Semiconductor manufacturing is booming because computer chips are the essential components in integrated circuits for a new era of smart consumer products and industrial equipment. Everything from phones and home appliances to electric cars depends on semiconductors. So does the continued success of global corporations across industries. Many organizations are optimizing operations by connecting equipment with internet of things (IoT) sensors and controls through digital networks to cloud based systems. The combined technologies monitor processes, analyze historical and real-time data, and predict changing conditions.
Semiconductors do not just make these digitization initiatives possible. They are what create opportunities for companies to significantly enhance efficiency and increase productivity and profitability.
By Eric Zhou, Sales Manager – Flowserve
Ensuring that semiconductors function with high reliability requires a level of quality control (QC) throughout the value chain that is unmatched in other process industries.
Semiconductors are extremely thin layers of silicone built under ultra-clean conditions. That is why the makers of semiconductors — and the chemical companies that supply their raw materials — rely on flow control solutions that enable them to meet the highest purity requirements.
Proven Valves for Advanced Manufacturing
The use of semiconductor lined ball and check valves are therefore integral to controlling the flow of chemicals used to clean and etch semiconductor components. These valves also are used to manufacture and transport the chemicals used to make these components. Atomac AtoStar lined ball and check valves from Flowserve, for example, are lined with perfluoroalkoxy (PFA) copolymer resin, which is impervious to virtually all chemicals and solvents.
The use of PFA coatings on the interval valve components simultaneously prevents chemical interaction that could corrode the valve body material and release contaminates from the base material into the process fluid. This design meets the following unique requirements for semiconductor manufacturing processes, which typically are conducted in clean rooms:
• No lining burrs on the flow path,
• No unevenness on the sealing surface,
• No contamination or discoloration,
• No cleaning or assembly of the valve with oil or grease.
The Global Semiconductor Boom
Global semiconductor sales reached USD $500 billion in 2021 — a 25% increase over the previous year. That is also an industry record for total sales and units shipped, and there is further growth projected. Semiconductor sales are projected to reach USD $692.5 billion by 2025 and go as high as USD $1 trillion.2 That is bigger than the global fast-food industry.3
Semiconductors are critical to equipment and systems that digitize processes to enhance efficiency and minimize energy consumption and costs. As companies focus on their energy transition initiatives to switch to cleaner and renewable power sources and shrink their carbon footprints, they will continue to drive demand for faster and more capable semiconductors.
Flow Control for Semiconductor Processes
Semiconductors are created by fabricating thin, round silicon wafers 154 to 305 mm (6 to 12 in.) in diameter. Finished wafers are about 15 mil (0.012 in.) thick. The latest advanced processes at the core of nanometer semiconductor manufacturing are ideal applications for lined ball and check valves:
Cleaning — Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is commonly used in a variety of cleaning processes, including drying. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) plus hydrochloric acid (HCL) or sulfuric acid (H2SO4) are used for metal cleaning after various fabrication steps to remove leftover particles and trace contaminates that can interfere with the electrical circuits.
Etching — Hydrofluoric (HF) acid and phosphoric acid (H3PO4) are used for etching oxide and nitride silicon.
Transportation and storage — All of these liquid chemicals are shipped from suppliers to semiconductor fabrication facilities in tank trucks; they are then unloaded and stored in on-site tanks until needed.
Ultra-Pure Standards Compliance
Strict quality standards for semiconductors limit manufacturing contaminates; allowable amounts are so small that they are measured in parts per billion or parts per trillion. If the acids and solvents fail to meet requirements, the chip manufacturers’ production volumes can be significantly reduced and costs can escalate. Chips can fail to meet performance requirements, too.
Enabling the semiconductor companies and their chemical suppliers to meet the standards calls for inner components and surfaces of the valves to be absolutely smooth, without any scratches or impurities, in order to prevent contaminants from entering the process chemicals.
Looking Forward
Semiconductors are the building blocks for today’s popular consumer electronics devices. But they also form the foundation upon which companies are building the advanced systems they need to successfully complete their energy transition and digital transformation initiatives.
As more products and systems are digitized, having the right flow control equipment to meet specified timelines for projects to expand existing semiconductor fabrication plants or construct new chip foundries will be increasingly important.
REFERENCES
1. Semiconductor Industry Association, “Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 23.5% Year-to-Year in November,” January 3, 2022, https://www.semiconductors. org/global-semiconductor-sales-increase-23-5-year-to-year-in-november-industry-establishes-annual-record-for-number-of-semiconductors-sold (accessed January 28, 2022).
2. Gartner, “Gartner Says Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Grew 25.1% in 2021, Exceeding $500 Billion For the First Time,” January 19, 2022, https://www. gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-01-19-gartner-says-worldwide-semiconductor-revenue-grew-25-point-one-percent-in-2021-exceeding-500- billion-for-the-first-time (accessed January 28, 2022).
3. Gartner, “Gartner Says Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Grew 25.1% in 2021, Exceeding $500 Billion For the First Time,” January 19, 2022, https://www. gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-01-19-gartner-says-worldwide-semiconductor-revenue-grew-25-point-one-percent-in-2021-exceeding-500- billion-for-the-first-time (accessed January 28, 2022).
4. Jiyoung Sohn and Meghan Bobrowsky, “For Chip Industry, Global Supply Crunch Pushes Next Target to $1 Trillion,” Wall Street Journal, January 30, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-chip-industry-global-supply-crunch-pushes-next-target-to-1-trillion-11643544005 (accessed February 1, 2022).
5. Deloitte, “2022 semiconductor industry outlook,” January 17, 2022, https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/us-tmt-2022-semiconductor-outlook.pdf (accessed January 28, 2022).
6. Deloitte, “2022 semiconductor industry outlook,” January 17, 2022, https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/us-tmt-2022-semiconductor-outlook.pdf (accessed January 28, 2022).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eric Zhou is a Sales manager at Flowserve for the South China & Taiwan regions. He has more than 17 years’ experience in the valve industry and has supported numerous mega refinery and ethylene integration projects in selecting and implementing engineered valves in demanding applications. Since 2016, he has been leading an applications team and an aftermarket support team at Flowserve that focuses on supporting local chip manufacturers, semiconductor supply chain enterprises and electronic gas manufacturers. He is responsible for the Flowserve semiconductor valve product line and specializes in resolving issues related to electronic grade high purity, upgrades to 3um process and improvement of process yield.