Method and system for evaluating a machine tool operating characteristics

A system for evaluating a performance of a machine tool while manufacturing microelectronic devices comprising:

• a computing system including at least one processor and at least one memory device coupled to the at least one processor,
• wherein the computing system is configured to:
• generate at least one heat map having rows that correspond to sensors implemented in said machine tool, columns that correspond to trace data obtained during recipe steps representing a process used to fabricate said microelectronic devices and cells at the intersection of said rows and said columns;
• assign each row of said heat map to a sensor;
• assign each column of said heat map to a recipe step;
• use at least one sensor for obtaining trace data of a recipe step while manufacturing at least one microelectronic device;
• analyze the obtained trace data to determine a level of operational interest found in the obtained trace data;
• assign a score to the trace data that indicates a determined level of operational interest;
• associate the score with a corresponding cell of the heat map;
• and
• access said score in said cell for evaluating the machine tool performance, said accessed score representing a measurement mismatch or measurement drift as compared to identically operating machine tools.