Operating method of vacuum processing apparatus

1. An operating method of a vacuum processing apparatus,

the vacuum processing apparatus comprising:

a plurality of vacuum transport containers arranged side by side, each of which stores a transport robot that transports a wafer;

a plurality of intermediate chambers disposed between two adjacent vacuum transport containers in the plurality of vacuum transport containers and storing the wafer;

a load lock chamber connected to one of the plurality of vacuum transport containers, storing the wafer, and capable of reducing pressure to a predetermined pressure and increasing pressure to atmospheric pressure; and

a plurality of processing units connected to the plurality of vacuum transport containers including, among multi-step processing, a plurality of first processing units for performing first processing of a first step and a plurality of second processing units for performing second processing of a second step, with each processing unit including a processing chamber that is configured to process the wafer,

the operating method comprising:

a first step of selecting one first processing unit and one second processing unit among the plurality of processing units for each wafer, and determining a transport schedule including a transport path using the selected processing units, which is a step of determining a transport schedule such that time required for all processing of the plurality of wafers in the multi-step processing is the shortest; and

a second step of transporting each wafer of the plurality of wafers stored in a cassette that is arranged in front of the load lock chamber according to the transport schedule, implementing the first processing using the one first processing unit of the first step, and then controlling to implement the second processing using the one second processing unit of the second step, wherein

the first step configures the transport schedule including the transport path using the first processing unit selected from the plurality of first processing units by excluding at least one first processing unit for at least one of the plurality of wafers.

2. The operating method of the vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the first step

calculates a number ratio of a number of the plurality of first processing units and a number of the plurality of second processing units included in the vacuum processing apparatus,

calculates a time ratio between first processing time required for the first processing of each first processing unit of the plurality of first processing units and second processing time required for the second processing of each of the second processing units of the plurality of second processing units, and

when the number ratio is larger than the time ratio, for at least one of the plurality of wafers, calculates a use number from a smallest natural number that is equal to or greater than a calculated value obtained by multiplying the time ratio by the number of the plurality of second processing units, and selects the use number of the first processing units and determines the transport schedule.

3. The operating method of the vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

each processing time of the first processing time required for the first processing of each first processing unit of the plurality of first processing units, and the second processing time required for the second processing of each second processing unit of the plurality of second processing units is longer than a first transport time of each of the wafers from the load lock chamber to the first processing unit and a second transport time from the first processing unit to the second processing unit.

4. The operating method of the vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the first step selects, for at least one of the plurality of wafers, a processing unit to be excluded from the plurality of first processing units in a predetermined order in consideration of a length of the transport path or the transport time.

5. The operating method of the vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein

the first step excludes the first processing unit having a longest length of the transport path from the first processing unit to the second processing unit.

6. The operating method of the vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein

when there are a plurality of first processing units of exclusion candidates having the same transport path length from the first processing unit to the second processing unit, the first step excludes the first processing unit having a longest length of the transport path from the load lock chamber to the first processing unit among the plurality of first processing units of the exclusion candidates.

7. The operating method of the vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

for at least two wafers of the plurality of wafers, the first step excludes different first processing units from the plurality of first processing units and determines the transport schedule including the selected different transport path.