JP2523607B2 - Semiconductor production progress support device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a mechanism for controlling a production process of semiconductor products, which is automatically operated when a processing device is in a good and stable operating state. The present invention relates to a support device improved so as to improve productivity by omitting a part of the inspection process.

[Prior art]

As a wafer processing method, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-176547
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (wafer processing apparatus), a plurality of processing devices in a wafer process are radially arranged around a ring-shaped transfer path so that the wafer ring-shaped transfer path and each processing apparatus can be loaded and unloaded. A known wafer processing apparatus is known. However, in the above method, no consideration was given to the mechanism for controlling the flow of the product or the mechanism for improving the productivity when the product is sent to the processing devices arranged radially.

As a wafer transfer control method, for example, JP-A-60-2293
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 47 (Transfer System), in order to reduce the amount of dust adhering to the carrier box during transportation, a method of providing a transportation path in the upper space, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-229348 (wafer transportation) As shown in (Control Method), there is a method of determining the number of wafers to be transferred to the wafer processing unit in consideration of the average processing time. However, these methods
There was no mechanism for mass production considering the whole flow.

As a line forming method, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-231334
As shown in (Semiconductor continuous assembling apparatus), a processing apparatus necessary for assembly is provided with an apparatus for supplying and discharging parts and products, and the processing apparatus and the stocker are provided side by side in a conveyance path.
There is a method in which the processing capacity of each device is averaged by installing a mobile robot that carries in and out, and the devices are continuously assembled on the same line. However, the above method does not consider a mechanism for salvaging a product.

As a method for sending an object, for example, some of JP-A-58-15989 (data transmission method) and JP-A-58-15990 (signal sampling method for time division multiplexer) are shown. As described above, in order to economically and efficiently set the communication path and divide the communication text, the communication path /
There is a method to specify the message. However, the above method does not consider the point that the communication speed is orders of magnitude faster than the communication production line and the flow is maintained and controlled at a constant speed.

The above-mentioned conventional technology does not consider a mechanism for controlling the flow of products or a mechanism for improving productivity, and at the production site, it is linked to the efficiency of the entire production line depending on the transportation system and the method of sending products. It was not a translation.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

A large number of processing devices that form a production line for line work are improved and managed with the goal of a defect rate of 0.

However, since these processing devices do not always operate in the best condition, multiple inspection devices are placed in the middle of the flow process so that defective products are not lined off even if the worst condition is assumed. It

As can be easily understood from such an overall configuration, when the processing apparatus is operating satisfactorily and stably, the quality of the product can be improved even if one of the inspection devices is omitted. It can be fully guaranteed.

Therefore, it is obvious that omission of the inspection process is a plus for improving productivity. Of course, the omission of a part of the inspection process is limited to the case where the working state of the processing apparatus is good.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can automatically improve the productivity by omitting the inspection step within the range in which the quality of the semiconductor product can be guaranteed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor production progress support device which is effective in streamlining the above.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the support device of the invention is applied to a device that supports a production facility for repeatedly performing the same process on a material for semiconductor production, and a) a plurality of processes constituting the production facility. A device that detects and transmits a characteristic that represents the state of each device, b) a controller that determines whether or not the production progress is normal based on the above characteristics, and c) receives a work instruction from the controller. And a transporting means connecting the processing device and the inspection equipment, and e) the controller determines that the production progress is normal, and the predetermined Based on the standard, the controller is configured to control the inspection device and the transportation means so as to omit at least a part of the inspection process.

[Action]

According to the above configuration, when the condition of the processing apparatus is good, the controller judges this and controls so as to omit a part of the inspection process, so that the productivity is improved.

Further, by controlling the transfer means by the above controller, the stream production process can be rationalized.

〔Example〕

 Examples of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of the present invention. The apparatus of this embodiment includes a plurality of processing facilities 2 of the same type, a cleaning facility 3, an inspection facility 4, a multi-station 5 for transferring and receiving each processing target (lot) and controlling physical distribution, and a plurality of lots for transporting the lot to each facility. A plurality of (four in this example) workplaces (groups) 1 each consisting of a conveyor 7 and its branching / merging facility 6, a transport facility 8, a condition monitoring system 11 for processing facilities at each workplace, and a product processing status are displayed. It is composed of an inspection facility 9 for sampling evaluation, and a product relief facility 10 for reprocessing the lot according to the evaluation result. For example, when processing the lot a shown in FIG. 2, the processing is performed in a predetermined order of product type processes A, B, and C. Therefore, the lot completed with the process A is sent to the multi-station 5 of the workplace corresponding to the predetermined process via the transfer facility 8. Then, via the branching / merging facility 6 and the conveyor 7, according to the process of FIG. 2, the cleaning facility 3, the treatment facility 2, and the inspection facility 4 are distributed. The suitability of the processing result of the lot is judged by the monitoring system 11 (FIG. 1) that monitors the state of the equipment being processed. As a result, when it is determined that the processing result of the lot or the state of the equipment is not normal, measures are taken to restore the state of the equipment to normal, and the processing state of the lot is evaluated to correct it to a normal state. Sent to the inspection facility 9. The result of the inspection facility 9 is used to determine whether or not the lot should be rectified, and when it is rectified, the product rescue facility 10 processes it. The processed lot is evaluated again by the inspection facility 9. As a result of evaluation, when it is determined that it cannot be used as a normal product,
Discard the lot in the same way as a lot that was judged to be unsuitable before rectification. The lot corrected to a normal product is sent to the workplace corresponding to the next process via the transfer facility 8 in accordance with the process sequence of the lot shown in FIG. Then, the processes are sequentially performed like the lot a and the lot b shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows the principle of line-forming the flow of goods (lots) in the present invention. For example, the current flow of FIG. 3 shows the case where the process sequence for each product type shown in FIG. 2 is repetition of process A, process B, and process C. In this way, the processes A, B, and C are repeated, and the first process and the second process are displayed with. In the conventional method (for example, the process B in the figure shows the second process in the process B), the flow is confused because the lot is stored in process units. For example, in step A,
Since a plurality of lots corresponding to the above are in process, it is possible to freely decide the priority order of the work. As a result,
In the conventional technology, the processing order that emphasizes the work efficiency of the process A is dominant. Therefore, in the present invention, it is decided to make a flow of the product by storing it in the unit of the number of repetitions for each process. Furthermore, the third that moves by the work in the post process
In the figure, the line is formed such that "the lot of the process B can be moved when the work of the process C is finished".
By such a method, it is possible to form a line with the function-wise arrangement in the conventional process. FIG. 3 shows the principle, and a virtual flow is assumed by installing stations for the number of repetitions before each process. To realize this,
Created a multi-station. In this multi-station, the flow is controlled by the amount of work in process in the subsequent process. This method will be called a circle line method. In addition, this system can cope with a large number of products by grouping the products of similar processes and performing line balancing. Next, one implementation form of the circle line method will be shown.

FIG. 4 shows details of the configuration of the multi-station 4 shown in FIG. The lot that has been processed in the previous process is transported to the relevant workplace via the transport facility 4b. Sensor 4c that detects that a lot has arrived
Sends the information about the lot to the controller 4f, confirms which process and how many times the process is performed, and moves the lot to, for example, the Noi station 4a using the branch / merge facility 4e to the corresponding multi-station. . At the No i station 4a that has received the lot, the processing equipment at the workplace is selected and the lot is moved to the processing equipment using the conveyor 4d. The completed lot is the original No i station
It is returned to 4a and moved to the multi-station at the next workplace according to the work amount (work in process) of the next process. In this case, while the lot being processed is away from the No i station 4a, other lots cannot be used. For example, the number of stations of this multi-station may be the maximum value of the number of repetitions of the process for each product type. With such a configuration, the following features are provided. By incorporating an automatic lot recognition mechanism, the transportation equipment can be realized as simple as one conveyor. Further, by providing branching / merging equipment for changing the flow in the vertical direction with respect to the flow of this line, it is possible to pass or pass the lot. As a result, a wide variety of products can be supported.

FIG. 5 is a mechanism for monitoring the state of equipment at each workplace in real time. It is composed of a processing facility 51, a cleaning facility 52, an inspection facility 53, and a local area network 54 connecting these facility groups and a status monitoring computer (controller) 55. Actual values such as the processing time of the processing equipment 51,
Actual values such as the contamination degree and concentration of the cleaning equipment 52, and inspection equipment
The actual values that accurately indicate the condition of the product and equipment such as the film thickness and content of 53 are collected online. Then, the equipment state is automatically managed by using the actual values representing the characteristics of each equipment by using the control chart as shown in FIG. 5, and the occurrence of an abnormality and its tendency are promptly grasped. When a change in the equipment state is recognized, recovery measures (instructions) to the normal state of the equipment and detailed inspection of the lot are urged. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to omit the inspection process which is always carried out in the conventional product-type process sequence, and it is naturally expected that the lot processing time is shortened. Along with this, the number of man-hours required for equipment management is reduced, which contributes to cost reduction and improves productivity.

When it can be determined by this monitoring system that the change in the equipment state has adversely affected the product, the remedy method for the lot is examined by using the inspection equipment 9 shown in FIG. Then, for example, when it is judged that the foreign matter can be relieved (in this case, the foreign matter is removed from the product) as in the case of the foreign matter adhesion shown in FIG.
(Fig. 1) for processing. After the processing is completed, the quality of the inspection equipment 9 is determined again. If the result of the determination is that the product can be reused, the product is transported to the next step of the lot, and if not, the lot is discarded as in the case where it is determined that the repair cannot be performed. However, as shown in FIG. 7 (B), this product rescue facility 10 is provided with the process required in the middle of the process installed at each workplace, and the facility for repairing a lot in the process is shown in FIG. Place it in a concentrated manner. For this reason,
It is necessary to provide multifunctional product relief facilities so that uniform service can be provided for slot anomalies that occur in each workplace 1. As a result, in addition to shortening the lot processing time by omitting the cleaning step, it is possible to relieve a lot that can be determined to be abnormal, so that improvement in productivity can be expected.

FIG. 8 shows a circle line management transfer device in which a transfer clerk in this embodiment is provided with transfer seats for each product type. This is, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, a conveyor-type transport path 34 in which the seats 35 for exclusively transporting lots 37 are repeatedly installed according to the input ratio of the types and can be circulated.
And a work-in-process for keeping a constant work amount of a workplace 31 (for example, a film forming process) including a branch / merge facility 33 with a lot information reading function for loading / unloading a lot to be transported to / from the transport seat 5 It consists of a control multi-station 32. The lot 37 can be transferred to the next workplace by being transferred to the corresponding product-type transfer shelf 35 by identifying only the product type. The next workplace identification and transfer destination instruction are performed by the controller 36, which tracks the progress of lots, using the lot management table for each lot prepared in advance as soon as the product type is identified by the branch / merge facility 33. To do. The controller also manages the product type identification of the transport seat 35 dedicated to the product type.
It is sent from the dedicated branching / merging facility 33 to the empty transport seat 35 of the type corresponding to the lot 37 (for example, type). Usually at work
The lot 37 corresponding to the i-th process of the product type performed in 31 is carried to the multi-station 32 between the work place 31 and the transport path 34 after the end of the process of the process. For example, this multi-station 32 is prepared with the number of storage areas corresponding to the number of facilities of the workplace 31. When the area corresponding to the lot 37 that is being stored in the multi-station 32 or is in the process of being processed (for example, the No i station in FIG. 4) is full, the workplace just before the lot 37 processed in this workplace 31 In (corresponding to the immediately preceding process), the movement of the lot at the branch / merge facility 33 is prohibited. Multi station
The lot 37 moved to 32 is transferred to the transfer seat of the product after the product is identified in the branching / merging facility 33. Then, it is transported at a constant speed in order to ensure the progress speed of the lot. The lot 37 sent to the workplace of the next process is sent to the empty multi-station area by the branching / merging facility of the workplace. In this multi-station, the equipment operating conditions according to the work contents of each lot type and process are searched for and obtained from the controller 36, and paid out to the equipment. In this case, if the processing speed / lot of the equipment is set to be the same as the transfer speed of the transfer path 34, it is possible to form a line like flow production by a conveyor. Further, by controlling the number of lots to be worked in this workplace, it is possible to reduce the production period and the amount of work in process.

On the other hand, a case will be described in which the transport seats by product type in FIG. 8 are designated as transport seats by multi-station. In this case, the workplace multi-station j that is the destination of the lot
It is assumed that the number of stations (areas) Sj of the above is the maximum value of the number of times Nij required for the repeated processing in the multi-station j of the product i, as described in FIG.

The number of designated seats Lj for transport of the multi-station j can be expressed by the following formula.

Lj = ΣNij / ΣΣNij × Z Here, Z is the optimum amount of work-in-process in all workplaces. And
Establish reserved seats evenly for each workplace. By this method, a designated seat without waste can be designed on the transport path 34.

FIG. 9 shows a circle line management device in which a transport path is provided for each destination workplace.

This is because the configuration of the transport path in which the product-type transport seats of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 are repeatedly installed is circulated according to the type of workplace (for example, four types of a, b, c, and d) with the same type of equipment group. This is an alternative to the conveyor type transport path 44 that can be used.

When processing of a lot 46 (for example, product type) is completed and it is transferred from the branching / merging facility 43 of the workplace 41a in A to a transport path for each workplace, the workplace of the next process (from the progress management table of the lot prepared in advance) For example, search for workplace 41b) in Russia.

Then, the lot is transferred to the transport path 44 of the relevant workplace b 41b and is transported to the workplace 41b of b. Thus, lot 46
Can be transported to the next workplace only by transferring to the relevant workplace destination-specific transport path 44 by identifying the workplace in the next process.

In this case, since the work transport path 44 can be used as a lot storage function, the multi-station can be operated in three areas (receiving area, payout area, spare area). Further, since the equipment processing speed for each workplace / the transportation speed of the transportation path corresponding to the lot can be secured, the productivity effect of the workplace where the processing unit is different can be secured. FIG. 10 shows a circle line management device provided with a transport path for each product type.

This is because the structure of the transport path in which the product type-specific carrier seats of the embodiment of FIG.
(3 types), and is replaced with a conveyor type conveyance path 64 that is dedicated and can be circulated.

Workplace 31 after processing lot 46 (eg, variety)
When transferring from the branching / merging device 43 to the dedicated transport path of the corresponding product type, selection can be made only by identifying the product type of the lot. Then, the workplace of the next process is searched from the lot traffic management table and the lot is transported. In this way, it is possible to move to the next workplace simply by identifying the lot type and transferring the lot to the type-specific transport path.

Further, when the facility processing speed / lot of each workplace is extremely different for each product type, by classifying the inside of the workplace into the product group for each product type, it becomes possible to make a flow production line for each product type. In this case, the multi-station 42 may be managed by product type.

FIG. 11 shows a circle line management device provided with a counterclockwise circulation transport path and a clockwise circulation transport path.

This is a conveyor system in which the configuration of the transport path in which the product-type transport seats of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 are repeatedly installed can be circulated clockwise and counterclockwise, and with two independent transport paths 74 and 75. It is a substitute.

When the processing of the lot 37 is completed and the lot is moved from the branching / merging device 33 of the workplace 31 to the transport paths 74, 75, the workplace of the next process is searched from the progress management table of the lot. Then, the transport path that can reach the workplace of the next process earliest is selected, and the lot is transported to the next workplace. As described above, this example has a relatively simple mechanism as compared with the transport path shown in FIG. 1 and is suitable for the case where a wide variety of products are targeted.

FIG. 12 shows a circle line management device provided with a transportation means with a lot progress management information reading function.

This is because the configuration of the transport path in which the product-specific transport seats of the embodiment of FIG. 8 are repeatedly installed is such that a transportable lot such as a tracked transport carriage with a progress management information reading function or a circulator that can circulate. It is an alternative to road 84. Therefore, the merging facility 33 for branching the lot from the multi-station 32 to the transport path 84 need only have a function of identifying the presence or absence of the lot.

When the processing of the lot 86 is completed, the processing completion information of the process is added to the medium (for example, IC card) recording the lot progress management information attached to the lot. And
The lot and the lot progress recording medium are carried to the transfer device 33 via the multi-station 32. In this transfer device, the presence or absence of a lot to be transported to the next process is identified, and the information is sent to the controller 36 that controls the transport path 84. The controller 36 that has received the transfer request information instructs the transfer path to receive the lot and identifies the next process of the lot. Then, the lot is carried to the workplace 31 of the process of the carrying destination.

As described above, by attaching the transporting path with the lot progress management information reading function and the medium for recording the progress management information to each lot, it is possible to process complicated processes into a production line. In this case, it is suitable for changing / adding / deleting the process order of a variety of products in a short period of time or for targeting a variety of products.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described in detail above, when the support device of the present invention is applied, it is possible to automatically omit the inspection step and improve productivity within a range in which the quality of semiconductor products can be guaranteed,
At the same time, it has a great practical effect that the production line can be rationalized, and contributes to the development of the semiconductor industry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view schematically illustrating one embodiment of the support device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a process drawing of the above embodiment, FIG. 3 is a drawing for explaining the principle of line formation, 4 is a detailed explanatory view of the multi-station in the embodiment, FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a facility / process state monitoring mechanism, FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the operation and effect of the embodiment, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the same effect. 8 to 12 are explanatory views of embodiments different from the above. 1,1a, 1b, 1c, 1d …… Workplace, 2 …… Treatment equipment, 3 …… Cleaning equipment, 4 …… Inspection equipment, 4a …… Station, 4b …… Transport equipment, 4c …… Sensor, 4d …… Conveyor, 4f ... Controller, 5 ... Multi station, 6 ... Branching / merging facility, 7 ... Conveyor, 9 ... Inspection facility, 10 ... Product rescue facility, 11 ... Status monitoring mechanism, 31 ... Workplace , 51 …… treatment equipment, 52 …… cleaning equipment, 54 …… local area network, 55 …… controller.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A device for supporting a production facility for repeatedly performing the same treatment on a material to be a semiconductor product, the device comprising: a) a characteristic indicating a state of each of a plurality of treatment devices constituting the production facility. A device that detects and transmits, b) a controller that determines whether or not the production progress is normal based on the above characteristics, c) a device that receives a work instruction from the controller and inspects it, and d ) A transportation means connecting the processing device and the inspection equipment, and e) When the controller determines that the production progress is normal, the controller performs the inspection based on a predetermined standard. A semiconductor production progress support apparatus, characterized in that it is configured to control an inspection device and a conveyance means so as to omit at least a part of steps.