ITRS ESH Chapter Emphasizes Sustainable Development
Aaron Hand, Executive Editor, Electronic Media -- Semiconductor International, 4/16/2008 3:37:00 PM
Sustainable development is the idea that manufacturing companies can satisfy their present requirements without compromising the needs of future generations. That’s a concept that figures prominently in the latest edition of the Environment, Safety and Health (ESH) chapter of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). It’s an idea that is becoming more prevalent, as increased environmental awareness leads to an increased focus on corporate sustainability and responsibility, according to Laurie Beu, a participant in the 2007 ESH technology working group (TWG) of the ITRS.
“Sustainable development is really taking off,” she said. “Corporations are starting to be evaluated on how they address sustainable development.” Beu, a consultant to the International Sematech Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI), was speaking at the Surface Preparation and Cleaning Conference (SPCC) in Austin, Texas, about the ESH issues surrounding clean processing, although many of her points could be applied across the industry.
Although the challenges and solutions are far from simple, Beu’s agenda was straightforward: “Throughout the history of semiconductor manufacturing, we’ve used chemicals, and sometimes we’ve had an incomplete understanding of those chemicals,” she said. “One way to move beyond having to respond to ESH issues is to design for sustainability.” Designing for sustainability allows for early identification of potential ESH issues, Beu noted, and those issues can be resolved before the process transfer to high-volume manufacturing.
Examples of offending chemicals have included ethylene glycol ethers, CFCs, PFCs and PFOS. The lack of understanding of those chemicals have resulted in lawsuits, Beu noted, and companies have had to develop and requalify processes at a pretty significant cost.
U.S. environmental regulations have not changed much in recent years, but that’s not true for other parts of world, Beu pointed out. European laws have been developed for sustainability. Given how international the semiconductor industry is, with companies having sites and customers throughout the world, it makes sense for everybody to look now at a more sustainable development plan, she said.
Among the European Union’s sustainable development priority challenges that are particularly relevant to the semiconductor industry are climate change and clean energy, sustainable production and consumption, and better management of natural resources.
There are three key themes that are discussed repeatedly in the 2007 ESH chapter of the ITRS: A focus on critical chemicals/materials needs, improvement of energy efficiency, and eco-design of factories and products. “We’ve reached the limits of silicon, and we’re going to need new materials,” Beu said. “We need to have a good understanding of the ESH aspects so we can address them.”
There are four key strategies that are built into the roadmap:
- Understand (characterize) processes and materials to create a development baseline.
- Use materials that are less hazardous or whose byproducts are less hazardous.
- Design products and systems (equipment and facilities) that consume less raw material and resources.
- Make the factory safe for employees.
Many chemicals transform into other chemistries. Often, those byproducts do not have the same ESH aspects as the input chemistries, so there’s a need to understand those byproducts, Beu said. There are similar concerns surrounding the development of nanotechnology. “We’re going to be introducing nano materials into semiconductor manufacturing,” Beu said. “They don’t necessarily have the same concerns as the bulk materials used to create the nano materials. It’s very important that we evaluate those for ESH.”
But, as noted in the table of ESH Difficult Challenges in the ITRS, there is a lack of comprehensive ESH data for new, proprietary chemicals and materials to respond to the increasing external and regional requirements on the use of chemicals.
The ITRS is asking for a characterization of emissions and establishing a baseline as new materials are created, according to Beu. “Climate change is going to become a bigger and bigger issue for this world, and we need to develop more energy-efficient manufacturing processes,” she said. Many of the changes in the latest ESH chapter of the ITRS work to address this point.
The ITRS website publishes a chemical restrictions table that details several hazardous materials, and their level of restriction. PFOS is an example of a class of materials that are seeing increased regulation and restriction worldwide. “If you’re using PFOS as a surfactant, get rid of it,” Beu said. Some companies have switched to PFOA, she noted, but, like PFOS, it’s also persistent, toxic, and an expected carcinogen. “It’s very likely that this chemical will be regulated in the near future.” Some chemicals persist in the atmosphere for up to 50,000 years, Beu added, having a major impact on greenhouse gas emissions from this industry.
 |
| The chemical restrictions screening tool focuses on the potential for legal limitations on the use of a substance rather than a broader risk assessment. For a larger version of the table, click here. (Source: ITRS) |
“It’s extremely important to address ESH during technology development,” Beu urged. By doing so, chipmakers can assess early ESH risk information on R&D materials and processes. This is important, Beu said, to:
- Prevent potential ESH showstoppers.
- Minimize negative impacts and costs.
- Minimize future potential ESH liability.
- Avoid potential delays in process implementation due to ESH issues/risks.
- Allow for greater flexibility in considering technology options and making strategic business decisions.
As one audience member pointed out, when looking at the toxicity of chemicals, a company might move to an alternative chemical that’s actually far less known. That alternative might look better at first, but you might find out later that it’s just as bad, if not worse than the original offending chemical. That, he said, does not seem like a good model for development. Beu agreed, noting that the EU’s REACH program is actually trying to address that. Also important, she added, was the need for more communication about what materials are being considered for development. “Your ESH people cannot make good judgment without knowing what the proprietary elements are.”
Talkback
Related Content
Related Content
SPONSORED LINKS
SI Resource Center
Browse Resources by Type:
- Contamination considerations for perfluoroelastomer seals used in deposition processes
Dupont Performance Elastomers | White Paper
VIEW NOW
Particle Measuring System | White Paper
VIEW NOW
Particle Measuring System | White Paper
VIEW NOW
View More
