Semiconductor manufacturing system

• US 9,223,305 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2012
• Issued: 12/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
• Original Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
• Inventors: Ikeda, Gaku, Miyashita, Koichi, Gomi, Satoshi, Chikuma, Takamasa, Li, Chunmui, Takano, Kunio
• Primary Examiner(s): Feliciano, Eliseo Ramos
• Assistant Examiner(s): Suarez, Felix
• Application Number:
  US13/617,950
• Publication Number:
  US 20130013240A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,201 Days
• Field of Search: 702/81, 702/82, 702/85, 702/104, 702/183, 702/184, 702/188, 250/310, 257/773, 700/121
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4065 Monitoring tool breakage, life or condition
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32226 Computer assisted repair, maintenance of system components
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A semiconductor manufacturing system includes circuitry configured to execute: displaying a screen for selecting an inspection set including inspection items having a manipulation item and/or a check item; retrieving the inspection items, arranging the inspection items in the order of workflow, and displaying each inspection item on a screen with an execution attribute indicating whether each inspection item is “automatic” or “manual” execution; receiving an inspection start command and reading the first inspection item from a storage unit. The circuitry also executes steps corresponding to the following cases (a) to (d) until there are no more inspection items: (a) the read-out inspection item being the manipulation item and “automatic”; (b) the read-out inspection item being the manipulation item and “manual”; (c) the read-out inspection item being the check item and “automatic”; and (d) the read-out inspection item being the check item and “manual”.

Claims

1. A semiconductor manufacturing system comprising:

a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus;

circuitry configured to output a control signal for controlling the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, the circuitry including a storage unit that stores a plurality of inspection sets for inspecting the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, each of the inspection sets a multiplicity of inspection items each of which has a manipulation item or a check item;

a display configured to display a screen for inputting an instruction for an inspection operation and checking the inspection operation; and

a detector configured to detect a detection result corresponding to the check item and to send the detection result to the circuitry,

wherein each of the inspection items stored in the storage unit has a manipulation item having an automatic execution attribute, a manipulation item having a manual execution attribute, a check item having the automatic execution attribute, or a check item having the manual execution attribute,

wherein the circuitry is configured to;

display a screen for selecting one of the inspection sets;

retrieve inspection items, which belong to the selected one of the inspection sets, arrange the retrieved inspection items in the order of workflow, and display each of the retrieved inspection items on a screen along with the corresponding automatic or manual execution attribute;

receive an inspection start command and read out, from the storage unit, the first inspection item among the retrieved inspection items that are arranged in order,

wherein the circuitry is configured to execute, during a maintenance of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, one of the following steps (a) to (d) until there remains no more next inspection item;

(a) when the read-out inspection item is the manipulation item having the automatic execution attribute, outputting a command for implementing an operation corresponding to the manipulation item to a manipulation target device and reading out a next inspection item among the retrieved inspection items from the storage unit;

(b) when the read-out inspection item is the manipulation item having the manual execution attribute, displaying a screen for receiving an input indicating that the corresponding manipulation item has been executed by a user and reading out a next inspection item among the retrieved inspection items from the storage unit by receiving the input;

(c) when the read-out inspection item is the check item having the automatic execution attribute, automatically executing the check item based on the detection result of the corresponding check item from the detector and displaying a checkup result on the screen on which the retrieved inspection items are displayed in a corresponding relationship with the check item and, when the checkup result is normal and there exists a next inspection item, reading out the next inspection item from the storage unit; and

(d) when the read-out inspection item is the check item having the manual execution attribute, displaying a screen for receiving an input of determining whether a checkup result is normal or abnormal, displaying a screen showing the inputted checkup result in a corresponding relationship with the check item, and, when the inputted checkup result is normal and there exists a next inspection item, reading out the next inspection item from the storage unit.

2. The semiconductor manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the screen in the step (b) is for receiving an input indicating that the manipulation item has been executed by the user and further indicating that a check item according to the corresponding manipulation item has been checked up, and the next inspection item is read out among the retrieved inspection items from the storage unit by receiving the input indicating that the manipulation item has been executed by the user and further indicating that a check item according to the corresponding manipulation item has been checked up.

3. The semiconductor manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the screen for receiving the input indicating that the manipulation item has been executed by the user in the step (b) and the screen for receiving the input of determining whether the checkup result is normal or abnormal in the step (d) are displayed on a pop-up window.

4. The semiconductor manufacturing system of claim 2, wherein the screen for receiving the input indicating that the manipulation item has been executed by the user in the step (b) and the screen for receiving the input of determining whether the checkup result is normal or abnormal in the step (d) are displayed on a pop-up window.

5. The semiconductor manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein, in the step (c), when the checkup result is abnormal, inspection items belonging to another one of the inspection sets, which is previously set, are read out from the storage unit and arranged in order and, then, the respective steps are executed.

6. The semiconductor manufacturing system of claim 2, wherein, in the step (c), when the checkup result is abnormal, inspection items belonging to another one of the inspection sets, which is previously set, are read out from the storage unit and arranged in order and, then, the respective steps are executed.

7. The semiconductor manufacturing system of claim 3, wherein, in the step (c), when the checkup result is abnormal, inspection items belonging to another one of the inspection sets, which is previously set, are read out from the storage unit and arranged in order and, then, the respective steps are executed.

8. The semiconductor manufacturing system of claim 4, wherein, in the step (c), when the checkup result is abnormal, inspection items belonging to another one of the inspection sets, which is previously set, are read out from the storage unit and arranged in order and, then, the respective steps are executed.