Digital twin Impact on Semiconductor Manufacturing.

In the era of Industry 4.0, the semiconductor manufacturing (SM) industry is going through a digital revolution. The SM industry is dedicated to the constant production of integrated circuits using silicon wafers. The fabrication process consists of more than 300 sequential steps and is characterized by intricate workflows and strict quality control requirements. Therefore, for the correct management of the process, advanced technological solutions are required. In all segments of the manufacturing scenario, it is possible to observe an increasing trend in Digital Twin (DT) research, where DTs are virtual replica of a manufacturing process with the goal of improving process control, and of replacing costly traditional monitoring methods with systems that continuously analyze the process in all steps, to ultimately make the process more efficient, less costly, and less subject to variability. In the following thesis, a literature survey of SM DTs is carried out mentioning the most significant researches found. In addition, a review of the available SM data sets has been performed. The thesis concludes by proposing a DT case study exemplified on a simplified SM process. The process is simulated with a state of the art discrete event simulator, FabSim, to analyze how critical process parameters, such as cycle times, are affected by production choices through a DT implementation and with the awareness of possible AI-based solutions.