Development of a web application to edit process flows for driving the semiconductor innovation towards sustainability

Context

The semiconductor industry is not only growing rapidly, but its manufacturing processes are increasing in complexity, requiring more and more energy, water, and materials. With those natural resources already under strain, to remain compatible with planetary boundaries (e.g., to align with the drastic emissions reduction required to mitigate climate change), it has become critical for technological advancement to integrate environmental sustainability “by design”. To tackle this challenge, the SSTS program at imec is working along with partners from across the value chain to assess and improve the sustainability of the semiconductor industry. The cornerstone of this endeavour is the development of a “virtual fab”, modelling a high-volume manufacturing semiconductor fab, with all the related flows and their environmental impacts (accessible through the imec.netzero webapp).

In this web application, a few standard technologies are available to the user, for which the manufacturing is simulated according to fixed process flows (i.e., list of process step instructions, or “recipe”). This allows to quickly estimate the environmental impact associated to those standard technologies, taking into consideration a few key parameters provided by the user. However, this setup is of limited use for engineers that are developing the process flows themselves, as those are not integrated into the webapp. This prevents them to really understand (and thus optimize) the environmental impact of the design choices they make.

Objective

The objective of this internship is to extend the capabilities of imec.netzero to allow users to import and edit their own custom process flows. The engineers using the tool should be able to seamlessly create their own flows into the application, to save them, and reuse/repeat some of their other process flows. This will allow to assess environmental impacts on the fly while designing their own flows.

Responsibilities

You will actively engage in the design, coding, and testing of the custom process flows editor tool. This will involve working closely with our research team to understand the nuances of semiconductor manufacturing processes. You will also closely collaborate with the coding team to ensure seamless integration of your tool within the imec.netzero system. Your contribution will play a pivotal role in advancing our understanding of the environmental pressures associated with semiconductor production.

Skills and Learning Objectives:

Applicants are expected to have a background in computer science, or software engineering.

They will gain proficiency and enhance their skills in the following key areas:

• Programming (Python & JavaScript (must), optionally other relevant languages)
• Professional Software Engineering (architecture, documentation, clean code)
• Data visualization techniques
• User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) Design
• Semiconductor Manufacturing Processes (optional)
• Environmental Impact Assessment (optional)