Pervasive integrated material handling in 300 mm semiconductor manufacturing

The semiconductor industry´s transition to 300 mm manufacturing has created many new challenges for factory automation. The increased wafer size has introduced ergonomic concerns and operational challenges leading companies to pursue a pervasive automated lot delivery infrastructure capable of supporting lot movement and processing scenarios in both technology development and high volume manufacturing. This paper will trace the evolution in the automation of 300 mm lot processing operations across the 130 nm and 90 nm process technology nodes in Intel´s first 300 mm technology development fab, and review the specific cost benefits achieved. Breakthroughs in the automation of lot delivery and storage and elimination of manual lot processing tasks has demonstrated tool output increases of 50% and step cycle time reductions of 40%. Further, a direct labor savings of 10% has been obtained as compared to previous technology generations.