CALL FOR PAPERS
Special Issue:
Operational Control of Wafer Production
Production Planning & Control


The Production Planning & Control: The Management of
Operations international journal plans to publish a special issue
on Operational Control of Wafer Production.

Semiconductors have made their way into mostly all aspects of
everyone's daily life. From spacecrafts to portable multimedia
devices, semiconductors have transformed the world considerably
since the invention of the transistor back in 1948. This reflects on
the enormous importance of the semiconductor sector whose sales are
expected at the level of more than 214 billion american dollars in
year 2004. A growth of arround 28.6% with regards year 2003
(Semiconductor Industry Association, http://www.sia-online.org).

Manufacturing of semiconductors starts with the production of wafers
which are mainly made from silicon substrates. The production of
VLSI products and more specifically, processor chips, greatly depend
on the chemical purity and near-perfect crystalline properties of
wafers. Therefore, the production of silicon wafers has achieved a
high degree of intricacy with many complex phases like raw material
refining, silicon ingot growing, peripheral grinding, ingot slicing
into wafers, wafer beveling, lapping and etching, heat treatment,
polishing, ultra-pure water cleaning and finally, inspection,
packaging and shipping. The margins of chip manufacturing companies
greatly depend on yields which are a function of the semiconductor
die geometry, size and also of the wafer diameter and purity.
Defects on wafers translate into lower yields of the final chips and
thus the importance of an accurate control in the wafer production.

This special issue will give the opportunity of putting together
high-quality papers in the area of production control with special
emphasis on wafer production. Examples of the subject matter of the
papers include, but are not limited to, the following:

- Comprehensive reviews and surveys that give an integrated
view of the past and present contributions in the operational
control aspects of wafer production with insight on
the future research needs.

- Development of appropriate tools and techniques for solving
various arising the planning, scheduling and control of wafer
production.

- Application papers (i.e., actual or potential applications of
various
operational control techniques to wafer production as a whole or to
any
of its phases).

- Description and evaluation of software packages available
to solve operational control problems in wafer production.


All manuscripts will be promptly and carefully referred to
be published in late 2005 or early 2006. Authors should adhere to
Instructions for Authors for the Production Planning &
Control journal available at the url
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authors/tppcauth.asp when
preparing their manuscripts that should be submitted
electronically in PS, PDF or DOC formats to one of the
following guest editors of this special issue no later than
January 20, 2005:


Dr. Jatinder N. D. Gupta
College of Administrative Science
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Hunstville, Al 35899, USA
Tel: (256)-824-6593
e-mail:


Dr. Ruben Ruiz Garcia
Depart. de Estadistica e Investigacion Operativa Aplicadas y Calidad
Universidad Politecnica de Valencia
Camino de Vera s/n (Edificio I-3)
Valencia, 46021, Spain
Tel: (+34)-96-387-70-07, 74946
e-mail: