Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Specific application – apparatus or process – Product assembly or manufacturing
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-08
2001-02-20
Grant, William (Department: 2786)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Specific application, apparatus or process
Product assembly or manufacturing
C700S095000, C700S096000, C118S707000, C118S719000, C118S663000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192291
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of controlling semiconductor fabricating equipment. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of controlling semiconductor fabricating equipment so that the individual wafers of a single lot can be processed individually by the equipment under conditions ideally suited for each wafer considering the product into which the wafer is to be made.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor devices are fabricated by the execution of numerous processes with an extremely high degree of precision. These precise processes are carried out by highly functional equipment arranged along a semiconductor fabricating line. The elaborate operations of the equipment are monitored by operators through a management system to enhance the operation efficiency of the equipment.
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a plurality of wafers are inserted into the slots of a cassette, respectively, to form a lot
10
of intermediate semiconductor device products. This lot is transported to semiconductor fabricating equipment
3
of a fabricating line. The operator monitors the operation of the equipment
3
through an operator interface personal computer (O/I PC)
2
that is on-line with the equipment
3
. The equipment
3
is also connected on-line to a host computer
1
through an equipment server
4
. The host computer
1
is on-line with the O/I PC
2
.
The operator inputs basic fabricating data, e.g., the ID of the lot
10
to be processed in the equipment
3
, into the host computer
1
through the O/I PC
2
. Based on the inputted basic fabricating data, the host computer
1
searches its database for appropriate data by which the equipment
3
will be controlled to process the lot
10
. The database, as shown in
FIG. 2
, comprises process step IDs and a process program IDs (PPIDs). The data selected from the database is used by the host computer
1
for calculating process condition control data. The process condition control data is issued to the equipment server
4
for controlling the equipment
3
to process all of the wafers of the lot the same way.
For example, once an operator inputs a wafer lot ID, e.g. ‘A’, into the host computer
1
via the O/I PC
2
, the host computer
1
assigns a process step ID, e.g. ‘A0010’ corresponding to the wafer lot ID specified by the operator. Based on the database (
FIG. 2
) stored in the host computer
1
, the host computer
1
also tags the lot with the PPID ‘a’ corresponding to the process step ID ‘A0010’. Then, the host computer
1
formulates the process condition data necessary to cause the equipment
3
to process the wafers of the lot according to the conditions associated with a PPID of ‘a’.
Thereafter, the operator checks the process condition data and inputs a process commencing command or a process terminating command. If the process condition data is acceptable and the process commencing command is inputted, the process condition data is downloaded into the equipment server
3
. The wafers of the lot are removed from the slots of the cassette and are placed in a plurality of chambers of the processing equipment, and equivalent conditions are established in each of the chambers so that each of the wafers are processed similarly according to the PPID ‘a’.
Unfortunately, the host computer
1
of the conventional semiconductor device fabrication management system can only assign one process step ID and PPID to the lot of wafers. A single process step ID and PPID can not be used by the equipment server to control the processing equipment in a manner in which the wafers are processed differently according to certain needs of the production line.
Such a problem is especially disadvantageous when processing large scale wafers. Large scale wafers can produce a great variety of end products. However, the conventional semiconductor device fabrication management system does not allow for the possibility of processing the large scale wafers of a single lot differently from one another, and a variety of end products thus can not be made from a lot of large scale wafers using just the conventional semiconductor device fabrication management system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the limitations and disadvantages of the prior art by providing a method of controlling semiconductor processing equipment in a manner which causes the equipment to process the wafers of a single lot individually.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of controlling semiconductor processing equipment in a manner which will process large scale wafers of a single lot differently so as to facilitate the production of a wide variety of products from a single lot of the large scale wafers.
To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a method of controlling semiconductor processing equipment comprising the steps of using a semiconductor fabrication management system to receive, from an operator, IDs assigned to the wafers of a single lot, and to correlate a process step ID with each wafer ID and a PPID with each process step ID, and to control the semiconductor processing equipment to process the wafers individually as called for by their respective process step IDs and PPIDs. More specifically, process condition data is formulated from the correlated process step IDs and PPIDs. At this point, the semiconductor fabrication management system is used to determine whether the operator has inputted a track-in signal to the system. If the track-in signal has been inputted, the processing condition data is downloaded to a server of the semiconductor processing equipment. The downloaded process condition data is used to change, if necessary, an equipment control message stored in the server. The equipment control message is then downloaded to the semiconductor processing equipment to control the semiconductor processing equipment to process the wafers individually as called for by their respective process step lDs and PPIDs.
The wafer IDs, process step IDs and PPIDs can be easily correlated by establishing a correlation database in a host computer of the semiconductor fabrication management system. A module of the host computer is used to receive the wafer IDs and search the database for the process step ID associated with each wafer ID, and then for the PPID associated with the found process step ID.
Preferably, the equipment control message comprises a stream function message onto which the process condition data can be coded. The stream function message preferably has an S2F41 format.
With the conventional management system, a plurality of wafers grouped as a lot can not be processed differently from one another if need be, because only one process step ID and PPID can be assigned to the entire lot of wafers. On the other hand, the present invention allows various process step IDs and PPIDs to be assigned to each of the wafers grouped in a single lot. Accordingly, the wafers can be processed under conditions unique to each of the wafers.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5885355 (1999-03-01), Song et al.
patent: 5940299 (1999-08-01), Choi et al.
patent: 5965947 (1999-08-01), Nam et al.
patent: 5997656 (1999-12-01), Kim
patent: 6083320 (2000-07-01), Lee
patent: 6090632 (2000-07-01), Jeon et al.
Wilcox, R.;Forhan, T.; Starkey, G.; Turner, D., Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference and Workshop, IEEE/SEMI, pp. 308-313, 1998.
Westphal,H.; Gramlich, S., Automation structure of a semiconductor fabrication using factory com, Industrial Electronics Society, Conference of the IEEE, vol. 1, pp. 160-163, 1998.
D.A. Hodges; L.A. Rowe; C.J. Spanos, Computer Integrated Manufacturing, IEEE/CHMT, pp. 1-3, 1998.
Grant William
Jones Volentine, LLC
Robinson Victoria
Samsung Electronics Co,. Ltd.
LandOfFree
Method of controlling semiconductor fabricating equipment to... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method of controlling semiconductor fabricating equipment to..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method of controlling semiconductor fabricating equipment to... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2604668