Ion implanter vacuum pump exhaust treatment with dry chemical scrubbing

Implanter exhaust gas abatement presents a significant challenge, since the high total gas flows and low target gas concentrations characteristic of ion implanter effluents approach worst case conditions for the efficient operation of most conventional abatement devices. Dry chemical scrubber technology offers the most effective solution to the challenge of treating implanter effluent. The operation of a dry chemical scrubber has been modified in a number of ways to optimize its performance with the ion implanter. This paper examines the various physical and chemical constraints on dry scrubbers for ion implanter effluent and details the design features implemented to optimize scrubbers for this application. The current state of the art in exhaust scrubbing will be discussed, together with an analysis of future trends in ion implanter design, whereby safe delivery, monitoring, and scrubbing of implantation process gases will be integrated into the ion implanter.