Batch Process Control Framework for Semiconductor Manufacturing
Date: Wednesday February 13, 2008
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Place: 136 Ross Hall
Thomas F. Edgar
Abell Chair of Engineering
University of Texas - Austin
Department of Chemical Engineering
Biography
Thomas F. Edgar is Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and holds the George T. and Gladys Abell Chair in Engineering. Dr. Edgar received his B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Kansas and a Ph.D. from Princeton University. For the past 35 years, he has concentrated his academic work in process modeling, control, and optimization, with over 200 articles and book chapters. Edgar has co-authored leading textbooks: Optimization of Chemical Processes (McGraw-Hill, 2001) and Process Dynamics and Control (Wiley, 2004). He has received major awards from AIChE (Colburn, Computing in Chemical Engineering, Lewis) and ASEE (Chemical Engineering Division, Westinghouse, and Meriam-Wiley). Recently he has carried out modeling and control research projects jointly with AMD, Motorola, Texas Instruments, Yield Dynamics, Tokyo Electron and SE MATHECH, involving 15 Ph.D. students who work in the microelectronics industry.
Abstract
Batch Process Control Framework for Semiconductor Manufacturing
Advances in modeling and control will be required to meet future technical challenges in semiconductor manufacturing. For batch processes such as occur in semiconductor fabrication, modeling and control must be incorporated into a multi-level framework including sequential control, within-the-batch control, run-to-run control, fault detection, and factory control. Implementation challenges include a lack of suitable in situ measurements, variations in process equipment characteristics and wafer properties, limited process understanding, and non-automated operational practices. This presentation reviews how basic research findings in modeling and control have influenced commercial applications in key unit operations such as lithography and plasma etching as well as in overall factory control.
