Sales & orders
Infineon encourages its suppliers to monitor their equipment remotely via the web (through a secure internet connection). BOC Edwards is now using this tool to remotely monitor its pump and exhaust management systems at the two Dresden fabs.
Brian Emslie, business development director of Process Enabling Technologies, comments: "This networking capability means our equipment specialists all over the world can take a more proactive approach to equipment management. And, they are now capable of identifying and solving problems that historically would have called for on-site support. This is BOC Edwards' first remote e-diagnostic installation for vacuum and abatement equipment, and we are excited about the cost savings and improvements in service that we can offer our customer-as well as improved uptime."
Motorola's Freescale Semiconductor subsidiary has selected Axcelis Technologies' Global Support Solutions to help manage its ion implant tools.
The service is designed to minimise equipment support costs while achieving productivity on the semiconductor manufacturing floor. Under Global Support Solutions, Axcelis guarantees that its entire implant installed base at Freescale's MOS-12 factory in Chandler, Arizona, operates at optimum, continuous performance.
The service involves Axcelis experts working at a selected factory, where they are responsible for all Axcelis ion implant tool repairs, rebuilds and preventative maintenance, along with spare parts and consumables management. Axcelis also offers proactive process, applications and factory engineering support to recommend potential implant process improvements.
Errol Moore, operations manager for MOS-12, reports: "Axcelis' support programme has been in place for five months and we've already seen an improvement in overall tool availability and productivity."
Knights Technology's YieldManager software is to be installed into the next generation of AMD's Automated Precision Manufacturing technology suite, APM version 3.0. The process control system will be used at AMD's 300mm Fab 36 in Dresden, Germany.
YieldManager will be used to correlate, analyse, graphically display and report fab data. In addition to the basic YieldManager package, AMD will be purchasing two optional features: the Analysis Flow Tool (AFT) and SPaR, Knights spatial pattern recognition software.
AMD's Ute Vogler reports: "APM 2.0, combined with the superior workforce in Dresden, has allowed AMD to reduce time to mature yields by as much as 80% in three years."
Hynix Semiconductor will equip its new 300mm T1 facility with a range of Novellus Systems' process equipment for both front-end-of-line and back-end-of-line applications. The multi-system order includes a series of VECTOR plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) tools, along with a range of high-density plasma (HDP) SPEED tools, chemical vapour deposition (CVD) ALTUS systems, a GAMMA surface preparation tool and an INOVA physical vapour deposition (PVD) system.
The suite of 300mm tools will be initially deployed on the customer's 90nm processing lines and later extended to produce devices at smaller nodes.
