Run a wedge on one module
Defect classification, overlay and CD control or uniformity APC, with a metric you already measure.
Contact
Start with the module where excursions cost the most.
Waferira starts with a paid, IP-isolated pilot on one process module or tool fleet and a baseline agreed in writing. Tell us the module, the metric and the systems on it. We will say plainly whether the wedge fits and what the shadow, assist and graduated phases would look like in your fab.
Reasons
Why people get in touch
Ship Waferira-ready
Process-tool OEMs, inspection and metrology vendors, MES and AMHS vendors, integrators.
Send the questionnaire
We answer plainly, including what is planned rather than done, and how IP stays inside the fab.
Found something
Fab-edge perception, APC and tool integration, simulation, process integration.
Ask a question
On process control, defect classification, virtual metrology and autonomy in the fab.
Pre-seed conversation
Pre-revenue, pre-institutional. We do not claim traction we do not have.
The engagement
What a pilot looks like
The first-release plan, applied to your module.
- Shadow mode. Connect and observe. Read-only connection to the wedge module inside the fab, the time-aligned wafer and lot record built, the baseline measured from your own records.
- Assist mode. Recommendations with evidence and citations in the review console; your engineer approves each one; accuracy and yield, excursion and cycle-time ROI measured against the signed baseline.
- Graduated autonomy, if you are satisfied. Low-risk APC, defect and metrology loops run inside the qualified window with rollback and OCAP linkage; holds, out-of-window moves and lot release stay with named humans.
- Decision. Convert to the Module tier and expand, or stop with the record of what was measured.
Run timeline · scenario
What we would be deploying
Every Waferira run is an ordered, inspectable sequence. This is run_7b2e9c on Module M2 · 300 mm · metal-1 · lot L-48213. Scenario completes in 10 steps with one approval gate. Overlay and CD predicted inside spec, one reticle-repeater signature caught and held for review, dispatch re-optimised, lot released with full genealogy.
run_7b2e9c
Module M2 · 300 mm · metal-1 · lot L-48213
illustrative scenario
SUCCEEDED
-
01
ingest.lot
SUCCEEDED
0.7 s
Fab Orchestrator · Pulled lot L-48213 from fab MES: 25 wafers, 300 mm, metal-1 layer, route, reticle, overlay and CD spec and the standing cycle-time target. Locked the target envelope for the run.
-
02
twin.simulate
SUCCEEDED
38 s
Fab Twin · Simulated 64 candidate correctable, recipe and dispatch sets on the as-run fab twin and ranked them on predicted overlay residual, CD uniformity, excursion risk and cycle time.
-
03
litho.correctables
SUCCEEDED
1 m 20 s
Litho-and-Overlay · Per-field overlay correctables and a focus-dose trim written to scanner SCN-07 over SECS/GEM after the previous lot's residual trended toward the control limit. Predicted overlay residual back inside spec.
-
04
etch.uniformity
SUCCEEDED
58 s
Etch-and-Depo · Chamber B on etcher ETCH-12 showed an edge-fast uniformity drift in FDC. Pressure and RF trims written within the qualified recipe window; predicted CD uniformity recovered.
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05
cmp.removal
SUCCEEDED
46 s
CMP-and-Implant · Downforce and platen-speed trim on CMP-03 against the virtual removal-rate estimate to hold post-CMP thickness and dishing inside the window.
-
06
inspect.classify
SUCCEEDED
continuous
Defect-and-Inspect · Inline optical, e-beam review and SEM imagery fused at the tool edge. 1,412 events classified, most dispositioned nuisance; one reticle-repeater signature on three dies flagged for review.
-
07
vm.score
SUCCEEDED
2.1 s
Metrology-and-Virtual · Virtual metrology scored every wafer at post-etch and post-CMP from tool-sensor and FDC signatures. Two wafers routed to physical metrology on predicted variance; the rest sampled at plan.
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08
approve.human
APPROVAL
1 m 04 s
Fab Orchestrator · The reticle-repeater signature called for a reticle inspection hold and a recipe move outside the qualified window. Held for the module process engineer and approved at 03:14:27.
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09
dispatch.route
SUCCEEDED
4.3 s
Yield-and-Dispatch · Dispatch re-optimised across 1,840 lots in WIP under reticle, chamber and qualification constraints. The lot routed to the qualified chamber with the shortest predicted queue; AMHS move issued to the stocker.
-
10
lot.release
SUCCEEDED
1 m 05 s
Quality-and-Conformance · Lot L-48213 moved on: genealogy written (recipe moves, correctables, FDC signatures, VM scores, defect map, approvals) and checked against the layer spec.
Pricing
Priced per module, per fab, per group
Land on one workflow with a measured baseline. Expand by module, tool fleet, fab and autonomy level. Outcome components are available on yield-point value, excursions and cycle time. Annual prepay carries a 15 to 20% discount.
APC, defect or virtual-metrology AI for one module: litho, etch, deposition or CMP. For fabs validating ROI on the wedge, IP-isolated from day one.
- One module or tool fleet, one agent
- Fab-edge inference node included
- SECS/GEM, APC, inspection and metrology connectors
- Run log, IP-isolated audit trail, lot genealogy
- Business-hours support
The whole loop: litho and overlay, etch and deposition, CMP and implant, clean and diffuse, defect, metrology and virtual, yield and dispatch, AMHS and the fab twin.
- All process agents on every module
- Scanira defect autonomy across inspection
- Vmetra virtual metrology and APC fab-wide
- Dispira yield-weighted dispatch and AMHS
- Fabtwin as-run twin gating every action
- 24/7 support, quarterly model review
Multi-fab IDMs and foundries standardising on Waferira, with custom process, device and yield models and a managed fab-edge fleet.
- Multi-fab fleet management
- Custom process, device and yield models
- Fab-edge fleet with on-prem control plane
- Group autonomy policy and approval chains
- SLAs, SSO and RBAC, dedicated engineer
Guardrails
An agent that can move a recipe needs a leash
Waferira writes to production tools over SECS/GEM. Every capability is scoped to a qualified recipe window, every write is policy-checked against tool state, and every action is written to an append-only, IP-isolated audit log the fab owns.
- Recipe bounds. Each agent writes only inside the qualified recipe window for that tool, with explicit per-parameter limits.
- Policy and tool-state checks before every write. Autonomy level, tool state, qualification, interlocks and shift are evaluated before a recipe moves.
- Human-in-the-loop gates. Holds, out-of-window moves and lot release wait for a named approver, with OCAP linkage on every excursion.
- Immutable, IP-isolated audit log. Append-only and exportable. Every action records source signals, retrieved procedures with citations, predicted impact, allowed range, rollback condition, approver and lot scope.
- Rollback. Declared rollback conditions return a recipe to its previous qualified version; loss of the edge node leaves the tool on its own controller and recipe.
- Tenant and IP isolation. Recipes, device designs, defect libraries and process memory never cross a customer boundary. Inference and feature storage stay at the fab edge; an on-prem control plane is available for IP-sensitive fabs.
Compliance posture
| Item | Scope | Status |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 Type I and fab-security review | Control plane | QUEUED Planned, first 6 months |
| SOC 2 Type II | Control plane | QUEUED Planned, 6 to 12 months |
| SSO and RBAC | Console and approvals | QUEUED Planned, 6 to 12 months |
| IP-isolation and security assurance package | Fab security and IT and OT review | QUEUED Planned, 6 to 12 months |
| SEMI-standards-cited reasoning | Recipes, integration specs, OCAPs | RUNNING In the design, every answer cites its source |
| Per-tenant IP isolation | Data, models, memory | RUNNING In the design from day one |
| On-prem and fab-edge deployment | IP-sensitive fabs | RUNNING Design option |
Integrations
It speaks SECS/GEM, not cloud
Waferira reads and writes through the systems already in the fab. No rip and replace, no parallel historian, no new HMI to learn. Vendor names are examples of systems found in front-end fabs; connector availability is confirmed per site.
SECS/GEM on scanners, etchers, deposition, CMP, implanters, furnaces and wet benches
Recipe reads and bounded recipe writes
Advanced and run-to-run process control systems (Applied Materials APF and APC, PDF Solutions, in-house IDM APC)
Model state, correctables, control limits
Inline optical, e-beam and SEM inspection and review tools (KLA, Applied Materials, Hitachi High-Tech, Onto Innovation class systems)
Images, defect maps, ADC classes
Overlay, CD, film and OCD metrology (KLA, Onto Innovation, Nova class systems)
Sampled measurements that ground virtual metrology
Fault-detection and tool-sensor streams per chamber
Per-wafer signatures for virtual metrology and prognostics
Yield and defect analytics (PDF Solutions Exensio, Synopsys, Siemens Camline, INFICON class systems)
Yield, bin and genealogy context
Fab MES and schedulers (Applied SmartFactory, Siemens Camstar, Critical Manufacturing, INFICON FPS class systems)
Lots, routes, WIP, dispatch lists
Stockers, vehicles and FOUP handling (Daifuku class AMHS)
Carrier moves and handling exceptions
FAQ
Straight answers
The questions fab directors and process engineers ask in the first meeting.
Yes, over SECS/GEM, but only inside the qualified recipe window for that tool, with per-parameter limits and tool-state checks, and only at the autonomy level your fab has set. Level 1 is advisory: Waferira recommends and an engineer enters everything. Design partners start there, in shadow mode.
The tool stays on its own controller and its last qualified recipe. Waferira is a supervisory layer on top of the APC, inspection, metrology and MES systems you already run, never a replacement for them, so an outage leaves the module running the way it runs today.
No. Inference and feature storage stay at the fab edge, recipes, device designs, defect libraries and process memory are isolated per tenant, and an on-prem control plane is available for IP-sensitive fabs. Any cross-fab learning is planned, contract-gated and privacy-preserving, and none of it moves recipes or designs.
Advisory recommendations start from the existing APC, metrology and ADC data on the wedge module. Defect classification, virtual metrology and excursion prediction improve as labelled events and lot outcomes accumulate per process family. Rare excursions are augmented synthetically only after validation against real distributions.
You are, the same as with any APC strategy, which is why every write is policy-checked, bounded to the qualified window, logged and reversible, and why holds, out-of-window moves and lot release wait for a named approver with the OCAP linked.
A paid pilot on one process module or tool fleet, scoped to one wedge workflow with a baseline agreed in writing. Shadow mode first, observing and measuring the baseline. Then assist mode, where the agent recommends and your engineer approves and accuracy and ROI are measured. Then bounded autonomy for low-risk APC, defect or metrology loops if the fab is satisfied.
Get started
Or just send the numbers
Excursions per quarter, lots scrapped, review hours, metrology sampling, cycle time. We will tell you which wedge fits.