Fabrication system and fabrication method

Abstract

A fabricating method for a system that includes a plurality of processing apparatuses connected to each other by an inter-apparatus transporter and a computer storing managing information of processing and transporting of semiconductor wafers. The processing apparatuses have an interface for loading and unloading a plurality of the semiconductor wafers that are contained in a carrier. The semiconductor waters are processed in processing chambers of the processing apparatuses and the result of processing is monitored. In the processing, a first carrier containing the plurality of the semiconductor wafers having been processed in the first processing apparatus is transported toward the second processing apparatus by the inter-apparatus transporter prior to unloading of a second carrier containing semiconductor wafers processed in the second processing apparatus, according to the managing information.

1 . A fabricating method comprising the steps of:
 connecting a plurality of fabrication apparatuses by a transporter;   storing a single or a plurality of semiconductor wafers in a cassette and transporting them among the plurality of fabrication apparatuses by the transporter; and   processing the semiconductor wafers repeatedly by the plurality of fabrication apparatuses;   wherein the cassette in which the single or the plurality of semiconductor wafers being processed in a first fabrication apparatus are stored is directly transported to a second fabrication apparatus applying a processing in a next processing step by the transporter without stocking a cassette on a way of transporting, and   is temporally stocked in a stocking chamber common to the plurality of fabrication apparatuses when a processing is pending during a repeated processing.   
     
     
         2 . The fabricating method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the single or the plurality of semiconductor wafers being stored in the cassette are processed for every single wafer in the plurality of fabrication apparatuses.   
     
     
         3 . The fabricating method according to  claim 1 ,
 including stocking the cassette and loading the semiconductor wafers to the fabrication apparatuses after receiving the cassette from the transporter and finishing the processing of the semiconductor wafers in a preceding cassette, and   the semiconductor wafers being transported from a wafer processing step are continuously loaded to the fabrication apparatuses.   
     
     
         4 . The fabricating method according to  claim 1 , including unloading processed semiconductor wafers from the fabrication apparatuses and stocking them to the cassette and unloading the cassette to the transporter, and
 finishing transporting the processed wafer to a fabrication apparatus of a next processing step before a processing of all the semiconductor wafers being processed in the next processing step is finished.   
     
     
         5 . The fabricating method according to  claim 1 ,
 including finishing transporting and loading of semiconductor wafers from the first fabrication apparatus before finishing the processing of all the semiconductor wafers.   
     
     
         6 . The fabricating method according to  claim 1 ,
 including transporting the cassette unloaded from the first fabrication apparatus in a looped transporter on a looped transporting passage to be received at a site connecting to the second fabrication apparatus.   
     
     
         7 . The fabricating method according to  claim 1 ,
 managing a fabrication line of the plurality of fabrication apparatuses and preparing scheduling information of processing and transporting semiconductor wafers stored in the cassette being loaded in the fabrication line for a predetermined period;   the plurality of fabrication apparatuses and the transporter applying processing to the semiconductor wafers within a predetermined processing period on the basis of the scheduling information of processing and transporting; and   transporting the cassette within a predetermined transporting period.   
     
     
         8 . The fabrication method according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the scheduling information of processing and transporting of the semiconductor wafers contains information which identifies a wafer to be processed within each unit time by each of the fabrication apparatuses and identifies a wafer to be transported within each unit time by an inter-apparatus transporter within a determined range of unit time common to the fabrication line.   
     
     
         9 . The fabricating method according to  claim 7 , wherein the scheduling information of processing and transporting for the semiconductor wafers is an information for each of the semiconductor wafers. 
     
     
         10 . The fabricating method according to  claim 7 , wherein the information on result of processing and transporting is transferred among the memory distributed in the fabrication apparatus and the transporter respectively accompanying with a movement of the semiconductor wafers after a processing or transporting regarding the scheduling information of processing and transporting stored in the memory distributed in the fabrication apparatus and the transporter respectively. 
     
     
         11 . The fabricating method according to  claim 10 ,
 wherein the information on result of processing and transporting for the semiconductor wafers is an information for each of the semiconductor wafers.   
     
     
         12 . The fabricating method according to  claim 1 , wherein the managing of the fabrication line includes managing the plurality of fabrication apparatuses and the transporter on the basis of the information on result of processing and transporting the information collected for each of the semiconductor wafers.