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A common electronic language could allow designers and manufacturers to efficiently share data to reduce the complexity of equipment installation.
Introduction
The diversity and complexity of semiconductor production equipment creates challenges for facility design and tool installation. Information on semiconductor production equipment installation drives everything in a fabrication facility. In the past, there were no industry standards for communicating this equipment information between semiconductor manufacturers, equipment suppliers, and facility designers. As fast-track construction became common in the industry, the availability of information became critical for design. Consequently, design firms have developed custom programs to reduce the time for compiling production equipment information. Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) has developed a document entitled SEMI E6, Guide for Semiconductor Installation Documentation that enhances the communication of equipment information in a standardized way. Currently SEMI E6 is in paper format. A standard electronic version is needed to improve communication regarding production equipment information between the various project participants. CREATE, a research consortium for advanced technology facility design and construction at Arizona State University, developed an E6 Markup Language (E6ML) using Extensive Markup Language (XML) technologies. The platform independent nature of XML (a simple text based syntax published by the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C]) enhances interoperability between various software applications. An XML schema was used to model the information defined in the SEMI E6 standard. This article outlines the development and benefits of E6ML for the semiconductor industry.
Importance of Standards
The changeovers to the 150-mm and 200-mm wafer sizes have not produced the expected economic productivity due to the lack of standards and common practices across the industry.1 These transitions have provided lessons for the 300-mm transition, i.e., the importance of developing and implementing guidelines and standards as well as a consensus between semiconductor manufacturers and suppliers. Several organizations are continuously developing standards for different areas of the industry. The development of standards also supports the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). Development of industry-wide standards creates a greater impact than standards among clustered small groups.
Equipment Installation
The diversity and complexity of semiconductor production equipment creates challenges for facility design and equipment installation. A typical tool contains a mainframe and support equipment placed in the chase area or the subfab, depending on the...