The questions fab directors, process integration engineers and yield engineers ask in the first meeting, answered as plainly as we can, including where the answer is planned rather than done.
Illustrative scenario: Module M2 · 300 mm · metal-1 · lot L-48213, one lot through metal-1, one approval gate
Twelve questions. If yours is not here, ask it.
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.
The one where excursions cost the most. The three wedges we propose are defect classification plus excursion response on an inspection cell, virtual-metrology-driven run-to-run overlay and CD control on a litho cell, and etch or CMP uniformity APC on one module. Each has a metric the fab already measures.
Your process recipes, integration specs, SEMI standards and excursion and OCAP procedures. Retrieval is tenant-isolated and permission-aware, and every answer carries its citation so a process engineer can check it.
No. Dashboards report. Waferira perceives, decides and acts inside the recipe window you set, and writes the record. The review console exists so process and yield engineers can approve, correct and feed back, and those corrections train the models.
Usually not to start. Fabs already have inline inspection, metrology, FDC and SECS/GEM tool integration. Waferira fuses what is there. E-beam and SEM data access, FDC depth and AMHS data completeness vary by fab and are confirmed per site.
The Module tier is $30,000 per process module or tool fleet per month for APC, defect or virtual-metrology AI on one module. The Fab tier is $220,000 per month for the whole loop including the twin. Enterprise is priced per agreement for multi-fab IDMs and foundries, landing in the $2M to $20M ACV range.
No. Waferira is an independent product company building its own fab-autonomy software. Integration with your APC, inspection, metrology, MES and tools is part of deploying the product, not a services business.
Every Waferira run is an ordered, inspectable sequence. This is run_7b2e9c on Module M2 · 300 mm · metal-1 · lot L-48213. Scenario completes in 10 steps with one approval gate. Overlay and CD predicted inside spec, one reticle-repeater signature caught and held for review, dispatch re-optimised, lot released with full genealogy.
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.
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 |
Waferira writes to production tools over SECS/GEM. Every capability is scoped to a qualified recipe window, every write is policy-checked against tool state, and every action is written to an append-only, IP-isolated audit log the fab owns.
| Item | Scope | Status |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 Type I and fab-security review | Control plane | QUEUED Planned, first 6 months |
| SOC 2 Type II | Control plane | QUEUED Planned, 6 to 12 months |
| SSO and RBAC | Console and approvals | QUEUED Planned, 6 to 12 months |
| IP-isolation and security assurance package | Fab security and IT and OT review | QUEUED Planned, 6 to 12 months |
| SEMI-standards-cited reasoning | Recipes, integration specs, OCAPs | RUNNING In the design, every answer cites its source |
| Per-tenant IP isolation | Data, models, memory | RUNNING In the design from day one |
| On-prem and fab-edge deployment | IP-sensitive fabs | RUNNING Design option |
Land on one workflow with a measured baseline. Expand by module, tool fleet, fab and autonomy level. Outcome components are available on yield-point value, excursions and cycle time. Annual prepay carries a 15 to 20% discount.
APC, defect or virtual-metrology AI for one module: litho, etch, deposition or CMP. For fabs validating ROI on the wedge, IP-isolated from day one.
The whole loop: litho and overlay, etch and deposition, CMP and implant, clean and diffuse, defect, metrology and virtual, yield and dispatch, AMHS and the fab twin.
Multi-fab IDMs and foundries standardising on Waferira, with custom process, device and yield models and a managed fab-edge fleet.
Start with one process module or tool fleet and one measurable baseline. A paid, IP-isolated pilot on defect classification, virtual-metrology-driven overlay and CD control or uniformity APC shows the number before you commit further.
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