Graphical user interface for presenting multivariate fault contributions

• US 7,765,020 B2
• Filed: 05/04/2007
• Issued: 07/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Schwarm, Alexander T., Lin, Y. Sean
• Primary Examiner(s): DeCady; Albert
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lee; Douglas S
• Application Number:
  US11/800,462
• Publication Number:
  US 20080276136A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,180 Days
• Field of Search: 700/80, 700108-111, 700/121, 702 84- 85, 702/179, 702181-185, 370/221, 709/214, 714/25, 714/27, 714/56, 714/57
• US Class Current: 700/108
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/45031 Manufacturing semiconductor wafers
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0267 Fault communication, e.g. human machine interface [HMI]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/80 Management or planning

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for presenting multivariate fault contributions in a user interface are described. A user interface is provided to illustrate a fault for a sample manufactured by a process containing multiple variables, each having at least two components. The user interface presents one group of components of the multiple variables in a first axis and a second group of components of the multiple variables in a second axis and graphically illustrates contributions to the fault associated with the multiple variables by associating a contribution of each component in the one group of components of the multiple variables to each corresponding component in the second group of components of the multiple variables.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

providing a user interface to illustrate a fault for a sample manufactured by a process containing multiple variables, each of the multiple variables comprises at least two components;

presenting in the user interface the multiple variables, one group of components of the multiple variables in a first axis and a second group of components of the multiple variables in a second axis, wherein areas on the user interface where different ones of the one group of components of the multiple variables on the first axis intersect with the different ones of the second group of components of the multiple variables on the second axis are cells;

illustrating, graphically in the user interface, contributions to the fault that are associated with the multiple variables by associating contributions of components in the one group of components of the multiple variables to corresponding components in the second group of components of the multiple variables; and

providing visual indications of fault contributions of components for corresponding cells.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the multiple variables contains same components but representations of each of the components are different for different variables.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein each component include at least one of a sensor, a statistic, and a recipe step.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein each component includes one or more subcomponents.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein each cell is further subdivided.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein each subdivision of the cell further comprises an additional component or subcomponent not represented in the one group of components and the second group of components.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the user interface is presented in two dimensions or three dimensions.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein providing a visual indication of a fault contribution for each cell comprises the visual indication is provided using at least one of different colors, different symbols, different patterns, different shading, different values or any combination thereof.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein each color is associated with a range defining a level of contribution to the fault.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein each contribution to the fault is in a linear scale.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein each contribution to the fault is in a logarithmic scale.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein each contribution to the fault is in a scale defined by a user including a scale that may be a combination of different scales.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

presenting additional information based on the at least one contribution displayed in the user interface.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

presenting a cause of the fault used for classifying the fault into a fault class and further into a fault signature.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the fault class is one of many pre-determined causes of the fault.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the fault signature specifies a ranked list of subset of process variables having greatest statistical contributions to the fault class and is in order of relative magnitudes of respective contributions.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the fault, after classified, is used to suppress future false alarms with the fault signature.

18. An apparatus, comprising:

means for providing a user interface to illustrate a fault for a sample manufactured by a process containing multiple variables, each of the multiple variables comprises at least two components;

means for presenting in the user interface the multiple variables, one group of components of the multiple variables in a first axis and a second group of components of the multiple variables in a second axis, wherein areas on the user interface where different ones of the one group of components of the multiple variables on the first axis intersect with the different ones of the second group of components of the multiple variables on the second axis are cells;

means for illustrating, graphically in the user interface, contributions to the fault that are associated with the multiple variables by associating contributions of components in the one group of components of the multiple variables to corresponding components in the second group of components of the multiple variables; and

means for providing visual indications of fault contributions of components for corresponding cells.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein each of the multiple variables contains same components but representations of each of the components are different for different variables.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein each component include at least one of a sensor, a statistic, and a recipe step.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein providing a visual indication of a fault contribution for each cell comprises the visual indication is provided using at least one of different colors, different symbols, different patterns, different shading, different values or any combination thereof.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein each color is associated with a range defining a level of contribution to the fault.

23. A machine-accessible medium that provides instructions that, if executed by a machine, will cause the machine to perform operations, comprising:

providing a user interface to illustrate a fault for a sample manufactured by a process containing multiple variables, each of the multiple variables comprises at least two components;

presenting in the user interface the multiple variables, one group of components of the multiple variables in a first axis and a second group of components of the multiple variables in a second axis, wherein areas on the user interface where different ones of the one group of components of the multiple variables on the first axis intersect with the different ones of the second group of components of the multiple variable on the second axis are cells;

illustrating, graphically in the user interface, contributions to the fault that are associated with the multiple variables by associating contributions of components in the one group of components of the multiple variables to corresponding components in the second group of components of the multiple variables; and

providing visual indications of fault contributions of component for corresponding cells.

24. The machine-accessible medium of claim 23 wherein each of the multiple variables contains same components but representations of each of the components are different for different variables.

25. The machine-accessible medium of claim 24 wherein each component include at least one of a sensor, a statistic, and a recipe step.

26. A system comprising:

a database to store data pertaining to faults; and

a GUI generator, coupled with the database, to

provide a user interface to illustrate a fault for a sample manufactured by a process containing multiple variables, each of the multiple variables comprises at least two components,

present in the user interface the multiple variables, one group of components of the multiple variables in a first axis and a second group of components of the multiple variables in a second axis, wherein areas on the user interface where different ones of the group of components of the multiple variables on the first axis intersect with the different ones of the second group of components of the multiple variables on the second axis are cells,

illustrate, graphically in the user interface, contributions to the fault that are associated with the multiple variables by associating contributions of components in the one group of components of the multiple variables to corresponding components in the second group of components of the multiple variables, and

providing visual indications of fault contributions of components for corresponding cells.