Applying Expert System to Statistical Process Control in Semiconductor Manufacturing

반도체 수율 향상을 위한 통계적 공정 제어에 전문가 시스템의 적용에 관한 연구

The evolution of semiconductor manufacturing technology has accelerated the reduction of device dimensions and the increase of integrated circuit density. In order to improve yield within a short turn around time and maintain it at high level, a system that can rapidly determine problematic processing steps is needed. The statistical process control detects abnormal process variation of key parameters. Expert systems in SPC can serve as a valuable tool to automate the analysis and interpretation of control charts. A set of IF-THEN rules was used to formalize knowledge base of special causes. This research proposes a strategy to apply expert system to SPC in semiconductor manufacturing. In analysis, the expert system accomplishes the instability detection of process parameter, In diagnosis, an engineer is supported by process analyzer program. An example has been used to demonstrate the expert system and the process analyzer.