Semiconductor industry
Semiconductor processing

Semiconductor processing

The processing steps of semiconductor manufacturing are crucial to quality control. Doping, etching, deposition, lithography, and metallization all contribute to producing the intricacies of the final products. Between each of these layers, polishing ensures the wafer is prepared for the next step of the process.

Condition-based monitoring of critical equipment provides real-time data that leads to:

Reduced scrap rate
Increased machine availability
Increased product quality

Alerting you to an impending machine failure reduces risk of product defects and scrapped wafers. By implementing vibration monitoring over IO-Link, you can implement edge computing for immediate action during production. Using the Y-Path of IO-Link, you can simultaneously send equipment data to on-premise software for trending analysis to develop predictive maintenance schedules.

Automation use cases during semiconductor processing

Identifying areas where process improvements will improve batch yield and product quality helps to demonstrate an immediate ROI on investments.

CMP polishing

Vibration sensors are employed to monitor four key areas of polishing spindles. Tracking average velocity and acceleration provides a general overview of machine health and friction levels. Continuously monitoring peak acceleration helps detect crash events and assess bearing health.

Quartz Tube Furnace

Vibration monitoring of quartz tubes, vacuum flanges, and coupling bellows help to reduce furnace failures that can lead to lost production time due to unplanned downtime. It can also alert you to movement of the quartz tubes that would impact final quality.