Abstract:
A design-based manufacturing optimization (DMO) server comprises a distributed computing system and a DMO software module incorporating with a design scanner to scan and analyze design data of a semiconductor device for optimizing manufacturing of the semiconductor device. The DMO software module sets up a pattern signature database and a manufacturing optimization database, generates design-based manufacturing recipes, interfaces with manufacturing equipment through a manufacturing interface module, and interfaces with electronic design automation suppliers for the design data through a design interface module. The DMO server executes the design-based manufacturing recipes for manufacturing optimization.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates generally to semiconductor manufacturing, and more particularly to an apparatus for optimizing semiconductor manufacturing based on design. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Arts 
         [0004]    Producing semiconductors requires a very cost-intensive and sophisticated manufacturing environment. With the size of the structures built on a semiconductor chip decreasing, the production costs are increasing at the same pace. Semiconductor production in a modern fab requires several hundreds of machines, with prices reaching several ten-millions or even hundred-millions of US dollars per machine. 
         [0005]    The process of integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing often requires hundreds of sequential steps, each one of which could lead to yield loss. Consequently, maintaining product quality in a semiconductor manufacturing facility often requires the strict control of hundreds or even thousands of process variables. The issues of high yield, high quality and low cycle time are being addressed in part by the ongoing development of several critical capabilities, i.e. process monitoring, process/equipment modeling, process optimization, process control, equipment and process diagnosis and parametric yield modeling. 
         [0006]    Advanced process control is widely used in semiconductor manufacturing to adjust machine parameters so as to achieve satisfactory product quality. However, huge amount of data are generated each day from hundreds of equipments, it is difficult to extract hidden relationships between numerous complex process control parameters. In recent years, data mining approach has also been proposed to discover correlated parameters for yield enhancement in semiconductor manufacturing. 
         [0007]    As the advanced semiconductor technology pushes the physics limits to shrink the size of the device, there is ever-increasing inter-dependency between device design and device manufacturing process. However, the inter-dependency has rarely been utilized to optimize the semiconductor manufacturing process because of the availability of the device design data and the security concern in exposing the device design data in the manicuring flow of the semiconductor process. 
         [0008]    There is a strong need for providing an integrated, secure and systematic solution in the semiconductor fab for manufacturing optimization based on design to reduce the ever-increasing cost of ownership from process development to high-yield production. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention has been made to meet the above mentioned need and challenges in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Accordingly, the present invention provides a fault-tolerant, highly scalable and secure server that focuses on the complex inter-dependency of device design and manufacturing for achieving efficient semiconductor fab operation. 
         [0010]    In accordance with the present invention, the design-based manufacturing optimization (DMO) server comprises a distributed computing system and a DMO software module incorporating with a design scanner to scan and analyze design data of a semiconductor device for optimizing recipes of manufacturing the semiconductor device with reference to a pattern signature data base and a manufacturing optimization database. 
         [0011]    The DMO server of the present invention further includes a design interface module for interfacing with electronic design automation (EDA) software and design flow/data and a manufacturing interface module for interfacing with equipment and manufacturing flow/data. The operations of the DMO can be categorized into off-line setup mode, in-line production mode and data review mode. 
         [0012]    In the off-line setup mode, the DMO software module sets up the pattern signature database of comprehensive design patterns and, pattern signatures of the semiconductor device for use in the in-line production mode. The DMO software module also analyzes the design data to set up multi-level definitions of design signatures for the pattern signature database. The DMO software module further sets up the manufacturing optimization database that comprises rules, algorithms and templates in sync with the pattern signature database for in-line production mode. 
         [0013]    In the in-line production mode, the DMO software module fetches the design data and provides secure access control for the design data, interfaces with equipment and manufacturing flow through the manufacturing interface module and interfaces with electronic design automation suppliers for the design data through the design interface module. The DMO software module also processes the design data to extract design signature and generate manufacturing recipes with reference to the pattern signature database and the manufacturing optimization database. 
         [0014]    In the data review mode, the output data generated by running the manufacturing recipes in the in-line production mode and saved in the distributed file system can be fetched for review. The DMO software module provides statistical data and trends of monitoring pattern signatures during a time window based on the output data. A data mining approach is also used to discover inter-dependency between device design, equipment efficiency and manufacturing yield for the data review. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which: 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of a design-based manufacturing optimization server according to the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  shows a block diagram of the distributed computing system in the design-based manufacturing optimization server according to the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  shows the three major operations of the design-based manufacturing optimization server according to the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  shows the major functions of the off-line setup mode. 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  shows the major functions of the in-line production mode. 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  shows examples of recipes generated for design-based manufacturing optimization. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0022]    The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawing illustrates embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serves to explain the principles of the invention. 
         [0023]      FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of the integrated design-based manufacturing optimization (DMO) server  100  according to the present invention. The DMO server  100  comprises a distributed computing system  101  and a DMO software module  102 . The DMO server  100  further has a pattern signature database  103  and a manufacturing optimization database  104  and a designer scanner  105 . The distributed computing system  101  is connected to a design interface module  108  to communicate with EDA software and design flow  109 , and a manufacturing interface module  106  to communicate with equipment and manufacturing flow  107 . 
         [0024]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the distributed computing system  101  is a fault-tolerant distributed computing system comprising a plurality of redundant and hot-swappable computing devices such as blades or servers  1011  and a distributed file system  1012  having a plurality of data storage devices. The distributed file system  1012  may have its own dedicated file servers to manage and control the data storage devices of the distributed file system  1012  or use the same computing blades or servers  1011  for file system management. 
         [0025]    Preferably, an uninterruptible power supply  1013  is connected to the distributed computing system  101  so that the distributed computing system  101  can operate uninterruptedly in a fab environment. The distributed computing system  101  has a highly scalable architecture in which the number of computing blades or servers  1011  can be easily increased to increase computing power, and the number of storage devices can also be easily increased to add storage capacity. In addition, the distributed computing system  101  is a secure computing system that requires different levels of authentication to obtain different levels of privileges for operation and data access. 
         [0026]    The DMO software module  102  is executed in the computing blades or servers  1011  for providing different operations including security authentication, recipe generation, flow integration, database setup and management, job distribution, and so on. 
         [0027]    In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the DMO server  100  is connected through the manufacturing interface module  106  to a wafer inspector to optimize manufacturing by design-based binning. The DMO server  100  handshakes with the wafer inspector to receive wafer inspection data and then executes design-based binning jobs based on design-based binning recipes that have been set up to identify yield sensitive design patterns. As soon as an inspection result is available, the DMO software module  102  prepares a design-based binning job by including the inspection result, the design-based binning recipe, and the design data associated with the inspected wafer, and then distributes the job to the plurality of computing blades or servers for execution. 
         [0028]    The design scanner  105  is a high-throughput design data analyzer that can perform full-chip design scanning and partitioning for various design data operations such as pattern searching, matching, classification and grouping. The design data operations may use the design data of one or more layers. Algorithms used for pattern searching, matching, classification and grouping may be pattern-based or rule-based. 
         [0029]    The pattern signature database  103  contains the design patterns and signatures of critical layouts or yield hot spots. The design patterns and signatures may be used in job recipes for design pattern grouping and classification to assist process and performance monitoring. The manufacturing optimization database  104  contains the rules, algorithms and templates for manufacturing recipe generation for equipment tooling, process monitoring, performance monitoring, yield monitoring, and feedback tuning, etc. 
         [0030]    The manufacturing interface module  106  interfaces with the equipment and manufacturing flow  107  of fab operations to receive manufacturing data and the design interface module  108  interfaces with EDA software and design flow  109  of design operations and also obtain design data from design database. 
         [0031]    It is worth mentioning that the manufacturing interface module  106  of the present invention can be used to interface with multiple manufacturing machines in the manufacturing flow  107 . The DMO software module  102  is responsible for preparing jobs as soon as the output data from manufacturing machines are available. Based on the manufacturing recipe set up for each manufacturing machine, different type of jobs may be created for different manufacturing machines. The DMO software module  102  distributes the jobs among the plurality of computing blades or servers and balances the computing loads. 
         [0032]    In a semiconductor fab, various photomasks are used for manufacturing different device layers in the semiconductor manufacturing. Therefore, mask making operation plays an important role in the semiconductor manufacturing. The DMO server of the present invention can also be used in the optimization of mask writing and inspection based on critical signatures and patterns in the design data. In other words, the manufacturing interface  106  can interface with mask making machines or inspectors in the manufacturing flow  107 . 
         [0033]    In accordance with the present invention, the operations of DMO server can be categorized into three major user modes, i.e., off-line setup  301 , in-line production  302  and data review as shown in  FIG. 3 . In the off-line setup mode  301 , the DMO server  100  has a few primary functions. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the first function  401  is to set up the pattern signature database  103  of comprehensive design layout patterns and pattern signatures for subsequent in-line production use. 
         [0034]    The pattern signature database  103  comprises design patterns that are critical to manufacturing optimization. For example, hotspot patterns validated by wafers, fixed hotspots, status of hotspots, weak patterns from optical proximity correction (OPC) and process simulations, yield and process window sensitive pattern signatures including special 2D/3D multi-layer via, transistor, small metal, and line-end patterns, and good patterns that are yield and process window safe are all saved in the database. Pattern search templates, rules and constraints to be incorporated in the manufacturing recipes are included in the database. 
         [0035]    The second function  402  is to analyze the design data so as to set up multi-level definitions of the design signatures for the pattern signature database. For example, the design area may be partitioned into memory, logic, analog, input/output, or dummy areas. Pattern density map may be generated to identify dense and sparse areas. The design data may also be analyzed to find the distribution of good pattern signature, yield and process window sensitive pattern signature, weak pattern signature and hotspot. 
         [0036]    The third function  403  is to set up the manufacturing optimization database  104  that consists of rules, algorithms and templates in sync with the pattern signature database for the manufacturing recipe generation for subsequent in-line production use. 
         [0037]      FIG. 5  shows the major functions performed in in-line production mode  302 . In the in-line production mode  302 , the DMO server  100  has to fetch the design data for the incoming device in the manufacturing flow for production use and provide secure access control. The design data have to be processed to extract the design signatures based on the pattern signature database  103  established in off-line setup. The extracted design signatures and the established manufacturing optimization database  104  are used to generate manufacturing recipes for improving equipment efficiency, process control and process yield. 
         [0038]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , based on the design-linked criticalities, the manufacturing recipes may include in-line smart metrology sampling  601  with optimized defect of interest (DOI) and systematic defect coverage, in-line smart inspection  602  with multi-sensitivity and mixed-tool setup and in-line DOI and killer defect classification  603 . The manufacturing recipes may also be generated for in-line hotspot, weak and sensitive pattern signature monitoring  604  by defect correlation, in-line progressive yield estimation  606  or in-line design-based fab data classification  605  for effective off-line data analysis. 
         [0039]    During the in-line production, the DMO server  100  interfaces to manufacturing equipment and information system in the manufacturing flow via scripts, files and databases through direct communication link or internet link for seamless integration of device manufacturing process. The DMO server  100  also interfaces with EDA software and information system in the design flow via scripts, files and databases through internet link for seamless integration of device design environment. 
         [0040]    According to the present invention, the DMO server  100  also provides a data review mode  303  for users to do data review. Data review provides important feedback for setting up the manufacturing recipes to optimize the manufacturing. The job outputs from running the manufacturing recipes described above are saved in the distributed file system  1012  and can be fetched for review. 
         [0041]    In the present invention, data mining approach is also used to discover critical inter-dependency among the device design, equipment efficiency and yield. In the off-line mode  303 , a user can review the inter-dependency to identify systematic solution for yield enhancement. In addition, various statistical data can also be derived from the job outputs. For example, various 
         [0042]    trend and histogram data in a time window such as weekly or monthly from the result of hotspot, weak and sensitive pattern signature monitoring based on die or wafer basis can be reviewed. 
         [0043]    In summary, the present invention provides a DMO server in the semiconductor fab to facilitate an integrated and systematic solution for design-based optimization of device manufacturing that covers equipment efficiency, process diagnostics, process tuning, process monitoring, performance monitoring and yield enhancement by using the inter-dependency between device design and device manufacturing process. 
         [0044]    Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.