How can preventative maintenance of filters ensure the highest quality UPW at the lowest cost of ownership?

The manufacturing of semiconductor devices requires the strict control and identification of particles and elements within the particles which contaminate the ultrapure water used in their production. Regulations advise that particles must be smaller than one half of the line-width of the device geometry, however currently available optical particle counters are restricted to measuring particles >40nm, therefore technology with the ability to identify elements within a particle <100nm does not currently exist. This article presents a new Metrology and Analytical Technology device intended to recognise contaminant elements in particles <50nm.

Constant developments in the microelectronics industry, with finer line widths and the requirement of essentially particle-free water, also brings with it many challenges involving the conservation and reuse of water, treatment of growing streams of wastewater produced from high-purity water from processes such as CMP, photolithography and etchant rinsing. This article provides an overview of featured keynote speakers, technical presentations on UPW and process water/wastewater as well as Roundtable Networking session at the UPW Micro 2015 conference.

Critical feature sizes of modern semiconductor devices have surpassed the capabilities of traditional optical-based methods to measure particle concentrations in process chemicals and on wafers. Without adequate metrology for quantifying particle and particle precursor concentration in process chemicals, device makers face challenges correlating component failures and fabrication steps. This is especially true for organic material released by Final Polish Ion Exchange resin during a rinse cycle, which is not detected efficiently using optical methods. In this work, we describe two state-of-the-art measurement methods that can detect organic particles and particle precursors to 3 nm using Aerosolization and Threshold Particle Counting (TPC) and defects from UPW deposited on a wafer surface down to 8 nm using Surfaced Enhanced Particle Sizing (SEPS)

This presentation was given as part of the Ultrapure Micro 2021 annual conference. It was given as part of the ultrapure water strand.

This presentation was given as part of the Ultrapure Micro 2021 annual conference. It was given as part of the ultrapure water strand.

Ultrapure water (UPW) is one of the main materials for electronics fabrication and therefore, it needs to be monitored for critical parameters such as nanoparticles (NP). The state-of-the-art online measurement techniques are challenged by particles at the killer particle sizes smaller than 10 nm. Due to the uncertainties in NP detection, the identification of NP sources and sinks in UPW system is limited nowadays. This review article aims to give an overview on the current developments and perspectives in metrologies for detection and control. The following topics will be discussed: transferability of general definition of NP to UPW, state-of-the-art particle analytics, sources and sinks of NP in UPW systems as well as dominant particle interactions responsible for NP contamination. This article was originally published in the Ultrapure Micro Journal in November 2017.

This article provides an overview of the biggest challenge of UPW technology – particle control. The latest semiconductor technologies require near particle-free water, where the “killer” particle size is far below the size that UPW metrology can effectively detect. Also, current advanced treatment methods cannot guarantee reliable removal of killer-sized particles. The quality of the high-purity materials used downstream of the final filters has not typically been tested for shedding of the “killer” particles. Consequently, the semiconductor industry requires a comprehensive approach for the particle control. A new approach should include mitigating particle occurrence and continuously improving the technologies used in UPW polish and distribution systems. Such an approach should also include extensive use of SEMI standards to improve the quality of the materials used; a new way to engineer solutions related to system-configuration and system design; improved process control; and a careful review of critical operational decisions. Collaboration throughout the industry via IRDS and SEMI Standards is key to enabling such systematic improvement, and overcoming the metrology and other constraints. This article was originally published in the Ultrapure Micro Journal in November 2017.

This article deliberates how it has become possible to test any microfine filter in real time, and in its actual conditions of use. For such testing to be possible it is vital to be able to obtain two particle-counting instruments matched for particle detection over a range of particle sizes. This attribute of matched detection appears to be possible with the acoustic method of detecting particles, and not commonly available with optical particle counters. This article was originally published in the Ultrapure Micro Journal in November 2017.

This Q&A session took place at the 2020 Ultrapure Micro annual conference. It was a part of the Ultrapure Water Production track, and included speakers from the UPW Process Optimization session.

This presentation was given at the Ultrapure Micro 2020 annual conference. It was presented in the Ultrapure Water Production track, as part of the UPW Process Optimization session.