Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Specific application – apparatus or process – Product assembly or manufacturing
Reexamination Certificate
2002-06-24
2004-07-20
Picard, Leo (Department: 2125)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Specific application, apparatus or process
Product assembly or manufacturing
C700S121000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06766209
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a managing system and a managing method of a processing system of a substrate, and a host computer and an information collecting/transmitting unit thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor device fabrication is carried out in a coating and developing system, an aligner, an etching unit, and so on which are installed in a factory. For example, on the coating and developing system, a plurality of units such as a resist coating unit, a developing unit, and a heating unit are mounted, where a series of photolithography processes in the semiconductor device fabrication are carried out.
When a trouble occurs in the coating and developing system in operation, a person in charge of process or the like who is a manager on a factory side handles the trouble, and when the person in charge of process cannot handle the trouble, the person in charge of process or the like gets in contact with an engineer who is a manager on a vendor side which is a manufacturer of the coating and developing system by means of telephone and so on, and the engineer handles the trouble. When the trouble can be solved only by giving instructions through telephone and so on, the engineer on the vendor side handles the trouble in a vendor's office, but he/she usually visits the factory to handle the trouble since it is necessary for him/her to grasp the situation in more detail and to take an appropriate measure.
However, since sales areas of coating and developing systems covers a wide range including foreign countries and so on due to today's globalization of the market, it sometimes takes a lot of time for the engineer on the vendor side to reach the factory. Meanwhile, in the case when the trouble is handled only by communication through telephone, facsimile, and the like, an appropriate measure cannot be taken since there is a limit in obtaining information on the condition, the cause, and so on of the failure, and as a result, it also sometime takes a lot of time until the coating and developing system is recovered. Moreover, when failures occur in a plurality of places at the same time, a plurality of people are forced to handle them, which sometimes causes different quality of the measures since an inexperienced, unskilled engineer is also included among them.
Meanwhile, a substrate processed in the aforesaid coating and developing system is carried to an examining unit, where the substrate processing condition is examined. When it is found from the result of the examination that the substrate is not appropriately processed, it is necessary to specify its cause and correct and improve a processing unit or the like which has caused this condition.
However, the manager on the factory side who conducts the examination of the substrate does not usually have a good knowledge of such a coating and developing system. Therefore, even when a poor condition is recognized in the substrate processing condition, its cause cannot be found only by the manager on the factory side and this task is often entrusted to the person in charge on the vendor side which is the manufacturer of the processing system. The person in charge entrusted with this task gives an instruction through telephone and so on in the office of the vendor side or he/she goes to the factory side to handle the poor condition himself/herself.
However, in the case when the person in charge on the vendor side gives the instruction while staying in the office, detailed information on the processing condition of the substrate in which the poor condition is recognized in the examination cannot be obtained only through telephone and so on. Because of this, the person in charge on the vendor side cannot select a proper countermeasure and give the instruction to the manager on the factory side. Therefore, there is a concern that the manager on the factory side cannot take an appropriate measure for the examination result. Meanwhile, in the case when the person in charge on the vendor side visits the factory side, since the factory and the office of the vendor are usually distant from each other, it takes time for him/her to reach the factory and quick measures cannot be taken. Furthermore, in the case when the poor conditions occur in a plurality of places at the same time and persons in charge on the vendor side are sent to the plural places at the same time, the qualities of the correction and improvement work are not sometimes equal since the persons in charge who do not have the same level of experience are sent. Therefore, there is a concern that an appropriate measure according to the examination result cannot be taken and a lot of time is required for the correction and improvement of the processing condition, depending upon which person in charge is sent.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is made from the above viewpoint and it is an object of the present invention to enable the acquisition of sufficient information even from a distant place and quick and appropriate management of a processing system such as a coating and developing system based on this information. It is a second object of the present invention to enable a quick and appropriate measure to be taken for an examination result of a substrate.
The present invention has an information accumulation section for accumulating information on the aforesaid processing system, an information collecting unit for collecting the information from the information accumulation section, and a managing unit for obtaining the information in the information collecting unit via the Internet or an intranet to manage the processing system based on this information.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the present invention is a managing method of managing a processing system of a substrate, in which an information collecting unit collects information on the processing system which is accumulated in an information accumulation section of the processing system according to an instruction of a managing unit, and the managing unit obtains the information via the Internet or an intranet to manage the processing system based on the information.
By thus providing the information accumulation section for accumulating the information on the processing system of the substrate, the information collecting unit for collecting the information in the information accumulation section, and the managing unit which is connected to the information collecting unit via the Internet or the intranet, it is made possible, for example, for a manager on a managing unit side in a distant place to obtain necessary and sufficient information for managing the processing system via the Internet or the like. This enables the manager on the managing unit side to appropriately manage the processing system based on the obtained information while staying on the managing unit side. Therefore, he/she does not have to visit a factory side where the processing system is installed each time so that, for example, a trouble and so on of the processing system can also be handled quickly. Moreover, since in many cases, an experienced manager on the managing unit side can handle the trouble, a more appropriate measure can be taken.
Incidentally, the aforesaid information also includes information indicating the operation status of the processing system itself, information indicating the operation status of each of units in the processing system, measurement information and drive information in the units, their history information, maintenance information on parts and so on used in the processing system and each of the units, examination information on the processed substrate, and so on. The aforesaid management also includes maintenance of the processing system.
The aforesaid information accumulation section may be provided in the processing system. Furthermore, the processing system may have a plurality of processing units and the information on each of the units may be accumulated in the information accumulation sec
Aiuchi Takashi
Kiyota Makoto
Tanaka Michio
Uemura Ryouichi
Kosowski Alexander
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Picard Leo
Tokyo Electron Limited
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