Hitachi-high-technologies Corporation

Hitachi High-tech Corporation

Yoshiro Suemitsu

Satomi Inoue

Keita Nogi

Michinori Kawaguchi

Hiroyuki Ishikawa

Teruo Nakata

Daichi Naiki

Yoshikazu Saigou

Shinichiro Numata

An operating method of a vacuum processing apparatus for processing multiple wafers sequentially in a vacuum processing apparatus comprising multiple vacuum transfer containers, adjacent two of which are interlinked, a lock chamber inside which a wafer is housed. The multiple processing units are each subjected to cleaning the interior thereof upon elapse of a predetermined period. In advance of processing multiple wafers, the operating method configures multiple sets of processing units to process each of the wafers from among the multiple processing units and starts processing of the wafers, delayed by a predetermined time in descending order of the number of processing units included in each of the multiple sets of processing units and in descending order of distance of the processing units included from the lock chamber.

Operating method of vacuum processing apparatus

Provided is a technique capable of implementing efficient transport and processing related to multi-step processing in the case of a link-type vacuum processing apparatus with related to an operating method of a vacuum processing apparatus. The operating method of the vacuum processing apparatus according to the embodiment, in order to minimize time required for all processing of a plurality of wafers in a multi-step processing, includes a first step (stepsto) of selecting one first processing unit and one second processing unit from a plurality of processing units for each wafer and determining a transport schedule including a transport path using the selected processing units. In the first step, for at least one wafer, a transport schedule including a transport path is configured using the selected first processing unit by excluding at least one first processing unit from the plurality of first processing units. The operating method selects an optimal transport schedule when a second step is rate-limited.

A method for operating a vacuum processing apparatus, the vacuum processing apparatus including: a plurality of cassette stands on which a cassette capable of housing a plurality of wafers therein can be placed; a plurality of vacuum processing vessels each having a processing chamber arranged therein, wherein the wafer is arranged and processed in the processing chamber; and at least one transport robot transporting the wafer on a transport path between either one of the plurality of cassettes and the plurality of vacuum processing vessels, the vacuum processing apparatus sequentially transporting in a predetermined transport order the plurality of wafers from either one of the plurality of cassettes to a predetermined one of the plurality of vacuum processing vessels and processing the plurality of wafers. The method includes a number determining step, a remaining-time determining step and a transport order skip step.

Operation method for vacuum processing apparatus

Transportation control in a vacuum processing device with high transportation efficiency without lowering throughput is provided. A control unit is configured to update in real time and holds device state information showing an action state of each of a process chamber, a transportation mechanism unit, a buffer room, and a holding mechanism unit, the presence of a process subject member, and a process state thereof; select a transport algorithm from among transport algorithm judgment rules that are obtained by simulating in advance a plurality of transport algorithms for controlling transportation of a process subject member for each condition of a combination of the number and arrangement of the process chambers and process time of a process subject member based on the device state information and process time of the process subject member; and compute a transport destination of the process subject member based on the selected transport algorithm.

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Tokyo, Japan

Yoshiro Suemitsu