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Ensinger GmbH

Rudolf-Diesel-Strasse 8
Nufringen,  D-71154

Germany
https://www.ensingerplastics.com/en/semiconductor
  • Booth: C2366

Ensinger is a global manufacturer of engineering and high-performance plastic solutions for semiconductor and electronics manufacturing equipment and components. Our compounds, machinable shapes, and finished components made of advanced thermoplastics have a proven track record in almost all major semiconductor tools throughout the entire fabrication process, ranging from wet processes, chemical mechanical planarization, plasma etching, deposition, lithography, testing, assembly, packaging, and more. Each stage of the fabrication process offers its own set of challenges: from extremely high temperatures, to exposure to highly aggressive chemicals, strictest purity requirements, tightest design and machining tolerances, or contact with plasma under vacuum. Working in close cooperation with many of the leading equipment and system manufacturers, Ensinger has established a dedicated portfolio of specialized semiconductor plastics that withstand the harsh processing conditions while enhancing part performance, minimising contaminations and defects, and lowering cost of ownership.  

 Products

  • Wet Bench Wafer Holder
    Semiconductor manufacturing tools utilise a broad range of components made of high performance plastics. choosing the optimum polymer family, plastic components can withstand even the harshest combination of chemicals used to process and clean the wafers....

    • Strength, chemical resistance, and copy exact for wafer mobility parts

    While the wet process tanks and chemical supply systems are often made of fluoropolymers offering the highest level of chemical resistance, such materials do not offer sufficient strength and rigidity for mechanically stressed parts. For example, wafer mobility components in the wet process tools are often made of high performance thermoplastics like PEEK due to its excellent mechanical properties in combination with good chemical resistance. Wafer mobility components include wafer holders or wafer carriers which are commonly used to insert the wafers into the process tanks and move the wafers between different process steps. Besides the requirement of mechanical properties, wafer mobility parts need to provide elevated levels of ionic purity and maintain copy exact compliance. 

    PEEK enables highest level of wafer position accuracy

    In this case study, the shape TECAPEEK SX natural, semiconductor grade unfilled PEEK, has been selected for a wet bench wafer holder. The function of the wafer holders is to dip multiple wafers into several chemical processing baths. The PEEK parts are holding the wafers from the sides to allow the liquid chemicals unobstructed access to the wafers when inserting to the bath. The number of wafers being held is maximised to enhance better wafer throughput, while maintaining sufficient and consistent spacing between the wafers to allow the liquids to pass through. The material must be highly dimensional stable to maintain the tight tolerances of the slot pitch spacing, thus maintain the wafer position accuracy. Moreover, the material needs to provide elevated levels of strength and rigidity, as well as wear resistance to maintain dimensional accuracy and maximise part lifetime under high wafer load and hundreds of thousands of cleaning cycles. PEEK fulfills the requirements for dimensional stability over an extended period due to high stiffness and creep resistance, as well as low water absorption. PEEK offers an excellent combination of elevated mechanical properties with a high level of chemical resistance.

    TECAPEEK SX NATURAL - THE PERFECT MATCH

    TECAPEEK SX natural is a semiconductor grade unfilled PEEK, processed to sheets, rods, and tubes in compliance with semiconductor copy exact requirements with the most stringent contamination and quality controls. In this way, TECAPEEK SX natural ensures the highest level of cleanliness and quality performance consistency, exceeding industry standard levels and securing reliable operations. Moreover, TECAPEEK SX natural succeeded in reducing internal stresses to a minimum through optimization of the manufacturing process, enabling improved dimensional stability during machining. As a result, the most demanding tolerances of high-end wafer holders can be met.

  • PCB Inspection Fixtures
    TCB inspection fixture consists of plastic sheets that include an fine pitch array of nails that is pressed against the PCB....

    • As PCBs have gotten more complex and advanced, so have the inspection techniques used to check for shorts, opens, or malfunctioning solder joints, and to ensure that performance values are within the required tolerance levels. 

    Functional testing with PCB inspection equipment includes the use of  PCB testing fixtures or testing jigs. The fixture’s top hat includes an array of nails pressed against the PCB, simulating the electrical environment of the final application. As the test points on the PCBs are minimal, the encountering array of test-probe points on the contact plate need to be highly dense. In recent years, finer pitch and smaller probe diameter requirements have become more commonplace, in some cases requiring up to 3000 probe points per square centimeter, with diameters down to 20 µm. Usually, multiple thin sheets are stacked for the contact plate, as the machining of micro-holes requires the plate to be as thin as possible, while a thick and rigid contact plate is preferred to avoid bending. In some cases, only the areas with holes have reduced thickness, while the areas without holes are kept thicker to maintain rigidity. The filigree design of the PCB inspection fixture creates the greatest challenge for the structural material that is to be used for the contact plates and fixture body. 

    PPS PLASTIC - A GOOD CHOICE BUT WITH CHALLENGES

    From a range of different semiconductor plastics, PPS is often chosen for this application due to the high requirements. This is because drilling micro-holes for inserting the wire probes requires a material with a balanced ratio of stiffness and ductility to ensure minimal burr formation and cracking.

    The material also needs to be dimensionally stable with minimum water absorption and thermal expansion levels to ensure the array of holes remains within tolerance. Besides the influence of the material itself, dimensional stability is also influenced by the molding technique, as residual stress can result in warpage while machining. Moreover, a material with higher wear resistance is preferred, as the wire probes abrade the inner wall of the contact plate while the fixture is pressed against the PCB.

    However, not every PPS material is equally suitable, as the extrusion of PPS is characterised by a number of challenges. For this reason, in cooperation with leading manufacturers of components for PCB inspection equipment, we have developed Ensinger's TECATRON SX natural, a material made of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), which has characteristics that make it particularly suitable for contact plates and and fixture body parts.

    MAKING THE PERFECT MATCH IN SEMICONDUCTOR PLASTICS

    Due to ever thinner sheet requirements and increasing needs for micro-holes, common issues such as deformation and warpage are due to residual stress found in the material. Moreover, optical issues like flow marks and black specks resulted in a reduced manufacturing process yield. Choosing TECATRON SX natural enabled higher production yield due to minimized residual stresses, allowing flatness even when thinning down large sheets at once. Furthermore, the molding process of TECATRON SX natural has been optimized to reduce optical issues, which also impacts the yield when producing PCB inspection fixture parts.

    However, not every PPS material is equally suitable, as the extrusion of PPS is characterised by a number of challenges. For this reason, in cooperation with leading manufacturers of components for PCB inspection equipment, we have developed Ensinger's TECATRON SX natural, a material made of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), which has characteristics that make it particularly suitable for contact plates and and fixture body parts.

  • Wafer Clamp Ring
    Wafer clamp rings are commonly used for supporting and accurately positioning the wafer throughout various processing operations. Clamping the wafer is critical for maintaining precise processing tolerances, thus maintaining wafer yields....

    • Enabling accurate and clean wafer clamping

    Components surrounding the wafer, such as clamp rings, need to withstand the stringent conditions and forces in the processing chambers. Depending on the processing conditions, the right material choice for the wafer clamp ring is essential for ensuring dimensional and mechanical stability, which directly impacts process performance and yield. Despite properties like mechanical strength, temperature resistance, chemical resistance, and in some cases, plasma resistance, the wafer ring material also needs to show high purity levels and low outgassing to minimize contamination and defects. 

    In wet processes, such as wet benches, single wafer cleaner, coater/developer or CMP, the components’ material requirements focus on chemical resistance, dimensional stability, purity, and strength. In most cases, the clamp rings are made of unfilled PEEK plastic, TECAPEEK SX natural or unfilled PPS plastic, TECATRON SX natural. PEEK is commonly used for parts exposed to higher temperatures and mechanical stresses, while PPS thermoplastic is the more economical alternative for parts with less stringent requirements. For clamp rings requiring more increased strength, PEEK CF30,  TECAPEEK CF30 black is extensively used. For electrostatic discharge requirements, electrically conductive materials like TECAPEEK ELS nano black and TECAPEEK ELS CF30 black are chosen as clamp ring material.

    Depending on the design and size, clamp rings are either machined out of plates or tubes. Ensinger offers an extensive range of size variations for both plates and tubes, enabling machine shops to choose the closest stock shape size and save material waste and costs. Specifically, Ensinger offers the industry’s widest range of sizes for PEEK tubes and PPS tubes. In the case of machining rings out of plates, low internal stress levels in the material are critical for ensuring dimensional stability while machining. 

    Case study - Wafer clamp ring| Ensinger

  • CMP Retaining ring
    The progressing miniaturisation and complex nature of semiconductors are challenging and driving the advancement of new semiconductor fabrication equipment....

    • Investigation of PPS Ring Influence on CMP Performance

    A major concern for all processes is cmp wafer defects that can cause device failures and significantly affect yield and cost of ownership. Among different influencing factors, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) induced defects are a critical yield concern, directly impacting device performance and yield. While the industry research and development focus has been mostly on consumables such as pads, slurry, and conditioners, the cmp retaining ring is now increasingly under investigation, as it also has a major impact on the yield and overall CMP performance. 

    Ensinger, one of the leading suppliers of high performance plastic materials for CMP retaining rings, has cooperated with an outside independent laboratory, to evaluate the impact of different cmp ring materials on CMP performance. A technical article was published in the Electrochemical Society Journal of Solid State Science and Technology titled “Tribological, Thermal, Kinetic, and Pad Micro-Textural Studies Using Polyphenylene Sulfide CMP Retaining Rings in Interlayer Dielectric Chemical Mechanical Planarization.” (See study, the product is called TECATRON SE in the article, which is the former name of TECATRON CMP). This case study is an overview of that article with an emphasis on the key findings. 

    Testing Procedure

    CMP testing was done using 300 mm cmp retaining rings fabricated from Ensinger’s unfilled PPS tube TECATRON CMP and an industry standard PPS, both were manufactured using the extrusion manufacturing process. DuPont IC1010® polishing pad with a K-groove design was used during testing with Fujimi PL-4217 slurry that has abrasive silica particle content of 10 percent by weight was used at a constant flow rate of 250 ml/min. This particular slurry is primarily intended for use in inter-layer dielectric (ILD) applications. A 3M A165 conditioning disc was utilised with a rate of 95 RPM while sweeping 10 times per minute across the pad surface with a downforce of 10 lbf. The platen rotation rate was held constant at 50 RPM.

    Findings

    A key finding has been that different PPS retaining ring materials can modify the micro-texture of the pad, cause different levels of pad fragments and shavings, and also result in different shapes of pad asperities. TECATRON CMP resulted in lower levels of pad fragment generation during wearing, less obscured pores and entrained pad debris and shavings, and sharper asperity tips compared to industry standard PPS. With sharper asperity tips and lower entrainment of fragments and other types of debris, the resulting pad micro-texture of TECATRON CMP potentially reduces the chances of wafer-level defects. Additionally, the micro-texture of the pad created by the TECATRON CMP potentially can improve material removal rates. Both retaining rings caused the pad to wear at comparable rates. However, regarding the ring wear rate, TECATRON CMP seemed to wear faster than industry standard PPS. This was deemed inconsequential in high volume manufacturing because the pads are changed out regularly, and the CMP rings are changed after a certain number of pad changes depending on the application. Hence, small differences in the ring wear rate do not impact the life of the ring.

    TECATRON CMP – Enabling Reduced Defects

    An important aspect of the experimental findings is the fact that PPS rings made by different suppliers affect the micro-texture of the pad differently. TECATRON CMP natural is designed specifically for CMP retaining rings and has been optimised to wear the pads in a manner so that the pads create fewer micro scratches and wafer-level defects. Reducing the level of defective dies and improving yield has significant impact on the cost of ownership. Please contact us for further technical data, material selection advice, and material samples. We will collaborate with you to determine the best solution to meet your application needs. 

    Learn more about our CMP retaining Rings: CMP retaining rings | Ensinger

  • High temperature IC Test Sockets
    Ensinger’s unfilled polyimide TECASINT 4011 and TECASINT 4111 provide significantly higher thermal resistance than conventional test socket materials, enabling dimensional stability, strength, and stiffness to remain high even above 260 ℃....

    • High-Temperature Integrated Circuit Test Sockets TECASINT 4011 and TECASINT 4111

    In the microchip manufacturing process it is important to test the chips under various conditions to ensure specific functionalities as well as durability. Different test sockets are used to test numerous microchips, as specified by integrated circuit designers. As several types of high performance and engineering plastics are used to manufacture test sockets, the demand for plastic materials continues to grow rapidly.

    Withstanding harsh testing cycles

    The IC test socket body or housing is typically made of PEEK, PEI, LCP or PAI for moderate test temperature ranges between -55 ℃ to 180 ℃, while for higher temperature requirements materials like polyimide continue to be utilised.  Ensinger’s unfilled polyimide TECASINT 4011 and TECASINT 4111 provide significantly higher thermal resistance than conventional test socket materials, enabling dimensional stability, strength, and stiffness to remain high even above 260 ℃. TECASINT 4111 offers the highest stiffness and the lowest CLTE among unfilled test socket plastics, as well as the lowest water absorption among the TECASINT series. TECASINT 4011 is the more economical alternative compared to TECASINT 4111 and offers a unique combination of toughness and stiffness enabling excellent micro machinability.

    Resisting deformation under high pressure and temperatures

    Complex socket designs challenge conventional socket materials. For example, the market is trending towards thinner cross sections of test socket contact plates, so that the materials must provide higher rigidity to avoid deformations during testing. With flexural modulus up to 6100 MPa for unfilled TECASINT 4111, it provides maximum stiffness at high temperatures for optimum bending resistance under pressure. The following data shows that strength and stiffness is kept on a high level in high temperature environments. In addition, the sintering process technology significantly lowers internal stress levels compared to extruded and injection molded parts, enabling minimum warpage during machining to meet the tightest flatness tolerances.

    Excellent micro hole machinability and accuracy field 

    Continuous decrease in pitch spacing and pin hole sizes require test socket designers to choose materials with enhanced micro-machinability and dimensional stability. TECASINT 4011 offers excellent machinability of fine features with extremely low burring. Compared to fiber-reinforced plastics which commonly result in limited machining accuracy due to drill bit deflections, the unfilled TECASINT series enables significantly improved hole position accuracy. The right balance of stiffness and ductility, combined with a very low internal stress level, enables TECASINT 4011 to realise extremely precise hole placement while keeping burring and cracking to a minimum.

    Complex socket designs can often lead to long and costly machining times. TECASINT 4011 offers very low internal stress, drill bit wearing, burring, and cracking, having a considerable impact on yield improvement and fabrication costs and time reductions. For some special applications, test sockets are manufactured using laser drilling to further reduce fabrication costs. TECASINT having no melting point has proven to be suitable for realizing clean micro holes via laser drilling.

    Maintaining tightest tolerances

    With increasing complexity and miniaturization of test sockets, another challenge is the dimensional stability during fabrication and after prolonged use. TECASINT 4011 and TECASINT 4111 provide considerably reduced water absorption compared to industry standard polyimide or PAI, so that the small pitch arrays of high-end test sockets remain within tolerances.

    The perfect match

    Both TECASINT 4011 and TECASINT 4111 are proven materials for high temperature IC test sockets due to their high stiffness and dimensional stability at high temperatures. TECASINT 4011 is the fitting material for high temperature test sockets requiring excellent micro-machinability with high hole position accuracy as well as minimum burr formation and cracking, TECASINT 4111 is the fitting material for test sockets requiring very high rigidity and dimensional stability under high temperatures.

    Find more about TECASINT 4011 and TECASINT 4111: Polyimide unfilled - TECASINT 4011 natural | Ensinger and Polyimide unfilled - TECASINT 4111 natural | Ensinger

Categories

501 HVAC, Temperature, Humidity, Contamination Control
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