HandMon-ISPM: handling monitoring in a loading station of a furnace

When loading and unloading wafers in semiconductor process furnaces, particles from coatings may flake from wafer edges, wafer surfaces, or the boat. This effect is frequently not detected in time. Using an experimental setup, the particle generation and transport behavior was investigated. Based on these investigations, a prototype of an ISPM system was designed and integrated into the loading station of a vertical production furnace. The handling system of the furnace was characterized and monitored my means of the ISPM system and a correlation with wafer surface particle test data was found.