IC Industry Awards Winners
Award Subsystems & Components
System The Ixh vacuum pump
Company Edwards
iXH series of vacuum pumps
Semiconductor manufacturing processes, such as
atomic layer deposition (ALD), and compound
semiconductor processes, such as gallium
nitride, are creating challenges for vacuum pump
technology in terms of powder handling,
hydrogen flow, fluorine plasma cleans, ammonia
flows and pre cursor reactions.
The iXH has been specifically designed to
meet these challenges with enhanced purge
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flow, temperature-controlled operating range,
light gas performance and corrosive gas
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resistance. Its extended capabilities also promise
.eur improved CoO by lengthening pump life and
oasiasemiconductor
helping to deliver lower utility costs.”
According to Edwards, ALD processes
typically deposit less than 10% of the pre curser
on the wafer, thus increasing the potential for
deposition in the pump. To manage such
challenging conditions, the iXH offers improved
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thermal control and increased torque. With its
larger exhaust stages and the Gas Buster inlet
purge, the iXH is also designed to deal with
square4
Issue VII 2009
extreme powder processes with TEOS flows
above 5 g/min.
For manufacturing compound semiconductors,
such as those based on gallium nitride, where
large flows of hydrogen and ammonia are
required, the iXH pump mechanism has been
optimised to handle hydrogen and to better
withstand the corrosive effects of ammonia.
The iXH also features Active Utility Control
(AUC), which includes an idle mode for periods
when the pump is not in use. This can reduce
utility costs by more than 10% compared to the
previous generation of Edwards’s harsh process
pumps. An additional feature is its modular
design.
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