Busak+Shamban worked with a major semiconductor wafer fab manufacturing linear and mixed signal integrated circuits to identify the optimum O-Ring material for seals within its 'strip' system.
Isolast J9670 was chosen and has increased production between seal change from only 15,000-20,000 wafers up to over 50,000.
For a major semiconductor fab manufacturer based in Texas, producing high-volume semiconductor wafers is a challenging operation. It involves multiple manufacturing steps and maximizing throughput is a key requirement.
As a part of the fab manufacturing process, following each processing step of film deposition, a dry ‘strip’ system removes photoresist and residues from wafers. To do this the wafer is exposed to gaseous oxygen plasma at high temperatures. This caused the seals within the system to quickly deteriorate, interrupting production by frequent seal changeover.
The fab manufacturer decided to look for an alternative seal material that could extend service life and increase mean time between planned maintenance. Busak+Shamban proposed Isolast J9670 from their Fab Range which has been specially developed for the needs of Semiconductor manufacturers.
Isolast J9670 has been specifically formulated for high temperature plasma applications in wafer processing and is capable of operating at continuous temperatures up to 315degC (599degF). In this application it has proved to extend the maintenance cycle, increasing production from 15,000-20,000 to over 50,000 wafers between seal change. This met the fab manufacturer's aim of increasing mean time between planned maintenance, improving overall production yield and lowering costs.
The success of the Isolast J9670 has led to Busak+Shamban being considered for other applications by the fab manufacturer, putting Busak+Shamban in the running for exclusive O-Ring supply.
For more information, visit www.busakshamban.com
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