Meeting ID: 424 397 0275

Passcode: 63455

Semiconductors are crucial to our current quality of life and critical in military, automotive, computers, artificial intelligence, and data storage applications. As the industry has expanded over the last 20 years, sustainability issues have come to the forefront, such as the massive resource consumption of water and energy, the production of greenhouse gas emissions, and the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

 

PFAS are under scrutiny due to their potential toxicity and high environmental persistence, with an increasing presence in water, soil, atmosphere, and living creatures. However, PFAS chemicals are integral in several semiconductor manufacturing processes; complete replacement of PFAS in semiconductor manufacturing is not possible in the short term. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on how to improve PFAS material handling to reduce total emissions to the environment, by utilizing more efficient processes to reduce total PFAS material used, and altering how PFAS-containing waste is handled, through waste consolidation and abatement processes.

 

Photolithography is an essential chip manufacturing process that utilizes a large variety of liquid chemicals, many of them containing PFAS. Improving the process and waste management of the photolithography process can act as an immediate solution to reducing PFAS emissions to the aqueous environment without disrupting interdependent chemicals, as well as a long-term solution for irreplaceable PFAS-containing chemicals. PFAS handling in the photolithographic process can be improved by measuring PFAS emissions at different points in the

 

photolithographic process, adjusting spin coating and development steps, and consolidating and treating PFAS containing aqueous waste before it’s sent to general aqueous waste.