An examination of an exposure control strategy to prevent arsine exposure to assessors during chamber cleaning.
Mulenga, Emmanuel; Lan, Michelle
(Applied Materials, Santa Clara CA)
Inhalation of gases used in process chambers, such as an ion implanter, can be fatal even at low concentrations. It is thus imperative that a good sampling method is identified based on scientific data so as to ensure that the assessment performers (in similar exposure group), usually industrial hygiene (IH) technicians, are well protected as they take samples for further analysis. While different exposure models have been used elsewhere to quantitatively estimate exposure, not much data is available for use to characterize potential exposures of personnel doing the assessment. An attempt to calculate the eddy diffusivity (D) term will be done for this process and compared to the measurement of D in indoor industrial environments that have ranged from 11.5 m2/minute, with 0.2 m2/min being a typical value (Mulhausen, 1998). The specific aims are to discuss a strategy to prevent exposure to IH personnel and show a technique that can be used by IH practicing personnel ensure protection from toxic process gases.