Semiconductor International - Yield Management News

ATE Industry Maneuvers Around ‘Perfect Storm’ of Issues at 90 nm and Below

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:32:00 MST

The combination of discrete challenges, design sensitivity and integration issues are creating complex challenges for ATE vendors.

Yield, Surface Prep for Nano Devices

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 MST

Nanoscale emerging research devices in the "beyond CMOS scaling" realm cover many applications and state variables. There have been many discussions of the characteristics, performance requirements, etc., of these devices, but the manufacture of these devices and the resulting yield has not been addressed.

Electromigration-Induced Failures in Plastic Encapsulated IC Packages

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 MST

IC failure analysis performed on potentiometer ICs revealed intermittent electrical shorts caused by a metal stringer problem.

Yield Goals for 22 nm

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 MST

The industry is on target to deliver necessary defect metrology and film metrology solutions, but new overlay target structures are needed for 22 nm monitoring.

How to Detect Non-Overlay Misalignment Errors?

Thu, 08 May 2008 08:35:00 MST

Engineers at SMIC were confronted with an unusual problem in their DRAM fab — how to detect a misalignment error that was not caused by an overlay problem. They worked with Applied Materials to detect this defect using a darkfield inspection tool, which was verified by SEM defect review and FIB cross-section.

A Better Way to Manage Test Wafers

Thu, 08 May 2008 08:11:00 MST

Advanced Micro Devices is in the process of applying lean concepts throughout its organization — even to highly manual operations, such as the use of test wafers in 300 mm fabs.

Applied Tackles Edge With Inflexion Polishing System

Wed, 07 May 2008 08:24:00 MST

Applied Materials introduced the Inflexion edge polishing system that has an integrated wafer cleaning capability. The Inflexion tool uses abrasive tape to clean the wafer’s edge, an area that faces new contamination issues as immersion lithography pushes liquids to the edge of the wafer.

Real Men/Women Do Have Fabs

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:54:00 MST

Tom Sonderman, vice president of manufacturing technology at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Sunnyvale, Calif.), declared at yesterday’s SEMI Strategic Business Conference (Napa Valley, Calif.) that “real men and women do have fabs.”

TSMC Sketches 32 nm Rollout Plan for 2009

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:09:00 MST

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. plans to begin 32 nm production in the third quarter of 2009, with foundry production of dual core 3G cell phone chipsets as one focus, said Jack Sun, TSMC’s vice president of R&D. TSMC will use a high-k/metal gate process for high-frequency microprocessor production, he said, while sticking with a poly/oxynitrides gate stack for the general purpose and low-power platforms.

Intel Tackles EUV Mask Cleans

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:24:00 MST

At Sematech’s Surface Preparation and Cleaning Conference in Austin, Texas, Intel’s Ted Liang detailed the results of a study designed to find solutions for adding zero particle contamination to EUV masks through the cleaning processes.

LED Design, Optimization Using TCAD Modeling

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 MST

TCAD modeling is widely used in semiconductor manufacturing simulation and analysis routines, from wafer track schedulers to yield management systems. The optoelectronics industry is now applying TCAD to its manufacturing processes, enabling control of process variations and improved yields.

Semiconductor International Announces New Editor-in-Chief

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:39:00 MST

Laura Peters has been promoted to the position of editor-in-chief of Semiconductor International magazine, succeeding Peter Singer.

ITRS Yield Enhancement: The End Justifies The Means

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:00:00 MST

The 2007 Update of the Yield Enhancement chapter of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) was recently released, and it defines the difficult challenges in the short term (≥22 nm) and long term (<22 nm), with the approximate defect budgets needed to obtain acceptable yields on semiconductor devices at those nodes.

IBM Brings Hitachi Into Albany Ecosystem

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:29:00 MST

IBM and Hitachi researchers will work together on metrology challenges arising at the 22 nm node and beyond, said IBM Vice President Bernie Meyerson. The agreement brings the formidable semiconductor research efforts of Hitachi into the IBM-led Albany research ecosystem.

Fab-Wide SPR Speeds Yield Improvement

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 MST

Spatial pattern recognition (SPR) technology can speed the correction of yield-robbing problems. The challenge is to deploy a system capable of processing the enormous amount of data generated in modern fabs, and then organize it for fast and consistent problem solving.

SPIE: Metrology Must Provide More Accuracy

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:39:00 MST

At the SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference being held this week in San Jose, several of the papers presented so far in the metrology area indicate a significant shift in the importance of accuracy vs. precision.

Chipworks Offers ICInside Browser for Circuit Analysis

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 07:58:00 MST

Reverse engineering firm Chipworks (Ottowa, Canada) has developed software called ICInside Browser, which allows customers to better understand the circuits on chips being examined by analysts using high-magnification inspection tools. The software extracts circuit information in forms that can be readily imported into schematic capture and simulation software.

Dynamic Analysis Offers a Better MSA Management Alternative

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 MST

Just like process tools, a measurement system that can demonstrate statistically stable output should not have to undergo routine characterization. Instead, a dynamic MSA can be achieved with at-hand SPC data.

Sematech Announces Meetings Lineup for 2008

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:34:00 MST

Sematech announced its 2008 meetings on lithography and other semiconductor-related research areas. The Sematech Knowledge Series includes meetings on manufacturing-related issues and the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS).

Semiconductor International's Top 100 for 2007

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:52:00 MST

Here are Semiconductor International’s very best of 2007 — the features, news, blogs and webcasts most viewed throughout the year. Key topics for the year were, and continue to be, 32 nm development, high-k/metal gates, nanotechnology, solar cells and 3-D integration, among others. If you happened to miss any, they’re all just a click away.