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Content archived on 2024-05-24

Automatic Mask Order Processing System

Objective

Mask manufacturing is a key business in the semiconductor industry. The benchmarking and hence the time-to-market of the chip manufacturer (the next step in the supply chain) critically depends upon the cycle time, on-time delivery, quality, pricing, and responsiveness of mask manufacturing. If the delivery of the masks is delayed, then all of the ensuing steps of the supply chain encounter the same hold-up, right up to the end product, the finished chip. Lack of integration between the partners of the supply chain -design centre, mask house and wafer fab- leads to many problems during the ordering process e.g. manual data manipulations, which are in many cases repetitive and boring and therefore prone to error. AutoMOPS provides an efficient IT integration, which covers the actual needs and the rapidly changing technology. Current standards on mask order processing will be used and extended. This work will be submitted for standardisation.

Objectives:
Technical: Define an extended, future oriented (encrypted) standard format for Electronic Data exchange of mask information and specifications to implement an innovative tool set based on it, to automatically process mask orders within the supply chain CAD, mask house, wafer fab.

Business: Obtain significantly reduced cycle time for masks, strong reduction of failures, no time loss because of failures in mask orders, improved quality, improved customer satisfaction, better win/win relations between mask makers and wafer fabs, shorter time-to-market for ICs.

Work description:
Based on the current standards for mask specifications, and analysing the requirements from the involved supply parts, we will work out a pre-normative standard. In order to fulfil the needs of future technologies and to obtain high flexibility, we will use meta-modelling. The three flows of information: customer data, geometric data and technology data will be covered by the new format. The different activities of mask order processing will be modelled. These models will be compliant with object models already available within the semiconductor industry (cf. CIM Frameworks). For this reason we will use universal modelling language (UML). These models will be the basis for the tool set that will be developed. The set includes all necessary tools from automatic mask order generation up to fully automated preparation of data and control programs for the mask writers and automatic creation of lot numbers, product names and work plans in a CAM-system.

The pre-normative format will be proposed to industry standard committees. The results of the project will be disseminated through appropriate channels and forms (SEMI, SEMICON, European Mask Conference, BACUS Conference, Photomask Japan)

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CSC - Cost-sharing contracts

Coordinator

INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG
EU contribution
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Address
ST. MARTIN STRASSE 53
81609 MUENCHEN
Germany

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Total cost

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Participants (5)

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