VOC Clean Room Contamination
Airborne molecular contamination (AMC) has captured the attention of the semiconductor industry over the last few years, and industry experts agree that it is now the time to begin addressing AMC as a serious yield-limiting threat. Unlike particle control, AMC takes many forms. From acids and bases, to dopants, organics and condensables, the analytical technologies are at different development stages. The present assessment of the clean room contamination status is carried out via off-line analytical campaigns. Clean room air samples are collected over a period of time and at a second stage they are analysed in specialised laboratories, equipped with sophisticated instrumentation. The greatest limitation of this approach is the difficulty of obtaining correlation between contamination parameters and production yield. Therefore, in order to make AMC control a value to the process, real time data must be available. Additional advantages of an on line system include verifying filter lifetime, confirming facility design in terms of flow paths and possible cross contamination between areas, and identifying the types and sources of airborne contamination. This system is capable of detecting compounds, ranging from C3 to C10, also referred to as Volatile Organic Contaminants (VOC). Several points in the clean room can be analysed using the on board multiplexer. The data availability through the fab network makes the system a real control tool.
The multipoint sampler allows the possibility to sample up to 16 points, due any sampling point has different level of importance the sequence and the alarms could be setted with high flexibility. Filter lifetime could be easily determined concentrating the control on the external compounds and son on BTEX compounds.
Cleanroom and mini-environments are critical areas for processing, wafer storage, and sample transfer. These areas are controlled environments for particles and volatile organic compounds (VOC). Chemical air filtration is installed to prevent yield losses in process areas for pre-gate oxidation, salicidation, and deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography that are sensitive to VOC. The use of chemical filters is now an indispensable part of environmental control in fabs. With the advent of 300 mm technology, the need for mini-environments to localize critical processes is becoming more evident.
ETG has developed this system and it’s installed in semiconductor industries for chemical filter monitoring, and it’s used to study their lifetime and to increase the productivity.
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VOC Clean Room Contamination.
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