Dual Jet Ionizer for Manufacturing Semiconductor Devices

Abstract

The corona discharge air ionizer is one of the most important equipment for controlling electrostatic charges in the manufacture of semiconductor devices. However, the conventional air ionizer generates various kinds of contaminations, including particles. The dual jet ionizer that has a jet emitter in a nozzle has been proposed for reducing contamination from an emitter. Ions are generated in a nitrogen atmosphere in the dual jet ionizer because of nitrogen gas flow in both the emitter and the nozzle. The characteristics of ion generation and ozone generation were investigated for both the dual jet ionizer and the non-jet air ionizer. The characteristics of the dual jet ionizer depended strongly on the flow rates of nitrogen gas in the emitter and the nozzle. The number of particles generated by the dual jet ionizer under the optimum operating conditions was approximately four times smaller than that by the non-jet air ionizer.