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System to identify a wafer manufacturing problem and method therefor

  • US 6,885,977 B2
  • Filed: 12/20/2002
  • Issued: 04/26/2005
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2002
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A method for determining a response to a wafer manufacturing process problem, the method comprising the steps of:

  • generating a wafer map signature corresponding to a wafer that contains defect attributes associated with a wafer manufacturing process;

    retrieving one or more stored wafer map signatures from a database, wherein each of the one or more stored wafer man signatures include a description of process tools and/or equipment that the wafer was exposed to prior to signature capture;

    matching said wafer map signature with said one or more stored wafer map signatures from said database;

    calculating a conditional probability distribution of a process tool type or a determined wafer defect type based on the wafer map signature to be identified; and

    combining the calculation with a wafer map signature similarity metric to arrive at a probabilistic recommendation of the wafer manufacturing process to be corrected.

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