Standard for moisture content of semiconductor nitrogen

The semiconductor industry has strict requirements on the standard of nitrogen water content to ensure the stability of the production process and product quality. According to publicly published information, the water content standard of nitrogen in the semiconductor industry is usually closely related to the purity level of nitrogen.

Generally speaking, nitrogen can be divided into three types: pure nitrogen, high purity nitrogen and ultra-pure nitrogen. Different types of nitrogen have different requirements for water content. The following is based on the national standard "GB-T 8979-2008 pure nitrogen, high purity nitrogen and ultra-pure nitrogen" and industry practice summary of the semiconductor nitrogen water content standards:

1. pure nitrogen:
   • moisture content requirements: not more than 15ppmv (volume fraction).
   • Dew point temperature requirement: limit below -57.5 ℃.
2. high purity nitrogen:
   • moisture content requirements: up to 3ppmv (volume fraction).
   • Dew point temperature requirement: limit below -69.1 ℃.
3. ultrapure nitrogen:
   • moisture content requirements: limited to 0.5ppmv (volume fraction).
   • Dew point temperature requirements: more stringent, need to reach -80.6 ℃ below.

These standards are set to ensure that the moisture content in the nitrogen meets the high requirements for cleanliness and stability in the semiconductor production process. In the semiconductor manufacturing process, nitrogen is often used as an inert gas to protect sensitive components from oxidation, contamination, etc., so its drying degree is very important.

In addition, it is worth noting that the semiconductor industry may also put forward more stringent standards for nitrogen water content according to the requirements of specific processes and products. Therefore, in practical applications, enterprises should choose appropriate nitrogen purity and water content standards according to their own needs, and adopt advanced testing equipment and methods to ensure the quality of nitrogen.

There are various methods to detect the moisture content of nitrogen, including electrolysis method, dew point method, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), infrared absorption method, chemical detection tube method, humidity method, etc. Among them, the dew point method is widely used in the determination of nitrogen water content because of its simple operation and accurate measurement. The dew point temperature measured by the dew point method can intuitively reflect the moisture content in nitrogen, thereby helping enterprises to better control the quality of nitrogen.