ACM Research Announces Global Commercial Availability of Environmentally Friendly, Cost-Effective Advanced Wafer Cleaning Sys...
December 03 2019 - 8:00AM
ACM Research, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACMR), a leading supplier of wafer
cleaning technologies for advanced semiconductor devices, today
announced commercial production-line readiness of the world’s first
tool that combines bench and single wafer cleaning in an integrated
system. The Ultra C Tahoe cleaning system for photoresist stripping
and post-etch, post-implant and post-CMP cleans offers improved
process performance, cost savings on chemicals and significantly
reduced sulfuric acid waste generation.
Government restrictions on semiconductor industry waste and
global awareness of environmental risks are driving increased
demand for cleaning systems that can reduce consumption of process
chemicals without sacrificing performance. In particular, disposal
methods for sulfuric acid are suboptimal. While landfilling remains
an option in countries like the United States, it does not
completely remove the risk of environmental contamination. In areas
such as Korea, Taiwan and Shanghai that have limited or no landfill
space available, the next option is high-temperature purification,
but this approach consumes a large amount of energy and contributes
to additional greenhouse gas emissions.
“Sulfuric acid waste treatment is a major challenge in advanced
IC manufacturing. For example, semiconductor plants account for
more than half of the total sulfuric acid used in Taiwan,” said
David Wang, CEO of ACM Research. “Bench cleaning alone cannot
achieve the required performance for 28nm nodes and beyond. While
the shift to single wafer cleaning improved performance, it
dramatically increased sulfuric acid consumption and now requires
dangerous, energy-intensive disposal methods that are harmful to
the environment. ACM Research developed the proprietary Tahoe
system to deliver the high cleaning performance and process
flexibility that customers expect from single wafer cleaning, but
with a fraction of the chemical consumption. We consider this a
winning combination that will enable the industry to maintain its
technology roadmap with an environmentally friendly solution that
saves significant money on disposal costs.”
The Ultra C Tahoe cleaning system combines two modules into a
single wet-clean system. Sulfuric acid–peroxide mixture (SPM)
cleaning and quick dump rinsing (QDR) occur in the bench module,
where the SPM process chemicals are recirculated as in a
stand-alone bench system, decreasing sulfuric acid waste by at
least 80% compared with single wafer SPM cleaning. After bench
cleaning in the Tahoe, wafers are transferred to the single wafer
module for advanced cleaning while still wet.
The single wafer chamber is flexible and can be configured for
each customer’s needs to dispense standard clean (SC1),
hydrofluoric acid (HF), ozonated deionized water (DI-O3), or other
process chemicals. It can accommodate up to four arms with up to
three process chemicals on each. Options include an N2 spray arm or
megasonic cleaning with ACM Research’s Smart Megasonix arm. The
system also offers an isopropyl alcohol (IPA) drying function that
can be applied to patterned wafers.
The Ultra C Tahoe cleaning system has demonstrated low
cross-contamination risk and excellent particle-removal performance
rivaling state-of-the-art single wafer systems, all at a much lower
consumption rate of SPM. When compared with a traditional SPM bench
tool, data from an ACM Research customer’s commercial production
line demonstrated that the integrated Tahoe system can reduce
particle counts from hundreds to around 10 per wafer at 30nm. A
Tahoe system processing 2,000 wafers per day will consume less than
200 liters of sulfuric acid, saving more than 1,600 liters of
sulfuric acid waste per day compared with single wafer
high-temperature SPM cleaner.
The Ultra C Tahoe is available now in global markets including
Taiwan, Korea and the United States. Please contact your ACM
Research sales representative to learn how to customize the system
for your fab’s needs.
About ACM
Research, Inc.ACM Research develops, manufactures
and sells single wafer wet cleaning equipment, which semiconductor
manufacturers can use in numerous manufacturing steps to remove
particles, contaminants and other random defects, and thereby
improve product yield, in fabricating advanced integrated
circuits.
SMART MEGASONIX and the ACM logo are trademarks of ACM Research,
Inc. All rights reserved.
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Media Contact: |
Company Contact: |
Eric Lawson |
USA |
Kiterocket |
Sallyann Henry |
+1 480.276.9572 |
ACM Research, Inc. |
elawson@kiterocket.com |
+1 510.445.3700 |
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China |
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Xi Wang |
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ACM Research (Shanghai), Inc. |
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+82 1041415171 |
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Taiwan |
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Arthur Hsu |
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+886 910663885 |
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