Electrical parameter data analysis and object-oriented techniques in semiconductor process development
Greg Freeman, J. Kierstead, W. Schweiger · 2002
Early and rapid assessment regarding the outcome of process experiments on performance and integrity of fabricated devices is critical to the learning process inherent in process development. In-line electrical measurements on test structures play a critical role in this assessment. Interpretation and analysis of data generated from such measurements usually falls short of its potential because of the data storage/retrieval/calculation/and analysis tools available to those required to understand this data. At IBM's Advanced Semiconductor Technology Center, we have taken advantage of object-oriented technologies to develop a system that solves these problems in a single integrated package. Central to this system is an object-oriented "data model" in which engineering domain objects (i.e.: Devices, Measurements, and Calculations) are represented and stored as database objects. This paper reviews the requirements for a parametric electrical database and analysis system, and describes the integral part that these modelled objects play in our implementation of the calculation and analysis routines. Real-life examples are drawn from the SiGe HBT technology supported by this system at the ASTC.