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US 2004/0111180 A1Published application
In-situ randomization and recording of wafer processing order at process tools
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorsRandolph W. Kahn, Kenneth G. Vickers, Richard L. Guldi, Edward J. Leonard, Yaojian Leng
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Wafer order is randomized in-situ by use of a separate wafer staging area and randomly shuffling wafers to and from this staging area to shuffle the processing order of the wafer lot. Positional data is captured for each wafer at both the send and receive ends of the process.
Claims26
A method of wafer processing, comprising the steps of:
- when a wafer lot arrives at a processing tool in a send cassette, randomizing said lot by transporting individual wafers thereof
- variously,
- within said tool,
- from said cassette
- either to a processing position or
- to a wafer staging area.
3 more elements
A method of wafer processing, comprising the steps of:
- when a wafer lot arrives at a processing tool in a send cassette, randomizing said lot by transporting individual wafers thereof
- variously,
- within said tool,
- from said cassette to a processing position,
- or from said cassette to a wafer staging area, if said wafer staging area is empty,
- or from said wafer staging area to said processing position.
3 more elements
A method of wafer processing, comprising the steps of:
- when a wafer lot arrives at a processing tool in a send cassette, randomizing said lot by transporting individual wafers thereof
- variously,
- within said tool,
- from said cassette
- either to a processing position or
- to a wafer staging area.
3 more elements
A method of wafer processing, comprising the steps of:
- randomizing a wafer lot by transporting individual wafers thereof
- variously,
- within a processing tool,
- from a processing position to a wafer cassette,
- from a wafer staging area to a wafer cassette,
- or from said processing position to said wafer staging area.
3 more elements
A fabrication method, comprising the steps of:
- varying the history of wafers within a lot by transporting individual ones thereof
- within a processing tool with multiple processing chambers,
- among said chambers and wafer cassette and/or staging locations in various different sequences.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.