Lam Research has introduced Dextro, which the company claims is the semiconductor industry's first collaborative robot (cobot) designed to optimize critical maintenance tasks on wafer fabrication equipment. Currently deployed in multiple advanced wafer fabs around the world, Dextro enables accurate, high-precision maintenance to minimize tool downtime and production variability, while driving significant first-time-right (FTR) results that can enhance yield.
Modern wafer fabrication equipment utilizes advanced physics, robotics, and chemistry to create semiconductors at the nanoscale. A typical fab has hundreds of process tools that each require regular, complex maintenance. Dextro is designed to improve the cost-effectiveness of this equipment by performing critical maintenance tasks with repeatability and sub-micron precision.
"Dextro is an exciting leap forward in semiconductor manufacturing equipment maintenance. Built to work side-by-side with fab engineers, it executes complex maintenance tasks with precision and repeatability that are beyond human capability alone, enabling higher tool uptime and manufacturing yield," said Chris Carter, group VP of customer support for Lam Research. "It is a powerful addition to Lam's extensive portfolio of tools and services designed to help chipmakers optimize their fabs for cost and productivity."
As semiconductor facilities continue to grow in size, geographic diversity, and equipment complexity, chipmakers need to optimize the effectiveness of their fab engineers by increasing automation and adding efficiencies. This is becoming even more important as the number of semiconductor positions worldwide continues to outpace the availability of skilled engineers.
Precision is crucial in tool maintenance, where the accurate reassembly of subsystems translates to the bottom line. Achieving FTR saves time and cost. Furthermore, consistent maintenance reduces waste associated with consumable parts, labor, and production downtime, leading to less variability and higher yield in production.
"When manufacturing equipment requires maintenance, the work must be done quickly and efficiently to avoid extended tool downtime and wasted cost," said Young Ju Kim, VP and head of Samsung Electronics' memory etch technology team. "Error-free maintenance by Dextro helps drive improvements in production variability and yield. This is an exciting milestone in Samsung's journey to the autonomous fab."
Dextro is a mobile unit with a robotic arm operated by a fab technician or engineer. The system uses various end-effectors as hands to manage critical equipment maintenance tasks that are time-consuming and prone to errors when done manually. For instance, it precisely installs and compresses consumable components with more than two times the accuracy of a manual application. Precise assembly helps control etch performance at the wafer edge, improving yield.
The cobot also tightens vacuum-sealing, high-precision bolts to exact specifications, relieving fab engineers of a repetitive task that has up to a 5% error rate when done manually. Accurately meeting specifications eliminate chamber temperature deviations that may take a tool out of production and impact die yield. Additionally, using automation and cleaning technology, Dextro removes side-wall polymer build-up within the chamber, without the burden of disassembly of the lower chamber. Most importantly, it does this at lower risk to humans who require heavy protective breathing equipment to perform the task manually.
Lam's Flex G and H series dielectric etch tools are currently supported by Dextro, with support expanding to additional tools in 2025 and beyond.
"With the enormous increase in demand that AI is bringing to the semiconductor market, chipmakers must keep all their manufacturing equipment working as efficiently as possible to minimize downtime," said Bob O'Donnell, president of TECHnalysis Research. "Dextro can automate tedious, time-consuming, and, often, intricate cleaning and maintenance tasks on-chip fabrication equipment so that manufacturing output can be maximized. It offers a huge benefit for companies that choose to deploy it."
Dextro joins a portfolio of smart solutions from Lam that enhance efficiency and reduce the cost of operations for semiconductor fabs.
