IMPROVE : a new way to enhance process control

Kick-Off meeting of IMPROVE ENIAC Project in Erlangen (Germany)

IMPROVE (Implementing Manufacturing science solutions to increase equiPment pROductiVity and fab pErformance) is a focused 36 month project that answers to the "advanced line operations" industrial project of the sub-programme SP8 "Equipment & Materials for Nanoelectronics" of the present ENIAC call.

Maintaining cost decrease per function, reducing cycle times, improving reproductibility and equipment effectiveness while reducing the environmental impact of the factories are key challenges to be addressed to keep the competitiveness of European SC manufacturers. Manufacturing Science is the main enabler that will allow overcoming these challenges.

IMPROVE aims to improve European semiconductor fabs efficiency by providing methods and tools to better control the process variability, reduce the cycle time and enhance the effectiveness of the production equipment. To achieve these objectives, IMPROVE will focus on 3 major development axes.
 The development of Virtual Metrology techniques allowing the control of the process at wafer level whilst suppressing standard metrology steps.
 The development of Predictive Equipment Behaviour techniques to improve the process tools reliability whilst optimizing the maintenance frequency and increasing the equipment uptime.
 The development of Dynamic Risk Assessment and Dynamic Control Plan concepts, suppressing unnecessary measurements steps whilst dynamically improving the control plan efficiency.

For these 3 topics, Probayes will provide models for different process steps and equipment platforms in different manufacturing lines leading to the development of generic solutions.

The impact of the integration of the developed techniques in the various line decision systems and IT infrastructure will also be evaluated and assessed.

IMPROVE includes the major european semiconductor actors (STM, INFINEON, NUMONYX, INTEL, AMS,...), SMEs, academia and institutes.