Waferira has not shipped a release yet, so this page is the build log: what is planned by phase, how a release will reach a module, and the policy for promoting models and autonomy. When the first release ships, its notes replace the top of this page.
The first release is SECS/GEM connectors, the agent loop, the review console and the IP-isolated excursion and quality audit log, for one wedge workflow on one module.
Everything here is planned. Nothing here has shipped.
The promotion and rollback rules.
The support policy the first releases will follow.
| Component | Versioning | Support window |
|---|---|---|
| Fab-edge runtime | Semantic, per node | Current and previous minor |
| Models | Per module, per process family | Previous validated version kept for fallback |
| Autonomy policy | Reviewed and versioned like code | History retained in the audit log |
| SDK and CLI | Design preview | Breaking changes expected before release |
Each release will be checked against this scenario before it reaches a module.
Fab Orchestrator · Pulled lot L-48213 from fab MES: 25 wafers, 300 mm, metal-1 layer, route, reticle, overlay and CD spec and the standing cycle-time target. Locked the target envelope for the run.
Fab Twin · Simulated 64 candidate correctable, recipe and dispatch sets on the as-run fab twin and ranked them on predicted overlay residual, CD uniformity, excursion risk and cycle time.
Litho-and-Overlay · Per-field overlay correctables and a focus-dose trim written to scanner SCN-07 over SECS/GEM after the previous lot's residual trended toward the control limit. Predicted overlay residual back inside spec.
Etch-and-Depo · Chamber B on etcher ETCH-12 showed an edge-fast uniformity drift in FDC. Pressure and RF trims written within the qualified recipe window; predicted CD uniformity recovered.
CMP-and-Implant · Downforce and platen-speed trim on CMP-03 against the virtual removal-rate estimate to hold post-CMP thickness and dishing inside the window.
Defect-and-Inspect · Inline optical, e-beam review and SEM imagery fused at the tool edge. 1,412 events classified, most dispositioned nuisance; one reticle-repeater signature on three dies flagged for review.
Metrology-and-Virtual · Virtual metrology scored every wafer at post-etch and post-CMP from tool-sensor and FDC signatures. Two wafers routed to physical metrology on predicted variance; the rest sampled at plan.
Fab Orchestrator · The reticle-repeater signature called for a reticle inspection hold and a recipe move outside the qualified window. Held for the module process engineer and approved at 03:14:27.
Yield-and-Dispatch · Dispatch re-optimised across 1,840 lots in WIP under reticle, chamber and qualification constraints. The lot routed to the qualified chamber with the shortest predicted queue; AMHS move issued to the stocker.
Quality-and-Conformance · Lot L-48213 moved on: genealogy written (recipe moves, correctables, FDC signatures, VM scores, defect map, approvals) and checked against the layer spec.
Every tool invocation, argument and result is written to an append-only, IP-isolated, human-readable log, and every reasoning step is expandable. Nothing about a run is hidden from the fab.
Plan, thought, action, observation, exactly as the orchestrator would record it.
Run lot L-48213 through metal-1 on module M2, hold overlay and CD inside the layer spec, catch any excursion before physical metrology, and dispatch on cycle-time target.
Simulate the lot on the twin first. Lead with litho so the correctables are right before etch, then trim etch and CMP against virtual metrology, keep inspection continuous, and hold anything outside the qualified window for a human.
The previous lot's overlay residual on SCN-07 trended toward the control limit. On the twin, a per-field correctable update with a small dose trim brings the predicted residual back to 2.6 nm without touching focus.
twin.simulate(candidates=64) returns set #41: per-field correctables and dose minus 0.3% on SCN-07, chamber B pressure and RF trims on ETCH-12, downforce minus 2% on CMP-03.
Set #41 predicts overlay residual 2.6 nm, CD uniformity inside window and excursion risk 0.05. Nine candidates cut cycle time further but routed the lot to an unqualified chamber and were discarded.
Execute set #41 under autonomy level L3: seven recipe writes inside the qualified window, the reticle hold and the out-of-window move routed to the module process engineer.
Reticle-repeater signature on three dies at 03:09:40 from the fused inspection stream. Virtual metrology routed two wafers to physical measurement on predicted variance.
Scenario complete. Overlay and CD predicted inside spec, the repeater held and reviewed with the OCAP linked, the lot dispatched to a qualified chamber and released with full genealogy.
A fab does not go from manual APC to unattended control in one step. Waferira makes the level explicit, auditable and reversible at any time. The first release runs shadow mode, then assist mode, then graduated autonomy for low-risk APC, defect and metrology loops.
| Level | What the agent does | What the human does | Where it sits in a pilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| L1 · Advisory | Recommends recipe moves, dispositions and dispatch, with citations | Enters every change manually | Shadow mode, first on the design-partner cell |
| L2 · Supervised | Proposes a recipe write or hold; it executes on approval | Approves each move in the review console | Assist mode, where accuracy and ROI are proven |
| L3 · Bounded | Writes inside the qualified recipe window, tool-state checks and OCAP linkage | Approves holds, out-of-window moves and lot release | Graduated autonomy for low-risk APC, defect and metrology loops |
| L4 · Qualified loops | Runs a qualified loop without prompting, inside its envelope | Sets the envelope; reviews the shift record | Planned; reserved for loops the fab has qualified |
Computational lithography, defect classification on e-beam and SEM imagery, per-wafer virtual metrology and a full-fab twin are among the most compute-intensive workloads in manufacturing. Waferira keeps IP-sensitive inference and feature storage at the fab edge and runs training, simulation and optimisation on GPUs the fab controls.
Inline optical, e-beam and SEM imagery and sensor fusion on fab-edge GPUs. 10 to 50 inspection streams per pilot module and sub-200 ms priority defect triage are the design targets.
High-volume multivariate tool-sensor and FDC time-series scoring on every wafer, 1 to 5 seconds per lot-step in the design, with nightly retraining as recipes and chambers drift.
Defect, virtual-metrology and process-response models retrained per process family; 500 to 2,000 GPU-hours per family per quarter is the design target. Dedicated capacity is planned.
As-run process and flow simulation, 1,000 to 10,000 candidate recipe, metrology and dispatch scenarios per fab per day in the design. OVX access is planned.
Rare defect, particle, overlay-drift, CMP-dishing and film-uniformity variants generated and validated against real distributions before promotion. Planned.
Constrained WIP dispatch re-optimised every 1 to 5 minutes across reticle, chamber, route, tool-state and cycle-time constraints.
Local FOUP and robot perception and exception detection at the fab edge. Jetson Thor is planned for higher sensor density.
Tenant-isolated process Q&A and OCAP reasoning over recipes, SEMI procedures and audit logs, with citations enforced on every answer.
The questions fab directors and process engineers ask in the first meeting.
Yes, over SECS/GEM, but only inside the qualified recipe window for that tool, with per-parameter limits and tool-state checks, and only at the autonomy level your fab has set. Level 1 is advisory: Waferira recommends and an engineer enters everything. Design partners start there, in shadow mode.
The tool stays on its own controller and its last qualified recipe. Waferira is a supervisory layer on top of the APC, inspection, metrology and MES systems you already run, never a replacement for them, so an outage leaves the module running the way it runs today.
No. Inference and feature storage stay at the fab edge, recipes, device designs, defect libraries and process memory are isolated per tenant, and an on-prem control plane is available for IP-sensitive fabs. Any cross-fab learning is planned, contract-gated and privacy-preserving, and none of it moves recipes or designs.
Advisory recommendations start from the existing APC, metrology and ADC data on the wedge module. Defect classification, virtual metrology and excursion prediction improve as labelled events and lot outcomes accumulate per process family. Rare excursions are augmented synthetically only after validation against real distributions.
You are, the same as with any APC strategy, which is why every write is policy-checked, bounded to the qualified window, logged and reversible, and why holds, out-of-window moves and lot release wait for a named approver with the OCAP linked.
A paid pilot on one process module or tool fleet, scoped to one wedge workflow with a baseline agreed in writing. Shadow mode first, observing and measuring the baseline. Then assist mode, where the agent recommends and your engineer approves and accuracy and ROI are measured. Then bounded autonomy for low-risk APC, defect or metrology loops if the fab is satisfied.
Ask to be told when the first release ships.
↑↓ navigate↵ openesc close
