At the beginning of the year, multiple industry associations and market analysis institutions predicted that the global semiconductor market would experience a cyclical recovery in 2024. Especially driven by industries such as AI and storage, the demand in the semiconductor market continues to be strong, and leading manufacturers are accelerating their layout.

Affected by industry characteristics, the complex semiconductor manufacturing process and strict requirements for factory environments are driving the upstream and downstream of the industry chain towards higher levels of automation and intelligence.

Faced with the extremely high industry requirements of this barrier, Mitsubishi Electric relies on its rich product lineup and strong local development capabilities, focusing on core issues such as safe and efficient communication, space utilization, production efficiency, and yield improvement. Based on advanced FA technology, Mitsubishi Electric continuously upgrades its entire solution to provide technical support for semiconductor manufacturing equipment and production factories.

SECS/GEM communication solution
As a communication bridge between semiconductor manufacturing equipment and host systems, SECS/GEM communication solutions play a crucial role in intelligent manufacturing.

The traditional solution, implemented through gateway computers and third-party software, has high external dependence and is inconvenient to maintain. In Mitsubishi Electric’s solution, by importing dedicated SECS/GEM hardware modules, intermediate links can be reduced, and user development and maintenance autonomy can be improved. For some communication scenarios with low requirements, Mitsubishi Electric has launched a software solution called FB function block, which can also achieve SECS/GEM communication.

AMHS Solution
AMHS, also known as Automatic Material Handling System. AMHS solutions in semiconductor manufacturing factories are mainly divided into three types: aerial unmanned transport vehicles (OHT overhead cranes), clean storage systems (STK), and mobile robot (AGV) ground solutions.

Taking a 12 inch wafer factory as an example, the total length of the OHT overhead crane track is several hundred kilometers, with thousands of units. In the latest OHT overhead crane solution, Mitsubishi Electric provides a solution of iQ-F series programmable controller+multi axis integrated J5 servo system, which effectively saves equipment space and achieves high-speed and high-precision control.

In the library, by adopting RD78G motion controller+J5 servo system and configuring CC Link IE TSN open integrated network, the equipment performance has reached the mainstream level in the industry.

Single chip cleaning equipment solution
A silicon wafer requires about 200 cleaning processes from feeding to shipping. It can be said that semiconductor cleaning is a very important part of the front-end manufacturing process, almost running through the entire operation process, and the quality of cleaning directly determines the quality of the product.

In the early stage of equipment development, the conventional control method used was servo system+belt+pulley, but there were more prominent problems in dust prevention, chamber area utilization, equipment maintenance, and other aspects.

To this end, Mitsubishi Electric has customized and developed hollow shaft motors to meet customer needs. While significantly reducing the connection mechanism, the equipment size and structure have been improved, and the number of chambers has increased synchronously, further saving equipment space and helping customers increase production capacity.

Solution for sorting and testing equipment
Sorting and testing is the final process of chip production, with core requirements of fast pace, accurate detection, and stable pressure control.

Based on this requirement, Mitsubishi Electric relies on a rich product line and tailors a complete set of solutions for customers based on iQ-R series programmable controllers and JET servo systems, meeting their technical requirements in equipment efficiency, stack detection, chip thickness, pressure control, and other aspects.

In addition, considering the particularity of chip packaging and testing technology, the China Co Creation Center has customized and developed collision detection, constant force pressure protection and other related functions to ensure the stable extraction and testing of chips, avoid accidental damage, and improve production efficiency.

From SECS/GEM communication, automatic handling, to single chip cleaning, sorting and testing… Mitsubishi Electric adheres to on-site and continuous innovation, using leading FA technology in various equipment processes to help customers solve pain points and difficult issues in semiconductor manufacturing, and help customers accelerate the development of new quality productivity.