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

如今，电子设备随处可见，从使光纤互联网连接到你家的激光，到你口袋里的手机，再到电池供电的电动汽车。然而，存在一个“半导体悖论”，即生产支持电动汽车等节能技术的半导体产品的环境成本。MOCVD是一种在整个半导体行业中用于制造包括LED、功率晶体管和微处理器在内的各种产品的工艺。MOCVD反应器组件(底座)由碳陶瓷组成，必须在每次运行后进行清洁，以防止运行之间的交叉污染。目前的方法是在约1200摄氏度的炉子中进行高温烘烤，在还原气氛中至少烘焙20小时。从能源消耗和二氧化碳排放的角度来看，这在经济和环境方面都是代价高昂的。Aesin开发了一种新的表面修复技术，可将当量二氧化碳排放量减少85%，并为半导体制造商提供更高的制造灵活性。随着半导体工业从硅向化合物半导体器件的转变，已在一些氮化物、砷化物和磷化物材料上证明了这一点。该项目的目的是将该工艺的能力扩展到其他技术相关的材料和感应器类型，并进一步验证该工艺的有效性，以达到国际公认的标准。

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.