EP-4738430-A1 - SUBSTRATE PROCESSING DEVICE, MAPPING DEVICE, SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD, SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND PROGRAM

EP4738430A1EP 4738430 A1EP4738430 A1EP 4738430A1EP-4738430-A1

Abstract

Provided is a technology capable of economically and safely operating a substrate processing device by mixing wafers different in material. The substrate processing device comprises: a mapping device that determines a material of a substrate transported into the substrate processing device while the substrate is stored in a carrier; and a control unit configured to hold first information relating to the material of the transported substrate in the substrate processing device while updating the first information and to be able to control the substrate processing device so as to send out, when the first information does not satisfy a condition determined for a current operation mode among conditions each determined for each of the plurality of operation modes, the carrier storing the substrate that does not satisfy the predetermined condition.

Inventors

HAYASHI, AKINARI
TEZUKA, Shigenori
KUROSAWA, TOSHIHARU
SHIBATA, JIN

Assignees

Kokusai Electric Corporation

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20231019

Claims (20)

A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a mapping apparatus configured to determine a material of a substrate accommodated in a carrier and loaded into the substrate processing apparatus; and a controller configured to be capable of updating and holding first information on the material of the substrate loaded into the substrate processing apparatus, and capable of controlling the substrate processing apparatus to take out the carrier accommodating the substrate when the first information on the material of the substrate does not satisfy a predetermined condition specified for a current operation mode among conditions specified respectively for a plurality of operation modes.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mapping apparatus is further configured to determine a first material and a second material whose upper limit of a usable temperature is lower than that of the first material, the plurality of operation modes comprise a high temperature mode in which all substrates in the substrate processing apparatus are made of the first material and a low temperature mode in which the all substrates in the substrate processing apparatus are allowed to be made of any one of the first material or the second material, and the controller is further configured to be capable of controlling the substrate processing apparatus to take out the carrier accommodating a substrate of the second material when the substrate of the second material is loaded during an operation in the high temperature mode.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a shelf configured to store the substrate while accommodated in the carrier used when loading the substrate; and a transfer structure configured to transfer the substrate between the carrier used when loading the substrate and a substrate holder capable of holding a substrate being processed, wherein the controller is further configured to be capable of holding material information acquired for each slot of each of carriers in the substrate processing apparatus as the first information, capable of storing substrate arrangement information directly or indirectly defining a type of a substrate to be transferred for each slots where the substrate is held by substrate holder, and capable of controlling the transfer structure to transfer the substrate between one of the carriers in the substrate processing apparatus and the substrate holder by associating the first information with the substrate arrangement information.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to be capable of holding or generating map information by which one of slots of a plurality of virtual carriers serving as transfer sources is uniquely associated with each slot of the substrate holder, and capable of determining whether a substrate in a carrier loaded into the substrate processing apparatus corresponding to one of the plurality of virtual carriers is made of a material that satisfies the substrate arrangement information when transferred to the substrate holder based on the map information.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 4, wherein each of the plurality of virtual carriers is supposed to accommodate substrates made of either a first material alone or a second material alone, and the map information comprises the substrate arrangement information.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the controller is further configured to be capable of: storing alias information by which the plurality of virtual carriers supposed to accommodate substrates made of either a first material alone or a second material alone is associated with a type of the substrate and the substrate arrangement information directly defining the type of the substrate; generating the map information from the alias information and the substrate arrangement information; and transferring the substrate based on the map information.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the type of the substrate handled by the substrate arrangement information comprises at least two among a product substrate, a monitor substrate, a side dummy substrate, a supplementary dummy substrate and an adjustment dummy substrate.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein one of the first material and the second material is transparent and the other one of the first material and the second material is not translucent, and the mapping apparatus is further configured to be capable of determining the material of the substrate accommodated in the carrier placed on a stage through which the carrier is transferred between an inside and an outside of the substrate processing apparatus.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mapping apparatus comprises: a sensor configured to irradiate a reference light onto the substrate accommodated in the carrier and to detect a light transmitted through or reflected by the substrate; a driver configured to enable the sensor to move relative to the substrate accommodated in the carrier along an arrangement direction of the substrate; and a controller configured to be capable of holding master data for a plurality of combinations of a substrate size and a substrate material based on a light receiving pattern previously acquired from a substrate normally accommodated, and capable of checking an accommodation state of a substrate to be checked using the master data corresponding thereto.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the sensor is a reflection type sensor configured to irradiate an end surface of the substrate with a laser light perpendicular to the end surface of the substrate and parallel to a main surface of the substrate, and further configured to receive the laser light reflected from the end surface.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a transmission type sensor configured to irradiate a reference light onto the substrate accommodated in the carrier, and configured to detect a light transmitted through the substrate, wherein the controller is further configured to be capable of determining a presence or absence and the material of the substrate from output results of both the transmission type sensor and the reflection type sensor.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to be capable of selecting master data for each job in response to a designation of a size and a material of each substrate in the carrier, and capable of checking an accommodation state of the substrate.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller is further configured to be capable of determining a thickness of the substrate by detecting a light reception level of the reflection type sensor while moving the reflection type sensor along a substrate stacking direction of the carrier, and capable of determining the material of the substrate by referring to information associating the thickness of the substrate with the material of the substrate.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to be capable of distinguishing between a silicon carbide substrate and a silicon substrate accommodated in the carrier.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 or 3, wherein the master data is configured to hold one or more sets of a substrate diameter, a carrier's reference slot height, a slot interval and number of slots, and further configured to hold a threshold value of a light reception level for each substrate material.
The substrate processing apparatus of claim 2, wherein the reflection type sensor is a limited reflection type sensor provided with a detection area that spreads flatly along a plane within a predetermined distance range, and is located such that a distance to the substrate accommodated in the carrier is within the predetermined distance range.
A mapping apparatus comprising: (a) a sensor configured to irradiate a reference light onto a substrate accommodated in a carrier and to detect a light transmitted through or reflected by the substrate; (b) a driver configured to enable the sensor to move relative to the substrate accommodated in the carrier along an arrangement direction of the substrate; and (c) a controller configured to be capable of holding master data for a plurality of combinations of a substrate size and a substrate material based on a light receiving pattern previously acquired from a substrate normally accommodated, and capable of checking an accommodation state of a substrate to be checked using the master data corresponding thereto.
A substrate processing method comprising: determining a material of a substrate using a mapping apparatus, wherein the substrate is accommodated in a carrier and loaded into a substrate processing apparatus; updating first information on the material of the substrate loaded into the substrate processing apparatus; and taking out the carrier accommodating the substrate when the first information on the material of the substrate does not satisfy a predetermined condition specified for each of a plurality of operation modes.
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising the method of claim 16.
A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program that causes, by a computer, a substrate processing apparatus to perform: determining a material of a substrate using a mapping apparatus, wherein the substrate is accommodated in a carrier and loaded into a substrate processing apparatus; updating first information on the material of the substrate loaded into the substrate processing apparatus; and taking out the carrier accommodating the substrate when the first information on the material of the substrate does not satisfy a predetermined condition specified for each of a plurality of operation modes.

Description

[Technical Field] The present disclosure relates to a substrate processing apparatus, a mapping apparatus, a substrate processing method, a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device and a program. [Related Art] At a cassette transfer table on which a wafer cassette transferred by an external transfer apparatus or a person is placed, a loading (storage) state of a wafer in the wafer cassette may be checked (that is, a wafer mapping may be checked) (for example, Patent Document 1). [Related Art Document] [Patent document] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-150094.Patent Document 2: International Patent Publication No. WO2018/154829.Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-182351.Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-106575.Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-171648. [Disclosure] [Technical Problem] In a batch type substrate processing apparatus, wafers made of different materials, such as Si (silicon) and SiC (silicon carbide), may be loaded together into a process furnace to perform a heat treatment process. However, some wafer may be made of such material that cannot be used at a process temperature. Therefore, it is preferable to provide a protection function capable of stopping such a process when such a wafer is erroneously handed over to the batch type substrate processing apparatus. According to the present disclosure, there is provided a technique capable of economically and safely operating an apparatus by allowing wafers made of different materials to be accommodated together. [Technical Solution] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a technique that includes: a mapping apparatus configured to determine a material of a substrate accommodated in a carrier and loaded into the substrate processing apparatus; and a controller configured to be capable of updating and holding first information on the material of the substrate loaded into the substrate processing apparatus, and capable of controlling the substrate processing apparatus to take out the carrier accommodating the substrate when the first information on the material of the substrate does not satisfy a predetermined condition specified for a current operation mode among conditions specified respectively for a plurality of operation modes. [Advantageous Effects] According to some embodiments of the technique of the present disclosure, it is possible to economically and safely operate an apparatus by allowing wafers made of different materials to be accommodated together. [Brief Description of Drawings] FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a substrate processing apparatus according to embodiments of the present disclosure.FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a perspective view of a cassette stage and a cassette transfer apparatus according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a control system for a wafer mapping by a laser sensor.FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating a perspective view of a cassette transfer structure according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating a perspective view of a comb-shaped sensor and a wafer posture aligner provided on the cassette stage.FIG. 6 is a flow chart schematically illustrating a wafer detection flow by the laser sensor.FIG. 7 is a flow chart schematically illustrating a process flow of a substrate processing method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically illustrating a boat map displayed on a screen by a main controller.FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically illustrating an arrangement of a laser sensor according to a modified example, wherein a cross-section of a main portion on a side surface of the substrate processing apparatus is shown. [Detailed Description] Hereinafter, embodiments according to the technique of the present disclosure will be described mainly with reference to the drawings. In addition, the drawings used in the following descriptions are all schematic. For example, a relationship between dimensions of each component and a ratio of each component shown in the drawing may not always match the actual ones. Further, even between the drawings, the relationship between the dimensions of each component and the ratio of each component may not always match. In addition, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar components in the drawings. Thus, each component is described with reference to the drawing in which it first appears, and redundant descriptions related thereto will be omitted unless particularly necessary. Further, the number of each component described in the present specification is not limited to one, and the number of each component may be two or more unless otherwise specified in the present specification. (