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Contamination Study

Contamination refers to the presence of impurities or unwanted substances in a material that can affect the manufacturing process and the quality of the final product. Material analysis of these contaminants is essential to locate and identify their constituents, and often to match them with potential contamination sources.


Depending on the type of contaminants (organic or inorganic), their size (large or tiny), amount (ranging from a few percent to ppm levels), location (surface, interface, or bulk), and distribution (evenly distributed or localized), different analytical techniques can be used to identify the constituents present in the contaminants, whether they are particles, residues, stains, or haze.


Related Techniques:

Particles

  • AES (atomic %, in the order of tens of nanometers)
  • FTIR Microscope (molecular fingerprint, in the order of tens of microns)
  • Raman Microscope (molecular fingerprint, in the order of tens of microns)
  • SEM/EDS (atomic %, in the order of microns)
  • TEM/EDX (atomic %, from several to tens of nanometers)
  • ToF-SIMS (molecular mass fragments, in the order of tens of microns)
  • XRD (crystal patterns, in the order of tens of millimeters)

Residues

  • AES (atomic %, in the order of tens of nanometers)
  • FTIR Microscope (molecular fingerprint, in the order of tens of microns)
  • Raman Microscope (molecular fingerprint, in the order of tens of microns)
  • XPS (atomic % and chemical states, in the order of tens of microns)
  • ToF-SIMS (molecular mass fragments, in the order of tens of microns)
  • XRD (crystal patterns, in the order of tens of millimeters)

Discolorations and Stains

  • AES (atomic %, in the order of tens of nanometers, depth in the nanoscale)
  • XPS (atomic % and chemical states, in the order of tens of microns, depth in      the order of tens of nanometers)
  • ToF-SIMS (molecular mass fragments at ppm levels, in the order of tens of microns)

Haze

  • SEM (direct imaging, gold sputtering may be required)
  • Alpha Profilometry (surface scanning/imaging)
  • AFM (surface scanning/imaging)
  • Optical Profilometry (surface scanning/imaging)

Layer Analysis

  • SEM/EDS (atomic %, in the order of microns)
  • XPS (atomic % and chemical states, in the order of tens of microns)
  • AES (atomic %, in the order of tens of nanometers)
  • D-SIMS (atomic % at ppm levels, in the order of tens of microns)