Computer Aided Control of the Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Process

The characteristics of an integrated circuit manufacturing facility will be analyzed to determine in which areas computer aided tools will yield the highest benefits. A distributed transaction oriented process control system (PCS), with a flexible architecture for continuous expansion has been operational at several Hewlett-Packard IC facilities for five years. PCS includes a high-level, self-documenting process language editor for the definition of process recipes. Recipes are down-loaded from the central computer for the direct set-up and monitoring of equipment. In addition, PCS collects in-process measurements and tracking information into a wafer lot history file from which process engineers and supervisors can retrieve engineering and status information.