1996 Electronics Industry Environmental Roadmap - Civil and ...

Appendix G
in Environmental, Safety, and Health Issues in IC Production provides a good example of efforts
in data-gathering and process improvements that are technology-, cost-, and environmentoriented.
IMEC is serving an important need for future IC processing and demonstrates
successful interaction within a highly competitive industry.
The IMEC program on ultra-clean processing technology is aimed at reducing resources and
waste in IC fabrication, examining: resource reduction, re-use, waste treatment, and alternative
chemicals and materials. The goal of the program is to move from ultra-clean requirements to
“just-clean-enough.” 29 Some of the major goals are to:
242
Study the possibilities of reducing the use of the source material, such as the reagents
chemicals, gases, and deionized (DI)-water;
Reduce the use of volatile organic compounds if possible, capturing waste and re-using it;
and
Optimize the design of DI-rinse tanks (stating that currently only approximately 10% of
the rinse water is effectively used) and the control of DI-water contamination to enable
the re-use of the rinse water.
One outcome of this effort is the “IMEC-Clean,” an RCA clean that reduces the steps from three
to two, and replaces sulfuric acid-hydrogen peroxide solution with an ionized DI-water. IMEC
has worked with a range of U.S. and European companies (e.g., Intel, TI, Motorola, Philips, Ashland,
BOC, Wacker, and ASM), to enable such improvements in semiconductor processes.
The Institute’s experience in microelectronics packaging and interconnect, and its work with designers
to determine their system needs, is enabling the development of new design methods and
tools. This experience could potentially be tapped for electronic materials and process studies
that provide additional support to DFE practices for products beyond semiconductors.
Closing Comments
The volume of electronics-related environmental impact data is not keeping pace with the
growing desire to consider environmental implications in design and manufacturing. This is not
surprising given that the data needed to support environmentally conscious decisions requires
significant resources to conduct environmental impact assessments and/or life cycle assessments
and compile lists of constituent materials in electronic products.
Although various groups in the U.S. and Europe question the efficiency and outright utility of
full-scale life cycle assessments, the need will continue to grow for data to support design and
process decisions that consider environmental issues along with traditional factors (design-forenvironment,
or DFE). This appendix briefly outlined four efforts, completed or ongoing, in
Europe to create building blocks of DFE infrastructure. Clearly, more projects must be
programs. IMEC has a broad range of expertise from software to hardware, and is a center of excellence for
microelectronics, developing and characterizing process steps such as optical lithography and full processes
such as 0.35-micrometer CMOS devices. At the microsystem level, IMEC’s work includes packaging and interconnect
technologies and techniques and material characterization.
29 Information based on IMEC presentation to MCC in June 1995 as part of the Open-Microprocessor Initiative
mission to the U.S.