By Martin Schellenberger, Group Manager for Equipment and APC, Fraunhofer IISB; Georg Roede, Fraunhofer IISB; Richard Öchsner, Deputy Head of the Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment and Method Department, Fraunhofer IISB; Ulrich Schöpka, Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment and Methods Department, Fraunhofer IISB; Igor Kasko, Fraunhofer IISB
Advanced Process Control (APC) has become an indispensable cornerstone of today’s semiconductor manufacturing. With roots in chemical processing, APC has not only proven itself in semiconductor manufacturing, but has potential to enhance yield in adjacent industries, such as photovoltaics. This paper gives a short introduction to APC, including its key elements, and proceeds to illustrate examples and success stories from the application of APC in semiconductor manufacturing. Based on these application examples, the lessons learned are summarized and the potentials of APC for PV are derived.