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Productivity likely to be recurring theme at Semicon West 2007 |
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Jul 12, 2007 at 08:38 AM |
Several recent press releases from chip equipment companies in the lead-up to Semicon West 2007 share a common theme: productivity.
Announcements from Tevet, Sokudo, and Aquest tout productivity improvement as a key enabling feature of their respective tools or programs. A new player (new to the semi tool space, in any case), Intevac, will also roll out a high-productivity platform called "Lean Etch" at the show, taking on such established market leaders as Applied Materials and Lam.
Tevet claims that its parallel sensor integrated metrology module (IMM) performs leaps and bounds better than competitive CVD advanced process control (APC) systems. With a two-second-per-wafer measurement cycle and the ability to measure up to nine sites at a time, we're talking throughputs north of 300 wph, a number worth a double-take, given the pokey reputation of most metrology tools, integrated or not. Since every wafer gets measured (a must as deposition thickness tolerances get squeezed), this means faster time to detection of any out-of-whack film thickness or related process aberrations and fewer unforeseen downtime episodes. The company says the majority of its customers are using IMM for excursion control, with more sophisticated APC apps planned as the technology roadmap advances.
Trying to grab some of the litho-track equipment market dominated by TEL, Sokudo (the Dainippon Screen/Applied Materials joint venture) has come out with the RF3S, a high-productivity coat-develop tool upgrade with much-improved throughput (180 wph) and performance. The company cites a coating cell design that can incorporate up to four spin-coat modules and six SDC (Sokudo defect clean) soak modules, a new nozzle that can shorten develop times by 80%, faster transfer robot and exposure system interface, and reduced module overhead time and wafer-handling time---all resulting in a 20% pop in throughput. When people scream "bottleneck!" in the litho cell, they're rarely talking about the scanner/stepper, so it will be interesting to see if Sokudo's souped-up new track system can level the playing field.
Aquest, the latest entrant in the automated material handling system (AMHS) space, has made some bold claims about its No Wait Manufacturing scheme and FabEX system. My complete interview with current Aquest and former Asyst head honcho Mihir Parikh will post on Chip Shots on Tuesday, July 17. In the meantime, here's a teaser from the interview, with Mihir waxing rhapsodic about the productivity-enabling potential of his new venture's technology.
"Aquest has developed a very comprehensive simulation and modeling capability for fab process flow and AMHS. Results for a variety of fab models show that FabEX will shorten delivery times by 40-50%, and that FabEX provides a maximum delivery time that is five times shorter than OHT-based AMHS. FabEX improves delivery time predictability by about 50% and can deliver four times as many FOUPs This increased capacity can support smaller lot sizes and prevent production perturbations from clogging the AMHS. FabEX can reduce overall fab cycle time, by [approximately] 10% and could result in many tens of millions of dollars of increased output or profit for the IC manufacturer."
Stay tuned for further adventures in semi fab and tool productivity enhancement.
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