Integrated management of semiconductor process data

Details Integrated management of semiconductor process data Integrated management of semiconductor process data

1998-08-18

2001-05-29

Beausoleil, Robert (Department: 2181)

Data processing: generic control systems or specific application

Specific application, apparatus or process

Product assembly or manufacturing

C700S096000, C700S097000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06240331

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to integrated management of semiconductor process data, and more particularly, to a method for easily accessing a plurality of data sets generated in one semiconductor fabrication line, and for sharing and easily accessing additional data sets generated in additional semiconductor fabrication lines.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the rapid developments in the semiconductor industry required to achieve high density of semiconductor components per unit area in large scale integration devices, an increasing number of processes are performed on a single semiconductor wafer. As a result, an increasing amount of processing equipment are employed during fabrication of such devices. The sequentially employed equipment tends to be arranged in a group constituting a semiconductor fabrication processing line. A fabrication facility may include several such semiconductor fabrication lines.
A complete semiconductor product is typically fabricated through the following lines. In the first line, pure silicon that is to be the starting material for the semiconductor product is purified, grown and formed into wafers. In the next line, each wafer is processed so that semiconductor devices are integrated onto the surface of the wafer. In the next line, the processed wafer is subject to electrical die sorting (EDS) to determine which chips on the wafer satisfy quality control measures. In the next line, chips formed on the wafer are cut and those that satisfied quality control measures during EDS are assembled into semiconductor packaged products that can be attached to printed circuit boards. In a final line, the assembled products are tested.
Each semiconductor fabrication line has its own control system to control the equipment arranged in the line and the processes performed in the equipment. Through such control systems, the efficiency of the line can be enhanced, and appropriate actions can be taken rapidly to solve operational problems that may occur on the line.
FIG. 1
is a block diagram of a conventional semiconductor process data control system
100
for a fabrication line A. As shown in
FIG. 1
, the conventional semiconductor fabricating equipment control system
100
includes a plurality of semiconductor fabricating equipment
110
, a plurality of equipment servers
120
for operating the semiconductor fabricating equipment
110
to precisely perform certain semiconductor fabricating processes, and host computers
130
and
135
for storing the massive amounts of process data required for specifying the process parameters for the various processes and variations, and for downloading those data into the equipment servers
120
.
More particularly, the equipment servers
120
communicate with the corresponding semiconductor fabricating equipment
110
according to a Semiconductor Equipment Communication Standard (SECS) protocol on a RS-
232
C connection. The host computers
130
and
135
engage in two-way communication with the equipment servers
120
according to the Terminal Connection Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) that is well known. That is, the semiconductor equipment
110
, the equipment servers
120
, and the host computers
130
and
135
are connected on-line via a network.
Generally, the semiconductor fabricating equipment control system
100
requires at least two host computers which have different functions. One of the computers is a process control host computer
130
and the other is a data storage host computer
135
.
A data server
137
is installed in the data storage host computer
135
. A plurality of data managing modules, for example software modules,
137
a
,
137
b
. . .
137
n
are included in the data server
137
. Each of the data managing modules
137
a
,
137
b
. . .
137
n
treats specific data arranged in a corresponding data set. Typically, the data managing modules
137
a
,
137
b
, . . .
137
n
are application software program modules included in a data server program running on the data storage host computer
135
.
A specific data managing module of the data server
137
, e.g.,
137
a
, may be an equipment history managing module, another, e.g.
137
b
, may be a statistical management module, and yet another, e.g.
137
n
, may be an equipment monitoring module. The equipment history managing module
137
a
would track the number of hours each equipment is operated or the number of lots processed by each equipment, for the purpose of checking the cleaning and preventative maintenance cycles and generating cleaning period data. Also, the equipment history managing module
137
a
could manage the histories of the equipment
110
itself. The statistical management module
137
b
checks statistics generated by combining measured data obtained from wafers after the wafers are processed in the equipment
110
. The equipment monitoring module
137
n
would monitor the equipment operating states such as run state, down state, or idle state, and generate monitored data results, reports or displays.
A plurality of user interface (UI) computers
140
a
,
140
b
, . . .
140
n
and at least one O/I computer
150
are also connected on-line to the network.
The UI computers
140
are connected on-line to the semiconductor equipment control system
100
so that an analyst or an operator can receive some data from the data storage host computer
135
. These received data are required for operating the equipment to perform the various fabrication processes and for analyzing causes of operational problems that may occur. The operator or analyst must load and execute a program on the UI computer
140
to retrieve data from the data storage computer
135
. For example, when the operator wants to receive equipment history management data from the equipment history managing module
137
a
through the UI computer
140
a
, the operator must install and run a suitable program in the UI computer
140
a
or in another UI computer
140
. The suitable program is a program that allows the UI computer
140
a
to access the equipment history managing module
137
a.
For example, when the operator wants to receive statistical data, for example, through the UI computer
140
b
the operator must install and run a different suitable program in the UI computer
140
b
or in another UI computer
140
. The suitable program is a program that allows the UI computer
140
b
to access the statistical management module
137
b.
By repeatedly installing suitable programs on the UI computers
140
, the operator can obtain and analyze wanted data from the plurality of data sets using the corresponding managing modules
137
a
,
137
b
. . .
137
n
included in the data server
137
in the data storage host computer
135
.
Besides the UI computers
140
, at least one operator interface (O/I) computer
150
is also installed in the semiconductor fabricating equipment control system
100
for fabrication line A. Through the O/I computer
150
, the operator checks process data downloaded from the process control host computer
130
and directs processing in the semiconductor fabricating equipment
110
by sending messages to the corresponding equipment server
120
.
A semiconductor fabrication line A with the semiconductor fabricating equipment control system
100
is connected on-line to another semiconductor fabrication line B. The semiconductor fabrication lines A and B can therefore share data generated in each.
For example, when a semiconductor fabrication line for processing wafers (line A) is connected on-line to an EDS line (line B) for electrically testing the wafers, wafers processed through line A are passed to line B. In the EDS line, all chips are separated into passed chips and failed chips, and the failed chips are further separated into repairable and non-repairable failed chips.
Furthermore, in this example, when data from the EDS line (line B) are communicated to the UI computer
140
on the wafer processing line (line A), causes of the defects in the preceding wafer processing line c

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Integrated management of semiconductor process data does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Integrated management of semiconductor process data, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Integrated management of semiconductor process data will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2571001