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Jon Goldman Associates' CFMNT Version 5.0
Software Upgrade
Includes Two New Key SPC Trending Calculations
Orange, CA, USA - June 2000 - Jon Goldman Associates
(JGA) has just released version 5.0 of their CFMNT Data Capture
Software. The software monitors any tool in the semiconductor
fabrication process, provides detailed charts and reports
of what is occurring at each step along the process and notifies
personnel when business rules have been violated. Key benefits
of the upgrade are advanced SPC Trending and an enhanced assortment
of notification utilities for real-time data capture and alerts.
Two key trending features are Z-Factor and 1st Difference.
These enable preventive maintenance of a system and let the
engineer find deviations before they become severe problems.
These tools are especially powerful in fabs running in batch
mode because it saves numerous wafers at a time from destruction
or the need for repair and rework.
Z-Factor allows for different processes to be compared on
the same chart. It normalizes the difference. For example,
the same temperature channel on tool X can be plotted for
every process on that tool. Multiple trends can be viewed
and data compared simultaneously for many parameters such
as temperature, gas flow, pressure, or an additional signal.
The chart shows deviations from target and how the deviation
happened.
First Difference is a feature that displays the deviation
in the rate of change during a specified portion of a process.
For example, an engineer could monitor the entire ramp up
or down of a process to see if or when the rate of change
deviates. The ideal slope of a First Difference plot is zero,
meaning no increase or decrease of the change between points
is detected. First difference takes a signal that normally
increases or decreases over time and allows standard Western
Electric SPC rules to be applied. Without First Difference,
SPC rules can't be applied during the increases or decreases
so it can't be seen if there are significant changes to the
pattern. Parameters like leak rates, base pressure and power
can be checked to make sure there aren't abrupt changes during
these operations.
The CFMNT System uses new notification features to send a
warning as soon as a process changes or deviates. Limits can
be plotted on an SPC chart and process or equipment corrections
can be made immediately. Failures can be predicted and thus
avoided.
With JGA's notification features, the system will alert
selected personnel by e-mail, text page, numeric page, light
tower, switch closure and/or host notification when a violation
occurs. The system can notify the host software to shut the
system down if a violation occurs, it can shut the tool down
and/or the process can be routed to another tool.
"With the multitude of data gathered and available for a
process tool, it is too much to expect engineering level personnel
to sort and sift through it," said Kerry Eszlinger, Director
of Operations, Jon Goldman Associates. "The CFMNT Version
5.0 System comes to the user and presents the violations so
that a remedy can be implemented."
Jon Goldman Associates, based in Orange, CA, has been
providing data mining software solutions to the semiconductor
industry for over ten years. Founder and President Dr. Jon
Goldman has been serving the semiconductor industry for more
than 25 years. He is the holder of several patents, including
LPCVD deposition of Silicon Nitride, LTO, and BPSG. JGA's
data analysis tools are widely used in the industry by both
end users and equipment manufacturers to reduce down time
and wafer scrap by implementing and improving SPC control.
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