Virtual Twins: Layers Of Challenges


Virtual twins can provide deep insights into complex systems at any point in time, but creating them requires integrating a stack of abstractions that don't naturally go together. One abstraction may be mechanical, another electrical, and the data used to create those abstraction layers needs to be fused together logically and updated over time. David Fried, corporate vice president at Lam Rese... » read more

Using AI For Fault Detection And Classification In Manufacturing


Third in a seven-part series: Classic fault detection and classification has some classic problems. It's reactive, time-consuming to set up, and any product change involves significant man-hours. Even then, it still misses a lot of problems, which result in scrap. This is where machine learning can excel, because it can sift through huge amounts of data from thousands of sensors and find outlie... » read more

How Semiconductor Fabs Use Water


Water — lots of it — is a critical enabler for advanced chip architectures, lithography, and back-end packaging. It feeds the ultra-pure water loops that touch every wafer, sluicing heat out of tools that run hotter at each node, and carrying spent chemistries to treatment. The natural reaction to reports that fabs “use millions of gallons of water” is concern, but the engineering re... » read more

Machine Learning In Semiconductor Manufacturing


Second in a seven-part series: Machine learning is a mathematical construct that is the foundation for nearly all the advancements in AI. ML came first, but it remains relevant even today. It can be applied to semiconductor fab for such things as predictive maintenance of manufacturing equipment, rather than just maintenance on a schedule, which decreases downtime. But getting this right is har... » read more

AI, From A To Z


First in a seven-part series: What's the difference between AI, ML, DL, LLMs, and agentic AI? Is it truly revolutionary, or is it an evolutionary series of steps that have enabled machines to do much more than in the past? Jon Herlocker, vice president and general manager of software analytics at Cohu, talks about the evolution of AI over nearly 70 years, the chain of innovation that has enable... » read more

Semiconductor Manufacturing Cybersecurity Consortium (SMCC)—SEMI E187 Compliance Guidance Report


Cyber threats continue to increase at alarming rates, for instance according to Forbes, 2023 saw a 72% increase in data breaches since 2021, which held the previous all-time record and The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) 2023 Internet Crime Report further revealed an 81% rise in financial losses due to cybersecurity complaints, escalating from $6.9 billion to $12.5 billion. The FBI re... » read more

Analytical Methods For Analyzing PFAS In Semiconductor Wastewater (Oregon State University)


A new technical paper titled "Practical Guidance on Selecting Analytical Methods for PFAS in Semiconductor Manufacturing Wastewater" was published by researchers at Oregon State University, Corvallis. Abstract "The focus of this review is to provide an overview of the nomenclature, structure, and properties of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that dictate the selection o... » read more

Domain Adaptation for Image Classification of Defects in Semiconductor Manufacturing (Infineon, U. Padova et al.)


A new technical paper titled "Domain Adaptation for Image Classification of Defects in Semiconductor Manufacturing" was published by researchers at Infineon Technologies, University of Padova and University of Bologna. Abstract "In the semiconductor sector, due to high demand but also strong and increasing competition, time to market and quality are key factors in securing significant marke... » read more

High-Quality Data Needed To Better Utilize Fab Data Streams


Fab operations have wrestled with big data management issues for decades. Standards help, but only if sufficient attention to detail is taken during collection. Semiconductor wafer manufacturing represents one of the most complex manufacturing processes in the world. With each generation of process improvement comes more sophisticated fab equipment, new process recipes, and exponential incre... » read more

Quantifying The PFAS Impact In ICs Manufacturing (Harvard University)


A new technical paper titled "Modeling PFAS in Semiconductor Manufacturing to Quantify Trade-offs in Energy Efficiency and Environmental Impact of Computing Systems" was published by researchers at Harvard University and Mohamed Bin Zayed University of AI (MBZUAI). "The electronics and semiconductor industry is a prominent consumer of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known a... » read more

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