Better chips need purer gases

摘要

Recent announcements from Pall Microelectronics, a part of Pall Corp, (East Hills, N,Y,; www.pall.com), and Mykrolis Corp. (Billerica, Mass.; www.mykrolis.com) may portend a time when gas filters and purifiers are the same device, and when clean-room air itself is purified, as well as filtered, to control contamination. In late September, Pall Microelectronics announced it had developed a technology based on its inorganic purification media, AresKleen, to purify carbon monoxide (CO) down to a sub-parts per billion (ppb) level. Carbon monoxide is widely used today in the semiconductor industry to improve plasma etches in advanced processes. In the future, the gas could help produce carbon nanotubes.