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Chip gear maker Lam Analysis launched Dextro, the chip {{{industry}}}’s first collaborative robotic (cobot) designed to optimize essential repairs duties in chip factories.
The robots have been deployed in numerous superior wafer fabs throughout the globe. Dextro permits acceptable, high-precision repairs to attenuate software program program downtime and manufacturing variability. It drives essential first-time-right (FTR) outcomes that may improve yield in wafer fabrication crops.
If worthwhile, the robots might make semiconductor manufacturing — which is the muse for income all through the billions all through the electronics {{{industry}}} — way more environment nice.
In the meanwhile’s wafer fabrication gear makes use of superior physics, robotics and chemistry to create semiconductors at nanoscale. A typical fab has an entire bunch in spite of everything of gadgets that every require frequent, superior repairs.
Dextro is designed to bolster the cost-effectiveness of this gear by performing essential repairs duties with repeatability and sub-micron precision.
“Dextro is an thrilling leap ahead in semiconductor manufacturing gear repairs. Constructed to work side-by-side with fab engineers, it executes superior repairs duties with precision and repeatability which can be earlier human efficiency alone, enabling elevated software program program uptime and manufacturing yield,” stated Chris Carter, group vice chairman of the patron assist enterprise group at Lam Analysis, in an announcement. “It’s a extraordinarily environment friendly addition to Lam’s in depth portfolio of gadgets and companies designed to assist chipmakers optimize their fabs for worth and productiveness.”
As fabs proceed to develop in dimension, geographic fluctuate, and tools complexity, chipmakers ought to optimize the effectiveness of their fab engineers by rising automation and along with efficiencies. That is turning into way more compulsory because of the variety of semiconductor positions worldwide continues to outpace the provision {of professional} engineers.
Precision is essential in software program program repairs, the place the right reassembly of subsystems interprets to the underside line. Attaining FTR saves time and worth. Repeatable repairs furthermore reduces waste related to consumable elements, labor and manufacturing downtime, resulting in loads a lot much less variability and better yield in manufacturing.
“When manufacturing gear requires repairs, the work have to be accomplished rapidly and efficiently to keep away from prolonged software program program downtime and wasted worth,” stated Youthful Ju Kim, vice chairman and head of the Reminiscence Etch Expertise Staff at Samsung Electronics, in an announcement. “Error-free repairs by Dextro helps drive enhancements in manufacturing variability and yield. That is an thrilling milestone in Samsung’s journey to the autonomous fab.”
Dextro is a cell unit with a robotic arm operated by a fab technician or engineer. It makes use of assorted end-effectors as fingers to take care of essential gear repairs duties which can be time-consuming and weak to errors when accomplished manually.
For example, it exactly installs and compresses consumable elements with higher than twice
the accuracy of handbook software program program. Precise meeting helps administration etch effectivity on the wafer edge, bettering yield.
Dextro tightens high-precision vacuum-sealing bolts to specific specs, relieving fab engineers of a repetitive job that has as loads as a 5% error worth when accomplished manually. Precisely assembly specs eliminates chamber temperature deviations which will take a software program program out of manufacturing and impression die yield.
And Dextro removes side-wall polymer build-up all by way of the chamber, with out the burden of disassembly of the decrease chamber. Importantly, it does this at decrease threat to people who require heavy defending respiratory gear to carry out the accountability manually.
Lam’s Flex G and H assortment dielectric etch gadgets are at present supported by Dextro, rising to
additional gadgets in 2025 and former.
“With the massive improve in demand that AI is bringing to the semiconductor market, it’s essential for chipmakers to maintain up all their manufacturing gear working as efficiently as potential to attenuate downtime,” well-known Bob O’Donnell, president of TECHnalysis Analysis, in an announcement. “Dextro can automate tedious, time-consuming and, usually, intricate cleansing and upkeep duties on chip fabrication gear in order that manufacturing output may probably be maximized. It gives a limiteless income for firms that select to deploy it.”
Dextro joins a portfolio of wonderful decisions from Lam that improve effectivity and scale back the value of operations for semiconductor fabs. This contains the Lam Devices Intelligence course of gadgets with autonomous calibration and self-adapting repairs capabilities, together with Devices Intelligence Companies that use data, machine discovering out, synthetic intelligence and Lam house data to know better productiveness outcomes.
