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Chip tools maker Lam Analysis launched Dextro, the chip {industry}’s first collaborative robotic (cobot) designed to optimize crucial upkeep duties in chip factories.
The robots have been deployed in a number of superior wafer fabs world wide. Dextro permits correct, high-precision upkeep to attenuate software downtime and manufacturing variability. It drives vital first-time-right (FTR) outcomes that may improve yield in wafer fabrication crops.
If profitable, the robots may make semiconductor manufacturing — which is the inspiration for billions upon billions of revenues within the electronics {industry} — much more environment friendly.
At the moment’s wafer fabrication tools makes use of superior physics, robotics and chemistry to create semiconductors at nanoscale. A typical fab has tons of of course of instruments that every require common, complicated upkeep.
Dextro is designed to enhance the price effectiveness of this tools by performing crucial upkeep duties repeatability with sub-micron precision.
“Dextro is an exciting leap forward in semiconductor manufacturing equipment maintenance. Built to work side-by-side with fab engineers, it executes complex maintenance tasks with precision and repeatability that are beyond human capability alone, enabling higher tool uptime and manufacturing yield,” mentioned Chris Carter, group vp of the shopper help enterprise group at Lam Analysis, in a press release. “It is a powerful addition to Lam’s extensive portfolio of tools and services designed to help chipmakers optimize their fabs for cost and productivity.”
As fabs proceed to develop in measurement, geographic range and tools complexity, chipmakers have to optimize the effectiveness of their fab engineers by rising automation and including efficiencies. That is changing into much more essential because the variety of semiconductor positions worldwide continues to outpace the supply of expert engineers.
Precision is essential in software upkeep, the place the correct reassembly of subsystems interprets to the underside line. Reaching FTR saves time and price. Repeatable upkeep additionally reduces waste related to consumable components, labor and manufacturing downtime, resulting in much less variability and better yield in manufacturing.
“When manufacturing equipment requires maintenance, the work must be done quickly and efficiently to avoid extended tool downtime and wasted cost,” mentioned Younger Ju Kim, vp and head of the Reminiscence Etch Expertise Workforce at Samsung Electronics, in a press release. “Error-free maintenance by Dextro helps drive improvements in production variability and yield. This is an exciting milestone in Samsung’s journey to the autonomous fab.”
Dextro is a cellular unit with a robotic arm operated by a fab technician or engineer. It makes use of numerous end-effectors as arms to handle crucial tools upkeep duties which might be time-consuming and vulnerable to errors when accomplished manually.
For instance, it exactly installs and compresses consumable parts with greater than two occasions
the accuracy of guide software. Exact meeting helps management etch efficiency on the wafer edge, bettering yield.
Dextro tightens vacuum-sealing, high-precision bolts to precise specs, relieving fab engineers of a repetitive job that has as much as a 5% error fee when accomplished manually. Precisely assembly specs eliminates chamber temperature deviations that will take a software out of manufacturing and affect die yield.
And Dextro removes side-wall polymer build-up inside the chamber, with out the burden of disassembly of the decrease chamber. Importantly, it does this at decrease threat to people who require heavy protecting respiratory tools to carry out the duty manually.
Lam’s Flex G and H sequence dielectric etch instruments are at the moment supported by Dextro, increasing to
extra instruments in 2025 and past.
“With the enormous increase in demand that AI is bringing to the semiconductor market, it’s critical for chipmakers to keep all their manufacturing equipment working as efficiently as possible to minimize downtime,” famous Bob O’Donnell, president of TECHnalysis Analysis, in a press release. “Dextro can automate tedious, time-consuming and, often, intricate cleaning and maintenance tasks on chip fabrication equipment so that manufacturing output can be maximized. It offers a huge benefit for companies that choose to deploy it.”
Dextro joins a portfolio of good options from Lam that improve effectivity and cut back the price of operations for semiconductor fabs. This contains the Lam Tools Intelligence course of instruments with autonomous calibration and self-adapting upkeep capabilities, in addition to Tools Intelligence Companies that use knowledge, machine studying, synthetic intelligence and Lam area information to realize higher productiveness outcomes.
