For competitive manufacturing of advanced microelectronics, where technology lifetimes are comparatively short, it is essential to economise the production techniques such that cost effective manufacturing is achieved in time for the market peak.

In this project the collaborative development work of eight European IC manufacturers is directed towards methods for the economic production of sub-micron silicon ICs. MST builds on the results of project 5081 (MST), which was the start-up phase of a joint European undertaking providing the manufacturing tools and methods to enable IC manufacturers to meet the requirements of process performance, manufacturing flexibility and cost.
Collaboration between the integrated circuit (IC) manufactures in accelerating the adoption of advanced manufacturing techniques. The results of the project work - conceptual and practical solutions to a multitude of manufacturing problems - have been compiled into a deliverables list with hundreds of titles. These reports have been disseminated amongst the consortium partners. European equipment and materials representatives can get access to the relevant reports, and thus industry at large will gain from the project.

Other spin offs include major contributions to standards, where project results are being taken forward to be incorporated in international industrial standards. Topics include procurement specifications, the functional model of a flexible manufacturing cell controller, and a standard test reticle design for correlation and assessment purposes.

The principle work has been to take the 0.7 micron complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology already developed into an economized manufacturing activity at the end of 1993.
The work includes the development and prototyping of concepts for advance manufacturing skills, and the optimisation and integration of industrial techniques needed for the cost-effective manufacture of high-technology components. The extensive workplan consists of four subprojects, each separated into two to five themes, with up to nine work-packages covering front- and back-end equipment engineering, automation/integration, and mask-making. Advances in the project will be related to improvements in cycle-time, productivity, probe yield, quality of process control, and cost.