Automatic restocking method

Abstract

The application provides an automatic wafer skipping method, which comprises the following steps: when a wafer enters a YE station for skipping, setting a minimum allowed waiting time, a maximum allowed waiting time and a remaining allowed waiting time of a scanning machine in the YE station according to a recipe executed by the wafer before entering the YE station, and setting a value of the minimum allowed waiting time according to a type of the scanning machine; judging whether a current remaining waiting time of the wafer is greater than the remaining allowed waiting time of the machine; if the result is no, directly executing the skipping; if the result is yes, judging whether to skip the wafer according to the minimum allowed waiting time, the remaining allowed waiting time and the current remaining waiting time of the wafer. The application solves the problems of poor pertinence and timeliness in the existing automatic wafer skipping method.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing, in particular to an automatic jump method. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the process of semiconductor chip manufacturing, a reasonable and efficient defect scanning system can realize the functions of real-time monitoring of wafer defect state and timely confirmation of defect causes. Now each factory (FAB) has hundreds of machines, hundreds of products, thousands of flows, and has different QT (allowable waiting time) control, therefore, how to scan and jump the lot close to QT within the limited QT plays an important role in the process of real-time monitoring of defects and yield improvement.

[0003] At present, the process of RQT (remaining waiting time) jump is as follows: first, the wafer enters the YE station (the scanning machine of the YE station mainly undertakes the yield monitoring of the process machines in the whole production area, and the YE area monitors the defect status of all production process machines according to a certain ratio) according to the scanning rule of YE, then the RQT setting of automatic jump station set by various YE machines is executed, whether the remaining waiting time of the wafer is less than the set value is judged, if the result is yes, the wafer automatically jumps into the next station, if the result is no, the wafer continues to wait for scanning in the YE station (the judgment can be performed once every 10 minutes).

[0004] However, when the system currently used sets the allowable remaining waiting time, only one value can be set, and this value cannot be applied to recipes with different lengths of remaining waiting time, for example, when the set value of the allowable remaining waiting time is 120 min, this value is only applicable to recipes with shorter remaining waiting time (such as chemical mechanical polishing process); for recipes with longer remaining waiting time, if the wafer cannot be put on the machine after entering the station, it can only wait in the station until the remaining waiting time is less than the set value (120 min) and then be jumped out of the station, in this case, the circulation of products will be affected, so that the products cannot quickly reach the next YE station for scanning, thereby affecting the real-time monitoring of defects. Therefore, the existing jump process has the problems of poor pertinence and poor timeliness. SUMMARY

[0005] In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings of the prior art, the purpose of the present application is to provide an automatic jump method for solving the problems of poor pertinence and poor timeliness in the existing automatic jump method.

[0006] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose and other related purposes, the present application provides an automatic jump method, which comprises:

[0007] When the wafer enters the YE station for skip, the minimum allowable waiting time, the maximum allowable waiting time and the allowable remaining waiting time of the scanning machine in the YE station are set according to the recipe executed by the wafer before entering the YE station, and the value of the minimum allowable waiting time is set according to the type of the scanning machine.

[0008] If the result of the judgment is no, the wafer is directly executed for skip, and if the result of the judgment is yes, whether the wafer is executed for skip is judged according to the minimum allowable waiting time, the allowable remaining waiting time and the current remaining waiting time of the wafer.

[0009] Optionally, for the same recipe, the minimum allowable waiting time is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to the maximum allowable waiting time determined by the recipe.

[0010] Optionally, for the same recipe, the same maximum allowable waiting time and the same allowable remaining waiting time are set for different types of scanning machines.

[0011] Optionally, for different recipes, different maximum allowable waiting times and different allowable remaining waiting times are set for the same type of scanning machine.

[0012] Optionally, the allowable remaining waiting time is set according to a production information management system.

[0013] Optionally, the method for judging whether the wafer is executed for skip according to the minimum allowable waiting time, the remaining waiting time and the current remaining waiting time of the wafer includes: judging whether the calculation result of the current remaining waiting time of the wafer minus the sum of the minimum allowable waiting time and the allowable remaining waiting time is greater than 0.

[0014] Optionally, if the result of the judgment is no, the wafer is directly executed for skip, and if the result of the judgment is yes, the wafer continues to wait for skip.

[0015] As described above, the automatic lot skipping method of the present application realizes automatic lot skipping of wafers by setting different minimum allowed waiting times of the scanning machine for different types of scanning machines according to the recipe executed by the wafers before entering the YE station, so that wafers executing different recipes have different lot skipping time periods, and wafers can realize targeted automatic station skipping. Moreover, for wafers that cannot enter the scanning machine due to long remaining waiting time (RQT), the method provided by the present application can make them quickly skip the station to enter the next station without affecting the lot running speed, so that wafers realize effective automatic station skipping. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 A flowchart of the automatic lot skipping method of the present application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] The embodiments of the present application are described below by way of specific examples, and those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present application from the content disclosed in the specification. The present application can also be implemented or applied by other different embodiments, and various modifications or changes can be made to the details in the specification based on different views and applications without departing from the spirit of the present application.

[0018] Reference is made to Figure 1 It should be noted that the diagrams provided in the present embodiment only schematically illustrate the basic concept of the present application, and the diagrams only show the components related to the present application, not the number, shape and size of the components in actual implementation. The shape, number and proportion of the components in actual implementation can be randomly changed, and the layout of the components can be more complex.

[0019] As shown in Figure 1 , the present embodiment provides an automatic lot skipping method, which comprises:

[0020] When the wafer enters the YE station for skipping by scanning, the minimum allowed waiting time, the maximum allowed waiting time and the allowed remaining waiting time of the scanning machine of the YE station are set according to the recipe executed by the wafer before entering the YE station, and the value of the minimum allowed waiting time is set according to the type of the scanning machine.

[0021] It is judged whether the current remaining waiting time of the wafer is greater than the allowed remaining waiting time of the machine. If the result is no, the lot skipping is directly executed, and if the result is yes, it is judged whether the wafer is skipped according to the minimum allowed waiting time of the machine, the allowed remaining waiting time of the machine and the current remaining waiting time of the wafer.

[0022] In the embodiment, the scanning machine types include Y-BFIDM-S (bright field scanning), Y-DFIDM-S (dark field scanning), Y-EBIDM-S (electron beam scanning), and Y-WEIDM-S (crystal edge and back scanning). For the same recipe (such as M1_ADI process menu), different minimum allowable waiting times of the machine (such as 0 min, 3000 min, 3090 min, or 4000 min) can be set according to the type of the scanning machine; and for different recipes, the same type of scanning machine can be set with different minimum allowable waiting times of the machine.

[0023] Specifically, for the same recipe, the minimum allowable waiting time of the machine is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to the maximum allowable waiting time of the machine determined by the recipe.

[0024] In the embodiment, within the range of 0 and the maximum allowable waiting time of the machine, if the capacity reaches the requirement, the value of the minimum allowable waiting time of the machine can be set to be smaller.

[0025] Specifically, for the same recipe, the same maximum allowable waiting time of the machine and the same allowable remaining waiting time of the machine are set for different types of scanning machines.

[0026] Specifically, for different recipes, different maximum allowable waiting times of the machine and different allowable remaining waiting times of the machine are set for the same type of scanning machine.

[0027] Specifically, the allowable remaining waiting time of the machine is set according to the production information management system. In the embodiment, the allowable remaining waiting time of the machine set by the production information management system (IUI) is 120 min, and of course, the allowable remaining waiting time of the machine can also be set to other values as needed.

[0028] Specifically, the method for judging whether to automatically skip the wafer according to the minimum allowable waiting time of the machine, the remaining waiting time of the machine, and the current remaining waiting time of the wafer includes: judging whether the calculation result of the current remaining waiting time of the wafer minus the sum of the minimum allowable waiting time of the machine and the allowable remaining waiting time of the machine is greater than 0.

[0029] As an example, if the judgment result is no, the automatic skipping of the wafer is directly performed, and if the judgment result is yes, the wafer continues to wait for the skipping.

[0030] Table 1 shows the machine allowed remaining waiting time a, the machine minimum allowed waiting time b, the machine maximum allowed waiting time c and the wafer current remaining waiting time d for four different types of machine settings under the same recipe (M1_ADI), wherein the machine allowed remaining waiting time a and the machine maximum allowed waiting time c of the four different types of machines are fixed values. The method of judging whether the calculation result of the wafer current remaining waiting time d minus the sum of the machine allowed remaining waiting time a and the machine minimum allowed waiting time b is greater than 0 specifically includes: for ID1, setting Loop min QT = 0, because d > a, b < d < c, and d-(a+b) = 3080, therefore, the wafer still needs to wait for 3080 min to be executed automatically; for ID2, setting Loop min QT = 3000; because d > a, b < d < c and d-(a+b) = 80, therefore, the wafer still needs to wait for 80 min to be automatically jumped; for ID3, setting Loop min QT = 3090; because d > a, b < d < c and d-(a+b) =-10, the wafer is directly executed automatically; for ID4, setting Loop min QT = 4000; because d < b < c, the wafer current remaining waiting time is less than the set Loop Min QT, d-(a+b) =-920, therefore, the wafer is directly executed automatically.

[0031] Table 1:

[0032]

[0033] In summary, the automatic jump method of the present application realizes the automatic jump of the wafer by setting different machine minimum allowed waiting times for different types of scanning machines according to the recipe executed by the wafer before entering the YE station, so that the wafers executing different recipes have different jump time periods, and the wafer can realize targeted automatic jump station; and for the wafer that cannot be scanned on the scanning machine due to long remaining waiting time (RQT), the method provided by the present application can make it quickly jump to the next station without affecting the running speed, so that the wafer realizes effective automatic jump station. Therefore, the present application effectively overcomes the various shortcomings in the prior art and has high industrial utilization value.

[0034] The above embodiments only exemplarily illustrate the principles and effects of the present application, and are not used to limit the present application. Any person skilled in the art can modify or change the above embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Therefore, all equivalent modifications or changes completed by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and technical thought disclosed by the present application should be covered by the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. An automatic skip item method, characterized by, The method comprises: When the wafer is scanned into the YE station for skip, the minimum allowed waiting time, the maximum allowed waiting time and the allowed remaining waiting time of the scanning machine of the YE station are set according to the recipe executed by the wafer before entering the YE station, and the value of the minimum allowed waiting time is set according to the type of the scanning machine; It is judged whether the current remaining waiting time of the wafer is greater than the allowed remaining waiting time, if the result is no, the wafer is directly executed, if the result is yes, it is judged whether the wafer is skipped according to the minimum allowed waiting time, the allowed remaining waiting time and the current remaining waiting time of the wafer; The method for judging whether the wafer is automatically skipped according to the minimum allowed waiting time, the allowed remaining waiting time and the current remaining waiting time of the wafer comprises: judging whether the calculation result of the current remaining waiting time of the wafer minus the sum of the allowed remaining waiting time and the minimum allowed waiting time is greater than 0; If the result is no, the wafer is directly executed, if the result is yes, the wafer continues to wait for skipping.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, For the same recipe, the minimum allowed waiting time is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to the maximum allowed waiting time determined by the recipe.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, For the same recipe, the same maximum allowed waiting time and the same allowed remaining waiting time are set for different types of scanning machines.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, For different recipes, different maximum allowed waiting times and different allowed remaining waiting times are set for the same type of scanning machine.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, The allowed remaining waiting time is set according to the production information management system.

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