A Robust Multi-Stage Scheduling Approach for Semiconductor Manufacturing Production Areas with Time Contraints

In this paper we will present a multi-stage scheduling approach to generate robust schedules for a challenging aspect of semiconductor manufacturing called time-link areas. A time-link is a technologically induced time constraint between one or more consecutive process steps requiring the process steps to be executed within a predefined time window. Time-links are often introduced to control contamination or unwanted oxidation. Violating time-link constraints may lead to extra effort due to additional rework steps and may have negative yield impact or may even, result in scrap.