Improve program member reduces wafer production failure rate by 12%

The 35 members involved in the European improve research program have successfully upgraded the global competitiveness of the European semiconductor industry. In 2009, several world-renowned European semiconductor companies joined Infineon's technology management project to develop new ways to improve the efficiency of European semiconductor manufacturing, while reducing costs and shortening manufacturing time. The project is funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), which includes software companies, semiconductor companies with production positions in Europe, research institutes and academic institutions from Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Portugal. Improve is "implementing manufacturing Science FX to could equipment productivity and fab performance"(Implementation of manufacturing technology solutions to increase equipment capacity and wafer efficiency) abbreviation for the term.

Members of the improve scheme have been working to reduce the failure rate of wafer production by 12%. In addition, the improve program has also succeeded in shortening the production time of semiconductor products, the complex chip design currently requires about 12 to 16 weeks, but soon it will be possible to shorten the production time of semiconductor products more than 3%. Improve members have developed new and intelligent analytical methods and software tools that combine innovative data assessment techniques to achieve this result. To further control the process changes, the research partners are discussed from the entire production line. One of the major challenges is how to integrate new methods and software components into the existing product information and control systems of semiconductor manufacturers to identify the results of research from leading applications of production.

Making a complex wafer today requires an average of 550 separate manufacturing steps, the usual manufacturing batches are about 50 to 100 wafers, and after each batch, the manufacturing plant must reset the production tools for the next mass production and manufacturing process, so it is necessary to monitor the production line and its condition, and predict the maintenance elements in order to remain competitive. In addition, improve has a key contribution to save time.

Dr Cristina De Luca, director of Infineon's improve project, said: The "improve research project has its own urgency, especially in the face of increasing wafer function, continuous complication of production methods, more manufacturing processes and longer production time. With the semiconductor industry and academia, factory and manufacturing control, as well as sensors and software development industry joint research work, the development of many of the most modern technology to help semiconductor production a big step forward. 」

The success of the improve program has been recognized: The research program has been selected for the top 10 candidates for the "industrial Technologies 2012" award (http:// industrialtechnologies2012.eu), one of the reasons is that the plan created new products and methods to enhance European competitiveness as the goal, with financial relevance.

The improve plan has a total budget of about € 37.7 million, half of which is sponsored by industry and research units, while the other half is sponsored by the European Nanotechnology Programme Advisory Committee (ENIAC Joint Undertaking) as its "SP4 Part of the Energy and Environmental Nanotechnology Program, sponsored by national funds from participating countries. BMBF 3.3 million euros from the German federal government's High-tech Strategy and Funding program (Informations-und Kommunikationstechnologie 2020, IKT 2020) to fund the study. Infineon is responsible for the coordinated work of the German program members prior to November 2011 and is then taken over by the Flora-Hoffman Integrated Systems and Devices Institute (Fraunhofer Cato for Integrated Bae and Device).

Related guide

SEMI:2012 August North American Semiconductor equipment bsend value of 0.84

According to semi latest Book-to-bill order shipping report, August 2012 North American Semiconductor equipment Manufacturers average order amount of $1.12 billion, bsend value (Book-to-bill Ratio, Order shipping Ratio) of 0.84, on behalf of the semiconductor equipment industry, the monthly shipments of 100 U.S. dollars, received 84 U.S. dollars of orders.

The report noted that North American semiconductor equipment manufacturers in August 2012 received a global order estimate of 1.12 billion U.S. dollars, compared with the revised July this year, the 1.23 billion U.S. dollar fell 9.2%, but slightly lower than the same period last year 1.16 billion U.S. dollar 3.6%. In the performance part of the shipments, August 2012 shipments of 1.34 billion U.S. dollars, compared to the end of July this year, the final 1.44 billion U.S. dollar down 7.4%, but compared with the same period last year 1.46 billion U.S. dollar down 8.4%.

Semi industry research senior manager Zengrui said: "The second half of this year, Bsend value continues to show downward trend, despite this, we still expect the global semiconductor equipment revenue will maintain more than 40 billion U.S. dollars in size." 」

The bsend value of the SEMI is based on the average order amount of the North American semiconductor equipment manufacturer over the past three months, divided by the ratio of the last three average monthly equipment shipments. North American Semiconductor Equipment market orders and shipments in the following table: (in millions of U.S. dollars)

Source: SEMI (September 2012)