SBIR Phase II: A Quality Monitor for Enabling Water Recycling in Semiconductor Processing - The Particle Scout

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II Project concerns Ultrapure Water (UPW), the life blood of the semiconductor industry. The proposed instrument seeks to satisfy the ITRS requirements on two counts: 1. full flow inspection, and 2. detection of sub-100nm liquid-borne particles. 1. A typical semiconductor fab uses about 3 million gallons of UPW every day, and the ITRS, in its attempt to conserve the precious resource, water, mandates that 90% of UPW be recycled/reused by 2010. The recycled UPW loop will need full flow monitoring, which the proposed Particle Scout will do. 2. The purity of UPW directly affects the chip yield, because the final operation on wafers is UPW rinse and any contaminants present in the UPW contaminate the wafers it rinses. As the industry moves to sub-100 nm nodes the ITRS particle detection requirements fall to sub-50 nm. Particle Scout for monitoring in real-time the particulate purity of recycled UPW for use in Semiconductor processing successfully overcomes a critical technological barrier facing the IC manufacturing industry today. Beyond IC manufacturing industry it will find applications in all enterprises where UPW is used: Power generation, Nuclear Reactors, Pharmaceutical industry, Biotechnology, Space exploration, and processing of Advanced high purity chemicals.