Single wafer management systems and bare wafer storage as key to increased yield and productivity

The semiconductor industry is the most innovative large-scale industry with respect to level of process technology used and product innovation cycle time. On the other hand, there is still a lot of potential for improvement in the automation area. Improved factory logistics and improved cleanliness can both be achieved by a higher level of systems integration, which means that different individual process steps are performed in a single piece of equipment and by consequent single wafer management. This paper proposes a new approach for wafer storage and wafer sorting which bases on a full integration of these different functions into one single tool