This Tuesday, Lam Research unveiled its new Dextro collaborative robot (cobot), designed to perform precise and consistent maintenance on fabrication tools.
In the typical wafer fabrication plant, hundreds of sophisticated tools require regular, intricate maintenance. The accuracy of this maintenance is crucial because the correct assembly of these tools’ subsystems has a direct effect on production yields. Traditionally, humans have handled these tasks, but they lack the precision of machines.
The Dextro cobot is a mobile unit featuring an arm that can be fitted with various end-effectors to perform three essential maintenance operations. This cobot installs consumable parts with more than double the precision of human workers, ensuring correct assembly and enhancing the etching process at the wafer’s edge. It also tightens vacuum-sealing bolts to precise standards, cutting down on the 5% error rate seen with manual tightening and avoiding temperature fluctuations that could halt production.
Moreover, Dextro is capable of safely clearing away polymer accumulations on chamber walls without the need for disassembly, sparing human engineers from having to wear bulky protective breathing equipment. It is important to note that Dextro does not replace human technicians but rather supports them by handling precise tasks they control.
At present, Dextro works with Lam’s Flex G and H series dielectric etch tools, with plans to expand its compatibility to additional tools by 2025, broadening its application in the semiconductor manufacturing sector.
Dextro is already in use in several top-tier semiconductor factories worldwide, delivering enhanced first-time-right (FTR) results and minimizing maintenance mistakes. The primary goal of Lam’s cobot is to execute high-precision maintenance tasks with unmatched accuracy and reliability. Manual maintenance is often prone to errors and is labor-intensive, but deploying cobots like Dextro in fabs can significantly boost yields.
Additionally, by automating these demanding and repetitive tasks, Dextro helps address major industry issues, such as the lack of skilled engineers and the growing complexity of contemporary wafer fabrication equipment.
By consistently achieving reliable maintenance outcomes, Dextro substantially reduces waste, lowers consumable costs, and diminishes downtime due to production stoppages, thereby increasing tool uptime—an essential factor for semiconductor manufacturers.
“When it comes to maintaining manufacturing equipment, the tasks need to be completed swiftly and flawlessly to prevent prolonged downtime and unnecessary expenses,” explained Young Ju Kim, Vice President and Head of the Memory Etch Technology Team at Samsung Electronics. “The error-free maintenance performed by Dextro is instrumental in enhancing production consistency and yield, marking a significant advancement in Samsung’s push towards fully autonomous fabs.”
