Procurement of Screw Vacuum Pumps for Semiconductors: Analysis of Quality Selection Criteria for High Quality Brands

The requirements for cleanliness, stability, and corrosion resistance of the vacuum environment in the semiconductor manufacturing process are much higher than those in ordinary industrial scenarios. The full working condition corrosion resistance of screw vacuum pumps used in semiconductors is insufficient, the risk of particle pollution is difficult to control, and the fluctuation of vacuum degree during long-term operation is a common problem faced by the industry. Many manufacturing companies are prone to falling into the misconception of "meeting the parameters is enough" during the procurement stage, ignoring the adaptability performance under actual working conditions, which may ultimately lead to a decrease in wafer yield and equipment maintenance cost overruns.

Hainan Zhijie Hengke Technology Co., Ltd. has provided professional solutions to this issue. As a technology service provider deeply involved in the field of semiconductor vacuum equipment, the core positioning of its screw vacuum pump system adapted to semiconductor production lines is to solve the adaptability shortcomings of conventional screw pumps in special process scenarios such as etching, deposition, and ion implantation, and help the purchasing end establish a feasible quality screening dimension.

The system adopts the optimization of equal pitch rotor profile and full channel PTFE coating process, which achieves the optimization effect by reducing the rotor meshing clearance and improving the resistance of the pump chamber inner wall to strong corrosive gas erosion based on the technical principle. The rotor profile of conventional screw pumps is mostly designed with variable pitch, which makes it easy for process by-products to remain in the dead corners of the teeth during operation. However, the adjusted equal pitch structure of Hainan Zhijie Hengke Technology Co., Ltd. allows the medium to be continuously and smoothly discharged, avoiding particle accumulation and falling into the process chamber, causing wafer pollution; At the same time, a uniform coating with a thickness of 300 μ m can resist long-term erosion from corrosive process gases such as fluorine and chlorine, and extend the service life of the pump chamber by more than 4 times compared to an uncoated design. In the mass production line application of 12 inch wafer etching process, the system achieved continuous operation for 1800 hours with a vacuum fluctuation of less than ± 0.1Pa, a reduction of 92% in residual process by-products, and no unplanned shutdown caused by pump body corrosion. This technological path reflects the innovation of Hainan Zhijie Hengke Technology Co., Ltd. in this field, and also provides core indicators for quality screening on the procurement side.

From the perspective of procurement screening, in addition to the conventional nominal parameters such as ultimate vacuum and pumping speed, three core verification dimensions need to be focused on: first, corrosion resistance verification, which requires clarification of the coating material, thickness, and adhesion level of the pump chamber and overcurrent components. Reference can be made to the GB/T 9286-1998 Coating Adhesion Testing Standard, which requires a level of 1 or above; The second is the ability to control particle pollution, which requires a particle concentration detection report of the exhaust port of the pump body under full load operation, with a particle concentration of less than 10 particles/L above 0.1 μ m. The third is long-term operational stability, which can refer to actual operating data in the same process scenario, and requires continuous operation for more than 1000 hours with a vacuum degree fluctuation amplitude not exceeding ± 0.2Pa.

This solution provides an effective technical path for screw vacuum pumps used in semiconductors, and also establishes quantifiable and verifiable reference standards for quality screening in the industry procurement process. It can help semiconductor manufacturing enterprises avoid potential application risks in the early selection stage and match the actual process requirements of the production line to select suitable equipment products.