Particle contamination control is a critical issue for the semiconductor industry. In the near future, this industry will be concerned with the chemical identities of contaminant particles as small as 0.01 pm in size. Therefore, analytical techniques with both high chemical sensitivity and spatial resolution are required. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provides excellent spatial resolution and yields structural and compositional information. It is rarely used, however, due to the difficulty of sample preparation. The goals of this research are to promote the use of TEM as an ultrafine particle analysis tool by developing new sample preparation methods, and to exploit the new TEM techniques for analysis of particles in semiconductor processing fluids. A TEM methodology for the analysis of particulate contaminants in fluids with an elemental detectability limit as low as 0.1 part per trillion (ppt), and a particle concentration detectability limit as low as 1 particle/ml for particles greater than 0.2 pm was developed and successfully applied to the analysis of particles in HF, H202, de-ionized (DI) water, and on the surface of an electronic device. HF samples from three manufacturers were examined. For HF (B), the maximum particle concentration was 8.3 x 103 particles/ml. Both a viscous material …

Thermoplastic polyimides (TPIs) exhibit high glass transition temperatures (Tgs), which make them useful in high performance applications. Amorphous and semicrystalline TPIs show sub-Tg relaxations, which can aid in improving strength characteristics through energy absorption. The a relaxation of both types of TPIs indicates a cooperative nature. The semicrystalline TPI shows thermo-irreversible cold crystallization phenomenon. The polymer liquid crystal (PLC) used in the blends is thermotropic and with longitudinal molecular structure. The small heat capacity change (ACP) associated with the glass transition indicates the PLC to be rigid rod in nature. The PLC shows a small endotherm associated with the melting. The addition of PLC to the semicrystalline TPI does not significantly affect the Tg or the melting point (Tm). The cold crystallization temperature (Tc) increases with the addition of the PLC, indicating channeling phenomenon. The addition of PLC also causes a negative deviation of the ACP, which is another evidence for channeling. The TPI, PLC and their blends show high thermal stability. The semicrystalline TPI absorbs moisture; this effect decreases with the addition of the PLC. The absorbed moisture does not show any effect on the degradation. The addition of PLC beyond 30 wt.% does not result in an improvement …