KR20080048410A - Control apparatus of substrate processing apparatus and control method of the same, and recorded medium for storing control program - Google Patents

Abstract

A controller of a substrate processing apparatus, a controlling method of a substrate processing apparatus, and a storage medium for storing a control program of a substrate processing apparatus are provided to control a change of transfer manners according to a degree of micro-process requested for each lot. A selection unit(255) selects a process chamber to which a next substrate is to be transferred. The selection unit selects whether the substrates transferred to the same process chamber are set in one-lot units or in one-substrate units according to a degree of micro-process requested for each lot. A transfer control unit(260) transfers sequentially the substrates included in the units selected by the selection unit to the process chamber selected by the selection unit. A storage unit(250) the process chamber stores an order of process chambers. The selection unit selects the process chamber according to the order of the processing chambers. The transfer unit transfers the substrates included in the selected units to the selected processing chamber.

Description

CONTROL APPARATUS OF SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD OF THE SAME, AND RECORDED MEDIUM FOR STORING CONTROL PROGRAM}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage medium storing a control apparatus, a control method, and a control program of a substrate processing apparatus that performs a predetermined process on a substrate, and more particularly, to a method of controlling the transfer of a substrate.

In recent years, most of the substrate processing apparatuses arrange | positioned in a semiconductor factory have two or more process chambers which give predetermined | prescribed process to a board | substrate with the conveyance mechanism which conveys a board | substrate. As described above, when a plurality of processing chambers are provided in the substrate processing apparatus, how to transfer a plurality of substrates to the plurality of processing chambers is important for increasing throughput of substrate processing and improving product productivity.

Therefore, in the conventional substrate processing apparatus, in order to simultaneously process each substrate in each processing chamber, different substrates are sequentially transferred to different processing chambers by changing the transfer path for each substrate (hereinafter also referred to as "OR conveyance"). The transfer path of each board | substrate is controlled so that each board | substrate may be processed via two or more process chambers sequentially (for example, refer patent document 1). Thereby, a board | substrate can be processed efficiently.

Moreover, in another conventional substrate processing apparatus, a board | substrate is conveyed only to the process chamber group in which operation is effective based on the signal which shows whether operation of each process chamber is possible (for example, refer patent document 2). As a result, even when one of the processing chambers cannot be used due to a breakdown or the like, the substrate can be efficiently processed using another processing chamber.

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1988-133532

[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1999-67869

However, if the same processing is simultaneously performed on each substrate in each processing chamber by sequentially transferring different substrates to different processing chambers in normal operation, the throughput of the substrate processing is improved, but individual differences existing in each processing chamber and frequency of use Due to the variation in the atmosphere in each processing chamber due to the difference of, the variation occurs in the processing (processing) state of each substrate.

On the other hand, since the same lot is 1 unit which manufactures the same product, it is better that the processing state of the board | substrate contained in the same lot is uniform, and there is no deviation. In particular, in recent years, products which require very fine processing are increasing. In response to such fine processing, it is necessary to process the substrates in the same lot with high accuracy and to produce a uniform and high quality product without variation for each substrate. For this reason, there existed a case where the deviation of the processing state which was permitted until now is not permissible on the characteristic of a product.

In such a case, the host computer requests the host computer to change the conveyance method of the substrate from the method specified in the system recipe to another method in which the deviation does not occur in the processing state for the lot requiring microfabrication. It is also possible to consider changing to another suitable conveying method according to this. However, demanding such a task for a host computer that manages the entire system as a whole in a semiconductor factory is very complicated and unrealistic, and it is necessary to drastically change the function of the system on the host computer side. As a result, until the system is stably operated, the entire substrate processing system becomes unstable even if temporary, which is not preferable.

Then, this invention provides the storage medium which stored the control apparatus, control method, and control program of the substrate processing apparatus which control a change of a conveyance method according to the grade of the microfabrication requested | required for every lot.

That is, in order to solve the said subject, according to one viewpoint of this invention, the control apparatus which controls the board | substrate processing apparatus provided with the some processing chamber which performs a predetermined process to a board | substrate, and the conveyance mechanism which conveys the said board | substrate, A selection unit for selecting a processing chamber to be conveyed to a lot and selecting one lot unit or one substrate unit for each lot according to the degree of fine processing required for each lot; And a conveyance control unit for sequentially conveying a substrate included in a unit selected by the selection unit to a processing chamber selected by the selection unit.

According to this, according to the grade of the microfabrication requested | required for each lot, which lot unit or one board | substrate unit is made into the unit of the board | substrate conveyed to the same process chamber is selected for every lot. When one lot unit is selected, the board | substrate contained in the said lot is all conveyed to the same process chamber. Thereby, by conveying different board | substrates to different process chambers, it can avoid that a deviation arises in the processing state of each board | substrate according to the individual difference of each process chamber, or the difference of the atmosphere of each process chamber. That is, by processing all the substrates in a lot in the same environment by processing all the board | substrates in a lot within the same process chamber, it is possible to manufacture almost the same product without a difference in a characteristic by a lot unit.

In particular, in recent years, products which require very fine processing are increasing. In response to such a fine processing, it is necessary to perform a uniform and high quality treatment on a plurality of substrates included in the same lot, and a variation in the processing state that has been permitted so far may not be allowed.

However, even in such a case, according to such a structure, the conveyance method of the board | substrate contained in the lot for which microfabrication is requested | required is changed with the said conveyance procedure that a deviation does not arise in a processing state by the instruction | indication of a control apparatus. In this way, the control apparatus changes the conveying unit by itself without requiring the host computer to change the conveying unit, thereby quickly responding to the user's request without significantly changing the function of the system on the host computer currently operating. Can be.

In addition, whether or not it is a micromachining process may be determined, for example, from the type of recipe designated by the operator or the contents of the recipe. If the operator specifies valid or invalid unit parameters in advance and the unit parameter is valid, the micromachining process is performed. If the unit parameter is invalid, it may be determined that the micromachining process is not performed.

When one board | substrate unit is selected by the said selection part, the said transfer control part may make it convey only a trial board | substrate only to each process chamber of the process chamber group designated by the recipe before conveying the board | substrate for products. One piece may be sufficient as the number of sheets of the trial substrate conveyed to each process chamber, for example, and two or more sheets may be sufficient as it.

That is, in OR conveyance of one board | substrate unit, it is necessary to convey a trial board | substrate to all the process chambers OR-conveyed before conveying a product board | substrate for the purpose of confirming whether it is in the state which can process a product board | substrate. Therefore, in OR conveyance, the board | substrate for the whole process chambers OR-conveyed needs the minimum.

However, when 1 lot unit is selected by the said selection part, the said conveyance control part may make it convey only a trial board | substrate only to the selected process chamber before conveying a board | substrate for products. One piece may be sufficient as the number of sheets of the trial board | substrate conveyed to the selected process chamber, and two or more sheets may be sufficient as it, for example.

That is, in the conveyance of a lot unit, since all the board | substrates in a lot are conveyed to the selected one process chamber, at least one trial board | substrate should just be sufficient and, thereby, cost can be reduced.

The storage unit stores the procedure of the processing chamber used for the substrate processing among the plurality of processing chambers, and the selection unit is the most recent among the processing chamber groups designated by the recipe based on the procedure of the processing chamber stored in the storage unit. The process chamber to which the process was performed may be selected, and the said conveyance part may convey the board | substrate contained in the said selected unit to the said process chamber in order.

According to this, the board | substrate contained in a selected unit is conveyed to the process chamber in which the process was performed most recently among the process chamber groups designated by the recipe. Thereby, the bias of the use frequency of a process chamber can be corrected and a some process chamber can be used on average as possible. As a result, the variation of the atmosphere of each processing chamber can be suppressed. Thereby, the deviation of the substrate process performed in each process chamber can be suppressed as much as possible.

The storage unit stores the total number of processed sheets of substrates processed in each processing chamber until each processing chamber is cleaned, and the selecting unit is designated by a recipe based on the total number of processed sheets of substrates stored in the storage unit. The processing chamber with the smallest number of processing sheets is selected among the processing chamber groups, and the transfer section may sequentially transfer the substrates included in the selected unit to the selected processing chamber.

According to this, the board | substrate contained in a selected unit is conveyed to the process chamber with the fewest number of process sheets among the process chamber groups designated by the system recipe. Also by this, the bias of the use frequency of a process chamber is corrected and a some process chamber can be used on average as possible. As a result, the dispersion | variation in the atmosphere of each process chamber can be suppressed, and the variation of the board | substrate process performed in each process chamber can be suppressed as much as possible.

The storage unit stores the total processing time of the substrate processed in each processing chamber until each processing chamber is cleaned, and the selection unit is designated by the recipe based on the total processing time of the substrate stored in the storage unit. A processing chamber having the least processing time is selected among the processing chamber groups, and the transfer section may sequentially transfer the substrate included in the selected unit to the selected processing chamber.

According to this, the board | substrate contained in a selected unit is conveyed to the processing chamber with the shortest processing time among the process chamber groups designated by the recipe. Also by this, the bias of the use frequency of a process chamber is corrected and a some process chamber can be used on average as possible. As a result, the dispersion | variation in the atmosphere of each process chamber can be suppressed, and the variation of the board | substrate process performed in each process chamber can be suppressed as much as possible.

When one lot unit is selected by the said selection part, the said conveyance control part conveys all the board | substrates contained in the said lot in order to the selected process chamber, and when one board | substrate unit is selected by the said selection part, it is contained in the said lot. The first substrate is returned to a processing chamber selected from one of the processing chambers previously processed, the processing chamber with the lowest number of sheets, or the processing chamber with the shortest processing time, among the processing chamber groups designated by the recipe, and included in the lot. The conveyance of the next substrate to the next processing chamber may be repeated until the last substrate included in the lot.

According to this, when one lot unit is selected as a conveyance procedure, by conveying all the board | substrates contained in a lot to the same process chamber one by one, the board | substrate contained in the said lot is suppressed by the dispersion | variation in the board | substrate process which arises from the process chamber being different Uniform and high quality treatment can be performed.

On the other hand, when one board | substrate unit is selected as a conveyance procedure, the board | substrate contained in one lot is conveyed one by one to different process chambers one by one. Specifically, the substrates are conveyed to the processing chamber selected from one of the processing chambers that have been previously processed at the time, the processing chamber having the fewest processing sheets, or the processing chamber having the shortest processing time, and included in the lot. The next substrate to be transferred is conveyed to the next processing chamber. Repeat this up to the last substrate included in the lot. Accordingly, by simultaneously processing a plurality of substrates in a plurality of processing chambers, throughput of substrate processing can be increased, and productivity of a product can be increased.

MEANS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM In order to solve the said subject, according to another viewpoint of this invention, it is a method of controlling the board | substrate processing apparatus provided with the several process chamber which performs predetermined | prescribed process to a board | substrate, and the conveyance mechanism which conveys the said board | substrate. In addition to selecting a processing chamber, and in accordance with the degree of fine processing required for each lot, the unit of the substrate to be transferred to the same processing chamber is selected from one lot unit or one substrate unit, and the substrate included in the selected unit is Provided is a control method of a substrate processing apparatus that is sequentially conveyed to a selected processing chamber.

A storage medium storing a control program for causing a computer to execute control of a substrate processing apparatus having a plurality of processing chambers for performing a predetermined process on a substrate and a transport mechanism for transporting the substrate, wherein the processing chamber to be transported next is selected. At the same time, according to the degree of microfabrication required for each lot, a process for selecting a unit of a substrate to be conveyed to the same processing chamber from one lot unit or one substrate unit, and the substrate included in the selected unit to the selected processing chamber A storage medium which stores a control program of a substrate processing apparatus for causing a computer to execute a process to be sequentially conveyed is provided.

According to these, all the substrates in one lot are processed uniformly in the same atmosphere by treating all the board | substrates in a lot in the same process chamber, and therefore, the same product which does not have the difference in a characteristic with respect to all the board | substrates contained in a lot is produced. It can manufacture.

As described above, according to the present invention, the change of the conveying method can be controlled in accordance with the degree of fine processing required for each lot.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Preferred embodiment of this invention is described in detail, referring an accompanying drawing below. In addition, in the following description and an accompanying drawing, the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol about the component which has the same structure and function.

(First embodiment)

First, the outline of the substrate processing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, in the present embodiment, an example of etching the silicon wafer (hereinafter referred to as "wafer W") using the substrate processing system will be described.

(Substrate processing system)

The substrate processing system 10 includes a host computer 100, an equipment controller (EC) 200, four machine controllers (MC) 300a to 300d, and two process modules (PM). Modules 400a and 400b, two LLMs (Load Lock Modules) 500a and 500b, and a management server 600.

The EC 200 and the host computer 100, and the EC 200 and the management server 600 are connected by the customer side Local Area Network (LAN) 700a, 700b, respectively. The management server 600 is also connected to an information processing device such as a personal computer (PC) 800. The operator is configured to send a command to the substrate system 10 by operating the PC 800.

EC 200, MC 300a-300d, PM 400a, 400b, and LLM 500a, 500b are provided in area Q in a factory, and are respectively connected by LAN in a factory.

The host computer 100 manages the entire substrate processing system 10 such as data management. The EC 200 maintains a system recipe used to etch the substrate, and transmits a control signal to each MC 300 to operate the PMs 400a and 400b and the LLMs 500a and 500b according to the system recipe. Simultaneously transmit and perform history management of the data after operation.

The MCs 300a to 300d hold the process recipe, and drive the respective devices provided in the PMs 400a and 400b in accordance with the procedure of the process recipe, based on the control signal transmitted from the EC 200, thereby providing a wafer. The transfer of the wafer W is controlled by controlling the processing of W and driving each device provided in the LLMs 500a and 500b, respectively.

The PMs 400a and 400b are vacuum processing chambers that perform a predetermined process such as an etching process on the wafer W, for example. LLM 500a, 500b is a conveyance chamber which has the conveyance mechanism which conveys the wafer W. As shown in FIG. In addition, the substrate processing apparatus including PM 400a, 400b and LLM 500a, 500b, and processing a board | substrate by operating these is mentioned later. The management server 600 sets operating conditions and the like of each device based on data transmitted from the PC 800 by an operator's operation.

(Hardware configuration of EC, MC)

Next, a hardware configuration of the EC 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. In addition, since the hardware structure of MC 300 is the same as that of EC200, description is abbreviate | omitted here.

As shown in FIG. 2, the EC 200 includes a ROM 205, a RAM 210, a CPU 215, a bus 220, an internal interface (internal I / F) 225, and an external interface (external I). / F) 230.

In the ROM 205, a basic program executed by the EC 200, a program to be started in case of abnormality, various recipes, and the like are recorded. Various programs and data are stored in the RAM 210. The ROM 205 and the RAM 210 are examples of storage devices, and may be storage devices such as an EEPROM, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or the like.

The CPU 215 controls the processing of the substrate in accordance with various recipes. The bus 220 is a path for exchanging data between the devices of the ROM 205, the RAM 210, the CPU 215, the internal interface 225, and the external interface 230.

The internal interface 225 inputs data and outputs necessary data to a monitor or a speaker not shown. The external interface 230 transmits and receives data to and from devices connected by a network such as a LAN.

(Hardware Configuration of Substrate Processing Unit)

Next, a hardware configuration of the substrate processing apparatus including the PM 400 and the LLM 500 will be described with reference to FIG. 3. The substrate processing apparatus has the 1st process ship Q1, the 2nd process ship Q2, the conveyance unit Q3, the position alignment mechanism Q4, and the cassette stage Q5.

The first process ship Q1 has a PM 400a and an LLM 500a. The 2nd process ship Q2 is arrange | positioned in parallel with the 1st process ship Q1, and has PM400b and LLM 500b.

The LLMs 500a and 500b adjust the internal pressure by opening and closing the airtightly openable gate valve V provided at both ends thereof, and using the built-in carrier arms Arm and Armb, respectively, the PM 400a in a vacuum state. 400b) and conveyance unit Q3 in the standby state. In addition, the detail of the internal structure of PM400 is mentioned later.

The conveying unit Q3 is a rectangular conveyance chamber and is connected with the 1st process ship Q1 and the 2nd process ship Q2. The conveying arm Armc is provided in the conveying unit Q3, and conveys the wafer W to the 1st process ship Q1 or the 2nd process ship Q2, interlocking with conveyance arms Arma and Armb using a conveyance arm Armc.

At one end of the transfer unit Q3, a position alignment mechanism Q4 for positioning the wafer W is provided, and by detecting the state of the wafer peripheral portion with the optical sensor Q4b while rotating the swivel table Q4a while the wafer W is mounted thereon, The position of the wafer W is aligned.

The cassette stage Q5 is provided in the side surface of the conveyance unit Q3 in the longitudinal direction. Three cassette containers LP1 to LP3 are mounted in the cassette stage Q5. In each cassette container LP, for example, up to 25 wafers W are stored in multiple stages.

With this configuration, for example, 25 wafers W in the cassette container LP1 are conveyed one by one in turn from the cassette container LP1 to the alignment mechanism Q4 to the process ship Q1 or the process ship Q2 by the transfer arm Armc. It is conveyed to PM 400a or PM 400b by Arma or conveyance arm Armb, and is accommodated in cassette container LP1 again after an etching process. Thus, the method of conveying the wafer W one by one in turn to PM400a and PM400b is called OR conveyance.

(Internal configuration of PM)

Next, the internal structure of PM 400 is demonstrated, referring a longitudinal cross-sectional view of PM 400 typically shown in FIG. The PM 400 has a processing chamber C having a square cylinder shape in which a substantially central portion of the ceiling portion and the bottom portion are opened. On the ceiling of the processing container C, a cover 405 opened at an approximately center portion of the ceiling is mounted. The O-ring 410 is provided in the contact surface of the upper side wall of the processing container C, and the lower side wall of the lid | cover 405, and the airtight in a process chamber is hold | maintained by this.

Inside the processing container C, the upper electrode 415 is provided above it. The upper electrode 415 is electrically separated from the processing container C by the insulating material 420 provided on the opening periphery of the upper part of the processing container C.

The high frequency power supply 430 is connected to the upper electrode 415 via a matching circuit 425. The matching circuit 425 is provided with a matching box 435 at a substantially center portion of the ceiling as its periphery, and serves as a ground frame body of the matching circuit 425 and seals the ceiling.

The processing gas supply part 445 is further connected to the upper electrode 415 via the gas line 440, and the desired gas supplied from the processing gas supply part 445 is supplied from the plurality of gas injection holes A to the processing container C. Spray into. In this way, the upper electrode 415 also functions as a gas shower head.

Inside the processing container C, the lower electrode 455 is provided below. The lower electrode 455 also functions as a susceptor on which the wafer W is mounted. The lower electrode 455 is supported by the support 465 provided via the insulating material 460. Thereby, the lower electrode 455 is electrically separated from the processing container C. FIG.

One end of the bellows 470 is attached to the outer periphery of the opening provided in the bottom surface of the processing container C. The elevating plate 475 is fixed to the other end of the bellows 470. By this structure, the opening part of the bottom face of the processing container C is sealed by the bellows 470 and the elevating plate 475. In addition, the lower electrode 455 moves up and down integrally with the bellows 470 and the lifting plate 475 in order to adjust the position at which the wafer W is mounted to the height according to the processing process.

The lower electrode 455 is connected to the elevating plate 465 via the conductive path 480 and the impedance adjusting unit 485. The upper electrode 415 and the lower electrode 455 correspond to a cathode electrode and an anode electrode. The inside of the processing container is decompressed to the desired degree of vacuum by the exhaust mechanism 490. With this configuration, the wafer W is conveyed into the processing container C while maintaining the airtightness of the processing container C by opening and closing the gate valve 495, and by the high frequency power to which the gas supplied into the processing container is applied. Plasmaization and the desired etching are performed on the wafer W by the action of the generated plasma.

(Functional composition of EC)

Next, the functional configuration of the EC will be described with reference to Fig. 5 in which each function of the EC 200 is shown in blocks. The EC 200 has a function displayed by each block of the storage unit 250, the selection unit 255, the transfer control unit 260, the process execution control unit 265, and the communication unit 270.

The storage unit 250 stores, as the recipe group 250a, various recipes (recipe a to recipe n) in which each PM 400 displays a processing procedure for performing a desired process on the wafer W. As shown in FIG. The storage unit 250 also stores the unit parameter 250b indicating whether or not the microfabrication process is requested. In addition, the storage unit 250 stores the path selection information 250c as information necessary for selecting the transfer path of the wafer W. FIG. As the path selection information 250c, for example, the procedure of PM which etched the wafer W may be stored. In addition, you may memorize | store the total number of sheets of the wafer W processed by each PM for every PM until each PM is cleaned. The total processing time of the wafer W processed in each PM may be stored for each PM until the PMs are cleaned.

The selection unit 255 selects the PM to which the next wafer W is to be conveyed, and, according to the degree of fine processing required for each lot, the unit of the substrate to be conveyed to the same processing chamber as either one lot unit or one substrate unit. Choose from lot to lot.

The selection unit 255 is a PM to be conveyed to the next wafer W, for example, based on the procedure of the PM stored in the storage unit 250, for example, the PM group designated by the recipe (for example, PM 400a and PM ( 400b) selects the PM 400 that has been processed before.

The selection unit 255 is a PM to be conveyed to the next wafer W. The PM 400 with the smallest number of processing sheets among the PM groups designated by the recipe is based on the total number of processing sheets of the wafer W stored in the storage unit 250. ) May be selected. In addition, the selection unit 255 may select the PM 400 having the shortest processing time among the PM groups designated by the recipe, based on the total processing time of the wafer W stored in the storage unit 250.

The transfer control unit 260 sequentially transfers the wafers W included in the unit selected by the selection unit 255 to the PM 400 selected by the selection unit 255. Specifically, when one lot unit is selected by the selection unit 255, the transfer control unit 260 selects only all the wafers W included in the lot, for example, only in the PM 400a specified as the processing chamber to be selected next. It conveys in order (it does not convey to PM 400b).

On the other hand, when one wafer unit is selected by the selection unit 255, the transfer control unit 260 performs the PM 400 (or the number of the most processed sheets) on which the first wafer included in the lot has been previously processed. The conveyance method which conveys to the few PM 400 or PM 400 with the shortest processing time, and conveys the next wafer contained in the lot to the next PM is repeated until the last wafer contained in the lot.

The process execution control unit 265 selects the recipe designated by the operator from the storage unit 250 and etches the wafer W transferred to the PM 400 by the transfer control unit 260 based on the procedure shown in the selected recipe. Generates a control signal for executing the process.

The communication unit 270 mainly transmits and receives information with the MC 300. For example, the communication unit 270 sends the control signal generated by the process execution control unit 265 to the MC 300, thereby instructing the MC 300 to execute the desired etching process in the PM 400. do.

Incidentally, the functions of the respective parts of the EC 200 described above are actually ROMs 205 storing programs (including recipes) describing the processing procedures for the CPU 215 of FIG. 2 to realize these functions. And reading the program from a storage medium such as the RAM 210 and analyzing and executing the program. For example, in this embodiment, each of the functions of the selection unit 255, the transfer control unit 260, and the process execution control unit 265 is actually a program that describes the processing procedure for the CPU 215 to realize these functions. Is achieved by running

(Operation of EC)

Next, the process execution processing executed by the EC 200 will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in Figs. 6 to 8 centering on the transport procedure selection processing, which is a feature of the present embodiment. Fig. 6 is a main routine showing a process execution process, Fig. 7 is a subroutine showing a return procedure selection process called during the process execution process, and Fig. 8 is a process execution control called during the process execution process after the return procedure selection process ends. Subroutine showing treatment.

When the operator designates recipe a and the lot number and "on" the lot start button, the lot is put in and ready to convey 25 wafers included in the lot in turn. In accordance with this timing, the process execution process is started from step 600 of FIG. 6, the conveyance procedure selection process is called in step 605, and after the conveyance procedure selection process ends, the process proceeds to step 610 and the process execution control process is called. After the execution control processing ends, the processing ends in step 695.

(Return procedure selection processing)

The conveyance procedure selection process called in step 605 of FIG. 6 starts from step 700 of FIG. 7, proceeds to step 705, and the selection unit 255 determines whether it is the first process after system startup. When the substrate processing apparatus is in the idle state, the selection unit 255 determines that it is the first process after startup, and the flow proceeds to step 710, where the PM 400 having the smallest number among the PM groups specified by the recipe is selected. Select. Here, it is assumed that PMs 400a and 400b are designated by the recipe. Thus, the selection unit 255 selects the PM 400a having the smallest number.

On the other hand, if it is not the first process, the process proceeds to step 715, and the selection unit 255 selects the next PM 400 of the PM 400 in which the final process has been performed among the PM groups designated by the recipe. For example, when the PM which processed the wafer W last was the PM 400b, the selection unit 255 selects the PM 400a in step 715.

In this way, after the PM 400 to which the wafer W should be conveyed next is selected in step 710 or step 715, the flow advances to step 720, and the selection unit 255 determines whether or not it is fine machining. That is, the selection unit 255 determines whether the unit parameter stored in the storage unit 250 is valid.

If the micromachining process is not required (i.e., the unit parameter indicates invalidity), the process proceeds to step 725, and the selection unit 255 selects the wafer unit as the transfer unit, and proceeds to step 795 to perform this process. Quit. On the other hand, when the micromachining process is requested in step 720 (that is, when the unit parameter indicates valid), the selecting unit 255 proceeds to step 730 to select a lot unit as the conveying unit, and to step 795. Proceed to this process to end.

In addition, whether or not it is a micromachining process, as mentioned above, an operator designates valid or invalid to a unit parameter previously, and determines that it is a micromachining process, if a unit parameter is valid, and it is not a micromachining process if a unit parameter is invalid. It may be determined, or may be determined from the type of recipe or content of the recipe designated by the operator.

(Process execution control processing)

When the return procedure selection process of FIG. 7 ends, the process execution control process of FIG. 8 is called in step 610 of FIG. 6, whereby the process execution control process starts from step 800 of FIG. 8, and the flow proceeds to step 805. The processing execution control unit 265 selects the recipe a specified by the operator from the recipe group stored in the storage unit 250.

Next, the process proceeds to step 810, and the transport control unit 260 generates a control signal indicating the transport path in accordance with the transport unit selected by the selection unit 255. For example, an operator creates a system recipe of an OR conveyance path (i.e., PM1 or PM2) in the system recipe edit screen shown in FIG. 9 (a), and the OR conveyance path created earlier in the start screen shown in FIG. 9 (b). Even when a system unit is designated and the start is turned on, when the lot unit is selected by the selection unit 255, as shown in FIG. 9 (c) which shows the state of the substrate processing apparatus, the transfer control unit ( 260 selects one PM (here, PM1) from the OR-specified PM group PM1 or PM2 by the method described above, and etches all wafers W of the lot by PM1 (PM 400a). The control signal conveyed to PM1 from the first wafer W of the said lot to the last wafer W in order is produced | generated. Therefore, all the wafers W of this lot are not conveyed to PM2 (PM400b).

Subsequently, the process proceeds to step 815, the process execution control unit 265 generates a control signal indicating the etching process according to the process procedure shown in recipe a, and the process proceeds to step 820, where the communication unit 270 generates the generated control signal. To the MC 300.

Next, the process proceeds to step 825, and the process execution control unit 265 repeats the processes of steps 810 to 825 until it is determined that it is the last wafer W of the lot. Accordingly, all the wafers W of the lot are etched in the PM 400a, and after processing the last wafer W, the process proceeds to step 830 where the final process PM number "PM 400a" is used as one of the path selection information. The process then proceeds to step 895 to end this processing.

For example, when Lot 1, Lot 2, and Lot 3 housed in LP1, LP2, LP3 are all subject to micromachining, as shown in FIG. 10, all wafers of Lot 1 are processed in PM1 (PM 400a), and Lot All wafers of 2 are processed in PM2 (PM 400b), which is the processing chamber that was most recently processed at that time, and all wafers of lot 3 are processed in PM1 (processing chamber, which was most recently processed at that time). PM 400a).

On the other hand, when the wafer unit is selected by the selection unit 255, in step 810, the process execution control unit 265 generates a control signal designated to perform OR transport to the PM group designated by the system recipe. The transmission of the control signal for process execution generated in step 815 to the MC 300 together with the generated control signal for the transfer is repeated until the final lot. Thereby, the first wafer W of the lot is conveyed to the PM 400a previously selected, the next wafer W of the lot is conveyed to the PM 400b which is the next processing chamber, and the next wafer W of the lot is It is conveyed to PM400a which is a next process room. In this way, up to the final wafer W of the lot, the wafers W are OR-transferred one by one to the PM 400a and the PM 400b alternately, and are etched in parallel by the respective PMs 400.

As described above, according to the conveying in a lot unit, all wafers W in a lot are conveyed and processed in the same PM, and it can process uniformly to all the wafers W contained in one lot in the same environment. Therefore, it is possible to produce the same product without variation in characteristics in units of one lot. On the other hand, according to the OR conveyance of the wafer W unit, since the wafer W is processed in parallel, the throughput can be improved compared with the case of conveying by the lot unit.

In the conveyance on a wafer basis, the trial wafer is conveyed, for example, one by one to each processing chamber of the PM group designated by the recipe before conveying the wafer for the product. That is, in OR conveyance by a wafer unit, it is necessary to convey a trial wafer to all the process chambers which are OR-conveyed before conveying a product wafer in order to confirm whether it is in the state which can process a product wafer. Therefore, in OR conveyance, the minimum amount of the test wafers for all the process chambers which are OR-conveyed is needed.

However, in lot unit conveyance, for example, only one sheet of a trial wafer is conveyed to PM selected by the selection part 255 before conveying the board | substrate for products. That is, in the conveyance of a lot unit, since all the wafers W in a lot are conveyed to the selected one process chamber, at least one trial wafer W is also needed, and, thereby, cost can be reduced.

(Second embodiment)

Next, the substrate processing system 10 according to the second embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, when selecting the PM 400 to be conveyed next time, attention is paid to the number of wafers W processed by each PM 400 as a method of selecting a PM 400 having a less frequent use. Is different from the first embodiment focusing on the PM 400 most recently used. Accordingly, the substrate processing system 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 11 and 12 based on this difference.

In the second embodiment, the functional configuration (see Fig. 5) of the EC 200 is the same, and some of the conveyance procedure selection processing in Fig. 11 and the process execution control processing in Fig. 12 are different. Specifically, in the return procedure selection process of FIG. 11 called during the process execution process of FIG. 6, if it is the first process in step 705 following step 1100, step 710 is executed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, but step 705 is performed. If it is not the first process, the process proceeds to step 1105, where the selector 255 selects the PM 400 having the smallest total number of wafers processed from the PM group designated by the system recipe. The total number of processed wafers is accumulated for each PM as one of the path selection information 250c of the storage unit 250.

In this way, after selecting PM to be conveyed next, the selection part 255 processes step 720 to step 730 similarly to the case of 1st Embodiment, and progresses to step 1195 and complete | finishes this process.

In the process execution control process of FIG. 12 called during the process execution process of FIG. 6 after the return procedure selection process of FIG. 11, in step 805 to step 815 following step 1200, the process execution control unit 265 performs the first process. As in the embodiment, a control signal for controlling the transfer of the wafer W and the etching process of the wafer W is generated. In step 820, the communication unit 270 transmits the generated control signal to the MC 300. After that, the process proceeds to step 1205 and the process execution control unit 265 counts the number of wafers processed in the PM, and proceeds to step 825.

In step 825, the process execution control unit 265 repeats the processing in steps 810 to 820 and step 1205 until it determines that the processed wafer W is the final wafer in the lot, and determines in step 825 that it is the final wafer. Proceeding to step 1210, the storage unit 250 stores the total number of processed sheets of wafers processed by each PM 400 for each PM until cleaning.

According to this, the board | substrate is conveyed to PM400 with the fewest number of processes among the PM group designated by the system recipe. Accordingly, the wafer W can be processed in the PM 400 predicted to have low use frequency. As a result, the desired processing can be executed in all the PMs 400 on the average as much as possible without the frequency of use of the plurality of PMs 400 being biased. Thereby, the dispersion | variation in the atmosphere of each PM 400 can be suppressed, and the variation of the process performed by each PM 400 can be suppressed as much as possible by this.

(Third embodiment)

Next, the substrate processing system 10 according to the third embodiment will be described. In the third embodiment, when selecting the PM 400 to be conveyed next, attention is paid to the processing time of the wafer W using each PM 400 as a method of selecting a PM 400 having a lower frequency of use. Is different from the second embodiment focusing on the number of wafers W processed by each PM 400. Accordingly, the substrate processing system 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 mainly based on this difference.

In the third embodiment, the functional configuration of the EC 200 (see FIG. 5) is the same, and part of the conveyance procedure selection process in FIG. 13 and the process execution control process in FIG. 14 are different. Specifically, in the return procedure selection process of FIG. 13 called during the process execution process of FIG. 6, if it is the first process in step 705 following step 1300, step 710 is executed in the same manner as in the second embodiment, but step 705 is performed. If it is not the first process, the process proceeds to step 1305, where the selector 255 selects the PM 400 having the shortest total processing time of the wafer among the PM groups designated by the system recipe. The total processing time of the wafer is accumulated for each PM as one of the path selection information 250c of the storage unit 250.

In this way, after selecting PM to be conveyed next, the selection part 255 processes step 720 to step 730 similarly to the case of 2nd Example, and progresses to step 1395 and complete | finishes this process.

In the process execution control process of FIG. 14 called during the process execution process of FIG. 6 after completion of the return procedure selection process, in steps 805 to 820 following step 1400, the process execution control unit 265 is similar to the second embodiment. The control signal for controlling the conveyance of the wafer W and the processing of the wafer W is generated, and the communication unit 270 transmits the generated control signal to the MC 300. After that, the process proceeds to step 1405 and the process execution control unit 265 counts the time the wafer has been processed in the corresponding PM, and proceeds to step 825.

The process execution control unit 265 repeats the processing of steps 810 to 820 and 1405 until it is determined that the wafer W processed in step 825 is the final wafer of the lot, and determines that the wafer W is the final wafer in step 825. In step 1410, the storage unit 250 stores the total processing time of the wafers processed by the PMs 400 for each PM until cleaning.

According to this, the board | substrate contained in a selected unit is conveyed to the PM 400 with the shortest processing time among PM groups designated by the system recipe. Accordingly, the wafer W can be processed in the PM 400 predicted to have low use frequency. As a result, the desired processing can be executed in all the PMs 400 on the average as much as possible without the frequency of use of the plurality of PMs 400 being biased. Thereby, the dispersion | variation in the atmosphere of each PM 400 can be suppressed, and the variation of the process performed by each PM 400 can be suppressed as much as possible by this.

In each of the embodiments described above, the operations of the respective parts are related to each other, and can be replaced as a series of operations while taking into account the relationship with each other. Thus, the embodiment of the control device of the substrate processing apparatus is subjected to substrate processing. It can be set as an embodiment of the control method of the device. In addition, by substituting the operation of each unit by the processing of each unit, the embodiment of the control method of the substrate processing apparatus can be made into the embodiment of the control program of the substrate processing apparatus. Further, by storing the control program of the substrate processing apparatus in a computer readable recording medium, the embodiment of the control program of the substrate processing apparatus can be made into the embodiment of the computer readable recording medium in which the control program is recorded.

As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this example. It is apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and they are naturally understood to belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

(Modified example of substrate processing apparatus)

For example, the substrate processing apparatus is not limited to the structure shown in FIG. 3, and may have the structure shown in FIG. 15. The substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 15 is provided with the processing system S which carries out substrate processing, such as a film-forming process or an etching process, with respect to the conveyance system H which conveys a wafer W, and the wafer W. As shown in FIG. The conveying system H and the processing system S are connected via load lock chamber (LLM) 400t1, 400t2.

The conveyance system H has the cassette stage 400H1 and the conveyance stage 400H2. The container mounting table H1a is provided in the cassette stage 400H1, and four cassette containers H1b1 to H1b4 are mounted to the container mounting table H1a. Each cassette container H1b can accommodate a product substrate (wafer W) before processing, a processed product substrate, and a non-product substrate for dummy processing in multiple stages.

Two conveyance arms H2a1 and H2a2 which can be stretched and revolving are supported by the conveyance stage 420H2 so that a slide movement can be carried out by magnetic drive. The conveyance arms H2a1 and H2a2 hold | maintain the wafer W on the fork attached to the front-end | tip.

At one end of the transfer stage 400H2, a position alignment mechanism H2b for positioning the wafer W is provided. The position alignment mechanism H2b adjusts the position of the wafer W by detecting the state of the periphery of the wafer W by the optical sensor H2b2 while rotating the rotating table H2b1 with the wafer W mounted thereon.

In the load lock chambers 400t1 and 400t2, mounting tables for mounting the wafers W are provided inside the gate lock chambers 400, respectively, and gate valves V that can be opened and closed in airtightness at both ends thereof. With this configuration, the conveying system H is configured to convey the wafer W between the cassette containers H1b1 to H1b3, the load lock chambers 400t1 and 400t2, and the position alignment mechanism H2b.

The processing system S is provided with transfer chamber (T / C) 400t3 and six process chambers (P / C) 400s1 to 400s6 (= PM1 to PM6). The transfer chamber 400t3 is respectively joined to the process chambers 400s1 to 400s6 via gate valves s1a to s1f that can be opened and closed airtightly. Transfer chamber 400t3 is provided with the conveyance arm Sa which can be extended and revolved.

By such a configuration, the wafer W is loaded into the process chambers 400s1 to 400s6 from the load lock chambers 400t1 and 400t2 via the transfer chambers 400t3 using the transfer arm Sa, and a process such as an etching process is performed. After that, it is again carried out to the load lock chambers 400t1 and 400t2 via the transfer chamber 400t3.

Also in the case of the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 15, among the six process chambers P / C (corresponding to the PM 400), P / C having the lowest frequency of use at that time is selected, and the degree of fine processing of the lot is shown. According to the lot unit or the wafer unit selected according to the above, all the wafers W in the lot are sequentially conveyed to the selected P / C (in the case of the lot unit) or OR conveyed one by one to each P / C in order from the selected P / C. (For wafer units).

As a result, since the wafers W of the lot which require microfabrication are all processed in the same processing chamber, variations in the processing can be suppressed to form almost identical products. On the other hand, the wafer W of the lot in which fine processing is not required is conveyed to each processing chamber and processed in parallel, thereby improving throughput of the processing.

The number of processing chambers of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to two shown in FIG. 4 or six shown in FIG. 15, and may be any number. In addition, the processing chamber which concerns on this invention is not limited to the film-forming process, All board | substrate processes, such as a thermal-diffusion process and an etching process, can be performed.

Moreover, as an example of the apparatus which performs these processes, an etching apparatus, a CVD (chemical vapor deposition) apparatus, an ashing apparatus, a sputtering apparatus, a coater developer, a washing | cleaning apparatus, CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing: chemical mechanical polishing) ) PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) apparatus, exposure apparatus, ion implanter, etc. are mentioned. These devices may be embodied by a microwave plasma substrate processing apparatus, an inductively coupled plasma substrate processing apparatus, a capacitively coupled plasma substrate processing apparatus, or the like.

In addition, the board | substrate used for this invention is not limited to a glass substrate, For example, a silicon wafer may be sufficient. That is, the board | substrate used for this invention should just be a board | substrate used for an organic EL display, a plasma display, a liquid crystal monitor (LCD), etc., for example.

In addition, the control apparatus which concerns on this invention may be implemented only by EC200, and may be implemented by EC200 and MC300.

1 is a conceptual diagram of a substrate processing system according to the first to third embodiments of the present invention;

2 is a hardware configuration diagram of an EC according to the first to third embodiments;

3 is a configuration diagram of substrate processing apparatuses according to the first to third embodiments;

4 is a schematic view of a longitudinal section of a PM according to the first to third embodiments;

5 is a functional configuration diagram of the EC according to the first to third embodiments;

6 is a flowchart showing a process execution processing routine (main routine) executed in the first to third embodiments;

7 is a flowchart showing a conveyance procedure selection processing routine (subroutine) executed in the first embodiment;

8 is a flowchart showing a process execution control processing routine (subroutine) executed in the first embodiment,

9 (a) is a screen for editing a recipe,

9 (b) is a screen for starting the lot of cassette LP1;

9 (c) is a screen displaying a state of a substrate processing apparatus;

10 is a view for explaining a conveyance state when conveyed in a lot unit;

11 is a flowchart showing a conveyance procedure selection processing routine executed in the second embodiment,

12 is a flowchart showing a process execution control processing routine executed in the second embodiment,

13 is a flowchart showing a conveyance procedure selection processing routine executed in the third embodiment,

14 is a flowchart showing a process execution control processing routine that is executed in the third embodiment,

15 is a diagram schematically showing a longitudinal section of another internal configuration of a PM;

Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

100: host computer

200: EC

250: memory

255: selection unit

260: return control unit

265 processing execution control unit

270: communication unit

300, 300a to 300d: MC

400, 400a, 400b: PM

500, 500a, 500b: LLM

600: management server

700, 700a, 700b: customer side LAN

800: PC

LP, LP1, LP2, LP3: Cassette Container

Claims (9)

As a control apparatus which controls the substrate processing apparatus provided with the several process chamber which performs a predetermined process to a board | substrate, and the conveyance mechanism which conveys the said board | substrate, In addition to selecting the processing chamber to be transported next, the selection of selecting one lot unit or one substrate unit for each lot according to the degree of microfabrication required for each lot according to the degree of fine processing required for each lot. Wealth, Transfer control part which conveys the board | substrate contained in the unit selected by the said selection part in turn to the process chamber selected by the said selection part Control device having a. The method of claim 1, The storage unit, Of the plurality of processing chambers, the procedure of the processing chamber used for the processing of the substrate is stored, The selection unit, Based on the procedure of the processing chamber stored in the storage unit, selecting the processing chamber which has been previously processed from among the processing chamber group designated by the recipe; The conveying unit, To sequentially transfer the substrates included in the selected unit to the selected processing chamber. controller. The method of claim 1, The storage unit, The total number of processed sheets of substrates processed in each processing chamber is stored for each processing chamber until each processing chamber is cleaned, The selection unit, Based on the total number of processed sheets of the substrate stored in the storage unit, a process chamber having the smallest number of processed sheets among the process chamber groups designated by the recipe is selected, The conveying unit, To sequentially transfer the substrates included in the selected unit to the selected processing chamber. controller. The method of claim 1, The storage unit, The total processing time of the substrate processed in each processing chamber is memorized for each processing chamber until each processing chamber is cleaned, The selection unit, Based on the total processing time of the board | substrate memorize | stored in the said storage part, the process chamber with the shortest processing time is selected from the process chamber group designated by the recipe, The conveying unit, To sequentially transfer the substrate included in the selected unit to the selected processing chamber controller. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, The conveying control unit, When one lot unit is selected by the selection unit, all the substrates included in the lot are sequentially transferred to the selected processing chamber, and when one substrate unit is selected by the selection unit, the first substrate included in the lot is selected. The next substrate included in the lot by conveying to a processing chamber selected from one of the processing chambers previously processed, the processing chamber having the fewest processing sheets, or the processing chamber having the shortest processing time, among the processing chamber groups designated by the recipe. Conveying the next process chamber to the last substrate included in the lot controller. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The conveying control unit, When 1 lot unit is selected by the said selection part, before a board | substrate for products is conveyed, a board | substrate for trials is conveyed only to the said selected process chamber. controller. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The conveying control unit, When one board | substrate unit is selected by the said selection part, before conveying a board | substrate for products, a board | substrate for trials is conveyed only to each process chamber of the process chamber group designated by the recipe. controller. As a method of controlling the substrate processing apparatus provided with the several process chamber which performs a predetermined process to a board | substrate, and the conveyance mechanism which conveys the said board | substrate, Next, the process chamber to be conveyed is selected, and according to the degree of fine processing required for each lot, the unit of the substrate conveyed to the same process chamber is selected from one lot unit or one substrate unit, To sequentially transfer the substrate included in the selected unit to the selected processing chamber Control method of substrate processing apparatus. As a storage medium storing a control program for causing a computer to execute control of a substrate processing apparatus including a plurality of processing chambers for performing a predetermined process on a substrate and a transport mechanism for conveying the substrate, In addition to selecting a process chamber to be transported next, the process of selecting a unit of a substrate to be transported to the same process chamber from one lot unit or one substrate unit according to the degree of fine processing required for each lot, Causing a computer to execute a process of sequentially conveying a substrate included in the selected unit to the selected processing chamber; A storage medium storing a control program of the substrate processing apparatus.

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