JP2005322762A - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a throughput from being lowered in a degenerate operation control when an abnormality occurs in one line, and to prevent a wafer deposition process from being out of order.
A two-line in-line type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a process chamber PM1, a vacuum lock chamber VL1, an atmospheric loader LM, a load port LP1, and a process chamber PM2, a vacuum lock chamber VL2, an atmospheric loader LM, and a load port. The distribution operation is performed with the LP1 channel. For this reason, if a failure occurs in any of the lines, the wafer process can be switched to a normal line without delay. For example, when a failure occurs in the vacuum lock chamber VL1, the process of returning the wafer of that system to the carrier is stopped, and the wafer is directly transferred from the atmospheric robot to the buffer slot of the vacuum lock chamber VL2. Therefore, the throughput is not lowered and the wafer stays little. [Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an inline-type substrate processing apparatus that performs a series of process processes in one apparatus, and in particular, when performing the same process process, when an abnormality occurs in the current line, the carrying-in to the line is stopped. The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that performs degenerate operation control for continuing process processing on a normal line.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an inline type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having a two-line configuration distributes wafers to two lines using a single atmospheric transfer robot. For this reason, if an abnormality occurs in the line to be carried in while the atmospheric transfer robot is holding the wafer (semiconductor substrate), the degeneration operation will stop the carry-in to the line and continue processing on the normal line. Control is taking place. When such degenerate operation control is performed, it is necessary to prevent the order of processes such as wafer deposition from being out of order by changing the line. For this reason, appropriate wafer transfer control is performed for each abnormality detection mode to ensure transfer process consistency.

  In the first abnormality detection mode, when an abnormality is detected in the vacuum lock chamber to be transferred when the wafer is in the atmospheric transfer robot, the wafer of the atmospheric transfer robot is temporarily returned to the carrier on the load port, and again, Control is redone as a wafer to be processed on a normal line.

  Further, in the second abnormality detection mode, when an abnormality in the process chamber is detected when a wafer is present in the atmospheric transfer robot, consistency of the transfer process is taken by one of the following two methods. . In the first method, as in the case of detecting an abnormality in the vacuum lock chamber to be transferred when there is a wafer in the atmospheric transfer robot in the first abnormality detection mode, the wafer of the atmospheric transfer robot is temporarily loaded into the carrier. Then, control is performed again as a wafer to be processed on a normal line. In the second method, the wafer on the atmospheric transfer robot is transferred to the buffer slot of the vacuum lock chamber and left to stand, the next unprocessed wafer is taken out of the carrier, and the process processing operation is continued on a normal line.

  In addition, when a process chamber abnormality is detected after the wafer exchange process is completed and before the evacuation process in the third abnormality detection mode, the wafer in the buffer slot of the vacuum lock chamber is left unattended, and the next The processing wafer is taken out from the carrier, and the process processing operation is continued on a normal line.

  However, when an abnormality is detected in the vacuum lock chamber that is to be transferred when the wafer is present in the atmospheric transfer robot, which is the first abnormality detection mode, the throughput for temporarily returning the wafer of the atmospheric transfer robot to the carrier. (Processing capacity) decreases, and the number of processed wafers that can be formed per unit time in the process decreases.

  Further, in the second abnormality detection mode, when an abnormality in the process chamber is detected when a wafer is present in the atmospheric transfer robot, the wafer of the atmospheric transfer robot is temporarily returned to the carrier. At the same time, the wafer stays in the cooling stage and the buffer slot of the vacuum lock chamber. Further, when an abnormality in the process chamber is detected after the wafer replacement process, which is the third abnormality detection mode, but before the vacuuming process, the wafer stays in the buffer slot of the vacuum lock chamber.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. In the distribution operation control in the case where the same process is performed with a two-line configuration, the throughput is reduced even when an abnormality occurs in one line. Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of performing degenerate operation control so that the order of wafer film forming processes is not changed.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a plurality of processing modules for performing predetermined processing on a substrate, at least one introduction port for introducing a cassette storing the substrate, and a position of the substrate. A substrate position adjusting mechanism that adjusts the position of the substrate, a transfer device that transfers the substrate for each processing module from the introduction port via the substrate position adjusting mechanism, and a position of the substrate corresponding to each of the processing modules And a control unit that performs control.

  The processing module refers to a processing chamber (process chamber PM) that performs a predetermined process on a substrate, and a spare chamber (a buffer chamber LS and a cooling stage CS) that includes a plurality of mounting portions (buffer slots LS and cooling stage CS). Vacuum lock chamber VL). The introduction port is a load port LP that transfers a substrate to and from an external carrier. Furthermore, the substrate position adjusting mechanism is an aligner AU that is inside the atmospheric loader LM and performs alignment of the substrate. It is preferable that the position adjusting mechanism is configured so that the position of the substrate can be individually set for each module. The transfer device is an atmospheric transfer robot or a vacuum robot handler TH that transfers a substrate. Furthermore, the control unit is a control controller that performs degenerate operation control so that the order of the wafer film forming process is not changed by distribution control. With such a configuration, even if an abnormality occurs in any one of the plurality of lines, an unprocessed substrate can be placed on the placement unit (buffer slot LS and buffer slot LS) without reducing the throughput (processing capability). Without staying in the cooling stage CS), it is possible to appropriately perform degenerate operation control on the substrate being processed.

  The substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention can also be configured as follows. That is, a plurality of processing modules that perform predetermined processing on a substrate, at least one introduction port that introduces a cassette containing a substrate, a substrate position adjustment mechanism that adjusts the position of the substrate, and a substrate position adjustment mechanism When a processed substrate is placed on any one of a plurality of placement units and a transfer device that transfers the substrate from the introduction port to each processing module, the substrate is transferred from the cassette on the introduction port. Thus, a substrate processing apparatus including a control unit that performs control can be provided.

  In addition, when an abnormality is detected in the transport destination of the substrate on the transport device, the control unit may control to transport the substrate to the substrate position adjusting mechanism once. Furthermore, the control unit detects an abnormality in the transport destination of the substrate on the transport device, and if the processed substrate is placed on the placement portion that is the transport destination, the control portion is processed with the substrate on the transport device. It may be controlled to exchange the substrate. In addition, when the controller detects a failure in the transport destination of the substrate immediately after the substrate replacement process and the preliminary chamber is not yet evacuated, the control unit transfers the substrate on the placement unit to the transport device. May be controlled to be held and conveyed to the substrate adjustment mechanism. Note that the processing module performs the same process on the substrate.

  In the substrate replacement process, when the processed wafer is transferred to the mounting section, the next unprocessed wafer to be processed in the same processing chamber starts to be transferred from the cassette to the aligner, and this wafer is transferred to the mounting section. After that, processing is carried out such that the processed wafer is carried into the corresponding slot of the cassette.

  According to the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, by performing degenerate operation control in an inline type substrate processing apparatus having a plurality of lines (for example, two lines), it is possible to prevent a decrease in throughput when an abnormality occurs in one line. be able to. In addition, due to the occurrence of an abnormality, unprocessed wafers remain in the slot in the degenerate operation control by the conventional substrate processing apparatus, but in the degenerate operation control of the present invention, the processing of the processed wafer and the processing of the unprocessed wafer are performed. By continuing, the number of wafers staying in the slot of the substrate processing apparatus can be reduced. Thereby, the efficiency of the substrate processing can be improved.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the degeneration operation control in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. For ease of understanding, the conventional technique and the technique of the present invention will be compared.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an inline-type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 uses a two-line distribution operation control to stop wafer transfer to a line when an abnormality occurs on one line, and to process the wafer on a normal line without delay. Reduced operation control that is continued. That is, the configuration of FIG. 1 is a parallel redundant configuration in which a plurality of wafer transfer robots and process chambers and two load-lock chambers for carrier delivery are connected.

  In FIG. 1, an in-line type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 is composed of two channels, and is basically composed of a plurality of modules having the following functions. That is, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 includes process chambers PM1 and PM2, vacuum lock chambers VL1 and VL2, an atmospheric loader LM, and load ports LP1 and LP2. In addition, gate valves PGV1 and PGV2 are provided between the process chambers PM1 and PM2 and the vacuum lock chambers VL1 and VL2, respectively. The vacuum lock chambers VL1 and VL2 are respectively connected to the vacuum robot handlers TH1 and TH2, respectively. Are provided with a multi-stage slot having a buffer slot LS and a cooling stage CS at the lower stage. Further, the atmospheric loader LM includes an aligner AU and a loader handler LH. In addition, loader doors LD1 and LD2 are provided between the vacuum lock chambers VL1 and VL2 and the atmospheric loader LM.

  The function of each module will be described in more detail. The process chambers PM1 and PM2 have a function of performing film formation processing on a wafer by a chemical processing reaction such as CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) and adding value to the wafer. Furthermore, it has functions according to the respective film forming methods such as gas introduction and exhaust treatment, furnace temperature control, and plasma discharge treatment.

  The vacuum lock chambers VL1 and VL2 can control the vacuum / atmospheric pressure in the chamber, and are equipped with a robot for loading / unloading wafers to / from the process chambers PM1 and PM2. Further, the vacuum lock chambers VL1 and VL2 are internally provided with multistage slots that can hold wafers. For example, in the case of a two-stage slot, a buffer slot LS for holding the wafer in the upper stage and a cooling stage CS for cooling the wafer in the lower stage are provided.

  The atmospheric loader LM is equipped with a robot that can carry wafers into and out of the load lock chambers (that is, vacuum lock chambers VL1 and VL2). In addition, an aligner AU mechanism for correcting wafer misalignment during conveyance and aligning the notch of the wafer (a notch for determining the wafer direction) in a fixed direction is incorporated. Further, the atmospheric loader LM includes a loader handler LH that carries in and out the wafers with the load ports LP1 and LP2.

  The load ports LP1 and LP2 have a function capable of delivering a carrier capable of holding a plurality of wafers with the outside of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1. Further, each of the load ports LP1 and LP2 can be connected to a plurality of load ports. Further, the carrier ID can be read / written.

  In the configuration of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 as shown in FIG. 1, a set of process chamber PM1 and a set of vacuum lock chamber VL1 are paired, a set of process chamber PM2 and a set of vacuum lock chamber VL2 are set as another pair, Connect the line to the atmospheric loader LM. In the configuration of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 in FIG. 1, there are two lines, but more lines may be used. In the degenerate operation control method of the inline type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 constituted by such a plurality of lines, by performing the distribution operation control, the degenerate operation control for switching to another line when an abnormality occurs in one line is performed. Can be done.

  Further, a control controller (not shown) is connected to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, and the control controller has means for executing transfer control, process control, and the like. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control controller for controlling the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 2, the control controller 11 includes an operation unit 12, an overall control controller 13, a PMC (1) 14, and a PCM (2) 15 connected via a LAN line 16. In addition, a VL robot controller 13a, an atmospheric robot controller 13b, an MFC 13c, and the like are connected to the overall control controller 13. Further, the PMC (1) 14 is connected to an MFC 14a, an APC 14b, a temperature controller 14c, a valve I / O 14d, and the like. The MFC 14a is a mass flow controller for controlling the gas flow rate, and the APC 14b is an auto pressure controller for controlling the pressure in the process chamber PM. The temperature controller 14c controls the temperature in the process chamber, and the valve I / O 14d is an input / output port for controlling ON / OFF of a gas or exhaust valve. PMC (2) 15 has the same configuration.

  The operation unit 12 has functions for displaying screens such as system control command instructions, monitor display, logging data, alarm analysis, and parameter editing. The overall controller 13 also performs operation control of the entire system, control of the VL robot controller 13a, control of the atmospheric robot controller 13b, and VL exhaust system control for controlling the MFC 13c, valves, pumps, and the like.

  Next, an operation example of the control controller 11 shown in FIG. 2 will be described. Receiving the command instruction from the operation unit 12, the overall control controller 13 instructs the atmospheric robot controller 13b to perform a wafer transfer instruction. After the corresponding wafer is transferred from the carrier to the buffer slot LS of the vacuum lock chamber VL, exhaust control of the vacuum lock chamber VL (that is, control of pumps and valves) is performed. Then, when the vacuum lock chamber VL reaches a predetermined negative pressure, the VL robot controller 13a is instructed to transfer the wafer to the corresponding PMC (that is, PMC (1) 14 or PMC (2) 15). Next, when the transfer is completed and the gate valve PGV is closed, control parameters for adding value to the wafer for the corresponding PMC (that is, PMC (1) 14 or PMC (2) 15). Instructs execution of process recipe.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with respect to the operation of executing the degenerate operation control for switching to another line when an abnormality occurs in one line by performing the distribution operation control, in comparison with the prior art. .

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing distribution operation control in a two-line inline semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. When performing the same process for wafers of the same film type using an inline type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having a two-line configuration, by performing sort operation control, if an abnormality occurs in one line, it is possible to switch to another line. Degenerate operation control can be performed.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the in-line type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having a two-line configuration includes the process chamber PM1, the vacuum lock chamber VL1, the atmospheric loader LM, the load port LP1, and the process chamber PM2, the vacuum lock chamber VL2, and the atmospheric air. The distribution operation can be performed between the loader LM and the channel of the load port LP1. For this reason, when a failure occurs in any one of the two lines, the line can be switched to a normal line without delay.

  FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a procedure for exchanging a wafer in a chamber of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. First, if there is a processing designated wafer in step S1, the wafer is transferred to the aligner AU of the atmospheric loader LM when the processed wafer is transferred to the cooling stage CS slot in the lower stage of the vacuum lock chamber VL1. To open. Next, in step S2, when the exhaust and cooling processes are completed, the wafer is loaded into the buffer slot LS of the corresponding vacuum lock chamber VL1 after the gate valve PVG is opened. Further, in step S3, the wafer of the cooling stage CS is carried out to the corresponding slot of the corresponding load port LP1.

  FIG. 5 is an operation time chart of a conventional process process. In FIG. 5, in the in-line type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having a two-line configuration, when the vacuum lock chamber VL1 is evacuated in the process step of the wafer 1 in the line 1, the process of the wafer 2 is also performed in the line 2 by the distribution operation control. The process is started. Similarly, when the vacuum lock chamber VL2 is evacuated in the process step of the wafer 2 in the line 2, the process step of the wafer 3 is also started in the line 1 by the distribution operation control.

  When the wafer exchange process is performed during the process of the wafer 3 on the line 1, after the wafer 3 is transferred from the loader roller LH to the buffer slot LS, the wafer 3 is transferred from the cooling stage CS to the load port LP1. That is, the wafer 3 of the atmospheric transfer robot in the line 1 is once returned to the carrier on the load port LP1, and the process control is performed again as the wafer 3 to be processed in the normal line 1. Thus, since the wafer 1 of the atmospheric transfer robot in the line 1 is once returned to the carrier on the load port LP1, the throughput is reduced and the number of wafers that can be formed per unit time is reduced. As for the wafer 4, the wafer 5, and the wafer 6, when the wafer is exchanged during the process, the throughput is lowered because each wafer is once returned to the carrier on the load port LP. Further, the wafer stays in the cooling stage CS and the buffer slot LS of the vacuum lock chamber VL.

  Therefore, in the degenerate operation control of the in-line type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, the following control is performed in a two-line configuration in order to eliminate throughput reduction and wafer retention. First, the processed wafer on the cooling stage CS of the line where the abnormality has occurred in the process chamber PM is returned to the carrier. Next, the unprocessed wafer on the atmospheric transfer robot and the buffer slot LS is loaded into a normal line without returning to the carrier. In particular, when an aligner AU for individually setting the position of the substrate is provided for each module, it is preferable that the module is returned to the aligner AU and then carried into a normal line.

  The specific operation of the degenerate operation control of the inline semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below. FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of a wafer information management table in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, where (a) is an information table of line 1 at the time of normal completion of transfer between the cooling stage CS and the load port LP, (b) ) Is an information table of line 2 when the transfer between the cooling stage CS and the load port LP is normally completed, and (c) is an information table of line 1 when an unprocessed wafer is conveyed to the loader handler LH when an abnormality of the line 1 occurs. d) shows an information table of line 2 obtained by copying information of line 1 in which an abnormality has occurred.

  As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, at the timing when the wafer leaves the carrier, various types of wafer information are sequentially registered in the wafer information management table. By registering such wafer information in the wafer information management table, the process target wafer should be processed in which line, and the current wafer is processed in which process step. You can easily know if you are.

  Also, as shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D, the wafer information is moved to the wafer information management table of the target module every time the transfer of the wafer is completed. For example, when the transfer of the wafer on line 1 is completed, the wafer information on the wafer information management table on line 1 is moved to the wafer information management table on line 1. The wafer information in the wafer information management table of line 1 is cleared when the transfer between the cooling stage CS and the load port LP is normally completed. Further, when performing degenerate operation control, an unprocessed wafer of a line (for example, line 1) in which an abnormality has occurred is carried to the loader hand LH, and the loader hand LH information is transferred to a normal line (for example, line 2) wafer information management table. By copying to, continuation of the process processing on the normal line (line 2) is realized.

  Next, the flow of degenerate operation control in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention will be described using a time chart. FIG. 7 is a time chart of degenerate operation control 1 in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. That is, this time chart is a time chart of the degenerate operation control when an abnormality occurs in the vacuum lock chamber VL to be transferred when there is a wafer in the atmospheric transfer robot.

  In FIG. 7, when an abnormality is detected in the vacuum lock chamber VL that is about to be transferred when the wafer is present in the atmospheric transfer robot, the process of returning the wafer to the carrier is stopped and the atmospheric robot directly enters the normal line buffer slot LS. Transport the wafer. In this way, the throughput is not reduced because the process is performed without returning the wafer to the carrier. Hereinafter, the flow of the degenerate operation control will be described in detail according to the time chart of FIG.

  First, in line 1, simultaneously with the start of the atmospheric release process of vacuum lock chamber VL1, wafer 1 is transferred from load port LP1 to aligner AU of atmospheric loader LM for alignment. Thereafter, the wafer 1 is transferred from the aligner AU to the loader handler LH, and when the vacuum lock chamber VL1 is in the atmospheric state, the loader door LD1 is opened and then the wafer 1 is transferred from the loader handler LH to the buffer slot LS. Next, the vacuum lock chamber VL1 is evacuated after the loader door LD1 is closed.

  At this time, that is, at the time of evacuation in the vacuum lock chamber VL1 of the line 1, the process processing is started also for the wafer 2 of the line 2 by the distribution operation control. For line 1, the transfer of the wafer 1 from the buffer slot LS to the process chamber PM1 is continued, and the film forming process for the wafer 1 is executed in the process chamber PM1.

  Further, the process of the wafer 2 in the line 2 is also performed in the same process as the line 1 described above, and the process of the wafer 3 in the line 1 is controlled by the distribution operation control when the vacuum lock chamber VL2 in the line 2 is evacuated. Processing begins. Then, the line 1 performs alignment by transferring the wafer 3 from the load port LP1 to the aligner AU of the atmospheric loader LM, and then transfers the wafer 1 from the aligner AU to the loader handler LH.

  If an abnormality occurs in the vacuum lock chamber VL1 in the line 1 during such a process step, the wafer 3 is held by the atmospheric transfer robot, and the wafer information of the wafer 3 (that is, the line 1 information table in FIG. 6C). Is moved to the table of line 2 which is a normal line. That is, as shown in the wafer information management table of FIG. 6, the line 1 information table of FIG. 6C is copied to the line 2 information table of FIG. 6D, and the degeneration control of the wafer 3 is started in line 2. The In the degeneration control of the wafer 3 at this time, the wafer 3 is held by the loader handler LH and is not returned to the carrier. For this reason, the throughput does not decrease.

  In line 2, wafer 3 is transferred to aligner AU, and alignment of wafer 3 (wafer notch alignment and position correction processing) is executed again. Further, the wafer 3 is transferred from the aligner AU to the atmospheric transfer robot. Note that some atmospheric transfer robots that are used do not need to be realigned. In that case, the alignment process by the aligner AU and the transfer process of the wafer 3 from the aligner AU to the atmospheric transfer robot are omitted. Note that the time chart of FIG. 7 shows a state where the alignment is not performed again.

  Next, it waits for the vacuum lock chamber VL2 of the line 2 which is a normal line to be in an atmospheric state. When the vacuum lock chamber VL2 is in the atmospheric state, the loader door LD2 is opened, and the degeneration control wafer 3 is buffered from the loader handler LH. Transport to slot LS. Further, after the wafer 3 is transferred from the cooling stage CS to the load port LP2, the loader door LD2 is closed. Then, after the vacuum lock chamber VL2 is evacuated, the degeneration control wafer 3 is transferred from the process chamber PM2 to the cooling stage CS, and further transferred from the buffer slot LS to the process chamber PM2 to be processed. .

  On the other hand, when the loader door LD2 is closed in the processing step of the degeneration control wafer 3, the wafer 4 which is the next unprocessed wafer starts the atmosphere release process of the vacuum lock chamber VL2 and at the same time the process process is performed on the line 2. Executed. The wafer 4 is transferred from the load port LP2 to the aligner AU of the atmospheric loader LM in the line 2 for alignment, and then the wafer 4 is transferred from the aligner AU to the loader handler LH. When the vacuum lock chamber VL2 is in the atmospheric state, the loader door LD2 is opened, the wafer 4 is transferred from the loader handler LH to the buffer slot LS, and further transferred from the cooling stage CS to the load port LP2. Then, after the loader door LD2 is closed, the vacuum lock chamber VL2 is evacuated and then transferred from the process chamber PM2 to the cooling stage CS, and further transferred from the buffer slot LS to the process chamber PM2 to execute process processing.

  FIG. 8 is a second time chart of the degenerate operation control in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. That is, this time chart is a time chart of the degenerate operation control when an abnormality is detected in the process chamber when the atmospheric transfer robot has a wafer.

  If an abnormality occurs in the process chamber when there is a wafer in the atmospheric transfer robot, after replacing the wafer in the vacuum lock chamber where the abnormality occurred, the wafer transferred to the buffer slot in the replacement process is again transferred to the atmospheric transfer robot. Then, the wafer is transferred from there to the buffer slot of the normal line. Therefore, the throughput does not decrease and the wafer does not stay in the buffer slot or the cooling stage.

  In FIG. 8, the process processing of the wafer 1 in the line 1, the process processing of the wafer 2 in the line 2, and the process processing of the wafer 3 in the line 3 are already described in FIG.

  In FIG. 8, if an abnormality occurs in the process chamber PM2 during the process of the wafer 4 in the line 2, the loader door LD2 in the line 2 where the abnormality has occurred is opened from the atmospheric transfer robot, and the loader handler LH moves to the buffer slot LS. The wafer 4 is transferred. Further, the wafer 4 is transferred from the cooling slot CS of the line 2 where the abnormality has occurred to the load port LP2. Then, in order to perform degeneration control, the wafer 4 is transferred from the buffer slot LS to the loader handler LH, and the wafer 4 on the buffer slot LS is recovered. Note that the roller door LD2 is closed when the normal replacement process is completed, but the roller door LD2 is not closed at this point. In this way, the loader door LD2 is closed after the wafer 4 in the buffer slot LS previously transferred is retrieved by the atmospheric transfer robot.

  Thereafter, the degeneration control of the wafer 4 performs the same processing as the degeneration control of the wafer 3 in FIG. That is, when an abnormality occurs in the process chamber PM2 of the line 2, the wafer 4 is held by the atmospheric transfer robot, and the wafer information of the wafer 4 (that is, the line 2 information table) is moved to the table of the line 1 that is a normal line. In line 1, the wafer 4 is transferred to the aligner AU, and the alignment of the wafer 4 (wafer notch alignment and position correction processing) is executed again. Further, the wafer 4 is transferred from the aligner AU to the atmospheric transfer robot. Next, it waits for the vacuum lock chamber VL1 of the line 1, which is a normal line, to be in the atmospheric state. When the vacuum lock chamber VL1 is in the atmospheric state, the loader door LD1 is opened, and the degeneration control wafer 4 is buffered from the loader handler LH. Transport to slot LS. Further, after the wafer 4 is transferred from the cooling stage CS to the load port LP2, the loader door LD1 is closed. Then, after the vacuum lock chamber VL1 is evacuated, the degeneration control wafer 4 is transferred from the process chamber PM1 to the cooling stage CS, and further transferred from the buffer slot LS to the process chamber PM2 to execute a series of process processes. Is done.

  FIG. 9 is a third time chart of the degenerate operation control in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. That is, this time chart is a time chart for degenerate operation control when an abnormality of the process chamber is detected after the wafer exchange process is completed and before the vacuuming process.

  If an abnormality in the process chamber occurs after the wafer replacement process and before the vacuuming process, the wafer in the buffer slot of the vacuum lock chamber where the abnormality has occurred is returned by the atmospheric transfer robot, and then the wafer is transferred to the buffer slot in the normal line. Transport. As a result, the throughput does not decrease and the wafer does not stay in the buffer slot or the cooling stage.

  In FIG. 9, the process processing of the wafer 1 in the line 1 and the process processing of the wafer 2 in the line 2 have already been described with reference to FIG. When an abnormality occurs in the process chamber PM1 during the process of the wafer 3 in the line 1, the loader door LD1 of the line 1 where the abnormality has occurred is opened, and the loader door LD1 is closed after the wafer 3 in the buffer slot LS is retrieved by the atmospheric robot. . In this way, the wafer 3 on the buffer slot LS is retrieved and degeneration control is performed.

  That is, after the wafer 3 is transferred from the buffer slot LS to the loader handler LH on the line 1 and the wafer 3 on the buffer slot LS is recovered, the degeneration control of the wafer 3 is performed by the same processing process as in FIGS.

  That is, when an abnormality occurs in the process chamber PM1 in the line 1 after the wafer exchange process and before the vacuuming process, the loader door LD1 of the line 1 where the abnormality has occurred from the atmospheric transfer robot is opened, and the loader handler LH is opened from the buffer slot LS. The wafer 3 is transferred to In this way, the wafer 3 on the buffer slot LS is taken back in order to perform degeneration control.

  After that, the wafer information of the abnormal line 1 is transferred to the normal line 2 and waits for the vacuum lock chamber VL2 of the normal line 2 to be in the atmospheric state, and when the vacuum lock chamber VL2 is in the atmospheric state. The loader door LD2 is opened, and the degeneration control wafer 3 is transferred from the loader handler LH to the buffer slot LS. Further, after the wafer 3 is transferred from the cooling stage CS to the load port LP2, the loader door LD2 is closed. Then, after the vacuum lock chamber VL2 is evacuated, the degeneration control wafer 3 is transferred from the process chamber PM2 to the cooling stage CS, and further transferred from the buffer slot LS to the process chamber PM2 to execute a series of process processes. Is done.

If an abnormality in the process chamber PM1 is detected after the evacuation process is started in the line 1, the wafer may already be carried to the normal line 2. In this case, if the wafer in the buffer slot LS is taken back, the order of the process will be out of order, so that it is intentionally retained.
Although the semiconductor substrate has been described as an embodiment of the present invention, it is not particularly limited, and a glass substrate or the like may be used.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an inline-type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the controller for control for controlling the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows distribution operation control in a 2 line inline type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the procedure which replaces | exchanges a wafer within the chamber of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. It is the operation time chart of the process processing performed conventionally. It is a figure which shows an example of the wafer information management table in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of this invention. It is the time chart 1 of the degeneration operation control in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of this invention. FIG. 3 is a second time chart of degenerate operation control in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 4 is a third time chart of degenerate operation control in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus PM1, PM2 Process chamber VL1, VL2 Vacuum lock chamber LM Atmospheric loader LP1, LP2 Load port PGV1, PGV2 Gate valve TH1, TH2 Vacuum robot handler LD1, LD2 Loader door AU Aligner LS Buffer slot CS Cooling stage 11 Controller for control 12 Operation unit 13 Overall control controller 13a VL robot controller 13b Atmospheric robot controller 13c MFC
14,15 PMC
14a MFC
14b APC
14c Temperature controller 14d Valve I / O
16 LAN line

Claims (1)

A plurality of processing modules for performing predetermined processing on the substrate;
At least one introduction port for introducing a cassette containing the substrate;
A substrate position adjusting mechanism for adjusting the position of the substrate;
A transfer device for transferring the substrate from the introduction port for each of the processing modules via the substrate position adjustment mechanism;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a control unit that performs control so as to individually set the position of the substrate corresponding to each of the processing modules.

Images