News Article
Tiger Optics’ new gas analyser pounces on contaminants
In order for customers to meet targets for the 15-year International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, they need to monitor their process gases at ever increasing levels of purity.
Expanding the capabilities of its patented CW-CRDS technology, Tiger Optics has plans to introduce the LaserTrace 3 trace gas analyser at the Semicon West trade show in San Francisco.
The LaserTrace 3 can detect moisture, oxygen, methane, and other analyte contaminants at limits that are more than two times lower than previous generations of the product line.
Tiger, in the industry vanguard, sells laser-based trace gas analysers to semiconductor manufacturers, tool manufacturers, purifier manufacturers and the gas companies that supply bulk and specialty gases to the industry.
In semiconductor manufacturing, contamination in process gases has a destabilising effect and negatively impacts deposition processes. As a result of as little as single-digit parts-per billion impurities in process gases, product yields are reduced. To remedy this problem, the LaserTrace 3 allows users to monitor for intrusions at levels that were never previously available.
“The leading semiconductor manufacturers have adopted our patented CW-CRDS technology due to the superior detection range, ease of use, the lowest total cost of ownership in theindustry, and the fact that this is an absolute technology. No calibration gases are required,” said Lisa Bergson, Tiger’s founder and chief executive. “In order for our customers to meet targets for the 15-year International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, they need to monitor their process gases at ever increasing levels of purity.”
“The technological advancements of the LaserTrace 3 are a result of Tiger Optics’ on-going investment in research and development. We’re thrilled that our customers will now be able to realise a two-fold improvement in their detection limits.”
Since its debut in 2003, the LaserTrace platform has been widely accepted for semiconductor applications, based on its versatility, ease-of-use, and low cost-of-ownership. The multi-species, multi-point, multi-gas product line accommodates up to four sensor modules in a standard 19-inch rack, or permits placement of individual sensor models as far as 200 feet from the computerized control unit. In 2005, the company introduced its LaserTrace O2 as the world’s first laser-based, trace oxygen analyzer to detect parts-per-trillion levels in ultra-high-purity gases.
In 2008, the LaserTrace+ made possible the lower detection limit of 200 parts-per-trillion, which the company says at the time had the widest dynamic range of any dedicated analyser currently in the market.
The LaserTrace 3 will be on display at the Tiger Optics booth #1027 in the South Hall of the Moscone Centre in San Francisco from July 12 through July 14.
