Equipment modeling for plasma etch process using artificial neural network

Nowadays, more and more electronic and communication devices have been introduced to the consumer. Those gadgets, such as cellular phone, fax, modem, computers, etc., have made our life easier and more comfortable. However, at the backdrop of the development of those facilities, the burden is on the engineers who fabricate those specialized chips, each of which has its own features, characteristics, and electrical properties. Inevitably, it is the job of those engineers, who particularly are in process development groups, to search for the best and most cost-effective among different and various ways and means to fabricate those chips. With a specific look at the wafer fabrication, it is evident that the process development is a very costly activity. Therefore, in this study, the artificial neural network (with help from a genetic algorithm) is introduced as an alternative simulation technique, which can help process engineers reduce the development time and cost.