EFC Gases & Advanced Materials has initiated a joint research program with researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). The work will focus on evaluation of low global warming (low-GWP) fluorocarbons as sustainable replacements for incumbent fluorocarbons (FCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are used for critical etching applications in the semiconductor materials processing area. The continued use of the incumbent fluorocarbon and hydrofluorocarbon gases in semiconductor applications is a subject of great importance. There are currently no viable alternatives to the continued use of these gases, although these “greenhouse gases” have a negative impact on the environment.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is home to the Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience (NCMN) and is one of 16 national research centers supported by the Federal National Science Foundation (NSF). The NCMN is a state-of-the-art research facility with world class nanotechnology capabilities and researchers. The collaborative research program, funded exclusively by EFC, will investigate the use of several of EFC’s proprietary low-GWP etching candidates for high aspect ratio (HAR) etching of silicon-based materials. Through strategically designed matrices of experiments, the performance of several low-GWP candidates will be evaluated and assessed in head-to-head comparisons against incumbent fluorocarbons such as FC-c318, octafluorocyclobutane (C4F8) and hydrofluorocarbons such as HFC-23, trifluoromethane (CHF3). The goal of this research program is to develop viable etching processes for critical semiconductor materials using sustainable products with a low environmental impact. This initiative is just one of several that EFC has recently launched to introduce and provide sustainable high-quality products to the electronics industry.