System and method of monitoring, predicting and optimizing production yields in a liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing process
AssigneeYieldBoost Tech, Inc.
InventorKyo Young Chung
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method of monitoring LCD production yields, predicting the effects of different testing methodologies on LCD production yields, and optimizing production yields is provided that compares the effect of different testing methodologies on the yields at various stages in the LCD testing and assembly process. The present invention can also be used to predict the effect of different testing methodologies on user-defined parameters, such as profit.
Claims19
A method of predicting a number of defective electrode array panels that will result during a manufacturing run in a liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing setup, wherein a plurality of electrode array panels are manufactured on a common substrate during the manufacturing run, comprising:
- determining a number of defects on the common substrate;
- and
- predicting a number of defective electrode panels based on the number of defects on the common substrate and a quantity of electrode array panels manufactured on the common substrate.
A method of predicting how many LCD cells manufactured during a manufacturing run in a liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing setup will be defective, wherein the LCD cells comprise electrode array panels, wherein a plurality of the electrode array panels are manufactured on a common substrate during the manufacturing run, and wherein the LCD manufacturing setup comprises an array test stage and a cell inspection stage, comprising:
- determining a number of electrode array panels classified as defective by the array test stage during an initial manufacturing run to yield test data;
- determining a number of LCD cells classified as defective by the cell inspection stage during the initial manufacturing run to yield cell inspection data;
- determining an under-killed defect parameter based on the test data and the cell inspection data;
- and
- predicting how many LCD cells manufactured during subsequent manufacturing runs are defective based on the test data and the under-killed defect parameter.
A system for predicting how many LCD cells manufactured during a manufacturing run in a liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing setup will be defective, wherein the LCD cells comprise electrode array panels, and wherein a plurality of the electrode array panels are manufactured on a common substrate during the manufacturing run, comprising:
- an array test stage for classifying electrode array panels as good or defective during an initial manufacturing run to yield test data;
- a cell inspection stage for classifying LCD cells as good or defective during the initial manufacturing run to yield cell inspection data;
- a processor for determining an under-killed defect parameter based on the test data and the cell inspection data, and for predicting how many LCD cells manufactured during subsequent manufacturing runs are defective based on the test data and the under-killed defect parameter.
An article of manufacture, comprising:
- a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for predicting how many LCD cells manufactured during a manufacturing run in a liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing setup will be defective, wherein the LCD cells comprise electrode array panels, wherein a plurality of the electrode array panels are manufactured on a common substrate during the manufacturing run, and wherein the LCD manufacturing setup comprises an array test stage and a cell inspection stage, the computer readable program code in the article of manufacture comprising:
- computer readable program code for causing a computer to determine a number of electrode array panels classified as defective by the array test stage during an initial manufacturing run to yield test data;
- computer readable program code for causing a computer to determine a number of LCD cells classified as defective by the cell inspection stage during the initial manufacturing run to yield cell inspection data;
- computer readable program code for causing a computer to determine an under-killed defect parameter based on the test data and the cell inspection data;
- and
- computer readable program code for causing a computer to predict how many LCD cells manufactured during subsequent manufacturing runs are defective based on the test data and the under-killed defect parameter.
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for predicting how many LCD cells manufactured during a manufacturing run in a liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing setup will be defective, wherein the LCD cells comprise electrode array panels, wherein a plurality of the electrode array panels are manufactured on a common substrate during the manufacturing run, and wherein the LCD manufacturing setup comprises an array test stage and a cell inspection stage, the method steps comprising:
- determining a number of electrode array panels classified as defective by the array test stage during an initial manufacturing run to yield test data;
- determining a number of LCD cells classified as defective by the cell inspection stage during the initial manufacturing run to yield cell inspection data;
- determining an under-killed defect parameter based on the test data and the cell inspection data;
- and
- predicting how many LCD cells manufactured during subsequent manufacturing runs are defective based on the test data and the under-killed defect parameter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.