JPH11191583A - Wafer transfer controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wafer transfer controller, capable of simplifying a specified work of the transfer position of a monitor wafer. SOLUTION: A vertical-type reaction furnace 1, which performs processings such as film formation for a wafer, is provided with heaters 2. A boat 3, on which the wafers are transferred vertically in multi-stages, is carried into and carried out from the furnace port at the lower part of the reaction furnace 1. The wafers are transferred on the boat 3 from a cassette 5, containing the process wafers and the monitor wafers with a transfer machine 4. The transfer operation of the transfer machine 4 is controlled by a control means 6. The control means 6 has a processing part, which generates the transfer position data of the monitor wafer, when a lot number, number of wafers in a lot, the data of the presence or absence of the monitor wafers which are provided between the lots and the like are set.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer transfer control device for performing a wafer transfer operation and control between a cassette and a boat in a vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus used in semiconductor manufacturing, and the like. In particular, the present invention relates to a wafer transfer control device that can simplify creation of monitor wafer transfer position data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus, etc.,
A vertical boat that transfers wafers in multiple stages up and down is used. The boat has a plurality of columns in which wafer transfer grooves are formed at equal intervals, and wafers are inserted and supported in the transfer grooves of these columns. Wafers are transferred from a cassette for storing wafers to a boat by a transfer machine, and the wafers transferred to the boat are carried into a furnace such as a vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus, where processing such as film formation is performed.

By the way, when transferring wafers to a boat,
There is a monitor wafer transfer method that transfers test monitor wafers between lots of product process wafers, etc. (see Fig. 2). For each batch of loading a boat into the furnace and processing it, It was specified whether to transfer the monitor wafer to the groove. The designation depends on the number of lots to be transferred to the boat, the number of wafers in one lot, the location between the lots (or up and down lots) where monitor wafers are installed, and the setting of the top groove for transferring wafers to the boat. The operator has manually calculated the transfer groove positions on the boat for all the monitor wafers to be transferred.

[0004]

However, the number of lots to be transferred to a boat and the installation location of monitor wafers, etc.
Since each batch process is not constant and differs, each time it is necessary for the operator to calculate the transfer groove position of the monitor wafer, the work of designating the transfer position of the monitor wafer is complicated, and the burden on the operator is large. It took time to work. In addition, there is also a risk of a calculation error when calculating the transfer position or an input error when inputting the calculated transfer position of the monitor wafer to the control system of the transfer machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and can simplify the operation of designating the transfer position of the monitor wafer, reduce the burden on the operator, improve the operation efficiency, and reduce the operation error. It is an object to provide a wafer transfer control device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a wafer transfer control device according to the present invention comprises a transfer device for transferring a wafer between a cassette and a boat, and a transfer device for transferring the wafer to the boat. The transfer position data of the monitor wafer is obtained based on the data on the number of wafers of each lot to be performed and the presence / absence data of monitor wafers installed between lots or above and below the lot, and the transfer position data is obtained based on the obtained transfer position data. And control means for controlling the operation of the mounting machine.

In this way, the control means only gives the control means the data on the number of wafers of each lot transferred to the boat and the presence / absence data of monitor wafers installed between lots or above and below the lot. Since the transfer position data is created, the operation of specifying the monitor wafer transfer position can be automated and simplified, and the work efficiency and reliability can be improved.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus using one embodiment of a wafer transfer control device of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a vertical reaction furnace for performing processing such as diffusion and film formation on a wafer, and a heater 2 for heating the inside of the furnace is provided on the outer periphery of the reaction furnace 1. At the same time, the boat 3 on which the wafer has been transferred is carried in / out from the furnace port at the lower part of the reaction furnace 1. The boat 3 has a plurality of columns 3a in which grooves for wafer transfer (not shown) are formed at equal intervals, and wafers are inserted into the transfer grooves of the columns 3a, so that the The wafers are transferred in multiple stages up and down. Process wafers and test monitor wafers, which are products, are stored in the cassette 5 and are transferred from the cassette 5 to the boat 3 by the transfer machine 4. The operation of the transfer machine 4 is controlled by the control means 6.

FIGS. 2 (1) to 2 (4) show examples of wafer transfer in which monitor wafers 7 are installed between lots (or up and down lots) when the number of process wafers is four. The control unit 6 is provided with a processing unit that creates transfer position data of the monitor wafer 7 based on the lot number data of each lot and the presence / absence data of the monitor wafer 7 installed between the lots.

Next, an example of a processing program for creating the transfer position data of the monitor wafer in the processing section of the control means 6 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 3A is a flowchart of the main program, and FIG. 3B is a flowchart of a subprogram for performing parameter initialization processing.

First, parameters used for executing the processing are initialized (step S1, step S1).
1). The parameters to be initialized are AF. A is a lot-to-lot counter (including the lot vertical position) on which the monitor wafer is installed, and 1 is set as an initial value in the lot-to-lot counter A (where 1 is a monitor on the top lot 1). The position where the wafer is transferred is shown). For example,
When the total lot number is 10 (FIG. 4 (3)), the transfer position where the monitor wafer is installed is above the uppermost lot 1 (A = 1) and between the lots (A = 2 to 10). ), And 11 places below the lowest lot 10 (A = 11).

Reference numeral B denotes a transfer groove counter of the boat. The initial value of the transfer groove counter B is set to the value of the uppermost transfer groove of the wafer to be transferred to the boat as an initial value. C is 1
This is the number of wafers in a lot. In the case of 10 wafers, C = 10
And D is the number of lots to be transferred, and D = 10 for 10 lots.

E is a setting table (E table) for setting whether or not to transfer a monitor wafer installed between lots. The E table is, for example, a table for designating to which transfer position the monitor wafer is to be transferred among the 11 monitor wafer transfer positions existing when the total lot number is 10. When a position is designated, the corresponding address (position) in the E table is set to "present" (for example, 1), and when not designated, "none" (for example, 0) is set.
In the case of 10 lots, when all the transfer positions are designated, as shown in FIG. 4A, all the 11 addresses are set to “Yes”. F is a monitor wafer transfer groove setting table (F table) which stores the monitor wafer transfer grooves calculated by this program. As an initial value, all addresses in the F table are set to 0.

Next, the A-th table (address A, #
A) It is determined whether or not monitor wafer transfer is specified in (A is the current value of the inter-lot counter A) (step S).
2). If the designation is "none", the process jumps to step S5. On the other hand, when the designation is "Yes", the value (the number of grooves) of the transfer groove counter B of the boat is input to the A-th (address A, #A) of the F table (step S3), and one monitor Since the transfer of the wafer has been designated, the value of the transfer groove counter B is reduced by one, and the value of the transfer groove counter B is changed to the top groove number of the next lot (step S4).

Next, after the value of the lot-to-lot counter A is increased by one to change the designation target of the monitor wafer to the next lot (transfer position) (step S5), the lot currently targeted is changed. It is determined whether or not it exists (step S
6). If the lot number D is D = 0, it is determined that there is no lot to be transferred, and the process proceeds to step S9. On the other hand, when D ≠ 0, the process proceeds to the next step S7, in which the number of wafers C for one lot is reduced from the transfer groove counter B, and the transfer is changed to the transfer groove to be determined as the transfer target of the next monitor wafer. Further, the value of the lot number D is reduced by one and changed to the next target lot (step S8).

Next, it is determined whether or not the determination of the transfer groove for all lots of the monitor wafer has been completed (step S9). In the program shown in FIG. 3, the lot number D is set to 10, and therefore, there are 11 transfer positions between the lots of the monitor wafer, and the end of the determination is determined based on whether or not the current value of the inter-lot counter A is 12. . If A ≠ 12, it is determined that the transfer groove between all lots has not been determined, and the process returns to step S2 to continue the determination process.
When A = 12, the transfer groove determination processing program ends.

At the time of parameter initialization, B = 150, C =
10, when D = 10, and the E table is designated to install the monitor wafer at the transfer position between all lots as shown in FIG.
The F table is as shown in FIG. FIG. 4 (3) shows a result of transferring wafers to the boat 3 by controlling the transfer operation of the transfer machine 4 by the control means 6 of FIG. 1 using this F table.

As another example of wafer transfer, the uppermost transfer groove of the boat is 170, and the number of wafers in one lot is 2
5, the number of lots is 5, that is, the initial value of the parameter,
When B = 170, C = 25, and D = 5 are set, and the E table for setting whether or not the monitor wafer is transferred is specified as shown in FIG.
The table is as shown in FIG. 5 (2), and the wafer transfer pattern is as shown in FIG. 5 (3).

In the above embodiment, the wafers transferred to the boat are the process wafers and the monitor wafers. However, the wafers may be transferred to the upper side or the lower side of the boat. .

[0021]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
Data on the number of wafers of each lot transferred to the boat,
By simply giving the control means the data on the presence or absence of monitor wafers placed between lots (or above and below the lot) to the control means, monitor wafer transfer position data is created, making it easy to specify monitor wafer transfer positions. As a result, the burden on the worker can be reduced and the working efficiency can be improved, and work errors can be reduced and the reliability of the device can be improved. In addition, since the determination of the transfer position of the monitor wafer is supported for all lots, the applicable range is wide, and the utility value is high in wafer production and test.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vertical diffusion / CVD apparatus using an embodiment of a wafer transfer control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of wafer transfer in which a monitor wafer is installed between lots of process wafers.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing program for creating transfer position data of a monitor wafer.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a table for setting whether or not to transfer a monitor wafer between lots used in the processing program of FIG. 3, an example of a table for setting a groove for transferring a monitor wafer after execution of the program, and an example of setting a wafer to a boat. It is a figure showing an example of a transfer pattern.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a table for setting whether or not to transfer a monitor wafer between lots used in the processing program of FIG. 3, an example of a table for setting a groove for transferring a monitor wafer after execution of a program, and an example of setting a wafer to a boat. It is a figure showing an example of a transfer pattern.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reaction furnace 2 Heater 3 Boat 4 Transfer machine 5 Cassette 6 Control means 7 Monitor wafer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A transfer machine for transferring wafers between a cassette and a boat, data on the number of wafers of each lot transferred to the boat, and monitor wafers installed between lots or above and below the lot. Control means for obtaining transfer position data of the monitor wafer based on the presence / absence data and controlling the operation of the transfer machine based on the obtained transfer position data. apparatus.