Klarf View Users Guide

KlarfViewTM User’s Guide

© 2010 Value-Added Software Solutions
www.valaddsoft.com

KlarfView User’s Guide

Introduction
KlarfView was created out of sheer frustration. The commercially available software
from the major suppliers just did not give me the kind of wafer map visualization I
needed to do my job as a semiconductor engineer. Getting the data the way I needed it,
when I needed it, was THE most important part of my ability to make quick, accurate
decisions. It also helps to have the data in the right format to explain things clearly in
presentations. After all, you can get more people to “buy in” to your point, if you have
the data in the right format.
But, the real beauty of KlarfView is the ability to use Windows to view wafer map
galleries. (Who needs that expensive software from the big guys?) With KlarfView, you
can visually select maps that look the same (e.g. “signature analysis”) to find all wafers
or lots that share the same process steps to define the source of the defect issue, or to just
separate the signal (signature) from the noise (defect counts).

Features
KlarfView was created with virtually all the flexibility any engineer needs for fast,
accurate decision-making, and more importantly, presentations. You can run it on
several files at once, or you can use it on a server to automatically create maps as the data
is collected.
With KlarfView, you can:
• Quickly create high-quality images of defect wafer maps from any version of klarf
file.
• Adjust key parameters to get exactly what you need:
• Color and adjust symbol markers for defects by classification, size, cluster
number, and more.
• Filter by classification, size (range), cluster/random, and more.
• Adjust line types, colors and thickness for wafer and die.
• Turn legends, titles and die on or off.
• Adjust notch rotation.
• Adjust image file name.
• Create maps with or without transparent backgrounds (useful for overlays to
images).
• View wafer map galleries in Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.
• Run manually, or run in automated processes to create wafer maps.

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Installation
KlarfView installation is simple. Just double-click on the install icon, and follow the
steps in the menus. The KlarfView shortcut icon will appear on your desktop. During
the installation process, you have the option of installing extra shortcuts with customized
settings. These shortcuts have specific configurations that allow you to create image
maps based on classification, defect size, and more.
By default, KlarfView installs to the “C:Program FilesKlarfView” folder. These files
will be installed:

KlarfView.exe
The main program.

KlarfView.ini
The default definition file. Contains all default parameter definitions passed to the
program. If you just run KlarfView.exe without passing any parameters at run time, all
options are defined using the “.ini” file. Any of the default definitions can be superseded
by passing new parameters at run time. Look at one of the custom short cuts: “Properties
/ Target” to see an example of run-time parameters. You can use any text editor to edit
this file. I prefer “Notepad++” because it automatically performs syntax highlighting on
“.ini” files. (I’ll simplify the editing process in a future release.)

kv.bat
An optional batch file. You can run this and pass run-time parameters to the program.
You would not normally use the batch file, because custom shortcuts are easier to use.
This file is a good reference for which run-time parameters are available to use, and how
to use them. . Look at one of the custom short cuts: “Properties / Target” to see an
example of run-time parameters. You can use any text editor to edit this file. I prefer
“Notepad++” because it automatically performs syntax highlighting on “.bat” files.

colorbysettings.txt
This file contains all the color, symbol type and symbol size for the defects. All colors
are grouped by the field (column) name in the defect data area in the klarf file. You can
create more groups and settings. The columns are tab-delimited. You can use Excel or
OpenOffice Calc to edit this file. Just be sure to save it as a “.txt” file. (I’ll simplify the
editing process in a future release.) More information on colors can be found in the
section GnuPlot Color Codes. More information on point symbols can be found in the
section GnuPlot Point Symbols.

pgnuplot.exe
The gnuplot program.

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wgnuplot.exe
Another gnuplot program.

linesymb.png
A reference to illustrate the different line types and symbol types that are used in
“colorbysettings.txt” file.

KlarfView EULA.pdf
A copy of the KlarfView end user license agreement.

gnuplot license agreement.pdf
A copy of the gnuplot end user license agreement.

KlarfView Users Guide
This document.

Running KlarfView
To run KlarfView, just double-click on the KlarfView shortcut (the purple “globe” with a
slash) on your desktop. For the “KlarfView” shortcut, all maps will be stored as “.png”
files in the “C:Map_Images” folder. The maps will be created according to the settings
in the “C:Program FilesKlarfViewKlarfView.ini” file. You can change the parameters
in the “.ini” file, or as a parameter passed at run time. Look at one of the custom short
cuts: “Properties / Target” to see an example of how you can change this at run time.
When you run KlarfView, you’ll see the “Select Klarfs” dialog like the one below.

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Just select any klarf, or all klarfs, you want to create maps of. (Note: You may not see
this window at first. If that happens, just “cntl-c” in the command window – you’ll see it
– and re-start the program.)
When the program is done, you’ll just go to the “C:Map_Images” folder to view the
maps. In Windows Vista, you just select “Views” and either “Large Icons” or “Extra
Large Icons” to view the maps as a gallery. If you have Windows XP, you use
“Thumbnail View”. (For Windows XP, you need to install “TweakUI” to get a utility to
allow you to adjust the size of the thumbnails.) I’m sure you can view the maps on an
Apple computer, but I’m not sure how to do it.
That’s all you need to do to run the program. It’s not that hard.
Now look at the file names. Each file has a unique identifier: Lot, Wafer, Step, Test, and
so on. You can change the arraignment, and what is or is not part, of the file name in the
parameters in the “.ini” file. We’ll cover this later, in the section, Parameters That Can
Be Used At Run Time.

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Ok, I See Maps. Now What?
This is where the fun begins! Let’s try a few examples.

Signatures
Let’s say you have seen a signature you just noticed recently on a few maps. Does that
signature extend to other wafers or lots? How far back in time did you first detect that
signature? Which tool or process is common across all the wafers/lots with these
signatures.
Just pull klarf files for the last N days or M months and put them in a folder. (Note:
KlarfView only runs on klarf files already pulled from a database. If data pull is required
to create klarf files, you can contact me to discuss creating this feature.)
Now view the gallery in Windows (see example below). Just collect all the images that
look like they have the same signature into a separate folder. You can get a list of the
files you’ve just collected to use as a filter to find common tools or processes that may be
the cause of the signature.

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Separate the Signal From the Noise
This is similar to the previous example, but now we have a problem where the defect
counts are noisy. A possible problem with a tool creates subtle signatures, but the defect
counts are not much different from the random noise from other wafers.
Just pull the klarf files, run KlarfView, and then use the map galleries to separate the
maps with the signatures from the rest of the pack. Now you have a set of maps to use to
find the tool or process that causes this particular problem.

View Maps by Defect Size
What if someone asked you to define how defect sizes (as defined by the inspection tool)
are distributed on a wafer. Assume the wafer map looks like the one below on the left.
KlarfView can display defects in different colors, by size bins. Now, suppose you want
to see fewer defect sizes, or just one size range. The map on the right illustrates how you
can use KlarfView to view the same map, using size filtering.
This is how it was done:
Run the shortcut, “KlarfView_DSize” to get the map on the left.
Open the “C:Program FilesKlarfViewKlarfView.ini” file and add “0.3, 0.4” to the
“SizeFilter=” parameter, so it looks like this: “SizeFilter=0.3, 0.4”. (Or you can add this
to the shortcut “KlarfView_DSize”: “/sizefilter=0.3,0,4” to get the same results.) This
will give you the map on the right, when your run “KlarfView_DSize”.

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View Maps By Cluster Die
These maps can be viewed using the shortcut, “KlarfView_Clusterdie”. But, you need to
run the program, “DBCluster” first. You can get a copy of DBCluster from my web site.

Stacked Layer Maps
You want to view stacked maps that have defects colored by detection layer.
Unfortunately, due to the way klarf files are constructed, you will need to run KlarfView
each time for each klarf file (layer). Fortunately, KlarfView is designed to permit
coloring by layer via a batch (command) file. To do this, create a command file with the
options set like the example below. In this example, we have 5 layers we wish to stack.
First, when you run KlarfView in a command file, you need to point to the ini file using
the command, “/inifilename=’C:Program FilesKlarfViewKlarfView.ini’”.
The first layer is opaque, “/transparent=false”, without die displayed, “/showdie=false”.
The pointcolor (defect color) is set to black, “/pointcolor=#000000” (using hexadecimal
color codes).
The other layers have different colors set for the defects. All layers are transparent, and
without die displayed.
The last layer is transparent, “/transparent=true”, but now the die are displayed,
“/showdie=true”. The pointcolor (defect color) is set to gold, “/pointcolor=#CC6600”
(using hexadecimal color codes).

When this command file is run, you get the maps below.
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Now, just copy these files to a program like PowerPoint, and then align to create the
stacked map as shown below. It helps to move each file to PowerPoint in the order of
earliest to latest layer.

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Other Views
There’s much more you can do with KlarfView. We can’t cover all the possibilities.
Only you know what your requirements are. And that’s the point. With KlarfView, you
have the flexibility to view the maps in virtually any way you want.

Using KlarfView Maps In Documents
Each map is an individual image file. So it can be used in any document (e.g. Powerpoint
or Word) just like any image. If you want to add single maps to a document, you can
either import it, or just drag & drop the file to the document.
If you want to add a gallery view to a document, you’ll need to use a screen capture
program like “Snagit” (you pay for this), or “Greenshot” (a free Snagit-like screen
capture utility). Just view your maps in Windows as a gallery (as described in the section
Signatures), use the screen capture program to capture all or part of the gallery, and then
paste the image to your document. You can even make sure to copy the file names with
the maps to display the lot/wafer/step information with the maps.

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Shortcuts
Because shortcuts are a nice, clean way to create custom views for your wafer maps, let’s
take a few minutes to go over how to create and edit them.
Here’s a view of all the shortcuts created by the install. Each of these shortcuts will
create maps and store them in their respective folders: “C:Map_Images_Classified”,
“C:Map_Images_ClusterDie”, “C:Map_Images_Clusternumber”, and so on.

These are only a few examples of the types of views you can create. After all, you know
“DSize” is not the only way to look at defect size. You can also look at “DefectArea”.
So, let’s create a couple of shortcuts that allow us to color defects by “DefectArea” size
bins.
Make a copy of the “KlarfView_DSize” shortcut. View the properties for the
“KlarfView_DSize - Copy” shortcut by right-clicking on it, the select “Properties” to
open the dialog you see below.

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You’ll see the “Target” field is already highlighted. This is the field you will be
changing. As is, this field will have the following settings:
"C:Program FilesKlarfViewKlarfView.exe" /colorby=DSIZE /mapimagefolder=C:Map_Images_DSIZE
/sizebins=0,0.1,0.2,0.3,0.4,0.5,0.6,0.7,0.9,1.0,10,20,50,100000
Change “DSIZE” to “DEFECTAREA”, and “C:Map_Images_DSIZE” to
“C:Map_Images_ DEFECTAREA” to place the maps in their own folder. Otherwise,
these maps will overwrite the maps in the “C:Map_Images_DSIZE” folder. You can
also change the manually-defined sizebins. The upper limit for each bin range is
separated by commas. The lowest value on the left is the min size for the first bin
(inclusive). If you want to automatically create, say 10 bins based on min/max range of
all defect sizes, you can set sizebins to “auto, 10”. The details on all the options will be
covered later.
Save the settings for the shortcut. For this example, we’ll just change “DSIZE” to
“DEFECTAREA”, and nothing else.
"C:Program FilesKlarfViewKlarfView.exe" /colorby=DEFECTAREA
/mapimagefolder=C:Map_Images_DEFECTAREA /sizebins=0,0.1,0.2,0.3,0.4,0.5,0.6,0.7,0.9,1.0,10,20,50,100000
Rename the shortcut to “Map_Images_DEFECTAREA”.
Run the shortcut on your klarf files.
And you’ll get maps like the one below, with defects colored by “DefectArea”.

You may have noticed that the parameters we defined in the “Target” field in the shortcut
is defined EXACTLY as if we were to run the program from the command window, or in
a batch file. These are the run-time parameters. They override parameters set in the
“.ini” file.

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Parameters That Can Be Used At Run Time
Any parameter that you apply at run time will override the settings in the “.ini” file. This
allows you to set your own defaults in the “.ini” file, and then create different views with
just a few changes in a shortcut as described in the previous section.
All parameters must be used with this format: /parameter=value. You need to use the
“switch” “/” in front of the parameter and the equals “=” between the parameter and the
value.
Here is a description of all the parameters and their options. Note: All these parameters
are also listed in the “kv.bat” file. All parameters listed here are also in the “.ini” file,
except for “inifilename” and “inisection”, so I won’t repeat this description for the “.ini”
file parameters.

inifilename
Define the name of an “.ini” file that is not the default file. This file will be read before
the other run-time parameters are applied. This is useful if you have more than one
ValaddSoft program, and you want to define all defaults in one “.ini” file (see next
parameter). You will generally not need to use this parameter.

inisection
Define the name of section in the INI file that contains settings for this program -- default
is “ViewKlarfSettings”. This is useful if you have more than one ValaddSoft program,
and you want to define all defaults in one “.ini” file (see previous parameter). You will
generally not need to use this parameter.

mindefs
Plot only maps that have at least this number of defects in the klarf file. The default is 0
defects (all klarfs).

maxdefs
Plot only maps that have this number of defects or less. The default is 65000 defects.

filesizelimit
Plot only maps that are this file size or less. The default is 1000000 (1 gigabyte).

fnorder
Set the file name order. The variables (and default order) is: “Lot Waf Step Setup Slot”.
If you want to have file names with step first, just rearrange these variables to: “Setup Lot
Waf Step Slot”. Leaving any variable out will leave that data out of the filename.

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showtitle
Defines if you want a title to be shown over the wafer map. This is a true/false setting.
The default is “false” – no title will be shown. If the title will be shown, it will be: “Lot:
lotid Waf: waferid Step: stepid Setup: setupid Slot: slotid”

dispnotchdn
Defines if you want the notch to be displayed notch down, or as inspected. This is a
true/false setting. The default is “true” – the wafer map will be displayed notch down,
regardless of inspection orientation.

mapimagefolder
Defines where you want the map images to go. The default is “C:Map_Images”.

inputfilename
Set the input file name. Any combination of valid paths and wildcards are acceptable.
The default is “”. When “inputfilename” is “”, the “Select Klarf” dialog will be shown.
If you use a valid path/wildcards here, the program will not display the “Select Klarf”
dialog. This is how you can use KlarfView to automatically generate defect maps.

transparent
Define whether or not the background will be transparent. This is a true/false setting.
The default is “false” – the maps will NOT be transparent.

showlegend
Define if a key (legend) will be displayed. This is a true/false setting. The default is
“false” – the legend will NOT be displayed. Even if set to “true”, the legend will not be
displayed, unless “colorby” has a valid value defined.

legendoptions
Set legend options using any valid gnuplot option. Default settings: “outside bottom
center horizontal”. This places the legend outside the plot area, at the bottom, centered,
and lists the values horizontally. Other options can be seen at
http://gnuplot.info/docs/node192.html

plotoptions
The name of the file containing the data point settings. Refer to gnuplot documentation
for valid colors, point shapes & sizes. The default is “C:Program
FilesKlarfViewcolorbysettings.txt”

dielinetype
The gnuplot line type for die. The default is “1” (solid line). 0 = dotted line, any other
number = solid line.

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dielinewidth
The gnuplot line width for die. The default is “1”. Decimals can be used.

dielinecolor
The gnuplot line color for die. The default is “gray”. Any valid 6-character hexadecimal
color code can be used. The hexadecimal code must start with “#”. More information on
colors can be found in the section GnuPlot Color Codes.

waferlinetype
The gnuplot line type for wafer outline. The default is “1” (solid). 0 = dotted line, any
other number = solid line.

waferlinewidth
The gnuplot line width for wafer outline. The default is “3”. Decimals can be used.

waferlinecolor
The gnuplot line color for wafer outline. The default is “'black'”. Any valid 6-character
hex-dec color code can be used. The hex-dec code must start with “#”. More
information on colors can be found in the section GnuPlot Color Codes.

colorby
Color defects by this group name (group names are from the klarf file as shown below).
This group name MUST be defined in the plotoptions file (“colorbysettings.txt”) in order
to be used.
Valid fields that can be used: CLASSNUMBER TEST XSIZE YSIZE DEFECTAREA
DSIZE CLUSTERNUMBER ROUGHBINNUMBER FINEBINNUMBER
MACROSIGCLASS MICROSIGCLASS REVIEWSAMPLE IMAGECOUNT
IMAGELIST, and CLUSTERDIE (after running DBCluster).

sizebins
Defines the defect size bins. This will only work if ColorBy=DEFECTAREA or DSIZE
or XSIZE or XSIZE. Valid options:
• "auto,N" takes min/max values of sizes, then creates N bins. Example: "auto,10"
• Set bins manually "Bin1MaxVal, Bin2MaxVal, ...."
If you manually set the bins, be sure to include 0 (min value) and a very large value
(max) to bound all possible sizes. The first bin is bounded as: min ≤ size ≤ first bin. All
other bins are bounded as: first bin < size ≤ second bin, and so on.
The max number of bins is limited by the number of definitions you have in the
plotoptions file ("colorbysettings.txt").

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sizefilter
Use this to plot only defects in a min,max range.
The range is defined as: min < size ≤ max.
If this is ste to “all” or "", no filtering will be applied.

sizefilterdata
Define the size data you want to filter. Example: “DSIZE”, or “DEFECTAREA”.
The value should correspond to the field name in the klarf file.
sizefilterdata is ignored if sizefilter is set to “all” or “”.

classfilter
Define a list of classifications to display, as a set of comma-delimited numbers.
Example: “0,10,20,30”

clustrandfilter
Set this as “Cluster” to display cluster defects only, or “Random” to display random
defects only, or “all” or “” to display all defects.

clustfilterdata
Define the cluster field data you want to filter. Example: “CLUSTERNUMBER”, or
“CLUSTERDIE” (if you run dbcluster first).
The value should correspond to the field name in the klarf file.
clustfilterdata is ignored if clustrandfilter is set to “all” or “”.

samplefilter
Set this to “sampled” to display sampled defects only, or “unsampled” to display
unsampled defects only, or “all” or “” to display all defects

gnuplotprogfolder
The folder containing the gnuplot exe files. If left empty “”, default is program folder.

showdie
Define if the die will be displayed. This is a true/false setting. The default is “true” – the
die will be displayed.

pointtype
Define the point types to use for defects if colorby is not defined. Default is 13.

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pointcolor
Define the point color to use for defects if colorby is not defined. Default is “black”
(Hex: #000000).

pointsize
Define the point size to use for defects if colorby is not defined. Default is 1.

Defect Color and Symbol Settings
All defect color and symbol settings are defined in the file “C:Program
FilesKlarfViewcolorbysettings.txt”. You can edit this file using OpenOffice Calc or
Excel. Just be sure to save it as a tab-delimited text file.
A spreadsheet view of this file is below.

The columns are defined as the following:
Number
This is just an index number to sort and put the list in order. The program does not use
this column.
Ignore
This allows you to set values in the table, but tell the program to ignore the value as if it
wasn’t on the table. Any character in the cell sets the flag for the program to ignore the
entire row.
Group
You can define an entire set of parameters for all possible color/symbol combinations for
all groups you may want to color by. It is critical that you assign the group name, and do
it correctly. Otherwise, all defects will be plotted as black dots (default). This is case
insensitive.

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Value
This is the value the program matches in order to set the color groups. Example (from
the list below): any defect with a Clusternumber value of “91” will be set to symbol type
5, color blue and size 1. The exception to this rule are defect sizes. All size groups are
defined using the settings as defined in the previous section. Defect size data ignores this
column. BUT, the row order will be retained to match to the size bins as listed in either
the “.ini” file, or in the run-time settings.
Type
This sets the symbol type for each defect. The symbols are defined as they would be
defined in gnuplot. The entire list of symbols are listed in the diagram in the section
GnuPlot Point Symbols.
Color
This sets the color for each defect. The colors are defined as they would be defined in
gnuplot. The colors are discussed in the section GnuPlot Color Codes.
Size
This sets the point size for each defect. The larger the number, the larger the point size.
Decimal numbers can be used.

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GnuPlot Color Codes
This diagram below illustrates the range of colors available for line and point colors. If
you use the named colors: “red”, “green”, “blue”, etc., you are limited to what gnuplot
can recognize. But, if you use the 6-character hexadecimal color codes, you can use the
full spectrum of all colors defined in the hexadecimal color space, which is quite
extensive. The hexadecimal codes can be found on any web site that discusses HTML
hexadecimal colors.

Here is a short list of color codes supported by gnuplot. This list does not represent all
possible codes. The color names may not work in gnuplot, but the hexadecimal codes
will work (use “#” at the front of the code).

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GnuPlot Point Symbols
The diagram below illustrates all possible symbols available for “.png” files. Don’t pay
attention to the lines. All line colors are set using the colors described in the section
GnuPlot Color Codes.

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