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How do Wafer Front-End Robots help increase Productivity?

One must know that the wafers in a 300mm semiconductor fabrication facility are conveyed via the workshop I carriers, known as front opening unified pods (FOUPs). The primary performance measure is known in the work-in-process (WIP) with the reluctant cycle time. The order arrival rate, the average order size, batching policy, automated material wafer handling system, and the number of batch tools significantly affect the models' performance.

When we talk about a semiconductor fabrication facility, the improvements in the relevant methods are relentlessly discovered. Those methods include the rise in the utilization of the resources, scheduling the lots, and analyzing the optimal batch size to boost the fab efficiency while continuing with the never-ending process of the narrowed cycle time. Many studies have been conducted to the phase in the wayfinding of the optimal lot and the batch size.

The wafer carriers' capacity governs the standardized lot sizes under the ideal condition. According to the order size, the wafer carriers might not be filled to the utmost degree. Although, the standard capacities of the FOUP are 25 and 13 wafers. So, the amount of time which a lot has to wait can be instantly processed by it at the tool diminishes as the lot size cuts down. It further lessens the total wait time for every lot, after all decreasing the cycle time.

With the decrease of the lot size, more nuanced and more regulated batching is possible with the batching tools. It considers the capacity of the tool as per the lots is inverse with the lot size. The control of the minimum batch size rises as the lot size lessens. It lessens the tool's starvation possibility, and further, the downstream tool has to wait for a lot to reach. Such an argument says that a smaller lot size is advantageous. The amount of setups rises with the lengthening cycle time with the decrease in the lot size, and the wafer would remain constant. The little lot size implements more and more lots to get transferred with many lot movements. It raises the load over the AMHS. The lot at a tool's waiting time is the function of the queue length at the tool group. Several practical issues include variation in the order rates, tool downtimes, processing time, and AMHS behavior. It all forms the validity of the above argument to proceed further.

At Kensington Laboratories, you can check the 300mm FOUP of secured wafer handling. The robots get processed with the optical sensing device to look widely at their functionality and the environment. It is also used to analyze whether the wafers are known to be at the perfect place. The Kensington Laboratories' stage repair, 300mm FOUP, and the wafer front end are designed in a manner to reduce the downtime and further produce robust productivity. Contact us if you are interested in proceeding with the method.

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