Throughput monitoring to track and improve semiconductor lithography equipment performance

A key goal in semiconductor manufacturing is continuous improvement in fabricator throughput and increased production equipment efficiency. This goal must be achieved at minimum cost and without negatively affecting process capability or equipment reliability. Throughput monitoring is an excellent way to track equipment productivity and highlight changes in equipment performance. This paper describes the development of an automated throughput monitoring technique which compares equipment throughput to a standard and identifies specific throughput components requiring corrective action. This method is applicable to a wide range of semiconductor equipment. As a specific example, this method was applied to a set of ten state-of-the-art steppers.