Overview

Moving wafers into and out of a fabrication tool, positioning and repositioning them within the tool, and changing setups and job parameters all have a significant influence on the overall productivity of the tool. Managing the parameters on the tool without automation software increases risk and decreases productivity. In addition, manual processing reduces efficiency and decreases throughput of the overall Fabrication Plant. As tools process wafers faster and more accurately, the productivity bottleneck of material handling becomes more apparent. The more time the tool spends waiting for a wafer to be delivered for processing, the less efficient the overall production. Efficient wafer handling between tools becomes increasingly critical to improving productivity. Automation is one aspect to consider in the process. Semiconductor fabs are increasing the levels of automation significantly, replacing manual transport with automated material handling systems and turning more attention to the flow of materials throughout the fab. Thus, there is also a need for more sophisticated software solutions, such as automating the chip manufacturing process, centralized recipe management, remote event and trace data collection, process parameter integration, process control and fault detection.