Pace control for substrate processing operations

Abstract

A method includes determining durations of a plurality of processes in a sequence of processes to be performed by a substrate processing system. Each process is performed by a subsystem of the substrate processing system. The method further includes determining a duration for a process of the plurality of processes that is a longest duration among the durations. The method further includes calculating a pace for the substrate processing system based at least in part on the determined first duration. The method further includes causing multiple substrates to be introduced sequentially into the substrate processing system at the calculated pace for execution of the first sequence of processes with respect to each of the multiple substrates.

1 . A method, comprising:
 determining durations of a plurality of processes in a first sequence of processes to be performed by a substrate processing system, wherein each process of the plurality of processes is to be performed by a subsystem of the substrate processing system;   determining a first duration for a first process of the plurality of processes that is a longest duration among the durations of the plurality of processes;   calculating a pace for the substrate processing system based at least in part on the determined first duration; and   causing multiple substrates to be introduced sequentially into the substrate processing system at the calculated pace for execution of the first sequence of processes with respect to each of the multiple substrates.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of processes comprise substrate transfer processes, substrate polishing processes, and substrate cleaning processes, and wherein the substrate processing system comprises one or more substrate transfer subsystems to perform the substrate transfer processes, one or more substrate polishing subsystems to perform the substrate polishing processes, and one or more substrate cleaning subsystems to perform the substrate cleaning processes. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a first substrate of the multiple substrates is caused to be introduced into the substrate processing system at a first time, wherein a second substrate of the multiple substrates is caused to be introduced into the substrate processing system at a second time, and wherein the second time differs from the first time substantially by the first duration. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining that one or more processes of the first sequence of processes have not previously been executed by the substrate processing system;   causing the first sequence of processes to be performed on at least one substrate;   measuring the durations of the one or more processes; and   storing the measured durations of the one or more processes, wherein the durations of the one or more processes are used in determining which of the plurality of processes has the longest duration.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first sequence of processes comprises a polishing process followed by a cleaning process, the method further comprising:
 determining that a second duration of the polishing process is less than a third duration of the cleaning process;   determining a time delta between the second duration and the third duration; and   delaying a start of the polishing process by the time delta, wherein by delaying the start of the polishing process by the time delta a wait time between completion of the polishing process and beginning of the cleaning process is mitigated.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining that a second sequence of processes is to be performed on a new substrate by the substrate processing system while the substrate processing system completes the first sequence of processes on one or more of the multiple substrates;   calculating a delay for beginning the second sequence of processes on the new substrate based on the calculated pace; and   causing the new substrate to be introduced into the substrate processing system after the delay so that processing the new substrate does not conflict with processing a last substrate of the multiple substrates.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 determining durations of a second plurality of processes in the second sequence of processes;   determining a second duration for a second process of the second plurality of processes that is a longest duration among the durations of the second plurality of processes;   calculating a new pace for the substrate processing system based at least in part on the determined second duration; and   causing multiple new substrates to be introduced sequentially into the substrate processing system at the calculated new pace for execution of the second sequence of processes with respect to each of the multiple new substrates.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate processing system comprises a first lane and a second lane, and wherein determining the durations of the plurality of processes comprises determining first durations of processes performed in the first lane and determining second durations of processes performed in the second lane. 
     
     
         9 . A system, comprising:
 a substrate processing system, comprising:
 at least one substrate polishing subsystem to perform substrate polishing processes; 
 at least one substrate cleaning subsystem to perform substrate cleaning processes; and 
 at least one substrate transfer subsystem to perform substrate transfer processes; 
   a memory; and   a processing device operatively coupled with the memory, wherein the processing device is configured to:
 determine durations of a plurality of processes in a first sequence of processes to be performed by the substrate processing system, wherein each of the plurality of processes is performed by one or more of the at least one substrate polishing subsystem, the at least one substrate cleaning subsystem, or the at least one substrate transfer subsystem; 
 determine a first duration for a first process operation of the plurality of processes that is a longest duration among the durations of the plurality of processes; 
 calculate a pace for the substrate processing system based at least in part on the determined first duration; and 
 cause multiple substrates to be introduced sequentially into the substrate processing system at the calculated pace for execution of the first sequence of processes with respect to the multiple substrates. 
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein a first substrate of the multiple substrates is caused to be introduced into the substrate polishing tool at a first time, wherein a second substrate of the multiple substrates is caused to be introduced into the substrate polishing tool at a second time, and wherein the second time differs from the first time substantially by the first duration. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the processing device is further configured to:
 determine that one or more processes of the first sequence of processes have not previously been executed by the substrate processing system;   cause the first sequence of processes to be performed on at least one substrate;   measure the durations of the one or more processes; and   store the measured durations of the one or more processes, wherein the durations of the one or more processes are used in determining which of the plurality of processes has the longest duration.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the first sequence of processes comprises a polishing process followed by a cleaning process, and wherein the processing device is further configured to:
 determine that a second duration of the polishing process is less than a third duration of the cleaning process;   determine a time delta between the second duration and the third duration; and   delay a start of the polishing process by the time delta, wherein by delaying the start of the polishing process by the time delta a wait time between completion of the polishing process and beginning of the cleaning process is mitigated.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the processing device is further configured to:
 determine that a second sequence of processes is to be performed on a new substrate by the substrate processing system while the substrate processing system completes the first sequence of processes on one or more of the multiple substrates;   calculate a delay for beginning the second sequence of processes on the new substrate based on the calculated pace; and   cause the new substrate to be introduced into the substrate polishing tool after the delay so that processing the new substrate does not conflict with processing a last substrate of the multiple substrates.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the processing device is further configured to:
 determine durations of a second plurality of processes in the second sequence of processes;   determine a second duration for a second process of the second plurality of processes that is a longest duration among the durations of the second plurality of processes;   calculate a new pace for the substrate processing system based at least in part on the determined second duration; and   cause multiple new substrates to be introduced sequentially into the substrate processing system at the calculated new pace for execution of the second sequence of processes with respect to each of the multiple new substrates.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the substrate processing system comprises a first lane and a second lane, and wherein to determine the durations of the plurality of processes, the processing device is to:
 determine first durations of processes performed in the first lane; and   determine second durations of processes performed in the second lane.   
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause a processing device to perform operations comprising:
 determining durations of a plurality of processes in a first sequence of processes to be performed by a substrate processing system, wherein each process of the plurality of processes is performed by a subsystem of the substrate processing system;   determining a first duration for a first process of the plurality of processes that is a longest duration among the durations of the plurality of processes;   calculating a pace for the substrate processing system based at least in part on the determined first duration; and   causing multiple substrates to be introduced sequentially into the substrate processing system at the calculated pace for execution of the first sequence of processes with respect to each of the multiple substrates.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the processing device is to perform operations further comprising:
 determining that one or more processes of the first sequence of processes have not previously been executed by the substrate processing system;   causing the first sequence of processes to be performed on at least one substrate;   measuring the durations of the one or more processes; and   storing the measured durations of the one or more processes, wherein the durations of the one or more processes are used in determining which of the plurality of processes has the longest duration.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the first sequence of processes comprises a polishing process followed by a cleaning process, and wherein the processing device is to perform operations further comprising:
 determining that a second duration of the polishing process is less than a third duration of the cleaning process;   determining a time delta between the second duration and the third duration; and   delaying a start of the polishing process by the time delta, wherein by delaying the start of the polishing process by the time delta a wait time between completion of the polishing process and beginning of the cleaning process is mitigated.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the processing device is to perform operations further comprising:
 determining that a second sequence of processes is to be performed on a new substrate by the substrate processing system while the substrate processing system completes the first sequence of processes on one or more of the multiple substrates;   calculating a delay for beginning the second sequence of processes on the new substrate based on the calculated pace; and   causing the new substrate to be introduced into the substrate processing system after the delay so that processing the new substrate does not conflict with processing a last substrate of the multiple substrates.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 19 , wherein the processing device is to perform operations further comprising:
 determining durations of a second plurality of processes in the second sequence of processes;   determining a second duration for a second process of the second plurality of processes that is a longest duration among the durations of the second plurality of processes;   calculating a new pace for the substrate processing system based at least in part on the determined second duration; and   causing multiple new substrates to be introduced sequentially into the substrate processing system at the calculated new pace for execution of the second sequence of processes with respect to each of the multiple new substrates.