New Opportunities in Ultrapure Water Technologies for the Semi-Conductor Industry

Transcription

1 New Opportunities in Ultrapure Water Technologies for the Semi-Conductor Industry Moderator: Panelists: Tyler Algeo, Senior Water Technology Market Analyst, BlueTech Research Vyacheslav (Slava) Libman, Water Lab Director, Air Liquide Balazs Nanoanalysis Dan Wilcox, Facilities Engineering Manager, Spansion FAB25 Marty Burkhart, Owner, Hi Pure Tech Inc. Alan Knapp, Director, Global Business Development, Evoqua Water Technologies Key Takeaways Ultrapure Water (UPW) is a term used to refer to water produced for specific industrial processes where the water is significantly more pure than the typical municipal potable water standards. Definitions of UPW tend to be specific to the needs of the industry in which it is used, such as the semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries. Innovation in UPW is predominantly driven by the semiconductor industry, which requires UPW to produce the microprocessors found in phones, computers and the other ubiquitous electronics that pervade our lives. With the market for water and wastewater treatment in the semiconductor industry estimated to be over $1 billion and semiconductor demand growing, the UPW market represents a sizable opportunity. The line sizes on microchips are getting smaller, which results in both an increase in the amount of water required in the manufacturing process and increasing purity requirements as the size of particles that can cause defects become smaller and harder to control. 1 UPW treatment systems in the semiconductor industry is a significant opportunity due to its already established market size, predictable market growth rate and the continuous increasing demand in volume of water. With the demand of semiconductors growing and the market for water and wastewater treatment in the semiconductor industry estimated to be over $1 billion and, the ultrapure water (UPW) market represents a sizable water treatment technology opportunity. The UPW treatment market is predictable due to the connection between UPW requirements and Moore s Law. Moore s Law is an observation made in 1965 by Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits are doubling every year since the integrated circuit was invented.

2 The demand for transistors in the semiconductor industry influences change in the UPW market in two main ways: 1) transistor sensitivity 2) size of the operating plant. As the semiconductor industry moves to smaller and smaller transistor sizes, the sensitivity in the manufacturing process increases. Greater sensitivity not only results in a lower tolerance for contaminants but also a higher volume of UPW is required for processing. To emulate these trends, UPW plants now need to hold and operate with a higher volume of water than ever before to keep up with manufacturing demands. Unfortunately, plant operators have found it difficult in many cases to expand the operating capacity of their existing plant. The amount of semiconductors produced per week, or wafer output, depends upon technology complexity, size and plants UPW capacity. Plant production can vary between 5,000 to 15,000. As referenced above, the trend of creating a more complex a semiconductor becomes renders to longer amount of time is required for manufacturing and therefore larger volumes of UPW are required to sustain this process. Another trend directly affecting water usage is size. In the early 1990 s, Dr. Felix Klaiber noted the diameter of the wafer dictated the largest diameter of conduit needed for conveyance of UPW. Table 1 Wafer Diameter vs. UPW MGPD. vs. Conduit Diameter Wafer Diameter Total Worldwide Production MGPD Conduit Diameter Existence 100mm - 100mm <5% years old 150mm 150mm 200mm 40-45% mm years old 300mm 50-55% mm 0-10 years old 450mm One facility constructed. Not currently online. unknown Construction for first plant began Jan 2013 by Intel The point is, wafer sizes are getting larger and semiconductors more complex. As a result, the volume of water required for manufacturing is increasing. The industry is now transitioning to 450mm wafer diameter, which will require a conduit diameter larger than 315mm therefore requiring a higher volume of UPW than ever before. 2 The industry has put a focus on water reuse due to growing water demands. Regulatory goals for water reclamation are expected to increase from the current standard set at 75%. Within a semiconductor fabrication facility, water is used for manufacturing, cooling towers, boilers, exhaust scrubbers and chemical aspirators. Water used during the manufacturing process must be sufficiently free of contaminants to ensure that defects are not produced in the wafer.

3 Water Use in 300mm FAB MGPD Other MGPD 9% Cooling Tower MGPD 23% UPW Plant MGPD 17% FAB UPW - 1.3MGPD 51% Figure 1 Water use in 300mm FAB Water can be saved at a UPW through a variety of ways. Implementing small changes such as optimizing the nozzle spray or pattern during wafer rinsing. Water can be recycled from internal process such as implementing drain technologies to segregate of chemicals from water. Utilizing external reclaimed water for UPW makeup has been identified as another area to reduce water usage. Several methods for reducing and recycling water usage have been suggested throughout the semiconductor manufacturing train process. 1 Photo: highly concentrated organic chemicals are used to complete this step making the waste stream difficult to treat. 2 Etch: chemical usage is limited to a variety of acids and ammonia which are fairly easy to treat. 3 Diffusion/Implant 4 Chemical mechanical Planarization: variety of metals and suspended solids Figure 2 Semiconductor manufacturing process The figure above displays the typical manufacturing train process. Step highlighted in red (steps 1 and 4) are not suitable whereas the step highlighted in green (steps 2

4 and 3) are most suitable. The Etch and Diffusion/Implant steps use approximately 50% of the UPW during the manufacturing process. Chemical usage in the etch step is limited to a variety of acids and ammonia which are fairly easy to treat making it an excellent opportunity for reclamation. By incorporating these suggestions for water reuse, the same 300mm FAB plant shown in Key Takeaway 2 can reduce its water usage by to 0.88 MGPD, or 65%. Table 2 Water reuse potential in 300mm FAB % Reuse CW MGPD MGPD Recycled Total FAB UPW UPW Plant Cooling Towers Other % 65% 100% The International technology Roadmap for Semiconductor (ITRS) has set standards on reducing usage and improves reuse. Currently, the water reclamation target is set at 75% but is expected to be as high as 85% in 10 years. 3 Advanced material science in conduits is key to an effective UPW system. Conduits of UPW have been identified as an area contributing to UPW contaminants. Providing high purity piping systems for UPW transport is essential. Quality of the UPW inside the conduit is only as clean as the conduit itself. There are six elements of the ultrapure water piping system to ensure the piping does not bring in excessive amounts of particles: Elements that make up a Ultrapure Water Piping System Source Contamination Examples 1. Minimizing Particle Contamination 2. Minimizing Organic (TOC) Contamination 3. Minimizing Ionic Contamination (e.g. Chloride, Nitrates, Nitrites, Fluoride, Sulfates, Phosphates) 4. Minimizing Metallic Contamination A Few Examples: Iron, Aluminum, Calcium, Sodium, Potassium Poor component manufacturing or packaging, installation, poo choice of piping materials, shedding of seals, inclusions in th surface, unacceptable machined surfaces Plasticizers, pigments, antioxidants, extrusion aides, solve cementing, oils from the hand during installation, oils from an equipment, packaging materials Salts from the body (sweat), inadvertent contact with miner acids, poor installation. Inappropriate component manufacturing equipment (barrels an screws), metal supports for building, inappropriate tools fo handling product, raw material synthesis, concrete flooring, woo products, poor installation

5 5. Smooth Surface Finishes Poor choice of piping materials, poor manufacturing technique of piping system components, rough machining of parts 6. Safe, Reliable Systems Improper installation, faulty seals (dimensional), organic contamination (TOC), ionic contamination, metallic contamination and has smooth surface finishes and is safe and reliable when assembled in operation. Many factors can contribute to contamination in piping systems. One fingerprint alone during installation can contaminate as much as 20 m 3 of UPW. 4 An inability to effectively detect and monitor small particles and organics is a key pain-point for the semiconductor industry, which creates an opportunity for new, advanced water quality monitoring technologies. a. Explain killer particles b. Highlight difficult in treating (and in transporting pipes can contribute to contaminants that is why a whole panelists spoke about pipe materials) c. Explain challenge to measure d. Highlight that new monitoring technologies are one of few ways for new entrants to get into this market and that there is an unmet need in the market. A known challenge in the industry is being able to monitor particle sizes in UPW. Today the most advanced semiconductor factories manufacture at 14nm, which means killer particle size that needs to be controlled is as low as 7nm. Killer particles sizes have surpassed the detection limits of existing particle counters making them near impossible to monitor effectively. Effective tools for monitoring killer particles is a key unmet need in the UPW market. Furthermore, the affects and sources of common organic contaminants found in UPW are neither known or well understood and the industry is seeking solutions to monitoring and characterizing organics.. The ability to measure particle size and organics will develop a better correlation to defects which can be validated with experimentation and ultimately ensure the quality of the semiconductor produced. This key industry pain point in monitoring killer particles creates an opportunity for companies that can develop advanced monitoring technologies, and one of the few places that new entrants can penetrate the UPW market in the semiconductor industry.