Slurries blending distribution systems

Air Liquide proposes a modular and highly sophisticated slurry dispense platform. For semiconductors, these dispensers will help you to obtain an abrasive liquid allowing to polishing or iron out silicon waters. This equipment offers high performance and reliability for continuous operation in a CMP manufacturing environment.

There are two different products on the slurry dispense platform:

• The Fabchem CMP 3000 and 3500 which use redundant Levitronix pumps to dispense slurry
• The Fabchem CMP 5000 and 5500 which use Air Liquide’s patented pressure-gradient dispense technology

Both systems feature the same look and feel in terms of cabinet design, component layout and software, and both can be configured to include blending and metrology.

The Air Liquide slurry dispense platform can be used for any CMP application, and is designed to maintain the health of the slurry.

Advantages

• Broad range of capabilities for slurry blending and distribution 
• High accuracy with various metrology options (automatic dosing and blend correction)
• A configurable range (for all consumptions and all budgets)
• High reliability with component redundancy and back-up modes 
• Designed for easy-access maintenance (user-friendly HMI, settings, etc.) 
• Reliable performance for high-volume manufacturing settings 
• Over 25 years’ experience, worldwide

Applications

Slurry applications: Oxide, Tungsten, Copper, STI, Polysilicon...

Safety features

• Cabinet leak detection 
• Door interlocks 
• DIW (deionized water) spray guns
• FMEA (failure modes and effects analysis)
• Automatic fail-safe operation 
• Audible and visual warnings and alarms 
• Local and remote EMO (emergency off button)

Air Liquide’s FabChem™ CMP is a highly reliable, high-volume slurry blending and distribution system that is suitable for all types of slurries. The system works with the following technologies for blending and distribution:

• For blending: it uses a patented weight-based mixing system to create the target recipe. The mixing tank is mounted on a scale and the constituents are added sequentially. A pump is used to homogenize and metrologically approve the batch. Once a batch is approved, it is available for use by the fab
• For distribution:
  • CMP 3000 and 3500 use two redundant centrifugal pumps that dispense slurry from the day tank to the points of use (POUs) through a filter bank.
  • in CMP 5000 and 5500 systems, the day tank is pressurized to fill one of two or three distribution vessels. The distribution vessels are pressurized alternately to dispense slurry to the points of use (POUs) through a filter bank.

The system is configured with dual mixing/day tanks. One is filled while the other dispenses slurry to the fab. When the online tank is empty, the tanks switch functions.

Technical features

• Humidified nitrogen blankets, to prevent slurry drying
• Agitation, to maintain suspension of the particles
• Metrological analysis and dosing, for slurries with pot-life concerns
• Loop pressure control within +/- 0.1 bar, to ensure constant pressure at the point of use
• Typical flow (distribution rate): 20 liters/min.
• Pressure at points of use (POUs): 1 to 2 +/- 0.1 barg
• Uptime > 99.98%
• MTBF > 8,750 hrs 
• MTTR < 2 hrs

Options

• Drum cabinet
• Double drum
• Particle filters p
• Redundant pumps and filters
• Online metrology (pH, conductivity, specific gravity, refractive index, auto-titration) 
• Profibus DP or other communication protocols