Batch equipment already has sophisticated zone control
Diffusion, oxidation, anneal and LPCVD processes in semiconductor and solar manufacturing widely use batch furnaces that process many wafers at once. Modern systems use multi-zone heaters and sophisticated thermal control to improve both throughput and uniformity.
For example, Tokyo Electron's 300 mm batch thermal system processes up to 200 wafers with multi-zone control heaters, while JTEKT Thermo Systems offers horizontal furnaces for solar-cell production that process 200–400 wafers per batch.
Results differ by position within the same batch
Wafers at the top, middle and bottom of a boat experience different thermal histories. What ultimately matters is not furnace temperature alone, but variation in the wafer result by position.
and bring the full boat into target
More zones make manual tuning more complex
Engineers inspect measured results, change heater-zone setpoints and run another batch. Zones influence one another, and the best conditions change with product and recipe, so testing repeats.
Control multiple zones independently
Use equipment variables such as heating zones, gas, pressure and time to adjust process conditions.
Calculate the conditions required for the target result
Connect position-dependent outcomes with control variables, calculate the zone recipe required for target uniformity, and review the expected result before application.
Use the batch result to adjust the next recipe
Amfibian models the relationship between position-dependent batch outcomes and zone conditions. When the target or product changes, it recalculates the recipe for the new target and applies it to the next run after validation.
Conventional manual tuning
Process the wafer boat with the current recipe.
Check variation at the top, middle and bottom.
An engineer adjusts conditions from measurements and experience.
Repeat batch runs and measurements until the target is reached.
Amfibian
Use position-dependent measurements and process data.
Calculate the conditions required for target uniformity.
Check expected results and process/equipment constraints.
Move to production under the customer's approval procedure.
Applicable to semiconductor and solar batch thermal processes
Even with the same batch furnace, actuators, metrology and controlled outcomes differ by equipment and industry. Amfibian defines the modeling and validation scope around the variables the equipment can actually adjust and the quality outcomes that matter.
Diffusion · Anneal · Batch Deposition
Manage variation in film, dopant and thermal-process results by wafer position in the boat and adjust the next batch's zone conditions.
View semiconductor use cases →Diffusion · Oxidation · Thermal Process
Manage position-dependent variation in PV furnaces processing large wafer batches and adjust the zone recipe to product conditions.
View solar use cases →Public examples of batch-equipment control
Equipment vendors emphasize multi-zone thermal control and temperature uniformity as well as throughput. Amfibian uses those existing control capabilities and adds a software layer that calculates zone conditions from actual wafer results.