Approximation Algorithms for the Wafer to Wafer Integration Problem

Motivated by the yield optimization problem in semiconductor manufacturing, we model the wafer to wafer integration problem as a special multi-dimensional assignment problem (called WWI-m), and study it from an approximation point of view. We give approximation algorithms achieving an approximation factor of 3 2 and 4 3 for WWI-3, and we show that extensions of these algorithms to the case of arbitrary m do not give constant factor approximations. We argue that a special case of the yield optimization problem can be solved in polynomial time.