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40 Inventive Principles With Examples for High tech and Semiconductor

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Technical Report · November 2021

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[40 INVENTIVE PRINCIPLES WITH

EXAMPLES FROM SEMICONDUCTOR
AND HIGH TECH]
[The 40 Inventive Principles are suggestions culled from the patent databases of the globe, to help prompt and
suggest solutions to would be problem solvers, they simply intended to prompt the thinking from a principled
standpoint that this same type of problem has solved a similar contradiction in another industry or science]
Special Note: This document contains information that was pulled from Darrell Mann’s book’s, specifically the
Matrix 2003, that can be purchased from the www.systematic-innovation.com website, although we admit the
Matrix 2010 is an even better version of this.

More importantly there are many great reference books on Systematic Innovation that can be found on the
website, and we strongly recommend to the reader to look at the Hands On Systematic Innovation (HOSI) for
technical applications as well as the TRIZ Companion handbook for quick reference and when you are on the
go and need to innovate on demand.
We at the Strategy + Innovation Group are big fans of Darrell’s authorship and we think you too will find gold in
what he has written.

40 Inventive Principles
(Examples from Semiconductor and High-Tech)
Principle 1. Segmentation (a.k.a. Fragmentation)

A. Divide an object into independent parts.

o Replace mainframe computer by personal computers.
o Replace a large truck by a truck and trailer.
o Use a work breakdown structure for a large project.
o Individual dies on Si (Silicon) wafer.
o Two-stage diffusion process.
o Beam splitting.
B. Make an object easy to disassemble.
o Modular furniture
o Quick disconnect joints in plumbing
o Integrated Circuits (IC) and passive components assembly on Multi-Chip Module (MCM).
o Multi-chip modules assembly on ‘daughter’ board.
o ‘Daughter’ boards assembly on ‘mother’ board.

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 C. Increase the degree of fragmentation or segmentation.
o Replace solid shades with Venetian blinds.
o Use powdered welding metal instead of foil or rod to get better penetration of the joint.
o Increase in number of gates per microprocessor chip (1.35 times per year).
o Increase in number of bits per memory chip (1.5 times per year).
o Increase in number of inputs/outputs (I/O) per chip and pins per package.
o Sea of Lands (SOL) - ultra-high density packaging.
D. Transition to micro-level.
o Spray development and spray etching.
o Sub-layers with different inherent stress at Microelectronic Mechanical Systems (MEMS).
o Decrease of feature size (to 0.05 microns and less).
o Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE).
o Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD).
o Nanometry

Principle 2. Taking out (a.k.a. Extraction, Separation)

A. Separate an interfering part or property from an object, or single out the only necessary part (or
property) of an object.
o Locate a noisy compressor outside the building where compressed air is used.
o Use fiber optics or a light pipe to separate the hot light source from the location where light is
needed.
o Use the sound of a barking dog, without the dog, as a burglar alarm.
o Clean rooms.
o Isolation of Copper areas at wafer Fab.
o Separation of wafers from people.
o Cluster tooling.
o Single wafer processing.
o Impurities segregation at Si crystal growth (CZ process).
o LOCOS isolation.
o Barrier for Copper diffusion prevention.
o Ion separation at ion implantation.
o Etch stop layer.
o Polarized light microscopy.
o Die separation by grooves at Chip Scale Packaging (CSP).
o Electrical and visual screening.
o Burn-in.

Principle 3. Local quality

A. Change an object's structure from uniform to non-uniform, change an external environment (or external
influence) from uniform to non-uniform.
o Use a temperature, density, or pressure gradient instead of constant temperature, density or
pressure.
o Temperature gradient at CZ process, epitaxy, oxidation, diffusion.
o Pressure gradient at Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD).
o Selectivity and anisotropy at wet and dry etching.
o Impurities concentration gradient at diffusion with diverse doping profiles: exponent, power-law,
step, grade.
o Depletion layer.
o Field Effect Transistor (FET) with arbitrary charge distribution.
B. Make each part of an object function in conditions most suitable for its operation.
o Lunch box with special compartments for hot and cold solid foods and for liquids
o Single wafer processing: CVD, Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), dry etching, etc.
C. Make each part of an object fulfill a different and useful function.

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 o Pencil with eraser
o Hammer with nail puller
o Multi-function tool that scales fish, acts as a pliers, a wire stripper, a flat-blade screwdriver, a
Phillips screwdriver, manicure set, etc.
o Buried layer with opposite impurity type.
o P-n-p pocket in n-p-n substrate at CMOS IC.

Principle 4. Asymmetry (a.k.a. Symmetry Change)

A. A. Change the shape of an object from symmetrical to asymmetrical.

o Asymmetrical mixing vessels or asymmetrical vanes in symmetrical vessels improve mixing
(cement trucks, cake mixers, blenders).
o Put a flat spot on a cylindrical shaft to attach a knob securely.
o SEMI standard for Si wafers crystallographic orientation marking: <111>, <110>, <100>.
o P-n junction asymmetry.
o Anisotropic plasma etching. (Change the shape or properties of an object to suit external
asymmetries)
B. If an object is asymmetrical, increase its degree of asymmetry.
o Change from circular O-rings to oval cross-section to specialized shapes to improve sealing.
o Use astigmatic optics to merge colors.
o Increasing features aspect ratio.

Principle 5. Merging (a.k.a. Combining, Consolidation, Integration)

A. Bring closer together (or merge) identical or similar objects, assemble identical or similar parts to
perform parallel operations.
o Personal computers in a network
o Thousands of microprocessors in a parallel processor computer
o Vanes in a ventilation system
o Electronic chips mounted on both sides of a circuit board or subassembly
o Subtracting images from neighboring dies for visual defects detection.
o Integrated circuit.
o Multi-chip module.
o Giga-scale Integration (GSI).
o Giga-scale System on Chip (GSOC).
B. Make operations contiguous or parallel; bring them together in time.
o Link slats together in Venetian or vertical blinds.
o Medical diagnostic instruments that analyze multiple blood parameters simultaneously
o Mulching lawnmower
o Multi-beam electron writing.
o Wafer level clean rooms operations.
o Wafer level SMD termination [6].
o Wafer level burn-in.
o Wafer Level Packaging (WLP).

Principle 6. Universality (a.k.a. Multi-functionality)

A. Make a part or object perform multiple functions; eliminate the need for other parts.
o Handle of a toothbrush contains toothpaste
o Child's car safety seat converts to a stroller
o Mulching lawnmower (Yes, it demonstrates both Principles 5 and 6, Merging and Universality.)
o Team leader acts as recorder and timekeeper.
o CCD (Charge coupled device) with micro-lenses formed on the surface
o Multi-task dispensing system.
o Multiple targets in sputtering machine.

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 o Electron beam direct writing. No need for mask.
o Plasma CF4 with Oxygen for both photoresist strip and surface cleaning in one process.
o IC package substrate multi-function: multi-layer connection, heat dissipation, escaping I/O
traces, controlled impedance, ground return.
o Components packaging (tape and reel, bulk feed cassette, etc.) multi-function: components
protection, transportation, and presentation to pick-and-place machine.
B. Use standardized features.
o International standards in Semiconductors and Microelectronics.
o Visual workmanship standards.
o Measurement, inspection and test equipment calibration.
o Specifications for incoming, in-process and final quality inspection.
o Specifications for functional, mechanical and environmental testing.

Principle 7. "Nested doll" (a.k.a. Nesting)

A. Place one object inside another; place each object, in turn, inside the other.
o Measuring cups or spoons
o Russian dolls
o Portable audio system (microphone fits inside transmitter, which fits inside amplifier case)
o P-n-p pocket in n-p-n substrate for CMOS IC.
o Buried layer.
o Inverse conductivity type area made by diffusion or ion implantation.
o Multi-layer termination structure.
o Electrical tolerances nesting.
o Embedded air-gap region within SOL.
o Recessed contact pad at D-BGA packaging.
o Embedding of integrated passives into Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC) substrate at
CSP.
o Packaging hierarchy : chip - module - card - board - system.
o Micro-packaging and meso-packaging integration at MEMS: die - device - system.
B. Make one part pass through a cavity in the other.
o Extending radio antenna
o Extending pointer
o Zoom lens
o Seat belt retraction mechanism
o Retractable aircraft landing gear stow inside the fuselage (also demonstrates Principle 15,
Dynamism).
o Clean rooms and clean areas multi-step nesting.
o MEMS micro-machines.

Principle 8. Anti-weight (a.k.a. Weight Compensation, Counter-Weight)

A. To compensate for the weight of an object, merge it with other objects that provide lift.
o Inject foaming agent into a bundle of logs, to make it float better.
o Use helium balloon to support advertising signs.
o Levitation of wafer by air or Nitrogen cushion.
o Transportation of ultra-thin wafer by floating.
B. To compensate for the weight of an object, make it interact with the environment (e.g. use
aerodynamic, hydrodynamic, buoyancy and other forces).
o Aircraft wing shape reduces air density above the wing, increases density below wing, to create
lift. (This also demonstrates Principle 4, Asymmetry.)
o Vortex strips improve lift of aircraft wings.
o Hydrofoils lift ship out of the water to reduce drag.
o Capillary effects for cleaning and chemical treatment in trenches and vias.
o Capillary action for solder drawing from tip to PCB pad.

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Principle 9. Preliminary anti-action/Prior counteraction (a.k.a. Prior Counter-Action)

A. If it will be necessary to do an action with both harmful and useful effects, this action should be
replaced with anti-actions to control harmful effects.
o Buffer a solution to prevent harm from extremes of pH.
o Si3N4 masking for LOCOS.
o LOCOS masking for ion implantation.
o Silicon oxide and poly-silicon masking for diffusion.
o Resist masking for lithography.
o Buffered oxide etchant.
o Pre-cleaning before epitaxy, oxidation, diffusion, metallization, etc.
o Infra-red wafer surface drying before photoresist coating.
o Priming before polyimide or epoxy dispensing.
o PCB masking by tape.
B. Create beforehand stresses in an object that will oppose known undesirable working stresses later on.
o Pre-stress rebar before pouring concrete.
o Masking anything before harmful exposure: Use a lead apron on parts of the body not being
exposed to X-rays. Use masking tape to protect the part of an object not being painted

Principle 10. Preliminary action (a.k.a. Prior action – "Do it in advance")

A. Perform, before it is needed, the required change of an object (either fully or partially).
o Pre-pasted wall paper
o Sterilize all instruments needed for a surgical procedure on a sealed tray.
o Substrate cleaning.
o Sputter target pre-cleaning.
o Photomask pre-cleaning.
o Equipment set-up.
o Functional tests for raw materials.
o Chemicals and bathes preparation.
o Dummy runs for CVD, PVD, CMP, etc.
o Pre-formed solder balls for BGA.
o Pre-fabricated film or tape-based interposer for chip connection to PCB.
B. Pre-arrange objects such that they can come into action from the most convenient place and without
losing time for their delivery.
o Kanban arrangements in a Just-In-Time factory
o Flexible manufacturing cell
o Process flow chart.
o Batch route card.
o Set-up time decrease by using Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) techniques.

Principle 11. Beforehand cushioning (a.k.a. Cushion in advance/Beforehand compensation)

A. Prepare emergency means beforehand to compensate for the relatively low reliability of an object.
o Magnetic strip on photographic film that directs the developer to compensate for poor exposure
o Back-up parachute
o Alternate air system for aircraft instruments
o Design for reliability.
o Electrical circuit redundancy.
o Derating.
o Safety margins for elements dimensions and layers thickness.
o Clean room air ionization for Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) prevention.
o Scrubber for Hydrogen neutralization at epitaxy, CVD, plasma etching.
o Passivation, protection, encapsulation and stress compensation layers.
o Polymer collar around solder balls at BGA to extend temperature cycling reliability.

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 o Burn-in, Highly Accelerated Stress Screening (HASS), Environmental Stress Screening (ESS)
for sorting out marginal parts prone to failure at infant mortality period.

Principle 12. Equipotentiality (a.k.a. Bring things to the same level / Remove Tension)

A. In a potential field, limit position changes (e.g. change operating conditions to eliminate the need to
raise or lower objects in a gravity field).
o Spring loaded parts delivery system in a factory
o Locks in a channel between 2 bodies of water (Panama Canal)
o "Skillets" in an automobile plant that bring all tools to the right position (also demonstrates
Principle 10, Preliminary Action)
o Tunnel effect devices.
o Step smoothing: local planarization, Phosphorus Silicate Glass (PSG) melting, laser ablation.
o ESD elimination by providing continuous discharge paths.

Principle 13. 'The other way around' (a.k.a. Inversion, Do-It-in-Reverse)

A. Invert the action(s) used to solve the problem (e.g. instead of cooling an object, heat it).
o To loosen stuck parts, cool the inner part instead of heating the outer part.
o Bring the mountain to Mohammed, instead of bringing Mohammed to the mountain.
o Dark field microscopy.
o Positive photoresist vs. negative photoresist.
o Subtractive vs. additive lithography.
B. Make movable parts (or the external environment) fixed, and fixed parts movable).
o Rotate the part instead of the tool.
o Moving sidewalk with standing people
o Treadmill (for walking or running in place)
o Electron motion interpretation by ‘hole’ motion.
C. Turn the object (or process) 'upside down'.
o Turn an assembly upside down to insert fasteners (especially screws).
o Empty grain from containers (ship or railroad) by inverting them.
o MOS structure inversion.
o Lift-off lithography.
o Stress-Free Polishing (SFP) as reverse process to Electrochemical Deposition (ECD).

Principle 14. Curvature (a.k.a. Spheroidality / Curvilinearity / Increase Curvature)

A. Instead of using rectilinear parts, surfaces, or forms, use curvilinear ones; move from flat surfaces to
spherical ones; from parts shaped as a cube (parallelepiped) to ball-shaped structures.
o Use arches and domes for strength in architecture.
o Circular Si wafer.
o Wafer edge rounding to prevent chipping.
o Step smoothing to prevent contact disruption.
o Rounded element features.
o Copper deposition in rings at partial electroplating.
o Micro-via drilling.
o J and S terminal shapes.
o Ball Grid Array (BGA).
o Octagonal window for solder ball.
o Cylinder and disk button packages.
B. Use rollers, balls, spirals, domes.
o Spiral gear (Nautilus) produces continuous resistance for weight lifting.
o Ball point and roller point pens for smooth ink distribution
o Cylinder chamber with dome lid.
o Spiral bawl at tape-and-reel machine.

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 C. Go from linear to rotary motion, use centrifugal forces.
o Produce linear motion of the cursor on the computer screen using a mouse or a trackball.
o Replace wringing clothes to remove water with spinning clothes in a washing machine.
o Use spherical casters instead of cylindrical wheels to move furniture.
o Rotary motion at chemical treatment, drying, development, etching.
o Bath liquid circulation.
o Rotary or planetary motion at PVD, CVD, CMP, ion implantation.
o Spin-Etching Planarization (SEP).
o Rotary squeegee, paste rolling.
o Spin-on resist dispensing.
o Spin-on polyimide coating.
o Spin-On Glass (SOG).
o Spin-On Dielectric (SOD).
o Spin-on sol-gel coating.

Principle 15. Dynamization (a.k.a. Dynamics / Dynamicity /Dynamic Parts)

A. Allow (or design) the characteristics of an object, external environment, or process to change to be
optimal or to find an optimal operating condition.
o Adjustable steering wheel (or seat, or back support, or mirror position...)
o Adjustable lithography exposure, development and etching time.
o Adjustable coating, plating, CVD, PVD deposition rate.
B. Divide an object into parts capable of movement relative to each other.
o The "butterfly" computer keyboard, (also demonstrates Principle 7, "Nested doll".)
o MEMS micro-machines.
o MEMS variable capacitors.
C. If an object (or process) is rigid or inflexible, make it movable or adaptive.
o The flexible boroscope for examining engines
o The flexible sigmoidoscope, for medical examination
o Rotary motion of ingot for better convection at CZ process.
o Agitation at development, etching, stripping, electroplating.
o Linear, rotary or planetary motion of wafers at CVD, PVD, CMP, etc.
o X-axis nozzle scanning, Y-axis wafer scanning at scan-coating technology.

Principle 16. Partial or excessive actions /Excess or shortage

A. If 100 percent of an object is hard to achieve using a given solution method then, by using 'slightly less'
or 'slightly more' of the same method, the problem may be considerably easier to solve.
o Over spray when painting, then remove excess. (Or, use a stencil--this is an application of
Principle 3, Local Quality and Principle 9, Preliminary anti-action).
o Fill, then "top off" when filling the gas tank of your car.
o Excessive spin-on coated material removal by centrifugal forces.
o Extended etch time to compensate for non-uniform layer thickness.
o Excessive Phosphorus removal by PSG boiling.
o Excessive resistor area removal by laser trimming.
o Excessive screen-printed paste removal by squeegee.
o Safety margins for electrical parameters.

Principle 17. Another dimension (a.k.a. Dimensionality Change/Move into A New Dimension)

A. To move an object in two- or three-dimensional space.

o Infrared computer mouse moves in space, instead of on a surface, for presentations.
o Five-axis cutting tool can be positioned where needed.
o 2D arrays for flip chip terminal ports (PGA, BGA, LGA, CGA, etc.).
o 2D bar-code data matrix on components and PCB.

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 o Redistribution of ports at WLP from peripheral to array arrangement.
o 3D photolithography.
o 3D microscope.
o 3D X-ray board test system.
o 3D MEMS.
B. Use a multi-story arrangement of objects instead of a single-story arrangement.
o Cassette with 6 CD's to increase music time and variety
o Electronic chips on both sides of a printed circuit board
o Employees "disappear" from the customers in a theme park, descend into a tunnel, and walk to
their next assignment, where they return to the surface and magically reappear.
o Multi-layer resist.
o Multi-story IC structure.
o Build-up Multi-layer (BUM) micro-via packaging substrate.
o Multi-layer flip-chip package.
o Stacked flip-chip package.
o Multi-story MCM structure.
o Multi-layer PCB.
C. Tilt or re-orient the object, lay it on its side.
o Dump truck
o SMD 2-port components with reverse (long side) termination (0306, 0508, 0612).
D. Use 'another side' of a given area.
o Stack microelectronic hybrid circuits to improve density.
o Double-sided mask aligner.
o Double-sided ‘mother’ PCB assembly.

Principle 18. Mechanical vibration / Oscillation

A. Cause an object to oscillate or vibrate.

o Electric carving knife with vibrating blades
o Agitation by shaking.
o Random vibration testing.
B. Increase its frequency (even up to the ultrasonic).
o Distribute powder with vibration.
o Ultrasonic cleaning.
o Ultrasonic electroless plating.
o Ultrasonic and thermo-sonic bonding.
C. Use an object's resonant frequency.
o Destroy gall stones or kidney stones using ultrasonic resonance.
o Microwave drying for water residues removal.
o Quartz resonator for coating thickness measurement.
D. Use piezoelectric vibrators instead of mechanical ones.
o Quartz crystal oscillations drive high accuracy clocks.
o Piezoelectric vibrators at spray development and etching.
E. Use combined ultrasonic and electromagnetic field oscillations.
o Mixing alloys in an induction furnace

Principle 19. Periodic action

A. Instead of continuous action, use periodic or pulsating actions.

o Hitting something repeatedly with a hammer
o Replace a continuous siren with a pulsed sound.
o Batch manufacture.
o Multiple process runs.
o Impulses at voltage sorting.
o Temperature shock cycling.

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 o Periodical in-process control (analysis, inspection, testing).
o Periodical reliability testing.
B. If an action is already periodic, change the periodic magnitude or frequency.
o Use Frequency Modulation to convey information, instead of Morse code.
o Replace a continuous siren with sound that changes amplitude and frequency.
o Single wafer processing at CVD, PVD, CMP, dry etching, etc.
o Step-and-repeat projection lithography.
o Pulsed laser cutting.
C. Use pauses between impulses to perform a different action.
o In cardio-pulmonary respiration (CPR) breathe after every 5 chest compressions.
o SMED techniques for set-up during process phase.

Principle 20. Continuity of useful action /Steady useful action

A. Carry on work continuously; make all prts of an object work at full load, all the time.
o Flywheel (or hydraulic system) stores energy when a vehicle stops, so the motor can keep
running at optimum power.
o Run the bottleneck operations in a factory continuously, to reach the optimum pace. (From
theory of constraints, or take time operations)
o Seven days a week, 24 hours a day processing at wafer fab.
B. Eliminate all idle or intermittent actions or work.
o Print during the return of a printer carriage--dot matrix printer, daisy wheel printers, inkjet
printers.
o Streamline both internal and external setups to reduce total set-up time (SMED).
o Wafer level clean room processes.
o Wafer level SMD termination [6].
o Wafer level burn-in.
o Wafer level packaging.

Principle 21. Skipping (a.k.a. Rushing Through / Hurrying)

A. Conduct a process, or certain stages (e.g. destructible, harmful or hazardous operations) at high speed.
o Use a high-speed dentist's drill to avoid heating tissue.
o Cut plastic faster than heat can propagate in the material, to avoid deforming the shape.
o Flash PVD for ultra-thin metallization layers.
o Positive photoresist development time - the smaller the better.

Principle 22. Blessing in disguise (a.k.a. "Turn Lemons into Lemonade" / Convert harm into benefit /
Turn minus into plus)

A. Use harmful factors (particularly, harmful effects of the environment or surroundings) to achieve a
positive effect.
o Use waste heat to generate electric power.
o Recycle waste (scrap) material from one process as raw materials for another.
o Controllable undercut.
o Avalanche effect semiconductor devices.
B. Eliminate the primary harmful action by adding it to another harmful action to resolve the problem.
o Add a buffering material to a corrosive solution.
o Use a helium-oxygen mix for diving, to eliminate both nitrogen narcosis and oxygen poisoning
from air and other nitrox mixes.
o Buffering anti-corrosive solution
C. Amplify a harmful factor to such a degree that it is no longer harmful.
o Use a backfire to eliminate the fuel from a forest fire.
o Burn-in, Highly Accelerated Stress Screening (HASS), Environmental Stress Screening (ESS)
for sorting out marginal parts prone to failure at infant mortality period.

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Principle 23. Feedback

A. Introduce feedback (referring back, cross-checking) to improve a process or action.

o Automatic volume control in audio circuits
o Signal from gyrocompass is used to control simple aircraft autopilots.
o Statistical Process Control (SPC) -- Measurements are used to decide when to modify a
process. (Not all feedback systems are automated!)
o Budgets --Measurements are used to decide when to modify a process.
o End-point detection at CMP, dry etching.
o Thermostat for optimal temperature stabilization.
o Test run for process parameters adjustment.
o First article inspection.
o In-process, final and periodical quality inspection and testing.
o Statistical Process Control (SPC).
o Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA).
B. If feedback is already used, change its magnitude or influence.
o Change sensitivity of an autopilot when within 5 miles of an airport.
o Change sensitivity of a thermostat when cooling vs. heating, since it uses energy less efficiently
when cooling.
o Change a management measure from budget variance to customer satisfaction.
o In-line wafer measurements using test structures.

Principle 24. Intermediary (a.k.a. Mediator / Insertion)

A. Use an intermediary carrier article or intermediary process.

o Carpenter's nailset, used between the hammer and the nail
o Adhesion layer of Ti, Ta, Cr.
o Barrier layer of TiW, TiN, TaN, SiN, W2N.
o Adhesion promoter for coating and bonding.
o Primer for polyimide or epoxy dispensing.
o LOCOS masking for ion implantation.
o Silicon oxide and poly-silicon masking for diffusion.
o Compliant polymer layer for reducing stress under solder ball.
o Chip underfill process to compensate thermally induced strains.
o Interposer for chip connection to PCB.
o Footprint conversion adapter for fine pitch (0201, BGA) SMD components.
B. Merge one object temporarily with another (which can be easily removed).
o Pot holder to carry hot dishes to the table
o Resists for photo-, deep UV, extreme UV, X-ray and e-beam lithography.
o Photomask.
o Si3N4 masking for LOCOS.
o Temporary wafer carriers.
o Sacrificial layer removal to leave cavity at MEMS micro-machining.
o Filling recess with temporary material, depositing movable charge plate and wet etching of filler
at MEMS variable capacitors.

Principle 25. Self-service (a.k.a. Self-organization)

A. Make an object serve itself by performing auxiliary helpful functions

o A soda fountain pump that runs on the pressure of the carbon dioxide that is used to "fizz" the
drinks. This assures that drinks will not be flat, and eliminates the need for sensors.
o Halogen lamps regenerate the filament during use--evaporated material is redeposited.
o To weld steel to aluminum, create an interface from alternating thin strips of the 2 materials.
Cold weld the surface into a single unit with steel on one face and copper on the other, then use
normal welding techniques to attach the steel object to the interface, and the interface to the

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 aluminum. (This concept also has elements of Principle 24, Intermediary, and Principle 4,
Asymmetry.)
o Wafer self-masking by Si oxidation.
o Auto-doping.
o Impurities segregation on materials or phases border.
o Gate self-alignment in MOS transistors.
o Self-Ionized Plasma (SIP) directional PVD.
o Etch-stop layer.
o Self-assembly of micro-scale parts at MEMS.
B. Use waste resources, energy, or substances.
o Use heat from a process to generate electricity: "Co-generation".
o Use animal waste as fertilizer.
o Use food and lawn waste to create compost.
o Deionized water (DI) water recycling system.
o Use of scrapped wafers and chips for dummy runs and experiments.

Principle 26. Copying

A. Instead of an unavailable, expensive, fragile object, use simpler and inexpensive copies.
o Virtual reality via computer instead of an expensive vacation
o Listen to an audio tape instead of attending a seminar.
o ‘Holes’ movement model.
o Virtual prototyping.
o IC design and complex process modeling.
o Dummy wafers and components.
o Test structures.
B. Replace an object, or process with optical copies.
o Do surveying from space photographs instead of on the ground.
o Measure an object by measuring the photograph.
o Make sonograms to evaluate the health of a fetus, instead of risking damage by direct testing.
o Photomask.
o Projection lithography.
o Optical comparator for component dimensions measurement.
o Image processing for components visual sorting.
o Pattern recognition for oriented packaging.
o Color scanner Automated Optical Inspection (AOI).
o Video system for pick-and-place.
C. If visible optical copies are already used, move to infrared or ultraviolet copies.
o Make images in infrared to detect heat sources, such as diseases in crops, or intruders in a
security system.
o UV light for photoresist or polyimide exposure.
o Deep UV and Extreme UV (EUV) lithography.
o Deep UV reflectometry.
o Infrared interferometry.
o Infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry.
o Laser ellipsometry.
o Optoacoustics.
o Polarized light microscope.
o Photoluminescence.
o Spectrophotometry.
o Scatterometry.
o X-ray fluorescence (XRF).
o X-ray diffraction (XRD).
o X-ray PCB test system.

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Principle 27. Cheap short-living objects (a.k.a. Cheap disposables)

A. Replace an inexpensive object with a multiple of inexpensive objects, comprising certain qualities (such
as service life, for instance).
o Use disposable paper objects to avoid the cost of cleaning and storing durable objects. Plastic
cups in motels, disposable diapers, many kinds of medical supplies.
o Single-time usage face mask, gloves, and shoes cover for clean room.
o Dummy wafers and components.
o Test PCB cards.
o Plastic or cartoon box, vial, bag, cassette, tape for product handling, storage and transportation.

Principle 28 Mechanics substitution (a.k.a. Replacement of mechanical system / Redesigning or

Replace mechanical system with fields)

A. Replace a mechanical means with a sensory (optical, acoustic, taste or smell) means.
o Replace a physical fence to confine a dog or cat with an acoustic "fence" (signal audible to the
animal).
o Use a bad smelling compound in natural gas to alert users to leakage, instead of a mechanical
or electrical sensor.
o End-point detection at CMP and dry etching by optical reflection.
o Optical comparator for component dimensions measurement.
o Bar coding, 2D matrix data coding.
B. Use electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields to interact with the object.
o To mix 2 powders, electrostatically charge one positive and the other negative. Either use fields
to direct them or mix them mechanically and let their acquired fields cause the grains of powder
to pair up.
o Electrophoretic resist coating.
o End-point detection methods at CMP and dry etching: plasma impedance measurement, by-
products emission spectrometry, Eddy current.
C. Change from static to movable fields, from unstructured fields to those having structure.
o Early communications used omnidirectional broadcasting. We now use antennas with very
detailed structure of the pattern of radiation.
o Microwave: plasma, cleaning, drying, curing.
o ExB plasma drift directional PVD.
o Glow charge dry etching.
o Vacuum arc deposition.
o Electron beam direct writing lithography.
o Scanning electron microscopy.
o Laser: ellipsometry, annealing, scribing, trimming.
o Laser direct writing CVD.
o Pulsed laser cutting for MEMS.
o X-ray: lithography, fluorescence, diffraction.
o Radiation for MOS and HMOS transistors threshold control.
D. Use fields in conjunction with field-activated (e.g. ferromagnetic) particles.
o Heat a substance containing ferromagnetic material by using varying magnetic field. When the
temperature exceeds the Curie point, the material becomes paramagnetic, and no longer
absorbs heat.
o Magnetic field at ion separation and sputtering.
o Point-cusp magnetic PVD.
o Plasma: CVD, descum, anodic oxidation, sputter etching, spraying.
o Ion beam: PVD, lithography, milling, sputtering, implantation.
o Reactive ion etching.
o Ionized directional PVD.
o Electron gun for MBE.
o Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) plasma PVD.

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Principle 29. Pneumatics and hydraulics (a.k.a. Fluid system)

A. Use gas and liquid parts of an object instead of solid parts (e.g. inflatable, filled with liquids, air cushion,
hydrostatic, hydro-reactive).
o Comfortable shoe sole inserts filled with gel
o Store energy from decelerating a vehicle in a hydraulic system, then use the stored energy to
accelerate later.
o Laminar air flow at clean rooms and hoods.
o Air shower.
o Cascade DI water.
o DI water or bath liquid turbulence by Nitrogen bubbles.
o Vacuum chuck for wafer holding.
o Air or Nitrogen cushion for touch-less wafer handling and transportation.
o Transportation of ultra-thin wafer by floating.
o Nitrogen gun for drying.
o Heating or cooling fan.
o Vacuum degassing.
o Vacuum pick-and-place.

Principle 30. Flexible shells and thin films (a.k.a. Flexible membranes, shells and films)

A. Use flexible shells and thin films instead of three dimensional structures
o Use inflatable (thin film) structures as winter covers on tennis courts.
o Thin-film dielectrics.
o Thin-film epitaxy, oxidation, poly-silicon, metallization and other layers at planar Si wafer.
B. Isolate the object from the external environment using flexible shells and thin films.
o Float a film of bipolar material (one end hydrophilic, one end hydrophobic) on a reservoir to limit
evaporation.
o Thin-film passivation, protection, encapsulation and stress compensation layers.
o Air gap with polymer encapsulation as cushion at SOL.
o Plastic bags.
o Cover tape for tape-and-reel.

Principle 31. Porous materials

A. Make an object porous or add porous elements (inserts, coatings, etc.).

o Drill holes in a structure to reduce the weight.
o Multi-step air filtration at clean rooms.
o Multipore filters for DI water.
o Polypropylene and carbon filters for chemicals.
o Porous chuck for wafer holding.
o Porous tampon for marking.
o Metal web baskets, barrels, sieves.
o Parylene, Silicon Gel, Polymer overlay for die surface passivation.
o Porous humidity consumption materials.
B. If an object is already porous, use the pores to introduce a useful substance or function.
o Use a porous metal mesh to wick excess solder away from a joint.
o Store hydrogen in the pores of a palladium sponge. (Fuel "tank" for the hydrogen car--much
safer than storing hydrogen gas)
o Capillary effects for cleaning and chemical treatment in vias and trenches.
o Metal web for screen printing of solder paste.
o Capillary action for solder drawing from tip to PCB pad.

Principle 32. Color changes (a.k.a. Optical properties change)

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 A. Change the color of an object or its external environment.
o Use safe lights in a photographic darkroom.
o Yellow light in photolithography room.
o Illumination scheme for optical microscopy.
o Color scanner AOI.
o Colors addition-subtraction at image processing.
o Polarized light microscope.
B. Change the transparency of an object or its external environment.
o Use photolithography to change transparent material to a solid mask for semiconductor
processing. Similarly, change mask material from transparent to opaque for silk screen
processing.
o Anti-reflection coating.
o Obscure-transparent pattern at photomask.
o Fiducials, insignia, marking for multi-layer alignment.
o Transparent cover glass substrate at CSP for CMOS image sensor.
o Transparent tape-and-reel cover tape.
C. In order to improve observability of things that are difficult to see, use colored additives or luminescent
elements.
o Photoluminescence thin-film measurement.
o Luminescent marking.
o Fluorescent molecules at Light Emission Diode (LED) display.
o Gold sputtering for SEM.

Principle 33. Homogeneity (a.k.a. Uniformity)

A. Make objects interacting with a given object of the same material (or material with identical properties).
o Make the container out of the same material as the contents, to reduce chemical reactions.
o Make a diamond cutting tool out of diamonds.
o Silicon wafer polishing by colloid mixture with SiO2 particles.
o Alumina substrate grinding by colloid mixture with Al2O3 sand.
o Silicon rubber for Si die isolation.

Principle 34. Discarding and recovering (a.k.a. Rejection and regeneration / regenerating parts)

A. Make portions of an object that have fulfilled their functions go away (discard by dissolving,
evaporating, etc.) or modify these directly during operation.
o Use a dissolving capsule for medicine.
o Sprinkle water on cornstarch-based packaging and watch it reduce its volume by more than
1000X!
o Ice structures: use water ice or carbon dioxide (dry ice) to make a template for a rammed earth
structure, such as a temporary dam. Fill with earth, then, let the ice melt or sublime to leave the
final structure.
o Resist strip.
o S3N4 temporary mask removal.
o LOCOS temporary mask removal.
o Thick wafer backside grinding after processing, handling and transportation at clean room
operations.
o Temporary wafer carrier discarding.
o PCB masking tape removal.
B. Conversely, restore consumable parts of an object directly in operation.
o Self-sharpening lawn mower blades
o Automobile engines that give themselves a "tune up" while running (the ones that say "100,000
miles between tune ups")
o DI water recycling system.
o Self-sharpening cutting blades.

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Principle 35. Parameter changes (a.k.a. Transformation of physical and chemical states or properties)

A. Change an object's physical state (e.g. to a gas, liquid, or solid.

o Freeze the liquid centers of filled candies, then dip in melted chocolate, instead of handling the
messy, gooey, hot liquid.
o Transport oxygen or nitrogen or petroleum gas as a liquid, instead of a gas, to reduce volume.
o Liquid - solid transformation of resist, polyimide, coating layers.
o Liquid Oxygen, Nitrogen.
o Solid diffusion sources.
B. Change the concentration or consistency.
o Liquid hand soap is concentrated and more viscous than bar soap at the point of use, making it
easier to dispense in the correct amount and more sanitary when shared by several people.
o Exposure to dilute Silane for Silicide passivation.
o Encapsulation glue.
o Screen printable paste.
C. Change the degree of flexibility.
o Use adjustable dampers to reduce the noise of parts falling into a container by restricting the
motion of the walls of the container.
o Vulcanize rubber to change its flexibility and durability
o Damping of vibration for precise equipment.
o Air gap with polymer encapsulation as cushion at SOL.
D. Change the temperature.
o Raise the temperature above the Curie point to change a ferromagnetic substance to a
paramagnetic substance.
o Raise the temperature of food to cook it. (Changes taste, aroma, texture, chemical properties,
etc.)
o Lower the temperature of medical specimens to preserve them for later analysis.
o Decreased process temperature by use of plasma at PECVD
E. Change the pressure.
o Low pressure CVD.
o Vacuum at PVD, ion implantation, dry etching.
o High pressure CVD.
o High pressure oxidation.
o Variable Argon pressure at sputtering for sub-layer stress control (MEMS).

Principle 36. Phase transitions /Use of phase changes

A. Use phenomena occurring during phase transitions (e.g. volume changes, loss or absorption of heat,
etc.).
o Water expands when frozen, unlike most other liquids. Hannibal is reputed to have used this
when marching on Rome a few thousand years ago. Large rocks blocked passages in the Alps.
He poured water on them at night. The overnight cold froze the water, and the expansion split
the rocks into small pieces which could be pushed aside.
o Heat pumps use the heat of vaporization and heat of condensation of a closed thermodynamic
cycle to do useful work.
o Liquid - solid phase transition at CZ process.
o Gas - solid, liquid - gas - solid and solid - gas - solid phase transition at oxidation, epitaxy, CVD,
PVD, diffusion, ion implantation.

Principle 37. Thermal expansion (a.k.a. Relative change)

A. Use thermal expansion (or contraction) of materials.

o Fit a tight joint together by cooling the inner part to contract, heating the outer part to expand,
putting the joint together, and returning to equilibrium.
o Thermal expansion drive at variable MEMS capacitors.

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 B. If thermal expansion is being used, use multiple materials with different coefficients of thermal
expansion.
o The basic leaf spring thermostat: (2 metals with different coefficients of expansion are linked so
that it bends one way when warmer than nominal and the opposite way when cooler.)
o Bi-metallic sensor.

Principle 38. Strong oxidants (a.k.a. Enriched atmosphere / Accelerated oxidation)

A. Replace common air with oxygen-enriched air.

o Scuba diving with Nitrox or other non-air mixtures for extended endurance
o Si oxidation by wet Oxygen.
o Diffusion enhancement by wet Oxygen.
B. Replace enriched air with pure oxygen.
o Cut at a higher temperature using an oxy-acetylene torch.
o Treat wounds in a high-pressure oxygen environment to kill anaerobic bacteria and aid healing.
o Si oxidation by high pressure dry Oxygen.
C. Expose air or oxygen to ionizing radiation.
D. Use ionized oxygen.
o Ionize air to trap pollutants in an air cleaner.
o Oxygen plasma descum.
o Anodic arc plasma oxidation.
o Plasma ashing (CF4 with Oxygen) for photoresist removal.
E. Replace ozonized (or ionized) oxygen with ozone.
o Speed up chemical reactions by ionizing the gas before use.
o UV-Ozone dry cleaning.
o Ozone at reactive ion etching.

Principle 39. Inert atmosphere (a.k.a. Inert Environment, Calmed Atmosphere)

A. Replace a normal environment with an inert one.

o Prevent degradation of a hot metal filament by using an argon atmosphere.
o Clean rooms.
o Deionized water.
o Teflon jigs and cassettes.
o Desiccators.
o Nitrogen turbulence of rinsing water.
o Nitrogen drying gun.
o Nitrogen atmosphere at photoresist exposure.
o Nitrogen atmosphere at polyimide exposure, drying, curing.
o Argon or Nitrogen atmosphere for wafer storage.
o Hermetically closed plastic bags.
B. Add neutral parts, or inert additives to an object.
o Increase the volume of powdered detergent by adding inert ingredients. This makes it easier to
measure with conventional tools.
o Argon at magnetron sputtering.

Principle 40. Composite materials

A. Change from uniform to composite (multiple) materials.

o Composite epoxy resin/carbon fiber golf club shafts are lighter, stronger, and more flexible than
metal. Same for airplane parts.
o Fiberglass surfboards are lighter and more controllable and easier to form into a variety of
shapes than wooden ones.
o Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI).
o Silicon-on-Sapphire (SOS).

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 o Binary metallization alloys.
o Inorganic resist - polymer bi-level scheme lithography.
o Silicon Oxynitride composite dielectric.
o Sol-gel dielectrics.
o MOS, HMOS, CMOS structures.
o Compound semiconductors.
o Hetero-structures.

If you are interested in learning more about what and how Systematic Innovation Methods can help you to be
even more innovative, please feel free to contact us at The Strategy + Innovation Group.
www.sig-hq.com
rplatt@sig-hq.com
Phone: 503.449.5673

Best of luck in your Innovation Journey.

Richard Platt
Managing Partner

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