A European semiconductor initiative involves 35 companies in a joint research project aimed at improving productivity in fabs.
Called IMPROVE (Implementing manufacturing science solutions to increase equipment productivity and fab performance), the project runs from 2009 to end of 2011 and incorporates production sites in Europe, chip fab equipment providers and academia from Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Portugal.
One area the project will address is the monitoring of semiconductor production tools and processed wafers over the whole fabrication line. This is important because after production runs manufacturers typically have to reset production tools for the next product. So it is important to maintain condition monitoring and predictive maintenance.
The IMPROVE project has a total budget of approximately €37.7m, half of which is carried by the partners.
The other budget half is publicly funded by the European Commission and by national funding of the participating nations through the joint undertaking of the European Nanoelectronics Initiative Advisory Council (ENIAC) as part of the sub-program “SP4 Nanoelectronics for Energy & Environment”.