Method and system for improving process control for semiconductor manufacturing operations

A method for configuring manufacturing tools in a semiconductor manufacturing flow, the method comprising:

• collecting information with regard to one or more product performance features associated with a processing step performed in each run of a process tool;
• determining one or more undesired process tool performance excursion patterns based on the collected information;
• adjusting one or more operational and processing parameters of the process tool at the end of each run based on the determined undesired process tool performance excursion patterns;
• monitoring one or more of the operational and processing parameters of the process tool while conducting the processing step;
• real-time detecting and classifying non-conformance faults of the monitored operational and processing parameters;
• correlating the classified non-conformance faults with the determined excursion patterns;
• and
• adjusting one or more of the operational and processing parameters of the process tool dynamically based on the correlated non-conformance faults and the determined excursion patterns,
• wherein the adjustments made dynamically and at the end of each run complement each other for better configuring of the process tool.

A system for configuring manufacturing tools in a semiconductor manufacturing flow, the system comprising:

• a metrology tool for collecting information with regard to one or more product performance features associated with a processing step performed by a process tool;
• a process controller for determining one or more undesired process tool performance excursion patterns based on the collected information;
• a fault detection and classification module for monitoring operational and processing parameters of the process tool while conducting the processing step and for real-time detecting and classifying non-conformance faults of the monitored operational and processing parameters;
• and
• a fault detection and classification controller for correlating the classified non-conformance faults with the determined excursion patterns for adjusting one or more of the operational and processing parameters of the process tool dynamically.