Austin, TX – International SEMATECH has launched an industry effort to define a single set of requirements and objective tests for the certification of 300mm equipment.
The push for universal criteria for certifying equipment will enable independent testing that ensures the objectivity and industry acceptance of pre-delivery conformance test results.
The goal this year is to establish general guidelines that can be applied to any standards domain as well as focused criteria for 300mm equipment software standards testing and accreditation.
“The ultimate goal of this effort is to save the semiconductor industry from redundant testing,” said Scott Kramer, director of manufacturing methods and productivity at SEMATECH. “By setting up industry guidelines and processes, and certifying the companies that apply those criteria in testing equipment, we can save our member companies the time and expense of testing the same tools that their neighbor down the street just tested. Suppliers also benefit from the elimination of redundant testing.”
Early this year International SEMATECH began assembling a team of industry volunteers from Europe, the US, Taiwan, and Japan to establish the requirements and criteria for the accreditation and management of third party entities that will certify conformance to semiconductor equipment standards requirements.
Draft guidelines, scheduled for publication in July 2002, will focus on processes and criteria for administering agencies and test service providers as well as a standardized process for creating tests and test criteria from standards and customer requirements. Final guidelines will be published on the ISMT Web site in December 2002.
Once the guidelines are completed, SEMATECH will work with outside entities to identify the organization that will maintain and administer this certification process.
The consortium welcomes equipment suppliers, test service providers, IC makers, and interested agencies to participate in the guideline development effort. “Participation of all the stake holders in this endeavor is needed to ensure that this is a win/win proposition for all parties,” said Randy Goodall, associate director for manufacturing methods and productivity at SEMATECH.