Method and apparatus for the monitoring and control of a semiconductor manufacturing process
First Claim
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1. An Advanced Process Control (APC) system for controlling a processing tool in a semiconductor processing environment, the APC system comprising:
- an APC server providing a plurality of APC related applications;
an Interface Server (IS) coupled to the APC server;
a database coupled to the IS and APC server; and
a graphical user interface (GUD component coupled to the APC server,wherein the IS comprises means for coupling to a plurality of process modules, means for coupling to a plurality of sensors, and means for coupling to the processing tool that comprises a tool agent in the processing tool and an agent client in the APC system, the agent client including an agent client communication class and a driver.
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Abstract
An Advanced Process Control (APC) system including Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) is presented for monitoring and controlling a semiconductor manufacturing process that is performed by a semiconductor processing system. The semiconductor processing system includes a number of processing tools, a number of processing modules (chambers), and a number of sensors, and the APC system comprises an APC server, database, interface server, client workstation, and GUI component. The GUI is web-based and is viewable by a user using a web browser.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. An Advanced Process Control (APC) system for controlling a processing tool in a semiconductor processing environment, the APC system comprising:
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an APC server providing a plurality of APC related applications; an Interface Server (IS) coupled to the APC server; a database coupled to the IS and APC server; and a graphical user interface (GUD component coupled to the APC server, wherein the IS comprises means for coupling to a plurality of process modules, means for coupling to a plurality of sensors, and means for coupling to the processing tool that comprises a tool agent in the processing tool and an agent client in the APC system, the agent client including an agent client communication class and a driver. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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8. The APC system as claimed in claim l, further comprising means for coupling to an E-diagnostics system.
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33. A method for using an Advanced Process Control (APC) system for controlling a processing tool in a semiconductor processing environment, the method comprising:
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providing an APC server providing a plurality of APC related applications; providing an Interface Server (IS) coupled to the APC server; providing a database coupled to the IS and APC server; and providing a graphical user interface (GUI) component coupled to the APC server, wherein the IS comprises means for coupling to plurality of process modules, means for coupling to a plurality of sensors, and means for coupling to the processing tool that comprises a tool agent in the processing tool and an agent client in the APC system, the agent client including an agent client communication class and a driver.
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Specification