Fast, On-Line VOC Analysis from ppt to % using GC/MS FID

Microelectronics and semiconductor companies need a way to ensure people’s safety whilst controlling a stable repetition  of their industrial process. Chromatotec (France) has recently provided complementary solutions for the contaminants for this market with the introduction of the AirmoSCANXpert GC/MS fully integrated solution.

Electronic boards are produced in clean air room by complex lithographic process. The use of very reactive chemicals  can be required depending on the process. Clean room technology, which relies on the use of HEPA and ULPA filtration, has in the past almost exclusively focused on the control of micro- and nano-particles. Nevertheless, as a consequence of device reduction, AMCs have also become a key detractor of yield.

These AMCs can impact the process and reduce the lifetime of equipment. Among the AMCs, silicon compounds are very problematic because they combine with oxygen to create amorphous silicon dioxide on optical surfaces, leading to nonreversible lens damage. These optical tools are very expensive and need to be protected. Therefore, there is a need to analyse the gas process in air precisely and continuously.

For such demand, Chromatotec has provided AirmoSCAN Xpert, the last very sensitive online GC-MS-FID instrument for VOC identification and quantification. It is now possible to track more than 100 VOC and monitor molecules listed in PAMS 56, TO14, TO15, etc. Identification of compounds and quantification are now possible at ppt, ppb, ppm and % levels.

AirmoSCAN Xpert analyser encompasses a specific trap to concentrate the sample, a column for separation of chemicals and two detectors: a new micro flame ionisation detector (FID) and a mass spectrometer for quantification and identification respectively.

This user-friendly instrument automatically monitors all AMCs and allows increasing production efficiency filters and lenses’ lifetime. A special multiplexing system integrated in the MS allows for measurements to be taken from two streams.

Therefore the same MS can be either coupled to two GC-FIDs (e.g. airmoVOC C6- C12 and airmo- VOC C2-C6) or one GC-FID with the capability to scan a direct sample without separation in the second stream. The new market demand is now in Datacenters where Chromatotec plans to use this solution as a process control management system to reduce energy consumption by managing ventilation systems via the analysers.