Automating after develop inspection

One of the few areas in the semiconductor manufacturing process where a mistake can still be corrected is the photolithography process module. If a faulty resist pattern is detected prior to being permanently etched, the resist pattern can be stripped and re-imaged. Historically, lots were manually inspected prior to leaving the photolithography module (after develop inspection) so as to detect any problems requiring rework. Automated inspections have been widely adopted at the after etch steps and at the films/deposition operations. This paper will describe the successful automation of the after develop inspection operation at AMD Fab 25 in Austin, Texas.