Method and system for automated die yield prediction in semiconductor manufacturing
First Claim
1. A computer program for analyzing data associated with defects on a substrate, the substrate including multiple layers and multiple die, the computer program stored on a computer-readable medium, comprising:
- instructions for reading files containing defect data for selected layers of said substrate, said defect data including defect type and defect size information;
instructions for stacking said defect data to identify a layer of first occurrence of each defect and a count of layers upon which each defect is redetected, said defect data pertaining to occurrences on layers other than said layer of first occurrence being discarded;
instructions for assigning a kill factor to each defect that remains after stacking, according to a set of rules, each said rule specifying defect parameters that include layer of first occurrence, redetect count, defect size, and defect type; and
instructions for determining failure probabilities of the die according to kill factors assigned to said defects.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Method and a system for performing die yield prediction in cooperation with wafer scanning tools. A program analyzes data associated with defects on a wafer substrate, the substrate including multiple layers and multiple die. Files are read that contain defect data for selected layers of the substrate. The defect data includes defect type and defect size information. The defect data is then stacked to identify the layer of first occurrence of each defect and the number, i.e., count, of layers upon which it was redetected. A kill factor is then assigned to each of the defects according to a set of rules, each such rule specifying defect parameters that include layer of first occurrence, redetect count, defect size, and defect type. Failure probabilities, indicative of yield, are then computed for the defects according to the assigned kill factors. The failure probabilites are utilized to calculate the estimated die loss for selected wafers by layer and defect type.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A computer program for analyzing data associated with defects on a substrate, the substrate including multiple layers and multiple die, the computer program stored on a computer-readable medium, comprising:
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instructions for reading files containing defect data for selected layers of said substrate, said defect data including defect type and defect size information; instructions for stacking said defect data to identify a layer of first occurrence of each defect and a count of layers upon which each defect is redetected, said defect data pertaining to occurrences on layers other than said layer of first occurrence being discarded; instructions for assigning a kill factor to each defect that remains after stacking, according to a set of rules, each said rule specifying defect parameters that include layer of first occurrence, redetect count, defect size, and defect type; and instructions for determining failure probabilities of the die according to kill factors assigned to said defects. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for analyzing data associated with defects on a substrate, the substrate including multiple layers and multiple die, comprising the steps of:
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reading files containing defect data for selected layers of said substrate, said defect data including defect type and defect size information; stacking said defect data to identify a layer of first occurrence of each defect and a count of layers upon which each defectis redetected, said defect data pertaining to occurrences on layers other than said layer of first occurrence being discarded; assigning a kill factor to each defect that remains after stacking, according to a set of rules, each said rule specifying defect parameters that include layer of first occurrence, redetect count, defect size, and defect type; and determining failure probabilities of the die according to kill factors assigned to said defects. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer program for analyzing data associated with defects on a substrate, the substrate including multiple layers and multiple die, the computer program stored on a computer-readable medium, comprising:
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instructions for reading files containing defect data for selected layers of said substrate, said defect data including defect type and defect size information; instructions for estimating, from said defect data, defect type codes for unclassified ones of said defects on said substrate, extrapolated from classified ones of said defects on said substrate; instructions for stacking said defect data to identify a layer of first occurrence of each defect and a count of layers upon which each defect is redetected, said defect data pertaining to occurrences on layers other than said layer of first occurrence being discarded; instructions for assigning a kill factor to each that remains after stacking, according to a set of rules, each said rule specifying defect parameters that include layer of first occurrence, redetect count, defect size, and defect type; instructions for determining failure probabilities of the die according to kill factors assigned to said defects; and instructions for determining from said failure probabilities the estimated die loss for said substrate. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification