Tokyo Electron Limited

Daisuke Morisawa

Naohide Ito

Keiji Osada

Youichi Nakayama

Junichi Ogawa

Masayuki Hirose

A method of processing a target substrate includes a process of serially executing multiple processes including a main process and first to M-th subprocesses (where M is a positive integer). An index value indicating one execution of the main process is accumulated for each execution of the main process. The main process is executed multiple times in the process of serially executing multiple processes. An i-th subprocess (where i is a positive integer that satisfies 1&#x2264;i&#x2264;M) is executed once or multiple times in the process of serially executing multiple processes, and is executed subsequent to one or multiple consecutive executions of the main process. The i-th application and execution conditions are changeable.

Method of processing target substrate

A substrate processing apparatus is provided with a process module including a processing container, a rotary table installed within the processing container, the rotary table having a plurality of placing regions to receive substrates, and a process gas supply unit supplying a process gas to the placing regions, a load port in which a transfer container is placed, a dummy substrate receiving unit, a transfer chamber including a transfer mechanism delivering the product substrates or the dummy substrates between the transfer container or the dummy substrate receiving unit and the rotary table, a setting unit setting a placing region to which one of the product substrates is to be transferred, and a control unit outputting a control signal such that the dummy substrates are carried into the remaining placing regions.

Substrate processing apparatus

A substrate processing system for sequentially processing substrates includes processing chambers, a transfer unit, and a control unit controlling the processing chambers and the transfer unit. The control unit includes a transfer control unit controlling an operation of the transfer unit, a transfer order setting unit setting a transfer order of substrates to the processing chambers, an accumulation unit for accumulating a film thickness of a formed thin film or the number of processed substrates after completion of previous cleaning or previous pre-coating in the processing chambers, a processing chamber priority determination unit for determining priority of processing the substrates in the processing chambers based on predetermined rules, and an execution instruction unit for executing conditioning in the processing chambers. The control unit prevents the substrates from being simultaneously processed in all processing chambers during one cycle of executing conditioning once in each of the processing chambers.

Substrate processing system

Disclosed is a processing apparatus. The processing apparatus includes: a load port in which a conveyance container accommodating a plurality of semiconductor wafers is placed; a dummy wafer storage area in which a conveyance container accommodating a plurality of dummy wafers is placed; a normal-pressure conveyance room in which a first conveyance arm is installed; an equipment that processes the plurality of semiconductor wafers in a state where the semiconductor wafers and the dummy wafers which are conveyed are placed in slots, respectively; and a controller that controls each component of the processing apparatus. The controller classifies the dummy wafers accommodated in the conveyance container into a plurality of groups, and controls the first conveyance arm to preferentially convey the dummy wafers within one of the classified groups to the equipment and, in replacing the dummy wafers, to perform replacement of the dummy wafers group to group as classified.

Processing apparatus and processing method

A substrate processing system includes a plurality of processing chambers configured to perform a predetermined processing with respect to substrates, a transfer device configured to transfer the substrates to the processing chambers in a predetermined order, and a delivery unit configured to deliver the substrates between the delivery unit and the transfer device. The substrate processing system configured to sequentially process the substrates by repeating an operation in a predetermined transfer order. The substrate processing system includes a transfer order setting unit and a transfer control unit configured to switch the first transfer order to the second transfer order.

Substrate processing system and substrate transfer control method

A control unit of a substrate processing apparatus controls a process to be performed in a chamber. The process includes a step of performing a preceding first process; a step of performing a subsequent second process after performing the first process; a step of determining whether to perform an inter-process conditioning, for arranging the environment in the chamber, during a period between the end of the first process and the start of the second process, based on information on the first process and information on the second process; and a step of performing the inter-process conditioning prior to the second process when it is determined in the determining step that the inter-process conditioning is to be performed.

Substrate processing apparatus, program, storage medium and conditioning necessity determining method

A control device is provided that flexibly controls a substrate processing apparatus for each product process. Four process recipes PMto PMare stored in a first storage unit. Corresponding to each of the process recipes, a high temperature, a medium temperature, and a low temperature pre-recipe are stored in a second storage unit. A process recipe determination unitdetermines, in response to a recipe specified by the operator, a process recipe corresponding to the specified recipe from the first storage unit. A stage temperature acquisition unitacquires, from the determined process recipe, a stage temperature. A pre-recipe selection unitselects, from the three types of pre-recipes stored in the second storage unit, one pre-recipe corresponding to the stage temperature. Before the wafer W is deposition-processed, therefore, the PM may be well-conditioned according to the selected pre-recipe.

Control device of substrate processing apparatus and control program therefor

A substrate processing apparatus, which includes a plurality of process chambers for processing a substrate and a transfer part for carrying in and carrying out the substrate to and from the plurality of process chambers, includes a transfer history recording part, a process history recording part, and an alarm history recording part. The transfer history recording part relates history information concerning a transfer of the substrate by the transfer part to each substrate, and records the history information as first history information. The process history recording part relates history information concerning a process state of the substrate in each of the plurality of process chambers to each substrate subject to be processed, and records the history information as second history information. The alarm history recording part relates history information concerning an alarm occurred in at least one of the transfer part and the process chambers to each substrate, and records the history information as third history information.

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Nirasaki, Japan

Daisuke Morisawa