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Introduction

Wafer maps are used in the back end of the IC manufacturing process to annotate the die on a wafer - the annotation may indicate whether the die is good or bad, the "grade" of the device or whether this device is a reference device. The use of wafer maps has almost completely replaced the inking of wafers in the assembly and test industry.

Unfortunately the industry has not adopted a few standard map file formats - instead a large number of similar (but different) formats are in use that force the test and assembly engineers to convert between formats to move from wafer to finished product.

Artwork develops and sells programs for map file conversion, map file viewing/editing and even the underlying libraries which can be used by equipment OEMs to work with probers and testers to display, update and output map files.



snapshot (text) of a SINF formatted wafer map

SINF formatted wafer map



The Products

WMEdit

Viewer, Editor and Converter for Map Files. Ideal for exploring a map file, making manual changes and then converting to a new format. Set bin code colors and appearances. Handles one map file at a time. A useful companion to WMBatch when building the command directives.

WMBatch

Want to convert 25 wafers from a single Lot with one command? WMBatch is a command line based converter that does this. Users create a command file containing directives as to the conversion parameters and then launch WMBatch. Ideal for a busy assembly or test house that routinely needs to batch convert incoming wafer maps to a format that their equipment supports.

WMVU

A map file viewer based on WMEDit but without any editing function. The base license includes every map file format supported by Artwork. An excellent accessory to those using WMBatch to convert or otherwise process map files.


WMLib for OEM

Do you make a test or assembly machine and need to open/convert map files? Do you want to display the machine's progress on your console? You may wish to license the WMAPI for OEM libraries to speed up the development of such features. Supports both C++ and .NET API.



The Architecture

Our viewing, editing and conversion applications rely on two main libraries -- this enables us to make changes to the library which then propagate through the applications, WMEdit and WMBatch. We also license C++ and .NET API's to these same libraries for OEM applications.

WMAPI library organization with WMEdit and WMBatch applications

Supported Map Formats

WMAPI based products support over 20 text, XML and binary formats. Many industry standards such as SEMI E-142, G85, IBIS and SINF. Additional formats from probers including TEL, EG and TSK. For a complete list and notes on each format please go to the Map Formats page.

Glossary of Terms

Various Map formats use different terms for parameters and measurements. Our glossary of termspage provides details on terms used and can be useful when converting from one format to another where different terms are used for an identical function.