Disilane Furnace Process – Environmental Challenges
Chris Jones
Disilane furnace processes can use several silicon-bearing gases, including DIPAS (diisopropylaminosilane), disilane, and silane. Chamber cleans use either fluorine or chlorine trifluoride. Process steps may take several hours and rightly demand high reliability from downstream support systems; vacuum, abatement, facilities equipment (wet scrubbers and water management). In addition to reliability, fab operators must address environmental and safety compliance from gas pad to end-of-pipe release. We have drawn up a simple process flow diagram to describe the fab. Steve Cottle will discuss the safety impacts of this scheme in a separate presentation. In this paper, we will examine environmental implications from the viewpoint of key industry concerns; energy usage (SEMI S23-based), water usage, greenhouse gas (GHG) releases, air and water pollution management. We will discuss how vacuum management changes can impact all downstream processes.