Samsung Electronics has started the development of its “Smart Sensing System”, designed to improve performance and transform the operation of its semiconductor factories. In other words, working more while costing less, which is what all successful companies strive for.
The system is primarily designed to monitor and analyze the production process in real time and currently can automatically manage plasma uniformity.
Over time, Samsung plans to have its factories fully automated and free of human labor by 2030, reports DigiTimes.
Robots in an entire production line: the future is 2030
The ultimate goal of Samsung is to have fully automated semiconductor production facilities by 2030. To achieve this, it will be necessary to develop systems capable of managing large amounts of data and automatically optimizing equipment performance.
The Smart Sensing System is an important part of this plan and is expected to play a crucial role in making these smart and fully automated factories a reality.
Samsung is currently investing tens of millions of won in projects such as smart sensors, with the hope that their investments will pay off in the long term.
The intelligent sensors currently being developed are designed to measure the uniformity of the plasma on the wafers. This is crucial, as the results of processes such as etching, deposition, and cleaning in semiconductor manufacturing depend heavily on plasma uniformity, so it is essential to accurately measure and manage this aspect.
The development of this system has been a team effort involving partners and academic institutions. An important feature of these new sensors is their tiny size: they fit in existing factories and will not require additional space.
It is worth noting that the sensors have been designed and manufactured in South Korea. Traditionally, South Korean chip manufacturers like Samsung have heavily relied on foreign tools for these advanced processes.
Developing their own intelligent sensor systems represents a significant change, as it reduces to some extent this dependence, although most of the tools used by Samsung are still manufactured outside the country.
