Defect management system for productivity and yield improvement
First Claim
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1. An automated wafer defect data management system, comprising:
- multiple wafer inspection instruments;
multiple wafer analysis tools;
means for collecting wafer defect data from multiple defects on wafers from each of said multiple wafer inspection instruments and said multiple wafer analysis tools;
conversion means associated with each of the multiple wafer inspection instruments and each of the multiple wafer analysis tools for converting the collected wafer defect data from each of said multiple wafer inspection instruments and said multiple wafer analysis tools from an instrument and tool specific format to a standard format;
a central database system with means for storing converted wafer defect data wherein the stored converted wafer defect data is retrievable based on selected criteria;
at least one user interface workstation wherein user selected converted wafer defect data can be analyzed in real time; and
means for transferring user selected converted wafer defect data from the central database system to the at least one user interface workstation.
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Abstract
An automated wafer defect management system in which wafer defect data are collected from wafer inspection instruments, converted into a standard data format and made available through a central database system to workstations for review, analysis, and evaluation.
221 Citations
40 Claims
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1. An automated wafer defect data management system, comprising:
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multiple wafer inspection instruments; multiple wafer analysis tools; means for collecting wafer defect data from multiple defects on wafers from each of said multiple wafer inspection instruments and said multiple wafer analysis tools; conversion means associated with each of the multiple wafer inspection instruments and each of the multiple wafer analysis tools for converting the collected wafer defect data from each of said multiple wafer inspection instruments and said multiple wafer analysis tools from an instrument and tool specific format to a standard format; a central database system with means for storing converted wafer defect data wherein the stored converted wafer defect data is retrievable based on selected criteria; at least one user interface workstation wherein user selected converted wafer defect data can be analyzed in real time; and means for transferring user selected converted wafer defect data from the central database system to the at least one user interface workstation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An automated wafer defect data management system, comprising:
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multiple wafer inspection instruments; multiple wafer analysis tools; a central database system; a network for transferring wafer defect data from multiple defects on wafers generated at each of the multiple wafer inspection instruments and each of the multiple wafer analysis tools to the central database system; a converter associated with each of the multiple wafer inspection instruments and each of the multiple wafer analysis tools to convert the wafer defect data generated at each of the multiple wafer inspection instruments and each of the multiple wafer analysis tools from an instrument and tool specific format to a standard format; a memory associated with the central database system to store the converted wafer defect data wherein the stored converted wafer defect data is retrievable via the network based on selected criteria; and at least one user interface workstation wherein user selected converted wafer defect data can be analyzed in real time. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method of automating wafer defect data management, the method comprising:
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collecting wafer defect data from multiple defects on wafers from multiple wafer inspection instruments; collecting wafer defect data from multiple defects on wafers from multiple analysis tools; transferring the collected wafer defect data from the multiple wafer inspection instruments and the multiple wafer analysis tools to a central database system via a network; converting the collected wafer defect data from the multiple wafer inspection instruments and the multiple wafer analysis tools from an instrument and tool specific format to a standard format; storing the converted collected wafer defect data in a memory associated with the central database system wherein the converted collected wafer defect data is retrievable based on selected criteria; and analyzing selected converted collected wafer defect data in real time at at least one user interface workstation. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification