The Semiconductor Supply Chain in an Era of Low GWP and/or PFAS-Free Gas Chemistries

Abstract

Sustainability policy across the globe has become a major driver of change for the semiconductor industry and its supply chain. New net-zero emission goals and overall phase-out targets for PFAS materials are a noble cause, but an exemplary challenge to solve in a relatively short time. In this presentation, we will review the critical nature of PFAS and the widespread impact of these materials across the ecosystem. The evolution of fluorocarbon (FC) and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) etch gas materials, a subset of PFAS which are essential in plasma processing applications, will be discussed in detail. The talk will then summarize ongoing and recent efforts to begin exploring process optimization to minimize PFAS and high global-warming potential FC/HFC gas usage, (2) alternative low GWP or PFAS free material exploration and capture/recovery/abatement opportunities to avoid release of these materials after use. The challenge throughout will be to satisfy all process metrics for success and bring them towards full scale adoption industry wide, and verify that the net addition of these materials ultimately improves sustainability.