JPS62238621A - Semiconductor manufacturing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To quickly find a unit having little endurance and to improve the efficiency of exchange of units, by storing data on how much principal units constituting a system have been used and graphically displaying them. CONSTITUTION:Data on how much a unit has been used, namely on extent of its use and data on residual endurance of a unit are classified in two terms of a residual period to the end of lifetime and a residual period to the next maintenance of the unit. When stepper idling is released, a wafer printing program is started and an endurance diagnostic program is called out. Proportions of the lifetime and the residual endurance are calculated based on data on extent of use of the unit stored in a non-volatile memory. An alarm routine, a display routine and a diagnosis mode routine are then carried out sequentially. If the extent of use has exceeded a specification limit level, an alarm message is changed to a stop demanding message so as to demand an operator to stop the system. If it is desired to make a graphical display of residual endurances, conversion to the display routine is selected in the diagnostic mode routine included in the part-way monitoring routine.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus with a self-diagnosis function that automatically diagnoses the life span, etc. of each unit constituting the apparatus.

[Description of Prior Art] Semiconductor manufacturing equipment, particularly a reduction projection printing apparatus (stepper), includes a printing illumination system unit, a shutter and alignment scope unit, an alignment laser unit, a mask stage unit, a reduction projection lens unit, and a wafer supply system unit. It is composed of a number of various units such as , and the Quaha stage unit.

By the way, in conventional steppers, there is little information about the lifespan of each unit, and only some units have a meter for usage time. Therefore, when using such a stepper, in most cases the user records the usage time of each unit during actual operation, and based on this record, each unit calculates its own endurance time. They determined how much the unit was being used and performed maintenance such as replacing and refueling each unit. Therefore, in a stepper that is made up of many units as described above, the durability of one unit may expire without you noticing, and there is a high possibility that that unit will fail and the entire system will suddenly go down. In some cases, it takes time to recover, and as a result, there is a problem that the throughput of the process for the user's factory query becomes poor.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and is a method for accumulating the usage of at least each major unit constituting the device in a semiconductor manufacturing device such as a semiconductor printing device (stepper, etc.). , and add this as needed to the eggplant J-1.
It is possible to quickly identify units that are running low, and therefore to efficiently replace units in each part, thereby increasing the reliability of the entire device. In addition, the goal is to improve the throughput of the device, or in the case of a semiconductor printing device, the throughput of the wafer tip.

[Explanation of Examples] Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a stepper (semiconductor printing apparatus) according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 2 to 10 are unit groups that constitute this stepper, 2 is a burning lamp (lamp unit) made of a halogen lamp, etc., 3 is a unit consisting of a burning shutter and an alignment scope, and 4 is a laser power monitor. , 5 is an alignment laser, 6 is a mask stage unit, 7 is a reduction projection printing lens unit, 8 is a first wafer supply system (wafer supply hand) unit, 9 is a second wafer supply m&c wafer carrier) unit, 10 is a wafer stage (high precision XY
stage) unit. Reference numeral 11 denotes a mount (foundation base) on which the entire stepper is mounted.

Further, 12 is a control device for controlling the unit groups 2 to 10, and 13 is a half mirror for distributing laser light. 1
4 is a console for managing the entire operation of this stepper via the control device 12, 14a is a monitor screen for display, and 14b is a keyboard for inputting commands.

Arrows A and B indicate the path through which the light from the printing halogen lamp 2 passes through a mask (not shown) set on the mask stage 6 and is reduced and projected onto a square (not shown) placed on the wafer stage 10. shows. Arrow C indicates a path through which light from the laser unit 5 for wafer alignment (aligning the optical axes of the mask and lens with the wafer) is introduced into the laser power monitor 4, alignment scope 3, printing lens 7, and the like. Further, solid lines and arrows centered on the control device 12 indicate control signals and status signals exchanged between the control device 12 and each unit.

FIG. 2a shows the internal configuration of the control device 12 in FIG. 1. FIG. 2b shows the internal structure of a conventional stepper control device. In the figure, 16 is a controller (CPU) which is the central part of the control device 12, and 17 is a memory for holding various general-purpose data for the controller 16. Further, 18 is a path for input/output signals of the CPU, that is, status signals and control signals of each unit 2 to 10, and 19 is a path for various data generated when the CPU 16 operates. The control device 12 shown in FIG. 2a has a series of non-volatile memories 20 added to the conventional example shown in FIG. This is what I did. 2
2 is a path for usage data for each unit. This fire resistance diagnosis program writes the usage progress and cumulative usage of each unit to the memory 20, reads the cumulative usage data from this memory 20, and uses this as basic data to calculate the lifespan of each unit or the next Calculate the remaining fire resistance until maintenance and the ratio (%) of this remaining fire resistance to the lifespan or maintenance standard value,
This calculation result is graphically displayed on the display monitor screen 14a of the console 14.

Here, regarding the usage level and residual fire resistance of the unit, 2
It shall be viewed from two points of view. In other words, we will consider the remaining period until each unit's lifespan and the remaining period until maintenance. Furthermore, the definition of unit maintenance here applies only to units that have not reached the end of their lifespan but require inspection or repair. Furthermore, the above-mentioned usage level of the unit is defined as data created by comprehensively evaluating the driving time of the unit, the number of driving times, the illuminance power of the lamp or laser, and the like. For example, for units such as lenses, stages, and wafer carriers, it is difficult to define the number of times they are driven and the illuminance power, so usage data is created based only on the total driving time. It is more appropriate to measure the usage of a unit by the number of times it is driven than by the number of times it is driven, so we mainly create usage data based on the number of times it is driven, and for units such as halogen lamps and alignment lasers, the light The strength of the light is a very important issue, and the variation in the lifespan calculated based on the driving time is also quite large. Create data.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a display for showing the user the percentage (%) of the remaining fire resistance until the life of each unit, which is calculated based on the basic data described above.

The bar graph in Figure 3 shows the percentage of residual fire resistance for each unit, and is calculated by dividing the cumulative usage of the unit by the life standard value, which is different for each unit. It is expressed as a percentage. In addition, the vertical line perpendicular to the bar graph for each unit is the threshold value (warning level) indicating that the fire resistance has deteriorated.

Further, FIG. 4 is an example in which the percentage (%) of the remaining fire resistance (remaining usability) until the next maintenance is displayed in the same manner as in FIG. 3 described above.

In Figures 5 and 6, square tiles are set up for each unit, and the remaining refractory level or remaining usable dust is displayed in stages depending on the color or density inside the square tiles. This is a modified method. The feature of this method is that compared to the display methods shown in Figures 3 and 4, it is difficult to grasp quantitative information in detail, but on the other hand, it is more efficient in using the screen relative to the number of units, so there are many ( This display method has the advantage of being able to display the status of the unit. Therefore, especially when initializing the usage level, this display method allows you to quickly search for the desired item (unit).

Next, the operation of the stepper shown in FIG. 1 will be explained with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 7 to 13.

FIG. 7 shows the relationship between the above-mentioned refractory diagnosis program and the wafer baking program.

Referring to FIG. 1, when stepper idling is released in the stepper of FIG. 1, a wafer baking program is activated, and a refractory diagnosis program is called in a form similar to a subroutine of the wafer baking program. The first thing that is called is the start processing routine of the fire resistance diagnostic program. In this routine, first, the usage data is loaded from the nonvolatile memory 20 to the usage count memory area provided in the general-purpose memory 17. Subsequently, after determining the life span and the percentage of remaining refractory strength until maintenance based on the data, the warning routine of FIG. 8, the display routine of FIG. 9, and the diagnostic motor routine of FIG. 10 are executed in order.

The warning routine in Figure 8 checks whether the usage of each unit exceeds the life and maintenance warning levels.
If it is exceeded, a warning will be displayed on the line at the bottom of the console screen. In addition, if the usage rate further exceeds the standard limit level (100% usage rate level), the warning message is changed to a stop request message, prompting the user to branch to the equipment stop routine (Figure 11). It is something. This warning routine is used not only in this start processing routine but also in the unit automatic check routine described later.

That is, in the warning routine of FIG. 8, first, it is determined whether the proportion of the residual fire resistance calculated above exceeds the first threshold value (warning level). If the limit has not been exceeded, this warning routine is immediately terminated and the process proceeds to the next display routine (FIG. 9). On the other hand, if the percentage of residual fire resistance exceeds the first threshold value, the console screen (
After issuing a warning on the bottom line of FIGS. 3 to 6), it is further determined whether the proportion of this residual fire resistance exceeds a second threshold value (standard limit level). If the limit has not been exceeded, the process moves to the above-mentioned display routine (FIG. 9), and if it has exceeded the limit, the alarm is made louder, the display at the bottom of the console screen is changed to a stop message, and a command from the console key 14b is awaited. Here, when a stop command is input manually from the console key, the process proceeds to the device stop routine shown in Figure 11 and uses FIFIv-1-tL, J, $+1rkrry.
After transferring the usage data such as ``Lkb''e4qi+, %L&M--,'' to the nonvolatile memory 20, the process proceeds to the display routine (Fig. 9).On the other hand, when the operation continuation command is input, the operation continues as is. Proceed to the display routine (Figure 9).

The equipment stop routine shown in Figure 11 transfers the usage of each unit from the usage count memory to non-volatile memory before putting the stepper into the idling state, so that the contents are retained even when the stepper is in the idling state. It is something.

In the display routine shown in FIG. 9, the percentage of the remaining fire resistance is displayed on the console 14a in the form of a bar graph or tiles. This display routine is for displaying the lifespan and maintenance durability on the console L4a, and here two display types are prepared: A and B (A is a bar graph display, B is a tile display). It is. In other words, the life display type is replacement mode A (C
IA) (shown in Figure 3) and exchange mode B (CHB) (
The maintenance display types are maintenance mode A (MEA) (shown in FIG. 4) and maintenance mode B (MEB) (shown in FIG. 6).

Here, at the start of this display routine, a menu as shown in FIG. 15 is first displayed on the console 14a, and the above-mentioned display type is selected by inputting from the console key 14b at this time. These display types are changed according to the display situation, for example, the display in the start processing routine is exchange mode B, and the display in the en route inspection routine described later is exchange mode A. The display type may be preset according to the previous and subsequent processing.

In this display routine, the percentage of remaining durability rings is displayed on the console 14a in the form of a bar graph or tiles, and then the diagnostic mode routine is entered.

In this diagnostic mold routine, first, the console 14a displays the warning level and warning level as shown in FIG.
A menu is displayed to select which mode to select from usage initialization/equipment stop routine and mode termination. Therefore, if the operator or the like inputs the number of the desired routine out of these four using the keyboard 14b on the console, the routine moves to that routine. Additionally, the four routines within the diagnostic mote routine are its child routines, each with a
1. It will look like Figures 12 and 13.

In this diagnostic motor routine, if there is no need to set a warning level or initialize usage due to unit replacement or maintenance, the device will start this routine when the operator etc. inputs 5°° (mode end) from the keyboard 14b. routine) and returns to the wafer baking program. After processing the wafer baking process of the wafer baking program and then updating the usage of each unit, it is checked whether or not the time preset as the automatic diagnosis time has elapsed. If so, periodically move to the unit automatic check routine of the durability diagnostic program. When moving to this automatic check routine, first calculate the life of the unit and the percentage of remaining durability until maintenance, then
A warning routine (Figure 9) compares the value to first and second threshold values and issues a warning if the limit is exceeded. Thereafter, the process returns to the wafer baking routine, and it is checked whether a command to transition to another routine has been input from the console key 14b.

Therefore, if an operator or the like wants to view the remaining durability rings in a graph, they can input an execution command for this intermediate inspection routine, go to the intermediate inspection routine of the durability diagnosis program, and perform the diagnosis in it. In the remote routine, you can choose to proceed to the display routine.

If a command to request transition to another routine is not input, and after executing the above-mentioned intermediate inspection routine, return to the wafer baking program again and determine whether or not to perform subsequent baking processing. decide. If the wafer baking process is to be performed again, loopback is made to the previous process of the wafer baking process described above. Also, what if I don't want to do any more printing? /^ Go to the termination routine of the durable FIF stoppage program, and in the equipment stop routine (Figure 11), the usage from the two viewpoints of life and maintenance for each unit is stored in non-volatile memory. Record. Thereafter, the baking end routine ends, and the process returns to the wafer baking program to enter an andling state.

Note that the usage update check in the start processing routine shown in Figure 7 is performed when the life and maintenance period becomes earlier for some reason while the device is stopped (especially when the laser power or lamp illuminance power decreases). , refers to the process of re-creating the usage of that unit. Further, it is assumed that the above-mentioned usage update processing and checking are performed by updating the usage count memory (part of the memory on the general-purpose memory 17) that holds the usage data. Furthermore, the above-mentioned automatic diagnosis time also uses a part of the memory on the general-purpose memory 17 as an automatic diagnosis counter memory, and starts counting immediately after the idling is released and after the usage is read in the start processing routine. However, when it reaches a certain level, the count value is cleared to zero again, and then the unit automatic check routine is executed.

When the warning level setting routine is selected in accordance with the menu (FIG. 14) displayed in the diagnostic motor routine (FIG. 10), the process shifts to FIG. 12. This warning level setting routine is for changing the settings of warning levels for life and maintenance durability. here,
The definition of the warning level is that a warning is issued when the unit has not reached its lifespan or maintenance period (standard limit level), but is approaching it to a certain extent (for example, when it has reached 70% to 90%). This refers to the line drawn on the durability graph on the console screen for this purpose (this is shown in Figures 3 and 4).

That is, referring to FIG. 12, in this warning level setting routine, first, the menu screen of FIG. The user is asked to select a number from 1 to 3.

When 1 or 2 is entered from the console 14b or the like, a bar graph of durability corresponding to that number is displayed on the CRT screen of the console L4a (FIG. 3 or 4). Here, when the operator or the like moves the cursor set on the warning level line on the graph using the keys on the console, the CPU 16 detects this cursor position and sets the warning level of the corresponding durability (unit) to this cursor. Change to position. If setting routine "3" is selected, this warning level setting routine is ended and the process returns to the wafer baking program.

The usage initialization routine shown in Figure 13 is used to initialize (set to zero) the usage of the unit after the unit reaches the end of its life and is replaced, or when maintenance is due and maintenance is performed. It is.

Referring to FIG. 13, in this routine, first,
The menu screen shown in FIG. 17 is displayed, and a request is made to select one of the lifespan, maintenance usage level, and routine end, that is, any one of numbers 1 to 3. When an operator or the like inputs a desired number from the console in response to this menu display, CPU1[+ displays the durability corresponding to that number on the screen (Figures 3 and 4 or Figure 5.6). ). Here, when the operator etc. moves the cursor on the display using the keys on the console 14b to match the item to be initialized, and inputs a command by pressing the "line feed" key, etc., the unit can be used. Execute the initialization of the degree.

[Modifications of Embodiments] Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications. For example, in the above, one console is used for various displays by switching the display on the console for each operation stage, but the data on the durability ratio and the warning message as well as the menu item "Imi Leco/1 Nord" are displayed on the console. It is also possible to have one calendar with one card and one with an odor. The advantage of this method is that durability and warning messages are constantly being checked even if the console screen is being used for other displays during the wafer bake process.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, since the usage time of each unit of the device is grasped and the life span is diagnosed,
The status of the entire device can now be managed on a unit-by-unit basis.
It is possible to increase the reliability of the entire device by replacing units whose durability has decreased with new ones.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is a block diagram of the entire control system of a stepper (semiconductor printing apparatus) according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2a is a diagram of the internal configuration of the control device in the stepper control system of FIG. 1; and FIG. 2b The figure is a diagram showing the internal configuration of the control device of the control system in a conventional stepper. Figures 3 to 6 are diagrams showing examples of durability display screens for each unit on the console in Figure 1, and Figures 7 to 13 are respectively. , a flowchart for explaining the operation of the stepper in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 14 to 17 are menu display screens on the console at each stage when the stepper in FIG. 1 operates according to the flowcharts in FIGS. 7 to 13. It is a figure which shows an example. 2: Illumination system, 3: Wafer alignment scope unit, 4: Laser power monitor, 5: Alignment laser, 6: Mask stage unit, 7: Reduced projection printing lens unit, 8: First wafer supply system unit, 9 : second wafer supply system unit, 10: wafer stage unit, mount for the entire 11 system, 12: control device,
13: Half mirror for laser beam distribution 114: Console, 14a: Display monitor display inside the console,
14b: Keyboard inside the console, 16: Controller, 17: General-purpose memory, 18: Control signals and status signals for each unit, 19: Paths for various data, 20/Non-volatile memory, 21: Memory for life diagnosis program for each unit Area 22: Path of usage time data for each unit, A, B: Path of light from the halogen lamp, C: Path of light from the alignment laser. Patent Applicant Canon Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Tatsuo Ito Agent Patent Attorney Tetsuya Ito Fig. 2b □ Fig. 7 Fig. 8 Fig. 11 Fig. 12 Fig. 13 q 14 514 t'i contrast i- Dollar - Now Menier Omoteya Ichi J Figure 17 fbino1゜i = 5,
17. -. A=--Drink□, 41 Nanami Gekijira

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Means for measuring the degree of use of at least a plurality of main units constituting the device during a power-on period, a non-volatile storage device, and the above measurement data and this storage device. Based on the data stored in the data stored in means for calculating the remaining durability or remaining usability, which is the difference between the two; and memory updating means for writing the accumulated usage data, the remaining durability or the remaining usability data into the storage device at predetermined timings; Means for graphically displaying the remaining durability or remaining usability of each unit based on the remaining durability or remaining usability data or from the maximum durability or maintenance standard value data and cumulative usage data. A semiconductor manufacturing device comprising: 2. A patent claim in which the graphic display means includes a display device and a display control means for converting the remaining durability or remaining usability into a percentage of the maximum durability or maintenance standard value and displaying it on the display device. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to item 1. 3. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display control means causes the display device to display the percentage of the remaining durability or remaining usability of each unit as a bar graph. 4. The display control means sets an area on the screen of the display device in which a plurality of squares corresponding to each of the units are arranged in a tiled manner vertically and horizontally, and each square is arranged so as to display the squares of the corresponding unit. 3. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is colored and displayed in a color corresponding to the proportion of remaining durability or remaining usability. 5. Has a console for command and data entry;
Claim 1: The graphical display is performed according to commands and data input from the console.
The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 4. 6. Any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the graphic display is performed after a power-on reset of the device.
The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus described in . 7. means for setting a predetermined threshold value for the percentage of the remaining durability or remaining usability of each unit;
Claims 1 to 6, further comprising means for detecting and warning that the ratio has reached this threshold value.
The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus described in . 8. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the warning means generates one or more warnings among a warning alarm, a warning message, and a stop request message. 9. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the graphic display is automatically performed at regular intervals during a wafer processing process.