Semiconductor Industry Dependable online, inline, and atline solutions for your process needs. An industry with high standards 02 Integrated circuits are the fundamental component of elements which can modify the electrical properties of modern electronic goods. In our digital era, smaller, fas ter, the silicon wafer used to create transistors for integrated and more powerful processors are in constant demand circuits. for many goods and services. The semiconductor industry is largely responsible for improving many aspects of There are several steps in processing the raw material modern society as many services have been digitized and (monocrystalline silicon) into a finished integrated circuit. interlinked (e.g. Big Data, Internet of Things, and smart Each stage requires a significant amount of attention grids). to detail to ensure the quality of the finished product is high. Process optimization through online monitoring of Inside the semiconductor fabrication facility, cleanliness parameters such as water quality, acids in etch baths, and is crucial, considering the scale of the working surfaces metal content in plating baths for example saves time (nanometers). Contaminants of all types can result in de-and significantly lowers production costs. Online process fects, leading manufacturers to adopt ever stricter pro-analyzers from Metrohm Process Analytics are a must-duction control procedures. A single fabrication plant can have in any semiconductor plant to run processes closer use up to 15 million liters of ultrapure water every day. to ever-tighter specifications, reducing waste and im-Even bacteria must be removed, as they contain trace proving various manufacturing stages. FEOL BEOL Front End Of Line Back End Of Line • SC1 / SC2 clean • Hydrogen Peroxide in CMP Slurry • Ultrapure water quality for wafer preparation • TMAH in developer • TMAH in developer • Etching baths (mixed acids) composition • Mixed acid etching bath analysis (MAE) • Acid copper bath measurements for Damascene Process • Composition of etching cleaner solution • Heavy metal concentrations in plating baths • Hydrogen Peroxide in CMP Slurry • Organic additive concentrations in plating baths • Sulfuric acid and peroxide mixture in Photoresist Stripping • Electroless Cu/Ni and Hypophosphite [H PO -] 2 2 SUBFAB • Ultrapure water quality for Chemical Distribution and Dilution • H O , pH, temperature, and conductivity in Slurry production, blending, and distribution 2 2 • ECP Clean (Acid) for Chemical Delivery • Hydrogen fluoride in Chemical Dilution system • Ammonium in Chemical Dilution system • Chloride [Cl-] in H SO recovery system 2 4 Overview of a wide variety of applications sold by Metrohm Process Analytics in different areas within semiconductor plants. Ultrapure water specifications The most-consumed chemical in the manufacture of in-which can cost a manufacturer several times more than tegrated circuits is actually ultrapure water. Many plants preventive maintenance to the ion exchanger. manufacture ultrapure water on-site as it is needed in several areas, from rinsing after etching steps to the dilu-Wastewater from circuit production tion of concentrated chemicals in the subfab. Trace analy-Compliance with regulatory agencies is mandatory, and sis of this ultrapure water can determine if the ion ex-with ever-stricter guidelines coming each year, it is imper-changers upstream are working efficiently. Impurities can ative to monitor wastewater and ensure the treatment lead to uneven etching or uneven plating, the results of facility is working effectively. Metrohm Process Analytics offers several process analyzers which can measure from Metrohm Process Analytics offers several analytical tech - single to multiple components in waste streams, with niques in many different analyzer configurations for any custom-built sample preconditioning setups and shelters need: titration, photometry, ion chromatography, NIR available for more challenging areas around the plant. spectroscopy, and ion-selective measurements. Our online process analyzers and custom sample precondition- • Concentrated copper waste analysis ing systems are manufactured in the Netherlands and • Dilute metal waste stream analysis supported by our local service engineers worldwide. • Wastewater monitoring of several components Applications Production control of electroplating baths 03 Cyclic Voltammetric Stripping Analysis (CVS) and Cyclic Pulse Voltammetric Stripping Analysis (CPVS) are wide-spread methods for the determination of organic additives in electroplating baths. For many technical coatings, particularly in the manufacture of PCBs and semiconductor components, this method is an essential part of production control. Online analysis with the ADI 2045VA Process Analyzer eliminates the need for slow, periodi-cal laboratory QC, guaranteeing continuous and interfer-ence-free operation of the plating baths. • Accurately measure brighteners, levelers, and suppressors • Precise measurements even in saline conditions • Concentrations in mL additive per L bath liquid • Suitable for acidic copper baths, alkaline zinc baths, tin-lead baths, tin baths, and more ADI 2045VA Process Analyzer Multicomponent determination in a single run Ion chromatography (IC) enables the determination of numerous main and secondary components of electroplating baths as well as traces of impurities in the form of organic and inorganic ions or polar substances with utmost reliability and precision. A major benefit is that chemically similar substances can be determined in par-allel in a single analysis with IC. Analyte concentrations may extend from the ng/L to % ranges. Interfering matrix effects can be avoided by combining the sample delivery with one of our many automated Inline Sample Preparation Techniques. • Impurities in electroplating baths • Concentrated acids in etching solutions • Nitrate in nickel baths • Ion analysis in emulsions and soap-containing rinsing solutions Process Ion Chromatograph • Trace analysis in ultrapure water Fast, in-situ, non-destructive analyses The purity of chemicals, bath composition and other processes can be easily monitored around the clock with online near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Chemical-free process analysis with NIRS gives real-time data, saving time and money over other analytical methods. Multiplexer options allow several baths to be monitored by the same analyzer, from opaque slurries to clear liquids. Even the wafer surface can be analyzed with NIR. • Mixed acid baths • TMAH in water • SC1 / SC2 • HF-Dip • HotPhos (H PO in water) NIRS XDS Process Analyzer NIRS Analyzer PRO 3 4 www.metrohm.com itzerlandw erisau, S 0 H -910H , CG hm A etro y M rinted b .V. p n B ppliko otice r n hm A rio etro ut p itho anciki, M 017-02 n L hange w lyso o c y A 27EN – 2 ut b 0.520.0 Subject t Layo 8