JPH06163343A - Memory of manufacturing process - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a memory of manufacturing process which can control individual processing information on a manufacturing lot with certainty and ease. CONSTITUTION:In a manufacturing process such as VLSI, a semiconductor memory 30 capable of reading and writing, a liquid crystal flat panel 13 displaying information which has been written, optical communication means which communicates with an external unit 2 by way of a photo detector 12 and a light emitting device 11 in between, are built in the form of ards in a unit which controls individual processing information special to each manufacturing lot. Also, a display operating section 14 to change over the display contents in the liquid crystal flat panel 13 is provided. Consequently, information transmitted by the external unit 2 in optical communication is written into the semiconductor memory 30 and read out in the liquid crystal flat panel 13. Further, the contents of display in the liquid crystal flat panel 13 are changed over and shown within the scope of written information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for controlling a manufacturing process of VLSI or the like, and more particularly to a device for always accommodating each manufacturing lot and storing individual processing information such as process progress and process processing result of the lot. Related to.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a VLSI manufacturing plant, a sheet (hereinafter referred to as a run sheet) in which the order of steps according to each product type is described is always attached to each lot so that a worker can make a run sheet each time the process progresses. By putting a mark on, it is managed so that there is no error in the progress of the process of each lot. Furthermore, the run sheet records the results of each process in the column of each process, which is also used for lot quality control.

However, in the lot progress management method using the run sheet, when a process that may often occur in the VLSI manufacturing process or the like is changed, the run order process column of the run sheet that has been filled in is changed. It has to be changed, and for every targeted lot in the factory,
Since a new process sequence is written or deleted by handwriting, a great deal of work is required. Moreover, if a lot is written incorrectly, there is a risk that the lot will be erroneously processed and the quality of the lot will be seriously affected.

In order to solve such a problem, each lot is accompanied by only an individual recognition symbol, and on the other hand, a central computer for storing individual processing information of each lot is installed, and each time the lot is processed, it is processed. 2. Description of the Related Art A system is generally used in which a recognition number for each lot is input to a terminal of a computer, the process progress of the lot is stored, and the processing condition for each process of the lot is displayed to advance the process treatment work. However, in such a system, when a failure occurs in the central computer, the process of the entire factory stops. In order to prevent this, measures such as duplication of computers and storage devices are required, but this requires a great deal of cost.

On the other hand, in order to solve these problems, there is a case where a floppy disk (hereinafter referred to as FD) is used instead of a run sheet as a medium for recording (storing) a process associated with a lot. According to this method, the FD stores the process sequence according to the lot type in advance, and every time the worker performs the process process of the lot, a dedicated reading / installation device installed near the process processing apparatus is used. The FD is inserted into the writing device, and the pointer of the current process stored in the FD is advanced to manage the process progress. In addition, when a process change occurs, the information about this change is input to the central computer connected to the dedicated read / write device by the communication circuit, and the FD is set in the read / write device. By performing a certain operation, the process information in the FD is updated to the contents of the central computer.

[0006]

However, the manufacturing process storage device for a lot using the FD as a medium has the following problems. In a strong magnetic space that can exist in a VLSI factory, FD
Due to the nature of, there is concern that the data will be destroyed. When the lot and the processing conditions are automatically set in the next process processing apparatus in the processing step of the lot, it is necessary to automatically insert the FD into a dedicated reading device provided in the apparatus. However, such a system is a little difficult, and many process processors in the factory are
Introducing such a system requires a great deal of cost. When checking the progress status of a lot, a dedicated reading device is always required, and information inside the storage device cannot be referenced without this dedicated device. This is a great constraint on the manufacturing process operation.

However, the present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned problems, and in the manufacturing process of VLSI and the like, it is possible to easily read the individual process information of each manufacturing lot such as the progress of the process and the process information. It is an object of the present invention to provide a manufacturing process storage device that can be written, can surely retain written information without being destroyed, and can realize low cost.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention manages individual processing information unique to each manufacturing lot in a manufacturing process of VLSI or the like, and is composed of a semiconductor memory, and reads and writes. Possible storage medium, a liquid crystal flat panel display part for displaying information stored in the storage medium, and an optical communication means for communicating with an external device via a light receiving element and a light emitting element. It was incorporated into a card. Further, it is characterized in that a display operation unit is provided for switching and displaying the display content on the display unit within the range of the information stored in the storage medium.

[0009]

According to the manufacturing process storage device of the present invention, the individual processing information of each manufacturing lot transmitted by the optical communication from the external device is received by the light receiving element and written in the storage medium composed of the semiconductor memory. The information written in the storage medium is transmitted from the light emitting element and read out to the external device by the operation of the external device. Also,
The information written in the storage medium is read out to the display unit including a liquid crystal flat panel. Further, by operating the display operation unit, information within the range stored in the storage medium is sequentially switched and displayed on the display unit.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A manufacturing process storage device of the present invention will be described below with reference to V
The LSI manufacturing process storage device will be described as an example. First, the configuration of the embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an ID card, and each element constituting the manufacturing process storage device of the present invention is arranged on the ID card 1. First, the ID card 1 has a light emitting element 1
1, a light receiving element 12, a liquid crystal flat panel 13, and a display operation unit 14 for operating display on the liquid crystal flat panel 13. The light emitting element 11 and the light receiving element 12 are means for the ID card 1 to perform optical communication with the external device 2 having an optical communication means. The light emitting element 11 and the light receiving element 12 are connected to an optical communication controller 21 that controls the operation. The liquid crystal flat panel 13 is the display control unit 23, and the display operation unit 14 is the input control unit 2.
4 and a control unit that controls the operation of each unit. And these control units are the central processing units (hereinafter C
A semiconductor memory 30 is connected to the CPU 20.

FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the ID card 1 having the above structure. 2 (1) is a front view and FIG. 2 (2) is a side view.
As shown here, the light emitting element 11, the light receiving element 12, the liquid crystal flat panel 13, and the display operation unit 14 are arranged on the surface of the ID card 1. The surface on which these are arranged is used as a light emitting / receiving surface for optical communication. In the figure, 15 is a battery. Further, the liquid crystal flat panel 13 has a large area so that a large amount of information can be displayed. Then, as shown in the figure, the display operation unit 14 is an ON / OFF switch 14 that serves as a display power source of the liquid crystal flat panel 13.
a and an arrow key 14b indicating four directions. The display of the liquid crystal flat panel 13 is switched depending on the operating direction of the arrow key 14b. Details of switching the display of the liquid crystal flat panel 13 by the operation of the display operation unit 14 will be described later.

Next, the memory configuration in the semiconductor memory 30 and the information stored therein will be described based on the memory map of FIG. In the semiconductor memory 30, as shown in FIG. 3A, addresses 00000 to 01FFF are used as control program code areas 31 and are constituted by a read-only memory. And the address 02000 03FFF
Up to the address, program data area 32 for program execution, from address 04000 to address 1FFFF,
A lot information storage area 33 for storing individual processing information unique to each lot (hereinafter referred to as lot information) is used. The program data area 32 and the lot information storage area 33 are constituted by a read / write memory. 16 in general
A memory capacity of about 100 kilobytes is required to store information on the manufacturing process of the megabit DRAM, and by adopting the memory configuration as described above, the VLSI manufacturing process can be performed without hindering the control of the ID card. It is possible to store all the information of the above.

The details of the lot information written in the lot information storage area 33 and the addresses where they are stored are shown in FIG. 3 (2). Lot information storage area 3
3, lot number, product name, number of processes, process data length,
Each piece of information on the processing data length, the current process number, the process data, and the processing data is written as lot information. Of these, the process data indicates a manufacturing process name and a process code, and this area is divided into blocks for each number of bytes indicated by the process data length. The process name and the code for one process are stored in one block, and these are arranged in the order of the process numbers to indicate the process order. In addition, the processing data is information on the processing of each process, that is, the processing date, the processing device, the name of the worker in charge of the processing,
This shows the measurement result and the like, and this area is divided into blocks for each number of bytes shown in the processing data length. Then, the processing data in the process is stored in each block according to the process number order.

Next, the operation of the VLSI manufacturing process storage device having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. A signal from the external device 2 having an optical communication unit is transmitted by the optical communication unit and received by the light receiving element 12 arranged on the surface of the ID card 1. The received signal is the optical communication control unit 2
1 to the CPU 20. The CPU 20 searches the semiconductor memory 30 according to the input signal, reads and deletes the corresponding information, writes the information to the corresponding address in the semiconductor memory 30, and the like. Then, the semiconductor memory 30
The information read from the light emitting element 11 is read by the external device 2
Sent to. Therefore, the information sent to the ID card is
Since the data is written in the semiconductor memory 30, it is possible to prevent the destruction of information due to magnetism or the like. Also, ID card 1
Since information is exchanged between the external device 2 and the external device 2 by optical communication, it is not necessary to insert the ID card 1 into a dedicated reading / writing device.

On the other hand, the input signal from the display operation unit 14 is
It is sent from the input control unit 24 to the CPU 20. CPU20
Then, the semiconductor memory 30 is searched according to the input signal and the corresponding information is read. The read information is displayed on the liquid crystal flat panel 13 by operating the display operation unit 23. At this time, by operating the display operation unit 23,
The display screen can be switched. Therefore, the information written in the semiconductor memory 30 is stored in the liquid crystal flat panel 13.
Can be found at.

Information retrieval in the semiconductor memory 30 is performed as follows. (See FIG. 3) For example, when retrieving the process data of the current process number, the start address of the process data storage block = {start address of process data area + process data length × (current process number−1)} Search for. When searching the process data of the current process number, the start address of the process data storage block = {start address of process data area + process data length × process number + process data length × (current process number-1) } To search.

Further, when the lot information written in the semiconductor memory is referred to by the liquid crystal flat panel and when the display of the liquid crystal flat panel 13 is switched by the operation of the display operation unit 14, the display example shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. The ID card will be described with reference to FIG. First, the display operation unit is turned on and off
The F switch 14a is turned on. As a result, the liquid crystal flat panel 13 is turned on to enable display. In this state, the lot number and the product name are displayed on the liquid crystal flat panel 13 (410). Then, when the right arrow of the arrow key 14b of the display operation unit 14 is pressed, the display is switched to the process data of the current process number (411). This allows the worker to know the identity of the ID card.

From the above display state, the arrow key 14
When the up arrow of b is pushed, the display is sequentially switched to process data in which the process number is smaller by one (401). on the other hand,
When the down arrow is pushed, the display is switched to process data in which the process number is increased by one (421). This allows the worker to refer to the process before and after the current process number. This operation is performed within the area of the process data.

If the right arrow is pressed from the state (411) displaying the process data as described above, the process data of the displayed process number is retrieved, and the display contents of the liquid crystal flat panel 13 are as follows. The process data is switched to the process data of the displayed process number (412). In this case, if the information in the corresponding block cannot be displayed on one screen due to the limitation of the number of characters on the liquid crystal flat panel, use the arrow key 1
When the right arrow of 4b is pushed, the display is switched, and the processed data of the corresponding block is sequentially displayed (413,
414 ...). From the above state, by pressing the left arrow of the arrow key 14b, the displayed contents are sequentially returned, whereby the worker can refer to the processing data for each process. This operation is performed within the processing data block for each process number.

When the ON / OFF switch 14a of the display / operation unit is turned off, the liquid crystal flat panel 13 is powered off and the display is turned off. As described above, by operating the display operation unit 14, all the lot information stored in the semiconductor memory can be referred to on the liquid crystal flat panel 13, and the progress status of the lot can be confirmed.

Next, an example of management of lot information using the above VLSI manufacturing process storage device will be described. First, the lot information is transferred to the ID card 1 from the host computer having the lot information such as the manufacturing process of the lot by optical communication, and the information is newly registered in the ID card 1. The ID card that has been newly registered is a dedicated ID for each lot
It becomes a card. Then, every time one process is performed, processing data such as a processing date, a processing device, a worker in charge of processing, and a measurement result is written in the dedicated ID card. The processing data write operation is performed as shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, a message for writing processing data is transmitted from the external device 2 by optical communication. The ID card receives a processing data write request (501), and then takes out the process number p for which the write is requested (50).
2). Then, the required process number p is set to the current process number c.
(503), and if it is determined that the required process number p is smaller than the current process number c, a negative response is transmitted (5
10), the process ends. On the other hand, when it is determined that the required process number p is the same as or larger than the current process number c, the required process number p is determined by the address search method described above.
The address of the block to which the processing data of (1) is to be written is searched (504). The received processing data is written to the corresponding address (505), and the completion of the processing is transmitted to the external device (506).

Further, in the VLSI manufacturing process storage device having the above configuration, the lot information stored in the semiconductor memory can be referred to from the external device by optical communication with the external device. Further, when the lot information is already registered in the ID card and a new process is added to the lot, the process data and the process data are inserted, or the lot information is already registered in the ID card and then the process of the lot is deleted. In the case of performing, operations such as deletion of process data and processing data can be performed. Then, by such an operation, the lot information is managed in the VLSI manufacturing process.

[0023]

As described above, according to the manufacturing process storage device of the present invention, the following effects can be expected. Since a semiconductor memory is used as the storage medium, V
Stored data is protected from strong magnetism that can be present in a factory such as an LSI. Since communication with an external device is performed by optical communication, mechanical restrictions for automation can be greatly reduced. A liquid crystal flat panel placed on the ID card allows easy reference of lot progress status and individual processing information. At this time, no read-only device is required. As described above, in the storage and management of the manufacturing process, the progress of the process and lot information can be easily read and written, and the written data can be surely retained and low cost can be realized. Also, since the amount of information that can be referred to on the liquid crystal flat panel can be increased by the display operation unit, it is possible to more easily refer to individual lot information and confirm the progress of the manufacturing process.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a memory map in a semiconductor memory used in an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a liquid crystal flat panel.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an operation for writing processed data in a memory.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ID card 2 External device 11 Light emitting element 12 Light receiving element 13 Liquid crystal flat panel 14 Display operation unit 30 Semiconductor memory

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In managing individual processing information unique to each manufacturing lot in a manufacturing process, a storage medium having a semiconductor memory and capable of reading and writing, and a liquid crystal flat panel, and storing in the storage medium A manufacturing process storage device in which a display unit that displays the displayed information and an optical communication unit that communicates with an external device via a light receiving element and a light emitting element are incorporated in a card shape. 2. The manufacturing process memory according to claim 1, further comprising a display operation unit for switching and displaying the display content on the display unit within the range of the information stored in the storage medium. apparatus.