JPH05259260A - Method and apparatus for controlling vertical furnace - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To continuously process a plurality of batches according to a wafer processing sequence without causing wait time or non-operating time between the batches. CONSTITUTION:An apparatus and method for controlling a vertical furnace comprises a batch cassette exchanging function 14 which replaces a processed batch cassette with an unprocessed batch cassette as soon as processing of one batch is completed, a processing control function 13 for starting next batch processing as soon as cassette replacement is completed and a process recipe reservation function 15 for storing in a memory wafer processing sequence names for making correspondence between a wafer processing sequence which is different for each of the batches and each batch whereby a plurality of batches can be continuously processed according to the wafer processing procedure.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly to a vertical furnace in which cassettes for a plurality of batches are housed in a furnace body and cassettes can be efficiently transferred to the outside of the furnace body. A method and apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional vertical furnace has a structure in which a cassette shelf capable of accommodating only one batch of cassettes is provided in the furnace body, so that one batch is processed and the cassette of the batch is transferred from the furnace to the outside. It is not possible to transfer the cassettes of the next batch into the furnace in parallel.Therefore, after processing the wafers in the cassette, the cassettes are transferred to the outside of the furnace, and then the cassettes of the next batch are transferred. It is necessary to carry in the cassette shelf from the outside of the furnace body.

[0003] Since the cassette transfer speed is limited by a cassette transfer robot or the like for loading and unloading cassettes to and from the cassette shelf, many cassettes can be operated efficiently in a clean room with many semiconductor manufacturing devices. There is a problem that a transfer robot is required, and the number of cassette stockers for accommodating cassettes provided outside the apparatus increases or the capacity of the cassette stocker increases.

The applicant has already applied for a vertical furnace for solving the above-mentioned problems as Japanese Patent Application No. 2-42179. This vertical furnace has a movable cassette shelf 3 for storing a wafer transfer cassette in a furnace body 1, a buffer cassette shelf 2 for temporarily storing a cassette for the next batch, the outside of the furnace body, and these racks 2 , 3, or between the shelves 2 and 3 is provided with a cassette transfer mechanism 4.

Since the preceding example has the above-mentioned structure,
While the wafer in the cassette on the side of the moving cassette shelf 3 is processed, the cassette of the next batch is stored in a part of the buffer cassette shelf 2 by the cassette transfer robot 4. At the end of processing, the cassette containing the processed wafers is transferred to another portion in the buffer cassette shelf 2, and the next batch cassette is transferred from the buffer cassette shelf 2 into the moving cassette shelf 3 and then the wafer is processed. By collecting and supplying the cassettes by the cassette transfer robot 4 during this period, it is possible to eliminate the waiting time for collecting and supplying the wafer cassettes of the apparatus.

Thus, without increasing the number of external cassette carrying robots, it is possible to eliminate the downtime due to the cassette collection and supply waiting of the apparatus, and it is possible to improve the operation rate of the apparatus. Further, since the number of cassette transport mechanisms 4 and the number of cassette stockers to be installed outside the apparatus or the capacity thereof are small, the cost can be reduced accordingly, and the development of operational software can be facilitated.
Factory automation can be easily achieved.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art example, in order to operate the furnace body efficiently, it is necessary for the operator or the cassette transfer robot to come to the front of the furnace body at the end of the process, and the waiting time or There is a problem that non-working time between batches is likely to occur, and after transporting the cassette into the furnace, it is necessary to load a process recipe (wafer processing procedure) suitable for the batch and give an instruction to start processing. is there.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a cassette exchange function, a process control function, and a process recipe reservation function in the vertical furnace of the above-mentioned prior art, so that the non-operating time between batches, which is a problem of the prior art, can be solved. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a vertical furnace control method and apparatus capable of continuously processing a plurality of batches by solving the above-mentioned problems and the increase in the constraint time of an operator or a cassette transfer robot.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the above-mentioned objects, the method of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, is a moving cassette shelf for accommodating a wafer transfer cassette in a furnace body 1. 3, a buffer cassette shelf 2 for temporarily storing cassettes for the next batch, and a cassette transfer mechanism 4 for transferring a cassette between the outside of the furnace body and between these shelves 2 and 3, or to the shelves 2 and 3. In the vertical furnace provided, a batch cassette exchanging function 14 for exchanging a cassette of a processed batch and a cassette of an unprocessed batch at the same time when the processing of one batch is completed, and the next batch processing at the same time as the completion of the cassette exchange. A process control function 13 to start and a process recipe reservation function 15 to store a wafer processing procedure name in a memory in order to associate a different wafer processing procedure for each batch with each batch. Characterized in that the plurality of batches to be continuously processed by the wafer processing procedure by allowed to Bei.

In order to solve the same problem and achieve the same object, the apparatus of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, has a movable cassette shelf 3 for accommodating a wafer transfer cassette in a furnace body 1 and a next batch temporarily. In a vertical furnace, a buffer cassette shelf 2 for accommodating a cassette for one minute and a cassette transfer mechanism 4 for transferring a cassette between the outside of the furnace body and these shelves 2, 3 or on the shelves 2, 3 are provided. The host computer 5 or the operation unit 9 that outputs the instruction 17 and the cassette conveying mechanism 4 that operates in accordance with the batch instruction 17 and sequentially conveys the cassettes for the first batch to the predetermined shelves. It outputs an operation signal and operates when cassette transportation is completed and batch cassette exchange is completed, and processing control function 13 starts processing in sequence from the first batch. A main controller 6 having a batch cassette exchange function 14 for exchanging batch cassettes and a process recipe reservation function 15 for storing a wafer processing procedure name in a memory in order to associate a different wafer processing procedure for each batch with each batch. It is composed of a mechanism control device 7 that controls the cassette transport mechanism 4 by an output operation signal of the main control device 6.

[0011]

First, the main controller 6 is operated by the host computer 5 or the batch instruction 17 of the operation unit 9, and the cassette transfer mechanism 4 is operated by the output operation signal, and the cassette for the first batch is transferred from the outside of the furnace body. When the cassette is transported to the movable cassette shelf 3 and the cassette transportation is completed, the process for the first batch is started, and the cassette transport mechanism 4 is used to perform the cassette for the second batch from the outside of the furnace body while the process for the first batch is being performed. Are transported to the buffer cassette shelf 2.
When the processing of the first batch is completed, the cassette transfer mechanism 14 operates by the cassette exchange function 14 to exchange the processed batch cassette on the moving cassette shelf 3 with the unprocessed batch cassette on the buffer cassette shelf 2.

When the exchange of the batch cassette is completed, the process control function 13 starts the process for the second batch, and while the process for the second batch is being performed, the cassette transport mechanism 4 buffers the processed first batch cassette. It is conveyed from the cassette shelf 2 to the outside of the furnace body. Subsequently, the cassette carrying mechanism 4 carries the third batch cassette from the outside of the furnace body to the buffer cassette shelf 2. Thereafter, the same operation is repeated to continuously process the batch cassette.

In this case, the batch cassette processing is performed by the process recipe reservation function 15 according to the wafer processing procedure associated with the batch.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 (A) is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an apparatus for implementing the control method of the present invention, FIG. 1 (B) is a functional configuration diagram for realizing the control method of the present invention, and FIG. It is a perspective view explaining the composition of one example of the vertical furnace controlled by the invention control method and apparatus. The vertical furnace controlled by the control method and apparatus of the present invention includes a movable cassette shelf 3 for accommodating a wafer transfer cassette in a furnace body 1 and a buffer cassette shelf 2 for temporarily accommodating a cassette for the next batch. And a cassette transfer mechanism 4 for transferring a cassette between the outside of the furnace body and the shelves 2 and 3 or to the shelves 2 and 3.

In such a vertical furnace, the control apparatus of the present embodiment has a host computer 5 or an operating unit 9 for outputting a batch instruction 17 including a wafer processing procedure name and a cassette transfer type, and a batch instruction 17 for performing a 1 A cassette transportation function 12 for sequentially transporting the cassette to a predetermined shelf from the cassette for the second batch, a batch state monitoring function 11 for detecting completion of cassette transportation, batch processing completion and batch cassette replacement, cassette transportation completion and Processing control function 13 that operates upon detection of batch cassette replacement completion and starts processing sequentially from the first batch, batch cassette replacement function 14 that operates upon detection of batch processing completion and replaces batch cassettes, and different wafer processing for each batch Wafer processing procedure name is stored in memory to associate the procedure with each batch A main controller 6 having a process recipe reading function 16 for taking in a wafer processing procedure corresponding to the wafer processing procedure name stored in the memory by the process recipe reservation function 15 into the main controller 6, and the process recipe reading function 16 IC for reading the wafer processing procedure corresponding to the name stored by the process recipe reservation function 15 from the wafer processing procedure group previously stored in the IC card by the operation of
It comprises a card reading device 10 and a mechanism control device 7 which controls the cassette transport mechanism 4 in response to an output operation signal from the main control device 6.

The cassette transfer function 12 of the main controller 6 is controlled by the batch instruction 17 of the host computer 5 or the operation unit 9.
Operates the cassette transport mechanism 4 to transport the cassette for the first batch to the moving cassette 3 from outside the furnace body. The batch status monitoring function 11 detects the end of cassette transportation,
The processing control function 13 is operated. The processing control function 13 is 1
Start processing for the second batch.

While the processing for the first batch is being performed, the cassette carrying function 12 operates the cassette carrying mechanism 4 according to the batch instruction 17 of the host computer 5 or the operating section 9 to load the cassettes for the second batch from the outside of the furnace body. It is transported to the buffer cassette shelf 2. The batch status monitoring function 11 detects the end of the first batch processing and operates the batch cassette exchange function 14. Batch cassette exchange function 14
Operates the cassette transport mechanism 4 to replace the processed batch cassette on the moving cassette shelf 3 with the unprocessed batch cassette on the buffer cassette shelf 2.

The batch status monitoring function 11 detects the end of replacement of the batch cassette and operates the processing control function 13.
The process control function 13 starts the process for the second batch. During the processing for the second batch, the cassette transfer function 12 operates the cassette transfer mechanism 4 according to the batch instruction 17 of the host computer 5 or the operation unit 9, and the processed first batch cassette is transferred from the buffer cassette shelf 2 to the furnace. Transport it outside the body.

Subsequently, the cassette carrying function 12 operates the cassette carrying mechanism 4 according to the batch instruction 17 from the host computer 5 or the operating section 9 to carry the third batch cassette from the outside of the furnace to the buffer cassette shelf 2. Thereafter, the same operation is repeated to continuously process the batch cassette.

The batch instruction 17 includes a wafer processing procedure name, and the wafer processing procedure name is stored in the memory of the main controller 6 by the process recipe reservation function 15. When the process control function 13 operates, the process recipe reading function 16 is operated, and the IC card reading device 10 corresponds to the name stored by the process recipe reservation function 15 from the wafer processing procedure group previously stored in the IC card. Wafer processing procedure as main controller 6
To the internal memory. The processing control function 13 carries out the processing for the batch according to the wafer processing procedure loaded in the main controller 6.

Although the next batch cassette is transported while the processing for a certain batch is being carried out, this timing is arbitrary, and the entire cassette is not transported at the same time as when the processing for a certain batch is completed as in the conventional case. Does not affect processing time.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing the batch cassette exchange function 14, the processing control function 13 and the process recipe reservation function 15, there is no waiting time or non-operating time between batches. , Multiple batches can be processed sequentially by the wafer processing procedure. Therefore, the processing time can be shortened and the factory automation can be dealt with.

Further, since the cassette transportation of the batch following one batch processing can be performed at an arbitrary timing during the processing of the previous batch, the operator or the cassette transportation robot supplies the cassette in front of the furnace body at a convenient time. You have the flexibility to do so.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a block diagram showing one configuration example of an apparatus for implementing the control method of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a functional configuration diagram for realizing the control method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the configuration of an example of a vertical furnace controlled by the control method and apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Furnace Body 2 Buffer Cassette Shelf 3 Moving Cassette Shelf 4 Cassette Transfer Mechanism 5 Host Computer 6 Main Controller 7 Mechanism Control Device 9 Operation Unit 10 IC Card Reader 11 Batch Status Monitoring Function 12 Cassette Transfer Function 13 Processing Control Function 14 Batch Cassette exchange function 15 Process recipe reservation function 16 Process recipe read function 17 Batch instruction

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Yutaka Naruse 2-3-13 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo Kokusai Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Shoichi Sasada 2-3-13 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo International Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A moving cassette shelf (3) for accommodating a wafer transfer cassette in a furnace body (1) and a buffer cassette shelf (2) for temporarily accommodating a cassette for the next batch.
And a vertical furnace comprising a cassette transport mechanism (4) for transporting cassettes to the outside of the furnace body and between these shelves (2, 3) or to these shelves (2, 3), processing one batch Batch cassette exchange function (14) for exchanging the processed batch cassette with the unprocessed batch cassette at the same time as the end of the processing, the processing control function (13) for starting the next batch processing at the same time as the end of the cassette exchange, and each batch In order to associate different wafer processing procedures with each batch, a process recipe reservation function (15) for storing the wafer processing procedure name in the memory is provided so that a plurality of batches can be continuously processed by the wafer processing procedure. A vertical furnace control method characterized by the above. 2. A cassette carrying function for carrying cassettes in order from a first batch of cassettes to a predetermined shelf, and a batch status monitoring function for detecting completion of cassette carrying, batch processing and batch cassette replacement (11). ),
A processing control function (13) that operates by detecting the end of cassette transport and the end of batch cassette exchange and starts processing sequentially from the first batch, and a batch cassette exchange function that operates by detecting the end of batch processing and replaces a batch cassette (14). ) And a process recipe reservation function (15) for storing a wafer processing procedure name in a memory in order to associate a different wafer processing procedure for each batch with each batch. Control method. 3. A movable cassette rack (3) for storing a wafer transfer cassette in a furnace body (1) and a buffer cassette rack (2) for temporarily storing a cassette for the next batch.
In the vertical furnace comprising a cassette transfer mechanism (4) for transferring a cassette to the outside of the furnace body and between these shelves (2, 3) or on the shelves (2, 3), a batch instruction (1
A cassette transport mechanism that operates in accordance with the host computer (5) or the operation unit (9) that outputs 7) and the batch instruction (17) to sequentially transport the cassettes from the first batch cassette to a predetermined shelf. A processing control function (13) that outputs an operation signal for operating (4), operates when cassette transportation is completed and batch cassette exchange is completed, and starts processing sequentially from the first batch; A main controller (6) having a batch cassette exchange function (14) for exchanging and a process recipe reservation function (15) for storing a wafer processing procedure name in a memory in order to associate a different wafer processing procedure for each batch with each batch. And a mechanism control device (7) for controlling the cassette transport mechanism (4) by the output operation signal of the main control device (6). Vertical furnace controller comprising. 4. A main controller (6) is provided with the batch instruction (1
According to 7), there is a cassette transfer function that transfers cassettes to a predetermined shelf in order from the first batch cassette, and a batch status monitoring function that detects the end of cassette transfer, the end of batch processing, and the end of batch cassette exchange (11 ),
A processing control function (13) that operates by detecting the end of cassette conveyance and the end of batch cassette exchange and starts processing sequentially from the first batch, and a batch cassette exchange function that operates by detecting the end of batch processing and replaces a batch cassette (14). ) And a process recipe reservation function (15) for storing a wafer processing procedure name in a memory in order to associate a different wafer processing procedure for each batch with each batch.