Integrating CAM and process simulation to enhance on-line analysis and control of IC fabrication

The integration of a process simulator with a commercial computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) system to provide a set of powerful tools for process analysis, diagnosis, and control is described. The CAM system acts as the interface to the simulator and maintains the simulation control data as part of the process specification. Making process simulation available in a manufacturing environment allows engineers to intuitively investigate the process, thus aiding their understanding of the interrelation of process steps. A microprocessing scenario in an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) facility is used to demonstrate how the system can be used to analyze options for corrective processing. It can also be used for documenting processes, to simplify process transfer and implementation, and for investigating the effect of corrective processing on device reliability.<
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