Moving (slowly) toward full automation
08/01/2004
The global semiconductor industry is exhibiting many different signs of a maturing industry, and the current status of automated manufacturing is one of those signs.
In the area of automation, manufacturing industries seem to stumble around a bit until they reach a sort of critical mass, at which point the case for automation becomes compelling and various industry segments all move together aggressively toward automation and all its benefits. The global semiconductor industry appears to have reached that point with the advent of the 300mm fab. Financial considerations dictate that 300mm fabs operate at maximum yield, with minimal process mishaps, and all industry segments are trying to remove the barriers that continue to stifle fab automation.
But the going is tough and slow, as discussed on this page a few months ago by Solid State Technology Editorial Director Bob Haavind (see SST, p. 8, Nov. 2003). Bob pointed out then that most or nearly all 300mm fabs are now using APC (advanced process control), but full automation is nowhere near imminent. The reasons for this are many and varied. Metrology must be built into the manufacturing process, and sensors must provide both feedback and feedforward data to process tools. Quality of data needs to be addressed — data must conform to the appropriate standards, without human interaction. Accumulating, moving, and storing key process data does no good if the data can't be used to automatically keep tools running effectively. And tools must comply with existing standards and previously agreed-upon protocols.
Challenges related to human issues also remain to be overcome; these are often the toughest. More and better cooperation and data sharing is needed between chipmakers and toolmakers. Both chipmakers and toolmakers must realize that they must invest in software for e-manufacturing and e-diagnostics. A mindset still exists in the semiconductor industry that software should be free. Software too often is treated as an afterthought, and not as a key enabler of automation.
As always, a compelling business need attracts companies with diverse expertise that can provide various solutions. Companies that specialize in software and process control have made great progress. They have worked closely with IDMs and toolmakers to develop new products that move the industry closer to fully automated manufacturing.
For example, at April's Semicon Europa in Munich, Cimetrix, a supplier of software for equipment connectivity, introduced its CIMPortal product for e-manufacturing. CIMPortal allows chipmakers to take advantage of new standards without any changes to existing equipment-interface software. The product was tested at an AMD fab.
More recently, ILS Technologies announced its eCentre Hosted service, which allows chipmakers and toolmakers to essentially rent the use of ILS's e-diagnostics software suite on a tool-by-tool basis, which can greatly lower the cost of implementing e-diagnostics. The suite was developed with IBM, at its fab in Fishkill, NY, and is available to toolmakers as well as device manufacturers.
Most formidable among the remaining challenges on the road to fab automation may be the continued development and adoption of standards that will enable seamless transfer of information between tools and control systems.
Semi and other semiconductor industry associations that get involved in standards creation have taken some hard hits about current standards programs and standards-setting processes. Complaints focus on the significant amount of time it has taken to get even basic standards accepted. By its very nature, the process of establishing industry-wide standards is a frustrating and sometimes combative experience. Nonetheless, it's imperative that all parties involved do everything possible to speed and streamline the standards-setting process. The stakes are simply too high.
Like Semi, other standards-setting bodies in other industries have been criticized in the past, usually when the industries involved had reached an evolutionary stage where standardization became essential. Large manufacturing industries such as automotive and aerospace, and the technology companies serving them, experienced heated battles over communications standards in the 1980s. But standards were developed, and automotive manufacturing has been highly automated for years, to a much greater degree than semiconductor manufacturing is today.
So from where I sit, the semiconductor industry appears to be well on its way to achieving the level of manufacturing automation that's needed for the industry to move forward. Progress won't be easy, but it will happen — because it has to happen.
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Kevin Fitzgerald
Editor-in-Chief