JP2007073858A - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide substrate processing equipment that can prevent its operating rates from being irrelevantly deteriorated by temporary communication failure and others. <P>SOLUTION: The substrate processing equipment has a main controller that issues orders to subcontrollers in conformity to predetermined recipes and monitors the subcontrollers' control state based on the recipes, wherein if the main controller becomes unable to monitor the control state of the subcontrollers, and then recovers its monitoring function, it will acquire control history data stored in the subcontrollers during the time the monitoring was not available to determine based on the history control data whether or not it should let the subcontrollers continue the control operation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus such as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having a main controller that gives a command to a sub-controller based on a set recipe and monitors a control status of the sub-controller based on the command.

  In recent years, substrate processing equipment such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment is divided into a plurality of controllers used in its control system in order to cope with higher functionality and higher performance, and control is combined by a distributed controller system comprising a plurality of controllers. Has been realized. In such a distributed controller system, a plurality of controllers are connected to a network by communication lines, and highly functional control is performed while communicating information (data) with each other.

  In such a distributed controller system, a main controller that performs various commands based on a recipe, and a plurality of sub-controllers connected to the main controller via a communication line, for example, a temperature control sub-controller, a pressure control sub-controller, The machine control sub-controller controls the controlled object based on a command from the main controller (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

According to this technology, the main controller constantly monitors the control state of each sub-controller, and when an abnormality is detected, the main controller stops the corresponding sub-controller, thereby preventing the failure from spreading to other elements. Can be prevented. Accordingly, the mean time between failures (MTBF) of the substrate processing apparatus can be increased and the throughput of the film forming process can be improved.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-077033

  However, in the distributed controller system used in the substrate processing apparatus as described above, a communication failure or the like occurs between the main controller and the sub controller during execution of the recipe for processing the substrate, and the sub controller is monitored by the main controller. In a case where a temporary interruption occurs, even if the sub-controller can continue normal control during that time, the operation of the sub-controller is immediately stopped. For this reason, even if a communication failure that does not affect the substance of control by the sub-controller and can be quickly recovered, the sub-controller stops each time. As a result, the recipe currently being executed is also temporarily stopped, which causes a reduction in the operating rate of the substrate processing apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and even if a failure that temporarily disables monitoring of the sub-controller by the main controller occurs, the control entity is not affected by the failure. When the determination is made, it is an object to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of continuing the control without stopping the control and thereby preventing the operation rate of the substrate processing apparatus from being unnecessarily lowered.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a main controller that gives a command to a sub-controller based on a set recipe and monitors the control status of the sub-controller based on the command. In the case of the substrate processing apparatus, when monitoring of the control status of the sub-controller by the main controller is temporarily disabled, the main controller has been stored in the sub-controller for the time when monitoring is disabled A control history is acquired when the control status of the sub-controller can be monitored, and it is determined whether or not to continue the control by the sub-controller based on the control history.

  According to the present embodiment, the main controller gives a command instruction to the sub-controller based on the set recipe, and monitors the control status of the sub-controller based on the command, while the main controller When monitoring of the control status of the sub-controller is temporarily disabled, the control stored in the sub-controller over the time when monitoring is disabled when monitoring becomes possible It is also possible to provide a substrate processing method that obtains a history and determines whether or not to continue the control by the sub-controller based on the control history.

  According to the present invention, even when a failure that temporarily disables monitoring of the sub controller by the main controller occurs, if it is determined that the control entity is not affected by the failure, the control is not stopped. By continuing the control, it is possible to prevent the operation rate of the substrate processing apparatus from being unnecessarily lowered.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment described below, an electric furnace controller of a distributed controller system in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as a CVD apparatus provided with a heating furnace will be described.

  In the embodiment described below, a semiconductor substrate to be processed is housed in a heating furnace, a predetermined gas is allowed to flow through the heating furnace while heating the heating furnace to a predetermined temperature, and heating is performed as necessary. A distributed controller system used in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that performs substrate diffusion processing, annealing processing, CVD processing, etc. by rotating a port that holds a semiconductor substrate while adjusting the pressure in the furnace will be described as an example. . More specifically, the configuration of the electric furnace controller of the distributed controller system that operates based on a program (recipe) for sequentially executing steps for specifying conditions such as set temperature, set gas flow rate, set pressure, and processing time. The method for improving the reliability of the controller when the communication line or the like is restored after a failure (down) will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a distributed controller system used in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the distributed controller system includes a mass flow controller 3, a pressure controller 4, a temperature controller 5, and other controllers 6, such as a sub-controller that controls various control targets related to the recipe, and a communication line P2. A recipe-based command is issued to these sub-controllers to control them, and a recipe execution controller 2 that monitors the control state of the sub-controllers and a command and status display by operation of the recipe execution controller 2 via the communication line P1 are displayed. It is comprised with the controller 1 for the data display to perform. Here, the data display controller 1 and the recipe execution controller 2 are collectively referred to as a main controller.

  The sub-controller is provided with a memory for holding a control history, and the memory is based on an instruction from the main controller or a control content preset in the sub-controller regardless of whether or not a failure described later occurs. It is configured to hold its own control history for a predetermined time.

  In such a configuration, a failure related to the monitoring function occurs in the main controller (the data display controller 1 and the recipe execution controller 2), such as the communication line P1 and the communication line P2 being down while the recipe execution controller 2 is executing the recipe. When monitoring of the sub-controller by the main controller is temporarily disabled, the sub-controller keeps at least the control history between them in the state where the sub-controller can continue control, as described above, The control history held by the sub-controller at the time of recovery is reported to the main controller. Then, the main controller determines whether or not to continue the control related to the substrate processing based on the control history reported from the sub-controller.

  In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment, for example, in a CVD apparatus, a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon wafer is accommodated in a heating furnace, and a reaction gas is supplied to the substrate while heating the heating furnace to a predetermined temperature. A thin film is formed. At this time, the recipe execution controller 2 controls the temperature controller 5 and the like by sequence control, and a recipe for processing the semiconductor substrate is executed.

  At this time, in order to realize the operation of the distributed controller system, an operating system suitable for data display is used as the data display controller 1, and the recipe execution controller 2, the mass flow controller 3, the pressure controller 4, and the temperature controller are used. 5 and other controllers 8 use an operating system suitable for real-time control.

  The communication line P1 that connects the data display controller 1 and the recipe execution controller 2 uses a LAN because it has a large amount of data. On the other hand, since the communication line P2 connecting the recipe execution controller 2 and the sub-controller (the mass flow controller 3, the pressure controller 4, the temperature controller 5, and the other controller 6) has a small amount of data, serial connection, sensor bus connection, or LAN Etc.

Since the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention uses a distributed controller system as shown in FIG. 1, each controller (data display controller 1, recipe execution controller 2, mass flow controller 3, pressure controller 4, temperature controller 5, other The controller 6) performs in advance what kind of operation at that time in preparation for a situation where an abnormality occurs in the communication line and communication with another controller becomes impossible when another controller other than its own controller goes down. For example, a parameter for determining whether or not to perform the operation is set, and, for example, the degenerate operation is performed, the control is continued, or the control is stopped and the apparatus is safely stopped.
The parameters are preferably set according to the severity and frequency of communication failures.

  In this embodiment, when the monitoring of the sub-controller by the recipe execution controller is temporarily disabled due to a communication failure or the like and is recovered, it is determined whether or not to continue the subsequent control. Here, first, an outline of when to continue control and when to stop control will be given.

  FIG. 2 shows a sequence in the distributed controller system shown in FIG. 1 when the temperature controller normally terminates the control based on a predetermined instruction from the recipe execution controller even if a temporary communication failure occurs in the recipe execution controller. It is a figure and is a figure which shows an example of a sequence in the case of judging that the recipe execution controller after recovery from a communication failure continues control.

  As shown in FIG. 2, for example, at time t1, the temperature controller 5 starts temperature control at a target temperature of 800 ° C. and a ramp rate of 10 ° C./min in accordance with an instruction from the recipe execution controller 2 (step S1). Until a failure such as a communication failure occurs in the execution controller 2 (step S2), the temperature controller 5 performs temperature control according to an instruction from the recipe execution controller 2 (time t1 to time t2). Here, the temperature controller 5 transmits the actually measured temperature value to the recipe execution controller 2 at a certain cycle (for example, 1 second). The recipe execution controller 2 confirms the control state of the temperature controller 5 by monitoring the transmitted temperature measurement value.

  When the temperature controller 5 recognizes that communication with the recipe execution controller 2 is impossible (monitoring by the main controller is impossible) at time t2 (step S3), the temperature controller 5 refers to the parameter at time t2. For example, here, a mode in which temperature control is continued based on a predetermined setting is entered (step S4).

  Then, when the system recovers from the communication failure for some reason at time t3 (for example, when automatic recovery from the communication failure is made, or when the user notices the communication failure and recovers from the failure) (step S5: At time t3), when the temperature controller 5 recognizes that communication with the recipe execution controller 2 is possible (step S6), the control history (temperature control history) stored during the communication failure is reported to the recipe execution controller 2. To do. Receiving this report, the recipe execution controller 2 determines that the control is normally performed based on the control history (the control based on the instruction in step S1 is maintained), and then the temperature controller 5 controls the temperature control 5 to control the temperature. Is given (an instruction that the target temperature is 500 ° C. and the ramp rate is 10 ° C./min) (step S7: time t4).

  In FIG. 2, during the communication failure, the temperature controller 5 indicates that the control based on the instruction from the recipe execution controller 2 has been normally executed, and based on the report from the temperature controller 5. The recipe execution controller 2 determines to continue the control.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a sequence in the case where the temperature controller has not successfully completed one control based on a predetermined instruction from the recipe execution controller in the distributed controller system shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the sequence in the case of judging not to continue.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the temperature controller 5 starts temperature control at a target temperature of 800 ° C. and a ramp rate of 10 ° C./min in accordance with an instruction from the recipe execution controller 2 at time t1 (step S11). 2 until a failure such as a communication failure occurs (step S12), the temperature controller 5 performs temperature control in accordance with an instruction from the recipe execution controller 2 (time t1 to time t2).

  When the temperature controller 5 recognizes that communication with the recipe execution controller 2 is impossible at time t2 (step S13), the temperature controller 5 enters the operation selection mode at the time of line down, for example, Here, a mode is entered in which temperature control is continued based on a predetermined setting (step S14). Up to this point, the processing contents are the same as those in steps S1 to S4 in FIG.

  When a failure occurs in the temperature controller 5 at time t3 and the heater power is turned off (step S15), the temperature controller 5 enters an uncontrolled state and the furnace temperature gradually decreases. When the failure of the temperature controller 5 is recovered at time t4 (step S16), the temperature control by the temperature controller 5 is resumed and continued.

  Thereafter, when the system recovers from the communication failure at time t5 (step S17: time t5), when the temperature controller 5 recognizes that communication with the recipe execution controller 2 is possible (step S18), the communication between the communication failure The control history (temperature control history) stored in is reported to the recipe execution controller 2. Receiving this report, the recipe execution controller 2 determines that the control is not normally performed based on the control history, and gives an instruction not to continue (for example, stop) the temperature control to the temperature controller 5. (Step S19: Time t6).

FIG. 4 shows a functional block diagram in the above-described distributed controller system. In FIG. 4, the function of the data display controller 1 is as follows.
(1) An online connection state is established by the failure recovery of the recipe execution controller 2. (2) The information (control history) indicating whether or not the temperature control has been continued from the temperature controller 5 is received from the recipe execution controller 2, and a step instruction to be executed next (for example, a target temperature of 500 ° C.) , Information indicating whether the execution of the control relating to the ramp rate of 10 ° C./min) is permitted or not permitted (for example, interruption of the control).
(3) The information (2) is notified to the user (operator, customer host computer).

The function of the recipe execution controller 2 is as follows.
(1) The failure recovery of the recipe execution controller 2 is performed.
(2) A report (control history report) is received from the temperature controller 5 as to whether or not the temperature control could be continued.
(3) When it is determined that the temperature control can be normally continued, the execution of the step instruction to be executed next is permitted, but when the temperature control is determined not to be normally continued, it is not permitted (for example, the control is interrupted). To do).
(4) The recipe execution controller 2 sends information indicating whether or not the temperature control has been normally continued from the temperature controller 5 to the data display controller 1, and the step instruction to be executed next based on the result. Is transmitted as to whether or not execution is permitted or not (for example, control is interrupted).

The function of the temperature controller 5 is as follows.
(1) When it is recognized that communication with the recipe execution controller 2 is impossible, a control operation based on a preset parameter is entered, and when temperature control is continued, the temperature control is continued.
(2) When it is recognized that communication with the recipe execution controller 2 is possible, a report (control history report) is made as to whether or not the temperature control can be continued.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the recovery operation of the temperature controller in the embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the flow of the recovery operation of the temperature controller will be described with reference to FIG. First, the temperature controller 5 determines whether or not communication with the recipe execution controller 2 is disabled (step S21). Here, if communication with the recipe execution controller 2 is not disabled (step S21, NO), the temperature controller 5 determines whether or not the online recovery is performed, that is, whether or not the first process after the recovery. Determination is made (step S22).

  Here, if the online recovery has not been performed, that is, if it is not the first process after the recovery (step S22, NO), the temperature controller 5 performs the temperature control according to the instruction of the recipe execution controller 2 (step S23). On the other hand, if the process is immediately after online recovery (step S22, YES), the temperature controller 5 reports to the recipe execution controller 2 the result (control history) of temperature control during a communication failure with the recipe execution controller 2. (Step S24). The contents of the control history are data indicating whether the control result is normal or abnormal, alarm occurrence recovery history data, and temperature control trace data. And the temperature controller 5 performs temperature control according to the instruction | indication of the recipe execution controller 2 after reporting a control history (step S23).

  If communication with the recipe execution controller 2 is disabled in step S21 (step S21, YES), the temperature controller 5 enters an operation based on a changeable parameter and receives before communication is disabled. The temperature control is executed in accordance with the instruction from the recipe execution controller (step S25). And the result (namely, control history) which performed temperature control during the communication failure with the recipe execution controller 2 is accumulate | stored in an internal memory (step S26).

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the recipe execution controller. Hereinafter, the operation flow of the recipe execution controller will be described with reference to FIG. First, the recipe execution controller 2 determines whether or not communication with the temperature controller 5 has been restored (step S31). If the communication with the temperature controller 5 is not recovered (step S31, NO), it waits until the communication is recovered, but if the communication with the temperature controller 5 is recovered (step S31, YES), the recipe execution controller 2 The result (that is, the control history) of the temperature controller 5 performing the temperature control during the communication failure with the temperature controller 5 is received (step S32).

  Then, the recipe execution controller 2 determines whether or not the received control history is normal (step S33), and if the control history is normal (step S33, YES), the online normal control (that is, the recipe) This control operation is performed (step S34).

  On the other hand, if the received control history is not normal in step S33 (step S33, NO), the operation is performed based on the changeable alarm parameter setting (that is, the parameter that defines the operation when an abnormality occurs) (step S33). S35). At this time, the changeable alarm parameter has any of the following recipe non-execution, buzzer sounding and warning, buzzer non-ringing and warning, and alarm recipe execution as an operation selection when the temperature control abnormality occurs.

  Then, after performing the operation based on the setting of the alarm parameter, the recipe execution controller 2 sends information indicating whether or not the temperature controller 5 has been able to continue the temperature control to the data display controller 1, and Depending on the result, information indicating whether or not the temperature controller 5 is permitted to execute the control relating to the next step instruction to be executed is transmitted (step S36).

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the data display controller 1. Hereinafter, the operation flow of the data display controller 1 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the data display controller 1 determines whether or not communication with the recipe execution controller 2 has been restored (step S41). Here, if the communication with the recipe execution controller 2 is not recovered (step S41, NO), the process waits until the communication is recovered, but if the communication with the recipe execution controller 2 is recovered (step S41, YES), the recipe The execution controller 2 transmits information as to whether or not the temperature control of the temperature controller 5 can be continued, and, depending on the result, permits the temperature controller to execute the control operation related to the step instruction to be executed next, Information on whether or not is received (step S42).

  Then, the data display controller 1 notifies the user (customer host computer) of information as to whether or not the execution of the control operation is permitted (step S43). Further, the data display controller 1 notifies another user (operator) of information indicating whether or not the execution of the control operation is permitted (step S44). Here, the screen notified to the operator and displayed on the display is the temperature controller control history, data indicating whether the control result is normal or abnormal, alarm occurrence recovery history data, temperature control trace data, and recipe execution controller control history In the case of abnormality, data indicating non-execution of the next recipe is displayed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, whether or not to permit the control related to the execution of the step instruction to be executed next after performing the control history report at the time of communication failure and judging the result ( By providing a mechanism for determining whether or not to continue), even if a temporary communication failure that does not cause an abnormality in the control entity occurs as in the past, the substrate processing is interrupted uniformly. There is no waste, and it is possible to prevent the operating efficiency from being unnecessarily lowered.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where a communication failure occurs is described as an example in which the monitoring function is temporarily interrupted. However, there is another example in which the main controller cannot temporarily monitor the sub-controller. Needless to say, it also applies to obstacles.

  Conventionally, the recipe execution controller 2 executes the recipe according to a user instruction, and after the result is obtained, the processing is not good (for example, a film thinner than the target film thickness is created, or a particle (garbage) In the case where it is determined that the occurrence is higher than the target value), the processing performed in the batch furnace is a batch processing of 50 to 150 wafers, so the loss cost per wafer is calculated as 100,000 yen. However, in a batch furnace, a large loss of 5 to 15 million yen occurs. In the present invention, it is possible to expect a great economic effect of preventing the occurrence of failure costs by providing a mechanism that can prevent such loss in advance.

  The distributed controller system of the present invention can be applied not only to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus but also to an apparatus for processing a glass substrate such as an LCD apparatus. Further, it can be applied not only to a vertical apparatus but also to a single wafer apparatus or a model apparatus. In short, any apparatus can be used as long as the operator creates a recipe or the like on the operation screen using any input means (for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch pen, etc.) and processes a substrate (semiconductor substrate, glass substrate, etc.). .

  Furthermore, the distributed controller system of the present invention can be applied to, for example, oxidation, diffusion, annealing, etc. regardless of the processing in the furnace. In the above-described embodiment, the temperature controller is an example of the sub controller. However, the present invention is not limited to the temperature controller, but can be applied to a pressure controller, a flow rate controller, and a machine controller.

  Next, a specific configuration example of a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus applied to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, a case where a vertical apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as a processing apparatus) that performs diffusion processing, CVD processing, or the like is applied to a semiconductor substrate as the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus will be described. FIG. 8 is an external perspective view of a processing apparatus applied to the present invention. This figure is drawn as a perspective view. FIG. 9 is a side view of the processing apparatus shown in FIG.

The processing apparatus applied to the present invention inserts a pod (substrate storage container) 100 containing a wafer (substrate) 200 made of silicon or the like into the housing 101 from the outside, and vice versa. An I / O stage (holding member transfer member) 105 for paying out from the outside is attached to the front surface of the housing 101, and a cassette shelf (mounting means) for storing the inserted pod 100 in the housing 101 109) is laid. Further, an N ₂ purge chamber (airtight chamber) 102 serving as a loading / unloading space for a boat (substrate holding means) 217, which will be described later, is provided as a transfer area for the wafer 200. The N ₂ purge chamber 102 is sealed so that the inside of the N ₂ purge chamber 102 when processing the wafer 200 is filled with an inert gas such as N ₂ gas in order to prevent a natural oxide film on the wafer 200. It is a container.

As the pod 100 described above, the FOUP type is currently mainly used, and the opening provided on one side surface of the pod 100 is closed with a lid (not shown) to isolate the wafer 200 from the atmosphere. The wafer 200 can be transferred into and out of the pod 100 by removing the lid. A pod opener (opening / closing means) 108 is provided on the front side of the N ₂ purge chamber 102 in order to remove the lid of the pod 100 and to communicate the atmosphere in the pod and the atmosphere of the N ₂ purge chamber 102. Yes. The pod 100 is transported between the pod opener 108, the cassette shelf 109, and the I / O stage 105 by a cassette transfer machine 114. Air that has been cleaned by a clean unit (not shown) provided in the casing 101 is caused to flow in the transport space of the pod 100 by the cassette transfer device 114.

Inside the N ₂ purge chamber 102, a boat 217 for loading a plurality of wafers 200 in multiple stages, a substrate alignment device 106 for adjusting the position of the notch (or orientation flat) of the wafers 200 to an arbitrary position, and a pod opener 108 A wafer transfer machine (carrying means) 112 that carries the wafer 200 between the upper pod 100, the substrate alignment device 106, and the boat 217 is provided. Further, a processing furnace 202 for processing the wafer 200 is provided in the upper part of the N ₂ purge chamber 102, and the boat 217 is loaded into the processing furnace 202 by the boat elevator (elevating means) 115 or unloaded from the processing furnace 202. Can be loaded.

Next, the operation of the processing apparatus applied to the present invention will be described. First, the pod 100 that has been transported from the outside of the housing 101 by AGV, OHT, or the like is placed on the I / O stage 105. The pod 100 placed on the I / O stage 105 is directly transported onto the pod opener 108 by the cassette transfer device 114, or once stocked on the cassette shelf 109 and then transported onto the pod opener 108. The The pod 100 transferred onto the pod opener 108 is removed from the pod 100 by the pod opener 108 so that the atmosphere inside the pod 100 communicates with the atmosphere in the N ₂ purge chamber 102.

Next, the wafer 200 is taken out from the pod 100 in communication with the atmosphere of the N ₂ purge chamber 102 by the wafer transfer device 112. The taken wafer 200 is aligned by the substrate alignment device 106 so that a notch is set at an arbitrary position, and is transferred to the boat 217 after alignment.

  When the transfer of the wafer 200 to the boat 217 is completed, the furnace port shutter 116 of the processing chamber 201 is opened, and the boat 217 loaded with the wafer 200 is loaded by the boat elevator 115. After loading, arbitrary processing is performed on the wafer 200 in the processing furnace 202. After the processing, the wafer 200 and the pod 100 are discharged out of the housing 101 in the reverse procedure described above.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the distributed controller system used for the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. In the distributed controller system shown in FIG. 1, it is a figure which shows a sequence when a temperature controller complete | finishes temperature control normally. It is a figure which shows a sequence in case the temperature controller cannot complete | finish a temperature control normally in the distributed controller system shown in FIG. It is a functional block diagram of the temperature controller in the distributed controller system of an embodiment by the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement of the temperature controller in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement of the recipe execution controller in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement of the data display controller in embodiment of this invention. It is an external appearance perspective view of the processing apparatus applied to this invention. It is a side view of the processing apparatus shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  1 data display controller, 2 recipe execution controller, 3 mass flow controller, 4 pressure controller, 5 temperature controller, 6 other controller, P1, P2 communication line.

Claims (1)

A substrate processing apparatus including a main controller that gives a command to the sub-controller based on a set recipe and monitors a control status of the sub-controller based on the command,
When monitoring of the control status of the sub-controller by the main controller is temporarily disabled, the main controller controls the control history stored in the sub-controller over the time when monitoring is disabled. A substrate processing apparatus, which is obtained when the situation can be monitored and determines whether or not to continue the control by the sub-controller based on the control history.

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