Scheduling dual-arm cluster tools with multiple wafer types and residency time constraints

Wang, Jipeng; Hu, Hesuan; Pan, Chunrong; Zhou, Yuan; Li, Liang

doi:10.1109/jas.2020.1003150

Cited by 29 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 53 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, in order to meet the wafer residency time constraints, Qiao et al [21] propose PM failure response policies which can successfully transfer a cluster tools to the feasible schedule after failure from the one before a failure, and develops efficient algorithms to improve these response policies which are composed of simple control laws. Wang et al [22] investigate the scheduling problems of dual-arm cluster tools with multiple wafer types and residency time constraints, and develops a novel robot activity strategy called multiplex swap sequence so as to pursue an easy-to-implement cyclic operation under diverse flow patterns. Yang et al [23] study the challenging problem for scheduling a single-arm cluster tool with wafer residency time constraints and uses a timed Petri net to model the dynamic behavior of the system and presents a method to determine the optimal scheduling strategy for the system, and reveals that the key issue to schedule such a tool is to determine when and how long the robot should wait for.…”

Section: ) Scheduling Analysis and Optimizing Of Cluster Toolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Dynamic Accuracy Constraints of Manipulator of Wafer Transmission Robot on Scheduling and Control of Single-Armed Cluster Tools

Zheng

2023

IEEE Access

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The wafer transfer robot is a key part of integrated circuit equipment which performs the transit of wafers precisely, quickly and steadily. The dynamic accuracy of the manipulator of the wafer transfer robot directly affects the quality of transferring and processing wafers and even the scheduling and control of the cluster tools. Thus, it is essential to study the influence of the dynamic accuracy of the manipulator of wafer transmission robots on the scheduling and control of cluster tools. In this paper, single-arm cluster tools are taken as the research object. The horizontal torsional vibration equations of the manipulator of the R-θ robot are constructed, and the torsional vibration attenuation characteristics of the manipulator are analyzed. Based on the torsional vibration equations, the intrinsic relationships between the dynamic accuracy of the manipulator and the waiting times of the manipulator are explored when the manipulator loads and unloads the wafers. Then the two-stage approach is proposed for the scheduling and control of single-arm cluster tools. The first stage determines the minimum waiting times of the manipulator according to the intrinsic relationships between the dynamic accuracy of the manipulator and the waiting times of the manipulator when the manipulator is waiting for loading and unloading wafers in each processing module and load lock. The second stage achieves the scheduling optimization and control of single-arm cluster tools with dynamic accuracy constraints and wafer residency time constraints by establishing a mathematical programming model for the scheduling and control of single-arm cluster tools. Finally, illustrative examples are presented to analyze the influence of the dynamic accuracy of the manipulator on the scheduling and control of single-arm cluster tools.

show abstract

Section: ) Scheduling Analysis and Optimizing Of Cluster Toolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Dynamic Accuracy Constraints of Manipulator of Wafer Transmission Robot on Scheduling and Control of Single-Armed Cluster Tools

Zheng

2023

IEEE Access

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…If R > m i (10) x g+h×n i = 1; (11) R = max(R−1, 0); (12) For f = 1 to q (13) If (g + h×n i − f )/q is a non-negative integer (14) x f = 1; (15) x f = x f ; (16) Perform one of Algorithms 1 and 2 for Step s; (17) If…”

Section: Formentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By considering processing time variation, an adaptive scheduling method is presented for cluster tools with wafer delay constraints in [11]. With WRTCs and multiple wafer types being processed, efficient scheduling approaches are proposed for SACTs in [12] and DACTs in [13,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scheduling of Single-Arm Cluster Tools with Residency Time Constraints and Chamber Cleaning Operations

Qiao

Zhang

et al. 2021

Applied Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To ensure wafer quality, engineers have to impose wafer residency time constraints and chamber cleaning operations on cluster tools; this has been widely used in semiconductor manufacturing. Wafer residency time constraints and chamber cleaning operations make the scheduling problem of cluster tools more challenging. This work aims to solve such a scheduling problem for single-arm cluster tools and presents a novel method based on the use of virtual wafers. Under a one-cyclic schedule obtained for single-arm cluster tools without chamber cleaning requirements, virtual wafers are loaded into the tool such that when a process module (PM) processes virtual wafers, a chamber cleaning operation is performed in practice. The key to solve this scheduling problem is to find a wafer loading sequence with the highest performance in terms of cycle time. With this idea, this work constructs a genetic algorithm to search for such a solution. Since the obtained solution is a periodical wafer loading sequence based on a one-wafer cyclic schedule, it can be easily implemented. Therefore, this work has high practical value to numerous semiconductor manufacturers. Experiments were performed to show the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed method.

show abstract

“…multiple wafer types [40]- [44]. For the DACT, Kim et al [45] prove that the latest=earliest starting policy can minimize its start-up=close-down transient process (SUTP and CDTP for short), respectively.…”

Section: Stepmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transient Process Optimization for Dual-Arm Cluster Tools With Wafer Revisiting

Wang

Pan

et al. 2021

IEEE Access

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In wafer fabrication, it is imperative to minimize the transient process of cluster tools for the sake of on-demand and preventive maintenance. Due to the trend of multi-type and small-batch production, transient processes appear more and more frequently. Thus, the optimization problems of transient processes have gained increasing attention from both industry and academia. The requirement for wafer revisiting tend to complicate this problem significantly. However, only a few studies take such a challenge for cluster tools with wafer revisiting. This paper focuses on the schedule optimization of transient processes for dual-arm cluster tools with wafer revisiting. To accelerate transient processes, including both start-up and close-down ones, we adopt a program evaluation and review technique to analyze and harness a cluster tool's state evolution. We then propose computationally efficient algorithms to speed up transient processes. Finally, we provide illustrative examples to show their applications and validate their effectiveness.INDEX TERMS Cluster tool, semiconductor manufacturing, wafer fabrication, scheduling, transient process, wafer revisiting.{0}. PM Process module. SACT Single-arm cluster tool. DACT Dual-arm cluster tool. ALD Atomic layer deposition. WRP Wafer revisiting process. k-WRP k-time Wafer revisiting process. 1-WCS One-wafer cyclic scheduling. 3-WCS Three-wafer cyclic scheduling. VWM Virtual wafer method. SUTP Start-up transient process. CDTP Close-down transient process. PERT Program evaluation and review technique.

show abstract

Scheduling dual-arm cluster tools with multiple wafer types and residency time constraints

Abstract: Scheduling dual-arm cluster tools with multiple wafer types and residency time constraints

Cited by 29 publications

References 53 publications

Influence of Dynamic Accuracy Constraints of Manipulator of Wafer Transmission Robot on Scheduling and Control of Single-Armed Cluster Tools

Influence of Dynamic Accuracy Constraints of Manipulator of Wafer Transmission Robot on Scheduling and Control of Single-Armed Cluster Tools

Scheduling of Single-Arm Cluster Tools with Residency Time Constraints and Chamber Cleaning Operations

Transient Process Optimization for Dual-Arm Cluster Tools With Wafer Revisiting

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About