Semiconductor Substrate Transfer Scheduling for Residence Time Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing semiconductor manufacturing processes face challenges in maintaining consistent throughput and reducing variations in processing results when serially transferring substrates across multiple process modules.
Innovation Solution
A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is designed with a scheduler to calculate cycle times and generate transfer plans, ensuring that substrates are transferred within an allowable time range, and a transfer controller to manage the transfer modules, minimizing variations in processing times across multiple process modules.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If substrates are serially transferred through multiple process modules, then throughput is improved, but variations in processing results increase due to inconsistent residence times
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts transfer timing and cycle times for different substrates based on real-time process module status and substrate characteristics, enabling flexible scheduling that maintains consistent residence times while preserving high throughput serial transfer capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The scheduler varies transfer parameters including cycle time, transfer timing, and residence time allocations across different substrates and process modules to optimize both throughput and processing consistency, adapting parameters based on process requirements and system state
2Productivity
If cycle time is optimized for one substrate, then processing efficiency improves, but other substrates experience inconsistent residence times
Solution Approach 1:
The scheduling system divides the overall transfer process into discrete transfer plans for individual substrates, allowing each substrate to have a customized cycle time and transfer schedule that optimizes its processing efficiency while maintaining consistency across the batch through centralized coordination
Solution Approach 2:
The scheduler incorporates feedback from process module status, substrate processing characteristics, and residence time measurements to continuously adjust transfer timing and cycle times, ensuring that efficiency optimizations for one substrate do not compromise consistency for others
Data Source
AI summary
A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including a plurality of process modules for performing desired processes on a plurality of substrates and a plurality of transfer modules for serially transferring the plurality of substrates to the plurality of process modules is provided. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprises a scheduler for calculating a cycle time so that a difference in time required for each of the desired processes is within an allowable time range and generating a transfer plan for the plurality of substrates based on the cycle time, and a transfer controller for controlling the plurality of transfer modules so that the plurality of substrates are serially transferred to the process modules according to the generated transfer plan.