Software design tool to analyze waste streams generated by power semiconductor device fabrication processes

A simulation software tool is developed to characterize the waste streams generated by the semiconductor device processing. The purpose of the software tool is to facilitate details such as: type of chemicals in the waste streams, waste segregation and quantitative analysis of the waste materials. The ultimate goal of this software tool is to design a semiconductor process flow that can generate minuscule quantities of waste streams with very low toxicity levels to maintain a clean environment. Free wheeling diode (FWD) fabrication process flow was selected to develop this software. The software tool was developed in the visual basic user interface environment under the Microsoft windows operating system. Semiconductor cleaning and etch operations were chosen as vehicles to demonstrate the software ability.