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751 technical terms and definitions

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Showing page 4 of 16 (751 entries)

mean reciprocal rank (mrr),mean reciprocal rank,mrr,evaluation

Position of first relevant result.

mean reciprocal rank, mrr, evaluation

Average of reciprocal ranks.

mean teacher, semi-supervised learning

Use EMA of student as teacher.

mean time between assist, mtba, production

Average time between operator interventions.

mean time between cleaning, mtbc, production

Average time between cleanings.

mean time between pm, mtbpm, production

Interval between preventive maintenance.

mean time to failure (mttf),mean time to failure,mttf,reliability

Average time until failure.

mean time to failure calculation, mttf, reliability

Average time to failure.

mean time, manufacturing operations

Mean time metrics average durations for maintenance activities.

meander,design

Curved routing to match delay.

meaning representation to text,nlp

Generate text from semantic representations.

means-ends analysis, ai agents

Means-ends analysis reduces differences between current and goal states through operator selection.

measurement capability index, metrology

Similar to process Cpk.

measurement system analysis (msa),measurement system analysis,msa,quality

Validate measurement capability.

measurement system analysis, msa, quality

Validate measurement capability.

measurement uncertainty, metrology, GUM, type A uncertainty, type B uncertainty, uncertainty propagation

# Semiconductor Manufacturing Process Measurement Uncertainty: Mathematical Modeling ## 1. The Fundamental Challenge At modern nodes (3nm, 2nm), we face a profound problem: **measurement uncertainty can consume 30–50% of the tolerance budget**. Consider typical values: - Feature dimension: ~15nm - Tolerance: ±1nm (≈7% variation allowed) - Measurement repeatability: ~0.3–0.5nm - Reproducibility (tool-to-tool): additional 0.3–0.5nm This means we cannot naively interpret measured variation as process variation—a significant portion is measurement noise. ## 2. Variance Decomposition Framework The foundational mathematical structure is the decomposition of total observed variance: $$ \sigma^2_{\text{observed}} = \sigma^2_{\text{process}} + \sigma^2_{\text{measurement}} $$ ### 2.1 Hierarchical Decomposition For a full fab model: $$ Y_{ijklm} = \mu + L_i + W_{j(i)} + D_{k(ij)} + T_l + (LT)_{il} + \eta_{lm} + \epsilon_{ijklm} $$ Where: | Term | Meaning | Type | |------|---------|------| | $L_i$ | Lot effect | Random | | $W_{j(i)}$ | Wafer nested in lot | Random | | $D_{k(ij)}$ | Die/site within wafer | Random or systematic | | $T_l$ | Measurement tool | Random or fixed | | $(LT)_{il}$ | Lot × tool interaction | Random | | $\eta_{lm}$ | Tool drift/bias | Systematic | | $\epsilon_{ijklm}$ | Pure repeatability | Random | The variance components: $$ \text{Var}(Y) = \sigma^2_L + \sigma^2_W + \sigma^2_D + \sigma^2_T + \sigma^2_{LT} + \sigma^2_\eta + \sigma^2_\epsilon $$ **Measurement system variance:** $$ \sigma^2_{\text{meas}} = \sigma^2_T + \sigma^2_\eta + \sigma^2_\epsilon $$ ## 3. Gauge R&R Mathematics The standard Gauge Repeatability and Reproducibility analysis partitions measurement variance: $$ \sigma^2_{\text{meas}} = \sigma^2_{\text{repeatability}} + \sigma^2_{\text{reproducibility}} $$ ### 3.1 Key Metrics **Precision-to-Tolerance Ratio:** $$ \text{P/T} = \frac{k \cdot \sigma_{\text{meas}}}{\text{USL} - \text{LSL}} $$ where $k = 5.15$ (99% coverage) or $k = 6$ (99.73% coverage) **Discrimination Ratio:** $$ \text{ndc} = 1.41 \times \frac{\sigma_{\text{process}}}{\sigma_{\text{meas}}} $$ This gives the number of distinct categories the measurement system can reliably distinguish. - Industry standard requires: $\text{ndc} \geq 5$ **Signal-to-Noise Ratio:** $$ \text{SNR} = \frac{\sigma_{\text{process}}}{\sigma_{\text{meas}}} $$ ## 4. GUM-Based Uncertainty Propagation Following the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM): ### 4.1 Combined Standard Uncertainty For a measurand $y = f(x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n)$: $$ u_c(y) = \sqrt{\sum_{i=1}^{n} \left(\frac{\partial f}{\partial x_i}\right)^2 u^2(x_i) + 2\sum_{i=1}^{n-1}\sum_{j=i+1}^{n} \frac{\partial f}{\partial x_i}\frac{\partial f}{\partial x_j} u(x_i, x_j)} $$ ### 4.2 Type A vs. Type B Uncertainties **Type A** (statistical): $$ u_A(\bar{x}) = \frac{s}{\sqrt{n}} = \sqrt{\frac{1}{n(n-1)}\sum_{i=1}^{n}(x_i - \bar{x})^2} $$ **Type B** (other sources): - Calibration certificates: $u_B = \frac{U}{k}$ where $U$ is expanded uncertainty - Rectangular distribution (tolerance): $u_B = \frac{a}{\sqrt{3}}$ - Triangular distribution: $u_B = \frac{a}{\sqrt{6}}$ ## 5. Spatial Modeling of Within-Wafer Variation Within-wafer variation often has systematic spatial structure that must be separated from random measurement error. ### 5.1 Polynomial Surface Model (Zernike Polynomials) $$ z(r, \theta) = \sum_{n=0}^{N}\sum_{m=-n}^{n} a_{nm} Z_n^m(r, \theta) $$ Using Zernike polynomials—natural for circular wafer geometry: - $Z_0^0$: piston (mean) - $Z_1^1$: tilt - $Z_2^0$: defocus (bowl shape) - Higher orders: astigmatism, coma, spherical aberration analogs ### 5.2 Gaussian Process Model For flexible, non-parametric spatial modeling: $$ z(\mathbf{s}) \sim \mathcal{GP}(m(\mathbf{s}), k(\mathbf{s}, \mathbf{s}')) $$ With squared exponential covariance: $$ k(\mathbf{s}_i, \mathbf{s}_j) = \sigma^2_f \exp\left(-\frac{\|\mathbf{s}_i - \mathbf{s}_j\|^2}{2\ell^2}\right) + \sigma^2_n \delta_{ij} $$ Where: - $\sigma^2_f$: process variance (spatial signal) - $\ell$: length scale (spatial correlation distance) - $\sigma^2_n$: measurement noise (nugget effect) **This naturally separates spatial process variation from measurement noise.** ## 6. Bayesian Hierarchical Modeling Bayesian approaches provide natural uncertainty quantification and handle small samples common in expensive semiconductor metrology. ### 6.1 Basic Hierarchical Model **Level 1** (within-wafer measurements): $$ y_{ij} \mid \theta_i, \sigma^2_{\text{meas}} \sim \mathcal{N}(\theta_i, \sigma^2_{\text{meas}}) $$ **Level 2** (wafer-to-wafer variation): $$ \theta_i \mid \mu, \sigma^2_{\text{proc}} \sim \mathcal{N}(\mu, \sigma^2_{\text{proc}}) $$ **Level 3** (hyperpriors): $$ \begin{aligned} \mu &\sim \mathcal{N}(\mu_0, \tau^2_0) \\ \sigma^2_{\text{meas}} &\sim \text{Inv-Gamma}(\alpha_m, \beta_m) \\ \sigma^2_{\text{proc}} &\sim \text{Inv-Gamma}(\alpha_p, \beta_p) \end{aligned} $$ ### 6.2 Posterior Inference The posterior distribution: $$ p(\mu, \sigma^2_{\text{proc}}, \sigma^2_{\text{meas}} \mid \mathbf{y}) \propto p(\mathbf{y} \mid \boldsymbol{\theta}, \sigma^2_{\text{meas}}) \cdot p(\boldsymbol{\theta} \mid \mu, \sigma^2_{\text{proc}}) \cdot p(\mu, \sigma^2_{\text{proc}}, \sigma^2_{\text{meas}}) $$ Solved via MCMC methods: - Gibbs sampling - Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) - No-U-Turn Sampler (NUTS) ## 7. Monte Carlo Uncertainty Propagation For complex, non-linear measurement models where analytical propagation fails: ### 7.1 Algorithm (GUM Supplement 1) 1. **Define** probability distributions for all input quantities $X_i$ 2. **Sample** $M$ realizations: $\{x_1^{(k)}, x_2^{(k)}, \ldots, x_n^{(k)}\}$ for $k = 1, \ldots, M$ 3. **Propagate** each sample: $y^{(k)} = f(x_1^{(k)}, \ldots, x_n^{(k)})$ 4. **Analyze** output distribution to obtain uncertainty Typically $M \geq 10^6$ for reliable coverage interval estimation. ### 7.2 Application: OCD (Optical CD) Metrology Scatterometry fits measured spectra to electromagnetic models with parameters: - CD (critical dimension) - Sidewall angle - Height - Layer thicknesses - Optical constants The measurement equation is highly non-linear: $$ \mathbf{R}_{\text{meas}} = \mathbf{R}_{\text{model}}(\text{CD}, \theta_{\text{swa}}, h, \mathbf{t}, \mathbf{n}, \mathbf{k}) + \boldsymbol{\epsilon} $$ Monte Carlo propagation captures correlations and non-linearities that linearized GUM misses. ## 8. The Deconvolution Problem Given observed data that is a convolution of true process variation and measurement noise: $$ f_{\text{obs}}(x) = (f_{\text{true}} * f_{\text{meas}})(x) = \int f_{\text{true}}(t) \cdot f_{\text{meas}}(x-t) \, dt $$ **Goal:** Recover $f_{\text{true}}$ given $f_{\text{obs}}$ and knowledge of $f_{\text{meas}}$. ### 8.1 Fourier Approach In frequency domain: $$ \hat{f}_{\text{obs}}(\omega) = \hat{f}_{\text{true}}(\omega) \cdot \hat{f}_{\text{meas}}(\omega) $$ Naively: $$ \hat{f}_{\text{true}}(\omega) = \frac{\hat{f}_{\text{obs}}(\omega)}{\hat{f}_{\text{meas}}(\omega)} $$ **Problem:** Ill-posed—small errors in $\hat{f}_{\text{obs}}$ amplified where $\hat{f}_{\text{meas}}$ is small. ### 8.2 Regularization Techniques **Tikhonov regularization:** $$ \hat{f}_{\text{true}} = \arg\min_f \left\{ \|f_{\text{obs}} - f * f_{\text{meas}}\|^2 + \lambda \|Lf\|^2 \right\} $$ **Bayesian approach:** $$ p(f_{\text{true}} \mid f_{\text{obs}}) \propto p(f_{\text{obs}} \mid f_{\text{true}}) \cdot p(f_{\text{true}}) $$ With appropriate priors (smoothness, non-negativity) to regularize the solution. ## 9. Virtual Metrology with Uncertainty Quantification Virtual metrology predicts measurements from process tool data, reducing physical sampling requirements. ### 9.1 Model Structure $$ \hat{y} = f(\mathbf{x}_{\text{FDC}}) + \epsilon $$ Where $\mathbf{x}_{\text{FDC}}$ = fault detection and classification data (temperatures, pressures, flows, RF power, etc.) ### 9.2 Uncertainty-Aware ML Approaches **Gaussian Process Regression:** Provides natural predictive uncertainty: $$ p(y^* \mid \mathbf{x}^*, \mathcal{D}) = \mathcal{N}(\mu^*, \sigma^{*2}) $$ $$ \mu^* = \mathbf{k}^{*T}(\mathbf{K} + \sigma^2_n\mathbf{I})^{-1}\mathbf{y} $$ $$ \sigma^{*2} = k(\mathbf{x}^*, \mathbf{x}^*) - \mathbf{k}^{*T}(\mathbf{K} + \sigma^2_n\mathbf{I})^{-1}\mathbf{k}^* $$ **Conformal Prediction:** Distribution-free prediction intervals: $$ \hat{C}(x) = \left[\hat{y}(x) - \hat{q}, \hat{y}(x) + \hat{q}\right] $$ Where $\hat{q}$ is calibrated on held-out data to guarantee coverage probability. ## 10. Control Chart Implications Measurement uncertainty affects statistical process control profoundly. ### 10.1 Inflated Control Limits Standard control chart limits: $$ \text{UCL} = \bar{\bar{x}} + 3\sigma_{\bar{x}} $$ But $\sigma_{\bar{x}}$ includes measurement variance: $$ \sigma^2_{\bar{x}} = \frac{\sigma^2_{\text{proc}} + \sigma^2_{\text{meas}}/n_{\text{rep}}}{n_{\text{sample}}} $$ ### 10.2 Adjusted Process Capability True process capability: $$ \hat{C}_p = \frac{\text{USL} - \text{LSL}}{6\hat{\sigma}_{\text{proc}}} $$ Must correct observed variance: $$ \hat{\sigma}^2_{\text{proc}} = \hat{\sigma}^2_{\text{obs}} - \hat{\sigma}^2_{\text{meas}} $$ > **Warning:** This can yield negative estimates if measurement variance dominates—indicating the measurement system is inadequate. ## 11. Multi-Tool Matching and Reference Frame ### 11.1 Tool-to-Tool Bias Model $$ y_{\text{tool}_k} = y_{\text{true}} + \beta_k + \epsilon_k $$ Where $\beta_k$ is systematic bias for tool $k$. ### 11.2 Mixed-Effects Formulation $$ Y_{ij} = \mu + \tau_i + t_j + \epsilon_{ij} $$ - $\tau_i$: true sample value (random) - $t_j$: tool effect (random or fixed) - $\epsilon_{ij}$: residual **REML (Restricted Maximum Likelihood)** estimation separates these components. ### 11.3 Traceability Chain $$ \text{SI unit} \xrightarrow{u_1} \text{NMI reference} \xrightarrow{u_2} \text{Fab golden tool} \xrightarrow{u_3} \text{Production tools} $$ Total reference uncertainty: $$ u_{\text{ref}} = \sqrt{u_1^2 + u_2^2 + u_3^2} $$ ## 12. Practical Uncertainty Budget Example For CD-SEM measurement of a 20nm line: | Source | Type | $u_i$ (nm) | Sensitivity | Contribution (nm²) | |--------|------|-----------|-------------|-------------------| | Repeatability | A | 0.25 | 1 | 0.0625 | | Tool matching | B | 0.30 | 1 | 0.0900 | | SEM calibration | B | 0.15 | 1 | 0.0225 | | Algorithm uncertainty | B | 0.20 | 1 | 0.0400 | | Edge definition model | B | 0.35 | 1 | 0.1225 | | Charging effects | B | 0.10 | 1 | 0.0100 | **Combined standard uncertainty:** $$ u_c = \sqrt{\sum u_i^2} = \sqrt{0.3475} \approx 0.59 \text{ nm} $$ **Expanded uncertainty** ($k=2$, 95% confidence): $$ U = k \cdot u_c = 2 \times 0.59 = 1.18 \text{ nm} $$ For a ±1nm tolerance, this means **P/T ≈ 60%**—marginally acceptable. ## 13. Key Takeaways The mathematical modeling of measurement uncertainty in semiconductor manufacturing requires: 1. **Hierarchical variance decomposition** (ANOVA, mixed models) to separate process from measurement variation 2. **Spatial statistics** (Gaussian processes, Zernike decomposition) for within-wafer systematic patterns 3. **Bayesian inference** for rigorous uncertainty quantification with limited samples 4. **Monte Carlo methods** for non-linear measurement models (OCD, model-based metrology) 5. **Deconvolution techniques** to recover true process distributions 6. **Machine learning with uncertainty** for virtual metrology ### The Fundamental Insight At nanometer scales, measurement uncertainty is not a nuisance to be ignored—it is a **primary object of study** that directly determines our ability to control and optimize semiconductor processes. ## Key Equations Quick Reference ### Variance Decomposition $$ \sigma^2_{\text{total}} = \sigma^2_{\text{process}} + \sigma^2_{\text{measurement}} $$ ### GUM Combined Uncertainty $$ u_c(y) = \sqrt{\sum_{i=1}^{n} c_i^2 u^2(x_i)} $$ where $c_i = \frac{\partial f}{\partial x_i}$ are sensitivity coefficients. ### Precision-to-Tolerance Ratio $$ \text{P/T} = \frac{6\sigma_{\text{meas}}}{\text{USL} - \text{LSL}} \times 100\% $$ ### Process Capability (Corrected) $$ C_{p,\text{true}} = \frac{\text{USL} - \text{LSL}}{6\sqrt{\sigma^2_{\text{obs}} - \sigma^2_{\text{meas}}}} $$ ## Notation Reference | Symbol | Description | |--------|-------------| | $\sigma^2$ | Variance | | $u$ | Standard uncertainty | | $U$ | Expanded uncertainty | | $k$ | Coverage factor | | $\mu$ | Population mean | | $\bar{x}$ | Sample mean | | $s$ | Sample standard deviation | | $n$ | Sample size | | $\mathcal{N}(\mu, \sigma^2)$ | Normal distribution | | $\mathcal{GP}$ | Gaussian Process | | $\text{USL}$, $\text{LSL}$ | Upper/Lower Specification Limits | | $C_p$, $C_{pk}$ | Process capability indices |

measurement uncertainty, quality & reliability

Measurement uncertainty quantifies doubt about measurement results from systematic and random errors.

mebes format, mebes, lithography

Mask data format.

mechanical polishing,metrology

Grind and polish for smooth surface.

mechanistic interpretability, explainable ai

Reverse engineer neural network algorithms.

mechanistic interpretability,ai safety

Reverse-engineer neural network internals to understand computation at neuron/circuit level.

mechanistic,circuit,reverse engineer

Mechanistic interpretability reverse-engineers model circuits. Find features, understand computation. Anthropic research.

med palm,google,medical

Med-PaLM is Google medical model. Clinical QA benchmark leader.

median aggregation, federated learning

Use median instead of mean.

median time to failure, reliability

50th percentile lifetime.

medical abbreviation disambiguation, healthcare ai

Resolve medical acronyms.

medical dialogue generation, healthcare ai

Generate doctor-patient conversations.

medical entity extraction, healthcare ai

Extract medical terms.

medical image analysis,healthcare ai

Analyze X-rays MRI CT scans.

medical imaging,radiology,diagnosis

AI in radiology detects abnormalities. FDA-approved tools. Augments radiologists.

medical literature mining, healthcare ai

Extract knowledge from papers.

medical question answering,healthcare ai

Answer medical questions.

medical report generation,healthcare ai

Draft clinical reports.

medication extraction, healthcare ai

Identify medications mentioned.

meditron,medical,llama

Meditron is medical domain Llama. Trained on clinical data.

medium energy ion scattering - channeling, meis-c, metrology

High-resolution channeling analysis.

medium energy ion scattering (meis),medium energy ion scattering,meis,metrology

High-resolution depth profiling.

medmcqa, evaluation

Medical multiple choice.

medqa, evaluation

Medical question answering.

medusa decoding, inference

Multiple decoding heads for speculation.

medusa heads, llm optimization

Medusa adds multiple prediction heads generating several tokens per forward pass.

medusa,parallel decoding,heads

Medusa adds prediction heads for parallel token generation. Faster than autoregressive. No draft model needed.

meeting minutes generation,content creation

Transcribe and summarize meetings.

meeting notes,summarize,action

Summarize meeting transcripts. Extract action items.

megasonic cleaning, manufacturing equipment

Megasonic cleaning uses high-frequency sound waves enhancing particle removal.

megasonic cleaning,facility

Use high-frequency sound waves in DI water to remove particles.

megatron-lm, distributed training

NVIDIA's framework for large language models.

melgan, audio & speech

MelGAN generates audio waveforms from mel-spectrograms using adversarial training with lightweight architectures for real-time synthesis.

melody generation,audio

Create musical melodies.

melu, melu, recommendation systems

Meta-Learning for User preference cold start quickly adapts to new users with few interactions.