A method for dynamic configuration of a process chamber

Abstract

The present invention discloses a dynamic configuration method for a process chamber. S1: Establish an ECS system architecture; S2: Establish a hardware description file; S3: Based on the hardware description file, establish a number of sub-hardware description files, each sub-hardware description file being used to define a configuration scheme for a process chamber; S4: Match the process chamber with the transfer chamber; S5: The user determines whether the sub-hardware description file with the added position configuration result meets the process chamber configuration requirements. If it meets the requirements, under the ECS system architecture, configure the process chamber based on this sub-hardware description file; otherwise, the user can modify this sub-hardware description file to obtain a new sub-hardware description file and configure the process chamber based on the new sub-hardware description file. The present invention enables the user to complete the adjustment of the machine equipment only by making corresponding process chamber configuration settings according to the processing requirements in the UI configuration interface, reduces the operation difficulty, and the operation process is simple, without frequent changes in hardware and software, ensuring the stability of the system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of wafer processing, and in particular to a dynamic configuration method of a process chamber. Background Art

[0002] The hardware configuration scheme of the existing wafer process chamber and the corresponding process operation or overall scheduling of the process chamber in the software are often fixed in the program. This process hardware and software configuration scheme is very inflexible, resulting in the need to change the underlying configuration program of the process chamber every time the user changes the process chamber type or increases or decreases the process chamber, thereby adjusting the hardware configuration and debugging the machine, which makes the machine preparation cycle long and cannot meet the needs of efficient production. In addition, generally speaking, the operating users are non-professional programmers, and it is relatively complicated to change the underlying configuration program of the process chamber every time the process chamber is adjusted. At the same time, frequent changes in hardware and software will also cause unstable factors in the equipment, resulting in abnormalities in the equipment during wafer processing, resulting in batch scrapping of wafers. Summary of the invention

[0003] The present invention provides a dynamic configuration method for a process chamber to overcome the technical problems that when a user changes the process chamber type or increases or decreases the process chamber according to wafer processing requirements, the user needs to change the underlying configuration program and debug the machine, resulting in a long preparation cycle, failure to meet efficient on-site requirements, complex operations, and easy failures due to frequent changes.

[0004] In order to achieve the above object, the technical solution of the present invention is:

[0005] A dynamic configuration method for a process chamber, the specific steps comprising:

[0006] S1: Establish ECS system architecture according to the actual needs of wafer processing;

[0007] S2: Establish a hardware description file, the hardware description file includes: hardware configuration description information, the hardware configuration description information includes the hardware information required for process chamber processing; UI configuration description information, the UI configuration description information includes the hardware type and control information that need to be displayed on the UI configuration interface; interlock configuration description information, the interlock configuration description information includes the description of the interlock relationship between the hardware of the process chamber and the program controlling the processing; process recipe description information, the process recipe description information includes the process flow of the process chamber processing wafers and the specific parameter data required in the processing process;

[0008] S3: establishing a plurality of sub-hardware description files based on the hardware description file, wherein the sub-hardware description files are used to define a configuration scheme of a process chamber;

[0009] S4: Based on the process chamber types set by the user for different process positions of the transfer chamber in the UI configuration interface according to the processing requirements, a sub-hardware description file with the location configuration result added is obtained, and the process chamber and the transfer chamber are matched based on the sub-hardware description file with the location configuration result added.

[0010] S5: The user determines whether the sub-hardware description file with the location configuration result added meets the configuration requirements of the process chamber. If it meets the requirements, under the ECS system architecture, the process chamber is configured based on this sub-hardware description file; otherwise, the user can modify this sub-hardware description file according to the actual configuration requirements of the process chamber to obtain a new sub-hardware description file, and under the ECS system architecture, the process chamber is configured based on the new sub-hardware description file.

[0011] Furthermore, the ECS system architecture includes an entity module, a component module, and a system module; the component module is used to store all the hardware components required for the processing of the process chamber; the entity module combines the specific hardware components required during the processing of the process chamber from the component module through the sub-hardware description file to form the entity of a certain process chamber; the system module is used to update the status of each hardware component.

[0012] Furthermore, the sub-hardware description file includes the process chamber type and the sub-hardware configuration description information, sub-UI configuration description information, sub-interlock configuration description information, and sub-process recipe description information retrieved from the hardware description file according to this type of process chamber.

[0013] Furthermore, the process of matching the process chamber and the transfer chamber based on the sub-hardware description file with the location configuration result obtained by the user setting the process chamber type for different process positions of the transfer chamber in the UI configuration interface according to the processing requirements is as follows: Obtain the location configuration result of the process chamber according to the process chamber type set by the user for different process positions of the transfer chamber in the UI configuration interface, and store the location configuration result in the sub-hardware description file to obtain a sub-hardware description file with the location configuration result added; Read the radio frequency tag of the process chamber through the radio frequency reader of each transfer chamber to obtain the type information of the process chamber, compare the type information of the process chamber with the location configuration result, if the information matches, the match is successful, otherwise adjust the process chamber to the correct position according to the prompt.

[0014] Furthermore, based on the hardware type and control information in the sub-UI configuration description information, and using the C# reflection mechanism to dynamically load the dynamic library for UI display, the display object and control object of the UI configuration interface are generated.

[0015] Furthermore, the control objects of the UI configuration interface include gas cabinets, interlocks, radio frequencies, and temperature controls.

[0016] Further, in S1, the types of the process chambers include CVD coating process chambers and ETCH etching process chambers.

[0017] Beneficial effects: In the present invention, an ECS system architecture is established according to the actual requirements of wafer processing. Meanwhile, a hardware description file is established, and a number of sub-hardware description files are established through the hardware description file. Moreover, a configuration scheme for a process chamber is defined through the sub-hardware description file. When a user sets the required process chamber, a sub-hardware description file with a location configuration result added is obtained. Based on the sub-hardware description file with the location configuration result added, the process chamber and the transfer chamber are matched. After the matching, the user determines whether it is necessary to modify the sub-hardware description file with the location configuration result according to the actual requirements. If modification is required, the user only needs to make corresponding settings in the UI configuration interface, thereby forming a new hardware configuration description file. According to the new hardware description file, the entity of the process chamber can be obtained under the ECS system architecture, thus completing the configuration of the process chamber. This method enables the user to complete the adjustment of the machine equipment only by making corresponding process chamber configuration settings in the UI configuration interface according to the actual wafer processing requirements, reduces the operation difficulty, and the operation process is simple, without frequent changes in hardware and software, ensuring the stability of the system. Description of the Drawings

[0018] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0019] Figure 1 is a flowchart of a method for dynamically configuring a process chamber in the present invention;

[0020] Figure 2 is a structural diagram of the hardware description file in the embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Embodiments

[0021] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0022] This embodiment provides a method for dynamically configuring a wafer processing process, as Figure 1As shown, the specific steps include:

[0023] S1: Establish an ECS system architecture according to the actual requirements of wafer processing;

[0024] Specifically, the ECS system architecture includes an entity module, a component module, and a system module;

[0025] The component module is used to store all the hardware components required for processing in the process chamber;

[0026] The entity module combines the specific hardware components required during the processing of the process chamber from the component module through a sub-hardware description file to form the entity of a certain process chamber;

[0027] The system module is used to update the status of each hardware component, such as adjusting the MFC valve according to the data of the pressure control hardware.

[0028] Specifically, the types of the process chamber include a CVD coating process chamber and an ETCH etching process chamber.

[0029] Specifically, in this embodiment, the underlying program adopts the ECS system architecture. ECS

[0030] (Entity-Component-System) can improve the scalability, flexibility, and performance of the system. Since the component module, i.e., Componet, can only store hardware components and cannot implement any function-related functions, while the System system is used to perform logical processing based on the components to update the status of each hardware component, data and logic can be completely decoupled. At the same time, the ECS system architecture has the advantage of strong scalability. Instead of inheritance, combination can be used to assemble any Component into any Entity. Specifically, according to the logical components required for the instantiated process chamber, such as MFC valve type, temperature control type, pressure control type, TV valve type, etc., the required process chamber entity can be combined. After each component is instantiated, the system will execute the scheduler to scan the status of each process chamber in real time according to the scheduling requirements and command each process chamber to make corresponding responses. This setting ensures that there is no need to repeatedly copy and read large hardware description files every time the process chamber is replaced; at the same time, this embodiment adopts a data-oriented programming idea, so that data is uniformly stored in various Components, and only the System directly processes this data. The depth of the function call stack is greatly reduced, and modifying functions or locating bugs only needs to be processed in one place, which is easy to maintain.

[0031] S2: Establish a hardware description file, such as Figure 2 As shown, the hardware description file includes:

[0032] Hardware configuration description information, where the hardware configuration description information includes the hardware information required for the processing chamber processing;

[0033] UI configuration description information, where the UI configuration description information includes the hardware types and control information that need to be displayed on the UI configuration interface; specifically, in this embodiment, based on the hardware types and control information in the sub-UI configuration description information, and using the C# reflection mechanism to dynamically load the dynamic library for UI display, so as to generate the display object and control object of the UI configuration interface.

[0034] Specifically, the hardware types displayed on the UI configuration interface include the process chamber overview UI and the gas cabinet overview UI, and the control information includes the gas cabinet control UI, the interlock configuration UI, the radio frequency control UI, and the heating control UI;

[0035] Interlock configuration description information, where the interlock configuration description information includes the description of the interlock relationship between the hardware of the processing chamber and between the programs controlling the processing;

[0036] Process recipe description information, where the process recipe description information includes the processing flow of processing wafers in the process chamber and the specific parameter data required during the processing, such as the step time of the processing and the specific data of the MFC valve opening amount, temperature, pressure value, and radio frequency power required for each step.

[0037] Specifically, in S2, such as Figure 2As shown, the hardware configuration description file includes: I / O configuration description, transfer chamber module description, I / O driver description, Lift hardware description, Susceptor description, heating control description, pressure control description, radio frequency hardware description, Match impedance matching hardware description, valve hardware description, and MFC hardware description; among them, the sub-configurations of I / O configuration include mapping configuration items of digital and analog input / output points, names and units, logical value ranges, and actual value ranges; I / O driver configuration includes communication method configuration, the configurations of Lift and Susceptor include servo motor configuration and communication interface configuration, and the configuration of pressure control includes valve configuration and I / O configuration of the pressure control device; the sub-configurations of radio frequency, heating, Match, and MFC include configurations of digital and analog quantities of drive components I / O. Specifically, since gas is one of the important process parameters in the PECVD equipment, the process gas change in PECVD is the most frequent. This method describes, through the hardware configuration description information, how many gas paths there are, and how many control gases there are in each gas path, and configures the numbered range, minimum opening gas volume, whether it has Purge, whether it is divided into high and low pressures, whether there are inlet and outlet valves, the analog and digital quantities of each valve for the MFC valve controlling the gas. According to the hardware configuration description information, hardware automatic configuration is realized, and it can be reconfigured or viewed through the UI configuration interface. After the setting is completed and the system is restarted, the system will re-parse the hardware description files of the gas path-related modules, dynamically instantiate the required hardware, and redraw the UI gas path diagram according to the new hardware description, redrawing the number of valve gas paths, the gases controlled by the MFC valve, and the positions of the gas valves in the gas path.

[0038] Specifically, in this embodiment, the interlock configuration description information is a description of the interlock relationship between the hardware in the processing process chamber and the programs controlling the processing, and it specifically includes: soft interlocks such as interlocks regarding gas types, interlocks regarding mechanical structures, interlocks regarding the transfer process in the transfer chamber, interlocks regarding temperature, and interlocks regarding the processing process in the process chamber. Since the soft interlock is a group interlock composed of multiple interlock I / Os, and multiple interlock I / Os determine whether the group interlock takes effect. For example, when the group items: the upper movement limit limit and the lower movement limit limit of the wafer cassette are not triggered, the upper movement limit limit and the lower movement limit limit of the buffer cassette are not triggered, and the chamber pressure is within the normal range, the signal allowing transmission of the group result is normal. As long as one of the group items is not satisfied, the signal for wafer transfer is prohibited.

[0039] In this embodiment, group interlocks are described by means of an interlock description ILModule tag, including features such as Name, ByPass, Reset, I / O, Module, ByPassI / O, and ResetI / O. The Name feature represents the name of this group of Interlocks. The ByPass feature indicates whether this Interlock can be bypass-enabled. The Reset feature indicates whether it can be reset. I / O indicates whether it is DI or DO. Module represents the module to which this group of I / O belongs. ByPassI / O represents the bypass-enabled I / O, and ResetI / O represents the Reset-enabled I / O.

[0040] S3: Based on the hardware description file, several sub-hardware description files are established. The sub-hardware description files are used to define a configuration scheme for a process chamber.

[0041] Specifically, the sub-hardware description file includes the process chamber type and sub-hardware configuration description information, sub-UI configuration description information, sub-interlock configuration description information, and sub-process recipe description information retrieved from the hardware description file according to this type of process chamber.

[0042] Specifically, based on the ECS system architecture and in combination with the sub-hardware description file, the ECS framework can know which several Components need to be combined into an Entity, that is, a process chamber entity. In this way, the function of flexibly configuring the process chamber after replacing the process chamber can be realized.

[0043] S4: Based on the process chamber type set by the user for different process positions of the transfer chamber in the UI configuration interface according to the processing requirements, a sub-hardware description file with the position configuration result added is obtained. Based on the sub-hardware description file with the position configuration result added, the process chamber is matched with the transfer chamber.

[0044] Specifically, based on the process chamber type set by the user for different process positions of the transfer chamber in the UI configuration interface according to the processing requirements, a sub-hardware description file with the position configuration result is obtained. The process of matching the process chamber with the transfer chamber based on the sub-hardware description file with the position configuration result is as follows:

[0045] The position configuration result of the process chamber is obtained according to the process chamber type set by the user for different process positions of the transfer chamber in the UI configuration interface according to the processing requirements, and the position configuration result is stored in the sub-hardware description file to obtain a sub-hardware description file with the position configuration result.

[0046] The type information of the process chamber is obtained by reading the radio frequency tag of the process chamber through the radio frequency reader-writer of each transfer chamber. The type information of the process chamber is compared with the position configuration result. If the information matches, the matching is successful; otherwise, the process chamber is adjusted to the correct position according to the prompt.

[0047] S5: The user determines whether the sub-hardware description file with the added location configuration result meets the configuration requirements of the process chamber. If it meets the requirements, under the ECS system architecture, the process chamber is configured based on this sub-hardware description file; otherwise, the user can modify this sub-hardware description file according to the actual configuration requirements of the process chamber to obtain a new sub-hardware description file, and under the ECS system architecture, the process chamber is configured based on the new sub-hardware description file.

[0048] Specifically, in this embodiment, a hardware description file is established. Based on the object-oriented programming concept, the device is described with components as units. Different components form different large functional components to describe the overall device.The hardware description file is an XML structured file that includes all the information for process chamber configuration. Based on the hardware description file, several sub-hardware description files are established. The sub-hardware description files are used to define a configuration scheme for a process chamber. Initially, programmers can first define several common process chamber types and establish several sub-hardware description files. The specific content of the sub-hardware description files includes the corresponding description information obtained from the hardware description file according to the configuration requirements of a process chamber, thus forming a configuration scheme for this process chamber. When the user needs to change the process chamber type or add a process chamber, the upper computer will read several process chamber types and list them in the selection box on the UI configuration interface. The user selects which type of process chamber to install at each process position corresponding to the transfer chamber on the UI configuration interface. According to the specific process chamber type set by the user on the UI configuration interface, the position configuration result is obtained and stored in the sub-hardware description file. Then the user clicks the identification button on the UI configuration interface, and the RF reader / writer at each process position of the transfer chamber will read and write the RF tag of the process chamber to perform the matching installation operation between the process chamber and the transfer chamber. Until the process chambers at each station are all correctly identified, all the sub-hardware description files with the position configuration results will be obtained. If the process chamber types initially defined by the programmer happen to be the process chamber types that the user needs to install, the configuration scheme in the sub-hardware description file meets the requirements and the user does not need to make any changes. If not, for example, if some hardware configurations need to be added or deleted, or if the sub-UI configuration description information, sub-interlock configuration description information, and sub-process recipe description information need to be changed, the user can select an existing process chamber type at the station that needs to be adjusted and modify it based on the configuration of the existing process chamber type through operations on the UI configuration interface to meet the actual requirements. For example, select the most similar sub-hardware description file and then modify it to obtain a new sub-hardware description file. The modification process is to retrieve the configuration information required by the process chamber from the most detailed configuration library, which is the hardware description file, so as to meet the user's needs. Then, under the ECS system architecture, the process chamber is configured based on the new sub-hardware description file. For example, different process chambers use different process gases, so at this time, the MFC valve range or the process gas passing through is also different, and the heating, pressure control, radio frequency, etc. hardware from different manufacturers used are also different. Therefore, specific types of heating, pressure control, radio frequency, etc. hardware need to be selected on the UI configuration interface according to the specific hardware. Then check how many paths of process gas there are for the specific hardware, how many gases each path of process gas has, and which valves are supporting each type of process gas. According to the requirements, add or reduce MFC options on the MFC configuration interface for the gas mass flowmeter, and configure the corresponding valves, gases, and opening limit values in the MFC detailed configuration. After configuration, click save to obtain a new sub-hardware description file. Then, based on the new sub-hardware description file, perform the process chamber configuration operation. The program will read the sub-hardware description file and configure each process chamber according to the position configuration information inside.The components in the described hardware configuration description information are as follows. <component>Describe the label, and its <component>The label has Name attribute and Type attribute. If more detailed parameter descriptions are needed, they can be defined in the sub-label; the components in the UI configuration description information are in <screen>Describe the label, and its <screen>The label has Name and Type attributes, and additional detailed parameter definitions can be defined and described in sub-labels; the components in the process configuration description information are described by the <Recipe DefinitI / On> label, and its sub-labels detail the required parameters and configuration items; the components in the interlock configuration description information are represented by <interlocks>Describe the label. When the reset button in the UI interface is clicked, the new sub-hardware description file will be deleted, and then the reconfiguration process will be entered again according to the user settings. After the user configures the process chamber, when the same installation is performed later, the upper computer will automatically read the sub-hardware description file saved previously in the root directory of the application program and execute the dynamic instantiation process of the hardware components. This method enables the user to simply configure the process chamber according to actual needs, without a complex operation process, only need to select and set on the screen, reducing the operation difficulty, and there is no need to frequently change the hardware and software, ensuring the stability of the system.

[0049] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements for some or all of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.< / interlocks> < / screen> < / screen> < / component> < / component>

Claims

1. A dynamic configuration method for a process chamber, characterized in that: The specific steps include: S1: Establish ECS system architecture according to the actual needs of wafer processing; S2: Create a hardware description file, the hardware description file includes: Hardware configuration description information, wherein the hardware configuration description information includes hardware information required for process cavity processing; UI configuration description information, wherein the UI configuration description information includes the hardware type and control information that need to be displayed on the UI configuration interface; Interlock configuration description information, the interlock configuration description information including a description of the interlock relationship between the hardware of the processing chamber and the programs controlling the processing; Process recipe description information, wherein the process recipe description information includes a process flow of processing wafers in a process chamber and specific parameter data required during the processing; S3: establishing a plurality of sub-hardware description files based on the hardware description file, wherein the sub-hardware description files are used to define a configuration scheme of a process chamber; S4: Based on the process cavity types set by the user for different process positions of the transfer cavity according to the processing requirements in the UI configuration interface, a sub-hardware description file with the position configuration result added is obtained, and the process cavity and the transfer cavity are matched based on the sub-hardware description file with the position configuration result added; S5: The user determines whether the sub-hardware description file with the position configuration result added meets the configuration requirements of the process chamber. If so, the process chamber is configured based on the sub-hardware description file under the ECS system architecture. Otherwise, the user can modify the sub-hardware description file according to the actual configuration requirements of the process chamber to obtain a new sub-hardware description file, and configure the process chamber based on the new sub-hardware description file under the ECS system architecture.

2. The dynamic configuration method of the process chamber according to claim 1, characterized in that: The ECS system architecture includes entity modules, component modules and system modules; The component module is used to store all hardware components required for process chamber processing; The entity module combines the hardware components specifically required for process chamber processing from the component module through the sub-hardware description file to form an entity of a certain process chamber; The system module is used to update the status of each hardware component.

3. The dynamic configuration method of the process chamber according to claim 2, characterized in that: The sub-hardware description file includes a process chamber type and sub-hardware configuration description information, sub-UI configuration description information, sub-interlock configuration description information and sub-process recipe description information retrieved from the hardware description file according to the process chamber type.

4. The dynamic configuration method of the process chamber according to claim 3, characterized in that: Based on the process cavity type set by the user for different process positions of the transfer cavity according to the processing requirements in the UI configuration interface, a sub-hardware description file with the position configuration result added is obtained. The process of matching the process cavity and the transfer cavity based on the sub-hardware description file with the position configuration result added is as follows: Obtaining a position configuration result of the process cavity according to the process cavity type set by the user for different process positions of the transfer cavity according to the processing requirements in the UI configuration interface, and storing the position configuration result in the sub-hardware description file to obtain a sub-hardware description file with the position configuration result added thereto; The RFID tag of the process chamber is read by the RFID reader of each transmission chamber to obtain the type information of the process chamber, and the type information of the process chamber is compared with the position configuration result. If the information matches, the match is successful, otherwise the process chamber is adjusted to the correct position according to the prompt.

5. The dynamic configuration method of the process chamber according to claim 4, characterized in that: Based on the hardware type and control information in the sub-UI configuration description information, the dynamic library of the UI display is dynamically loaded using the C# reflection mechanism, thereby generating the display object and control object of the UI configuration interface.

6. The dynamic configuration method of a process chamber according to claim 5, characterized in that: The control objects of the UI configuration interface include gas cabinet, interlock, radio frequency and temperature control.

7. The dynamic configuration method of a process chamber according to claim 6, characterized in that: In S1, the types of the process chamber include a CVD coating process chamber and an ETCH etching process chamber.

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