ABSTRACT
To keep pace with the increasing demands of high-technology industries, equip ment manufacturers must strive to improve product throughput and reduce con tamination. The emphasis on contamination-free manufacturing (CFM) contin ues within the manufacturing environment through the use of cleanrooms and the practice of contamination-free procedures. In a typical production process, analytical tools are required to monitor the process in order to optimize product yields. The production yield enhancement cycle illustrated in Figure 1 involves the interaction of analytical tools to inspect the quality of incoming material, to monitor the production activity, and to qualify the outgoing material. These analytical tools may be used in-line, on-line, or off-line for material inspections to ensure CFM and for failure analyses to determine the original cause of the contaminant that is causing a particular failure. It is important to understand, through modeling and simulation, which parameters can improve product yield. It is also important to systematically identify these parameters within the pro cess system and to control, and preferably reduce/eliminate, these parameters by identifying their root cause. To verify that CFM is being maintained in a pro duction process these parameters must be monitored using a statistical process control (SPC) sample.
