Introducing a method to remove specific contaminants by strengthening the membrane's unique mechanism

Integris, a company specializing in industrial specialty chemicals and advanced materials solutions, is set to strengthen its 'black box' strategy.

The black box strategy refers to providing material solutions that can complement the limitations of inspection equipment and increase semiconductor yields. To this end, Entegris acquired PSS (Particle Sizing Systerms, LLC.).

Scratch defects, which often occur in advanced node CMP applications, are due to agglomeration of slurry wear particles. This can be a factor affecting process yield. With the acquisition of PSS, Integris can now support real-time particle size analysis in liquid processes. By automating the monitoring process, effective solutions such as appropriate filter selection and system maintenance can be utilized.
Hong Wan-chul, CEO of Integris Korea, said, “In the past, we focused on increasing purity with good inspection equipment. Twenty years ago, we could see all the problems with inspection equipment,” but “now, even expensive inspection equipment has reached its limit in finding problems. Semiconductor companies such as Samsung and Intel are turning their attention to high-purity materials. “We are moving in the direction of eliminating contamination from a preventive perspective by applying refining technology to the raw materials for semiconductors,” he explained.

Entegris has introduced its Oktolex membrane technology as a method for photochemically removing contaminants at the point-of-use photolithography step.

This technology enhances the unique mechanisms of each membrane type to remove contaminants according to the needs of each chemical. By matching the membrane characteristics to a specific contaminant adsorption mechanism, removal performance is optimized without adverse interactions with the chemical composition.

“Unlike previous approaches, this allows us to tailor our approach to specific contamination control requirements,” said Clint Harris, senior vice president and general manager of Entegris. “We can create membranes that effectively remove targeted contaminants in ArF, KrF and EUV applications for logic, DRAM and 3D NAND device manufacturing without changing their chemical composition.”

“Equipment that purifies air to prevent contamination and systems that transport and store wafers are already being used by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix,” said CEO Hong. “We will grow the company with precision contamination removal solutions that reduce equipment downtime.”