Intellectual Property Law

US Patent 7784178 - CNT-LCP material for semiconductor fab container

Semiconductor fabrication wafer containers are purged with inert gases such as nitrogen to reduce moisture, oxygen, or other contaminants. However, the barrier materials typically used in such containers make repeated purging necessary. This patent from Intel teaches using a liquid crystal polymer with carbon nanomaterial as the barrier material to reduce the frequency of purging. Claim 1 reads:

1. An apparatus, comprising:

an enclosure to contain one or more environmentally sensitive devices associated with semiconductor manufacture,

the enclosure comprising a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) to provide a barrier against at least water and oxygen and providing purging requirements of purging of between about 30 to 50 hours to maintain a relative humidity in the enclosure of less than about 10%,

the liquid crystal polymer (LCP) comprising a carbon nanotube material, a carbon multi-wall nanotube (MWNT), or carbon powder in the LCP; and

a door coupled with the enclosure.

Full post as published by TinytechIP on September 01, 2010 (boomark / email).