Wafer Breakage

Problem description:

Process equipment was randomly breaking wafers. Conventional diagnostics methods were applied by the customer, consuming much labor, parts and time to no avail.

InnerSense Solution:

Using SmartWafer  a Wafer Handling Analyzer the customer found that the equipment robot blade vibrated during movement. Finding the root cause of the wafer breakage drove the customer to use SmartWafer as part of their standard monitoring procedures in order  to prevent similar problems in the future.                                                           

The chart shows the vibration intensity that is measured by the SmartWafer while it travels inside the equipment

Blue: Good signal.

Pink: Bad blade bearing caused vibrations during blade up.

The vibrations caused random wafer drops & breakage.