"Data platforms powered by digital and data innovation can improve material quality and eliminate defects in semiconductor processes."

Anand Nambiar, Chief Commercial Officer of Electronics Business Sector, Merck, delivered a keynote speech titled 'Digital and Data in the Materials World' at SEMICON Korea 2024.

In his keynote speech, Anand Nambiar stated that by gathering and analyzing data from all semiconductor processes on a single platform, they were able to improve semiconductor materials and eliminate defects in the process, and that identifying the causes of semiconductor process defects and developing improvement plans, which previously took years, could be completed in a matter of months.

Anand Nambiar was a manufacturing process manager 15 years ago and had the experience of finding problems in the process despite putting in a lot of energy and effort to supply materials that met customer specifications. He said that he tried to solve the problem at the time, but the result was a temporary solution and was disappointed that it was not a perfect solution and he wanted to improve it. He introduced that he was trying to find a way to do so.

He noted that this is because no one has enough data, and that these problems are still often found in the field.

Recently, semiconductor manufacturers and material and equipment companies have begun sharing data to address these issues and are making joint efforts to identify problems, it said.

According to Anand Nambiar, data collection is difficult, but Merck recently announced that it has achieved 100% material improvement by converting previously paper-based data into digital form, collecting it on a platform, and using technology to analyze this vast amount of data.

In particular, the company said that through this, customers can also benefit, and when product issues are discovered, data can be collected and resolved, and the PCN (Problem Tracking No.) period has been reduced from 6 months to 6 weeks.

He argued that if all semiconductor manufacturers shared these data management techniques, the entire semiconductor industry would be able to save significant time and achieve a defect-free state in semiconductor manufacturing.

He also suggested that to achieve this, collaboration with customers is necessary and understanding of data sharing must come first, and that data should not be limited to a single product or a single customer's process, but rather that companies related to the entire semiconductor manufacturing process, including precursors, slurries, etching, and gases, should participate together to share information and collaborate throughout the semiconductor manufacturing process.