JP2925667B2 - Process flow creation system - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for creating a process flow for defining a procedure for sequentially processing a plurality of processes, which is used in a system for supporting production of electronic devices such as semiconductors. is there.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a conventional process flow creation system, and a conventional example will be described with reference to an example of creation of a process flow when a semiconductor product is developed and manufactured. When the creation is started, a process master file is registered (step 51) for registering a process name, a process condition, and the like of a process which is a basic process in developing and manufacturing a semiconductor product in a process master file. Next, in step 52, a record including a desired process is extracted from the process master file, and in step 53, a plurality of process groups extracted by the process name record extracting means according to the purpose of product development / manufacturing are processed in the process order and process process. The conditions are defined and registered in the process information file. Finally, in step 54, the processing order of the process groups registered in the process information file, that is, the lack of essential processes that should be essential are confirmed.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional process flow creation system configured as described above, when defining the processing order of the processes in step 53, it is necessary to be aware of the essential processes before and after and simultaneously select them, and further define the process processing order. Later step 54
Confirms the process sequence. If there is an error in the process order, the process processing order has to be defined again in step 53. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that a great deal of time is required for the process flow design.

The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and has as its technical object to provide a process flow creation system for shortening a process flow design time.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present invention relates to a process of registering a data item value of each process as a record in a process master file having, as data items, a process name, an essential process name to be present before the process, and an essential process name to be present after the process. Mactor file registration means, process name record extraction means for extracting records including any process name item values from the process master file, and mandatory process name items that should exist before and after the records extracted by the process name record extraction means A related process name record extractor for searching for a value and extracting a record matching the process name in the process master file, and a process name item value of a record group extracted by the process name record extractor and the related process name record extractor. Process registration means for registering in the process name item value of the process information file. Than it is.

[Action]

According to the present invention having such a feature, when there is an essential process that must exist before and after the process by the process master file registration unit, the essential process is registered in advance in the process, If an essential process before and after is extracted when an arbitrary process is extracted by the name record extracting means, the essential process before and after is searched by the related process name record extracting means and registered in the process information file. Then, the process sequence including the essential processes is automatically defined from the process master file without the process flow designer's awareness.

〔Example〕

First Embodiment A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to an example of a process flow creation when a semiconductor product is developed and manufactured. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a process flow creation system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a process master file of the process flow creation system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a process information file of the process flow creation system in the embodiment of FIG. In this embodiment, for example, a process flow is created using a microcomputer. In these figures, the process master file registration means 11 has a process number 21, a process name 22 of a process which is a basic unit when developing and manufacturing a semiconductor product, an essential process number 23 which should exist before the process, and The data item value of each process is registered as a record in the process master file 20 having the required process number 24 to be present after the process as a data item. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, as the data item values, the first record 25 has the process number 1 and the washing as the process name, and the second record 26 has the process number 2 and the oxidation as the process name. The essential process number 1, the essential process number 5 to be present after, and so on up to the record 29 of the process number 5 are sequentially registered as shown in FIG. Here, it is registered that the oxidation step of the second record 26 requires a cleaning step before and a measurement step after that, and the deposition step of the third record 27 requires a cleaning step afterwards. In this way, for the items of the essential process numbers 23 and 24 which should exist before and after, only those having the essential processes before and after are registered, and a plurality of essential processes may exist. Also, an array on a memory may be used instead of a file on a disk.

Process name record extraction means 12 is a process master file 20
, A record containing the desired process name is extracted. For example,
The contents of each record of the process master file 20 are displayed on the display as a list, and the process is selected. When the oxidation process is selected, the second record 26 is extracted from the process master file 20.

The related process name record extraction means 13 searches for the item values of the essential process numbers 23 and 24 that should exist before and after the record extracted by the process name record extraction means 12, and retrieves the item of the process number 21 in the process master file 20. Extract records that match the value. For example, if the second record 26 is extracted first by the process name record extracting means 12, the item value 1 of the essential process number 23 that should exist before the second record 26, and the essential process that should exist after the second record 26 The item value 5 of the number 24 is searched for, and the records matching the item value of the process number 21 in the process master file 20, that is, the first record 25 and the fifth record 29 are automatically extracted.

The process registration means 14 stores the item value of the process name 22 of each record extracted by the process name record extraction means 12 and the related process name record extraction means 13 as shown in FIG. Register for the item. For example, each of the second records 26 extracted by the process name record extracting means 12 and the related process name record extracting means 13 first, the first record 25 including the essential steps to be present before, and the essential steps to be present later are included. The oxidation, cleaning, and measurement, which are the item values of the process name 22 of the fifth record 29, are registered in the order of processing in the item of the process name 41 of each record of the process information file 40 in the order of cleaning, oxidation, and measurement. Also, an array on a memory may be used instead of a file on a disk. The process name extracted in this way is shown in FIG.
Then, necessary operations are performed in accordance with the process information file process name.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when a process flow designer selects a desired process, if there is an essential process that should exist before and after the process, the process flow designer does not recognize the necessary process. Is automatically selected. For example, when an oxidation step is selected, both a previously required cleaning step and a later required measurement step are automatically selected. Therefore, it is possible to select without having to be aware of the essential steps, and it is possible to shorten the process flow design time.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to an example of a process flow creation when developing and manufacturing a semiconductor product. However, only the parts different from the first embodiment are specified. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a process master file of the process flow creation system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

1, 3 and 4, a process master file registration means 11 stores a process name 31, which is a basic unit when a semiconductor product is developed and manufactured, an essential process name 32 to be present before, A data item value group is registered in the process master file 30 having a required process name 33 to be present later as a data item. For example, as the respective data item values, cleaning is performed as a process name in the first record 34, oxidation is performed as the process name in the second record 35, and an essential process name 32 to be present before.
And the measurement is registered as an essential process name 33 that should be present later. As described above, the records 36 to 38 are sequentially registered as shown in FIG. This is because the oxidation step of the second record 35 requires a cleaning step before and a measurement step afterwards,
It is registered that the cleaning step is indispensable for the deposition step of the third record 36 later. As described above, for the items of the essential process names 32 and 33 that should exist before and after, only the process name that has the preceding and following essential processes is registered, and a plurality of essential processes may exist. Also, an array on a memory may be used instead of a file on a disk.

Then, similarly to the first embodiment, a record including a desired process name is extracted from the process master file 30 by the process name record extracting means 12. Then, when the extraction is completed, a record of the related process name is extracted. The related process name record extraction means 13 is a required process name 32 that should exist before and after the record extracted by the process name record extraction means 12.
And a record that matches the item value of the process name 31 in the process master file 30 is extracted using the item values of the process master 33 and the item 33 as a search. For example, the washing which is the item value of the essential process name 32 which should be present before the second record 35 extracted by the process name record extracting means 12 and the measurement which is the item value of the essential process name 33 which should be present afterward are respectively performed. A search is performed to automatically extract each record that matches the item value of the process name 31 of the process master file 30, that is, the first record 34 and the fifth record 38 without the process flow designer being conscious of it. The process names extracted in this way are sequentially registered in the process information file 40 as shown in FIG. 4, and necessary operations are performed thereafter according to the process information file process names.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when a process flow designer selects a desired process, if there is an essential process that should exist before and after that process, the process flow designer does not Is automatically selected. For example, when an oxidation step is selected, both a previously required cleaning step and a later required measurement step are automatically selected. Therefore, it is possible to select without having to be aware of the essential steps, and it is possible to shorten the process flow design time.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention as described in detail above, by pre-registering the essential steps before and after the steps,
Essential steps are automatically selected at the same time, without the process flow designer being aware of when selecting a step. Therefore, it is not necessary to confirm the process sequence, and the process flow design time can be greatly reduced, and the practical effect is large.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the process flow creation system of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a process master file configuration diagram of the process flow creation system in the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. Process master file configuration diagram of the process flow creation system in the embodiment, FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a process information file structure of the process flow creation system according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the conventional process flow creation system. 11 ... process master file registration means, 12 ... process name record extraction means, 13 ... related process name record extraction means,
14 …… Process registration means, 20,30 …… Process master file, 21 …… Process number, 22,31,41 …… Process name, 23 …… Required process number that should exist before, 24 …… It exists after Required process number, 25,34 ... first record, 26,35 ... second record, 27,36 ... third record, 28,37 ... fourth record,
29, 38... Fifth record, 32... Required process name to be present before 33,... Required process name to be present after 40, process information file.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A data item value of each process is registered as a record in a process master file having, as data items, a process name, an essential process name to exist before the process, and an essential process name to exist after the process. A process mactor file registering means, a process name record extracting means for extracting a record including an arbitrary process name item value from the process master file, and a process name record extracting means which should exist before and after the record extracted by the process name record extracting means. A related process name record extracting means for searching for a required process name item value and extracting a record matching the process name in the process master file; and a record group extracted by the process name record extracting means and the related process name record extracting means. Process registration means for registering the process name item value of the Process flow creation system characterized in that there was e.