are retrieved from the temporary storage section 71d. Thereafter, starting from the first lot of the batch, it is determined whether the lot is a product wafer or a dummy lot (step 109), and this is sequentially compared with the extracted batch formation conditions. In other words, the character "L" that corresponds to the lot position under the batch organization conditions matches that the lot at that position is a product wafer or a dummy lot, or it corresponds to the lot position under the batch organization conditions. It is determined whether the character is rl)J and the lot is a dummy lot (step 110), and if the conditions are satisfied for all lots,
Proceed to the next check. If there is even one difference,
An error message stating "dummy lot position does not match" is displayed on the terminal 52 side, and the process is terminated (step 11).
1).

Furthermore, if the lot to be the standard is a dummy lot, batch formation conditions are extracted for the next lot and the above process is performed. If all lots are dummy lots (step 112) "All dummy lots"
A message to that effect is displayed on the terminal 52 side, and the process is terminated (step 111).

After checking the position of the dummy lot in the batch (
Step 112>, only when a dummy lot is included in the batch, a process is performed to check whether each dummy lot can be used. This process is performed as follows.

First, the dummy lot management information is searched based on the dummy lot number, and it is checked whether the current number of uses of the dummy lot is less than the maximum number of uses (step 113).
. If there is a dummy lot that has reached the usage limit, an error message saying "There is a dummy lot that has reached the usage limit" is displayed on the terminal 52 and the process is terminated (step 114).
). When this check is completed, the available devices of the dummy lot are compared with the manufacturing processing device 50 transmitted from the terminal 52 (step 115).

If the usable devices of the dummy lot include the manufacturing processing device 50 on the terminal 52 side, the process proceeds to the next step.

If this is not satisfied, an error message such as ``This dummy lot cannot be processed by this manufacturing processing apparatus'' is displayed on the terminal 52 side, and the process is terminated (step 114).

For the batches that have passed the above dummy lot check, it is then determined whether each lot can be processed by the designated manufacturing processing equipment. That is, using the information stored in the -time storage unit 71d, for all lots except the dummy lot, if the processing device of each lot is included in the manufacturing processing device transmitted from the terminal 52, the next Proceed to process (
Step 116). If the above conditions cannot be met, an error message stating "There is a lot that cannot be processed by this manufacturing processing equipment" is displayed on the terminal 52 and the processing is terminated (
Step 114).

Next, it is confirmed that all lots in the batch have the same processing conditions. That is, the - hour storage section 71d
The processing conditions of all lots except the dummy lots are compared using the information stored in step 117L (step 117L). Only if these match, proceed to the next step. If so, an error message indicating that "there is a lot with different processing conditions" is displayed on the terminal 52, and the processing is terminated (step 118).

A lot that passes all of the above confirmation steps is recognized as a batch that can be processed by the designated equipment.

Thereafter, the processing permission and processing conditions for the batch are displayed on the terminal 52 (step 119).

Furthermore, if the terminal 52 near the manufacturing processing equipment 50 and the manufacturing processing equipment 50 are connected online, this information is immediately transmitted to the manufacturing processing equipment 50, and the operator inputs the lot according to the terminal input. By setting it in your mouth and inputting a start command, you can process the processing conditions of the host computer 70 without making any mistakes.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, there are the following variations.

(B) In the above embodiments, numbers expressed as numbers were used as the lot identification information, device identification information, and dummy lot identification information, but the invention is not limited to this, and for example, names may be expressed using characters other than numbers. .

(b) In the above embodiment, the dummy information storage section 71c and the composition condition storage area 71b-1 are stored in the host computer 7
Although it is provided in 0, it is not limited to this, and may be provided in a database or the like.

(c) In the above embodiment, each component of the batch processing determination section is configured by hardware, but it is also possible to configure it by software.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a dummy information storage section in which dummy lot management information is stored and a formation condition storage area in which batch formation conditions are stored are provided.
The batch processing determination section includes a batch/count number determination means, a dummy position determination means, a dummy use determination means, a lot processing determination means,
Since the lot processing display means and the determination stop means are provided, (1) it is possible to prevent lots with different processing conditions from being mixed together; (2) There is no need to make a mistake in determining the number of batches to be processed simultaneously. (3) It is no longer possible to make a mistake in the formation position of the dummy lot.

(4) Unusable dummy lots are no longer used. (5) It is no longer possible to accidentally input batches to manufacturing processing equipment that cannot be processed depending on the process.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a batch processing progress management system showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2(a) is a block diagram showing the configuration of a batch processing progress management system. (b), (c), and (d) are the management storage area 71 in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the operation of FIG. 1. 50...Manufacturing processing device, 52a...Display section, 71b-1...Knitting condition storage area, 7
1c...Dummy information storage unit, 72...
Batch processing determination section, 72a... lot number determination means, 72b... dummy position determination means, 72c.
...Dummy use determination means, 720-1...
・Number of times determination means, 72cm2...Used device determination means, 72cm3...Processing determination means, 72d・
... Lot processing judgment means, 72d-1 ...
Processability determining means, 72d-2...Lot processing condition determining means, 72d-3...Processability determining means, 72e...Lot processing display means, 72
f... Judgment stop means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A manufacturing processing device that performs predetermined batch processing on a plurality of lots with defined product types and processes, or on batches made up of the lots and dummy lots, and identifying each of the lots. Based on lot identification information for identifying the manufacturing processing equipment and equipment identification information for identifying the manufacturing processing equipment,
a batch processing determination unit that determines whether or not the batch processing can be executed; and a display that displays processing conditions for the batch processing when the batch processing determination unit determines that the batch processing can be executed. A batch processing progress management system comprising: a dummy information storage unit storing dummy lot management information corresponding to dummy lot identification information for identifying the dummy lot; and a total number of lots in the batch and A composition condition storage area is provided in which batch composition conditions are stored that define the designated position of the dummy lot based on the combination of the product type and the process, and the batch processing determination unit performs processing in the batch based on the processing conditions of the batch processing. a lot number determining means for extracting the total number of lots to be processed and determining whether the total number of lots matches or does not match the number of lots specified by the lot identification information; and the position of the dummy lot in the batch and the batch formation condition. a dummy position determination means for determining whether the dummy lot matches or does not match; and a dummy position determining means for determining whether or not the dummy lot can be used based on the dummy lot management information when the position of the dummy lot matches the batch formation condition. determination means; lot processing determination means for determining whether the batch processing can be executed for each lot by the manufacturing processing apparatus corresponding to the apparatus identification information; and each lot can be processed by the lot processing determination means. If it is determined that, the determination results of the lot processing display means for displaying the determination results on the display section and the lot number determination means do not match, the determination results of the dummy position determination means do not match, and the determination results of the dummy use determination means do not match. A batch process characterized by comprising: determination stopping means for stopping the determination process of the batch process determination section when the determination result is unusable or the determination result of the lot process determination means is unprocessable. Progress management system. 2. The batch processing progress management system according to claim 1, wherein the dummy use determining means determines the current number of uses of the dummy lot based on the current use number information and use limit number information of the dummy lot in the dummy lot management information. a number of times determining means for determining whether or not the number of times of use is below the limit number of uses; and when the number of times determining means determines that the number of times of use is below the limit number of times of use, the device identification information is present in the usable device information in the dummy lot management information. a device in use determining means for determining whether or not the device identification information is present; and processing determination means for determining that the lot processing apparatus is unusable, and the lot processing determination means determines whether or not the apparatus identification information exists in available apparatus information indicating the manufacturing processing apparatus capable of processing each lot. processing capability determining means for determining whether the device identification information exists;
lot processing condition determining means for determining whether all the processing conditions of each lot match; and when the processability determining means determines that the device identification information does not exist, or the lot processing condition determining means determines whether or not the processing conditions match. A batch processing progress management system comprising: a processing impossibility determining means for determining that the processing is impossible when it is determined that there are lots with different numbers.