Entering the E-Manufacturing Era

摘要

Semiconductor manufacturing technology has entered a new and exciting era that promises to provide significant productivity and cost benefits. But this new age of chipmaking will have its share of severe challenges as well. Over the past few years, there has been slow but steady progress toward e-manufacturing, which encompasses advanced process control/advanced equipment control (APC/AEC) and e-diagnostics. Many technical, operational, economic, and business factors are driving this trend. Paramount among these are shrinking process windows and process control requirements for critical processes at the 90-nm technology node and beyond, the transition to 300-mm wafers and the challenges of processing the higher-valued substrates, rising manufacturing costs, and the quest for higher productivity.