Installation for processing wafers

• US 6,887,358 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2002
• Issued: 05/03/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Polaris Innovations Limited (Wi-LAN Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
• Inventors: Elger, Jürgen
• Primary Examiner(s): Phasge, Arun S.
• Application Number:
  US10/134,149
• Publication Number:
  US 20020144654A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,100 Days
• Field of Search: 204/298.35, 134/61, 134/84, 134/902, 700/225, 700/228, 414/940, 156/345.12, 156/345.24
• US Class Current: 204/298.35
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67276 Production flow monitoring, e.g. for increasing throughput program-control systems per se G05B19/00, e.g. total factory control G05B19/418
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67294 using identification means, e.g. labels on substrates or labels on containers
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 134/902 Semiconductor wafer
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/14 Wafer cassette transporting

Abstract

An installation for processing wafers with a plurality of fabrication units and a plurality of measurement units as well as a transport system for transporting the wafers, is described. A transport control unit, which detects a capacity utilization of the installation and saves a processing sequence of the wafers, is allocated to the transport system. As a function of these parameters, control instructions are generated in the transport control unit, and can be output to the transport system for controlling the wafer transport procedure.

Claims

1. An installation for processing wafers, the installation comprising:

a plurality of fabrication units;

a plurality of measurement units;

a transport system for transporting the waters to/from at least one of said fabrication units and said measurement units, said transport system containing a plurality of components on which the wafers are transported; and

a transport control unit configured to detect a capacity utilization of said components of said transport system and configured to save a processing sequence of the wafers, said transport control unit being allocated to said transport system, and, in dependence on the capacity utilization of said transport system and the Processing sequence of the wafers, said transport control unit generating control instructions received by said transport system for controlling a wafer transport procedure.

2. The installation according to claim 1, wherein said components of said transport system include a conveyor system with a plurality of conveyors on which the wafers are transported and a plurality of containers for holding the wafers, said containers are transported by said conveyors.

3. The installation according to claim 2, wherein said transport control unit has a plurality of sensors for detecting the capacity utilization of the transport system.

4. The installation according to claim 3, wherein said sensors are formed as barcode readers for identifying said containers labeled with barcodes and the wafers labeled with the barcodes.

5. The installation according to claim 3, wherein said sensors are formed as photoelectric barriers.

6. The installation according to claim 3, wherein said sensors are disposed along said transport system.

7. The installation according to claim 3, wherein a number of the wafers located on each of said components of said transport system is registered by said sensors, and is saved in said transport control unit.

8. The installation according to claim 7, wherein said sensors determine a wafer container utilization rate of said components of said transport system, and the utilization rate is saved in said transport control unit.

9. The installation according to claim 2, further comprising a production management system connected to said transport control unit, said production management system registering continuously a processing status of individual batches of the wafers.

10. The installation according to claim 9, wherein said production management system is configured for determining capacity utilization information of each of said fabrication units and each of said measurement units, said production management system forwards the capacity utilization information to said transport control unit and said transport control unit saves the capacity utilization information.

11. The installation according to claim 10, wherein said production management system is configured to register processing statuses of the wafers of different batches, and for continuously establishing processing sequences of the wafers in dependence on the processing statuses.

12. The installation according to claim 11, wherein said production management system forwards the processing statuses and the processing sequences of the wafers to said transport control system.

13. The installation according to claim 12, wherein said production management system generates transport requests in dependence on the processing sequences of the wafers, the transport requests identifying individual ones of said containers or the batches of the wafers and the transport requests are forwarded to said transport control unit.

14. The installation according to claim 13, wherein said production management system is configured to assign priorities to the batches of the wafers.

15. The installation according to claim 13, wherein said transport system has a technical conveyor control connected to said transport control unit.

16. The installation according to claim 15, wherein said transport system has motors and transducers for driving said components of said transport system, and said technical conveyor control controls said motors and said transducers.

17. The installation according to claim 16, wherein said technical conveyor control is configured for entering error messages received from said components of said transport system into said transport control unit.

18. The installation according to claim 16, wherein said technical conveyor control receives arid stores the control instructions supplied by said transport control unit.

19. The installation according to claim 18, wherein said transport control unit is configured to break down the transport requests into transport sub-requests.

20. The installation according to claim 19, wherein said transport control unit performs the break down of the transport requests into the transport sub-requests in dependence on the processing statuses of the wafers.

21. The installation according to claim 19, wherein said transport control unit is configured to define transport paths for the transport requests and the transport sub-requests, and for outputting the transport paths as a constituent of the control instructions.

22. The installation according to claim 21, wherein said transport control unit defines the transport paths in dependence on at least one of the processing statuses of the wafers, the capacity utilization of said components of said transport system, and the capacity utilization information of said fabrication units and said measurement units.

23. The installation according to claim 22, wherein one of said containers is identified and transported via the transport paths to one of said fabrication units and said measurement units forming a destination, if said one of said fabrication units and said measurement units has available working capacity.

24. The installation according to claim 23, wherein one of said containers is identified and transported via the transport paths to a buffer in a vicinity of a destination, if one of said fabrication units and said measurement units forming maid destination does not have any available working capacity.

25. The installation according to claim 1, wherein said transport control unit has at least one computer unit.