Our objective is to facilitate and improve the efficiency of semiconductor manufacturing at the equipment level.  We accomplish this with a combination of modeling, monitoring, and control activities centered around small equipment groups we call workcells.  The same objective is also served by a combination of focused IC design modifications geared towards defeating processing variation.  In the past our work has centered on photolithography, plasma etching and furnace operation, and we have recently started focusing on chemical-mechanical planarization as well.  Innovations we have introduced include:

· statistical modeling of equipment operation and signals

· equipment malfunction diagnosis

· run-to-run and supervisory control

· in-line and in-situ sensing