ERC for Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing

Collaboration Reduces Water Use in Semiconductor Manufacturing

The growing semiconductor industry's use of large quantities of highly purified water in the chip manufacturing process is costly and has major environmental implications. This is where the ERC for Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing at the University of Arizona comes in. With the help of a university-funded education center, three other centers, and 40 dues-paying industrial members, the Arizona ERC created technology that reduces water use and expenses in semiconductor manufacturing. The group set up a unique physical and simulation testbed facility that has allowed researchers to devise improved water conservation and recycling tools and techniques that have applications for a broad array of industries.

These centers are funded largely by contributions from more than 50 industries and a special multi-million dollar allocation from the state of Arizona over several years. The comprehensive testbed was developed four years ago for the research and development of new technologies and educational and training purposes related to these issues. The combination of physical and simulation testbeds provides a unique resource that is available to researchers inside and outside the ERCs and to industry.

Some of the conservation and resource management techniques developed at this facility have already been transferred to industry and are in use, saving between $250,000 and $2,000,000 at each manufacturing site. This research has received a number of high-level national and international awards, including from Semiconductor Equipment and Manufacturing International (SEMI) in 2002 and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) in 2000 recognizing the ERC's contributions as "major innovations that have significantly impacted industry and society."

To learn more about this topic:
Visit the ERC for Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing research page at http://www.erc.arizona.edu/Research/new%20research_index.htm.

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Last modified: February 18, 2005