Key Parameter Identification and Defective Wafer Detection of Semiconductor Manufacturing Processes Using Image Processing Techniques

The semiconductor industry has become fully automated during the manufacturing process and abundant process parameters are collected online by sensors for fault detection and classification purposes. Analyzing process parameters and identifying a smaller set of key parameters that have crucial influence on wafer quality will bring great benefits in stabilizing the manufacturing process and enhancing productive yield. Typically, this type of the parameter set is called the “raw trace data.” This paper considers image processing techniques as a novel approach for analyzing and visualizing the raw trace data. First, the 1-D time series data of a wafer batch was transformed into a 2-D image. Fisher’s criterion ratios of the labeled good and defective wafer image maps are computed to identify the key parameters. The key parameters identified by the proposed image processing technique are consistent with the technical experience of the process engineers. Furthermore, the texture analysis technique with 2-D Fourier transform is utilized to analyze the images of the key parameters to detect defective wafers. The proposed key parameter identification and wafer classification method proves to be a viable solution under the paradigm of advanced process control practice for semiconductor manufacturing.