Panoptes VM - Operable at the Fab Scale

It is one thing to predict process outcomes accurately for a few operations in a lab environment, but it is a completely different story to do this in real time at a fab scale. In the current issue of this newsletter, we explore how Panoptes VM brings state-of-the-art AI algorithms and engineer-friendly usability to real high-volume manufacturing (HVM) fabs.

Modern semiconductor manufacturing fabs produce millions of wafers per year over hundreds, if not thousands, of unit process operations. Each process operation has one or more measurement operations associated with it, each generating several key measurands such as average thickness at the wafer level and average critical dimension at the wafer zone level. Combining everything together, a successful VM platform for a modern mega fab should be able to handle hundreds of thousands of models that are intricately related with each other.

One of the most important use cases of VM is advanced process control (APC). A successful VM platform should be able to make predictions within a few seconds of the process end time of each wafer so that APC can adjust process recipes for every wafer. In addition, a successful VM platform should constantly evaluate the performance of relevant VM models against each real measurement.

Panoptes VM, built on the state-of-the-art machine learning system architecture, is a one-of-a-kind ML platform that can process hundreds of thousands of VM models in real time for reliable operations in high-volume manufacturing. Every second, Panoptes VM platform makes inferences on several wafers. Every minute, Panoptes VM platform updates hundreds of models based on real measurements from physical metrology tools. This is a mind-boggling engineering marvel on its own! Our advanced architecture can scale out even further as fabs expand their VM usage.

Just to boast a few more facts, Panoptes VM runs inside a chip maker’s own computing infrastructure, compliant with enterprise IT security standards, with no process information leaked to an outside environment. Panoptes VM is also built and optimized for modest compute resources, with an entire fab supported by a few hundred CPU cores.

All in all, Panoptes VM is charting its own history of virtual metrology for the semiconductor industry with its accuracy, usability, and scalability. To learn more, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].

Wish you all happy holidays!!

Mike Young-Han Kim