Extendable Liquid Treatment for Wafer Handling Throughput

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing wafer processing systems face inefficiencies due to temporal overlapping of handling steps, leading to delayed processing times and reduced throughput when multiple wafer sets require simultaneous use of common handling units.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of an extendable liquid treating mechanism and a recipe producing unit that allows for the extension of liquid treatment steps and shifting of handling steps to avoid temporal overlapping, enabling simultaneous processing of multiple wafer sets without delaying any wafer set's processing time.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If multiple wafer sets are processed sequentially using a common handling unit, then the handling unit can be reused for different wafer sets, but the processing time for subsequent wafer sets is delayed due to temporal overlapping of handling steps

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvehandling unit reuseVSAvoidprocessing delay

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The liquid treatment step is designed to be extendable in duration, allowing the handling unit to be dynamically reallocated. When a wafer set completes its liquid treatment, the handling unit becomes available for the next wafer set without waiting for fixed recipe completion, enabling dynamic scheduling that eliminates temporal overlapping delays

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The recipe producing unit dynamically adjusts the liquid treatment time parameter based on when the handling unit becomes available. By extending or shortening the liquid treatment duration, the system flexibly adapts the processing parameters to match the availability of the common handling unit, preventing processing delays

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Productivity

If the liquid treatment step is extended to accommodate handling unit availability, then subsequent wafer sets can be processed without delay, but the treatment time for individual wafer sets increases

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovethroughputVSAvoidtreatment time

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDuration of action of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system maintains continuous utilization of the common handling unit by extending liquid treatment steps to match unit availability windows. This ensures the handling unit operates continuously without idle time between wafer sets, maximizing throughput while the liquid treatment extension is optimized to provide sufficient treatment duration

Inventive Principle:

Principle #20Continuity of useful action

Data Source

PatentUS8790469B2Treating apparatus, treating method and recording medium

Publication Date: 2014.07.29 TOKYO ELECTRON LTD

AI summary

Disclosed is a treating apparatus capable of improving the throughput during successive processing of target objects without a bad influence on the target objects. The disclosed treating apparatus includes an extendable liquid treating mechanism, and a common handling unit for handling one target object and another target object in order. The treating apparatus includes a recipe producing unit for producing a recipe having a rinsing liquid treatment and a common handling. When one common handling for handling one target object by the common handling unit and another common handling for handling another target object by the common handling unit are temporally overlapped with each other, the recipe producing unit extends the extendable liquid treatment for another target object, and shifts another common handling to an extent that the extendable liquid treatment is extended, thereby avoiding the temporal overlapping of one common handling with another common handling.