Current Entries for Linde

CVD chamber cleaning using fluorinated gases has been commonplace in semiconductor manufacturing for decades and proven to be a fast and effective alternative to wet cleaning. This process has been scaled up to deal with larger process chambers, first in TFT-LCD panel manufacture, and lately for large area thin film solar cell manufacture.
Many of the gases currently used such as Nitrogen Trifluoride (NF3) and Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) have high global warming potentials (GWP) [for example: 17,200 for NF3 and 23,900 for SF6]. In line with the industry need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, fluorine gas (F2) has been identified as an effective alternative, having zero GWP. Restrictions exist however on large scale cylinder filling and transport for fluorine, hence it cannot be used in a typical thin film PV fab where annual gas consumption is very high.
On-site generation of F2 gas has been developed by Linde as a viable alternative, with scaleable plants available to deal with large turnkey PV production lines. Developed in the late 1990s, this proven technology has been installed at more than 20 semiconductor, LCD and solar cell production sites, including Toshiba Matsushita Display, Samsung Electronics, and LG Display.   Chamber cleaning with Linde on-site generated F2 gives thin-film manufacturers reduced cost per Watt and provides the end user with a reduced carbon footprint PV module.