Wafer traveler design for an undergraduate microchip fabrication facility

In support of a new 1,800 ft/sup 2/ Class 10,000 cleanroom dedicated to teaching the elements of the microchip fabrication, we are developing a laboratory information management system (LIMS) that provides for the paperless operation of the facility. An essential part of this system is an electronic traveler that accompanies each wafer, tracking all changes and tests performed on it. This traveler replaces a student's lab notes and has the power of automatically recording all processing steps, accurately storing results of all tests performed and being secured against unauthorized access. A custom-built Visual Basic application manages the flow of data from students to the centralized database. Both local and remote access to the wafer data is handled through a standard World Wide Web (WWW) browser. Students are allowed access to data only from wafers that they have been assigned to work on. As an added feature, the Microsoft Office suite of applications has been automated to assist students in the creation of charts and graphs that can be used to prepare lab reports and presentations.