Preliminary Studies of the Effects of Semiconductor Reagents on Polymers Containing Fluorine and of Trace Metallic Leachate from Molded Fluorocarbon Resin

Traces of undesired materials in semiconductor devices are a serious processing deficiency and their elimination is widely sought. To this end, the effects of semiconductor reagents on discs molded from commercial materials of construction—perfluoroalkoxy (PFA) fluorocarbon resin and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)—were assessed by measuring retained physical properties and by analytical microscopic inspection. At the National Bureau of Standards, Center for Analytical Chemistry, ultrapure nitric acid was stored, in a class 10 environment, in a container molded from PFA, and the level of leachable selected trace metallics was determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, flame emission spectrometry with repetitive optical scanning, and isotope dilution spark source mass spectrometry. The results from the exposure tests indicated that PVDF was significantly affected in the exposures; PFA was essentially unaffected. The amounts of leachable metallics from PFA were at or below low part-per-billion levels, since they were indistinguishable from those in the extractant blank.