Patent ID: 8839159

Claim:
A method for determining an overall optimal yield point for a semiconductor wafer, wherein the semiconductor wafer comprises of a plurality of substantially identical semiconductor devices, each semiconductor device containing a plurality of component types, comprising the steps of: a computer determining a component optimal yield point for each component type, wherein the component optimal yield point represents one or more process parameter values where maximum yield is achieved for a component type; the computer determining a weight factor for each component type, wherein the weight factor represents an importance of a component type to the semiconductor wafer; and the computer determining an overall optimal yield point based on the component optimal yield point and weight factor determined for each component type, wherein the overall optimal yield point represents the one or more process parameter values where maximum yield is achieved for the semiconductor wafer, and wherein determining the overall optimal yield point comprises of: determining a center point between the determined component optimal yield points and determining an overall optimal yield point by adjusting the center point based on the determined weight factors.