JP4731372B2 - Substrate processing apparatus schedule creation method and program thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a schedule creation method for a substrate processing apparatus for performing predetermined processing such as cleaning and drying on a glass substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate) for a semiconductor wafer or a liquid crystal display device, and a program therefor, and in particular, performs the processing The present invention relates to a technique for creating a schedule beforehand.

  Conventionally, as a method of this type, when a plurality of lots are processed by a substrate processing apparatus provided with a plurality of processing units for processing a substrate, the control unit is configured based on a recipe including a plurality of processing steps. There is one that determines the processing order of each lot in order to sequentially process the lots in each processing unit (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Since such a substrate processing apparatus schedule creation method determines which lot is to be processed at which point in time before actually starting the processing for the lot, the lot can be arranged efficiently. And the operating rate of the substrate processing apparatus can be improved.

By the way, when the substrate processing apparatus includes a processing unit that processes a substrate with a chemical liquid whose temperature has been adjusted to a high temperature, when the temperature of the chemical liquid is adjusted from the beginning in that processing unit, the normal temperature will reach a predetermined temperature. Since a long time is required, a “preliminary unit” that does not directly contribute to substrate processing is provided, and preparatory processing such as temperature control is performed in advance there.
JP 2002-341923 A

However, the conventional example having such a configuration has the following problems.
In other words, the conventional apparatus does not create a schedule for the spare unit. Specifically, when processing is performed according to a schedule created in advance, the event that the processing is performed in the processing unit in the previous stage of processing in the processing unit that uses a high-temperature chemical solution is used as an event. Start the key. Therefore, when a processing unit that uses high-temperature chemicals is used in spite of trying to improve the operating rate of the apparatus by starting processing after creating a schedule in advance, an event-driven operation Is involved, so there is a problem that the operating rate may not improve much.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and improves the operating rate of the apparatus even when the processing liquid preparation processing is performed by incorporating the preparation processing in the spare unit into the schedule. It is an object of the present invention to provide a schedule creation method and program for a substrate processing apparatus capable of performing the above.

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention has the following configuration.
That is, the invention according to claim 1 is based on a recipe in which a control unit includes a plurality of processing steps when a plurality of lots are processed by a substrate processing apparatus including a plurality of processing units for processing a substrate. In the substrate processing apparatus schedule creation method for determining the processing order of each lot in order to process each lot sequentially in each processing unit, the control unit is a spare unit, and there are a plurality of spare units. The time required for the preparation process for preparing the processing liquid used in the processing unit is arranged in advance according to the use timing of the processing unit used in each lot , and in a different spare unit The preparatory processing for each of the spare units is arranged independently so as to allow part of the preparatory processing to overlap .

[Operation / Effect] According to the invention described in claim 1, the control unit determines, in each lot, the time required for the preparation processing for preparing the processing liquid used in the processing unit in the spare unit. It arrange | positions ahead according to the use timing of the said process part used. Therefore, when the processing liquid is used in the processing unit, the preparation process in the spare unit has been completed, the schedule delay due to the standby unit waiting for the preparation process can be prevented, and the operating rate of the apparatus can be improved. it can. In addition, when there are a plurality of spare units, the spare unit preparation process in the schedule can be arranged with a high degree of freedom by allowing an overlapping arrangement in the schedule, so that the process can be performed more efficiently.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the processing unit has a function of processing the substrate with a chemical heated to a predetermined high temperature, and the preparatory processing in the preliminary unit preliminarily regulates the chemical to a predetermined high temperature. Item 2). Although it takes a long time to adjust the temperature of a chemical solution at room temperature to a predetermined high temperature, it takes time to stabilize at a predetermined temperature, and the temperature is not adjusted in the processing unit but left to the spare unit. This makes it possible to control the temperature efficiently.

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In the present invention, it is preferable that the control unit advance the time for starting the preparatory processing in consideration of the time until the spare unit regulates the temperature of the chemical solution and stabilizes the liquid (Claim 3 ). When the temperature of the chemical solution is controlled, it takes more time than the temperature raising time until the temperature is stabilized after the temperature is raised to a predetermined temperature. Therefore, by taking the time into consideration to advance the time for starting the preparation process, the temperature adjustment time in the processing unit can be shortened, and the processing in the processing unit can be performed efficiently.

The schedule creation program for a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is a recipe in which a control unit includes a plurality of processing steps when a plurality of lots are processed by a substrate processing apparatus provided with a plurality of processing units for processing a substrate. In the schedule creation program of the substrate processing apparatus that determines the processing order of each lot in order to process each lot sequentially in each processing unit based on the above, the control unit is a spare unit, the spare unit is a plurality In this case, the time required for preparing the processing liquid used in the processing unit is arranged in advance according to the use timing of the processing unit used in each lot , and the different spare as you can tolerate preparation process to partially overlap in the unit, the braking arranging independently preparation processing each of said spare unit And performs (claim 4).

According to the schedule creation method for a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the control unit prepares a processing liquid for use in the processing unit when there are a plurality of spare units in the standby unit. The time required for each spare is arranged in advance according to the use timing of the processing unit used in each lot , and the spare processing in different spare units can be allowed to partially overlap. Arrange the unit preparation process independently . Therefore, when the processing liquid is used in the processing unit, the preparation process in the spare unit is completed, and the delay of the schedule due to the standby unit waiting for the preparation process can be prevented, and the operating rate of the apparatus can be improved. In addition, when there are a plurality of spare units, the spare unit preparation process in the schedule can be arranged with a high degree of freedom by allowing an overlapping arrangement in the schedule, so that the process can be performed more efficiently.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a schematic configuration of the substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

  This substrate processing apparatus is, for example, an apparatus for performing chemical processing on the substrate W. A plurality of (for example, 25) substrates W are stacked on the cassette 1 and stored. The cassette 1 in which the unprocessed substrates W are stacked and stored is placed on the input unit 3. The input unit 3 includes two mounting tables 5 on which the cassette 1 is mounted. A payout unit 7 is disposed on the opposite side of the input unit 3 across the substantially central portion of the substrate processing apparatus. The dispensing unit 7 stores the processed substrate W in the cassette 1 and dispenses the entire cassette 1 out of the apparatus. The payout unit 7 includes two mounting tables 9 for mounting the cassette 1, similarly to the loading unit 3.

  A first transport mechanism 11 configured to be movable between these is disposed at a position along the input unit 3 and the payout unit 7. The first transport mechanism 11 transports a plurality of substrates W together with the cassette 1 placed on the input unit 3 to the second transport mechanism 13.

  The second transport mechanism 13 transports all the substrates W to the third transport mechanism 15 after taking out all the stored substrates W from the cassette 1. Further, after receiving the processed substrate W from the third transport mechanism 15, the substrate W is accommodated in the cassette 1 and transported to the first transport mechanism 11.

  The third transport mechanism 15 is configured to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the substrate processing apparatus, and on the foremost side in the movement direction, the drying processing unit 17 for storing and drying a plurality of substrates W in the chamber. Is arranged.

  A first processing unit 19 is disposed at a position adjacent to the drying processing unit 17 in a direction in which the third transport mechanism 15 moves, and a second processing is performed at a position on the back side adjacent to the first processing unit 19. The third processing unit 23 is disposed on the back side adjacent to the second processing unit 21.

  The first processing unit 19 includes a pure water cleaning processing unit 19a for performing pure water cleaning processing on a plurality of substrates W, and a chemical solution for performing chemical processing on the plurality of substrates W. A processing unit 19b is provided. A plurality of substrates W are received only between the pure water cleaning processing unit 19a and the chemical processing unit 19b at a position opposite to the third transport mechanism 15 across the pure water cleaning processing unit 19a and the chemical processing unit 19b. A sub-transport mechanism 19c for passing is provided.

  The second processing unit 21 has the same configuration as the first processing unit 19 described above. That is, the apparatus includes a pure water cleaning processing unit 21a, a chemical processing unit 21b, and a sub-transport mechanism 21c.

The third processing unit 23 has the same configuration as that of the first processing unit 19 described above, but is used as a “spare unit” in this embodiment apparatus.
That is, although the pure water washing | cleaning process part 23a, the chemical | medical solution processing part 23b, and the sub conveyance mechanism 21c are provided, only the chemical | medical solution processing part 23b is utilized and the other structure is not utilized. The chemical processing unit 23b prepares processing liquids used in the chemical processing unit 19b and the chemical processing unit 21b. For example, when the chemical processing unit 19b and the chemical processing unit 21b perform processing on the substrate W with a processing liquid containing phosphoric acid heated to a predetermined high temperature (for example, 160 ° C.), the chemical processing unit 23b supplies normal temperature phosphoric acid. Then, a preparatory process for temperature control for heating to a predetermined temperature is performed in advance. Moreover, the process which adjusts the phosphoric acid density | concentration of the process liquid containing a phosphoric acid by adding a pure water suitably in a process liquid is also performed. When such a preparation process is started and completed at a predetermined timing, phosphoric acid whose temperature is adjusted to a high temperature is supplied from the chemical solution processing unit 23b in accordance with the timing at which the chemical solution processing units 19b and 21b are used. Thereafter, the temperature is adjusted to a predetermined temperature by the chemical processing units 19b and 21b.

  A cassette cleaning unit 24 is disposed at a position adjacent to the second transport mechanism 13. The cassette cleaning unit 24 has a function of cleaning the empty cassette 1 after the above-described second transport mechanism 13 has taken out all the substrates W.

  The first transport mechanism 11, the second transport mechanism 13, the third transport mechanism 15, the first processing unit 19 (the pure water cleaning processing unit 19a and the chemical solution processing unit 19b), and the second processing unit 21 described above. (The pure water cleaning processing unit 21a and the chemical processing unit 21b) correspond to the processing unit in the present invention.

  The substrate processing apparatus configured as described above is comprehensively controlled by the control unit 25 as shown in the block diagram of FIG.

  The control unit 25 includes a CPU and the like, and includes a scheduling unit 27, a backup unit scheduling unit 28, and a process execution instruction unit 31. The storage unit 33 connected to the control unit 25 is prepared in advance by a user of the substrate processing apparatus, and includes a recipe including a plurality of processing steps that define how to process the substrate W, and a schedule creation program In addition, a processing program for executing the created schedule, a spare unit schedule creation program for scheduling spare unit preparation processing, and the like are stored in advance. A schedule created by the schedule creation program is also stored.

  The scheduling unit 27 treats a plurality of substrates W accommodated in the cassette 1 and placed on the input unit 3 as one lot, and stores the recipe stored in advance in the storage unit 33 instructed by the operator of the apparatus. Accordingly, before actually starting processing, a schedule is created so that processing steps for each lot can be efficiently arranged in time series.

  The spare unit scheduling unit 28 performs the preparation process by the chemical solution processing unit 23b corresponding to the above-described spare unit before the time required for the preparation process in accordance with the timing at which the chemical solution processing units 19b and 21b are used in each lot. Add to the schedule to place it in

  The process execution instructing unit 31 issues an operation instruction related to processing of each processing unit at an appropriate timing based on the schedule created by the scheduling unit 27 and stored in the storage unit 33. Also, the standby unit scheduling unit 28 instructs the operation of the preparation process added to the schedule.

  Here, a specific recipe will be described. In order to facilitate the understanding of the description, an example simplified from an actual recipe will be described.

  For example, the first lot L1, the second lot L2, and the third lot L3 are processed in order, and the recipes of each lot are all the same, and the processing step a, the processing step b, and the processing step c And processing step b, processing step d, processing step b, and processing step e. The processing step a is a lot injection and is mainly processing by the first transport mechanism 11 and the second transport mechanism 13, and the processing step b is a lot transport and is mainly processing by the third transport mechanism 15. . The processing step c is processing by the chemical solution processing unit 19b, the processing step d is processing by the pure water cleaning processing unit 19a, and the processing step e is processing by the drying processing unit 17. In the end, lots that have been processed are unloaded, but the processing steps are omitted for the sake of illustration.

  Next, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the substrate processing apparatus, FIG. 4 is a time chart showing an example of a scheduled state, and FIG. 5 is a time chart showing an example of scheduling a spare unit. .

Steps S1-S4
The operator of the apparatus places the cassette 1 containing the unprocessed substrates W on the placing table 5 of the loading unit 3 (Step S1) and instructs the recipe described above from an instruction unit (not shown) (Step S2). Then, the control part 25 reads the recipe data memorize | stored in the memory | storage part 33 (step S3), and also performs the time calculation of a process process. And the scheduling part 27 produces a schedule based on the time which a process process requires (step S4). Here, it is assumed that the first lot L1 to the third lot L3 are sequentially placed on the placement table 5, and the same recipe is designated by the operator.

  The scheduling unit 27 refers to the storage unit 33 and creates a schedule based on the recipe. There are various scheduling methods. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, each processing step included in the recipe of the first lot L1, the second lot L2, and the third lot L3 (the processing step in the figure). P1 to P7) are arranged in time series. As for each processing process P1-P7, the central part represents substantial processing, the front is the pre-operation (preparation performed before using the processing unit), and the subsequent operation is performed after using the processing unit. It is added as a cleanup). Some processing steps include only pre-operations and no post-operations. Since the present invention is a method of creating a schedule in advance before actually starting processing, before the lot actually moves, the previous operation of the next processing unit is started, and the lot is transferred to the next processing unit. After moving, the post-processing of the processing unit used by the lot is performed.

Step S5
The backup unit scheduling unit 28 refers to the schedule created by the scheduling unit 27 and schedules the chemical solution processing unit 23b which is a backup unit (step S5).
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, for the first lot L1, the preparation time T1 is such that the preparation processing is completed by the substantial processing start time t1 of the processing step P3 using the chemical processing section 19b. The preparation process PR1 is arranged so as to start the preparation process PR1 as the process step f at a time point t01 earlier. This preparation time T1 is the minimum time required to raise the temperature of phosphoric acid to a predetermined temperature. Similarly, in the case of the second lot L2, the processing is started at the time t02 before the preparation time T1 from the processing start time t2, and in the case of the third lot L3, the processing is started at the time t03 before the preparation time T1 from the processing start time t3. Arrange as follows.

Step S6
The process execution instructing unit 31 sequentially instructs operation commands to the respective processing units according to the schedule shown in FIG. Accordingly, the first lot L1 to the third lot L3 are processed in each processing unit (step S6).

  As described above, the control unit 25 matches the time T1 required for the preparation process PR1 of the chemical solution processing unit 23b, which is a spare unit, with the timing of the chemical solution processing unit 19b used in the first lot L1 to the third lot L3. Place it in front. Therefore, when phosphoric acid is used in the chemical solution processing unit 19b, the temperature adjustment preparation process RP1 in the standby unit has been completed, and it is possible to prevent a delay in schedule due to waiting for the preparation process of the chemical solution processing unit 23b as the backup unit. And the operating rate of the apparatus can be improved.

  In addition, in this device, it takes a long time to adjust the temperature of phosphoric acid at room temperature to a predetermined high temperature, and it takes time to stabilize at a predetermined temperature. Since the preparatory process is performed by leaving the chemical processing unit 23b, which is a spare unit, without performing the process in 19b, the temperature can be controlled efficiently. In particular, when the chemical solution is a treatment solution containing phosphoric acid, the treatment solution is frequently exchanged because the number of use times and the use time that can be used for the treatment are determined. Therefore, having the spare unit perform the preparation process PR1 in a timely manner as described above greatly contributes to a reduction in waiting time associated with liquid replacement and temperature control.

  Here, the case where two units of the chemical solution processing unit 21b and the chemical solution processing unit 23b can be used as a spare unit will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a time chart showing an example in which a plurality of spare units are scheduled.

  In this case, since each of the chemical solution processing unit 21b and the chemical solution processing unit 23b can be independently prepared, for example, the odd lot preparation processing RP1 is performed in the chemical processing unit 21b, and the even lot preparation is performed. The processing PR1 is performed by the chemical processing unit 23b. In that case, since each of the preparation processes PR1 can be performed independently, the backup unit scheduling unit 28 arranges each of the preparation processes by allowing a part of the preparation processes to overlap in time. Specifically, the preparation process PR1 (processing process f1) for the processing process c of the first lot L1 is performed at the time t01 before the preparation time so that the preparation process is completed by the processing start time t1. Although PR1 is started, the preparation process PR2 (processing process f2) for the processing process c of the second lot L2 is before the preparation time from the processing start time t2, and the processing start time t1 of the first lot L1. The preparatory process PR1 is started from a time point t02 earlier than that. Similarly, the preparation process PR1 for the process step c of the third lot L2 is prepared from a time t03 that is before the preparation time from the process start time t3 and before the process start time t2 of the second lot L2. The process PR1 is started. By doing in this way, since the freedom degree of arrangement | positioning of the spare unit in a schedule can be made high, it can process more efficiently.

  In addition, the standby unit scheduling unit 28 sets the time for starting the preparation process in consideration of the time required for the single chemical processing unit 23b, which is the above-described preliminary unit, to adjust the temperature of the chemical to be stabilized. Is preferred. An example of this case will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a time chart showing another example when a spare unit is scheduled.

  In this case, for example, the preparation process of the chemical solution processing unit 23b is arranged in consideration of a preparation time T2 longer than the preparation time T1 of FIGS. Specifically, the preparation process PR3 is started at a time t001 that is earlier than the substantial process start time t1 of the processing step c of the first lot L1 by a preparation time T2. Similarly, the preparation process PR3 is started at a time t002 that is earlier by a preparation time T2 than the start time t2 of the process step c of the second lot L2, and at a time t003 that is earlier by a preparation time T2 than the start time t3 of the process step c of the third lot L3. Create a schedule to

  When the temperature of phosphoric acid is controlled, it takes more time than the temperature raising time until the temperature is stabilized after the temperature is raised to a predetermined temperature. Therefore, considering the time, it is possible to shorten the temperature adjustment time in the chemical processing unit 19b by increasing the time for starting the preparation process PR3 as described above, and to efficiently perform the processing in the chemical processing unit 19b. Can do.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be modified as follows.

  (1) In the above-described embodiment, the case where three lots are processed simultaneously has been described as an example. However, the present invention can be applied even when one or two lots or four or more lots are processed simultaneously. Is possible.

  (2) In the above-described embodiment, the processing unit that regulates the temperature of the chemical solution is exemplified as the spare unit. However, the present invention can be applied to a processing unit that regulates the temperature of pure water, for example.

  (3) In the above-described embodiment, the treatment liquid containing phosphoric acid is exemplified, but the present invention can be applied to a treatment liquid containing sulfuric acid / hydrogen peroxide solution, for example.

It is the top view which showed schematic structure of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on an Example. It is the block diagram which showed schematic structure of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on an Example. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a substrate processing apparatus. It is a time chart which shows an example of the scheduled state. It is a time chart which shows an example which scheduled the spare unit. It is a time chart which shows an example which scheduled the some spare unit. It is a time chart which shows the other example at the time of scheduling a spare unit.

Explanation of symbols

W ... Substrate 1 ... Cassette 17 ... Drying processing unit 19 ... First processing unit 21 ... Second processing unit 23 ... Third processing unit 19a ... Pure water cleaning processing unit 19b ... Chemical solution processing unit 19c ... Sub-transport mechanism 21a ... Pure water Cleaning processing unit 21b ... Chemical solution processing unit 21c ... Sub-transport mechanism 23a ... Pure water cleaning processing unit 23b ... Chemical solution processing unit 23c ... Sub-transport mechanism 25 ... Control unit 27 ... Scheduling unit 28 ... Preliminary unit scheduling unit 31 ... Process execution instruction unit 33 ... Memory part

Claims (4)

When processing a plurality of lots by a substrate processing apparatus having a plurality of processing units for processing a substrate, the control unit sequentially processes each lot based on a recipe including a plurality of processing steps. In the substrate processing apparatus schedule creation method for determining the processing order of each lot in order to
In the spare unit, when there are a plurality of spare units, the control unit uses the time required for the preparation process for preparing the treatment liquid used in the processing unit in each lot. The spare unit is arranged in advance according to the use timing of the processing unit, and the spare unit preparation processes are arranged independently so as to allow a part of the spare units to be overlapped. A schedule creation method for a substrate processing apparatus. In the schedule preparation method of the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1,
The processing unit has a function of processing a substrate with a chemical heated to a predetermined high temperature,
The preparation process in the preliminary unit is a method of creating a schedule for a substrate processing apparatus, wherein the temperature of a chemical solution is adjusted to a predetermined high temperature in advance. In the schedule preparation method of the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 2,
  The said control part takes the time until the said preliminary unit temperature-controls a chemical | medical solution, and stabilizes the time which starts a preparation process, The schedule preparation method of the substrate processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. When processing a plurality of lots by a substrate processing apparatus having a plurality of processing units for processing a substrate, the control unit sequentially processes each lot based on a recipe including a plurality of processing steps. In the schedule creation program of the substrate processing apparatus for determining the processing order of each lot in order to
  In the case where there are a plurality of spare units in the spare unit, the control unit uses the processing time used for each lot to determine the time required for preparation of the processing liquid used in the processing unit. A board for controlling the arrangement of the preparation processes of the respective spare units independently so as to allow a part of the preparation processes in different spare units to be allowed to overlap with each other. Processing device schedule creation program.

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