Particle contamination control is a critical issue for the semiconductor industry. In the near future, this industry will be concerned with the chemical identities of contaminant particles as small as 0.01 pm in size. Therefore, analytical techniques with both high chemical sensitivity and spatial resolution are required. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provides excellent spatial resolution and yields structural and compositional information. It is rarely used, however, due to the difficulty of sample preparation. The goals of this research are to promote the use of TEM as an ultrafine particle analysis tool by developing new sample preparation methods, and to exploit the new TEM techniques for analysis of particles in semiconductor processing fluids. A TEM methodology for the analysis of particulate contaminants in fluids with an elemental detectability limit as low as 0.1 part per trillion (ppt), and a particle concentration detectability limit as low as 1 particle/ml for particles greater than 0.2 pm was developed and successfully applied to the analysis of particles in HF, H202, de-ionized (DI) water, and on the surface of an electronic device. HF samples from three manufacturers were examined. For HF (B), the maximum particle concentration was 8.3 x 103 particles/ml. Both a viscous material and lath-shaped particles were observed. The Sb concentration was less than 0.6 part per billion (ppb). HF (C) was the cleanest. CaF2 and TiO2 particles were identified in HF (D). For H2 02, iron and tin oxides and hydroxides were identified. The maximum particle concentration was 990 particles/ml. The Sn and Fe concentrations were less than 0.3 ppb. Spherical and dendritic particles were observed. For DI water, spherical and dendritic particles (<2 particles/ml), and particles containing Fe or Si with concentrations less than 0.1 ppt were observed. Contaminants on an electronic device surface were also analyzed. Clusters of small particles were determined to be a mixture of aluminum oxides and aluminum silicates.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc500968 |
| Date | 08 1900 |
| Creators | Xu, Daxue |
| Contributors | Pinizzotto, Russell F., Matteson, Samuel E., Reidy, Richard F., Coffer, Jeffery L., Atkinson, Samuel F., Sees, Jennifer A. (Jennifer Anne) |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | xix, 318 leaves : ill. (some col.), Text |
| Rights | Public, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved., Xu, Daxue |
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