Remove Expensive Labor-Intensive Offline Metrologies and Manual Process Adjustments

DFS recently completed a process characterization and successfully developed onboard control technology that allows for closed-loop control of a customer-specific semiconductor cmp slurry solution in a blend and distribution operation.

5 Advantages of the New DFS Fusion™ RMB Blender

DFS’s new patent pending Fusion™ RMB Blender is an active and reverse calculating mass balance system that is overall less equipment, at a lower cost, with improved flexibility and trending features.

Gemu and DFS Collaborate on UHP Reliable Systems to Produce <10ppt Ammonium Hydroxide (NH₄OH) On Site

The Diversified Fluid Solutions (DFS) on-demand blending system produces high purity ammonium hydroxide (NH₄OH), which is a combination of ammonia gas (NH₃) and high purity water.

DFS systems produce ultra high purity (UHP) chemical blends with impurity levels below the 10 ppt detection limit, which leads to a high level of process reliability.

DFS Fusion™ MCBS+

The DFS Fusion™ MCBS+ blends slurries or aqueous chemicals through our inline On-Demand™ blend technology or by weight and volume. All blending methods receive chemical from the customer-supplied chemical source, UPW, or on-board vessels.

Blends are prepared in either of the two 114L blend and dispense tanks, and each blend is verified through the blend specific on-board metrology set. The system maintains and supplies constant temperature and pressure control to the production area tools. Maglev pumps (one per tank) are used for the main chemical supply, and pneumatic pumps are used for blend recirculation and transfer from external vessels.

Fusion™ MCBS: A Closer Look

The DFS Fusion™ MCBS is a mobile chemical blending platform that can feed up to three production tools. The MCBS blends chemical by weight or by volume from externally connected source vessels, house ultrapure water (UPW), and optional house-supplied chemical.

Blends are verified through the on-board metrology in the blend tank and then transferred to the day tank maintaining constant temperature and pressure-controlled supply to the production areas. The MCBS uses a single centrifugal pump for the main chemical supply and pneumatic pumps for blend recirculation and transfer from the external vessels.

DFS High Purity NITROGEN (HPN₂) BULK GAS SKID 

The DFS High Purity Nitrogen (HPN₂) Pressure Control and Filtration Skid enables pressure regulation and particle capture between large facility purifiers and semiconductor fab distribution. The compact design of this system minimizes gas pad or purifier room space required, while preserving ergonomic operation and maintenance access. Pre-engineered options practically eliminate design time, minimize lead-times, and reduce installation cost and schedule. Our Utility Nitrogen Bulk Gas systems are configurable to customer’s needs from field-proven base designs. DFS Bulk Gas Equipment is delivered as a complete factory-tested packaged system.

Reduce Contamination Risk, Produce UHP NH₄OH On-Site

In our semiconductor manufacturing industry, everyone is constantly trying to save money and space when and where they can. 

This usually translates to where and whom you buy your chemical supplies and equipment. 

This is done with a major focus on the least amount of risk exposure possible. 

A CLOSER LOOK AT DFS' HIGH PURITY NITROGEN HPN₂ BULK GAS SKID 

The DFS High Purity Nitrogen (HPN₂) Purifier Bypass Skid enables automatic bypass of large facility nitrogen purifiers to ensure continuity of supply to semiconductor fab distribution. This bulk gas skid is a compact design that minimizes gas pad or room purifier space. The skid is delivered as a turn-key factory-tested system.

FULLY AUTOMATED DUAL LOOP SLURRY BLENDING SYSTEM

The fully automated DFS Fusion™ Dual Loop Slurry Chemical Blender is designed to allow for blending of up to 3 Chemicals and UPW with the ability to handle additional slurry inputs if needed. This system will also inject, monitor, and maintain hydrogen peroxide concentration utilizing ultrasonic flow meters, metering valves and refractive index. 

A Closer Look at the Components of A DFS Fusion™ Modular Chemical Blender

DFS Blenders greatly reduce the floor space requirements, facilitation costs, and the total cost of ownership for blended chemistries. Process yield / improvements are a large impact area because of our blenders’ accuracy. The more on-target the chemicals are in assay; the less rework or process target adjustments have to take place in the production environment.

Excerpt From "Real Time Process Monitoring in CMP" Given at Semicon China

In today’s industry, chemical uniformity and quality play major roles in defect reduction and overall supply-chain costs. While there have been major advances in metrology in recent years, they tend to vary in many areas and principles, and none are a fit for all solutions.

DFS Team Called In To Improve Accuracy, Reduce Waste, and Increase ThroughPut on Legacy Chemical Blenders

Lead by a three man team made up of a PLC Programmer, and (2) Field Service Technicians, DFS was able to complete an insitu, on-site upgrade to a client's existing OEM chemical blender systems. The upgrade came as a result of a request from a large semiconductor manufacturer, inquiring if DFS could do anything to improve their existing OEM chemical blender performance.

DFS Announces New Fusion™ On-Demand™ Mobile Chemical Blender

Designed for one of our newest customers in New Mexico, the DFS Fusion™ On-Demand™ Mini Mix is engineered to transfer chemical from an interchangeable 5 gallon Pail and bulk supply to the internal On-Demand Blender.

Chemical 1 is supplied via the internal vessel. UPW, and Chemical 2 are supplied via the house supply source.

Highlights From the International Conference On Planarization/CMP Technology (ICPT) 

Karl Urquhart and our Korea licensee SB-TECH present Real Time Process Monitoring in CMP, Post CMP Clean Blending and Distribution Applications at the ICPT 2018, October, 15-17, 2018, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Versatile On-Demand Chemical Blender is a Big Hit with Semiconductor Manufacturer

DFS recently developed and released a compact SC-1, 3 part blender, for a large Semiconductor Manufacturer. The Standard Clean Solution #1 (SC-1) process involves a sequence of cleaning steps using “standard” solutions and employs a mixture of ammonium hydroxide (NH₄OH), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), and DI water (H₂O).  The system enables recipe customization through an HMI with verified authorization.

Precise control of chemical composition through use of on-site chemical blending and mixing systems improves overall IC process yield. 

This is accomplished by providing more consistent quality of materials that come into contact with the wafer and its forming circuits. 

On-site blending results in tighter assay control, higher purity, and lower particles. On-site blenders also allow users to test materials suppliers for comparison to optimize ROI and control cost. 

Uses and Benefits of Mobile Chemical Blending Systems (MCBS) 

A given factory's chemical formulations are pushed to: 1) improve affordability, while 2) requiring higher process performances in critical areas. One way to accomplish both goals is to target incoming chemical solutions that are high in concentrations and complexity.

Achieving the proper dilution and high performance in current and upcoming process nodes requires complex blends of organic and inorganic compounds in CMP slurry formulations. The combinations of all these factors result in products that have nuanced mixing and handling requirements.

Precise Slurry Requirements Increase CMP Process Windows but Necessitate greater dependence on Inline Metrology

Chemical Mechanical Planarization or Polishing (CMP) is the method of using chemical slurry formulations with mechanical polishing-pad-action to flatten conductive or dielectric materials on silicon wafers in semiconductor manufacturing.

The end goal is to achieve a flat enough surface aspect ratio as required by photolithography steps, where layers of integrated circuits are layered step by step. 

Characterization and importance of chemical mix uniformity, precision, and preservation of purity levels to reduce cost, prevent rework/scrap, and increase Process yield overall.

Manufacturers place a great deal of emphasis on cost reduction, prevention of rework or scrap, and increasing overall process yield. One result has been a rise in precision and control technology innovations geared towards process chemicals uniformity.

Many focus on individual aspects of metrology for quantitative, or qualitative determination, either by off-line or inline methods, with the intent to achieve the highest productivity at the lowest cost.

DFS  AC_vFLO™ Gas Delivery Systems Set a new standard in Gas Cabinet Technology

To serve today’s Semiconductor gas market; DFS employs advanced technical knowledge, build capacity, and programming expertise to develop game-changing gas delivery systems. 

The AC_vFLO™ High Purity Gas Cabinet System has advanced functionality and capabilities not seen in the Semiconductor industry to date.

These advancements include an open, fully integrated PLC and HMI panel, with connectivity and networkability, operational sequences, and automated pressure control.