A Simple and Rapid Method to Detect Low-Concentration Boron and Phosphorus Contaminants in Cleanrooms

Abstract

Boron and phosphorus contaminants are difficult to detect in cleanrooms for semiconductor manufacturing due to their typically low concentration levels. In this paper, a new technique for detecting such contaminants that significantly reduces sampling time, from 24 h to less than 2 h, and avoids wafer congenital contamination interference, is proposed. An oversaturated nucleation approach extracts boron and phosphorus contaminants to show regional contaminant concentration differences rapidly. This method is simple, express, robust, and reliable. Moreover, it has been tested on site in wafer fabrication plants. The generic sampling framework can be refined and applied to metallic, dopant and other low-concentration contaminants in cleanrooms.