A novel timetabling algorithm for a furnace process for semiconductor fabrication with constrained waiting and frequency-based setups

This study aims to solve the scheduling problem arising from oxide– nitride–oxide (ONO) stacked film fabrication in semiconductor manufacturing. This problem is characterized by waiting time constraints, frequency-based setups, and capacity preoccupation. To the best of our knowledge, none of the existing studies has addressed constrained waiting time and frequency-based setups at the same time. To fill this gap, this study develops a genetic algorithm for batch sequencing combined with a novel timetabling algorithm. For validation, we conducted several experiments based on empirical data. As a benchmark for smallsized problem instances, a mixed-integer linear programming model was used. The results show that the proposed algorithm optimally solves most cases of the ONO scheduling problem in real settings and significantly outperforms dispatching rulebased heuristics.