CleanRooms articles from April 2004

CleanRooms archives from April 2004

A $4,000 fix for a million-dollar problem.(QuickLearns- training program, helps employees deliver the goods effectively and efficiently)
April 1, 2004... CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Cliff Purington, head of training at Rockwell Collins, estimates that CD-based training modules have cut training times down to a third of what it took in the traditional mentoring model, and have eliminated the need for...

IBM cleanroom cancer, birth defect challenges are far from over.(News)
April 1, 2004... ARMONK, N.Y. -- The score is tied up; IBM Corp. has two and so do the plaintiffs, but the ongoing cleanroom cancer and birth-defect blame game is far from over, with more than 200 cases around country that have yet to be heard by a judge and...

SIA moves ahead with epidemiological study.(News)(Semiconductor Industry Association)
April 1, 2004... WASHINGTON -- The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA; www.sia-online.org) says it will proceed with a retrospective epidemiological study to investigate whether wafer fabrication workers in the U.S. chip industry have experienced higher...

Modular solutions get a new life.(News)(Cleanroom Enterprises Inc., introduces it's new modular cleanroom wa;;s and walkable ceiling panels)
April 1, 2004... SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- When Clestra Cleanroom SA ceased North American operations in December 2002, is was bad news for the French company's customers who were left without a supplier of modular cleanroom walls and ceilings. Not only that, the...

Carnegie Mellon's nano-facility a solid option for the fabless.(News)
April 1, 2004... PITTSBURGH, PA. -- Bridge Semiconductors is one of many tech startups that has chosen to go fabless, thanks to Carnegie Mellon University's Nanofabrication Facility. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The $10 million, 4,000-square-foot facility,...

Gruesome irony.(Viewpoint)(Editorial)
April 1, 2004... Intel Corp. is on it. So is Advanced Micro Devices Inc. National Semiconductor Corp., too. And it is no surprise that IBM Corp., the chipmaker up to its circuits in cancer and birth defect lawsuits, has spent some time on the Superfund list--a...

Cleanpak expands to China by acquiring cleanroom manufacturing company.(News)(Cleanpak International Inc., Nanjing Purification Factory, Nanjing Electrical Machinery and Industrial Group)
April 1, 2004... PORTLAND, ORE. -- Cleanpak International Inc., a cleanroom and air-handling equipment supplier, has expanded to China by acquiring Nanjing Purification Factory (NPF), a cleanroom manufacturing and construction company owned by Nanjing...

Moving M+W.(Particles)(Meissner+Wurst and Zander Klimatechnik)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... NASHUA, NH -- M+W Zander U.S. Operations Inc., a designer and builder of chip fabs, is relocating one of its regional offices to the Watervliet in Arsenal, N.Y.--a move that will create a training center to teach workers how to build high-tech...

Forging Fairchild.(Particles)(Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... MOUNTAINTOP, PA. -- Fairchild Semiconductor will invest $143 million to expand its 8-inch wafer facility in this neighboring town of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. The facility is dedicated to manufacturing power components--a segment worth...

LG lives large.(Particles)(LG Chem Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... DAEJON, KOREA -- LG Chem Ltd., the nation's largest chemical company, has opened a research center here to focus on the key technologies of nanotech and display materials. The center will conduct the company's major research projects on...

Scary sting.(Particles)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... FORT DETRICK, MD. -- An Army researcher has not shown any symptoms of the Ebola virus after she accidentally pricked herself with a needle that contained a weakened form of the disease as she injected mice as part of a research effort. ...

Nikon building worldwide training center in california.(News)
April 1, 2004... BELMONT, CALIF. -- In what may be a sign of better times ahead, Nikon Precision Inc. (Belmont, Calif.) has announced it will build a worldwide training center aimed at meeting demand from English-speaking countries. The center, which will...

IBM, others fail to understand vapor migration.(Cleanexchange)(Editorial)
April 1, 2004... As founder and CEO of Clean Room Engineering, I spent over 30 years designing and installing hundreds of cleanrooms. Additionally, I lectured here and overseas on this and other related subject areas. Also, I was called on to consult when...

Incorporating cleanroom practices in a management program.(Setting the Standard)(Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology)
April 1, 2004... The cleanroom industry turns to three main sources for standards and best practices in cleanroom management: the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Institute of...

USP 797: the net effect.(Life Sciences)(United States Pharmacopoeia)
April 1, 2004... The United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) guideline governing pharmaceutical compounding and sterile preparations has recently been under review and modification. The changes outlined in USP 797 strike at the very core of an ongoing challenge--the...

Jousting for position: both sides in the cleanroom health and safety issue are digging in, and with convincing arguments.(SpecialReport)
April 1, 2004... Controversy concerning the adequacy of environmental health and safety (EH & S) measures applied to cleanrooms in the semiconductor industry is expected to continue despite the outcome of the recent case tried in Santa Clara, Calif., County...

Anti-static cleanroom products.(Inventor's Corner)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The anti-static cleanroom products have a coating of conductive polymeric particulates (pyrrole polymers), which decreases the surface resistivity. The anti-static properties are achieved by depositing conductive polymer particles onto the...

Cleanroom lift.(Inventor's Corner)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The invention, a cleanroom lift (A), maneuvers large objects such as turbomolecular pumps (B), and is utilized in 200-mm and 300-mm semiconductor processing applications. In one embodiment, the lift includes a vertically movable carriage (C)...

Airborne bacteria sampler.(Inventor's Corner)(Midori Anzen Co. Ltd. (Tokyo) receives patent)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The hand-held airborne bacteria sampler has nozzle openings (A) that each include a straight duct (B) and tapered portions (C) that are situated at an up-stream position of an air flow. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The nozzle openings are...

Particle monitoring in minienvironments: continuous particle monitoring inside minienvironments improves wafer yield but requires new monitoring tactics.(High-Yield Manufacturing)
April 1, 2004... Continuous monitoring of particles inside critical minienvironments improves wafer yield, potentially reducing the need for witness wafers. This monitoring application, however, requires a number of departures from traditional particle-counting...

Improving yield rates on existing CMP tools: how to get better results by improving materials integrity management and reducing wafer failures due to CMP slurry flow issues.(Slurry Flow Control)(chemical mechanical planarization)
April 1, 2004... Wafer failures during the CMP process occur due to two separate issues: mechanical problems and chemical (CMP slurry) flow problems. These failures can be observed by an end-point failure laser detection system after the CMP process. The...

Latex-free disposable.(Product Spotlight)
April 1, 2004... N-DEX, billed as the first latex-free, nitrile disposable glove, is designed to provide flexible, puncture-resistant hand protection in the cleanroom. Crafted for environments where safety and exacting standards of industrial hygiene are...

Synthetic and triple-layer alternatives.(Product Spotlight)
April 1, 2004... Cardinal Health's Esteem clean-process synthetic gloves are made of a polyisoprene synthetic rubber that has the look-and-feel of latex without natural rubber latex proteins and allergens. Esteem gloves are designed to offer the comfort and fit...

Class 100 sterile gloves.(Product Spotlight)
April 1, 2004... A new line of sterile, hand-specific, 12-inch latex and nitrile gloves designed specifically for medical-technical applications are Class 100 rated. All-new packaging features poly wallet and HDPE outer packaging. Designed for easy...

Powder-free nitrile.(Product Spotlight)
April 1, 2004... Featuring micro-textured fingers for enhanced grip control, these nitrile gloves are powder-free and contain no natural rubber latex. Sizes are small through extra large and available in 9-inch and 12-inch lengths, all cleanroom-packaged and...

Low-particle design.(Product Spotlight)
April 1, 2004... The VTGNCRB12 cleanroom nitrile glove, according to its manufacturer, is designed with the lowest upper particle limit (less than 750 particles compared to typical tests of 350 particles or less). Other specifications can be found at the...

Thicker yet flexible.(Product Spotlight)
April 1, 2004... The Solo Ultra 8 mil 980 disposable glove is designed to provide added protection without compromising comfort or dexterity. The 100-percent nitrile, powder-free glove provides .8 mils of hand and product protection while offering extended...

AK-unsupported natural gloves.(Product Spotlight)
April 1, 2004... The AK-unsupported natural rubber gloves feature 100-percent natural rubber latex for dexterity and elasticity, but with powder-free manufacturing process designed to reduce particulate and extractable contamination. A diamond-embossed palm is...

PVC, nitrile varieties.(Product Spotlight)
April 1, 2004... The Renaissance 12-inch, 100-percent PVC is a 5-mil ambidextrous glove, designed as an alternative to low-cost PVC imported gloves. The White is a 12-inch, 100-percent nitrile for use in the cleanroom as well as for disk drive manufacturing....

Nitrile smorgasbord.(Product Spotlight)
April 1, 2004... Techniglove Class 10 12-inch ambidextrous nitrile gloves are available in three colors to allow coding by size, product, an coded double-gloving. Made with a proprietary Microtexture Formers, the glove is designed for exceptional fit and...

Chemical delivery.(New Products)
April 1, 2004... The platform for the ChemFlex D4 Micro CDM (chemical delivery module) is based on pump-dispense technology and can be configured to provide the levels of flow and purity to meet process requirements. Designed to support all wet processes,...

Silicone tubing.(New Products)
April 1, 2004... Intended for applications requiring pliability, non-toxicity, and temperature resistance, Silcon silicone tubing is manufactured from FDA-sanctioned ingredients and is listed by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF 51). It does not contain...

Laboratory workstation.(New Products)
April 1, 2004... Elements of the Pro-Lab Series of laboratory workspaces systems include heavy-duty, modular pedestal cabinets with multiple drawer and door configurations, a range of work surfaces, and multi-tiered adjustable shelving above the surface....

Microbiological analysis wall chart.(New Products)
April 1, 2004... A microbiological analysis wall chart highlights 40 different Millipore media for various applications, including pharmaceutical, water, beverage, hospital, and microelectronics. To facilitate the identification of appropriate media for...

Wafer cleaning solution.(New Products)
April 1, 2004... The Liquozon Smart Ozonated Water Delivery System delivers ultra-pure ozonated water for wafer and substrate cleaning during integrated circuit and thin-film processing. According to the manufacturer, the self-contained system generates...

Portable gas chromatograph.(New Products)
April 1, 2004... For on-site identification of common VOCs in air, water, and soil, the self-contained, portable Voyager utilizes a three-column analytic engine along with PID and ECD detectors to support broad VOC detection requirements. The instrument's...

Tamper-proof seal.(New Products)
April 1, 2004... Tamper-proof security seals are designed to ensure product integrity on filtration products. Located on the outer corrugated package, the security seal provides visible assurance of intact packaging. If the seal is broken after leaving the...

Adjustable aperture damper.(New Products)
April 1, 2004... The Iris Damper uses interlocking steel plates and a calibrated control lever to form an adjustable aperture. By measuring differential pressure across the pressure ports, and referring to the matching performance curve, airflow can be...

Filtration system.(New Products)
April 1, 2004... Developed to supply high-purity air to the latest-technology semiconductor processing tools, the Lithoguard-16 filtration system utilizes chemical filter inserts that are configured to minimize the possibility of contaminant breakthrough. The...

Low particle wipers.(New Products)
April 1, 2004... Cleanline ultra-clean polyurethane wipers have low particle levels, a soft texture and good liquid and sorptive capacity. The wipers are used in cleanrooms for general cleaning with liquids and solvents, wet cleaning of large areas, screen...

Locking clamp.(New Products)
April 1, 2004... Deep clearance locking clamps are made entirely of stainless steel. Available in two sizes, both clamps have an overall length of 10.5 inches with a 2.5-inch reach. Model #10026 has 3 3/8 inches of vertical clearance and Model #10027 has one...

Viral membrane.(New Products)
April 1, 2004... Opticap XL and XLT disposable capsule filters are available with Viresolve Normal Flow Parvovirus (NFP) membrane to provide dependable viral clearance from recombinant or human plasma sources. Offering greater than 98 percent recovery, the...

FOUP cleaner.(New Products)
April 1, 2004... The automated Process One FX30 cleaning system is designed to reduce FOUP contamination from human interaction and has robotic controls that transport FOUPs through the cleaning process. The robot and cleaning system sit inside an individual...

Preventing cleanroom contamination from fire.(Unfiltered)
April 1, 2004... One of the most important aspects of operating a cleanroom environment is the effort taken to maintain its integrity. Facilities develop rigid standards and protocols at great financial expense to help prevent compromising their cleanroom. In...