GC-ICP-MS for Process and Quality Control in Semiconductor Manufacturing

Gas chromatography (GC) coupled to inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a powerful and flexible analytical solution that is well-established for measuring organometallic compounds such as organotin, organomercury, and organolead in environmental samples, foodstuffs, and consumer products. GC–ICP-MS is also used for industrial applications, such as monitoring catalyst poisons and environmental contaminant elements in petrochemical processing and plastics manufacturing. The semiconductor industry uses a range of high-purity specialty gases and volatile liquids as precursors in wafer substrate production, and for processes such as plasma etching and deposition of thin films by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Semiconductor manufacturers are constantly developing new integrated circuit (IC) chips with smaller sizes, higher speeds, lower power consumptions, and greater transistor densities. This trend means that contaminants must be controlled at even lower levels in process chemicals and precursors. In this article, we show how GC–ICP-MS, particularly using triple quadrupole or tandem ICP-MS (ICP-MS/MS), enables determination of the lowest levels of contaminants in the specialty gases and volatile liquids used to make the most advanced electronic devices.