A new knowledge-based expert system for inspection of ULSI process flow

A knowledge-based expert system for ULSI manufacturing has been developed in order to describe and inspect the process flow and generate data automatically for wafer control and other systems, maintaining data compatibility for ULSI fabrication. This system consists of four subsystems: a process flow generation system, a process flow inspection system, a data generation system, and a data translation system for controlling the process flow. All programs are run on a personal computer connected to a host computer in the manufacturing system. The knowledge-based expert system has proved to be a useful controlling method for semiconductor manufacturing. In particular, this system is very effective for ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) device manufacturing because of the large flexibility in the process flow description, the process flow inspection, automatic generation of wafer controlling data, and data standardization for other systems. >