Visualization of Particle Retention Profiles in Advanced Filtration Media with Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy for Semiconductor Applications

Filtration is critical to semiconductor processing applications such as photolithography and wafer cleaning, while filtration mechanisms can be especially complex due to the variety of solvents being used and complicated particle-filter interactions. In this paper, an imaging method enabled by confocal fluorescence microscopy is presented to directly reveal particle capture profiles in filtration membranes. Specifically, several filter membranes used for semiconductor processing applications have been studied, including polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyethylene (PE), and polyarylsulfone (PAS). This method can provide insights into filtration mechanisms and facilitate the design and optimization of filter membranes used for semiconductor processing applications.