Better Processors Through Carbon Dioxide

amorphamorph
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
According to <a href="http://www.techreview.com/articles/upstream.asp"; target="_blank">an article</a> in the Technology Review, researchers have discovered a way to use supercritical carbon dioxide to rinse processors and also to deposit 100nm copper wiring, both at extremely high degrees of accuracy and with no risk of damage to the chip.



As a bonus, the CO2 replaces ultrapure water and several nasty chemical solvents, reducing the environmental impact of chip manufacture.



[ 01-18-2002: Message edited by: Amorph ]</p>

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    /mandolux//mandolux/ Posts: 648member
    ...interesting article - thanx.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    crusadercrusader Posts: 1,129member
    What does supercritical mean?
  • Reply 3 of 7
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Supercritical matter is an unusual state where it's not really either a liquid or a gas. It's both, in a way.



    The salient properties are that supercritical material has next to no viscosity and no surface tension. This means that it can get into extremely tight spots without gumming up, and that it doesn't exert pressure on the extremely small, delicate components it's cleaning - the surface tension of water is apparently strong enough to do just that.



    Details are in the article.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    wrong robotwrong robot Posts: 3,907member
    thats awesome, silicon valley is a toxicity

    har har har
  • Reply 5 of 7
    eskimoeskimo Posts: 474member
    Very cool Amorph, thanks for the link. I'll have to read up on this, first I've heard of it.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    crusadercrusader Posts: 1,129member
    [quote] Details are in the article.<hr></blockquote>

    Woops, I really should try harder, but i am just to lazy
  • Reply 7 of 7
    the toolboithe toolboi Posts: 557member
    Am I correct in thinking that a Bose-Einstein concentration is a supercritical gas?

    Man Id love to see those some time.
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