KR20010067234A - Process control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a process control apparatus that can efficiently control micromachining of wafers, etc. CONSTITUTION: The process control apparatus comprises a processing equipment evaluating unit 14 for evaluating the capability of the processing equipment from the results of processing of products that are processed by the processing equipment that processes the products grouped into plurality of lots, and a lot selecting unit 15 for selecting a lot to be processed from plurality of lots based on the equipment capability evaluated by the processing equipment evaluating unit and the characteristics of plurality of lots.

Description

Process control unit {PROCESS CONTROL DEVICE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a process control apparatus for controlling a processing apparatus for processing a target object (hereinafter referred to as "product") in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display device. In particular, the present invention relates to a process control device that enables high-precision ultra-fine processing by evaluating in real time the capability of a processing device that is changed by processing.

In various semiconductor devices such as DRAMs, the processing results are often varied in order to perform the microfabrication processing close to the limit accuracy of the processing apparatus for manufacturing them. When the micromachining process fluctuates, there is a problem that the performance deterioration is unknown until the semiconductor chip is tested even though the microchip processing has a factor in which the performance of the semiconductor chip on the wafer subjected to the fluctuation is degraded. In order to solve this problem, in each processing step, it is automatically recorded what processing each processing apparatus has performed, and based on the recorded data, simulation of impurity implantation, shape formation, and simulation of a semiconductor chip are performed. A proposal has been disclosed for obtaining optimum manufacturing conditions and automatically setting a recipe after the next step (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-249328). When this technique is applied, when an unsuitable process is performed in the middle of the completion of the semiconductor chip, it becomes possible to perform a corrective process that prevents the performance deterioration in the process after the next step.

Moreover, even in the control process to which control was applied, the control may be artificially taken according to the data obtained by the inspection after the processing. For this reason, the optimization control and the high precision control over several processes were especially difficult through the artificial factor for control. In order to solve this problem, the following proposal (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-200301) was given. That is, a series of manufacturing processes are formed by matching each processing step and measurement process of the semiconductor device manufacturing process, and each processing step is intended to be adaptively controlled or feedforward (FF) controlled by data obtained in the measuring process. Moreover, it is comprised so that the conditions of the process process before and behind each process process may be controlled according to the data and design value acquired at the measurement process. By using this technique, the control of each processing process is automated and the optimization control between a some process process is attained. As a result, it becomes possible to obtain the high precision of control and the improvement of efficiency by this.

In recent years, in order to increase manufacturing efficiency, a production line in which a plurality of processing apparatuses are arranged in parallel in one processing step is often set. In the case where these manufacturing lines use two or more apparatuses arranged in the same parallel in two or more processing steps, it is proposed that the same lot should use the same apparatus (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-168865). By this method, each lot is processed by the same apparatus in a different processing process, and it becomes possible to acquire favorable characteristics.

The miniaturization of semiconductor devices is taking an ever-increasing shape, and in order to lower manufacturing costs, manufacturing facilities are also being intensified. The treatment conditions in each treatment step are also delicately adjusted, and highly precise ultrafine machining is performed under balance of many factors. For such a treatment apparatus, changing the treatment conditions has a risk of causing deterioration factors to be described as side effects in accordance with the change. Further, as a result of the advancement of the degree of miniaturization, even if the settings of the same processing conditions are maintained, the capability of the processing apparatus fluctuates with a certain tendency for each execution of the processing. When the processing conditions are changed due to necessity, the target value type or the processing result close to the target cannot be obtained unless the processing conditions are changed due to the change in the capacity of the processing apparatus.

In the case where the plurality of parallel processing apparatuses are used in two or more different processing steps, even if a method of using the same processing apparatus in the same lot (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-168865) is adopted, the recent manufacture of semiconductor devices It is insufficient for high precision ultra-fine processing required for. In ultra-fine processing, it is not clear whether it is appropriate to combine the same processing apparatus in the same lot. It is also assumed that a combination of different processing units in the same lot will yield desirable results. Therefore, only the control technology of the above-mentioned thought becomes the situation which cannot follow the recent trend of ultra miniaturization.

Therefore, the first object of the present invention is that, first of all, high precision micromachining can be performed without risk of changing the processing condition, and high precision micromachining can be performed by first changing the processing condition if necessary. To provide a process control device. In addition, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a flexible process control apparatus capable of changing the processing conditions for each product constituting the lot or selecting the lot or changing the processing conditions based only on the previous history. do.

In addition, as described above, as a result of the advance of micromachining of semiconductor devices, in the method of grasping the whole product as one unit as in the prior art, a portion entering the target range is limited to a narrow portion, and yield is lowered. Things may happen. Accordingly, a second object of the present invention is to provide a process control apparatus in which a large yield is secured by dividing a product into a plurality of regions and grasping a history (characteristic) for each region.

1 is a configuration diagram of a process control device according to the first embodiment;

2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a process control device in FIG. 1;

3 is a schematic illustration of a processing flow;

4 is a lot input flowchart;

5 is a diagram showing the data contents of a process route tag table;

6 is a flow chart of selection of a destination;

7 is a lot selection flowchart;

8 shows data contents of a control process table;

9 shows data contents of a feedforward lot data collection table;

10 shows data contents of a device state table;

11 is a diagram showing data contents of an FA terminal input table;

12 is a flowchart for determining processing / inspection conditions;

13 is a diagram showing data contents of a chip group;

14 is a diagram showing the data contents of a control condition selection table;

15 is a flow chart of processing / inspection start instruction;

16 is a flow chart of quality data collection;

17 shows data contents of a feedforward device data collection table;

18 is a quality check flowchart;

19 is a process completion processing flowchart;

20 is a view for explaining three reference examples when changing processing conditions;

21 is a view for explaining a method of thinking for setting processing conditions for each area;

(a) shows the area classification of a semiconductor wafer;

(b) is a diagram showing a method of setting processing for each region;

(c) shows the expected processing result;

(d) is a drawing showing the capability of each region of the processing apparatus for which processing conditions cannot be set for each region (where, in the case of having the apparatus characteristics for each region as shown in (d), the lot of characteristics shown in (b) is selected. Preferred),

22 is a view for explaining two processing steps according to the embodiment;

23 is a diagram showing each step centering on the oxide film dry etch of the treatment step of Example 1;

24 is a sectional view of a step of forming a resist pattern of etching;

25 is a cross-sectional view after etching is performed;

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a relationship between reflectance and a removal dimension in Example 2; FIG.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing reflectance, relative removal dimension, and variation of each wafer in Example 2. FIG.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

1: Process Control 2: FA Calculator

3: server for quality control 4: reference information storage

5: collection data storage unit 6: terminal input device

11: Lot input part 12: Return destination selector

13: lot characteristics derivation unit 14: device state derivation unit

15: Lot selection unit 16: Processing condition changing unit

17 processing / inspection control unit 18 quality data collection unit

21: resist 22: etching target film

23: Si substrate 35: center region of the wafer

36: peripheral area of the wafer 75: device control terminal

80: processing apparatus 90: inspection apparatus

95 conveyance means A dimension of coating portion of resist pattern

B: Dimension of the film part of the etching target film pattern

A process control apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention is a process control apparatus of a processing apparatus that processes a product classified into a plurality of lots. The process control apparatus is characterized in accordance with processing apparatus evaluating means for evaluating the capability of the processing apparatus from the processing result of the product processed by the processing apparatus, the capability of the processing apparatus evaluated by the processing apparatus evaluating means and the characteristics of the plurality of lots. And lot selecting means for selecting a lot to be processed from among the plurality of lots.

With this configuration, the processing apparatus can select a good lot having a good personality at that time from a plurality of lots. The processing unit that has selected the lot processes the lot according to the predetermined processing conditions. At that time, it is of course possible to change the processing conditions, but in the case of ultra-fine processing, the change of the processing conditions has a risk of being poorly processed by affecting the change at an unintentional specific place. To be able to do as close to the lot as possible as the target without bearing this risk is to have the ability to deviate from the goal of the processing device and the opposite trend without changing the processing conditions. To choose and process. For example, when a control process is an etching process and the etching apparatus in the state which has the etching speed larger than the average value in the horizontal direction of a pattern at that time is used, the lot whose resist pattern space | interval is narrower than a target value among several lots. Select. Etching by the apparatus in the above state is overetched, but when the resist pattern interval is narrow as in the lot, grooves having a width close to the target are formed.

The state (capacity) of the etching apparatus is measured in the inspection after the etching treatment with respect to the preceding product, and the history storage means reflects the new measured value as the number of treatments increases. The processing apparatus evaluating means usually derives while updating the apparatus capability by obtaining a moving average of several new data to reflect the latest apparatus capability. Alternatively, only the latest one data may be used.

As described above, there is no conventional control idea of making optimal lot selection in the device immediately before the processing. By applying this control idea, it becomes possible to perform a target value or a process close to the target value, without taking the risk of causing deterioration factors due to the change of the control condition at an unexpected place. For this reason, fluctuations between lots can be suppressed and a yield improvement can be obtained. In addition, it is possible to improve the reliability of ultra-fine processing and to perform the first-order ultra-fine processing using the same equipment without making a large investment in equipment compared to the case where this control device is not used. It becomes possible.

The process control apparatus according to the aspect further includes history storage means for storing a history, which is information on a processing result of a product processed by the processing apparatus, wherein the history includes the characteristics of the plurality of lots described above. do.

With this configuration, it is easy to compare the processing results between the plurality of processing steps, and the control of the processing steps can be improved both quantitatively and qualitatively. Moreover, since the information regarding the processing result of each processing process is received collectively between processing processes, application to another manufacturing line can be made easy. This history storage means may be divided into a characteristic storage means for storing measurement data and a process step storage means for storing processing conditions, and such a configuration is preferable for the organization of a large amount of data. In this case, the above-described history includes the following history in addition to the processing / inspection conditions and the processing / inspection results in a normal process.

(a) Monitor inspection data: For example, when a wafer is processed in 100 wafer units (25 lots, 4 lots), such as a diffusion treatment process, three dummy wafers are added, for example, images, It arrange | positions one by one in the lower position, and performs a total of 103 wafer processes. In this diffusion process, a batch number associated with the number of the four lots is assigned. The thickness measurement of a wafer is performed only about three sheets of a dummy. In the batch number of this diffusion process, the thickness dimension of the said three piles is recorded as a process result, and the thickness dimension is also recorded in the said 4 lot number. In this way, the data of the processing steps not processed for each lot number can of course be used as the history of the lot.

(b) Photo reproducing lot data: In the photolithography process, when the pattern is measured after applying the resist and combining the masks, when retrying for each wafer, the retrying wafers are collectively retried. . That is, the regeneration lot number is affixed, the first applied resist is peeled off, and is recoated to perform photolithography. The wafer which has been reprocessed is joined again to the parent group (lot) after the photolithography process, and the process proceeds together with the molot. As for the history of the wafer to which the reproduction lot number has been attached in this photolithography process, in the photolithography process, the retry processing conditions must be recorded as the history, and the actual retry processing conditions are recorded. Therefore, the process control is also performed in accordance with the processing conditions of this retry with respect to the retryed wafer.

In addition, when the process control apparatus of the present invention described above is applied to a retry processing process for a regeneration lot made of a retry product, the retry processing can be controlled by using the collected data of the previous process collected by Morot. . That is, the processing apparatus in the retry processing process of the regeneration lot which consists of retry products is also the object of application of the above-described process control apparatus of this invention.

The process control apparatus in the above aspect may further include lot characteristic detecting means for grasping the characteristics of the plurality of lots from the history of the preceding process rather than the processing step.

This configuration makes it possible to appropriately grasp the characteristics of the plurality of lots to be processed by numerical values. For example, the lot characteristic grasping means uses a target value of the history as a reference value with respect to the history of the previous process of the lot, and a shape value indicating a finish that changes up and down the reference value according to the history value. Can be derived. Further, the processing device evaluating means described above gives a position as a device having a reference value to a device having a reference value with respect to the value obtained from the history of the preceding product, and the value of the reference value according to the value. An instrumental deviation coefficient can be derived that represents the degree of capability of the device to fluctuate up and down. Further, the lot selecting means may select from among the lots in which the image or product of the instrument deviation coefficient with respect to the shape value is close to the image or product of the reference value of the instrument deviation coefficient with respect to the reference value of the lot, respectively. have. With this configuration, the lot selection can be automatically performed by the latest objective number. Depending on the type of treatment step, the result of the treatment in the step is evaluated according to the remaining dimensions of the portion left by the treatment or the removal dimension of the portion lost by the treatment. The evaluation value based on the leaving dimension and the evaluation value based on the removing dimension are approximately in inverse relationship. In the case where the lot is selected based on the dimensions to be left, the lot is selected in accordance with the above-described phase, and when the device state is the removed dimension, the above-described enemy is used.

At this time, the properties of the lot include not only the properties, dimensions, and the like of the products obtained in the plurality of inspection steps, but also the processing apparatuses, processing conditions, raw materials, and the like in the plurality of preceding steps, and the reflection thereof. Similarly, the capability of an apparatus reflects the characteristic itself in the several front process and post process of the product which the apparatus processed, or it reflects it. In this description, "information about the processing result", "history", "capability", "characteristics" and "state" may be used in the same sense. If the device capability described above is an indicator obtained by using raw data rather than raw data, the value calculated using any history from the previous process to the current position of the subsequent process can be used. have.

The process control apparatus according to the aspect comprises reference information storage means, and the reference information storage means is provided to the history storage means for the control method of the lot in the processing, the conditions when the processing conditions are changed, and the processing thereof. Information on whether or not data should be collected may be provided.

By adopting the above configuration, the present process control apparatus is configured such that (a) preservation of collected data, (b) selection of optimal processing conditions, (c) selection of optimal apparatus, and the like are independent of central parts of control as one system. Becomes This makes it possible to incorporate the present process control device into other FA systems, thereby improving the versatility. In addition, since the control method of each processing apparatus, such as a film forming apparatus and an etching apparatus, differs for every apparatus, it is the apparatus contained in this process control apparatus so that an apparatus control terminal may be arrange | positioned for every apparatus so that it may control uniformly. desirable.

In the process control apparatus according to the aspect, the process control apparatus including the reference information storage means includes processing condition changing means for changing the processing conditions in the processing apparatus for each lot according to the relationship between the apparatus capability and the lot characteristics. You may further provide it.

In the case where it is difficult to expect a good result only by selecting a good lot that suits the characteristics of the device at the time of processing, or in the case where a characteristic defect is expected in order to give priority to not creating a blank state of the device, Change the processing conditions. If such a change in the processing conditions is inevitable, the expectation to be improved is greater than the risk of deterioration of the characteristics of the lot due to the change of the processing conditions. As a result, it is possible to carry out the processing close to the application according to the target value after maintaining the high operation rate of the apparatus. Some devices do not have a model difference of the device. In such a case, the processing conditions can be changed to obtain a processing result at or near the target value. As a result, the precision of the micromachining process can be improved.

At this time, in each processing apparatus, the processing conditions are set according to the condition setting method of each apparatus by the condition parameter regarding the recipe which determined the series of conditions of a processing method, the recipe code corresponding to a process method, or the changeable processing factor of a processing method. do. For this reason, the processing condition changing means changes the recipe code of the apparatus or the processing parameter of the apparatus in accordance with the condition setting method of each apparatus.

In the process control apparatus according to the aspect described above, the process control apparatus provided with the reference information storage means for each product in accordance with the relationship between the characteristics of the product constituting the lot and the device capability with respect to the processing apparatus for processing for each product. The product control changing means for changing the processing conditions may be further provided.

As micromachining becomes more advanced, there are more processing steps in which target accuracy cannot be obtained in the control for each lot. In this processing step, control is performed for each product constituting the lot as described above. By adopting this product control means, the variation in the lot is reduced, and it becomes possible to achieve the first-order machining accuracy using the same apparatus. By using this product control means, all the products constituting one lot may be treated under the same processing conditions.

In the process control apparatus according to the aspect described above, the process control apparatus including the reference information storage means may be any one of selecting a lot in the processing apparatus and changing processing conditions for each lot according to the lot characteristics only. You may further include the simple control means which performs both.

With this configuration, even if the device capacity or the like is not derived, the lot selection and the processing conditions can be set only by knowing the equipment, raw materials, processing conditions (recipe, processing code) and the like used in the previous step, for example. In addition, it is also possible to divide the range of the characteristics of the preceding process and set the processing conditions (recipe, process code) according to the range. In a simple process, such control is useful enough. For this reason, setting of processing conditions becomes easy, and generation | occurrence | production of a mistake can be suppressed.

In the process control apparatus according to the aspect described above, the process control apparatus provided with the reference information storage means makes it easy to change the processing conditions for each product in accordance with only product characteristics with respect to the processing apparatus for processing for each product. The product control change means may be further provided.

According to this configuration, even when the processing conditions are changed for each product, the processing conditions can be easily changed according to only the product characteristics without evaluating the device capability immediately before the processing.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a process control apparatus includes a plurality of processing apparatuses arranged in parallel in a processing process in accordance with the characteristics of the processing target lot and the capability of the processing apparatus arranged in parallel. The apparatus may further include an optimum device selecting means for selecting a processing device from a plurality of processing devices.

This configuration makes it possible to select an optimum device in a lot in a processing step in which a plurality of devices having largely different device capabilities are arranged in parallel, and to perform high-precision processing.

In the process control apparatus according to the aspect described above, the processing apparatus evaluating means processes the unmemored lot processing of the lots processed by the processing apparatus by considering the unmemored lots that are not collected in the history storage means. It may further include a processor predicting means for accepting a change in the capability of the apparatus and predicting the capability of the processor.

Usually, after completion of the processing in the control step, it takes several hours to several days before the inspection is performed, and the lot processing is continued for several hours to several days. During this several hours to several days, a thick film is formed in the film forming process, an etching characteristic is changed, or a time-dependent change in apparatus capability may be progressed depending on the processed lot number. This change in device capability has not been a problem in the past, but since the processing is so fine, a subtle change in etching characteristics has a great influence on the appearance of the product. With the above configuration, in consideration of this change over time, it is possible to derive the capability of the device immediately before the lot to be controlled is involved in the control process. As a result, high precision micromachining is possible and high yield can be maintained.

The process control apparatus of the above aspect may further include processing apparatus capability input means capable of manually inputting the capability of the processing apparatus.

When manual maintenance is performed by this manual input and the capacity of the device is updated, the capacity of the device based on the measured value and the capacity at the time of update, which are known empirically, are inputted to determine the exact capacity of the device at that time. This is because the processing result can be closer to the target value. By the addition of such manual input means, it is possible to perform process control capable of appropriately coping with any situation, and it is possible to obtain a yield improvement and an improvement in productivity.

A process control device according to another aspect of the present invention is a process control device for controlling a processing device for processing a product. The process control apparatus includes a history storage means for storing a history for each region, which is information on a process result of a product processed by the processing apparatus, and a process for each region from the history of the preceding product processed by the processing apparatus of the processing process. The processing condition of the processing apparatus is set so that the processing result of the processing is closer to the target in accordance with the processing apparatus evaluation means for evaluating the apparatus capability, the capability per processing apparatus region, and the history of each product region. Processing condition setting means is provided.

As described above, by controlling the processing apparatus by grasping the characteristics for each area of the product, one having a uniform characteristic can be obtained over the entire product, resulting in a large yield improvement. In the above control, even if the processing apparatus cannot set processing conditions for each region, if it is understood as a habit of the processing apparatus, the control conditions can be selected according to the characteristics of each product region. In other words, if only the history or characteristics are identified, the processing conditions according to the habits of the processing apparatus can be set, and the product characteristics can be controlled so as not to change from region to region. If the processing apparatus can set the control condition for each area, the control condition can be set for each area according to the above-described method. The above control conditions may be set for each product or for each lot.

In the above process control apparatus, the processing condition setting means may further include area setting means for setting processing conditions for each area.

By setting processing conditions for each processing area for the processing apparatus, a more uniform product can be obtained, and the product value can be improved.

A process control device according to still another aspect of the present invention is a process control device of a processing device for processing a product divided into a plurality of lots. The process control apparatus includes a history storage means for storing a history for each product area that is information about a processing result of a product processed by the processing apparatus, and a history of the preceding product processed by the processing apparatus of the processing process. Depending on the relationship between the processing unit evaluation means for evaluating the capability of each region of the apparatus and the capability of the region of the processing apparatus evaluated by the history of the lot ahead of the processing process and the processing apparatus evaluation means, the processing apparatus should be processed. Lot selecting means for selecting a lot among a plurality of lots is provided.

Lot characteristics are often deviated by a certain tendency in accordance with the area of the product constituting the lot. Since the degree of this deviation varies greatly from device to device, by selecting the optimal lot according to the capability of the device immediately before processing, it is possible to obtain wafers of averaged characteristics across the product without the risk of changing the processing conditions. . For this reason, since a large number of chip goods can be obtained, the yield from the product, for example, a wafer, to chip manufacture can be improved. As a result, it becomes possible to improve the value of a product. In addition, the same apparatus can be used for micromachining on the first order.

The process control apparatus of the still another aspect may further include a lot characteristic detecting means for grasping the history of each of the plurality of lots from the history of the processing step preceding the processing step.

This configuration makes it possible to derive an index for a preferable control in the processing from the previous history, and to perform finer machining with higher precision.

In the process control apparatus according to the other or another aspect, the product may be a semiconductor wafer, and the semiconductor wafer may be divided into a plurality of regions.

In the case of a wafer, when a characteristic changes to a concentric shape, a characteristic changes in many cases according to the area | region of the 1st-4th upper limit divided by the crosshair with the center as the origin. As to what kind of area the shape is divided into, it varies depending on the type of processing apparatus and so on. In accordance with the processing apparatus, the shape of the appropriate area is set, the history of each area is obtained, and the correction of the distribution of the area of the characteristic is appropriately controlled. As a result, the characteristics in the wafer can be very small, and the market value of the wafer can be improved.

Another aspect of the process control apparatus includes reference information storage means, and the reference information storage means records the history of each area with respect to the lot control method in the processing, the conditions when changing the processing conditions, and the processing thereof. Information on whether or not to collect may be provided.

With the above configuration, a vast amount of data for each area can be stored in the storage means in a unified manner and used as necessary during the processing in each processing step, so that it can be assembled in any processing step as one package. . For this reason, in spite of the delicate and precise control method with high precision, the versatility is improved and it is possible to easily incorporate it into the processing step without making a large change.

In another aspect of the process control apparatus, the process control apparatus including the reference information storage means changes the conditions in the processing apparatus for each lot according to the relationship between the area capability and the area characteristic of the lot. The processing condition changing means may be further provided.

By the above configuration, the processing conditions (recipe code, processing parameters, etc.) can be set in consideration of the history of each area. For this reason, the yield improvement and the ultrafine processing reliability can be improved. In addition, it is possible to perform the micromachining process of the first order using the same apparatus.

In another aspect of the process control apparatus, the process control apparatus provided with the reference information storage means is characterized in that the processing capability of the processing unit in the product unit, the characteristics of each area of the product constituting the lot and the device capability of each area The apparatus may further include a product processing changing means for changing the processing conditions for each product in accordance with the relationship with each other.

By changing the processing conditions for each product, fine and dense control can be performed and finer machining can be performed with higher precision.

In another aspect of the process control apparatus, the process control apparatus including the reference information storage means is either one of the selection of the lot in the processing apparatus and the change of the processing conditions for each lot, depending on the lot characteristics for each region. Alternatively, simple control means for both sides may be further provided.

According to the above configuration, it becomes possible to simplify flexible control with high precision according to the nature of the treatment step.

In the process control apparatus of the still another aspect, the process control apparatus provided with the reference information storage means is a simple product which changes the processing conditions for each product according to the product characteristics for each region with respect to the processing apparatus for processing for each product. You may further comprise a control change means.

In the process to which the process control device of the present invention is applied, since the process is automated in most cases, setting the processing condition for each product is not the same as changing the processing condition for each lot. For this reason, it becomes possible to perform highly precise fine processing easily and delicately by a simple method.

In the process control apparatus of the still another aspect, the process control apparatus provided with the reference information storage means may further include area change means for changing the processing conditions for each area.

By setting the processing conditions for each area, processing according to the characteristics of the area is possible, and the product characteristics are greatly improved. For this reason, it is possible to perform a higher level of micromachining by using an apparatus that is presently existing without updating the conventional apparatus. In the automated processing process, it is easy to set processing conditions for each area, and high-level micromachining can be performed easily without updating expensive equipment.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a process control device includes a plurality of devices of the same type arranged in parallel in a processing step, depending on the area-specific characteristics of the lot to be processed and the area-specific capabilities of the plurality of processing devices arranged in parallel. Device selection means for selecting the processing apparatus to be processed from a plurality of processing apparatuses may be further provided.

Since the optimal device selection can be performed in accordance with the data for each area in the lot, precise device selection can be performed.

In the process control apparatus according to the still another aspect, the processing apparatus evaluating means takes into consideration the unmemored products which have not been collected in the history storage means among the products processed by the processing apparatus, and thus the processing means for processing the unmemory products. It is also possible to further include a processor predicting means for accepting a change in the capability of each region of the processing apparatus and predicting the capability of the region of the processing apparatus.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to predict the device capacity of each area immediately before the treatment, and to change the processing conditions and lot selection for each area by using a value closer to the actual capacity, thereby providing high precision micromachining. The reliability can be further improved.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the Example of this invention is described using drawing.

(Example 1).

In FIG. 1, the processing apparatus 80 and the inspection apparatus 90 are controlled by the process control apparatus 1 of this invention. Since the manufacturing line to which the above system control apparatus is applied is a semiconductor wafer processing line, the processing apparatus includes a processing apparatus for processing such as photolithography, diffusion, ion implantation, etching, and the like.

The process control device 1 includes an FA calculator 2, a quality control server 3 attached to the FA calculator, an apparatus control terminal 85, a reference information storage unit 4, and a collection data storage unit ( 5) and a terminal input device 6 are included. Although the method of setting processing conditions in each processing apparatus is different, there are two methods, a recipe code specifying method and a processing parameter setting method. In the recipe code designation method, a series of processing in the processing apparatus is given as a recipe, and when a user designates a recipe code, the user can perform a series of processing corresponding to the recipe code. On the other hand, in the processing parameter setting method, it is possible to set processing parameters having a great influence on a series of processing results in the processing apparatus.

In the reference information storage section 4, information about a processing flow such as processing conditions performed in each processing apparatus is stored for each chip name that is a product type to which the lot belongs. Information about this processing flow includes recipe codes or processing parameters according to the setting of the processing step, the processing method (product control means, simple control means, etc.) in the processing step, and the processing condition setting method of each processing apparatus. It is included. In some processes, the designation of the history of multiple or single previous processes to be used in the lot characterization section, or the designation of the history from the previous process to the post-process to be used in the treatment unit evaluation section is included. In addition, the apparatus of the preceding process, the processing conditions, the apparatus to be used in the control process according to the characteristic range, the relationship between the lot characteristics when changing the processing conditions and the apparatus capacity, etc. are determined in advance, and stored in the reference information storage section 4. It is. Moreover, the result of the process process to be accommodated in the collection data storage part, etc. are also specified.

In the collection data storage section 5, product characteristics and data in any processing step of the entire production line can be collected and stored. As an example of product characteristic data, the measurement result measured at the inspection process, etc. are mentioned. In addition, the following data may be separately stored in a storage means such as a QC data storage unit, and may be stored therein. Alternatively, the following data may be stored in the collection data storage unit 5 together with the product characteristic data. . That is, the data such as the lot number to which the product belongs, the number of the processing apparatus and inspection apparatus that have actually been processed or inspected in the previous treatment process, the raw materials used in the processing, the processing conditions of the processing apparatus, and the inspection conditions of the inspection apparatus are performed in this manner. In the example, it is stored in the collected data storage 5. As described above, in the processing condition, a recipe code or processing parameter is input in accordance with the condition setting method of the processing apparatus.

The terminal input device 6 is an apparatus for inputting the capability of the processing apparatus based on the measurement data or the experience data when the processing apparatus receives the periodic maintenance and the like and the capability is updated.

In addition, in order to use the processing apparatuses of many different manufacturers uniformly, the apparatus control terminal 75 is provided so that a various signal may be handled uniformly by the processing apparatus. At this time, in the present embodiment, the process control apparatus does not include the conveying instruction means, but may be included.

With reference to FIG. 2, the lot input part 11 plots the lot (process route tag) number and processing flow from the reference | standard information storage part 4 by the goods type name (chip name) of the inserted lot. To get. The conveyance destination selection unit 12 specifies the device to which the lot is processed from the lot number and the processing flow, and searches for and specifies the stocker (shelf) for the device as the conveyance destination. The lot characteristic detection unit 13 reads from the collection data storage unit 5 the previous history (characteristic) effective in the control process in accordance with a file instruction instruction for the control process stored in the reference information storage unit 4. Then, the necessary calculations are made to derive the lot characteristics, which are lot characteristics. In addition, although not shown, in the case of using a simple control means (not shown), the simple control means is provided with the processing conditions (including raw materials) in the preceding processing step from the collection data storage section 5, or the processing apparatus. Sometimes you call a number. In addition, the processor evaluation unit 14 reads from the collection data storage unit 5 the characteristics of the processing result before and after the processing step and calculates it in accordance with the instructions of the file stored in the reference information storage unit. The instrument deviation coefficient which is an apparatus capability is derived when it relates to a process. The optimum lot selection unit 15 calculates a device selection coefficient based on the above-described lot characteristics and device capability, and selects a lot that is likely to produce a target processing result in the processing apparatus when processing is involved. In addition, the processing condition changing unit 16 changes this processing condition when it is necessary to change the processing condition stored in the reference information storage unit 4 according to the numerical value or the like. The process / inspection control unit 17 inspects the control of the process by the apparatus and evaluates the result of the process in accordance with this process condition. When the processing and the inspection are finished, the quality data collection unit 18 stores the inspection result or the like in the collection data storage unit 5 based on the instruction of the reference information. In addition, the changed processing condition is collected and stored in the collected data storage 5. In the collected data storage 5, even if there is no change, the processing conditions actually processed are stored.

Next, a control method of the treatment process will be described according to the flow of the lot. In the process control apparatus of the present invention, any process can be selected to be a process to be controlled. In Fig. 3, by designating the product type (product name) at the time of lot input M1, according to the control method in each process on the processing flow set at the time of lot input, whether or not (a) is controlled or not (b) The control is performed while judging what control is to be performed and (c) whether or not to collect history. In addition, in the process by which control was performed, control is performed by each step of M1-M8 shown in FIG.

With reference to FIG. 4, the lot is input by designating a chip name (product type) (S1), and the SPW (test table T1) is acquired by a chip name (S2). In the SPW (test table), the chip name and the test table number are written. In the following flowchart description, the contents of the data transmitted and received by each process are displayed next to the process. Thereafter, the tag table T2 corresponding to the tag table number is read, and the next step information is obtained (S3). The return destination of the lot is selected according to this next process information (S4). With reference to FIG. 5, the apparatus group of a feedforward control process, the calculation method of the characteristic of the apparatus, and the data collection process required for the calculation are shown by this figure. In addition, the tag table number and serial number are omitted. With reference to FIG. 6, after starting transfer destination search (S5), in the next process search (S6), the device group displayed in the inspection table table is identified. In the present embodiment, the conveying instruction means is provided in a separate device, but it is of course possible to include it. The lot is not directly sent to the device group, but is temporarily stored in a shelf (stocker) arranged in the device area, and the processing is in a waiting state. Then, after specifying the device group of the next process, the next process device stocker is searched for (S7). In the retrieval, the device group table T3, which is a subtable of the index table table, becomes a target first, and if the device to be processed is known, the device table T4 of the device is searched next to specify a stocker for the device. Next, the process moves to lot selection S8 from the apparatus. The lot selection from the apparatus is a control mode for increasing the operation rate of the apparatus, and there is a lot priority mode for selecting a processing apparatus with priority of the lot characteristics as another control mode. Whether or not lot selection from the processing apparatus is performed is already stored in the reference information.

Referring to Fig. 7, when making this lot selection, a plurality of lots are placed in the stocker in a state of waiting for processing. First, the tag table is read and it is detected whether feedforward control is performed (S9). When feedforward control is being performed, the device capability is derived from the slot (preceding lot) (S12). At the time of derivation, first, the chip group name is specified in the chip group T9, and the control process table T5, the feedforward lot data collection table T6, and the standard parameter table T7 are read based on the chip group name. The feedforward lot data collection table described above also stores product characteristics or shape values of a plurality of lots awaiting processing. 8 to 10 show the data contents of the control process table T5, the feedforward lot data collection table T6, and the device state table T8. In the control process table of FIG. 8, a formula for calculating the shape value, which is a specific value of the lot characteristic, an formula for updating the device state, a relational formula for predicting the device state from the unprecedented number of lots, and the like are stored. As shown in Fig. 9, the feed forward lot data collection table describes the collection process name, the processing apparatus, the type of history data, and the date and time registered in the collection data storage unit. In the device state table, the device name used in the control process and the method of calculating the mechanism deviation coefficient that are specific examples of the device state are stored after taking into consideration the influence of the preceding lot of unmemory. As shown in Fig. 10, when a new history is stored, it is updated, so that the date and time of updating is recorded. In Fig. 7, when there is no prior lottery, the device state is derived from the measured value of the dummy or the like (S13). The measurement data can be manually input to the FA terminal input table T8 by the terminal input device 6. As shown in FIG. 11, the FA terminal input table is capable of inputting an etching ratio or the like of the processing apparatus by hand input. In Fig. 7, the device status and the lot characteristics (shape value) are then compared, and the optimal lot is selected from the waiting queues by the stocker (S14). In this lot selection, the data stored in the device state table and the feedforward lot data collection table are read. Naturally, this selection does not take into consideration the long and short wait times of the lot, and is processed sequentially from a good lot that matches the characteristics of the device at that time. We are processed sequentially from thing which became good suitably. Since the processing is carried out with respect to all the lots, the processing is performed by changing the processing conditions for the lot that needs to be changed. At this time, the mode in which the processing unit is selected as the lot main body is selected when the processing is terminated in a certain process, and the characteristics of the processing result are shown by inspection, and the characteristics are in a range determined in advance as reference information. If there is, it is conveyed to the designated processing apparatus and the processing is performed by the processing apparatus. In the process for which the device selection is the target, each processing device often has a small fluctuation in the device state over time and a large variation between the processing devices in the device state. If the device selection of the lot subject as described above is not given, but the feed forward control is not performed when the lot is processed by the processing apparatus specified in the tag table, the lot selection is performed with the priority of the lot (S10). Return to the processing inspection condition determination (S15).

Next, processing conditions and inspection conditions for the combination of the processing apparatus and the lot are determined. 12 shows a processing flow for determining processing conditions and inspection conditions. After the start of processing condition search, it is determined whether feedforward control is performed (S16). This judgment is described in the examination table table. The feedforward control is performed by reading the tag table and setting it up. In the case of YES, the chip group T9 which is a product type is read, the chip group of the lot is specified, and the control method in which the chip group is implemented, which is set in the control condition selection table T10, is specified. 13 and 14 show data contents of the chip group and the control condition selection table. The chip name is described in the chip group, and the control condition selection table stores information such as a selection ID required for changing the control process, apparatus, and processing condition corresponding to the chip name group. Then, control conditions are selected for each control method. The combination of the control process table T5 and another table is determined by selection of the selection ID, and the control condition is set (S18). That is, by combining the control process table T5 with any one of the control condition table T11 including the lot shape value, the control condition table T12 including the preceding process control code, the control condition table T13 including the preceding process parameter and the control code parameter table T14. , The control condition is set. After that, it waits for an instruction to start processing / inspection. On the other hand, when feedforward control is not performed, the control condition is selected by the usual method set in the reference information (S19). When this selection is made, the control condition selection table T10 stored in the reference information storage unit is read to select the control condition. Thereafter, as in the case of performing feedforward control, the instruction for starting processing / inspection is waited.

15 is a flowchart of processing / inspection. After the processing / inspection start instruction is started, the determined processing condition is transmitted to the apparatus (S22). Thereafter, the lot is processed and inspected. Thereafter, quality data obtained by inspection is collected. As shown in Fig. 16, in the processing data collection from the apparatus (S25), the lot number, processing apparatus name, raw materials, processing conditions, processing parameters, which are exemplified as data to be collected in the feedforward lot data collection table T6, Enter the inspection conditions. Next, it is determined whether to collect data for feedforward control (S26). When the data of the process / inspection is used for feedforward control, the data of the process / inspection is stored in the collection data storing section 5. This instruction is described in the feedforward control of the tag table, which is the reference information. In the case of data collection, data for feed forward is collected (S27), and the data is stored in the feed forward lot data collection table T6. The data to be stored is, for example, a collection process, a processing apparatus name, a processing condition, a processing parameter, etc. for each lot name. The results of each measurement of the treatment results are also recorded. In addition, the (a) monitor inspection data in the processing process in which the processing is not performed for each lot number is also recorded so as to correspond to the lot number. That is, in the case of processing in 100 wafer units (25 lots, 4 lots), for example, in a diffusion treatment step or the like, three dummy wafers are added, for example, and arranged one by one in the upper, middle, and lower positions. In total, 103 wafers are processed. In this diffusion process, a batch number associated with the number of the four lots is assigned. The thickness measurement of a wafer is performed only about three sheets of a dummy. In the arrangement number of this diffusion process, the thickness dimension of the said three piles is recorded as a process result, and the thickness dimension is also recorded in the said 4 lot number. In this way, the data of the processing process not processed for each lot number is also recorded as the history of the lot, and can be used for control of lot selection and the like. In addition, (b) even in the case of the data of the photo reproduction slot, the history of the actual processing is recorded so that the wafer and the corresponding paste can be attached and used for control. That is, in photolithography, when the pattern is measured after applying the resist and combining the masks, when retrying is performed for each wafer, the retry wafers are collectively retried. The wafer to be retried is synthesized, the regeneration lot number is affixed, the first applied resist is peeled off, the recoating is performed, and the photolithography process is performed. The wafer which has been reprocessed is joined again to the population (lot) after the photolithography process and is processed at the same time as the lot. In the photolithography process, in the photolithography process, the retrying processing conditions should be recorded as the history, and the retry processing conditions are recorded. Therefore, the process control is also performed in accordance with the processing conditions of this retry with respect to the retryed wafer.

In addition, when the process control apparatus of the present invention is applied in a retry processing process for a regeneration lot made of retry products, the retry processing can be controlled by using the collected data of the previous process collected by the lot. That is, needless to say, the processing apparatus in the retry processing process of the regeneration lot which consists of retry products is the object of application of the process control apparatus of this invention.

The feedforward device data collection table T16 stores a processing step, a processing lot, and processing conditions for each processing device name. 17 shows data contents of the feedforward device data collection table. After that, the quality is checked. On the other hand, if no data is collected for feedforward control, the quality is checked immediately.

As shown in Fig. 18, after the start of the quality check, a standard check is performed (S29). When checking the standard, read the standard in the standard table and check the standard. After that, each kind of check is carried out and a process completion process is performed. After the start of the process completion process as shown in FIG. 19, the next process is searched for (S33). At the next process search, the tag table is read and the serial number, process and device group are specified by specifying the tag table number. Thereafter, the own data is updated to select a return destination (S35).

As shown in FIG. 20, the case 1 shows the case where the recipe code which is processing conditions is changed from the appearance value of a lot and the apparatus capability (mechanical deviation coefficient). Case 2 shows a case where the recipe code is changed from only the appearance value of the lot. In addition, the case 3 shows the case where the recipe of a process is changed from the recipe used by the previous process. All of these relationships, which are the criteria for changing the processing conditions, are stored in the reference information storage unit as reference information.

By using the above process control apparatus, the feed forward control for the lot characteristics and the feedback control for the processing apparatus can be performed to suppress the fluctuations. In addition, an appropriate treatment method can be flexibly used in accordance with the nature of the treatment step, and it becomes possible to efficiently and easily control the complicated and multifaceted treatment steps.

As a result, large yield improvement can be achieved in the manufacture of semiconductor devices such as DRAM. Moreover, it becomes possible to perform the micromachining process of the level 1 level or more higher than the micromachining process of the original target level. In other words, by using the above process control apparatus in a production line for 64M bytes of DRAM, fine processing required for semiconductor devices such as 128M bytes or 256M bytes of DRAM or next-generation system LSI other than these DRAMs becomes possible.

(Example 2).

As the process control apparatus in the second embodiment, a configuration of the process control apparatus similar to the configuration shown in FIG. 1 used in the first embodiment is used. The big difference is that the data measured in the product history is data for each area. The processing conditions are set for each area when the processing apparatus can set the processing conditions for each area, and in the case of the processing apparatus that cannot be set for each area, the processing conditions are simply set. 21A to 21C show the way of thinking about setting processing conditions when setting processing conditions for each area. In addition, in FIG. 21D, processing conditions cannot be set for each area, but the product characteristics are identified for each area, and the processing conditions are set in consideration of the product characteristics and the habits of the processing apparatus, or the lot selection is made in accordance with the habits of the processing apparatus. Illustrates the way of thinking. In the case where the characteristic changes in the central region and the peripheral region of the semiconductor wafer as shown by the solid line in FIG. 21A, the processing result can be obtained by controlling the process as indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 21B, and the processing result shown in FIG. 21C can be obtained. . In addition, in the case where the product characteristics are grasped for each region and the processing conditions of the processing apparatus are set in accordance with the product characteristics, or the lot selection is made in accordance with the processing apparatus, the apparatus capability is in the case of the state (habit) shown in Fig. 21D. Be sure to select a lot. By this lot selection, a uniform processing result with little variation over the entire wafer can be obtained. 21A to 21D show graphs in which characteristics are continuous across regions for convenience of explanation, the characteristics of regions are often discrete values rather than continuous graphs as in FIGS. 21A to 21D.

By knowing the lot characteristics for each region and the device characteristics for each region as described above, the lot selection and processing conditions are changed, or the processing conditions are changed for each region, so that the processing results are easily within the target range over the entire wafer. For this reason, a yield improvement can be obtained, and as a result of the fluctuation | variation becoming small, it becomes possible to implement fine processing above the target level.

(Examples)

Next, two embodiments to which the process control apparatus shown in the first embodiment is applied will be described. 22 shows two processing steps to which the above process control is applied. One process is a dry etching process of the oxide film (Example 1), and the other is a photolithography process (Example 2).

(Example 1)

In FIG. 22, in the dry etching of Example 1, the shape value of a lot is computed as a characteristic of a lot by the dimension acquired by the inspection after photolithography.

As shown in Fig. 23, for the oxide film dry etch treatment, dimensions obtained by developing inspection by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) are used as lot characteristics. In addition, in the apparatus state, the dimension of the CD loss obtained by the SEM inspection similarly is used. CD loss is defined using FIGS. 24 and 25. As shown in Figs. 24 and 25, in the development inspection, the dimension A of the portion of the resist covering the portion of the etching target film that is not etched during dry etching is measured. In the photographic inspection after the dry etch is given, the dimension B of the portion of the etched film which is not dry etched is measured. CD loss is defined as CD loss = | Dimension A at the time of a development inspection-Dimension B at the time of a photographic inspection. CD loss and etch rate may or may not be correlated. In the dry etching of the oxide film exemplified here, it is confirmed that the etching ratio and the CD loss have a correlation, and the CD loss is used as an index of the etching ratio of the apparatus. Table 1 shows the characteristics of the preceding lots treated with one device EK120 in this oxide film dry etch process.

In Table 1, photograph inspection dimensions (partly) are described with respect to lot numbers KA-KG arranged from top to bottom in the order of processing. CD loss is also shown. In Table 1, the average 3L indicates a three-point moving average of CD losses. Therefore, the latest moving average value of CD loss is 0.0195 mu m of the lowest column. This latest value is used for the device state at the time of lot selection. Since the target CD loss is 0.02 占 퐉, normalizing with the target value of 1, the capability of this device EK120 is expressed as (0.0195 / 0.02) = 0.9750. This 0.9750 is the mechanism deviation coefficient of this apparatus EK120 at this time.

On the other hand, there are 10 lots from OA to OJ in the waiting state for processing waiting for the processing of the device EK120. This 10 lot is shown in Table 2.

Regarding each lot, the development dimension (part) of the photo-printing result, the average value thereof, and the like are shown in Table 2. The target dimension of this dimension is 0.25 탆. In order to normalize this target dimension to 1, by dividing the average value of each lot by the target value of 0.25 mu m, the shape value of each lot can be obtained. The shape value of each lot fluctuates up and down around 1. The criterion for selecting a lot from the device is that the image divided by the lot shape value by the instrument deviation coefficient is closest to one. Thus, an index of the device selection coefficient = | 1- (shape value / mechanical deviation coefficient) | is introduced, and processing is performed as the device at that time should first process the lot whose device selection coefficient is closest to zero. Since the remaining lot is changed in sequence with the processing, the device selection coefficient is calculated each time one lot is processed, and the processing results from the smaller device selection coefficient. According to Table 2, lot number OA is the smallest, and this lot is selected and processed. At this time, in the above-described dimensional inspection, as shown in Figs. 24 and 25, the method of deriving the device selection coefficient in the case of measuring the "dimension dimension" is shown, but the mechanism deviation is determined by the "removal dimension" of the portion etched and lost. Sometimes coefficients or appearance values are derived. In the case where the mechanism deviation coefficient is derived as the removal dimension, a lot close to zero is selected as the processing target as the device selection coefficient = | 1- (shape value x mechanism deviation coefficient) |.

Table 3 shows the effects of implementing the above control method.

In Table 3, the three sigma (3σ) of the dimension in a fixed period obtained by the photograph inspection after dry etching is shown. When 3 sigma obtained when this process control apparatus was not introduced, what was 0.038 micrometers in period a, for example, became 0.028 micrometers, and the significant reduction of 0.01 micrometers was obtained. As for the other periods, a significant reduction in the variation was obtained. As a result, not only the yield can be improved, but also the economic value of the product can be improved by the quality improvement. In addition, micromachining on the first rank became possible.

(Example 2)

This embodiment is an example in which the photolithography process is the control object in FIG. In this photolithography, the reflectance in the previous step is used as the lot characteristic. In addition, the removal dimension in the dimension inspection after photolithography is used as an apparatus state. However, in this case, unlike the above-described first embodiment, the device state is not obtained, but is taken into this control in a separate form. Fig. 26 shows the relationship between the reflectance and the dimensions of portions that can be left out by the photolithography process. Reflectance and removal dimensions are standardized. The low reflectance means that the resist film is thin, and when exposed at the same exposure dose, the removal dimension is increased. That is, from FIG. 26, the tendency for a removal dimension to become linear becomes small as a reflectance becomes large. The relationship between the reflectance and the removal dimension changes when other factors change, but such a change is fed back as an apparatus state so that the latest relationship is always stored. For example, even if the reflectance is large, when the latest data having a larger removal size than that of the conventional one can be obtained, the exposure amount is corrected by taking the latest data as a three-point moving average or the like.

27 shows the result of adjusting the exposure amount by applying the process control device of the present invention. On the left side of FIG. 27, the relative reflectance was in the range of 1.0 to 1.2, the exposure energy Ed was 20.7 mJ, and a relative dimensional average 0.7835 was obtained. The value of each wafer is equipped with little fluctuation. The right side is a graph showing the removal dimension and the variation 3σ when the thickness of the nitride film serving as the base film becomes thick and the reflectance decreases. Without the control device of the present invention, at this low relative reflectance, the relative removal dimension would be about 0.9. However, by controlling the exposure amount by the feedback of the apparatus state, it was possible to obtain almost the same relative removal dimension as compared to the lot on the left side where the relative reflectance was high.

Therefore, by using the above process control apparatus, even if there is a fluctuation in reflectance for which there is a clear reason such as a setting error, it is possible to cope with such a situation to obtain a removal dimension as desired or close to the target. For this reason, it becomes possible to prevent a yield fall and to improve product value. In addition, it is possible to perform the processing of the precision of the first rank using the same processing apparatus.

In the above, the embodiments of the present invention and the above embodiments have been described, but the embodiments of the present invention and the embodiments described above are, for the sake of illustration only, the scope of the present invention is the embodiments of these inventions. And the above embodiments are not limited. The scope of the invention is indicated by the description of the claims, and includes all modifications within the meaning and range equivalent to the description of the claims.

By using the process control apparatus of the present invention as described above, it is possible to achieve a high-accuracy lot selection without sacrificing the risk of changing the processing conditions and to maintain a high productivity and to select a good lot suitable for the state of the apparatus at that time. It is possible to carry out ultrafine processing. In addition, when high precision cannot be expected only by lot selection, processing conditions can be changed and flexible response can be performed. In addition, it is possible to perform simple, delicate and precise control of changing processing conditions for each product or changing lot selection or processing conditions according to lot characteristics only. In the case where quality is of the utmost importance, it is also possible to select an apparatus from the lot side and to perform extremely high precision ultra-machining. In addition, it is also possible to divide one unit of product into regions and to set the optimum processing conditions for each region. As a result, not only a large yield improvement can be obtained, but also the product value can be raised by the precision improvement. In addition, it is possible to perform fine processing on a priority order without updating equipment.

Claims (3)

In the process control device of the processing apparatus for processing the target object (product) divided into a plurality of lots, Processing apparatus evaluating means (14) for evaluating the capability of the processing apparatus from the processing result of the product processed by the processing apparatus; And a lot selecting means (15) for selecting a lot to be processed from among the plurality of lots according to the capability of the processing apparatus evaluated by the processing apparatus evaluating means and the characteristics of the plurality of lots. Control unit. A process control apparatus for controlling a processing apparatus for processing a target object (product), History storage means (5) for storing a history for each of the areas (35, 36) which is information on the processing result of the product processed by the processing device; Processing device evaluating means (14) for evaluating the capability of the processing device for each area from the history of the preceding product processed by the processing device of the processing step; Processing condition setting means 16 for setting processing conditions of the processing apparatus so as to be close to a target in accordance with the relationship between the area-specific capability of the processing apparatus and the history of each region of the product; Process control apparatus comprising a. In the process control device of the processing apparatus for processing the target object (product) divided into a plurality of lots, History storage means (5) for storing a history for each area which is information on a processing result of the product processed by the processing apparatus; Processing apparatus evaluating means (14) for evaluating the capability of each processing apparatus from the history of prior products processed by the processing apparatus of the processing step; Lot selecting means (15) for selecting a lot to be processed from among the plurality of lots according to the relationship between the history of the lot before the processing step and the capability of each area evaluated by the processing apparatus evaluating means. Process control apparatus comprising a.