by Brent Forsgren,
Director of OEM Solutions
Fabs are like people, each one has it own personality traits. Fortunately, and arguably unfortunately, unlike people, most fabs have a handbook for their “personalities” in the form of specifications. I have found it interesting, that like people, fab “personalities” have common and unique features. Here are a few of examples:
- There are some fabs that I would classify as the “Clean Freak.” Compliance to GEM and GEM 300 standards is important but more important to them is preventing cross contamination between FOUPs, and from wafer to wafer – “Who left this loadport door open? Don’t you know you can spread particles by doing that??”
- Then there are other fabs that I would classify as the “Punctilious.” Again, compliance to the GEM and GEM300 standards is required but more important to them is knowing exactly when you are going to be done, when you are ready for more, are you done yet, how much longer are you going to be, are you done yet?
- Then there are other fabs that are “Methodical-ious” (if I can make that a word). Everything must happen in a very specific order. 1) Don’t allow jobs to exist without material at the tool first; 2) Download the recipe before every job that is created; 3) Create the job now. 4) If the FOUP is removed before the job starts, refer to rule 1.
- And let’s admit it, all fabs are “Control Freaks,” if they weren’t we wouldn’t be in business. They control when jobs are run, how jobs are run, and what a job does.
Hmmmm……that makes me wonder, if fabs are like people, does that make companies like Cimetrix psychiatrists?
