Introduction
Ultrapure water (UPW) is essential in semiconductor manufacturing, particularly for wet-processing tasks like wafer rinsing and chemical dilution. During these processes, contaminants from the chemical baths and rinsing water can adhere to and precipitate onto the silicon surface through a series of chemical and electrochemical reactions. Even trace amounts of metallic contaminants in critical areas of the final product can impact the electrical properties of integrated circuit components, potentially causing failures in electrical testing. Given the essential role of UPW in semiconductor production, monitoring its purity is of utmost importance.
Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has become the go-to technique to accurately determine a large range of elements at ultra-trace levels. This study outlines a method for determining the detection limits (DLs) and background equivalent concentrations (BECs) of impurities in UPW using the NexION® 5000 multi-quadrupole ICP-MS with hydrogen (H2) and/or oxygen (O2) as reaction gases, demonstrating the system’s suitability for measuring ultra-trace level impurities in low-matrix semiconductor reagents like UPW, exceeding the requirements of SEMI F63-05211, "Guide for Ultrapure Water Used in Semiconductor Processing”
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