Semiconductor waste gas abatement is perhaps the most difficult application for waste gas abatement technologies. The waste gases in these applications typically include large amounts of fluorine and silicon, which present their own individual challenges.
Residual fluorine from gases like NF3, CF4, and C2F6 is highly corrosive and destructive to downstream components. This is even more apparent in the combustion chamber of an abatement device, where temperatures are elevated, and compounds are reduced to their ionic state.
Silicon-containing gases like silane, TEOS, and HMDS have the opposite effect of fluorine. Where fluorine strives to corrode and strip molecules, silicon-containing gases will deposit molecules, typically silica. This can cause buildup and blockage of downstream components and abatement devices, leading to reduced destruction efficiency and increased maintenance.
Unique materials, geometries and flow fields are used to contend with the corrosion from fluorine and solid deposition of silicon-containing gases to provide a long-lived and safe abatement device.
TPU History – ALZETA development work.
- Work began at ALZETA for a solution to PFC abatement in the semiconductor industry in 1992, with Initial funding from Sematech.
- Prototype performance at ALZETA was very promising, utilizing burn/wet technology, axial flow process nozzles, and ALZETA’s inward-fired burner.
- In 1994, ALZETA partnered with Edwards and established TI Richardson as the first site for beta testing.
- Commercial units with the ALZETA burner and Edwards TPU package were introduced in 1996.
