Coating apparatus – Program – cyclic – or time control – Having prerecorded program medium
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-29
2001-07-10
Bueker, Richard (Department: 1763)
Coating apparatus
Program, cyclic, or time control
Having prerecorded program medium
C118S698000, C118S712000, C118S719000, C156S345420, C204S298030
Reexamination Certificate
active
06258169
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a control apparatus used for the process control of semiconductor device manufacturing equipment such as cluster tool equipment and a method therefor.
2. Discussion of the Background
In general, a process chamber for performing various processes such as a CVD (chemical vapor deposition) process or a sputtering process, an etching process, and a thermal oxide process for semiconductor wafers W is provided in the upstream thereof with a cassette chamber which has cassettes capable of containing a plurality (twenty five, for example) of the wafers W. The wafers are transferred from the cassette chamber to the process chamber via a transfer chamber.
A transfer chamber is generally connected to a plurality (three, for example) of process chambers such that the wafers are transferred from the cassette chamber to the process chambers via the transfer chamber so as to be subjected to the various processes.
In such a system, the process chamber must be sometimes replaced or cleaned due to the contamination by the deposition of the reactive product produced during the processes, for example. In that time, the operation of the process chamber must be stopped during the maintenance or cleaning. If one of the three process chambers needs to be maintained or cleaned, it is preferable in view of the manufacturing efficiency that the operation of only the process chamber which needs to be maintained or cleaned is stopped to be maintained or cleaned and the other process chambers continue to operate.
In the most case, however, the operations of the transfer chamber, the cassette chamber, and the process chambers are controlled by process control by which the operations of the chambers are closely related to each other. It is thus very difficult to control the units so as to stop the operation of only the specified one process chamber as described above. More specifically, when the operation of only specified one process chamber is desired to be stopped, not only the program for controlling the specified one process chamber but also the program for controlling all the process chambers inclusively and the programs for controlling the cassette chamber and the transfer chamber need to be changed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a control apparatus capable of maintaining/cleaning the process units without stopping the process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a control apparatus capable of easily changing the process routine.
According to the present invention, there is provided a control apparatus comprising a plurality of process units operating in accordance with parameters, a storing section for storing parameters relevant to processings of the process units, a setting section for setting predetermined parameters for the process units, and an administration section for sending the parameters, which are stored in the storing section and corresponds to one of the process units, in reply to a request issued by the one of the process units thereto, transferring one of the parameters set by the setting section to the corresponding one of the process units, and rewriting the parameters stored in the storing section to the parameter set by the setting section.
The control apparatus according to the present invention is constituted to store parameters respectively corresponding to the process units in advance, and in reply to a request from one of the process units, to send back the parameter corresponding to the requesting process unit. In addition, when the process unit is changed, if the parameter after the change of the process unit is set, the control apparatus sends the parameter to the process unit and simultaneously rewrites the parameter stored in the file in advance to the set parameter, and thus can change the process unit without stopping the process.
According to the present invention, there is provided a control apparatus comprising a plurality of process units operating in reply to parameters, a first storing section for storing parameters corresponding to the process units, a second storing section for storing parameters common to the process units, a setting section for setting the parameter for the process units, and an administration section for sending a parameter which is stored in one of the first and second storing sections and corresponds to one of the process units, in reply to a request issued by the one of the process units, transferring the one of the parameters set by the setting section to the process unit, and rewriting the parameters stored in one of the storing sections to the parameter set by the setting section.
According to the above-mentioned constitution, a common parameter common to the process units is stored, and thus the relevant parameters need not to be rewritten in stopping the process unit, and the memory region used to store the parameters can be reduced.
The present invention provides a control method comprising the steps of operating a plurality of process units in accordance with parameters, preparing a storing section for storing parameters relevant to processings of the process units, setting predetermined parameters for the process units, and sending a stored parameter or parameters corresponding to one of the process units, in reply to a request issued by the one of the process units, transferring one of the parameters set by the setting section to a corresponding one of the process units, and rewriting the parameters stored in the storing section to the parameter set by the setting section.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinbefore.
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Bueker Richard
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Tokyo Electron Limited
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