Introduction to Wafer Fabrication Equipment - 1988 Edition

At some time in the future when the final chapter of semiconductor manufacturing can be set down in writing, its author will likely point back to the period of the mid-eighties as a time of fundamental change in manufacturing. Not so much because of sophisticated new manufac­turing methods such as automation, computer aided design, or computer integrated manufacturing-these are merely the outward manifestations of change; nor so much due to the massive competitive repositioning between the United States and Japan. Rather, that future author will likely point out the cause as being how the responsibility for processing know-how shifted from semiconductor manufacturers to their equipment suppliers during this time. Prior to the eighties, semiconductor manu­facturers reigned supreme in their knowledge of processing. Equipment suppliers, by-and-large, acted merely as system integrators, often lacking detailed knowledge of how their equipment was put to use.