Patent ID: 7525646

Claim:
A method of controlling the operation of, and the workflow through, a lithographic system, said lithographic system comprising multiple exposure stations, each having an input and an output and each having a vacuum holding section at the output, two or more of which said multiple exposure stations each interface with a single, shared post-expose bake station, through an automated transport system and post-expose bake loading system, said method comprising the steps of: estimating the patterning time of each work piece to be patterned by the two or more exposure stations, based on pattern data and patterning tool parameters; determining in which sequence of order the work pieces will be presented for patterning in the two or more exposure stations and how much time will elapse between the presentation of each work piece, using the estimated patterning times, parameters related to the materials of each work piece, and parameters related to prior processes related to each work piece; determining a temperature for the post-expose bake for each work piece and, controlling the setting of said temperature of the single, shared post-expose bake station for each work piece for initiating pre-heating of the post-expose bake station prior to the arrival of each work piece to be transported to the post-expose bake station, using the parameters related to the materials and prior processes related to each of the work pieces; initiating the patterning of the work pieces by the two or more exposure stations in the determined sequence with each subsequent initiation separated from the previous by the determined elapse time between initiations; releasing the first work piece patterned to the automated transport system to be transported to and loaded into the single, shared post-expose bake system; monitoring the availability of the single, shared post-expose bake station and, based on said availability, releasing the next work piece to be baked from the exposure station on which the work piece was patterned, onto the automated transport system if the single, shared post-expose bake station is available and holding, at the vacuum holding section of the exposure station on which the work piece was patterned, the next work piece to be baked if the single, shared post-expose bake station is not available; and scheduling the holding at and release from times of individual work pieces in the vacuum holding sections of the two or more exposure stations on which the work piece was patterned based on a calculated range of post exposure delay time for each work piece and the availability of the single, shared post-expose bake station.