CO2-Based Supercritical Fluids as Environmentally-Friendly Processing Solvents

摘要

The production of integrated circuits involves a number of discrete steps that utilize hazardous or regulated solvents. Environmental, safety and health consideration associated with these chemicals have prompted a search for alternative, more environmentally benign, solvent systems. An emerging technology for conventional solvent replacement is the use of supercritical fluids based on carbon dioxide (CO2). Supercritical CO2 (SCCO2) is an excellent choice for IC manufacturing processes since it is non-toxic, non-flammable, inexpensive, and is compatible with all substrate and metallizations systems.