Integrated Automation Solution Driving Zero Yield Loss under Reticle Management

In an advanced IC fab, doing a reticle inspection is a well-known method to secure reticle quality, while reticle related issues which easily lead to yield loss or productivity impact are still reported time to time. Most of these issues come from human induced errors and fundamentally cannot be avoided by manual way, like defect misclassification and incorrect reticle disposition. The situation has become worse as Resolution Enhancement Technology (RET) and Source Mask Optimization (SMO) techniques are adopted. To prevent this situation, a comprehensive systematic intelligent solution which covers appropriate recipe auto generation, smart task assignment and reticle precise disposition has been developed and verified on KLA TeraScan™ tools. All the sub-systems contribute to production capacity expansion and secure the yield. The integrated flow has proven to be invaluable and is now deployed in high volume reticle manufacturing production.