 Product Briefing Outline: Entegris, Inc. introduced an advanced bulk gas purification system that allows manufacturers to purify large volumes of purge gases used in dry and immersion-based lithography tools, an area of increasing importance as wafer lens sizes continue to grow. The Entegris Aeronex Gas Purification System (AGPS) Z2 series brings advanced contamination control technology to bulk gas purification. As part of the Entegris Clarilite solution, the AGPS will also help increase protection against reticle haze.
Problem: The AGPS is designed to meet the capacity requirements of current as well as next-generation tools, which are expected to require more than four times the current volume of gas. Using multiple purifier beds working in parallel to maintain a continuous flow of pure gas, the beds automatically regenerate in sequence to help ensure optimal removal of targeted molecular contaminants. Solution: The innovative new purification process used in the Aeronex system allows for a smaller footprint that consumes less power than comparable high-flow systems, lowering the cost of ownership, according to the company. The new Z2 purification technology is designed to provide outlet purity in sub part-per-trillion levels and reduces environmental impact because it is longer lasting than other media. The system delivers XCDA (eXtreme Clean Dry Air) purge gas to today's scanner platforms including immersion lithography tools. XCDA is proven to be an effective and safer alternative to other purge gases for lithography applications, the company claims. Applications: Purification of purge gases used in dry and immersion-based lithography tools as well as reticles. Platform: The modular design of the Aeronex system enables easy expansion from 5,000 slm up to 20,000 slm total capacity per system and may be configured to suit a variety of fab layout requirements. This is claimed to save significant costs in facility utilization and energy. Ethernet support facilitates seamless integration with existing processes, and Entegris plans to expand the platform to include bulk purification for Nitrogen, Oxygen, Hydrogen and Noble gases. Availability: July 2007 onwards. 
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Lithography 
