This paper describes the use of automated discovery from databases for diagnosing the causes of rotsprocessing during semiconductor manufacturing. The database eonlains the historl/ of the semieonduc4or wafers as theTI undergo various processing steps. A gener~ste-and-test approach is to3cen for using such a database for automated diagnosis. Based on prior maaual use of such databases, classes of queries to the database useful for fault isolation are identified. Patterns in the responses to

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... e queries that are useful for fault isolation are also identified. Automated diagnosis is accomplished bll automating query generation and the detection of potentially useful paflergs. A prototllpe ~stem was implemented and tested on a database from a wafer grinding and polishin 9 facility. In addition to identifying pre~iousll/ lmoum faults, the system also identified pre~iousil/ unknoum faults.