Patent ID: 8012884

Claim:
A semiconductor device manufacturing method comprising a film formation process to form a film on a plurality of wafers placed in a processing chamber while heated by a heat source outside the processing chamber through a wall of the processing chamber, the film formation process comprising the steps of: computing a predicted film formation rate value based on a prediction formula obtained in advance which expresses a relationship between an amount of thermal energy reaching the wafer, the amount varying depending on a deposited film thickness on an inner wall of the processing chamber, and a film formation rate on the wafer as a function including multiple apparatus parameters, the apparatus parameters being obtained during a previously-performed film formation process; computing, based on the computed predicted film formation rate value and a predetermined target film thickness, a processing time required for an amount of film formed on the wafer to reach the predetermined target film thickness; and forming the film on the plurality of wafers according to the computed processing time.