What Is SmartSPC’s Role in Semiconductor Manufacturing Process Control

Process control is critical in semiconductor manufacturing, where even the smallest variations can significantly impact product quality and yield. As processes become more complex and demanding, manufacturers require advanced solutions that not only monitor but actively optimize production in real time—driving continuous improvement and ensuring consistent performance.

SmartSPC plays a key strategic role by elevating process control from traditional monitoring to dynamic, automated management—helping semiconductor fabs improve precision, stability, and overall efficiency.

Process Control Challenges Across Key Semiconductor Manufacturing Steps

Semiconductor manufacturing involves a series of highly complex and interdependent steps, such as photolithography, etching, and deposition—each step is extremely sensitive to numerous variables.

• Photolithography requires precise control of exposure dose, focus, and alignment, closely monitored through metrology to ensure accurate pattern transfer onto wafers.
• Etching demands tight regulation of gas flow rates, pressure, and temperature, with metrology measurements verifying uniform material removal and preventing damage to underlying layers.
• Deposition processes rely on consistent chemical precursor flow, substrate temperature, and chamber conditions, all tracked by metrology tools to maintain thin-film uniformity.

Throughout these processes, variability in equipment performance, material properties, and environmental conditions poses constant challenges. While metrology provides essential feedback for process control, even small deviations captured by these measurements can propagate through the manufacturing chain, leading to defects and reduced yield.

Read more about semiconductor manufacturing challenges here.

Why Automate Process Control?

Automating process control enables fabs to respond faster and more accurately than manual tuning and traditional SPC methods. By leveraging real-time data, automated systems provide timely, precise adjustments that reduce variability and improve process stability. This leads to more consistent product quality and supports higher yield.

Faster, More Precise Adjustments

Manual tuning and traditional SPC methods often cannot keep up with the rapid pace and complexity of modern semiconductor processes. Automated process control uses real-time data to make immediate adjustments, reducing the impact of process drift. It also allows simultaneous control of multiple interacting parameters, achieving a level of precision that is difficult to replicate manually.

Consistency and Scalability

Automation improves consistency by minimizing human error and reducing variability in tuning decisions. As fabs generate increasing volumes of data and manage more complex recipes, automated control systems provide the scalability required to handle these challenges efficiently. This ensures stable production quality even as processes become more demanding.

Graphic depicts automated process control between production lots, enabling real-time parameter value adjustments to minimize process drifts and ensure quality consistency.

SmartSPC Role’s Overview: Beyond Traditional Process Control

SmartSPC is a modular, integrated solution designed to automate and enhance process control. It combines key components such as LineWorks SPACE for real-time data collection, LineWorks RM for recipe management, Advanced Calculation Option (ACO) as an enabler for adaptive tuning, and Recipe Objects (ROBs) for parameter configuration and mapping. This tight integration and automation enable SmartSPC to function beyond traditional SPC, providing faster and more precise process adjustments.

Explore SmartSPC components and how they collaborate in automating process control.

How SmartSPC Elevates Process Control Strategy

At the heart of SmartSPC is automated Run-to-Run (R2R) control, a feedback system that continuously analyzes production data and adjusts process parameters dynamically.

This approach offers strategic advantages by:

• Managing multiple interacting parameters simultaneously, considering their combined effects rather than adjusting them in isolation.
• Utilizing feedforward and feedback mechanisms to predict and compensate for process drifts proactively.
• Enabling real-time, data-driven decision-making that adapts recipes quickly in response to process changes.
• Consistently enhancing process capability (Cpk), reducing defects, and improving yield.

These capabilities position SmartSPC as a key enabler for fabs pursuing Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 goals, supporting smarter, more connected manufacturing ecosystems.

Find out more about how R2R control works in SmartSPC.

Seamless Integration and Scalable Deployment

SmartSPC is designed to integrate seamlessly with existing semiconductor fabs and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). Its modular architecture supports scalable deployment, ranging from focused control loops to comprehensive fab-wide implementations.

Customizable to specific process requirements, SmartSPC facilitates continuous improvement by delivering actionable insights and automated adjustments that evolve alongside your production.

The run-to-run (R2R) closed-loop with feedforward and feedback mechanisms used in semiconductor manufacturing.

Delivering Measurable Business Value with SmartSPC

• Increased yield and reduced defects through tighter process control.
• Enhanced process stability and integrity that minimizes downtime.
• Improved operational efficiency by automating manual tuning tasks.
• Consistent product quality with minimal process variations.
• Stronger compliance and traceability supporting quality and audit requirements.

Over time, SmartSPC contributes to long-term manufacturing excellence and competitive advantage in a fast-evolving market.

Conclusion

SmartSPC plays a vital strategic role in modern semiconductor manufacturing by transforming traditional process control into a dynamic, automated system. Its integrated, data-driven approach helps fabs improve precision, reduce variability, and boost yield—key factors in maintaining industry leadership.