Automation in semiconductor manufacturing

Some backgrounds and trends of semiconductor technology will be reviewed in conjunction with production automation. Experiences are presented for the case of the advanced MOS wafer processing area, including the basic philosophy and equipment implementation. History of the automation in assembling area will follow including some existing examples. Semiconductor technology keeps changing towards smaller dimension, larger die size, larger number of pins, and larger number of product types. One of the big problems lies in the fact that the throughput of equipments is getting lower as the geometry getting finer, and major breakthrough is expected. Future opportunities and related problems will be discussed.