Production system and manufacturing method
By obtaining the predicted time for fault repair in the substrate production system and selecting a suitable buffer to store the substrates, the problem of reduced substrate quality during the fault period was solved, and productivity and yield were improved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202510273010.0
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2024-03-13
- Filing Date
- 2025-03-10
- Publication Date
- 2025-09-16
AI Technical Summary
During the substrate production process, if the substrate is placed in the processing chamber during fault repair, the physical properties of the substrate will change, resulting in reduced quality. In addition, if the standby time is short, all substrates stored in the buffer section will become discarded, reducing the yield.
By obtaining the predicted time for fault repair from the control unit, a buffer unit with a standby time longer than the predicted time is selected to temporarily store the substrate to avoid further processing in the next process chamber until the fault is repaired.
It effectively prevents the degradation of substrate quality, improves productivity, reduces the number of waste substrates, and increases the yield rate.
Smart Images

Figure CN120652919A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention relates to a production system and a manufacturing method for a substrate. Background Art
[0002] In production systems that perform chemical or physical processing on substrates, if a failure occurs midway through a production process, leaving the substrates in the processing chamber until the failure is repaired can cause changes in their physical properties and degrade their quality. Consequently, substrates are stored in a buffer. However, if the waiting time allowed before the next processing step is short, all the substrates stored in the buffer become discarded, resulting in a reduction in production yield.
[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-178652 discloses a production system that continuously feeds substrates into a buffer when the number of substrates stored in the buffer falls below a predetermined number, and stops feeding the substrates into the buffer when the predetermined number of substrates is reached. This production system prevents degradation of substrate quality even in the event of a failure during the production process, thereby improving productivity.
[0004] However, if a film-forming solvent is applied to a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, or a glass substrate for an organic electroluminescent device and then left for a long time, the chemical properties of the film-forming solvent applied to the substrate may change, resulting in a problem of quality degradation. Summary of the Invention
[0005] The present invention provides a production system that improves productivity by preventing degradation of substrate quality even when a failure occurs.
[0006] A first aspect of the present invention is a production system that performs a plurality of processes on a substrate, wherein the production system comprises:
[0007] Multiple processing chambers, processing in sequence;
[0008] One or more buffers for temporarily storing substrates that have been processed in at least one of the plurality of processing chambers; and
[0009] Control Department,
[0010] When stop information is inputted about any of the plurality of processing chambers, the control unit acquires a predicted time required for the stopped processing chamber to be restarted based on the stop information.
[0011] For the substrate being processed, whether to be processed in the processing chamber of the next step or to be stored in the buffer section is controlled based on the predicted time.
[0012] A second aspect of the present invention is a production system that performs a plurality of processes on a substrate, wherein the production system comprises:
[0013] Multiple processing chambers, processing in sequence;
[0014] One or more buffers for temporarily storing substrates that have been processed in at least one of the plurality of processing chambers; and
[0015] Control Department,
[0016] When stop information is inputted for any of the plurality of processing chambers, the control unit acquires a predicted time required for the stopped processing chamber to be restarted based on the stop information.
[0017] After processing is performed on a substrate being processed, the substrate is stored in a buffer having a waiting time longer than the predicted time.
[0018] A third aspect of the present invention is a production system for performing a plurality of processes on a substrate, wherein the production system comprises:
[0019] The first processing chamber group, the second processing chamber group and the third processing chamber group each include one or more processing chambers, and the first processing chamber group, the second processing chamber group and the third processing chamber group sequentially process the substrate;
[0020] a first buffer section for temporarily storing at least a portion of substrates processed in the first processing chamber group;
[0021] a second buffer portion for temporarily storing substrates processed in the second processing chamber group; and
[0022] Control Department,
[0023] When the stop information of the third processing chamber group is input, the control unit acquires a predicted time required until the third processing chamber group is restarted based on the stop information.
[0024] For the substrate processed in the first processing chamber group, whether to store it in the first buffer or to start processing in the second processing chamber group is controlled based on the predicted time.
[0025] A fourth embodiment of the present invention is a manufacturing method for processing a substrate in a plurality of processing chambers to produce a processed substrate, wherein the manufacturing method comprises the following steps:
[0026] a step of acquiring stop information on any one of the plurality of process chambers;
[0027] When the stop information is acquired, a step of acquiring a predicted time required for the stopped processing chamber to restart based on the stop information; and
[0028] Based on the predicted time, a control is performed to determine whether the substrate being processed is to be processed in the next step or stored in the buffer.
[0029] A fifth embodiment of the present invention is a manufacturing method for substrates in a production system, characterized in that the production system comprises: a first processing chamber group, a second processing chamber group, and a third processing chamber group; a first buffer for temporarily storing at least a portion of substrates processed in the first processing chamber group; and a second buffer for temporarily storing at least a portion of substrates processed in the second processing chamber group. The manufacturing method comprises the following steps:
[0030] a step of acquiring stop information of the third processing chamber group;
[0031] When the stop information is acquired, a step of acquiring a predicted time required until the third processing chamber group is restarted based on the stop information; and
[0032] The step of controlling whether to store the substrate processed in the first processing chamber group in the first buffer or to start processing in the second processing chamber group based on the predicted time.
[0033] Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0034] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the production system.
[0035] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram showing the flow of substrates when a failure occurs in the production system.
[0036] Figure 3 This is a diagram of the internal structure of the control unit of the production system.
[0037] Figure 4 This is a fault repair prediction table for the production system.
[0038] Figure 5 It is an action flow chart of the production system.
[0039] Figure 6 It is an action flow chart of the production system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0040] The following describes the methods for implementing the present invention with reference to the various figures. It should be noted that the following embodiments do not limit the inventions described in the claims. While various features are described in the embodiments, not all of these features are essential to the invention, and various features may be combined arbitrarily. Furthermore, in the accompanying drawings, identical or similar structures are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated descriptions are omitted.
[0041] exist Figure 1 The structure of the present production system is schematically shown in FIG. This production system is a system that performs multiple processes on a substrate, and includes a cleaning chamber 1, a coating chamber 3, a drying chamber 4, a baking chamber 6, and a cooling chamber 8 as multiple processing chambers. In addition, the present production system includes a first buffer section 2 that can store substrates after cleaning in the cleaning chamber 1, a second buffer section 5 that can store substrates after drying in the drying chamber, and a third buffer section 7 that can store substrates after baking in the baking chamber 6. In addition, the present production system includes a control section 100 that is responsible for overall control. It should be noted that in this embodiment, the process performed using the cleaning chamber 1 is referred to as the first process 101, the process performed using the coating chamber 3 and the drying chamber 4 is referred to as the second process 102, and the process performed using the baking chamber 6 and the cooling chamber 8 is referred to as the third process 103. One or more processing chambers in each process can also be referred to as a processing chamber group. That is, the cleaning chamber 1 can be referred to as the first processing chamber group, the coating chamber 3 and the drying chamber 4 can be referred to as the second processing chamber group, and the baking chamber 6 and the cooling chamber 8 can be referred to as the third processing chamber group.
[0042] The cleaning chamber 1 is a processing chamber for cleaning the upper surface of the substrate. Cleaning is performed in an oxygen environment using UV light. However, this is not limited to UV light, and light other than UV light may also be used for cleaning.
[0043] When the substrate cleaning process is completed, the control unit 100 determines whether to branch the process to the coating chamber 3 for the next process step or to the first buffer unit 2. If there are no malfunctioning process chambers after the next process step, the control unit 100 does not branch the process to the first buffer unit 2 and instead loads the substrate into the coating chamber 3.
[0044] Coating chamber 3 is a treatment chamber where a film-forming solution is applied to the substrate surface in the desired pattern under an oxygen atmosphere. After the film-forming solution coating process is completed, the time allowed before the substrate is loaded into drying chamber 4, the next step, is as short as 30 seconds. Therefore, substrates are quickly loaded into drying chamber 4 after coating.
[0045] The drying chamber 4 is a processing chamber for drying the film-forming solvent applied to the substrate in a vacuum environment. The drying chamber 4 is in a nitrogen environment when the substrate is placed in the drying chamber. After the substrate is placed in the drying chamber 4, the drying chamber is evacuated to 10-4 Pa is a process for drying the film-forming solvent applied to the upper surface of the substrate.
[0046] When the film-forming solvent drying process in the drying chamber 4 is completed, the control unit 100 determines whether to branch the process to the firing chamber 6 for the next process step or to the second buffer unit 5. If there are no failed processing chambers after the next process step, the control unit 100 does not branch the process to the second buffer unit 5 and instead loads the substrates into the firing chamber 6.
[0047] The baking chamber 6 is a processing chamber for heating the substrate to 250 degrees in an oxygen atmosphere to perform a process of fixing the film-forming solvent dried by the pre-process to the substrate.
[0048] When the firing process in the firing chamber 6 is completed, the control unit 100 determines whether to load the substrate into the cooling chamber 8 as the next process or to branch to the third buffer 7. If there is no failure in the cooling chamber 8 of the next process, the control unit 100 loads the substrate into the cooling chamber 8.
[0049] The cooling chamber 8 is a processing chamber in which cold water is passed through the cooling substrate mounting table in a nitrogen environment to cool the substrate. In the cooling chamber 8, the substrate temperature is monitored by a radiation thermometer, and when the substrate temperature drops to 35 degrees, the substrate is discharged and a single substrate is produced.
[0050] In the production system of this embodiment, substrates are continuously loaded and production is continuously performed.
[0051] The first buffer 2, second buffer 5, and third buffer 7 are all nitrogen environments with an oxygen concentration of less than 1 ppm. This allows for a larger substrate storage capacity for process buffers with longer standby times. For example, the first buffer 2 has a standby time of 10 hours, the second buffer 5 has a standby time of 4 hours, and the third buffer 7 has a standby time of 2 hours. The first buffer 2 has the largest storage capacity, while the third buffer 7 has the smallest. In other words, in this embodiment, the upstream buffers have longer standby times and larger storage capacities. Furthermore, each processing chamber and each buffer is equipped with a controller for communicating with the control unit 100.
[0052] exist Figure 2 2 shows a diagram 200 schematically showing the flow of substrates when a fault occurs in the production system. Here, as an example, the flow of substrates after the cleaning process in the cleaning chamber 1 is completed when a fault occurs in the cooling chamber 8. The vertical axis of the diagram 200 represents time, and the horizontal axis represents the position of the substrate at each time. This situation shows that a fault occurs in the cooling chamber 8. Figure 4The flow of the substrate during the fault repair prediction timetable 300 when the pressure C is abnormal. After cleaning, the substrate is transported to the coating chamber 3 (201) for coating (202), transported to the drying chamber 4 (203) for drying (204), and transported to the second buffer section 5 (205) for temporary storage (206).
[0053] The control unit 100 controls the process as follows: it obtains the predicted time required for the stopped processing chamber to restart (hereinafter referred to as the repair prediction time) from the input stop information, processes the process until the most downstream process whose standby time is longer than the reset prediction time, and then stores the process in the buffer. Referring to the fault repair prediction timetable 300, the control unit 100 determines that the reset prediction time for the fault caused by the abnormal pressure C in the cooling chamber 8 is 2.5 hours. The standby time of the third buffer 7 is 2 hours, which is shorter than the reset prediction time of 2.5 hours even considering the time required for processing and transportation in each process. Therefore, the process cannot be carried out to the baking chamber 6 and is temporarily stored in the third buffer 7. The standby time of the second buffer 5 is 4 hours, which is longer than the fault repair prediction time. Therefore, the control unit 100 issues a branch instruction to process the substrates that have completed the cleaning process to the drying chamber 4 and then temporarily store them in the second buffer 5. As a result, the flow of the substrates becomes the flow shown in the diagram 200.
[0054] In this way, the control unit 100 selects a buffer unit with a longer standby time than the predicted fault repair time and issues a branch instruction to transfer the substrate to the selected buffer unit after processing up to the selected buffer unit. It should be noted that if there are multiple buffer units with longer standby times than the predicted fault repair time, the buffer unit furthest downstream (but upstream of the processing chamber where the fault occurred) can be selected.
[0055] For example, if the fault in cooling chamber 8 is an abnormal replacement of consumable E or an abnormality in consumable F, and the predicted reset time is 0.5 hours or 0.1 hours, the control unit 100 issues a control instruction to proceed to the baking chamber 6 and store the substrates in the third buffer 7. This is because the third buffer 7 has a standby time limit of 2 hours, which is longer than the predicted reset time. It should be noted that if the storage capacity of the third buffer 7 reaches its upper limit, the control unit 100 issues a control instruction to store the next substrate in the second buffer 5 after processing in the drying chamber 4 is completed.
[0056] While the control of cleaning substrates after a cleaning process is used as an example in the case of a failure in cooling chamber 8, similar control is performed in the case of failures in other cooling chambers and for other substrates. Specifically, when stop information is input for any of the multiple processing chambers, the control unit 100 controls whether a substrate being processed in a processing chamber of the current process is to be processed in a processing chamber of the next process or stored in one of the buffer units.
[0057] In this manner, the production system of this embodiment uses the control unit 100 to select the optimal buffer based on the failure information in each processing chamber and temporarily store it, thereby controlling and preventing quality degradation. The number of buffers stored in each buffer is determined based on the daily production volume and the predicted failure repair schedule.
[0058] Figure 3 The functional structure of the control unit 100 of this production system is schematically shown. Control unit 100 can be composed of, for example, a PLD (Programmable Logic Device) such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a general-purpose or dedicated computer with an integrated program, or a combination of all or part of these.
[0059] The storage device 110, comprised of a hard disk drive and flash memory, stores various data used to control the processing chambers that comprise the production system. Specifically, the storage device 110 stores control programs for operating each processing chamber, a predicted fault recovery schedule 300 for each processing chamber, and a standby time allowance schedule 301 for each buffer unit.
[0060] The transport branch determination unit 121 determines whether a substrate processed in a certain processing chamber should be transported to the next processing chamber or to the buffer. The production management display unit 122 is an interface for notifying the operator of the fault information and operating status of the production line collected by the information transceiver unit 124, and has the function of forwarding to a fixed monitor or tablet computer. The transport main control unit 123 is responsible for controlling the transport of substrates. When a fault occurs, it controls the transport with reference to the determination result of the transport branch determination unit 121. The information transceiver unit 124 transmits and receives information between the processing chamber and the buffer, for example, collecting fault information of the processing chamber or obtaining the status of the buffer.
[0061] Figure 4The following diagram schematically illustrates a fault repair prediction schedule 300 set in the control unit 100 of this production system. In this fault repair prediction schedule 300, a reset prediction time is pre-set for each type of fault that may occur in each processing chamber. The fault repair prediction schedule 300 is stored, for example, as a file for each processing chamber in a specified storage area within the storage device 110 of the control unit 100. In this production system, the table format is set to CSV, but this format is not limited to CSV. Furthermore, in this production system, this fault repair prediction schedule 300 is generated for each of the five types of processing chambers, and the five files are stored in a specified storage area within the memory of the control unit 100.
[0062] Furthermore, if a fault of a type not listed in the fault repair prediction timetable 300 occurs, the maximum predicted reset time set in the fault repair prediction timetable 300 may be used as the predicted reset time, or the predicted reset time may be determined based on other criteria. Furthermore, the time required to reset the fault is stored and automatically set as the new predicted fault repair time in the fault repair prediction timetable 300. Alternatively, the predicted fault repair time may be calculated based on the predicted fault repair time and referenced to the time of fault occurrence, and a fault repair timetable may be generated and set.
[0063] It should be noted that the predicted repair time does not necessarily need to be calculated using a table. For example, the control unit 100 may obtain information related to the number of substrates, lot number, fault location, and fault severity from the processing chamber where the fault occurred, and calculate the predicted repair time based on this information.
[0064] Figure 5 This is a flowchart showing the flow of a substrate transport control process executed by the control unit 100 of the production system when a fault occurs. The substrate transport control process is a process included as part of the substrate manufacturing method using the production system.
[0065] When the stop information (failure information) about any of the processing chambers is input to the control unit 100 in step S1 , the substrate control process for when a failure occurs is started.
[0066] When the stop information is input, in step S2, the control unit 100 refers to the predicted fault repair timetable 300 to determine the predicted fault repair time, and sets the determined predicted fault repair timetable in the transport branch determination unit 121. It should be noted that the predicted fault repair timetable may also be determined by a method other than using the predicted fault repair timetable 300 as described above.
[0067] In step S3, the control unit 100 selects a substrate to be determined for transport branching. Here, the substrate located furthest downstream is selected from the substrates located upstream of the processing chamber in which the failure occurred.
[0068] In step S4 , the control unit 100 selects the most downstream buffer among the buffers located upstream of the stopped processing chamber, that is, the buffer located closest upstream of the stopped processing chamber.
[0069] In step S5, the control unit 100 calculates the allowed standby time for the selected buffer unit. The allowed standby time for the buffer unit can be pre-stored in the storage device 110 of the control unit 100 or retrieved from the buffer unit by the control unit 100. It should be noted that the allowed standby time may include, in addition to the time available for standby in the buffer unit, the time required to transfer the substrate to the buffer unit and the time required for processing during this period. In other words, the allowed standby time calculated here may be the sum of the time required to continue processing the substrate and store it in the buffer unit, and the time available for standby in the buffer unit.
[0070] In step S6, the control unit 100 determines whether the waiting time allowed for the selected buffer unit is longer than the predicted time for fault repair. If the determination is positive, the process proceeds to step S7, and if the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S9.
[0071] In step S7, the control unit 100 determines whether the selected buffer section has free space. More specifically, when the currently considered substrate arrives at the buffer section, the control unit 100 determines whether the buffer section has free space. If the determination is positive, the process proceeds to step S8; if not, the process proceeds to step S9.
[0072] In step S8 , the control unit 100 determines to carry out processing in the processing chamber by moving the substrate to the selected buffer unit, and then temporarily stores the substrate in the buffer unit.
[0073] In step S9, the control unit 100 determines whether there is a buffer unit upstream of the buffer unit selected in step S4. If the determination is positive, the process proceeds to step S4, and the same process is repeated for the buffer unit closest to the upstream. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S10.
[0074] In step S10 , the control unit 100 determines that no further processing is to be performed on the substrate selected in step S3 and stops the processing.
[0075] In step S11, the control unit 100 determines whether there is an unprocessed substrate. If the determination is positive, the process proceeds to step S3, and the same process is repeated with a new substrate. If the determination is negative, the process ends.
[0076] In this way, when the stop information is inputted about any of the processing chambers, the control unit 100 selects the buffer unit at the farthest downstream (but upstream of the stopped processing chamber) among the buffer units whose standby allowable time is longer than the repair prediction time. Then, the control unit 100 controls the substrate so that the substrate is stored in the selected buffer unit after the substrate is processed in the processing chamber up to the selected buffer unit. In addition, when the processing of the substrate in the processing chamber of the next step is started, if the standby allowable time of any subsequent buffer unit is shorter than the repair prediction time, the substrate processing is stopped without being put into the processing chamber of the next step. Furthermore, even if there is a buffer unit with a standby allowable time longer than the repair prediction time, if it is determined that the buffer unit is not idle at the time when the substrate arrives, the processing is performed up to the buffer unit upstream of the selected buffer unit, and the substrate is stored in the upstream buffer unit.
[0077] Figure 6 Yes Figure 5 More specifically, it is a flowchart showing a specific example of the process of FIG. 1 , and more specifically, a flowchart showing the conveyance control process performed by the control unit 100 on substrates before the start of the first process when a failure occurs in the cooling chamber 8 (third process).
[0078] First, in step S20, the transport main control unit 123 begins loading substrates into the first process 101. In step S21, if no fault information is input from the cooling chamber 8 of the third process 103 to the control unit 100, no fault response is required, so the process moves to step S38, temporarily terminating the operational flow. Subsequently, in step S20 again, loading of the next substrate into the first process 101 begins, and the process moves to step S21. If fault information is input from the cooling chamber 8 of the third process 103 to the control unit 100, the process moves to step S22.
[0079] In step S22 , the control unit 100 determines a predicted repair time based on the input fault information and the fault repair prediction time table 300 , and sets the predicted repair time to the transport branch determination unit 121 .
[0080] In step S23, the transport branch determination unit 121 determines whether the waiting time allowed for the third buffer 7 is greater than the predicted repair time. If the condition is not "waiting time > predicted repair time," the process proceeds to step S24. In step S24, the transport branch determination unit 121 determines whether the waiting time allowed for the second buffer 5 is greater than the predicted repair time. If the condition is not "waiting time > predicted repair time," the process proceeds to step S25. In step S25, the transport main control unit 123 branches the transport to the first buffer 2 without performing a cleaning process on the substrate, and the process proceeds to step S38 to terminate.
[0081] In step S23, if the "waiting allowable time" of the third buffer 7 is greater than the predicted repair time (S23-YES), the process proceeds to step S26. In step S26, the transport main control unit 123 controls the transport of the substrate to the first process 101 and performs cleaning in the cleaning chamber 1, and the process proceeds to step S27.
[0082] In step S27, the transport branch determination unit 121 determines whether there is free space in the second buffer 5 for storage. If there is free space in the second buffer 5, in step S28, the transport main control unit 123 controls the transport of the substrate to the second process 102 for processing in the coating chamber 3 and the drying chamber 4. Subsequently, in step S29, the transport branch determination unit 121 determines whether there is free space in the third buffer 7 for storage. If there is free space in the third buffer 7, in step S31, the transport main control unit 123 controls the transport of the substrate to the third process 103 for processing in the baking chamber 6. Subsequently, in step S31, the transport main control unit 123 branches the transport of the substrate to the third buffer 7, and the process proceeds to step S38, where the process ends.
[0083] If, in step S27, there is no available storage space in the second buffer 5, the process proceeds to step S32. In step S32, the main transport control unit 123 branches the transport process to the first buffer 2, and the process proceeds to step S34, ending the process. If, in step S29, there is no available space in the third buffer 7, the process proceeds to step S33. In step S33, the main transport control unit 123 branches the transport process to the second buffer 5, and the process proceeds to step S38, ending the process.
[0084] In step S24, if the allowable waiting time in the second buffer 5 exceeds the predicted repair time, the process proceeds to step S34. In step S34, the transport main control unit 123 controls the transport of the substrate to the first process 101 and its processing in the cleaning chamber 1, similar to step S6. In step S35, the transport branch determination unit 121 determines whether there is free space in the second buffer 5. If so, in step S36, the process controls the transport to the second process 102 and its processing in the coating chamber 3 and drying chamber 4. Subsequently, in step S37, the transport branch is directed to the second buffer 5, and the process proceeds to step S38, where the process ends.
[0085] In step S35, if it is determined that there is no free space in the second buffer unit 5, the process proceeds to step S32. After the process proceeds to step S32, the data is branched and transferred to the first buffer unit 2 as described above, and the process proceeds to step S38 to terminate.
[0086] It should be noted that Figure 6 The action flow shown is only the process when a fault occurs in the cooling chamber 8 of the third process 103. When a fault occurs in other processing chambers, the same action flow is stored in the main conveying control unit 123 of the control unit 100. Figure 5 and Figure 6 , which can be easily understood by those skilled in the art, so detailed description is omitted.
[0087] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a production system that can prevent degradation of substrate quality even when a failure occurs and can improve productivity.
[0088] Other embodiments
[0089] The embodiments of the present invention can also be implemented by the following method, that is, providing software (program) that performs the functions of the above-mentioned embodiments to a system or device through a network or various storage media, and the computer or central processing unit (CPU) or microprocessing unit (MPU) of the system or device reads and executes the program.
[0090] While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
Claims
1. A production system that performs multiple processes on a substrate, wherein: The production system has: Multiple processing chambers, processing in sequence; One or more buffers for temporarily storing substrates that have been processed in at least one of the plurality of processing chambers; as well as Control Department, When stop information is inputted about any of the plurality of processing chambers, the control unit acquires a predicted time required for the stopped processing chamber to be restarted based on the stop information. For the substrate being processed, whether to be processed in the processing chamber of the next step or to be stored in the buffer section is controlled based on the predicted time.
2. The production system according to claim 1, characterized in that The control unit selects a buffer unit whose waiting time is longer than the predicted time. After the processing in the processing chamber up to the selected buffer section is performed, the substrate is stored in the selected buffer section.
3. The production system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: When there are a plurality of buffers whose allowed standby times are longer than the predicted time, the control unit stores the substrate in a buffer located closest to the upstream side of the stopped processing chamber.
4. The production system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: When processing of the substrate in the processing chamber of the next step starts, if the allowed waiting time of any buffer unit is shorter than the predicted time, the control unit stops loading the substrate into the processing chamber of the next step.
5. The production system according to claim 2, characterized in that The control unit stores the allowed waiting time in the buffer unit in advance.
6. The production system according to claim 2, characterized in that When the selected buffer section is not empty at the time when the substrate arrives, the control section stores the substrate in a buffer section upstream of the selected buffer section.
7. The production system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The stop information includes the type of fault. The control unit acquires a time set in advance according to the type of the failure as the predicted time.
8. The production system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The plurality of processing chambers include a cleaning chamber, a coating chamber, a drying chamber and a baking chamber in order from the upstream side. The plurality of buffer sections include a first buffer section storing the substrates after being cleaned in the cleaning chamber, a second buffer section storing the substrates after being dried in the drying chamber, and a third buffer section storing the substrates after being fired in the firing chamber.
9. The production system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The multiple processing chambers include a cleaning chamber, a coating chamber, a drying chamber and a baking chamber in sequence. The plurality of buffers include a first buffer capable of storing substrates after being processed in the cleaning chamber and before being processed in the coating chamber, and a second buffer capable of storing substrates after being processed in the drying chamber and before being processed in the baking chamber.
10. The production system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The longer the standby allowable time of the plurality of cache units is, the larger the storage capacity is.
11. The production system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The plurality of buffer sections are all in a nitrogen environment with an oxygen concentration of less than 1 ppm.
12. A production system for performing multiple processes on a substrate, wherein: The production system has: Multiple processing chambers, processing in sequence; One or more buffers for temporarily storing substrates that have been processed in at least one of the plurality of processing chambers; as well as Control Department, When stop information is inputted about any of the plurality of processing chambers, the control unit acquires a predicted time required for the stopped processing chamber to be restarted based on the stop information. After processing is performed on a substrate being processed, the substrate is stored in a buffer having a waiting time longer than the predicted time.
13. The production system according to claim 12, characterized in that When there are a plurality of buffers whose allowed standby times are longer than the predicted time, the control unit stores the substrate in a buffer located closest to the upstream side of the stopped processing chamber.
14. The production system according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The control unit stores the allowed waiting time in the buffer unit in advance.
15. The production system according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that: The stop information includes the type of fault. The control unit acquires a time set in advance according to the type of the failure as the predicted time.
16. The production system according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The plurality of processing chambers include a cleaning chamber, a coating chamber, a drying chamber and a baking chamber in order from the upstream side. The plurality of buffer sections include a first buffer section storing the substrates after being cleaned in the cleaning chamber, a second buffer section storing the substrates after being dried in the drying chamber, and a third buffer section storing the substrates after being fired in the firing chamber.
17. The production system according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The multiple processing chambers include a cleaning chamber, a coating chamber, a drying chamber and a baking chamber in sequence. The plurality of buffers include a first buffer capable of storing substrates after being processed in the cleaning chamber and before being processed in the coating chamber, and a second buffer capable of storing substrates after being processed in the drying chamber and before being processed in the baking chamber.
18. The production system according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The longer the standby allowable time of the plurality of cache units is, the larger the storage capacity is.
19. The production system according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The plurality of buffer sections are all in a nitrogen environment with an oxygen concentration of less than 1 ppm.
20. A production system for performing multiple processes on a substrate, wherein: The production system has: The first processing chamber group, the second processing chamber group and the third processing chamber group each include one or more processing chambers, and the first processing chamber group, the second processing chamber group and the third processing chamber group sequentially process the substrate; a first buffer section for temporarily storing at least a portion of substrates processed in the first processing chamber group; a second buffer section for temporarily storing substrates processed in the second processing chamber group; as well as Control Department, When the stop information of the third processing chamber group is input, the control unit acquires a predicted time required until the third processing chamber group is restarted based on the stop information. For the substrate processed in the first processing chamber group, whether to store it in the first buffer or to start processing in the second processing chamber group is controlled based on the predicted time.
21. The production system according to claim 20, characterized in that The control unit starts processing the substrate in the second processing chamber group when the allowed waiting time in the second buffer is longer than the predicted time; otherwise, the control unit stores the substrate in the first buffer.
22. The production system according to claim 21, characterized in that The device further comprises a third buffer portion for temporarily storing substrates that have been processed in at least a portion of the third processing chamber group. The control unit starts processing the substrate in the second processing chamber group and stores the substrate in the second buffer unit after processing in the second processing chamber group when the second buffer unit is longer than the predicted time and the allowed waiting time in the third buffer unit is shorter than the predicted time.
23. The production system according to claim 22, characterized in that When the allowed waiting time in the second buffer unit and the third buffer unit is shorter than the predicted time, the control unit stops loading the substrate into the first processing chamber group.
24. The production system according to claim 21, characterized in that If the second buffer section is not empty, the control section stores the substrate in the first buffer section even if the allowed waiting time in the second buffer section is longer than the predicted time.
25. The production system according to any one of claims 20 to 24, characterized in that: The first buffer has a longer standby time and a larger storage capacity than the second buffer.
26. The production system according to any one of claims 20 to 24, characterized in that: The first buffer portion and the second buffer portion are both in a nitrogen environment with an oxygen concentration of less than 1 ppm.
27. A manufacturing method for processing a substrate in a plurality of processing chambers to produce a processed substrate, characterized in that: The manufacturing method performs the following steps: a step of acquiring stop information on any one of the plurality of process chambers; When the stop information is acquired, a step of acquiring a predicted time required for the stopped processing chamber to restart based on the stop information; as well as Based on the predicted time, a control is performed to determine whether the substrate being processed is to be processed in the next step or stored in the buffer.
28. A manufacturing method, which is a method for manufacturing a substrate in a production system, characterized in that: The production system comprises: a first processing chamber group, a second processing chamber group, and a third processing chamber group; a first buffer for temporarily storing at least a portion of substrates processed in the first processing chamber group; and a second buffer for temporarily storing at least a portion of substrates processed in the second processing chamber group. The manufacturing method comprises the following steps: a step of acquiring stop information of the third processing chamber group; When the stop information is acquired, a step of acquiring a predicted time required until the third processing chamber group is restarted based on the stop information; as well as The step of controlling whether to store the substrate processed in the first processing chamber group in the first buffer or to start processing in the second processing chamber group based on the predicted time.
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Production system
JP1995178652A