Questex’s Sensors Converge and Fierce Electronics announced Lam Research as the winner of the Best Industrial & IIoT Solution category at the 2025 Best of Sensors Awards.
The ceremony took place in June at the 40th annual Sensors Converge event in Santa Clara, CA, recognizing the most cutting-edge technologies across the sensors, electronics, and embedded systems landscape. The award recognized Lam Research’s Dextro™ collaborative robot, the semiconductor industry’s first cobot designed specifically for fab maintenance optimization.
The Dextro cobot represents a breakthrough in semiconductor manufacturing maintenance by addressing critical challenges that have long plagued the industry. Modern wafer fabrication facilities typically house hundreds of complex process tools that require regular, precise maintenance. Traditional manual maintenance approaches are not only time-consuming and error-prone but also create safety risks for technicians working in hazardous environments.
Dextro is a mobile robotic unit equipped with a robotic arm and interchangeable end-effectors that can perform three critical maintenance tasks with sub-micron precision. The system installs and compresses consumable components with more than twice the accuracy of manual application, helping control etch performance at the wafer edge and improving yield. It also tightens vacuum-sealing, high-precision bolts to exact specifications, eliminating the up to 5% error rate typical of manual operations. This precision prevents chamber temperature deviations that could disrupt production and impact die yield.
Perhaps most importantly, Dextro uses automation and cleaning technology to remove side-wall polymer build-up within chambers without requiring disassembly of the lower chamber. This capability significantly improves safety by eliminating the need for technicians to wear heavy protective breathing equipment while performing hazardous cleaning tasks manually.
The cobot leverages a rich dataset to learn, adapt, and continuously improve its performance. This data-driven approach enables Dextro to operate with exceptional precision and efficiency while ensuring maintenance is performed at optimal times to increase productivity and reduce downtime. The system delivers what Lam calls “first-time-right” results, maintaining high precision, safety, and efficiency even when tasks need to be repeated for hundreds or thousands of cycles under strict time, space, and accuracy constraints.
Currently deployed in multiple advanced wafer fabs worldwide, including Samsung Electronics facilities, Dextro is compatible with Lam’s Flex G and H series dielectric etch tools. A single Dextro unit can service between 50 to 100 chambers that require monthly maintenance, with plans to expand compatibility to additional tools throughout 2025 and beyond.
When presenting the award, judges noted that Dextro’s “ability to perform critical, error-prone maintenance tasks with sub-micron precision not only improves production yield and equipment uptime but also addresses labor shortages and safety concerns in fab environments.” They highlighted that the system has the potential to deliver high return on investment per fab annually, with its deployment in facilities like Samsung proving its real-world impact and strong industry validation.
The timing of Dextro’s introduction is particularly significant as the semiconductor industry faces unprecedented demand driven by artificial intelligence applications. This surge requires chipmakers to maximize equipment efficiency and minimize downtime while dealing with a shortage of skilled engineers. By combining human ingenuity with robotic precision, Dextro helps address these challenges while paving the way toward the autonomous fabs of the future. (A cobot is a robot designed to work safely alongside humans in a shared workspace.)
Lam Research, headquartered in Fremont, California, has been at the forefront of semiconductor innovation since 1980 and employs over 17,000 people worldwide. The company has invested years in research and development to create advanced service and support solutions, developing self-maintaining equipment, self-aware systems, and self-adaptive processes. Dextro represents the latest addition to Lam’s Equipment Intelligence portfolio, which includes process tools with autonomous calibration capabilities and services that use data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to optimize fab operations.
To discover other innovative sensor technologies and see the complete list of 2025 Best of Sensors Award winners, visit the awards announcement.