YA-CAG (Care Area Generator)

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YA-CAG is a member of the Yield Accelerator (YA) family of applications. Whereas Target Finder is a toolkit that allows customers to build custom workflows, YA-CAG is a plug-and-play application with a graphical user-interface (GUI).

YA-CAG is somewhat unusual in that it is a set of predefined workflows. The user chooses a workflow, enters the required parameters, and lets the job run. The results are then transferrable to inspection and review equipment.

Because different fabs have different needs, Anchor builds custom workflows for each customer. This is part of the purchase arrangement.

If a desired workflow already exists, Anchor supplies that workflow from its archives. But if a new workflow needs to be created, Anchor builds that workflow.

YA-CAG is therefore a product that comes with a service arrangement to develop needed workflows.

Customers that wish to develop their own workflows may purchase Target Finder.

YA-CAG generates design-based care areas for optical and E-Beam wafer inspection, and for targeted SEM review and SEM re-detection.

YA-CAG is vendor neutral. It generates care areas for optical, E-Beam, and SEM tools made by any of several different equipment vendors.

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Customized Workflows


If you would rather focus on the use case and not concern yourself with the technicalities of exact search or pixel based similar search or CEPS search or topologically similar search, etc., then YA-CAG is for you. You specify the problem to solve, and Anchor builds a workflow tailored just for you! You don’t worry about the underlying details — you only care about the results. This ‘service arrangement’ is included in the YA-CAG product.

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Example 1: Flow Setup


Please click the image on the left to view an example of a pre-defined workflow that takes a GDS/OASIS layer and breaks it down into separate care areas for Memory (Arrays), Dense Logic, Parallel Lines, Dummy, and so on. The user fills out a single setup screen and submit the job.

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Example 1: Flow Result Review


When the care area job is finished, results may be reviewed and fine-tuned. Please click the image on the left for an example. The final care area file can then be exported to the inspection or SEM tool.

In this example we can see that the pre-defined workflow streamlines the care area generation process for users. Users do not need to know which search algorithms are employed by the workflow, nor do they need to know how those algorithms are configured. Users simply provide high-level parameters for their jobs and click a Run button.
Main Benefits:

  • Pre-built ready-to-use workflows custom tailored for each customer.
  • Customer does not worry about the underlying technology or algorithms. Instead, customer describes a use case and Anchor implements the use case.
  • YA-CAG is therefore a product with a service component.
  • Customers who would like to build their own workflows may do so with Target Finder.
Main Features:

  • Generates design-based care areas for optical, E-Beam, and SEM Review tools.
  • One or more customized workflows that shield customers from the underlying technology.
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Technical Requirements


The minimum system requirements are listed below:

  • Linux 2.6 or later, 64-bit, x86 based processor.
  • 16 or more physical cores.
  • 128 GB or more physical memory.
  • 2 TB or more available hard drive capacity.
YA-CAG supports both multi-threading and distributed processing (server farm).

Memory and hard drive requirements can vary substantially from customer to customer. Customers who expect to store large quantities of images on the server should allocate appropriate hard drive capacity. Customers who expect to process large numbers of images should allocate additional physical memory. Anchor Semiconductor will help each customer with the appropriate sizing of their hardware.

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