Chemical Mechanical Planarization

Wet chemical cleaning and conditioning of wafer surfaces is a critical process step in most, if not all, semiconductor device fabrication schemes.

Aqueous Scrubber Efficiency

Environmental engineers currently do not have an independent method to verify the claims made by scrubber manufacturers upon installation or during operation. Dynamic process gas flow can change scrubber efficiencies, making it difficult to detect efficiency changes when they occur. With aqueous scrubbers, the ability to obtain real-time HF or HCl measurements is a challenge for the environmental engineer. Although FTIR instruments can measure HF and HCl directly, measuring HF at low levels in a wet stream has been difficult in the past.

Aqueous Scrubber Efficiency Analysis Solutions

Designed to monitor real-time emissions streams for abatement efficiency, the easily transportable MKS MultiGas 2030 Continuous Gas Analyzer can accurately monitor PFCs and their by-products at low levels without drift. The high resolution FTIR based measurement technology can also differentiate between overlapping spectra such as water and HF, even in saturated aqueous scrubber streams. In tests conducted on an aqueous scrubber at a semiconductor fab in the US, the 2030 monitored HF concentrations near 0.4 ppm with variations of only 30 to 40 ppb, as shown in Figure 1. The spike in the sample was due to a water droplet entering the heated sampling line and vaporizing. Figure 2 illustrates that even in a saturated stream, the 2030 can distinguish HF from water in the spectra, proving that 2% absolute water does not affect the analytical results.

Ultrapure Water Delivery

Several process steps in the semiconductor industry require de-ionized (DI) water with precisely defined conductivity.

Ultrapure Water Delivery Solutions

The DI-SOLVER CO2 is used in single substrate cleaning tools for rinsing steps to prevent ESD effects and/or corrosion by creating UPW (ultrapure water) with precisely defined conductivity. It is a compact system for tool integration, providing conductive DI-CO₂ water (carbonated ultra-pure water) with closed loop controlled conductivity. The conductivity is kept at a constant value under changing flow conditions by control of the CO₂ concentration in the DI-CO2 water.

Wet Processing Products