Validation of Process to Increase Life of Semiconductor Equipment & Improve Process Yields Through Surface Conditioning

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Electronic devices are found everywhere today, from the lasers enabling fibre-optic internet connections to your home, to the mobile phone in your pocket, and battery-powered electric vehicles. However, there exists a, "Semiconductor Paradox," that is the environmental cost of the production of semiconductor products that enable energy-saving technologies such as electric vehicles. MOCVD is a process used throughout the semiconductor industry for manufacturing a wide range of products including LED's, power transistors, and microprocessors. MOCVD reactor components (susceptors) consisting of carbon ceramics, have to be cleaned after each campaign to prevent cross-contamination between campaigns. The incumbent method is a high temperature bake in a furnace, at about 1200 °C, for at least 20 hours, in a reducing atmosphere. This is costly, both financially and environmentally, in terms of energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Aesin has developed a new surface reconditioning technique, which reduces equivalent CO2 emissions by 85% and offers increased manufacturing agility to semiconductor manufacturers. It has been proven on some nitride, arsenide, and phosphide materials as the semiconductor industry transitions away from silicon and towards compound semiconductor devices.The aim of this project is to extend the capabilities of the process to other technologically relevant materials and susceptor types and, furthermore, to provide verification of the effectiveness of the process to internationally recognised standards.