International Business Machines Corporation

Raymond James Bunkofske

Nancy T Pascoe

John Z Colt, Jr

Maheswaran Surendra

Marc A Taubenblatt

Asif Ghias

James J McGill

Perry G Hartswick

Brian Christopher Barker

John W Lewis

John Colt

A semiconductor wafer including a plurality of pits in the semiconductor wafer. The pits are arranged in an information-providing pattern and are readable after completion of processing on the wafer.

Wafer identification mark

A method and structure for controlling a manufacturing tool includes measuring different manufacturing parameters of the tool, transforming a plurality of time series of the manufacturing parameters into intermediate variables based on restrictions and historical reference statistics, generating a surrogate variable based on the intermediate variables, if the surrogate variable exceeds a predetermined limit, identifying a first intermediate variable, of the intermediate variables, that caused the surrogate variable to exceed the predetermined limit and identifying a first manufacturing parameter associated with the first intermediate variable, and inhibiting further operation of the tool until the first manufacturing parameter has been modified to bring the surrogate value within the predetermined limit.

User configurable multivariate time series reduction tool control method

These desirable results and other objects of the present invention are realized and provided by depositing coating material on a front surface of a rotating wafer to spread a thin film over this surface while directing a light positive pressure of clean gas over the backside of the spinning wafer to preclude deposits of gas borne particles of the coating material thereon. Solvent application for removal of edge coating can be employed simultaneously with, or subsequent to, the deposit of coating material on the front surface In the apparatus, the wafer is mounted for rotation over the open end of a containment member terminating at its top in a ring surface to define a central chamber encircled at its top by a narrow radial channel, and the chamber is lightly pressurized from a source of gas, uncontaminated by coating material, to produce a steady flow of clean gas outwardly through said channel into balance at the edge of the wafer with a particle containing gas flow from the front surface to thereby exclude unwanted distributions of coating material or solvent to the wafer.

Method and apparatus for coating a semiconductor wafer

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South Burlington, VT, United States of America

Raymond James Bunkofske