Achieving Zero Defect Manufacturing Part 2: Finding Defect Sources

Semiconductor manufacturing creates a wealth of data – from materials, products, factory subsystems and equipment. But how do we best utilize that information to optimize processes and reach the goal of zero defect manufacturing?

This is a topic we first explored in our previous blog, “Achieving Zero Defect Manufacturing Part 1: Detect & Classify.” In it, we examined real-time defect classification at the defect, die and wafer level. In this blog, the second in our three-part series, we will discuss how to use root cause analysis to determine the source of defects. For starters, we will address the software tools needed to properly conduct root cause analysis for a faster understanding of visual, non-visual and latent defect sources.