ASML Case: The Curious Case of the Heating Wafer

The case will guide you through the steps of an ASML metrology engineer trying to diagnose the issue with the new wafer heating correction model. You will be learning about the model’s purpose and inner workings, studying machine measurement data, and proposing experiments in an attempt to pinpoint the problem and fix it.

About the case
After two years of intensive study and development, you proudly present your new and improved software package, meant to suppress wafer heating effects in ASML’s new 140 million euro scanner. Just in time, too, since the scanners are about to be shipped to customers.
And then, after one week of use, it turns out not to work. This happened to us a time ago, and led to a frantic and broad search for the root cause of the problem. During the investigation, we had to consider not just the software, but also the software’s relation to the surrounding mechatronic system, and the basic physics involved. The wafer heating student case is based on our records of this period.

The case will guide you (in teams) through the steps of an ASML metrology engineer trying to diagnose the issue with the new wafer heating correction model. You will be learning about the model’s purpose and inner workings, studying machine measurement data, and proposing experiments in an attempt to pinpoint the problem and fix it. But don’t forget! The customer is already using the machine. You’d better hurry, because as always, time is money!

Using a ‘choose your own adventure’ style game, diagnose a design problem in the interaction of the wafer heating feed-forward functionality. The game is played in teams which compete with each other to see who solves the problem while spending the lowest amount of ‘effort’ points.

Schedule:

• 14:00 Introduction
• 14:30 Case
• 16:30 Wrap-up
• 17:00 Pizza at GEWIS

This case is suitable for both mathematics and computer science students!