Introduction
The purity of process chemicals like sulfuric acid is critical in semiconductor manufacturing because even tiny contaminants can cause defects, reduce yield, increase costs, and lead to long-term reliability issues. This is especially important for high-reliability applications such as automotive and medical devices, making strict impurity control essential for producing high-quality, reliable semiconductors.
The SEMI C44-0618 “Specification and Guide for Sulfuric Acid” standard sets strict impurity limits for sulfuric acid used in semiconductors — 100 ppt for Tier C and 10 ppt for Tier D metals. Achieving these levels requires highly sensitive techniques like inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). However, sulfuric acid's corrosive and viscous nature poses challenges for maintaining long-term accuracy, as it can damage instrument components. Therefore, robust procedures and durable equipment are essential to ensure reliable and consistent measurements.
This study presents a method for the quantitative analysis of 13 metal elements (Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ag, Pb) in 9.8% H2SO4 using the NexION® 5000 multi-quadrupole ICP-MS in Multi-Quad mode, demonstrating the system’s ability to meet the SEMI C044-0618 Tier D requirements.
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