SafeHandlingofCompoundSemiconductorExhaustEffluent.docVIP

Safe Handling of Compound Semiconductor Exhaust Effluent Joe Van Gompel, BOC Edwards 11,701 Stonehollow, Suite 100, Austin, TX 78758 joe.vangompel@ INTRODUCTION The manufacture of compound semiconductors such as gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, and indium antimonide require the use of a number of very hazardous gases during deposition steps. These gases include arsine, phosphine, trimethyl indium, trimethyl gallium, trimethyl aluminum, silane, and others. Removal of unconsumed process gases, as well as the products of the deposition process, is problematic in that some methods of disposal leave the process engineer with something nearly as toxic as the original gases. The worst long-term environmental concern among these is arsine, which will always produce an arsenic-tainted waste stream. In addition to the waste gases themselves are the hazards associated with pumping this exhaust, namely the condensation (in the pipework) of pyrophoric elemental phosphorus in the presence of high flows of hydrogen. The solid phosporus in the pipe generally qualifies as the most significant immediate safety concern for compound semiconductor deposition. Treatment of the compound semiconductor process exhaust can best be addressed from a systems approach. Combination of the vacuum line, vacuum pump, exhaust line, and abatement in a single footprint allows for seamless integration into the process. Integration offers significant safety and installation savings, as well as CoO advantages. The Zenith III-V Integrated Pump / Abatement package integrates the vacuum pump and abatement in a single extracted enclosure, allowing for thoroughly heated exhaust lines (eliminates phosphorus buildup) as well as a uniform interface to monitor pump and abatement. The abatement device, typically a Thermal Processor Unit (TPU) or its high H2 variant known as HELIOS, is a combustor / scrubber combination. The TPU provides hydride gas removal to below detectable limits while keepi