Assessing the environment, safety and health impacts of semiconductor manufacturing at the design and process development stages

The semiconductor industry has traditionally focused on cost, yield and logistics as the primary drivers for decision-making. Environment, safety and health (ESH) issues have resulted in major modifications of manufacturing tools and process steps because they are not routinely considered when making process design and manufacturing choices. ESH impacts are becoming important drivers for the industry; however, to date, they have not been adequately addressed by design and process engineers. To empower process engineers to consider the ESH impacts of their materials and processes at the earliest possible stage, SEMATECH has initiated a project entitled "Design for Environment, Safety and Health" (DFESH). The objective of the SEMATECH project is to provide an integrated DFESH tool set to semiconductor engineers which will evaluate the ESH impacts of their operations. The project will develop the framework, metrics, and appropriate training programs to integrate and facilitate the DFESH tool set's use within the semiconductor engineering and manufacturing process. The foundation of this tool set is a software program, Computerized Assessment of Relative Risk Impacts (CARRI), that assesses the ESH impacts of semiconductor manufacturing processes and associated materials. The tool set will also include a comprehensive ESH cost of ownership model (an extension of the SEMATECH equipment Cost of Ownership model) and a materials/energy balance tool.