Substrate Processing Pace Control for Bottleneck and Air-Time Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional substrate processing systems face challenges in scheduling processes efficiently, leading to inconsistent substrate quality, excessive chemical reactions, and reduced yield due to varying substrate air times and bottlenecks in the process flow.
Innovation Solution
An algorithm and system for automatically calculating and controlling substrate pacing in substrate processing systems, ensuring substrates are introduced at a pace determined by the longest process duration to avoid bottlenecks and minimize air time, thereby optimizing the sequence of polishing and cleaning operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If substrates are introduced at a faster pace to increase productivity, then productivity improves, but substrate quality deteriorates due to excessive air time and chemical reactions
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the substrate introduction pace based on real-time process conditions and durations. The pace is not fixed but adapts to the actual performance of polishing and cleaning processes, allowing optimization of both throughput and quality consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from process monitoring to determine the optimal substrate introduction pace. By measuring actual process durations and identifying bottlenecks, the system adjusts the pacing to prevent excessive air time while maintaining high productivity.
2Manufacturing precision
If substrates are introduced at a slower pace to improve quality consistency, then substrate quality improves, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the pace parameter dynamically based on process conditions. Rather than using a conservative fixed pace, the system adjusts the introduction rate to match actual process capabilities, thereby maximizing productivity while maintaining quality consistency.
3Adaptability or versatility
If manual scheduling is used to accommodate varying process durations, then flexibility improves, but system complexity and human intervention requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-scheduling by automatically determining the optimal substrate introduction pace based on monitored process durations. This eliminates the need for manual scheduling intervention while maintaining adaptability to varying process conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically adjusts scheduling parameters based on real-time process data, replacing complex manual scheduling decisions with automated parameter optimization.
4Productivity
If substrates are introduced without pace control to maximize throughput, then productivity improves, but yield decreases due to bottlenecks and excessive air time
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback from process monitoring to control substrate introduction pace, preventing both bottlenecks and excessive air time. This feedback mechanism ensures high yield while maintaining maximum productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate introduction pace is dynamically controlled based on real-time process conditions, allowing the system to maintain optimal throughput while preventing yield-reducing conditions such as excessive air time and bottlenecks.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes determining durations of a plurality of processes in a sequence of processes to be performed by a substrate processing system. Each process is performed by a subsystem of the substrate processing system. The method further includes determining a duration for a process of the plurality of processes that is a longest duration among the durations. The method further includes calculating a pace for the substrate processing system based at least in part on the determined first duration. The method further includes causing multiple substrates to be introduced sequentially into the substrate processing system at the calculated pace for execution of the first sequence of processes with respect to each of the multiple substrates.