Ultrasonic Cleaning Study Estimates Net Forces Applied to Contaminants

Elma Ultrasonic Cleaners are powerful cleaning devices for the semi conductor industry

Elma Ultrasonic Cleaners are powerful cleaning devices for the semi conductor industry

This study examines the problem of an ultrasonic cleaner being unable to effectively remove 1 um diameter particles.  Used regularly in the semiconductor industry ultrasonic cleaning is an important important process step in the cleaning of contaminated wafers by immersing them in a solvent bath.  The study focuses on understanding the net forces applied to the contaminant particles by acoustic waves.  This is a difficult analytical problem and the study treats the ultrasonic cleaning operation as a ‘general fluid-structure interaction’ problem and solving the governing equations numerically.  This is, in the author’s experience, a first of its application of ‘numerical fluid-structure interaction techniques’ to ultrasonic cleaning.

For further information visit deepblue.lib.umich.edu.

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About Bob Sandor

Bob began working as a chemist in 1987 and remains a science geek to this day. After his PhD he worked on the bench in materials and inorganic chemistry for 10 years. He then took on a love for marketing and sales. He combined his passion for science and business and took entrepreneur general management positions in large corporations like Hoecsht Celanese now Sanofi Aventis, Bel-Art and Smiths Detection. There he learned what it would take to run a business and finally Tovatech was co-founded in 2006. Bob’s hobbies include playing, listening and composing music, skiing, working out, the internet and all things science. Read More