Industry News, Trends and Technology, and Standards Updates

I had the privilege of speaking at the annual Advanced Process Control and Manufacturing (APCM) Europe conference in April of this year. The conference supports manufacturers, suppliers and scientific community of semiconductor, photovoltaic, LED, flat panel, MEMS, and other related industries. The topics are focused on current challenges and future needs of Advanced Process Control and Manufacturing Effectiveness. The theme of this year’s conference was From Reactive to Predictive - from SPC to Model-Based Process Control.

My presentation was entitled Fingerprinting and FDC: First Cousins in the Equipment Productivity Family. One of the areas I covered in that presentation was how the whole concept of fingerprinting came about.

I’ve written about Equipment Health Monitoring, also known as fingerprinting, previously – see my blog post about Fingerprinting at SEMICON West at SEMICON West Follow Up: ISMI Fingerprinting Project. While the term fingerprinting has only recently been applied to this technology, the use of this type of application goes back a decade to the advent of Equipment Engineering Systems (EES), when the first major implementation of that technology was in the Renesas factory in Naka, Japan.

The basic idea was that semiconductor manufacturers could learn a great deal by collecting detailed trace and event information from the equipment to understand the behavior of low-level mechanisms, with the assumption that if the low-level mechanisms were exhibiting proper behaviors, then the entire machine would be operating within its specifications. This is the fundamental idea behind fingerprinting.

Back in 2003, when Renesas was implementing their EES program, there were no good standards for collecting low-level, high-speed trace information, and so the Renesas engineers expended a great deal of effort generating custom interfaces to collect trace and event data they could then feed into a common database. However, as they pursued the effort, they showed what kinds of analysis of the collected data could give them insight into the performance of their fab’s equipment.

As this idea gained traction, Shigeru Kobayashi one of the industry thought leaders at Renesas, proposed through the ITRS and SEMATECH to create a program around the idea of using detailed trace information to improve the equipment quality over time. This suggestion triggered the inception of the EEQA (Enhanced Equipment Quality Assurance) program.

The basic idea of the EEQA program, as it was with EES, was to collect low-level trace information about equipment mechanisms. That data could be shared with the equipment suppliers to show them how the equipment was operating in a production situation in order to improve the design and performance of the machines over time.

The EEQA program lasted more than 3 years at ISMI. There were a number of studies regarding the specific information that equipment engineers and fab engineers could use to characterize different equipment mechanisms and components. There were even a couple of prototypes developed to show how that information could be collected, modeled, and visualized and reported. However, the structural problem with the program was that it placed expectations on the OEMs regarding the amount of data that would need to be collected (and the effort involved in enabling this) without clearly showing the benefit to these suppliers. Consequently, the EEQA program lost support and lay fallow for a while.

However, the basic ideas of EEQA were preserved and folded into a subsequent SEMATECH umbrella program called equipment health monitoring (EHM). However, the energy for the program happened when someone attached an intuitive label to this notion of characterizing a component with its raw data. People attached the term “fingerprint” to that basic model, and the idea of grouping these trace values into a fingerprinting model that would have a specific value that manufacturing can track over time made the basic idea easier to understand and support. When EEQA was re-characterized and re-labeled as fingerprinting, the concept, and understanding the benefit that accrues from collecting and analyzing low-level trace data, finally took hold.

There was one other vital step necessary for the program to catch on in people’s minds. Equipment suppliers and fabs realized that to do predictive maintenance, as well as other health monitoring activities, they needed the data that they could collect using fingerprinting. With the basic concept of a fingerprint understood, and the recognition of the real value that collecting and analyzing the data would provide, both the equipment suppliers and the semiconductor manufacturers began to recognize the need for Equipment Health Monitoring, or fingerprinting.

The key component of any successful fingerprinting program is in-depth equipment domain knowledge, whether that comes from the OEM or from extensive use of that equipment at a specific fab. The OEM is the best official source, but the program can be initiated by the end user as well.

I will discuss more about the presentation at APCM Europe in my next blog post. Stay tuned.

By Dave Faulkner

Executive VP, Sales and Marketing, Cimetrix

Back in October of 2012, the outlook for the semiconductor equipment industry was dominated by dark clouds. First, the U.S. and European economies were in the doldrums, and there was a great deal of discussion about an economic slowdown in the China. But the economy was not the only factor that weighed upon the industry. There was also a significant amount of uncertainty about what was happening with the personal computer market. Demand for PCs was dropping, which impacted not just microprocessors, but DRAMs as well.

With all the news about the global economic health and the trends in PCs, analysts were calling for a significant fall-off in semiconductor equipment orders. Gartner, in October of last year, forecasted 2012 would end with a 13% drop in equipment revenue from 2011 levels, and that 2013 would be flat to slightly down. (See Semi Equip Spending To Drop 13.3% In 2012, Gartner Says).

However, the story became even worse. In December, Gartner’s forecast changed to a drop of 17% in revenue in 2012 and a further decrease of 10% in 2013 (Gartner: Fab equipment still getting softer, next up cycle starts in 2014). SEMI’s forecasts for 2012 and 2013 reflected a similar decline of 12% and 2%, respectively (See Semiconductor New Equipment Market $38.2 Billion for 2012; Recovery in 2014.

Analysts were so focused on the bad news that they did not consider the good news coming out. For example, the drop in PCs was accompanied by an increase in demand for tablet computers and smartphones, both of which used processors, flash memory, and mobile communications chips. Just a couple of months after the dismal forecasts, the three largest semiconductor manufacturers announced their intent to continue or increase equipment expenditures.

When industry analysts started to see some of the brighter signs, the picture improved. In January, SEMI called for a flat to down year, with an uptick in the second half of 2013 (In 2013, Fab Equipment Spending for Front-End Fabs to Shrink Back to 0% Growth). Here is what they predicted, effectively forecasting 0% growth in 2013:

While 0% growth does not sound very good by itself, it certainly sounds better than down 10% or more!

In January 2013, market analysts were calling for a strong increase in semiconductor device sales, led primarily by communications chips (See EETimes: Semi Upswing Seen in 2013). TSMC described plans to increase their capital expenditures by 8% to a record $9 billion for 28nm production and initial 20nm technology. Intel announced they would invest $13 billion in 2013, including $2 billion on construction of a 450mm facility. Samsung even stated they would invest $11-$12 billion in 2013, approximately what they spent in 2012.

In addition, Applied Materials’ latest quarterly report showed a strong forecast, up 15-25% (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/applied-materials-announces-first-quarter-210302893.html). In SEMI’s February and March 2013 semiconductor book-to-bill reports, we had some very good news, showing the market for equipment growing with a robust book-to-bill of 1.10 for each month.

Over the last four months, we have seen a significant shift in the semiconductor industry forecast, from a flat-to-down year to an overall positive year for semiconductor equipment revenue. When we look at history of the semiconductor equipment industry over the last 15 years, we see how the industry cycles up and down. It is our belief we are currently experiencing the industry trough, when capital equipment sales are at their lowest in the cycle and they are about to trend upwards. At this point, it is difficult to forecast accurately what that increase will be, but we think the trends are positive.

Stay tuned and we will continue to update the story.

by Rob Schreck
Cimetrix Marketing Manager

We are seeing a significant increase in interest in the SEMI EDA/Interface A standards because semiconductor fabs have recognized they can turn the available data into useful and actionable information. For example, take a look at the recent blog post from David Francis on the adoption of EDA. One of the most important aspects of the use of the Interface A standards is that the semiconductor fabs and equipment suppliers need to communicate clearly with each other about which freeze version they will implement and how they will go about testing the connection.

Because of the Cimetrix experience and expertise in the use of, and software to implement, this standard, we are in a position to support the engineering community as they learn more about what is required to comply with EDA/Interface A.

We have recently updated our white paper on the Introduction to the SEMI EDA/Interface A standards white paper, and we encourage everyone using standards or finding out more about them to download the white paper.

By David Francis

Product Manager

Shortly after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan last March, I read an article that talked about the impact to the semiconductor fab lines in Japan. The article indicated that even those Japanese facilities not directly hit by the crisis were still dealing with power outages and aftershocks. The article also talked about how Japan is the leading producer of the raw silicon used in semiconductor manufacturing. It seemed clear that the effects of the disaster would be felt throughout the semiconductor industry.

I had the opportunity to travel to Japan a couple of weeks ago to visit our distributors and customers. It has been a few months since that article was written, so I was curious to see how things were progressing.  I had heard that the Japanese government had requested businesses to take steps to reduce power consumption by 15% to help avoid possible blackouts due to the loss of the power from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi power plant that was damaged by the tsunami last March. Recent news articles also mentioned that companies could be fined if they didn’t hit the reduced power targets. Hearing all this, I wasn’t sure what I would find once I arrived in Japan.

What I found was a country moving forward and doing what was necessary to keep things progressing toward a full recovery. One example is how practices that had been ingrained in the culture over many years were changing as a response to power shortages.  For example, businesses were responding to the government’s requests and turned up the thermostats. Several of our meetings were held in conference rooms where the thermostat read 27°C (about 80°F). In some meetings the air conditioning was turned off altogether.

Another change that was surprising was the change in how people dressed. The Japanese government started the “Super Cool Biz” campaign and asked businesses to change many of their ingrained practices, including a dress code that encouraged short-sleeve shirts instead of suits and ties! Many of the companies I visited also had signs in their lobbies that talked about “Cool Biz.” Everyone seemed to be on board with the initiative – it was mentioned in most of the meetings I attended.

Here is a picture of Dave Faulkner, Kerry Iwamoto, and our Cimetrix Japan financial staff:

It is amazing to see how people in Japan pull together when times are tough.  There is no doubt the recovery process will take years. I don’t know what the full effect will be to the semiconductor industry, but the semiconductor equipment companies visited on this trip were all working with determined focus to meet their shipment schedules. The distributors and integrators I met with are continuing to plan for and execute projects to install equipment in new factories.

xby David Francis
Product Manager, Connectivity Products

Back in the 1990s, Joe Diffie released an album titled “Third Rock from the Sun.”  I have to admit I liked the title song, especially the chorus:

“Cause and effect, chain of events
All of the chaos makes perfect sense
When you're spinning round
Things come undone
Welcome to Earth 3rd rock from the Sun.”

At the time, I was working with Motorola in Austin developing host-side cell control applications for one of their new fabs.  Motorola had implemented some rudimentary equipment control and data collection in their older fabs, but the standards were loosely defined at that time and the equipment interfaces were inconsistent. We realized we could not replicate the work implemented in the old fabs into the new fabs, yet we did not have solid standards to use for the new fabs.  As the song said, we were “spinning round” in this chaos.

What eventually drove more clarification in the GEM/GEM300 standards was the industry-wide push to move to fully automated 300mm IC manufacturing.  The larger wafers offer much greater productivity and throughput, with significantly lower cost per die, and SEMI wanted to ensure the industry had a well-understood and approved interface standard for the equipment used to manufacture semiconductors on these much larger wafers.  Those new standards made it easier and more cost effective to create the host-side cell control applications.  Now the chaos started to “make perfect sense.”

Embracing the GEM/GEM300 standards allowed IC manufacturers to purchase standard software components to analyze manufacturing processes and identify opportunities to increase productivity.  In other words, they wanted to bring order to all the chaos.  The alternative – developing their own data analysis applications for each fab – would have been very expensive and time consuming.  SEMI brought order to the scene by offering the GEM/GEM300 standards that all the equipment vendors and fabs could use.  Now OEMs could develop equipment needed for automated wafer processing with the confidence fabs could install the machines and link them to their networks.  Fabs could increase throughput and drive down cost per die, and, just as important, gather data necessary to increase manufacturing efficiencies even more.

Fast forward twenty years, and we see a very similar situation, this time caused by the impressive growth in Photovoltaic cell and LED manufacturing.  The fabs in those industries need more advanced equipment to increase throughput and drive down unit costs in order to meet demand.  However, up to this date, both sectors are reluctant to adopt the GEM standards.  They are concerned those standards may be too big and complex for their processes, which are simpler than the current state-of-the-art semiconductor fab processes.  Once again, we see the chaos that occurs with explosive growth and companies seeking a solution to bring order to their processes.

Since I’ve seen this story before - and heard the music played time and time again - I know that adopting communication standards will help PV and LED manufacturers continue their drive to reduce unit costs and drive demand.  The effort is underway in the PV sector with the PV2 standard.  The LED sector should also look to adopt existing standards, or do what the PV sector has done and develop their own standards.  Either way, we know that standards help all the “chaos make perfect sense.”

By: Bill Grey
Director of R&D, Cimetrix Inc.

One of the hurdles people new to the semiconductor equipment industry need to overcome is learn how to establish a physical connection between the fab network and new equipment.  To help people, we have developed a primer to provide the foundation for how to do that.

The primer provides a background for SECS/GEM communication over HSMS by describing how to configure the connections, the terminology involved, troubleshooting, and common messages.

In a factory SECS/GEM implementation, there are two parties, the host, and equipment.  The equipment runs GEM interface software, which must implement and comply with the SEMI standards, on one of its computers.  The manufacturer (factory) runs GEM host software that establishes communication with the equipment's GEM interface.

The SECS Messaging Primer is a companion to the Introduction to the SECS/GEM standard white paper available on the Cimetrix SEMI Standards web page.  That white paper provides an overview of the SEMI SECS/GEM standard. 

by Dave Faulkner

Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing

Cimetrix Japan K.K. was officially incorporated on November 25, 2010.  The purpose of this new company is to demonstrate commitment to the Japanese OEM market, have a dedicated staff to grow Cimetrix business in cooperation with our distribution partners, and to provide even stronger customer support.  The company's directors will be Bob Reback, Dave Faulkner, Jodi Juretich and Kerry Iwamoto. 

The company will be managed by Mr. Kerry Iwamoto as General Manager and Representative Director.   Mr. Iwamoto started his association with Cimetrix as a customer when he worked for Innotech designing semiconductor process equipment.  Recently, he has worked for Cimetrix distributors CIM, ONC and Rorze.  Mr. Iwamoto brings a strong background in the semiconductor industry and Cimetrix products along with close relationships with existing Cimetrix customers in Japan.

Watch for more news as we launch Cimetrix Japan.

By Dave Faulkner

Executive VP, Sales and Marketing, Cimetrix

We had a strong showing at SEMICON Japan at the Makuhari Messe December 1 - 3.  Attendance was brisk, and Cimetrix products were on display at both the Meiden and the Rorze booths.  This event was a great opportunity for us, since we have just started Cimetrix Japan K.K. effective November 25, 2010.  The new Cimetrix company will provide both new market development and customer support for the Japan marketplace.

In the Meiden booth, Cimetrix EDA/Interface A products were on display.  In addition, Meiden highlighted the partnership between Meiden, DSD, and Cimetrix, which allows DSD and Meiden to offer complete EDA solutions using Cimetrix technology.  These solutions are available to both equipment suppliers and IC manufacturers, and Meiden listed the benefits and sample architectures for each group. 

 Cimetrix CIMControlFramework (CCF) was on display at the Rorze booth running a complete 450mm vacuum platform.  Many visitors stopped to watch this powerful demonstration.  Cimetrix products were also highlighted, along with Rorze’s unique ability to deliver a complete hardware/software platform solution for equipment suppliers using Rorze and Cimetrix technology. 

 One other highlight of the show was visiting the Axcelis booth where they highlighted their Integra plasma dry strip cleaning system that uses the Cimetrix CIMControlFramework. 

We also learned at the show that a new top 20 OEM in Japan would adopt Cimetrix connectivity products.  It is great to see how companies are using our solutions to get to their products up and running in wafer fabs around the world.

Thanks to all those people who stopped by the booths.  Please let us know if you need more information about Cimetrix connectivity or tool control solutions.

by David Francis
Product Manager

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to work with some large semiconductor companies, including, Intel, Motorola, Lucent, and Siltronic.  I developed interface acceptance tests for equipment they purchased.  At that time, the SEMI SECS/GEM standards were still new and not widely adopted.  Many of the tool vendors had little or no previous experience writing SECS/GEM interfaces, and they were often uncertain about the details of the standards, along with worrying about how they could comply with them.  Chief among the vendors’ concerns was how they could meet their design schedules without loading down their engineering teams with this new requirement placed upon them. 

Over the intervening years I worked in the scheduling and dispatching area of automated semiconductor manufacturing, and in that time I lost track of the SECS/GEM standards and their adoption by the wafer fabs.

Recently I joined Cimetrix as Product Manager for the connectivity and tool automation products, and now I am back in the world of SECS/GEM standards.  A lot has changed since those early years, as fabs moved from 200mm to 300mm, and now considering 450mm wafer fabrication.  In addition, the geometries have shrunk from 1 micron down to 40nm and below.  However, I still see many of the same industry concerns as I did many years ago, even though there has been little change to the SECS/GEM standards.

The real change I see is the wide spread adoption of the SECS/GEM standard.  Previously, only a few leading edge companies requested SECS/GEM interfaces on their tools and were working feverishly to set up host-side equipment controls.  Today, SECS/GEM is well rooted in 300mm semiconductor manufacturing and tool vendors have very mature automation interfaces.

The move to 300mm processing created an ideal opportunity for the development and adoption of the GEM300 standards. Building new 300mm tools created an ideal environment for designing in the GEM300 standards right from the start.

More recently, new standards, like Interface A, have emerged from their R&D phase and are now going through the same refining process that SECS/GEM went through a decade ago.  These new standards will continue to support the industry’s efforts to create more efficient devices, at ever-decreasing geometries, with increased reliability and yield quality.

It is exciting to be working with these standards again and looking at them from the other end of the wire – the tool-side as opposed to my previous fab-side experience.  I look forward to writing more about how the tool vendors are adopting, and demonstrating compliance, to the new standards.

We've returned home from the show... tired, but excited about some of the great discussions and opportunities from the show! Although it was evident that SEMICON West is changing, it was also clear that the industry is rebounding and many new projects are getting underway.

Here a couple of quick snap shots of our booth:

We will be following up with visitors and customers this week. If you saw us at the show, thanks for stopping by and we look forward to continuing the conversation!