Overview
Is the semiconductor industry effectively balancing pressures and priorities?
Today, the semiconductor industry is faced with a need to innovate and improve power, performance, area, and cost of chip fabrication—all while keeping the time to fabricate chips at a minimum. As we observe Moore's law taking a downward trend, product companies that typically leveraged off-the-shelf chips are moving to custom chip designs to meet their need. These are essentially based on new system architectures, structures, materials, innovations, and integrations to power next-generation devices. The imminent proliferation of IoT devices and a burgeoning demand for high- performance chips and memories due to smart vehicles, Big Data and Cloud Technologies are further fueling this change.
Fabs and OSATs are facing increased pressure on capital expenditures as they continue to expand production to address the rising chip demand and enable digital transformation technologies such as AI/ML for smart manufacturing, sustainability, automation, capacity planning, yield simulations, and predictions.
To stay ahead in the highly competitive, R&D-intensive semiconductor industry, it is essential to latch onto these trends, optimize R&D spend, understand your customers’ needs better than your competitors, and make necessary investments to create differentiated products ‘first-time-right’.
Our comprehensive engineering solutions are designed to meet our customers’ complex and ever-changing needs. We have partnered with semiconductor equipment manufacturers for 22+ years with 17,000+ person-years of engineering experience, across all stages of the complex IC manufacturing process, including lithography, deposition, implantation, etch, inspection and metrology, and ATE. We have partnered with 200 mm and 300 mm Fabs and OSATs to improve their operational efficiency, productivity, and process by solving their most challenging equipment automation, data management, and process control problems to improve their time to market, increase quality, and reduce cost by providing solution accelerators to address wide-ranging customer business objectives.
Key contributors to domain expertise
HCLTech’ semiconductor domain competencies
Equipment expertise
| Lithography | Etching | Ion implant | CVD/PVD/ALD |
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1. Ray tracing, opto- mechanical packaging, and laser beam delivery from source to point of use 2. Design of droplet generator and high- pressure lines 3. Design of tin mitigation system 4. System GUI and software design and integration |
1. Multi variant analysis 2. Online recipe editing 3. Fault revealing 4. Automatic front end 5. Process chambers |
1. Experience in high current, medium current and high energy implanters architecture 2. Capability to design beam line modules such as source, injector, scan, energy filter, ACCEL/ DECEL 3. End-to-end ownership design and productization of ion implanter 4. High-voltage engineering (200kV), ultra-high vacuum (10−8 torr), radiation shield (X-ray and particles) 5. Expertise in wafer handling system design for silicon carbide, thin wafer, and hot and cold implants 6. Legacy multi-wafer ion implanter product ownership |
1. Process and system-level expertise in MOCVD, ALD, CVD, ECD, and PVD 2. Application knowledge in specialized material - graphite, molybdenum, ceramic, nichrome, and rhenium alloy 3. Electrical main power distribution system for MOCVD, and IBD product 4. RF-based ion beam source design 5. Expertise in developing controls system communication protocols for deposition systems 6. SECSGEM and EDA (factory automation) standards implementation for MOCVD equipment |
| Inspection and metrology | Assembly and packaging | Testing |
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1. Optical inspection: Optomechanical packaging of optical illumination for bright field (BF) / Dark Field (DF) 2. X-ray scatterometry metrology with vertical wafer handling 3. E-beam inspection: Stage controller design for handling images with pixel accuracy of 1nm 4. EUV metrology module packaging for reticle inspection 5. System engineering expertise in managing wafer handling platform 6. Imaging algorithm development and support 7. Analytics of inspection defect data for yield improvement and data visualization |
1. Package design 2. Simulation (thermal/electrical/ mechanical) 3. Reliability test and silicon qualification 4. Advanced packing design 5. multi-die and hybrid package |
ATE expertise
1. Scalable and modular tester platform 2. High-density/single-board digital, analog and RF instrumentation enabling high-parallel testing simulators Test engineering expertiseExtensive end-to-end test program development experience for complex silicon including: 1. DIB board and Probe card design 2. Device expertise: SOC, RF, analog, digital, and memory 3. Test program platform conversion 4. Correlation and qualifications for fabs and yield management |
Engineering service offerings across the semiconductor ecosystem
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Fab/OSAT/Service offering |
OEM Service Offering |
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1.Software
2.Value added services Clean room | ATE lab | Product support | AR/VR based training and technical publication |
1. Mechatronics
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Transforming the semiconductor industry through digital technologies
To be at the leading edge of technology, we have made strategic, technology-led investments in industry-specific solutions and frameworks. Our factory automation solutions, simulator frameworks, and home-grown solution accelerators for analytics, AR/VR, cybersecurity, scriptless test automation, and others address wide-ranging customer business objectives.
Our key differentiators
Partnerships with 6 out of the top 10 semiconductor OEMs
HCLTech has successful multi-decade partnerships with several of the top 10 semiconductor OEMs across the globe.
Fab/OSAT expertise
HCLTech supports leading fab/OSATs in MES integration, factory automation, process engineering, data analytics/AI/ML-driven solutions, testing and package engineering, yield analysis, and OEE improvements based on customer needs. Our comprehensive end-to-end product engineering solutions cover software, hardware, mechanical, electrical, product testing, PLM, standards enablement, and more.
Highly trained engineers
Our team of 2000+ highly trained engineers in the semiconductor ecosystem (OEM, fab, and OSAT) is the largest among engineering service providers.
Integrated engineering offerings
Our comprehensive end-to-end product engineering solutions span across mechanical, electrical, hardware, software, product testing, PLM, standards enablement, and more.
Semiconductor OEM/fab/OSAT-specific strategic investments
HCLTech has made strategic investments in the semiconductor domain. These include 10,000 square feet of customer-specific labs housing over 30 front-end and back-end equipment, 10K clean rooms, OEM-specific solution frameworks, product security framework, and CoEs.
Deep domain and process knowledge
HCLTech’ deep domain experience has been built over two decades from extensively partnering with OEMs of lithography, etch, deposition, metrology and inspection, cleaning, ATE, wafer probers, and sorters equipment.
Full systems and sub-systems coverage
Our equipment systems and sub-systems expertise covers the design, development, prototyping and certification of vacuum chamber designs, wafer handler systems, power distribution boxes, load ports, interlocks, cable harnesses, host UI, gas delivery systems, and much more.
Innovative business models
Business models are tailored to customers’ needs and include outcome-based engagements. Our global semiconductor OEM/fab/OSAT support and services network covers the Americas, Europe, Taiwan, China, and Korea among others.
HCLTech is a trusted partner with proven expertise and services. We have been recognized as the market leader among the Indian engineering service providers in the semiconductor equipment engineering services domain. We are also the premier engineering outsourcing partner to top semiconductor equipment manufacturers, fabs, and OSATs. Everest Group’s Semiconductor Engineering Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2021 ranks HCLTech as one of the top two players.
Client success stories
A high-volume CMOS foundry in APAC
HCLTech’ MES upgrade solutions helped protect against unstable production environments due to obsolete and disparate shop floor systems.
- Key benefits:
- Seamless zero-disruption upgrade
- 5X throughput gains
- 3X reduction in SLA compliance time
Equipment lifetime extension for a leading FAB
HCLTech resolved customer’s hardware obsolescence problem by re-engineering a critical legacy ASIC-based to an FPGA-based line card.
- Key benefits:
- Reduced critical tool downtime
- Extended product lifespan
- Delivered cumulative savings over 5 years
Leading linear and mixed signal IC manufacturer
HCLTech’ total fab automation solutions with integrated tools and equipment across sites and technology platforms enhance predictability, compatibility, and automation.
- Key benefits:
- Improved yield
- Wastage reduction
- Overall productivity improvements
Tester health monitoring dashboard for a leading OSAT
HCLTech enabled a single view of the complete tester fleet health with complete automated checker run to help predictive maintenance based on the health.
- Key benefits:
- Saved 70% effort
- Reduced equipment downtime
Wide-ranging experience in semiconductor equipment
Obsolescence management
End-to-end ownership of redesign and deployment of device interface/controller board to overcome CPLD/memory devices obsolescence issues
Commercial part obsolescence management and upgrade design for field replacement and production
Throughput improvement
End-to-end redesign of wafer transfer module to improve the number of wafers handled per hour by 30% for a leading ion implanter equipment maker (200 mm)
Auto-tune time optimization for 200mm, 150mm platform to reduce transition time and enhance productivity
Field issue resolution
Resolutions for wafer drop (wafer handling) and wafer scrap (process issues) issues reported for the field legacy products (150mm, 200 mm) of a leading ion implanter equipment maker, through SW and HW upgrades
OS and platform migration
Platform migration of Automation Controller (FA and GUI) for 200/300mm legacy ion implanter product line to improve module management and optimization
OS Migration ownership for a leading ATE customer—Windows XP to Windows 7 and 10—Optimized the migration through automated regression testing
Process improvement
Particle excursion reduction drive (20% reduction) for 200mm, 300 mm legacy product lines; Owned the project from requirements phase to production release including field service upgrade training
Enabled metal contamination reduction upgrade for a leading ion implanter equipment maker
Reduced cost of ownership
Implemented multiple lifetime improvement projects on subsystem such as energy filter, high voltage components, and source assembly considering customer-specific recipe conditions for a leading ion implanter equipment owner
Enabled consumable cost optimization and lifetime extension—redesign and should costing tools used to optimize the cost and improve lifetime