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Fundamentals of Yield

Low yields on a high volume manufacturing line can cost a company millions of dollars a day. Your industry needs competent analysts to help solve these problems. Fundamentals of Yield is a 1-day course that offers detailed instruction on a variety of effective tools, as well as the overall process flow for identifying, locating and characterizing the defects responsible for the low yields. This course is designed for every manager, engineer, and technician working in the semiconductor field, using semiconductor components or supplying tools to the industry.

By focusing on a Do It Right the First Time approach to the analysis, participants will learn the appropriate methodology to successfully locate defects, characterize them, and determine the root cause of failure.

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1-Year Online Training Subscription

(Includes this and other materials.)

Cost

$795

$700

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Please note: If you or your company plan to pay by wire transfer, you will be charged a wire transfer fee of USD 45.00.

Please email the printable registration form for public courses to us at the email address on the form to complete your order.

Additional Information

If you have any questions concerning this course, please contact us at info@semitracks.com.

Refund Policy

If a course is canceled, refunds are limited to course registration fees. Registration within 21 days of the course is subject to $100 surcharge.

Can't attend this course due to work schedule or lack of travel budget? An Online version of this course is available in our Online Training System!

What Will I Learn By Taking This Class?

Participants learn to develop the skills to determine what tools and techniques should be applied, and when they should be applied. This skill-building series is divided into three segments:

  1. The Process of Yield Analysis. Participants learn to recognize correct philosophical principles that lead to a successful analysis. This includes concepts like destructive vs. non-destructive techniques, fast techniques vs. brute force techniques, and correct verification.
  2. Data Mining Techniques. Participants learn the strengths and weaknesses of data mining tools used for analysis, including electrical testing techniques, defect inspection tools, wafer map data, and correlation techniques.
  3. Case Histories. Participants identify how to use their knowledge through the case histories. They learn to identify key pieces of information that allow them to determine the possible cause of failure and how to proceed.

The class focuses on practical application to the situations that you face daily, whether you are a manager, an engineer, or a technician working in the semiconductor field, using semiconductor components, or supplying tools to the semiconductor industry.

Course Objectives

  1. The seminar will provide participants with an in-depth understanding of the tools, techniques, and processes used in yield analysis.
  2. Participants will be able to determine how to proceed with a submitted request for analysis, ensuring that the analysis is done with the greatest probability of success.
  3. The seminar will identify the advantages and disadvantages of a wide variety of tools and techniques that are used for yield analysis.
  4. The seminar offers a wide variety of video demonstrations of analysis techniques, so the analyst can get an understanding of the types of results they might expect to see with their equipment.
  5. Participants will be able to identify basic yield models and equations and their applicability to a variety of semiconductor devices.
  6. Participants will be able to identify a variety of different failure mechanisms and how they manifest themselves.
  7. Participants will be able to identify appropriate tools to purchase when starting or expanding a laboratory.

Course Outline

Day 1

  1. Introduction
  2. Yield Analysis Principles/Procedures
    1. Philosophy of Yield Analysis
    2. Flowcharts
  3. Models for Yield Prediction
    1. Poisson
    2. Murphy
    3. Seeds
    4. Bose-Einstein
    5. Other treatments
    6. In-class Exercises: Yield Calculations
  4. Gathering Information
  5. Test Structures
  6. Yield Enhancement Techniques
    1. Random Defects
    2. Systematic Defects
  7. Defect Analysis and Yield Loss
  8. Data Mining
    1. Electrical Data
    2. Metrology
    3. Wafer Maps/Spatial Data
    4. Correlation Techniques
  9. Overview of Electrical Testing
  10. Failure Analysis Techniques Overview
    1. Decapsulation/Backside Sample Preparation
    2. Die Inspection
    3. Optical Microscopy
    4. Scanning Electron Microscopy/Transmission Electron Microscopy
    5. Photon Emission Microscopy
    6. Electron Beam Tools
    7. Optical Beam Tools
    8. Thermal Detection Techniques
    9. Chemical Unlayering
    10. Scanned Probe Techniques (Atomic Force Microscopy, Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy)
    11. Analytical Techniques (Auger, TOF-SIMS, SIMS, TXRF, etc)
    12. Focused Ion Beam Technology
  11. Root Cause Analysis
  12. Case Histories

Instructional Strategy

Our courses are dynamic. We use a combination of instruction by lecture, problem solving, and question/answer sessions to give you the tools you need to excel in the failure analysis process. From the very first moments of the seminar until the last sentence of the training, the driving instructional factor is application. The course notes offer hundreds of pages of reference material that the participants can apply during their daily activities.

Our instructors are internationally recognized experts. Our instructors have years of current and relevant experience in their fields. They're focused on answering your questions and teaching you what you need to know.

Instructor Profile

Christopher Henderson, President of Semitracks

Christopher Henderson

Christopher Henderson received his B.S. in Physics from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and his M.S.E.E. from the University of New Mexico. Chris is the President and one of the founders of Semitracks Inc., a United States-based company that provides education and semiconductor training to the electronics industry.

From 1988 to 2004, Chris worked at Sandia National Laboratories, where he was a Principal Member of Technical Staff in the Failure Analysis Department and Microsystems Partnerships Department. His job responsibilities have included failure and yield analysis of components fabricated at Sandia's Microelectronics Development Laboratory, research into the electrical behavior of defects, and consulting on microelectronics issues for the DoD. He has published over 20 papers at various conferences in semiconductor processing, reliability, failure analysis, and test. He has received two R&D 100 awards and two best paper awards. Prior to working at Sandia, Chris worked for Honeywell, BF Goodrich Aerospace, and Intel. Chris is a member of IEEE and EDFAS (the Electron Device Failure Analysis Society).

At Semitracks, Chris teaches courses on failure and yield analysis, semiconductor reliability, and other aspects of semiconductor technology.