Predicting And Preventing Process Drift


Increasingly tight tolerances and rigorous demands for quality are forcing chipmakers and equipment manufacturers to ferret out minor process variances, which can create significant anomalies in device behavior and render a device non-functional. In the past, many of these variances were ignored. But for a growing number of applications, that's no longer possible. Even minor fluctuations in ... » read more

Fabs Begin Ramping Up Machine Learning


Fabs are beginning to deploy machine learning models to drill deep into complex processes, leveraging both vast compute power and significant advances in ML. All of this is necessary as dimensions shrink and complexity increases with new materials and structures, processes, and packaging options, and as demand for reliability increases. Building robust models requires training the algorithms... » read more

When And Where To Implement AI/ML In Fabs


Deciphering complex interactions between variables is where machine learning and deep learning shine, but figuring out exactly how ML-based systems will be most useful is the job of engineers. The challenge is in pairing their domain expertise with available ML tools to maximize the value of both. This depends on sufficient quantities of good data, highly optimized algorithms, and proper tra... » read more

Preventing Process Excursion With AI And Yield Management Software


Process excursion, or any deviation in a certain process, significantly impacts the cost of semiconductor manufacturing process and product yield. During production, process excursion can be detected early during in-line inspections. However, in some cases, excursion isn’t detected until later in the production process such as during wafer testing in the probing area after production. Apar... » read more

Using AI To Improve Metrology Tooling


Virtual metrology is carefully being added into semiconductor manufacturing, where it is showing positive results, but the chip industry is proceeding cautiously. The first use of this technology has been for augmenting existing fab processes, such as advanced process control (APC). Controlling processes and managing yield generally do not require GPU processing and advanced algorithms, so t... » read more

Chip Manufacturing Data Now Requires Cloud Techniques


The parameters in semiconductor manufacturing are growing so large that an analysis method similar to what’s currently used for big data is now required. The good news is that big data analysis techniques, which process a vast amount of data such as search data and communication logs in the cloud, is entirely applicable to the data of semiconductor process. Photo 1: Opening view of AEC... » read more