Controlling contaminants with enhanced gas leak detection

Abstract

In semiconductor and optoelectronics manufacturing, many hazardous gases are used. Quickly finding-and terminating the source of such airborne molecular contaminants (AMC) are essential for the safety and well-being of employees, the general public, and fab operations. One challenge when trying to quickly resolve a hazardous gas leak is being able to detect concentrations that are below the typical permissible exposure limits of open-area gas sensors. To address the problem of detecting very low concentration levels (1 similar to 10ppb), a gas leak detection system (GLDS) was developed and on-site teste in 8 '' and 12 '' fabs. The results demonstrated its effectiveness to immediately locate the source of the leak and thus reduce potential fab losses.