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 small-sized 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 rule-based heuristics.