System and method for integrated data transfer, archiving and purging of semiconductor wafer data

A method for the integrated archiving, restoring, purging, importing and exporting of semiconductor wafer data for use in silicon manufacturing and device fabrication processes, comprising the steps of:

• communicating over a network;
• acquiring scan data from differing types of semiconductor wafer scanning tools using a data acquisition system, the data acquisition system being capable of communicating over the communications path;
• providing temporary storage and fault tolerance for scan data transmitted over the network from the data acquisition system by using a buffer system;
• providing storage for the scan data transmitted from the buffer system over the network using a server system, the server system converting the scan data into a format used by and stored in a database management system;
• and
• analyzing scan data using an analysis system client station including a display and communicating with the server system over the network, the analysis system and the server system being capable of managing the purging, archiving, restoring, importing and exporting of scan data, wherein the analysis system comprises a composite wafer analysis module which permits scan data from multiple wafers to be overlaid into a single wafer dataset;
• wherein the step of managing further comprises the step of using an archive and restore tool for ingesting archived scan data from a designated database and restoring it to a designated database in a designated location;
• wherein the step of managing further comprises the step of managing scan data between at least two plants using a multi-plant data management system capable of transferring and sharing scan data between different physical sites;
• wherein the step of using a multi-plant data management system further comprises the step of a user directing the archive and restore tool to export scan data to at least one other site so that scan data from at least two sites can be reviewed for process optimization.

A software program product implemented on a processor readable medium including instructions performed on a data processor for the integrated archiving, restoring, purging, importing and exporting of semiconductor wafer data for use in silicon manufacturing and device fabrication processes, the instructions comprising:

• instructions for communicating over a network;
• instructions for acquiring scan data from differing types of semiconductor wafer scanning tools, the data acquisition system being capable of communicating over the network;
• instructions for providing temporary storage and fault tolerance for scan data transmitted over the network from the data acquisition system by using a buffer system;
• instructions for providing storage for the scan data transmitted from the buffer system over the network using a server system, the server system converting the scan data into a format used by and stored in a database management system;
• instructions for analyzing scan data using an analysis system client station including a display and communicating with the server system over the network, the analysis system and the server system being capable of managing the purging, archiving, restoring, importing and exporting of scan data, wherein the analysis system comprises a composite wafer analysis module which permits scan data from multiple wafers to be overlaid into a single wafer dataset;
• instructions for using an archive and restore tool for ingesting archived scan data from a designated database and restoring it to a designated database in a designated location;
• instructions for managing scan data between at least two plants using a multi-plant data management system capable of transferring and sharing scan data between different physical sites;
• instructions for directing the archive and restore tool to export scan data to at least one other site so that scan data from at least two sites can be reviewed for process optimization.