Lam Research Corp. has officially announced the launch of its latest innovation in Dextro™, which happens to be the first ever collaborative robot (cobot) focused on serving semiconductor industry, a cobot designed to optimize critical maintenance tasks on wafer fabrication equipment.
According to certain reports, the stated technology is already deployed across multiple advanced wafer fabs around the world, and there, it is effectively facilitating accurate, high-precision maintenance to minimize tool downtime and production variability. Furthermore, the technology in question is also well-equipped to drive significant first-time-right (FTR) results that can enhance yield.
To understand the significance of such a development, we must take into account how, at the moment, wafer fabrication equipment leverages a blend of advanced physics, robotics and chemistry to create semiconductors at nanoscale. Now, the complicated part is actually rooted in a fact that each fab has hundreds of process tools that each demand regular, complex maintenance.
“Dextro is an exciting leap forward in semiconductor manufacturing equipment maintenance. Built to work side-by-side with fab engineers, it executes complex maintenance tasks with precision and repeatability that are beyond human capability alone, enabling higher tool uptime and manufacturing yield,” said Chris Carter, group vice president of the Customer Support Business Group at Lam Research.
Another detail worth a mention here relates to how, as fabs continue to grow in size, geographic diversity and equipment complexity, chipmakers across the globe need to optimize the effectiveness of their fab engineers by increasing automation and generating wider operational efficiencies.
Beyond this, the importance of precision in tool maintenance can also be understood once you consider the way accurate reassembly of subsystems translates directly to a healthier bottom line. Not just that, repeatable maintenance also reduces waste associated with consumable parts, labor and production downtime, leading to less variability and higher production levels.
Fortunately enough, Dextro brings forth a setup here which can tread up a long distance to scale up the cost effectiveness of such equipment. This it will do by performing critical maintenance tasks repeatability with sub-micron precision.
More on the same would how the given technology is actually one mobile unit with a robotic arm operated by a fab technician or engineer. It banks upon various end-effectors as hands to manage critical equipment maintenance tasks that are time-consuming and prone to errors when done manually.
These tasks may include a scenario where Dextro precisely installs and compresses consumable components with more than two times the accuracy of manual application.
“With the enormous increase in demand that AI is bringing to the semiconductor market, it’s critical for chipmakers to keep all their manufacturing equipment working as efficiently as possible to minimize downtime,” said Bob O’Donnell, president of TECHnalysis Research. “Dextro can automate tedious, time-consuming and, often, intricate cleaning and maintenance tasks on chip fabrication equipment so that manufacturing output can be maximized. It offers a huge benefit for companies that choose to deploy it.”
Next up, we must dig into how the technology can, for instance, tighten vacuum-sealing, high-precision bolts to exact specifications, and therefore, relieve fab engineers of a repetitive task which has up to a 5% error rate when done manually. Accurately meeting specifications also eliminates chamber temperature deviations that may take a tool out of production and impact die yield.
One more possible use case here would involve leveraging Dextro’s automation and cleaning capability to remove side-wall polymer build-up within the chamber, without the burden usually posed by disassembly of the lower chamber. Markedly enough, such a technology should lower risk for humans who require heavy protective breathing equipment to perform the task manually.
Among other things, we must mention that Dextro joins a portfolio of smart solutions from Lam that all enhance efficiency and reduce the cost of operations for semiconductor fabs in their own way. The stated portfolio is currently understood to include Lam Equipment Intelligence® process tools with autonomous calibration and self-adapting maintenance capabilities, as well as Equipment Intelligence® Services that use data, machine learning, artificial intelligence and Lam domain knowledge to achieve better productivity outcomes.
