Sematech's Surface Preparation and Cleaning Conference, which took place earlier this month in Austin, Texas, was once again a success, with several interesting updates on the state of clean. I've included some highlights from the conference below, including discussions on new materials, ESH issues, EUV masks and more. Remember that you can always keep up to date with the latest clean processing developments at our Clean Processing Technology Channel:
www.semiconductor.net/clean

Aaron Hand, Executive Editor, Electronic Media
ahand@reedbusiness.com

ITRS ESH Chapter Emphasizes Sustainable Development
Aaron Hand, Executive Editor, Electronic Media — Semiconductor International, 4/16/2008

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 chapter of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. More

Clean Steps Struggle to Minimize Material Loss
Aaron Hand, Executive Editor, Electronic Media — Semiconductor International, 4/10/2008

As noted throughout Sematech's Surface Preparation and Cleaning Conference, cleaning processes are increasingly tasked to keep material losses to an absolute minimum. Texas Instruments's Brian Kirkpatrick gave an invited presentation on the impact of material loss on advanced CMOS performance, pointing out that there are no easy solutions. More

Intel Tackles EUV Mask Cleans
Aaron Hand, Executive Editor, Electronic Media — Semiconductor International, 4/2/2008

At Sematech's Surface Preparation and Cleaning Conference, Intel's Ted Liang detailed the results of a study designed to find solutions for adding zero particle contamination to EUV masks through the cleaning processes. More

New Materials Driving Wafer Cleaning Challenges
David Lammers, News Editor — Semiconductor International, 4/3/2008

Wafer cleaning faces new challenges, as high-k dielectrics and metal gates are brought in at the 45 and 32 nm generations, said a panel of experts at the Sematech Surface Preparation and Cleaning Conference, held in Austin, Texas. Environmental safety and water and energy conservation are also adding to the broader surface preparation challenge, they agreed. More

FSI Receives Multiple ZETA Spray Cleaning Orders
Business Wire, 4/15/2008

FSI International Inc. announced that it has received orders for its ZETA spray cleaning systems with ViPR technology from customers in Korea, Japan and Europe. More

Lam Records $65.8M Charge for Stock-Option Backdating
Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor — Electronic News, 4/1/2008

The semiconductor manufacturing equipment supplier has filed its fiscal year 2007 Form 10-K, September 2007 Form 10-Q, and December 2007 Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission, reflecting significant charges for stock options backdating. More

Applied Targets 32 nm Mask Cleaning
Business Wire, 4/14/2008

The Tetra Reticle Clean is a wet clean system that delivers damage-free, >99% particle removal efficiency for 32 nm and beyond photomasks. More

SESHA Presents Lifetime Achievement Award to Karl Olander
PrimeNewswire, 3/26/2008

The award from the Semiconductor Environmental, Safety and Health Association (SESHA) is made to individuals displaying a lifetime of dedication and achievement in significantly advancing the fields of environment, health and/or safety in the semiconductor and related high-tech industries. One of Olander's lasting contributions to the safety of the semiconductor industry is the invention of the sub-atmospheric storage and delivery systems for toxic gases. Olander is a co-founder of ATMI. More

Webcast: Wafer Cleaning Solutions for 45 and 32 nm
Moderated by Aaron Hand, Executive Editor, Electronic Media — Semiconductor International, 4/15/2008

Recorded as a live panel at Sematech's Surface Preparation and Cleaning Conference and now available for viewing on demand, the discussion focuses on front-end-of-line (FEOL) wafer cleaning and photoresist strip challenges and solutions for the 45 and 32 nm device generations and beyond. Industry experts present the real-world problems and solutions surrounding a plethora of new materials being used and considered, including related environmental issues. View

Views on News: The Donut Mystery
David Lammers, News Editor — Semiconductor International, 4/9/2008

At Sematech's Surface Preparation and Cleaning Conference, John Halladay, a manager at Spansion Inc.'s Fab 25, described a donut-shaped area of bad die. The surface-charging problem was tracked down by a team of Spansion, SEZ America and Qcept Technologies engineers. The conference saw Atlanta-based inspection system vendor Qcept play a hand in three papers presented at the meeting. Blog