The Role of Nitrogen in Semiconductor Manufacturing

Nitrogen is one of the most important auxiliary gases in semiconductor manufacturing, and the core is one word, guard.

The manufacturing process of semiconductor chips is extremely sensitive to the environment, and any bit of oxygen and water vapor may make the previous dozens of processes in vain. Nitrogen is chemically very stable and does not like to react with other things, so it mainly does these things on the production line.

The first thing is when the protective gas. When the chip is processed at high temperature, the surface is particularly susceptible to oxidation, and once the oxidation performance is completely changed. At this time, the whole processing area is covered with nitrogen, and the oxygen is separated from the outside, so that the chip will not be burned.

The second thing is when purging gas. After each process is completed, the chemicals or particles from the previous step will remain in the cavity and pipeline. If these things are not cleaned up, the next batch of chips will be contaminated. Use nitrogen to blow the pipe and cavity from beginning to end to top out the residue to ensure that the next process starts cleanly.

The third thing is when conveying gas. Semiconductor manufacturing uses a lot of liquid chemicals. These chemicals need to be sent from storage tanks to processing equipment. What is the push? Nitrogen. Nitrogen to the liquid chemicals from one place to another place, the whole process does not contact the air, will not be contaminated and will not deteriorate.

The fourth thing is when checking for air leaks. After finishing a batch of equipment or pipelines, how do you know whether the seal is good or not? Fill with nitrogen to see if the pressure cannot fall off. If it falls off, it means there is a leak. Repair it and reuse it.

With nitrogen, let's talk about what the water lubricated air compressor is doing in the semiconductor factory. In addition to nitrogen, a large amount of compressed air is required to drive pneumatic valves, mechanical arms, and transmission mechanisms in semiconductor factories. These devices require extremely high air cleanliness, and even a little oil mist may contaminate the wafer. The water-lubricated air compressor uses clean water instead of lubricating oil. The water forms a water film inside the machine to reduce friction and seal gaps. The final output is clean, oil-free compressed air. This oil-free air drives the pneumatic components on the production line, and cooperates with nitrogen to ensure that the whole production line has both clean power source and inert protection environment. Because the water-lubricated air compressor does not need an oil circuit system, the structure is more concise, and there is no risk of oil vapor diffusion. It is especially suitable for semiconductor scenes that require extreme cleanliness.

To sum up, nitrogen is responsible for protection, purging, transportation and leak detection, and water lubricated air compressor is responsible for providing oil-free power. The combination of the two makes the semiconductor production line clean and safe.