Robert Torres, Joseph Vininski, Belgin Yucelen & Virginia Houlding, Matheson Tri-Gas Advanced Technology Center, Longmont, CO, USA; David Treadwell, CP Industries, Inc., McKeesport, PA, USA; John W. Felbaum, Digital Wave Corporation, Englewood, CO, USA

Semiconductor processes have reached a point requiring an evolutionary leap in speciality gas delivery. Conventional gas delivery from cylinders requires frequent cylinder changes and multiple connections, which increases the probability of impurity introduction, decreases the lifetime of the gas manifolds and increases the chance of accidents. Additionally, conventional gas delivery requires many more components and manifolds to deliver an equal amount of gas compared with a bulk source. The economic and technical advantages of bulk gas systems offer a solution to the demands of next-generation wafer processing.