- Equipment Intelligence® is Lam Research’s portfolio of on-tool and off-tool technologies that use sensors, data, algorithms, artificial intelligence, and automation to make semiconductor tools more autonomous, productive, and reliable.
- Benefits include better process control, less downtime and variability, faster installs, and faster troubleshooting
We live in an era of accelerating AI, growing fab complexity, and relentless pressure to do more in less time. Semiconductor fabs are running larger and more sophisticated fleets of tools than ever before, and keeping them productive, consistent, and running at full capacity brings a number of challenges to the industry, among them:
- Downtime and excursion risk: Without sensitive early detection and predictive insights, small issues often escalate into outages that disrupt manufacturing.
- Variability across a growing fleet: Differences between chambers, tools, and fabs compound into productivity and performance loss.
- Faster ramps with existing resources: New tool installs and process transfers need data-driven fingerprinting and automation to scale with workforce constraints.
Lam’s Equipment Intelligence® addresses these challenges head-on, enabling fabs to accelerate ramp, control costs, and boost yield, all while optimizing workforce efficiency.
Equipment Intelligence comprises tool intelligence and service intelligence to provide insights and automation that improve performance and productivity.
Equipment Intelligence uses data and advanced technologies to make semiconductor tools self-aware, self-maintaining, and self-adapting, enabling the way for more autonomous operations and higher productivity.
What Is Equipment Intelligence?
Equipment Intelligence is a set of solutions—incorporating sensors, cameras, data, algorithms, AI, and automation—that are applied at the tool or fleet level.
How Equipment Intelligence Improves Fab Productivity
Some examples of what Equipment Intelligence can do:
- Accelerate fleet installation by more than 1.7x and process transfer by more than 2x using automated data-driven fingerprinting and system matching
- Increase fleet output with 2x faster production ramp times due to virtual fleet matching between fabs
- Help prevent downtime with predictive insights that surface issues before they shut a tool down
- Improve precision and safety by automating repetitive tasks and bringing consistency to complex procedures
Autonomous Capabilities Enabled by Equipment Intelligence
Equipment Intelligence enables autonomous semiconductor operations by reducing manual intervention, improving repeatability, and increasing tool uptime across the fab. Fabs can operate with increased automation and higher precision. This reduces variability in maintenance tasks and unnecessary intervention resulting in higher uptime and higher yields.
For example, autonomous capabilities may include under-vacuum ring exchange, in situ robot calibration (including the use of the Advanced Positioning System [APS]), and system maintenance cobots like Dextro™ that automate manual tasks with superior repeatability.
- The APS automates wafer centering calibration under vacuum, a task that previously required manually venting the chamber, calibrating the wafer centering and pumping the chamber back down. This resulted in hours of unproductive time.
- With APS, the same procedure takes 20 minutes, with accuracy improving from ±100 µm to ±50 µm. This improvement is especially noteworthy for deposition tools that operate at high temperatures requiring hours of cool down/re-heating. Such efficiency gains can add hundreds of good wafers out in a day.
- During one customer’s ramp, the combined deployment of Equipment Intelligence Services with Dextro delivered a 23% improvement in machine availability through wet clean quality improvements (15%) and first-time-right maintenance gains (8%).
These autonomous capabilities lead to greater velocity and efficiency in fab operations by accelerating maintenance, improving precision, and increasing overall machine availability.
An Expanding Equipment Intelligence Ecosystem
Equipment Intelligence transforms data into actionable insights, enabling fabs to achieve higher autonomy, quicker ramp-up, and improved productivity. As Lam continues to integrate these features (and soon-to-be-released new ones) into its tools, customers can gain enhanced intelligence throughout their tool fleets.