Tokyo Electron Limited

Japan Science and Technology Corporation

Tokyo Electron Yamanashi Limited

Kiichi Hama

Jiro Hata

Hiroshi Nishikawa

Toshiaki Hongoh

Youichi Araki

Issei Imahashi

Yasuyuki Kuriki

A user terminal is connected through the Internet to a server. On the basis of the identification information of the client inputted from the client terminal, the server extracts an service selected by the client from a database for user management, further, extracts calculated maintenance contents for each service from a database for service management and sends them to the user terminal. Thus, the user can collect maintenance contents, such as the staff capable of providing service, the time until the user receives a service, and the charge, so that the user can utilize the information as indications to select an optimal service such as maintenance.

Optimum service selection assisting system

A computer terminal connected to a manufacturing apparatus as an object of the maintenance management is connected to a server machine providing a maintenance management service by a network, enabling bi-directional communication. The computer terminal monitors whether or not the object apparatus is restarted and transmits restart information indicating restart completion due to maintenance performed on the object apparatus by the customer to the server machine upon determining that the object apparatus is restarted. The server machine generates a random number within the specific range when receiving the restart information from the computer terminal, retrieves points corresponding to the random number from the lottery point setting storage unit, and stores the retrieved points in the lottery point storage unit. This can encourage the customer to perform maintenance on the object apparatus in order to indicate said restart completion to obtain more points.

Point-based customer tracking and maintenance incentive system

A computer terminal connected to a manufacturing apparatus as an object of the maintenance management is connected to a server machine providing a maintenance management service by a network, enabling bi-directional communication. The computer terminal transmits maintenance information including a kind of a maintenance method executed at the customer side to the server machine. The server machine acquires the kind of the maintenance method from the maintenance information received from the computer terminal, retrieves points corresponding to the kind of the maintenance method, and stores the retrieved points in a maintenance point storage unit. More points are set for more time consuming maintenance. This can encourage the customer to perform more time consuming maintenance on the manufacturing apparatus in order to obtain more points.

A computer terminalconnected to a manufacturing apparatusas an object of the maintenance management is connected to a server machineproviding a maintenance management service by a network, enabling bi-directional communication. The computer terminal transmits status information on an apparatus as an object of the maintenance management to the server machine in response to a status information transmission request received from a server at every predetermined interval. The server machine includes a status point information management database for storing status points generated according to status information and determines whether status information has been received at every predetermined interval. Each time it is determined that status information is received, a predetermined point is added so as to update the status points of the status point information management database. This can encourage a customer to perform maintenance by him/herself and reduce workload of a serviceman.

A plasma CVD apparatus for forming a silicon film on an LCD substrate includes a container which is divided into process and upper chambers by a quartz partition plate. A work table on which the substrate is mounted is arranged in the process chamber and a lower electrode to which a high frequency potential is applied is arranged in the work table. First lower and second upper supply heads are arranged between the partition plate and the work table in the process chamber. SiHand Hgas and He gases are supplied through the first and second supply heads. He gas is transformed into plasma while SiHand Hgas is excited and decomposed by the plasma thus formed. Two coils are arranged in the upper chamber and high frequency voltages are applied to the coils to generate electromagnetic field to induce the transforming of He gas into plasma. High frequency voltages applied to the coils are the same in phase and directions of current flowing through adjacent portions of the coils are the same.

Plasma process apparatus

An inductively coupled type dry etching apparatus has a spiral RF antenna disposed on the ceiling wall of a process chamber. A susceptor is arranged in the process chamber, for mounting a semiconductor wafer thereon. The ceiling wall has upper and lower layers with a dielectric matrix, and a conductive Faraday shield layer sandwiched therebetween. The Faraday shield layer has a plurality of slits radially arranged. The matrix of the upper and lower layers and the Faraday shield layer are set to have coefficients of thermal expansion close to each other, and/or the Faraday shield layer is set to have a very small thickness.

Plasma processing apparatus

A plasma etching apparatus of the induction coupling type for processing an LCD substrate has a process container forming an airtight process room. A work table is arranged in the process room for supporting the LCD substrate. A vacuum pump is arranged for exhausting and setting the process room into a vacuum state. An antenna block having a plurality of dielectric layers is arranged to face the work table. An RF antenna is embedded in one of the dielectric layers of the antenna block for forming an electric field. A power supply is connected to the RF antenna for applying an RF power. The lowermost layer of the antenna block is formed as a shower head for supplying a process gas into the process room from a position between the RF antenna and the work table. At least part of the process gas is turned into plasma by the electric field. In the layer formed as the shower head, the gas passage has such a projected area ratio, on a planar outer-contour of the mount surface of the work table, that is from 15% to 25%.

An inductively coupled type dry etching apparatus has an RF antenna disposed on the ceiling wall of a process chamber. A susceptor is arranged in the process chamber, for mounting a semiconductor wafer thereon. The ceiling wall has a matrix of alumina ceramic, and heat generating elements of a salt of a transition metal oxide, which are dispersed in the matrix and capable of self-generating heat by an RF electric field.

A plasma CVD apparatus for forming a silicon film on an LCD substrate includes a container which is divided into process and upper chambers by a quartz partition plate. A work table on which the substrate is mounted is arranged in the process chamber and a lower electrode to which a high frequency potential is applied is arranged in the work table. First lower and second upper supply heads are arranged between the partition plate and the work table in the process chamber. SiH.sub.4 and H.sub.2 gas and He gases are supplied through the first and second supply heads. He gas is transformed into plasma while SiH.sub.4 and H.sub.2 gas is excited and decomposed by the plasma thus formed. Two coils are arranged in the upper chamber and high frequency voltages are applied to the coils to generate electromagnetic field to induce the transforming of He gas into plasma. High frequency voltages applied to the coils are the same in phase and directions of current flowing through adjacent portions of the coils are the same.

A plasma etching apparatus of the induction coupling type for processing an LCD substrate has a process container forming an airtight process room. A work table is arranged in the process room for supporting the LCD substrate. A vacuum pump is arranged for exhausting and setting the process room at a vacuum. An antenna block having a plurality of dielectric layers is arranged to face the work table. An RF antenna is embedded in one of the dielectric layers of the antenna block for forming an electric field. A power supply is connected to the RF antenna for applying an RF power. The lowermost layer of the antenna block is formed as a shower head for supplying a process gas into the process room from a position between the RF antenna and the work table. At least part of said process gas is turned into plasma by the electric field.

An amorphous silicon film is formed on a glass substrate by a CVD method, and then the island regions of the amorphous silicon film is changed to a plurality of polycrystalline silicon regions which are arranged in a line and apart with each other in a predetermined distanced by intermittently irradiating laser pulses each having the same dimensions as those of the island region onto the amorphous silicon film, using a laser beam irradiating section. Switching elements including the island regions as semiconductor regions are formed by etching and film-forming process to constitute a driving circuit section. The section is divided to gate driving circuit sections and source driving circuit sections for driving thin film transistors formed in a pixel region.

Apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display substrate, and

Method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display substrate

In a method of forming a polycrystalline silicon film in a process of manufacturing an LCD, a hydrogenated amorphous silicon film is formed on a glass substrate by plasma CVD throughout areas serving as the pixel portion and driver unit of the LCD. A laser beam is radiated on a selected region of the film on the area serving as the driver unit. The energy of the laser beam is set such that hydrogen in the film is discharged without crystallizing the film and damaging the film. The energy of the laser beam is gradually increased to gradually discharge hydrogen from the film. The energy of the laser beam is finally set such that the film is transformed into a polycrystalline silicon film. The amorphous silicon film can be poly-crystallized without damaging the film by the discharge of hydrogen.

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Chino, Japan

Kiichi Hama