In the age of 300mm silicon, tech standards are even more crucial
08/01/2001
Bruce L. Gehman, Semi
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Technical standards are at work everywhere, from the IO of laptop computers to cell phones, from automobile tires to printer's paper. These standards are of two types: "voluntary" standards and those imposed by government regulatory agencies. Building codes and OSHA regulations (in the US) are representative of the latter. Voluntary standards are willingly accepted by suppliers and purchasers at all levels to expedite buyer-seller transactions, to lower costs, to improve quality and safety, and to advance industry-wide interests in general.
The semiconductor industry enjoys and benefits from an intricate network of voluntary consensus standards. The qualifier "consensus" is important. This term implies that technical experts representing disparate interests have worked through a formal process to agree upon standards' content. There are, of course, important standards that are voluntary but not consensus — Microsoft Windows and the VHS protocol are famous in this respect. Consensus standards are preferable, however, because they efficiently reconcile competing priorities.
300mm-era standards
Voluntary consensus technical standards are a cornerstone of the 300mm era. Starting in about 1995, the prospective introduction of bigger wafers excited a tremendous burst of standards development. Developing consensus that the next-generation silicon wafer would in fact be 300mm in diameter was the first, the most difficult, and perhaps the most important achievement of all!
From the beginning of 300mm planning, it was widely appreciated that the benefits of the new wafer size could only be realized in a highly automated chip production factory. Furthermore, the huge investment in equipment and facilities required, and the fast-track time scale envisioned, precluded a trial-and-error approach. These pressures drove the industry to a thoroughly unprecedented effort to set best-practice standards for the controls and interfaces needed in the factory of the future.
Most of this precompetitive standards development was completed in the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (Semi) International Standards Program. This venue provided "neutral turf" for identifying standardization opportunities, for fighting out the technical issues on a global basis, for finally achieving the required consensus, and for timely publishing of the results for industry implementation.
The period 1995-2000 was an exciting, heady, time in the Semi Standards program. A thousand active industry volunteers — working through 14 Semi Standards Technical Committees in more than 200 task forces in Europe, North America, and Japan — upgraded existing standards and completed new ones for the 300mm era.
Now, in 2001, the basic standards infrastructure is in place and the new factories are starting to come on line, so it is possible to make an assessment of the success of this effort. All indications are positive. Many would argue that the 300mm factory would be impossible without the creative effort of the volunteer experts, and the companies that encouraged their participation in the standards development work.
Momentum still full speed ahead
The rush to define the basic factory-of-the-future infrastructure is over, but the momentum in Semi's Standards Program has not noticeably abated. The driving forces are the success of 300mm standards and the determination of semiconductor companies to realize still more benefits from structured precompetitive problem solving.
Exciting new opportunities in the standards frontier include:
- introducing XML to factory control software;
- leveraging the success in developing frontend standards to backend applications — assembly and packaging;
- realizing e-diagnostics;
- fulfilling requirements for smarter particle detection systems; and
- manufacturing MEMS and photonics devices.
In principle, new standards in areas such as these may expedite revolutionary industry advances, but the program developments are still at the earliest stages. How to proceed? The standards program moves ahead when motivated volunteers see that it is in their interest to work together to solve common precompetitive problems. As in the past, the ways and means will result from imaginative collaboration among standards program participants.
The Semi Standards web site, www.semi.org, provides useful links to other semiconductor and electronics industries standards development bodies worldwide. Standard-setting bodies in the semiconductor industry cooperate to harmonize standards, to avoid duplication of effort, and to best use the resources available. Areas not covered by Semi Standards are often addressed by the work of other organizations.
Not a thankless task
All interested persons with technical competence in the subjects under consideration are cordially welcomed to participate in Semi Standards development activities. It has been said that standards development is a thankless task. It may indeed appear that way to outsiders, but participants in the program feel quite otherwise. The practical benefits are many. These include the opportunity to directly influence standards' content, to meet and work with like-minded industry experts to solve common problems, to learn and to teach, to benchmark one's understanding against others', and to exercise leadership skills in a dynamic, fast-moving environment. There is no fee for participating in the Semi Standards Task Force and Committee meetings.
The Semi Standards program, as other voluntary consensus standards bodies, incorporates structural controls to prevent discussions and practices that would violate US antitrust laws. Likewise, special regulations in the program protect proprietary intellectual property. The clear focus is on precompetitive action that facilitates commerce, improves industry-wide productivity, quality, and safety, and mitigates environmental impact. If you can help, come join us!
Bruce L. Gehman is senior director of International Standards at Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (Semi), 3080 Zanker Road, San Jose, CA 95134; ph 408/943-6974, fax 408/943-7943, e-mail [email protected].