Gas path control methods, devices and semiconductor process equipment

Abstract

This invention provides a gas path control method, apparatus, and semiconductor process equipment. The method includes: first, creating a gas path set based on multiple gas paths of the semiconductor process equipment; then, determining whether the process recipe contains the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit based on the gas path name parameter of each gas path unit and the required gas path names of multiple required gas paths in the process recipe; if so, using the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit as the target gas path, adjusting the target gas path flow rate record value in the target gas path unit according to the target flow rate setting value corresponding to the target gas path in the process recipe, and controlling the target gas path according to the adjusted target gas path flow rate record value. In the above control method, by creating gas path units based on the gas paths and controlling the gas paths based on the gas path units and the process recipe, configurable gas paths are achieved, meeting the user's configurable requirements for the process chamber, reducing coding and testing work, and possessing good practical value.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of semiconductor control technology, and in particular to pneumatic control methods, apparatus and semiconductor process equipment. Background Technology

[0002] In the VLSI industry, many thin films are prepared using Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). CVD equipment requires different gases for the reaction, and different processes necessitate different gases. In practical applications, these gases mainly include carrier gases such as inert gases and special gases (e.g., highly oxidizing gases or toxic gases), as well as gases that need to be induced from the source via heating or other carrier gas methods. Therefore, the types of gases configured in the process chamber also vary.

[0003] In the current process, existing methods primarily control the gas paths within the process chamber through the process recipe. Since the controllable gas paths and their control sequence in the process recipe are fixed and cannot be modified, if a new gas path is added to the process chamber, the gas path control process requires code modification; or if a new chamber is introduced with different gas paths than existing chambers, the gas path control process cannot fully reuse the code and needs to be redeveloped. This results in a significant amount of coding and testing work, consuming substantial time and manpower. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a gas path control method, apparatus and semiconductor process equipment to alleviate the above problems, realize the configurability of the gas path, meet the user's configurable requirements for the process chamber, increase the applicability of the program, reduce labor costs, and have good practical value.

[0005] In a first aspect, embodiments of the present invention provide a gas path control method applied to semiconductor process equipment, the semiconductor process equipment including multiple gas paths; the method includes: creating a gas path set based on the multiple gas paths of the semiconductor process equipment; wherein the gas path set includes a gas path unit corresponding to each gas path, the gas path unit including a gas path name parameter and a gas path flow rate record value; obtaining a process recipe; wherein the process recipe includes at least one process step, each process step including multiple required gas paths, and a required gas path name and a corresponding flow rate setting value for each required gas path; determining whether the process recipe contains the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit based on the gas path name parameter of each gas path unit and the required gas path names of the multiple required gas paths; if so, taking the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit as the target gas path, adjusting the target gas path flow rate record value in the target gas path unit according to the target flow rate setting value corresponding to the target gas path in the process recipe, and controlling the target gas path according to the adjusted target gas path flow rate record value.

[0006] Preferably, the method further includes: if the gas path in the semiconductor process equipment is changed, obtaining change information; wherein, the change information includes gas path addition information, gas path deletion information, and gas path modification information; and according to the change information, adding corresponding gas path units, deleting corresponding gas path units, and modifying corresponding gas path units in the gas path set.

[0007] Preferably, each gas path unit is also configured with identification information. The method further includes: in the gas path set, determining the identification information of the gas path unit according to the gas properties of the gas path corresponding to each gas path unit.

[0008] Preferably, if the gas property is oxidizing, the step of determining the identification information of the gas path unit according to the gas property of the gas path corresponding to each gas path unit includes: sorting the gas path units corresponding to multiple gas paths in descending order of oxidizing power according to the gas property of each gas path, and using the sorting number as the identification information of each gas path unit.

[0009] Preferably, if the gas property is inert, the step of determining the identification information of the gas path unit according to the gas property of the gas path corresponding to each gas path unit includes: sorting the gas path units corresponding to multiple gas paths in order from weakest to strongest according to the gas inertness corresponding to each gas path, and using the sorting number as the identification information of each gas path unit.

[0010] Preferably, the method further includes: traversing the gas path set, determining multiple first target gas paths that need to be closed, and controlling the multiple first target gas paths to be closed sequentially in a first order; or, traversing the gas path set, determining multiple second target gas paths that need to be opened, and controlling the multiple second target gas paths to be opened sequentially in a second order; wherein the first order and the second order are both determined based on identification information, and the ordering methods are reversed.

[0011] Preferably, the step of creating a gas path set based on multiple gas paths of the semiconductor process equipment includes: obtaining a parameter set for each gas path; wherein the parameter set includes: gas path name parameter, gas path flow record value, gas path type, gas path flow rate, gas path alarm name, monitoring soft tolerance lower limit, monitoring soft tolerance upper limit, monitoring hard tolerance lower limit, monitoring hard tolerance upper limit, and alarm tolerance time; encapsulating the parameter set to obtain the gas path unit corresponding to the gas path, and generating a gas path set based on the gas path units of multiple gas paths.

[0012] Preferably, the step of adjusting the target gas path flow record value in the target gas path unit according to the target flow setting value corresponding to the target gas path in the process formula includes: determining whether the target flow setting value is the same in the current process step and the previous process step; if not, adjusting the target gas path flow record value to the target flow setting value corresponding to the current process step.

[0013] Secondly, embodiments of the present invention also provide a gas path control device applied to semiconductor process equipment, the semiconductor process equipment including multiple gas paths; the device includes: a creation module, used to create a gas path set according to the multiple gas paths of the semiconductor process equipment; wherein, the gas path set includes a gas path unit corresponding to each gas path, and the gas path unit includes a gas path name parameter and a gas path flow rate record value; an acquisition module, used to acquire a process recipe; wherein, the process recipe includes at least one process step, each process step includes multiple required gas paths, and a required gas path name and a corresponding flow rate setting value for each required gas path; a judgment module, used to determine whether the process recipe contains the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit based on the gas path name parameter of each gas path unit and the required gas path names of the multiple required gas paths; and an adjustment module, used to, if yes, take the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit as the target gas path, and adjust the target gas path flow rate record value in the target gas path unit according to the target flow rate setting value corresponding to the target gas path in the process recipe, and control the target gas path according to the adjusted target gas path flow rate record value.

[0014] Thirdly, embodiments of the present invention also provide a semiconductor process apparatus, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor executes the computer program to implement the steps of the gas path control method of the first aspect described above.

[0015] The embodiments of the present invention bring the following beneficial effects: This invention provides a gas path control method, apparatus, and semiconductor process equipment. First, a gas path set is created based on multiple gas paths in the semiconductor process equipment. Then, based on the gas path name parameter of each gas path unit and the required gas path names of multiple required gas paths in the process recipe, it is determined whether the process recipe includes the gas path corresponding to that gas path unit. If so, the gas path corresponding to that gas path unit is taken as the target gas path, and the target gas path flow rate record value in the target gas path unit is adjusted according to the target flow rate setting value corresponding to the target gas path in the process recipe. Finally, the target gas path is controlled according to the adjusted target gas path flow rate record value. In the above control method, gas path units are created based on the gas paths, and the gas paths are controlled based on the gas path units and the process recipe, thereby achieving configurable gas paths, meeting the user's configurable requirements for process chambers, increasing the applicability of the program, reducing coding and testing work, i.e., reducing labor costs, and having good practical value.

[0016] Other features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the following description, and will be apparent in part from the description, or may be learned by practicing the invention. The objects and other advantages of the invention are realized and obtained through the structures particularly pointed out in the description and the drawings.

[0017] To make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more apparent and understandable, preferred embodiments are described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0018] To more clearly illustrate the specific embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the specific embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained from these drawings without creative effort.

[0019] Figure 1 A flowchart of a gas path control method provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the identification information of a gas path unit provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 An example diagram of a process recipe provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4-a A process recipe provided for an embodiment of the present invention includes a flowchart of traversing multiple gas paths in a semiconductor device; Figure 4-b A flowchart illustrating the traversal of target gas path closure provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4-cA flowchart illustrating the opening of a target gas path is provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a gas path control device provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a semiconductor process equipment provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0020] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0021] To facilitate understanding of this embodiment, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below.

[0022] This invention provides a gas path control method applied to semiconductor process equipment. The semiconductor process equipment includes multiple gas paths, each corresponding to a different gas. These gases include, but are not limited to, N2, Ar1, NF3, WF6, and Ar2. The specific number and type of gas paths can be determined based on the actual hardware structure of the semiconductor process equipment. Figure 1 As shown, the method includes the following steps: Step S102: Create a gas path set based on the multiple gas paths of the semiconductor process equipment; wherein, the gas path set includes a gas path unit corresponding to each gas path, and the gas path unit includes a gas path name parameter and a gas path flow record value; Specifically, due to the different hardware structures of different semiconductor process equipment, in order to meet the user's configurable requirements for the chamber, before controlling the gas path, the semiconductor process equipment needs to create a set of gas paths, namely GasItem set, in the configuration file according to its own hardware structure, i.e., the multiple gas paths it contains.

[0023] The GasItem set contains a GasItem unit corresponding to each gas path. Here, GasItem represents a unit that encapsulates the gas path parameters. The specific process of creating a gas path set based on multiple gas paths of semiconductor process equipment is as follows: (A1) Obtain the parameter set for each gas path; wherein, the parameter set includes: gas path name parameter, gas path flow record value, gas path type, gas path flow, gas path alarm name, monitoring soft tolerance lower limit value, monitoring soft tolerance upper limit value, monitoring hard tolerance lower limit value, monitoring hard tolerance upper limit value and alarm tolerance time; specifically, the parameter set corresponding to each gas path includes multiple parameters, which include but are not limited to (1) RPN_Gas: record the parameter name corresponding to this gas path in the process recipe, i.e., gas path name parameter; (2) MI_GasFlow: record the gas path name displayed when monitoring alarm, i.e., gas path alarm name; (3) Gas: the corresponding gas path; (4) GasFlowVp: the flow rate of the corresponding gas path; (5) Flow: used to record the flow rate value to be set for this gas path in the process recipe step, i.e., gas path flow record value; (6) GasLineType: gas path type, such as: ordinary gas path, special gas path and source bottle gas. (7) GasFlowST: Soft tolerance range used in gas path monitoring; (8) GasFlowHT: ​​Hard tolerance range used in gas path monitoring; (9) GasFlowTOS: Alarm tolerance time used in gas path monitoring; (10) GasFlowSTL: Lower limit of soft tolerance calculated based on the gas flow rate in the process recipe used in gas path monitoring, i.e., lower limit of monitoring soft tolerance; (11) GasFlowSTH: Upper limit of soft tolerance calculated based on the gas flow rate in the process recipe used in gas path monitoring, i.e., upper limit of monitoring soft tolerance; (12) GasFlowHTL: Lower limit of hard tolerance calculated based on the gas flow rate in the process recipe used in gas path monitoring, i.e., lower limit of monitoring hard tolerance; (13) GasFlowHTH: Upper limit of hard tolerance calculated based on the gas flow rate in the process recipe used in gas path monitoring, i.e., upper limit of monitoring hard tolerance, etc. Therefore, each GasItem must include at least the corresponding gas path parameter name RPN_Gas and the gas path flow record value Flow. The soft and hard tolerances are manually specified; they refer to alarm threshold values, differing in the alarm level they trigger. Soft tolerance triggers a warning alarm that does not interrupt the machine's current operation, while hard tolerance triggers an alarm that will interrupt the machine's current operation.

[0024] (A2) The parameter set is encapsulated to obtain the gas path unit corresponding to the gas path. Based on the gas path units of multiple gas paths, a gas path set is generated. Specifically, the parameter set of each gas path is encapsulated to obtain the gas path unit GasItem corresponding to the gas path; and the gas path set corresponding to the semiconductor process equipment, i.e., the GasItem set, is obtained based on the gas path units GasItem of multiple gas paths; and, for various CVD chambers that differ only in gas path, the same program can be reused, i.e., the gas path units GasItem of the same gas path can be copied for control, reducing the workload of code modification, saving time and effort, and reducing labor costs.

[0025] Furthermore, the method also includes: if the gas path in the semiconductor process equipment is changed, obtaining change information; wherein, the change information includes gas path addition information, gas path deletion information, and gas path modification information; and according to the change information, adding corresponding gas path units, deleting corresponding gas path units, and modifying corresponding gas path units in the gas path set.

[0026] Specifically, when the gas path in a semiconductor process equipment is changed, i.e., the hardware structure of the semiconductor process equipment changes, the GasItem collection is adjusted accordingly for the changed gas path. For example, if a gas path is added to the semiconductor process equipment, the semiconductor process equipment creates a corresponding gas path unit GasItem in the configuration file and adds it to the GasItem collection. This allows the semiconductor process equipment to control multiple gas paths based on the modified GasItem collection. This enables configurable gas paths, such as configuring the gas path name, quantity, type, and order according to user needs, increasing the applicability of the program, meeting the user's configurable requirements for the chamber, solving the control problem of chambers with varying types, reducing the workload of code modification, and reducing labor costs.

[0027] Step S104: Obtain the process formula; wherein the process formula includes at least one process step, each process step includes multiple required gas paths, and the required gas path name and corresponding flow rate setting value for each required gas path. Specifically, in the manufacturing process, semiconductor process equipment controls multiple gas paths according to the process recipe. Each process recipe consists of at least one process step, and each process step includes multiple required gas paths, along with the name of each required gas path and its corresponding flow rate setting. For example, for the gas path corresponding to nitrogen (N2), if the flow rate setting in the current process step is 0, then the N2 gas path does not need to be activated in that process step. If the flow rate setting is greater than 0, then the N2 gas path is activated, and N2 gas is transmitted according to the corresponding flow rate setting. It should be noted that the number and type of required gas paths in each process step of the process recipe may be the same or different; the flow rate setting for the same gas path may be the same or different in different process steps, depending on the specific circumstances.

[0028] Step S106: Based on the gas path name parameter of each gas path unit and the required gas path names of multiple required gas paths, determine whether the process formula contains the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit. Specifically, it iterates through all GasItems in the GasItem set and compares the gas path name parameter (RPN_Gas) of each gas path unit with the required gas path names of multiple required gas paths in the process recipe. If they are different, it is determined that the process recipe does not contain the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit; otherwise, if they are the same, it is determined that the process recipe contains the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit, and the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit is taken as the target gas path so that the semiconductor process equipment can control the target gas path according to the process recipe.

[0029] Step S108: If yes, take the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit as the target gas path, adjust the target gas path flow record value in the target gas path unit according to the target flow setting value corresponding to the target gas path in the process formula, and control the target gas path according to the adjusted target gas path flow record value.

[0030] Specifically, for a target gas path, there is a corresponding target gas path flow record value Flow in the target gas path unit. At the same time, since the target gas path is included in the process recipe, and the flow value may be different in each process step, that is, the target gas path also has a corresponding target flow setting value in each process step in the process recipe. At this time, the semiconductor process equipment determines whether the target flow setting value is the same in the current process step and the previous process step. If it is the same, there is no need to adjust the target gas path flow record value Flow, that is, the target gas path flow record value Flow is marked as no processing is required. Otherwise, if not, the target gas path flow record value is adjusted to the target flow setting value corresponding to the current process step, that is, the target flow setting value corresponding to the current process step in the process recipe is recorded into the target gas path flow record value Flow, and the target gas path is controlled to operate according to the adjusted target gas path flow record value.

[0031] The gas path control method provided in this invention creates gas path units based on the gas path and controls the gas path based on the gas path units and process formulas, thereby realizing configurable gas paths, meeting users' configurable requirements for process chambers, increasing the applicability of the program, reducing coding and testing work, that is, reducing labor costs, and having good practical value.

[0032] Preferably, each gas path unit GasItem is also configured with identification information. The method further includes: determining the identification information of the gas path unit in the gas path set according to the gas properties of the gas path corresponding to each gas path unit. Specifically, the gas properties include, but are not limited to, oxidizing and inert properties. If the gas property is oxidizing, the gas path units corresponding to multiple gas paths are sorted in descending order of oxidizing power according to the oxidizing power of the gas corresponding to each gas path, and the sorting number is used as the identification information of each gas path unit. For example, for chamber W, the gas path units GasItem of multiple gas paths are sorted in descending order of oxidizing power. The stronger the oxidizing power of the gas, the smaller the sorting number of the GasItem corresponding to the gas path; the weaker the oxidizing power of the gas, the larger the sorting number of the GasItem corresponding to the gas path. Figure 2 As shown, in the GasItem set, the identification information of each gas path unit is a sort number. The smaller the sort number, the stronger the oxidizing power of the gas path, and the larger the sort number, the weaker the oxidizing power of the gas path.

[0033] Furthermore, if the gas property is inert, then based on the gas inertness corresponding to each gas path, the gas path units corresponding to multiple gas paths are sorted in ascending order of inertness, and the sorting sequence number is used as the identification information of each gas path unit. That is, for Figure 2 In the multiple gas path units, the smaller the sequence number of the gas path, the weaker the inertia, and the larger the sequence number of the gas path, the stronger the inertia.

[0034] Furthermore, since the GasItem set is an open set, when the hardware structure of semiconductor process equipment changes, corresponding gas path units can be set in the GasItem set according to the change information. For example, any number and type of gas path units can be added to the GasItem set. In this case, the identification information can be regenerated based on the gas properties of the gas paths corresponding to multiple gas path units after the GasItem set has changed; or it can be set manually, that is, the user sets the sorting information of multiple gas path units in the configuration file and uses the sorting number after setting as the identification information of each gas path unit. This improves the flexibility of use and enhances the applicability.

[0035] Furthermore, the method also includes: traversing the gas path set, determining multiple first target gas paths that need to be closed, and controlling the multiple first target gas paths to be closed sequentially in a first order; or, traversing the gas path set, determining multiple second target gas paths that need to be opened, and controlling the multiple second target gas paths to be opened sequentially in a second order; wherein the first order and the second order are both determined based on identification information, and the ordering methods are reversed.

[0036] Specifically, during the process of controlling the gas path according to the process recipe, the semiconductor process equipment also traverses the gas path set, i.e., the GasItem set, and determines the first target gas path to be closed based on the flow record value Flow in each GasItem. For example, the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit with Flow=0 is determined as the first target gas path. At this time, for multiple first target gas paths to be closed, the semiconductor process equipment controls them to be closed sequentially according to a first order, which is determined based on the identification information. When the gas property is oxidizing, the first order is from strong to weak oxidizing power, that is, in the first order, the first target gas path with the smaller sequence number, i.e., the first target gas path with strong oxidizing power is closed first. For example, for multiple gas path units in the GasItem set, the determined first target gas paths are gas path 1, gas path 3, and gas path 5. At this time, the semiconductor process equipment first controls gas path 1 to be closed, then controls gas path 3 to be closed, and finally controls gas path 5 to be closed. When the gas property is inert, the first order is from weak to strong inertness, that is, in the first order, the first target gas path with the smaller sequence number, i.e., the first target gas path with smaller identification information is closed first.

[0037] Similarly, the semiconductor process equipment also traverses the gas path set, i.e., the GasItem set, and determines the second target gas path to be opened based on the flow record value Flow in each GasItem. For example, the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit with Flow greater than 0 is determined as the second target gas path. At this time, for multiple second target gas paths to be opened, the semiconductor process equipment controls them to be closed sequentially according to a second order, which is determined based on the identification information. When the gas property is oxidizing, the second order is from weakest to strongest oxidizing power. That is, in the second order, the second target gas path with the larger sequence number (i.e., the identification information) is closed first, i.e., the second target gas path with weaker oxidizing power is opened first. For example, for multiple gas path units in the GasItem set, the determined second target gas paths are gas path 1, gas path 3, and gas path 5. At this time, the semiconductor process equipment first controls gas path 5 to be opened, then controls gas path 3 to be opened, and finally controls gas path 1 to be opened. When the gas property is inert, the second order is from strongest to weakest inert. That is, in the second order, the second target gas path with the larger sequence number (i.e., the identification information) is opened first.

[0038] Therefore, by specifying the switching sequence of the gas paths by the user, the requirements for precise process control are met, and the repeatability of the process is improved. Furthermore, during the process, a "close first, open later" approach is used to control the gas paths. Here, "closing" does not mean shutting down the first target gas path, but rather controlling the gas in the target gas path to prevent it from entering the process chamber. For example, the gas in the first target gas path is directed to another location, such as the upstream pipeline (dry pump).

[0039] Furthermore, by controlling the first and second target gas paths mentioned above, the gas flow time of the highly oxidizing gas is made as close as possible to the set time of the process step. The highly oxidizing gas is the main reactant gas in the process and has the greatest impact on the process results. Therefore, the closer its gas flow time is to the set time of the process step, the higher the control accuracy, thereby improving the repeatability of the process results.

[0040] For example, for Figure 3 The process recipe shown assumes that Ar2 is the main reactant gas, and that Ar2 has a stronger oxidizing power than Ar1. Therefore, Ar2's sequence number is 1, and Ar1's sequence number is 2. The time intervals from Step 1 to Step 2 are shown in the table below: Table 1

[0041] As shown in the table above, the venting time T3-T1 for Ar2 is basically the same as the setting time T3-T2 for step 1, thus effectively controlling the venting time of the reaction gas, meeting the requirements of precise process control, and improving the repeatability of the process.

[0042] exist Figure 1 Based on this, the present invention also provides another gas path control method, which mainly consists of three parts: determining whether the process recipe contains multiple gas paths in the semiconductor device, closing the target gas path, and opening the target gas path. Furthermore, all three parts require traversing multiple gas path units (GasItems) in the GasItem set. The traversal operation for each part is as follows: (1) such as Figure 4-a As shown, determining whether a process recipe contains multiple gas paths from a semiconductor device mainly involves the following steps: Step S402, gas path unit i, where i represents the sorting number of multiple GasItems in the GasItem set after sorting them from strong to weak according to the oxidizing power of the gas in the gas path. That is, the GasItem corresponding to the gas path with strong oxidizing power has the smallest sorting number. Here, the traversal operation starts from the gas path unit with the smaller sorting number. Step S404: Determine if i < the number of elements in the GasItem set, i.e., determine if i is less than the total number of GasItems in the GasItem set; if yes, proceed to step S406; otherwise, end this part of the process. Step S406: Determine whether the process recipe contains the gas path corresponding to GasItem[i]. If yes, proceed to step S408; otherwise, proceed to step S412. Step S408: Determine whether the flow rate setting value of this gas path in the process recipe is the same as the setting value in the previous step; if not, proceed to step S410; if yes, proceed to step S412. In step S410, GasItem[i] records the flow value to be set; and returns to step S404 by i=i+1; In step S412, GasItem[i] is marked as Flow and no processing is required; and the process returns to step S404 by i=i+1; Therefore, through the above process, the gas path included in the process recipe can be determined, and the flow of the gas path unit GasItem[i] of the gas path can be adjusted according to the flow setting value of the gas path in the process recipe.

[0043] (2) such as Figure 4-b As shown, closing the target gas path mainly includes the following steps: Step S502, gas path unit i, where i represents the sorting number of multiple GasItems in the GasItem set after sorting them from strong to weak according to the oxidizing power of the gas in the gas path. That is, the GasItem corresponding to the gas path with strong oxidizing power has the smallest sorting number. Here, the traversal operation starts from the gas path unit with the smaller sorting number. Step S504: Determine if i < the number of elements in the GasItem set, i.e., determine if i is less than the total number of all GasItems in the GasItem set; if yes, proceed to step S506; otherwise, end the process. Step S506: Determine whether GasItem[i] does not need to be processed; that is, determine whether the Flow of GasItem[i] does not need to be processed. If yes, return to step S504 by i=i+1; otherwise, execute step S508. Step S508: Determine whether the gas flow rate value corresponding to GasItem[i] is set to 0; if yes, proceed to step S510; if no, return to step S504 by i=i+1. Step S510: Set the gas flow rate value corresponding to GasItem[i] to 0, and return to step S504 by i=i+1.

[0044] Therefore, by traversing each GasItem in the GasItem set as described above, the target gas path that needs to be closed, namely the first target gas path, can be determined, and multiple target gas paths can be closed according to the principle of closing the one with the strongest oxidizing power first.

[0045] (3) Similarly, such as Figure 4-c As shown, opening the target gas path mainly includes the following steps: Step S602, gas path unit i, where i represents the sorting number of multiple GasItems in the GasItem set after sorting them from strong to weak according to the oxidizing power of the gas in the gas path. That is, the GasItem corresponding to the gas path with weak oxidizing power has the largest sorting number, and the traversal operation starts from the gas path unit with the largest sorting number. Step S604: Determine if i > 0; if yes, proceed to step S606; otherwise, end the process. Step S606: Determine whether GasItem[i] does not need to be processed; that is, determine whether the Flow of GasItem[i] does not need to be processed. If yes, return to step S604 by i=i-1; otherwise, execute step S608. Step S608: Determine whether the gas flow rate value corresponding to GasItem[i] is set to a value greater than 0; if yes, proceed to step S610; if no, return to step S604 by i=i-1. Step S610: Set the gas flow rate value corresponding to GasItem[i] to a value greater than 0, and return to step S604 by i=i-1.

[0046] Therefore, during the opening of the target gas path, the gas paths with flow rates set to be greater than 0 are opened in descending order of their sequence numbers. That is, the target gas path (i.e., the second target gas path) is opened according to the principle of opening the gas path with weak oxidizing properties first. This makes the ventilation time of the strong oxidizing gas path close to the time set in the production step, thereby improving the accuracy of control and thus improving the repeatability of the process results.

[0047] In summary, the gas path control method provided by this invention first obtains the contents of the process recipe, then iterates through all elements in the GasItem set. By comparing the name of the RPN_Gas record in each GasItem with the parameter name of the gas path to be controlled in the process recipe, it determines whether the process recipe contains this gas path. If so, it further compares whether the flow rate to be set for this gas path in this step of the process recipe is the same as the flow rate in the previous step. If they are different, the set value in the process recipe is recorded in the Flow of the GasItem corresponding to the gas path; otherwise, the Flow value is marked as not requiring processing. Furthermore, the switching sequence of the gas paths can be set, further improving the accuracy of process control and increasing the repeatability of the process. Simultaneously, the GasItems in the process chamber that change gas paths can be adjusted, thereby achieving configurable gas paths. For example, the gas path name, quantity, type, and sequence can be configured according to user needs, increasing the applicability of the program, meeting the user's configurable chamber requirements, solving the control problem of chambers with varying types, reducing the workload of code modification, and reducing labor costs.

[0048] Corresponding to the above method embodiments, this invention also provides a gas path control device, applied to semiconductor process equipment, the semiconductor process equipment including multiple gas paths; such as Figure 5 As shown, the device includes: The creation module 51 is used to create a gas path set based on multiple gas paths of the semiconductor process equipment; wherein, the gas path set includes a gas path unit corresponding to each gas path, and the gas path unit includes a gas path name parameter and a gas path flow record value; The acquisition module 52 is used to acquire the process formula; wherein the process formula includes at least one process step, each process step includes multiple required gas paths, and the required gas path name and corresponding flow rate setting value for each required gas path; The judgment module 53 is used to determine whether the process formula contains the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit based on the gas path name parameter of each gas path unit and the required gas path names of multiple required gas paths. The adjustment module 54 is used to, if so, take the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit as the target gas path, adjust the target gas path flow record value in the target gas path unit according to the target flow setting value corresponding to the target gas path in the process formula, and control the target gas path according to the adjusted target gas path flow record value.

[0049] The gas path control device provided in this embodiment of the invention creates gas path units based on the gas path and controls the gas path based on the gas path units and process formula, thereby realizing configurable gas path, meeting the user's configurable requirements for process chambers, increasing the applicability of the program, reducing coding and testing work, that is, reducing labor costs, and having good practical value.

[0050] Preferably, the device further includes: if the gas path in the semiconductor process equipment is changed, obtaining change information; wherein the change information includes gas path addition information, gas path deletion information, and gas path modification information; and according to the change information, adding corresponding gas path units, deleting corresponding gas path units, and modifying corresponding gas path units in the gas path set.

[0051] Preferably, each gas path unit is also equipped with identification information, and the device further includes: determining the identification information of the gas path unit in the gas path set according to the gas properties of the gas path corresponding to each gas path unit.

[0052] Preferably, if the gas property is oxidizing, the identification information of the gas path unit is determined according to the gas property of the gas path corresponding to each gas path unit, including: sorting the gas path units corresponding to multiple gas paths in descending order of oxidizing power according to the gas property of each gas path, and using the sorting number as the identification information of each gas path unit.

[0053] Preferably, if the gas property is inert, the identification information of the gas path unit is determined according to the gas property of the gas path corresponding to each gas path unit, including: sorting the gas path units corresponding to multiple gas paths in order from weakest to strongest according to the gas inertness corresponding to each gas path, and using the sorting number as the identification information of each gas path unit.

[0054] Preferably, the device further includes: traversing the gas path set, determining multiple first target gas paths that need to be closed, and controlling the multiple first target gas paths to be closed sequentially in a first order; or, traversing the gas path set, determining multiple second target gas paths that need to be opened, and controlling the multiple second target gas paths to be opened sequentially in a second order; wherein the first order and the second order are both determined based on identification information, and the ordering methods are reversed.

[0055] Preferably, the creation module 51 is further configured to: obtain a parameter set for each gas path; wherein the parameter set includes: gas path name parameter, gas path flow record value, gas path type, gas path flow, gas path alarm name, monitoring soft tolerance lower limit, monitoring soft tolerance upper limit, monitoring hard tolerance lower limit, monitoring hard tolerance upper limit, and alarm tolerance time; encapsulate the parameter set to obtain the gas path unit corresponding to the gas path, and generate a gas path set based on the gas path units of multiple gas paths.

[0056] Preferably, the target gas flow record value in the target gas path unit is adjusted according to the target flow setting value corresponding to the target gas path in the process formula, including: determining whether the target flow setting value is the same in the current process step and the previous process step; if not, adjusting the target gas flow record value to the target flow setting value corresponding to the current process step.

[0057] The gas path control device provided in this embodiment of the invention has the same technical features as the gas path control method provided in the above embodiments, so it can also solve the same technical problems and achieve the same technical effects.

[0058] This invention also provides a semiconductor process apparatus, including a processor and a memory. The memory stores machine-executable instructions that can be executed by the processor, and the processor executes the machine-executable instructions to implement the above-described pneumatic control method.

[0059] See Figure 6 As shown, the semiconductor process equipment includes a processor 100 and a memory 101. The memory 101 stores machine-executable instructions that can be executed by the processor 100. The processor 100 executes the machine-executable instructions to implement the above-described pneumatic control method.

[0060] Furthermore, Figure 6 The semiconductor process equipment shown also includes a bus 102 and a communication interface 103. The processor 100, the communication interface 103 and the memory 101 are connected via the bus 102.

[0061] The memory 101 may include high-speed random access memory (RAM) and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device. Communication between this system network element and at least one other network element is achieved through at least one communication interface 103 (which can be wired or wireless), such as the Internet, wide area network, local area network, metropolitan area network, etc. The bus 102 may be an ISA (Industrial Standard Architecture) bus, a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus, or an EISA (Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture) bus, etc. These buses can be categorized as address buses, data buses, control buses, etc. For ease of representation, Figure 6 The symbol is represented by a single double-headed arrow, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0062] Processor 100 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In implementation, each step of the above method can be completed by the integrated logic circuitry in the hardware of processor 100 or by instructions in software form. Processor 100 may be a general-purpose processor, including a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), etc.; it may also be a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. It can implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this invention. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of this invention can be directly manifested as execution by a hardware decoding processor, or execution by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can reside in a readily available storage medium in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, or registers. This storage medium is located in memory 101, and the processor 100 reads the information from memory 101 and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the method described in the foregoing embodiments.

[0063] This embodiment also provides a machine-readable storage medium storing machine-executable instructions. When the machine-executable instructions are called and executed by the processor, the machine-executable instructions cause the processor to implement the above-described gas path control method.

[0064] The computer program products of the gas path control method, apparatus and semiconductor process equipment provided in the embodiments of the present invention include a computer-readable storage medium storing program code. The instructions included in the program code can be used to execute the methods described in the preceding method embodiments. For specific implementation, please refer to the method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0065] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working process of the system and apparatus described above can be referred to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0066] Furthermore, in the description of the embodiments of the present invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "linking" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection of two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0067] If the aforementioned functions are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a processor-executable, non-volatile, computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this invention, essentially, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a portion of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this invention. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0068] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that the terms "center," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "inner," and "outer," etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are used only for the convenience of describing the invention and for simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on the invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0069] Finally, it should be noted that the above-described embodiments are merely specific implementations of the present invention, used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and not to limit it. The scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that any person skilled in the art can still modify or easily conceive of changes to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention, or make equivalent substitutions for some of the technical features; and these modifications, changes, or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, and should all be covered within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A gas path control method, applied to semiconductor process equipment, said semiconductor process equipment comprising multiple gas paths; characterized in that, The method includes: A gas path set is created based on the gas path units of the multiple gas paths of the semiconductor process equipment; wherein the gas path unit is generated based on the parameter set of the gas path, including gas path name parameters and gas path flow record values; Obtain the process formula; wherein the process formula includes at least one process step, each process step includes multiple required gas paths, and the required gas path name and corresponding flow rate setting value for each required gas path; Based on the gas path name parameter of each gas path unit and the required gas path names of multiple required gas paths, determine whether the process formula includes the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit; If so, the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit is taken as the target gas path, and the target gas path flow record value in the target gas path unit is adjusted according to the target flow setting value corresponding to the target gas path in the process formula, and the target gas path is controlled according to the adjusted target gas path flow record value; wherein, it is determined whether the target flow setting value is the same in the current process step and the previous process step; if not, the target gas path flow record value is adjusted to the target flow setting value corresponding to the current process step.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the gas path in the semiconductor process equipment is changed, the change information is obtained; wherein, the change information includes gas path addition information, gas path deletion information, and gas path modification information; Based on the change information, add corresponding gas path units, delete corresponding gas path units, and modify corresponding gas path units in the gas path set.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Each of the gas path units is also configured with identification information, and the method further includes: In the gas path set, the identification information of the gas path unit is determined according to the gas properties of the gas path corresponding to each gas path unit.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, If the gas property is oxidizing, the step of determining the identification information of the gas path unit based on the gas property corresponding to each gas path unit includes: Based on the oxidizing power of the gas corresponding to each gas path, the gas path units corresponding to multiple gas paths are sorted in descending order of strength, and the sorting number is used as the identification information of each gas path unit.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, If the gas property is inert, the step of determining the identification information of the gas path unit based on the gas property corresponding to each gas path unit includes: Based on the gas inertness corresponding to each gas path, the gas path units corresponding to multiple gas paths are sorted in order from weakest to strongest, and the sorting sequence number is used as the identification information of each gas path unit.

6. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The method further includes: Traverse the set of gas paths, determine multiple first target gas paths that need to be closed, and control the multiple first target gas paths to be closed sequentially in a first order; or, Traverse the set of gas paths, determine the multiple second target gas paths that need to be opened, and control the multiple second target gas paths to be opened sequentially in a second order; The first order and the second order are both determined based on the identification information, and the sorting methods are reversed.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of creating a gas path set based on the gas path units of the multiple gas paths of the semiconductor process equipment includes: Obtain the parameter set for each gas path; wherein, the parameter set includes: gas path name parameter, gas path flow record value, gas path type, gas path flow, gas path alarm name, monitoring soft tolerance lower limit value, monitoring soft tolerance upper limit value, monitoring hard tolerance lower limit value, monitoring hard tolerance upper limit value, and alarm tolerance time; The parameter set is encapsulated to obtain the gas path unit corresponding to the gas path. The gas path set is generated based on the gas path units of the multiple gas paths.

8. A gas path control device for executing the gas path control method according to any one of claims 1-7; characterized in that, The device includes: A creation module is used to create a gas path set based on the gas path units of multiple gas paths of the semiconductor process equipment; wherein the gas path unit is generated based on the parameter set of the gas path, including gas path name parameters and gas path flow record values; An acquisition module is used to acquire a process formula; wherein the process formula includes at least one process step, each process step includes multiple required gas paths, and the required gas path name and corresponding flow rate setting value for each required gas path; The judgment module is used to determine whether the process formula contains the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit based on the gas path name parameter of each gas path unit and the required gas path names of multiple required gas paths. The adjustment module is configured to, if so, take the gas path corresponding to the gas path unit as the target gas path, adjust the target gas path flow record value in the target gas path unit according to the target flow setting value corresponding to the target gas path in the process formula, and control the target gas path according to the adjusted target gas path flow record value; wherein, it is determined whether the target flow setting value is the same in the current process step and the previous process step; if not, the target gas path flow record value is adjusted to the target flow setting value corresponding to the current process step.

9. A semiconductor process apparatus, comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, characterized in that, When the processor executes the computer program, it implements the steps of the pneumatic control method according to any one of claims 1-7.

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