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US5963881A
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Method and system for enhancing the identification of causes of variations in the performance of manufactured articles
Assignee: Texas Instruments Inc
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Filing: 1997-10-20
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Granted: 1999-10-05
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Expires: 2017-10-20
Abstract
Abstract In a system (12) wherein articles are manufactured by a plurality of process steps (20, 22, & 24), a method for identifying causes of variations in performance of the manufactured articles is provided. The method includes tracking orientation data (48) for the articles during each of the process steps (20, 22, & 24) and then measuring (50) performance data for each of the articles. The method also includes preparing surface performance characteristic maps (54) for each of the articles from the performance data and ordering the surface performance characteristic maps (56) for each of the articles in accordance with the orientation data for each article at a given process step (20, 22, & 24).
Inventors
- 👤 Randolph W. Kahn
- 👤 Hank G. Prosack
- 👤 Kenneth G. Vickers
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 22:29
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10P; H10P74/00; H10P74/23
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 30
Claim 1
Independent Claim
111 words
In a system wherein articles are manufactured by a plurality of process steps, a method for helping identify causes of variations in performance of the manufactured articles, the method comprising the steps of: tracking orientation data for the articles during each of the process steps, wherein the orientation data comprises data selected from the group consisting of sequential data and spatial location data; measuring performance data for each of the articles; preparing surface performance characteristic maps for each of the articles from the performance data; and ordering the surface performance characteristic maps for each of the articles in accordance with the orientation data for each article at a given process step.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
111 words
In a system wherein articles are manufactured by a plurality of process steps, a method for helping identify causes of variations in performance of the manufactured articles, the method comprising the steps of: tracking orientation data for the articles during each of the process steps, wherein the orientation data comprises data selected from the group consisting of sequential data and spatial location data; measuring performance data for each of the articles; preparing surface performance characteristic maps for each of the articles from the performance data; and ordering the surface performance characteristic maps for each of the articles in accordance with the orientation data for each article at a given process step.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the orientation data comprises sequential and spatial location data.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of correlating the performance data for each of the articles to known variation causes to identify a cause for the variations in the performance of each article.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of displaying the surface performance characteristic maps for each of the articles in the orientation of the articles for a given process step.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the articles are semiconductor wafers and the process steps are semiconductor processing steps.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the articles of manufacture are panels of glass formed from a single plate of glass.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
65 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: arranging the articles into groups in accordance with the surface performance characteristic maps for each article; assigning numerical performance values to spatial characteristics for each article in a group; and correlating the numerical performance values of the articles in each group as a function of the orientation data for each article in each process step.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: identifying a subgroup of articles with a common characteristic; correlating causes of variation with the performance data from the articles which are not in the subgroup.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 8, wherein the performance data is yield data.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 8, wherein the performance data is luminescence data.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 8, wherein the causes of variation comprise process steps.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
118 words
A system for helping identify causes of variations in performance of manufactured articles when the articles are manufactured by a plurality of process steps, the system comprising: an article tracking system for tracking orientation data for each article at each process step, wherein the orientation data comprises data selected from the group consisting of sequential data and spatial location data; a tester for measuring performance data for each of the articles; and a processing system for preparing surface performance characteristic maps for each of the articles from each article's performance data and for ordering the surface performance characteristic maps for each of the articles in accordance with the orientation data for each article at each given process step.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
118 words
A system for helping identify causes of variations in performance of manufactured articles when the articles are manufactured by a plurality of process steps, the system comprising: an article tracking system for tracking orientation data for each article at each process step, wherein the orientation data comprises data selected from the group consisting of sequential data and spatial location data; a tester for measuring performance data for each of the articles; and a processing system for preparing surface performance characteristic maps for each of the articles from each article's performance data and for ordering the surface performance characteristic maps for each of the articles in accordance with the orientation data for each article at each given process step.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
15 words
The system of claim 12 wherein the orientation data comprises sequential and spatial location data.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 12 wherein the processing system is further operable to correlate the performance of each of the articles to known variation causes.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
32 words
The system of claim 12 further comprising an output device for displaying the surface performance characteristic maps for each of the articles in the orientation of the articles for each process step.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
19 words
The system of claim 12 wherein the articles are semiconductor wafers and the process steps are semiconductor processing steps.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
21 words
The system of claim 12 wherein the articles of manufacture are panels of glass formed from a single plate of glass.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
63 words
The system of claim 12 wherein the processing system is further operable to receive input which identifies groups of articles, to receive assignments of numerical performance values to spatial characteristics for each article in a group, and to correlate the numerical performance values of the articles in each group as a function of the orientation data for each article in each process step.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
39 words
The system of claim 12, wherein the processing system is further operable to receive input which identifies subgroups of articles; and correlate causes of variation with the performance data from the articles which are not in the identified subgroup.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 19, wherein the performance data is yield data.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 19, wherein the performance data is luminescence data.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 19, wherein the causes of variation comprise process steps.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
152 words
In a system wherein articles are manufactured by a plurality of process steps, a method for identifying causes of variations in performance of the manufactured articles, the method comprising the steps of: tracking sequential and spatial orientation data for the articles during each of the process steps; measuring performance data for each of the articles; preparing surface performance characteristic maps for each of the articles from the performance data; ordering the surface performance characteristic maps for each of the articles in accordance with the sequential and spatial orientation data for each article from one given process step, thereby creating an ordered surface performance characteristic map set; displaying the ordered surface performance characteristic map set in the orientation of the articles for the given process step; and correlating the performance data for each of the articles to known variation causes to identify a cause for the variations in the performance of each article.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
152 words
In a system wherein articles are manufactured by a plurality of process steps, a method for identifying causes of variations in performance of the manufactured articles, the method comprising the steps of: tracking sequential and spatial orientation data for the articles during each of the process steps; measuring performance data for each of the articles; preparing surface performance characteristic maps for each of the articles from the performance data; ordering the surface performance characteristic maps for each of the articles in accordance with the sequential and spatial orientation data for each article from one given process step, thereby creating an ordered surface performance characteristic map set; displaying the ordered surface performance characteristic map set in the orientation of the articles for the given process step; and correlating the performance data for each of the articles to known variation causes to identify a cause for the variations in the performance of each article.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 23 wherein the articles are semiconductor wafers and the process steps are semiconductor processing steps.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 23 wherein the articles of manufacture are panels of glass formed from a single plate of glass.
Claim 29
Independent Claim
165 words
A method of enhancing the identification of the causes of quality variations in articles, batches of which are manufactured by plural process steps, the method comprising: tracking the sequence in which the articles of each batch are subjected to each of the process steps to produce sequential data; tracking the orientation of each article relative to a spatial reference as it is subjected to at least one of the process steps to produce orientation data; measuring the quality of the articles following completion of the process steps to produce quality data; preparing a surface performance characteristic map for each article using the data produced in the measuring step; ordering the surface performance characteristic map in accordance with at least a portion of the sequence and orientation data to create an ordered set of surface performance characteristic maps; and and correlating the ordered set of surface performance characteristic maps with known variation causes to identify a cause for the variations in the performance of the articles.
Claim 30
Independent Claim
165 words
A method of enhancing the identification of the causes of quality variations in articles, batches of which are manufactured by plural process steps, the method comprising: tracking the sequence in which the articles of each batch are subjected to each of the process steps to produce sequential data; tracking the orientation of each article relative to a spatial reference as it is subjected to at least one of the process steps to produce orientation data; measuring the quality of the articles following completion of the process steps to produce quality data; preparing a surface performance characteristic map for each article using the data produced in the measuring step; ordering the surface performance characteristic map in accordance with at least a portion of the sequence and orientation data to create an ordered set of surface performance characteristic maps; and and correlating the ordered set of surface performance characteristic maps with known variation causes to identify a cause for the variations in the performance of the articles.
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