In the electronics sector, producing in a clean, dust-free environment is essential. The quality of the air and of the fluids used must be controlled just as rigorously as in the food industry, pharmaceutical manufacturing, or the aerospace sector, in order to protect electronic components from any contamination.
On an integrated circuit, micrometric dust can have severe consequences: airborne molecular contaminants significantly affect the quality of manufactured electronic components and therefore the productivity of industrial sites producing these items or of equipment manufacturers incorporating these components. This is particularly true for solar panels and LED screens. To prevent such defects, operating in a controlled atmosphere (in a grey or clean room) and using filtered utilities and filtered raw materials is essential. Pemflow explains why.
LED screen manufacturing
The LEDs used to manufacture screens are high-brightness light-emitting diodes (HBLEDs). They are produced from gaseous semiconductors (silicon, germanium, etc.) deposited under vacuum onto a substrate, a process known as epitaxy. The semiconductor deposit must be as free of impurities as possible. Its purity determines the crystalline quality of the material and, ultimately, the electronic and optical properties of the resulting LED.
With increasing screen size and ever-higher resolution requirements, controlling contamination in air, gases, and liquid processes has become increasingly critical.
Worker health protection is also a major concern due to the intensive use of solvents in LED manufacturing processes.
LED manufacturing processes require the use of filters with excellent resistance to corrosion and high temperatures, as well as strong retention capacity for submicron particles, while minimizing pressure drop.
They are used in vacuum pumps for crystal growth and in other gas-handling equipment used for metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) during vapor-phase epitaxy.
Expert advice
Filters equipped with PTFE (Teflon™) membranes, or made of stainless steel, nickel, or Hastelloy® metal powder, offer excellent corrosion resistance to gases such as ammonia, methane, CF₄, N₂O, NF₃, and oxygen.
Solar panel manufacturing
Photovoltaic devices are also manufactured by depositing thin semiconductor layers based on silicon, cadmium sulfide, and cadmium telluride.
These processes notably use plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD).
Throughout these operations, filters are used to ensure the preparation and distribution of the gases involved.
They help increase the yield and efficiency of the thin-film deposition process and protect the vacuum pumps.
Expert advice
On utilise en pratique des filtres en PTFE (Teflon™), en pIn practice, PTFE (Teflon™) filters, polypropylene filters, and filters made of sintered metal fiber or powder, nickel fiber, or sintered nickel-steel powder (Hastelloy® C22) are used.
Filter manufacturing and filling: demanding processes
The filtration devices used in the electronics industry are manufactured in clean rooms. They must be thoroughly cleaned and dried to achieve extremely low residue levels and to minimize potential interactions with the process gases they will purify. The filters are precisely welded in a purified atmosphere.
A rinse with deionized water, followed by a high-pressure rinse with filtered nitrogen, removes residual particles. The filters are then vacuum-dried to achieve extremely low levels of residual moisture and organic contamination (below 10 ppb, or parts per billion).
Finally, they are handled and packaged in a particle-free, chemically clean atmosphere to maintain their cleanliness until installation in microelectronics applications. Throughout the manufacturing process, these filters undergo strict testing to ensure compliance with filtration efficiency and precise flow-control requirements in accordance with current safety standards for gas-distribution systems in semiconductor plants.
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