JPH11121587A - Board processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the generation of particles due to falling off of a dummy board, breakage of a board transfer machine, separation of a film, etc., without increasing the burden on an operator. SOLUTION: A data displaying and an input module part 201 are used for inputting the control data, etc., for controlling the processing for a dummy wafer. A processing control data holder 204 for a dummy wafer holds the inputted processing control data for a dummy wafer. A counter 205 counts the accumulated film growth time of the dummy wafers for each unit time. A processing control module 206 for a dummy wafer discriminates whether or not the conditions for executing the processing for a dummy wafer has materialized, based on the processing control data for a dummy wafer, etc. When it has materialized, it creates a command C2 for instructing the execution of processing. A transfer apparatus control module 204 executes the processing for a dummy wafer by properly controlling a wafer transfer machine 105, etc., based on this command C2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for transferring a plurality of substrates to a processing chamber while holding the substrates by a substrate holder, and processing the substrates in the processing chamber. The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that holds a pseudo substrate for eliminating a difference between the number of substrates required for stabilization and the number of substrates to be processed at once.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a film forming apparatus for forming a thin film on a wafer of a semiconductor device, a plurality of wafers to be formed are loaded into a wafer storage device called a cassette and loaded into the device. I have.

In such a film forming apparatus, a plurality of wafers carried in a cassette are transferred to a substrate holder called a boat, and the wafers are held in the boat to form a film. To the reaction chamber.

Further, in such a film forming apparatus,
The boat holds side dummy wafers (hereinafter, simply referred to as “dummy wafers”). Here, the dummy wafer is a wafer for eliminating the difference between the number of wafers necessary for stabilizing the internal state (atmosphere, temperature, etc.) of the reaction chamber and the number of wafers to be actually formed at once. is there.

[0005] The dummy wafer is not normally collected for each film forming process, but is always held in a boat. This is for the following three reasons.

The first reason is to suppress generation of particles due to wafer transfer. That is, when a wafer is transferred between the cassette and the boat, particles are usually generated by the transfer. The amount of the particles is usually proportional to the number of transferred wafers. Therefore, in a film forming apparatus, usually, a dummy wafer is always held by a boat. According to such a configuration, the number of transferred wafers can be reduced, so that generation of particles due to the transfer of wafers can be suppressed.

The second reason is to suppress adverse effects on the thin film due to wafer contamination. That is, the dummy wafer adsorbs moisture if left as it is. When the dummy wafer absorbs moisture, the thin film of the wafer that is provided for the film formation process is adversely affected. Therefore, in a film forming apparatus, usually, a dummy wafer is always held by a boat. According to such a configuration, the boat is usually carried into the reaction chamber when the apparatus is not used. Thereby, moisture adsorption on the dummy wafer is suppressed. As a result, adverse effects on the thin film due to wafer contamination are suppressed.

[0008] The third reason is to shorten the wafer transfer time. That is, when transferring wafers between the cassette and the boat, usually, one or several wafers are transferred. Therefore, as the number of wafers to be transferred increases, the transfer time increases accordingly. Therefore, in a film forming apparatus, usually, a dummy wafer is always held by a boat. According to such a configuration, the number of wafers to be transferred can be reduced, so that the wafer transfer time can be shortened.

[0009]

However, in the case where the dummy wafer is always held by the boat, there have conventionally been the following two problems.

The first problem is that there is a possibility that the dummy wafer may fall or the wafer transfer device may be destroyed. That is, when the boat is moved in and out of the reaction chamber, the position of the dummy wafer is shifted due to the vibration of the boat. Therefore, if the boat is moved in and out of the reaction chamber many times, the positional shift of the dummy wafer is accumulated, and in the worst case, the dummy wafer may drop or the wafer transfer device may be broken.

The second problem is that there is a risk that particles will be generated due to peeling of the thin film formed on the dummy wafer or the like. That is, in the case of a configuration in which the dummy wafer is always held by the boat, the same dummy wafer is subjected to the film forming process many times. As a result, the thin film formed on the dummy wafer becomes thick. As the thickness of the thin film increases, the thin film is easily peeled or chipped. As a result, when the thin film becomes thicker, there is a risk that particles are generated.

Such a problem arises because the operator of the film forming apparatus manages the state of the apparatus (the number of executions of the film forming process on the same dummy wafer, the accumulated film thickness, etc.), and performs predetermined processing (removal of the dummy wafer) on the dummy wafer. (E.g., loading processing and replacement processing).

However, such a configuration has the following two problems.

The first problem is that the burden on the operator increases because the operator must manage the state of the apparatus.

The second problem is that there is a high possibility that a management mistake (miscount of the number of executions of the film formation process, forgetting to replace the dummy wafer, etc.) is high, and the above two problems are not sufficiently solved. is there.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus capable of preventing generation of particles due to dropping of a pseudo substrate, destruction of a substrate transfer machine, peeling of a thin film, etc., without increasing the burden on an operator. Aim.

[0017]

In order to achieve the above object, a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention transports a plurality of substrates to a processing chamber while holding the plurality of substrates by a substrate holder. A quasi-substrate for performing a predetermined process and eliminating the difference between the number of substrates required to stabilize the internal state of the processing chamber and the number of substrates to be processed at once at the substrate holder. A condition determination unit that determines whether a condition for performing a predetermined pseudo-substrate process on the pseudo substrate is held in the held device, and the condition determination unit determines that the condition is satisfied. And processing means for performing a predetermined pseudo substrate processing on the pseudo substrate.

In the above arrangement, first, the processing condition determining means determines whether or not a condition for performing a predetermined pseudo substrate processing on the pseudo substrate is satisfied. If it is determined that the condition is satisfied by the determination process, the processing unit performs a predetermined process for the pseudo substrate on the pseudo substrate, for example, a process of re-transferring or replacing the pseudo substrate. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the generation of particles due to the drop of the pseudo substrate, the destruction of the substrate transfer device, the peeling of the thin film, and the like without increasing the burden on the operator.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are block diagrams showing the configuration of an embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. In the drawings, a film forming apparatus for forming a thin film on a semiconductor device wafer is shown as a representative example of a substrate processing apparatus. Also,
In the figure, a vertical CVD (Chem) is used as this film forming apparatus.
The following is a representative example of an Ionic Vapor Deposition apparatus.

The film forming apparatus according to the present embodiment
It has a mechanism unit and a control unit. Here, the mechanism section is a section for transferring a wafer stored in a cassette to a reaction chamber and forming a thin film in the reaction chamber. On the other hand, the control unit controls the operation of the mechanism unit. FIG.
FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the control unit, and FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the mechanism unit.

First, in order to make the configuration of the control unit shown in FIG. 1 easy to understand, the configuration of the mechanical unit shown in FIG. 2 will be described. In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes a mechanism. This mechanism section 100
Reactor 101, boat 102, boat elevator 1
03, a cassette shelf 104, and a wafer transfer machine 105.

Here, the reaction furnace 101 is a furnace for forming a reaction chamber for forming a thin film on a wafer. Boat 1
02 has a function of holding the wafer when a thin film is formed on the wafer. The boat 102 can hold a plurality of wafers at a time. This boat 1
In 02, R1 indicates a region holding the wafer W1 to be processed, and R2 and R3 indicate regions holding the dummy wafer W2. As shown, the dummy wafer W2
Are arranged above and below the holding region R1 of the wafer W1 to be processed. Boat elevator 103
Has a function of carrying the boat 102 into and out of the reaction chamber.

The cassette shelf 104 has a function of temporarily storing a cassette when a cassette is carried in or out of the apparatus. The wafer transfer device 105 has a function of transferring the wafer W1 between the cassette stored in the cassette shelf 104 and the boat 102. The above is the configuration of the mechanism section 100 shown in FIG.

Next, the configuration of the control unit 200 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The illustrated control unit 200 includes a data display / input module 201 and a film formation sequence control data holding unit 20.
2, a film formation sequence control module 203, a dummy wafer processing control data holding unit 204, a dummy wafer processing control module 205, and a counter 206.
And a transfer equipment control module 207.

Here, the data display / input module unit 2
01 has a data input unit and a data display unit. The data input unit allows the operator to control the film forming sequence control data D
1 and processing control data D2 for dummy wafers. The data input unit is configured by, for example, an input device such as a keyboard and buttons. The data display unit has a function of displaying data input from the data input unit, data indicating a processing result of the film forming process, data indicating a processing result of the dummy wafer process, and the like. The data display unit is configured by an output device such as a picture tube display or a liquid crystal display.

The film forming sequence control data D1 is data for controlling a film forming sequence. here,
The film forming sequence is a sequence for forming a thin film on the wafer W1. In the following description, a sequence in a broad sense will be described as the film forming sequence. That is, a sequence from the loading of the wafer W1 into the apparatus to the formation of a thin film and the unloading of the wafer W1 on which the thin film is formed from the apparatus will be described.

The dummy wafer processing control data D2
Is data for controlling the processing for the dummy wafer. Here, the dummy wafer process refers to a process for preventing the dummy wafer W2 from falling or the like. As the processing for the dummy wafer, for example, the dummy wafer W
There is a process of re-mounting 2 and a process of replacing it. In addition to these, for example, there are also sequential processes such as recipes.

This dummy wafer processing is executed when a predetermined condition is satisfied. As the predetermined condition, for example, a condition that the cumulative film forming time of the dummy wafer W2 has reached a predetermined time is used. Whether or not the cumulative film formation time of the dummy wafer W2 has reached a predetermined time is determined, for example, by counting the cumulative film formation time of the dummy wafer W2 for each predetermined unit time, and this count value is determined by a predetermined threshold value. It is determined by determining whether or not the number has reached.

In such a configuration, the processing control data D2 for the dummy wafer includes processing display data D21 indicating the processing for the dummy wafer, unit time display data D22 indicating the unit time for counting, and a threshold value for determination. And threshold display data D23 indicating the threshold value.

Film formation sequence control data holding unit 202
Has a function of holding the film formation sequence control data D1 input from the data display / input module 201. The film formation sequence control module 203 generates a command C1 for controlling the film formation sequence based on the film formation sequence control data D1 held in the film formation sequence control data holding unit 202, and 204 is provided.

Dummy wafer processing control data holding unit 2
Reference numeral 04 has a function of holding the dummy wafer processing control data D1 input from the data display / input module 201. The counter 205 has a function of counting the cumulative film formation time of the dummy wafer W2 for each unit time. The counter 205 is configured on an internal memory of the dummy wafer processing control module 206, for example. The dummy wafer processing control module 206 includes:
On the basis of the dummy wafer processing control data D2 and the like held in the dummy wafer processing control data holding unit 204, a command C2 for instructing execution of the dummy wafer processing is generated and supplied to the transfer equipment control module 207. Has functions.

The transfer equipment control module 207 is a command C1 supplied from the film formation sequence control module 203 or the dummy wafer processing control module 206.
Alternatively, it has a function of controlling the film forming sequence and processing for dummy wafers by appropriately controlling the boat elevator 103, the cassette shelf 104, the wafer transfer device 105, and the like based on C2.

The operation of the above configuration will be described. First, a film forming sequence will be described with reference to FIG.

The cassette accommodating a plurality of wafers W1 to be formed is carried into the cassette shelf 104 manually or by a cassette transport device (not shown). When the loading process is completed, the plurality of wafers W stored in the cassette
1 is transferred to the region R1 of the boat 102 by one or several wafers by the wafer transfer machine 105. When this transfer processing is completed, the boat elevator 103 is raised and the boat 1
02 is carried into the reaction furnace 101. When the loading process is completed, a film forming process for forming a thin film on the wafer W1 and the dummy wafer W2 held in the boat 102 is performed.

When the film forming process is completed, the cassette elevator 103 descends, and the boat 102 is carried out of the reaction furnace 101. When the unloading process is completed, the boat 10
Wafer W1 held in wafer transfer device 10
5 is transferred to the cassette on the cassette shelf 104. When the transfer processing is completed, the cassette containing the wafer W1 is unloaded from the cassette shelf 104 to the outside of the apparatus manually or by a cassette transfer device. Hereinafter, the same operation is repeated. The above is the film forming sequence.

Next, the operation for controlling the film forming sequence will be described with reference to FIG.

In this case, first, processing for setting the film forming sequence control data D1 for controlling the film forming sequence is executed. This process is performed by the operator inputting the film forming sequence control data D1. This input operation is performed using the data input unit of the data display / input module 201. The input film formation sequence control data D1 is stored in the film formation sequence control data
02 is held.

When the setting process is completed, a command C1 for controlling the film forming sequence by the film forming sequence module 203 is issued based on the film forming sequence control data D1 held in the film forming sequence control data holding unit 202. Generated. This command C1 is supplied to the transfer equipment control module 207.

The transfer equipment control module 207 appropriately controls the boat elevator 103, the cassette shelf 104, the wafer transfer machine 105 and the like based on the command C1. As a result, the film forming sequence is controlled based on the film forming sequence control data D1. The above is the operation for controlling the film forming sequence.

Next, the operation of controlling the processing for the dummy wafer will be described with reference to FIGS. here,
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing this control.

In this case, first, processing for setting processing control data D2 for a dummy wafer is performed (step S1).
1). This process is performed by the operator inputting the dummy wafer process control data D2. This input operation is performed using the data input unit of the data display / input module 201. The input dummy wafer processing control data D2 is held in the dummy wafer processing control data holding unit 204. By this setting process, the process display data D21 indicating the process for the dummy wafer and the unit time display data D22 indicating the unit time for the count.
And threshold display data D23 indicating a threshold for counting are set.

When the setting process is completed, the dummy wafer process control module 206 determines whether or not the condition for counting the cumulative film forming time of the dummy wafer is satisfied (step S12). That is, it is determined whether or not the cumulative film formation time of the dummy wafer has elapsed by a predetermined unit time from the previous count time. Here, the cumulative film formation time of the dummy wafer is determined by monitoring the operation of the film formation sequence control module 203, for example. The predetermined unit time is determined based on the unit time display data D22 held in the dummy wafer processing control data holding unit 204.

If the count condition is not satisfied, the determination process is continued. On the other hand, when the count condition is satisfied, the count value of the counter 205 is incremented by the dummy wafer processing control module 206 (step S13).

When the increment processing is completed, the dummy wafer processing control module 206 determines whether or not the count value of the counter 205 has reached a predetermined threshold (step S14). That is, it is determined whether or not the condition for executing the processing for the dummy wafer is satisfied. Here, the threshold is the threshold display data D held in the processing control data holding unit 204 for the dummy wafer.
23 is determined.

If the count value has not reached the threshold value, the process returns to step S12, and the above-described counting operation is performed again. On the other hand, when the count value reaches the threshold value, the command C2 for instructing execution of the dummy wafer processing is generated by the dummy wafer processing control module 206 (step S15). Here, the processing for the dummy wafer is performed by the processing control data holding unit 2 for the dummy wafer.
The determination is made based on the processing display data D21 stored in the storage unit 05.

Processing control module 20 for dummy wafer
6 is supplied to the transfer equipment control module 207. Transfer equipment control module 2
At 07, the wafer transfer device 105 and the like are appropriately controlled based on the command C2. Thus, a predetermined dummy wafer process is performed. That is, re-transfer processing, replacement processing, and the like of the dummy wafer W2 are executed.

The process of re-transferring the dummy wafer W2 is performed, for example, by re-transferring the dummy wafer W2 held in the boat 102 to the boat 102 by the wafer transfer machine 105. In the replacement process of the dummy wafer W2, for example, the old dummy wafer W2 held in the boat 102 is taken out by the wafer transfer device 105, and the new dummy wafer W2 is replaced with the wafer transfer device 1
05.

When the command C2 generation processing is completed, the count value of the counter 205 is cleared by the dummy wafer processing control module 206 (step S1).
6). Thereafter, the process returns to step S12, and the counting operation of the counter 205 is performed again. Hereinafter, similarly,
Unless the dummy wafer processing control data D2 is changed, the processing sequence of steps S12 to S16 is repeated as a normal processing sequence. On the other hand, when the processing control data D2 for the dummy wafer is changed, the processing is started from step S11.

The above is the control operation of the dummy wafer processing. In this control operation, the threshold value for executing the processing for the dummy wafer is set to a different value for each dummy wafer processing (re-transfer processing or replacement processing of the dummy wafer W2). For example, dummy wafer W
The threshold value for executing the second re-transfer process is set to a value smaller than the threshold value for executing the replacement process. this is,
This is because the re-transfer processing of the dummy wafer W2 needs to be performed before the replacement processing.

According to the present embodiment described above, it is automatically determined whether or not the condition for performing the dummy wafer processing on the dummy wafer W2 is satisfied. Automatically performs dummy wafer processing, thereby preventing generation of particles due to dropping of the dummy wafer W2, destruction of the wafer transfer device 105, peeling of the thin film, and the like without increasing the burden on the operator. be able to.

As described above, one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

For example, in the above embodiment, it is determined whether or not the cumulative film formation time of the dummy wafer W2 has reached a predetermined time, thereby performing the dummy wafer processing on the dummy wafer W2. A case has been described in which it is determined whether or not the condition (1) is satisfied. However, the present invention determines whether the cumulative thickness of the dummy wafer W2 or the number of executions of the film formation has reached a predetermined thickness or the number of times, and thereby performs processing for the dummy wafer W2 on the dummy wafer W2. It may be determined whether or not a condition for applying is fulfilled.

In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a film forming apparatus for forming a predetermined thin film on a wafer has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to a wafer processing apparatus other than the film forming apparatus.
For example, the present invention can be applied to an oxide film forming apparatus for forming an oxide film on a wafer or an impurity doping apparatus for adding impurity atoms to a wafer.

In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a wafer processing apparatus has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to a substrate processing apparatus that processes a substrate other than a wafer. For example, the present invention can be applied to a glass substrate processing apparatus for processing a glass substrate of a liquid crystal display device.

In addition, it goes without saying that the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0057]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is automatically determined whether or not a condition for performing the pseudo substrate processing on the pseudo substrate is satisfied.
Precise substrate processing is automatically performed on the pseudo substrate, preventing the occurrence of particles due to dropping of the pseudo substrate, destruction of the substrate transfer machine, peeling of the thin film, etc. without increasing the burden on the operator can do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit of an embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mechanical unit of the substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

100: mechanical unit, 101: reaction furnace, 102: boat, 1
03: boat elevator, 104: cassette shelf, 105
... Wafer transfer machine, 200 ... Control unit, 201 ... Data display / input module, 202 ... Film formation sequence control data holding unit, 203 ... Film formation sequence control module, 2
04 ... Dummy wafer processing control data holding unit, 205
... Counter, 206 ... Dummy wafer processing control module, 207 ... Transfer equipment control module.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for transporting a plurality of substrates to a processing chamber while holding the substrates by a substrate holder, and performing predetermined processing on the plurality of substrates in the processing chamber. In a substrate processing apparatus holding a pseudo substrate for eliminating a difference between the number of substrates necessary for stabilizing the internal state of the substrate and the number of substrates to be actually processed at once, Condition determining means for determining whether a condition for performing the pseudo substrate processing is satisfied; and when the condition determining means determines that the condition is satisfied, the predetermined pseudo substrate A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: processing means for performing a process for use.