Re:Second IC
by pottertheotter on Saturday August 14, 2021 @02:54AM
(#28178656)
Are they able to clean the air well enough now that it’s not an issue?
Re:Second IC
by eurasiantiger on Saturday August 14, 2021 @05:11AM
(#28179258)
It’s not really feasible to separate noble gases out of the atmosphere in a building HVAC system.
Couldn't you just use positive pressure of O2 and nitrogen? Push all other gasses out? Would cost a lot but it is doable.
More recent tools do work that way. The whole "tool line" is flushed with process atmosphere.
Probably the buildings are so big nowadays that it's geometrically impossible to have farms nearby the actual plant.
How much m^3 do you need to grow these structures? Couldn't it be done in a very confined space?
This is how it's done now. Tool lines are flushed with chemically regenerated atmosphere (basically getting LOX + LN2 bottles from air liquide, and mixing them,) or argon, or nitrogen only.
Older, and cheaper fabs still rely on natural atmosphere, and other, less sure tricks to keep halogens out.
That's why early fabs had very unusual placement requirements: not close to chicken farms, agriculture, water, or sewage treatment plants.
Intel famously got seasonal yield losses which they traced to agricultural activities, and seasonal chicken coup cleaning.