Early manufacturing involvement in new process technology

The authors outline the process of installing a new semiconductor process technology into manufacturing under IBM´s policy of early manufacturing involvement. Final process development was performed on the manufacturing line, with the prime objective of reducing the time required to bring a new technology to full manufacturing capability. Other benefits included improved manufacturability of the process and lower capital costs. In this particular case, the new technology was an evolutionary extension of the older process, with several critical sectors requiring the majority of the development effort. In certain other sectors, a tightening of the specifications was required. Conflicts of interest and priority had to be dealt with, as well as optimizing the process. In some cases, development engineers worked directly with manufacturing engineers and, in other cases, manufacturing engineering took the responsibility for the process. When development was completed, a final process transfer procedure was put in place and manufacturing engineering carried out the final process qualification. The authors discuss the organization required and the developments involved when integrating the development effort within a manufacturing organization