Mask order automation has increased steadily over the years through a variety of individual mask
customer implementations. These have been supported by customer-specific software at the mask
suppliers to support the variety of customer output formats. Some customers use the SEMI P10 1
standard, some use supplier-specific formats, and some use customer-specific formats. Some
customers use little automation and depend instead on close customer-supplier relationships.
Implementations are varied in quality and effectiveness.
A major factor which has prolonged the adoption of more advanced and effective solutions has been a
lack of understanding of the economic benefits. Some customers think standardized automation mainly
benefits the mask supplier in order entry automation, but this ignores a number of other significant
benefits which differ dramatically for each party in the supply chain. This paper discusses the nature of
those differing advantages and presents simple models suited to four business cases: integrated device
manufacturers (IDM), fabless companies, foundries and mask suppliers. Examples and estimates of the
financial advantages for these business types will be shown.
Technology complexity has led inevitably to specialization. As a result, most people know their own area well and have only limited access to or knowledge of what goes on in the other areas. Designers and chip customers often have limited understanding of the details of the manufacturing process, and wafer fab engineers seldom have direct access to designers for improvements which would maximize productivity and yield. Masks are often overly expensive because decisions made in design have unintended manufacturing consequences, and mask yields are unnecessarily low because too little information defining the image quality actually needed is available to the mask supplier. These limitations and others can be overcome by integrating the relevant manufacturing parameters, for both mask shops and wafer fabs, into the database and tools used by the designer. This paper discusses the design-to-manufacturing flow and the interfaces currently in use. It then discusses the creation of a Universal Data Model (UDM) and its relationship with standard interchange formats. Specific data items to be included in the UDM database are listed, and a phased approach to initiate implementation is discussed. The emphasis is on specific, practical extensions of existing technologies, and the specific benefits to be derived. Particular attention is focused on the benefits as perceived differently by different users.
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