Semiconductor Manufacturing and the Future of Automation

I tend to change my smartphone or laptop often, so whenever I buy a new device, I have definitely felt the difference in performance. Things like the speed at which the app turns on, the degree to which the game runs smoothly, and the time to save photos are different from generation to generation, so I thought they were similar on the outside, but what changed and how they felt so different. When I looked it up, the key to making the difference was semiconductor chips. Naturally, I wondered what factory and how these small chips were made, and the more I learned, the more robots and automation I had in semiconductor manufacturing.

A factory that makes semiconductors is a precise environment that is sensitive to even the smallest dust or errors. The possibility of contamination or mistakes increases if people move materials or manage them by hand due to the many process steps and difficult conditions. As a result, in factories these days, devices and robots that automatically move materials are often in charge of moving and inputting equipment. This is because the quality becomes more constant and the work works much more efficiently the less people touch it.

Additionally, the factory system continuously monitors the data to check the state of the process, and the equipment is equipped with sensors that measure information such as temperature and pressure. It is said that the data gathered in this way helps to detect signs of a problem a little faster or to check before the equipment deteriorates.

The importance of semiconductors has been felt more as a result of the shortage of semiconductors since COVID-19, and factory investments and expansion have become more active as demand for AI and electric vehicles has increased. As a result, new factories put a lot of automation in the beginning and often try to operate the process more stably based on data. In fact, more and more attempts are being made to quickly find situations that are likely to cause defects and adjust the process.

However, the more automation increases, the more burdensome it is. Because the cost of building factories and equipping systems is so high, it can be more concentrated in companies with high production capacity or in certain regions. Additionally, there is a lack of people with this capability because they need to understand not only processes and equipment but also data flow. The more equipment and systems are connected, the more security issues such as hacking and information leakage should be concerned.

Semiconductor factories are likely to become more automated and smart factories in the future. Robots and transport devices will move more stably and will develop in a way that judges process conditions almost in real time based on data. At the same time, the semiconductor industry consumes a lot of electricity and water, so not only productivity but also energy saving and reducing environmental burdens are likely to become important.

I think automation, which takes care of operations, will become more important in the future, not just automation that increases machines. So, I hope there will be more opportunities to learn how electrical engineering content such as sensors and controls is used in actual factories, in practice or in cases. And as the system is connected, I think security should be designed together from scratch, not added later. Finally, I believe that the most realistic and safe structure is that robots take on repetitive and dangerous tasks, and humans focus on the role of analyzing and judging.

Looking at this topic, I learned that semiconductor manufacturing automation is not just a machine replacing human work, but a system in which the entire factory moves precisely to keep a very fine level of quality constant. It was impressive that while factories will change more automatically and efficiently in the future, problems such as cost, manpower, and security can also be followed.

I was particularly interested in circuit design, so it was interesting that the automated manufacturing environment was ultimately connected to how accurately the designed circuit was implemented as a real chip. I felt that even with the same design, if the manufacturing process was slightly shaken, performance or power consumption could change, and that various conditions had to be considered even at the design stage to reduce the difference. In the future, when designing circuits while studying electrical engineering, I want to become an engineer who not only fits functions but also considers designing circuits that are easy to create and mass-produce in reality.