April 10 — DUBLIN, OH — The Electronic Chemicals Division of Ashland Specialty Chemical Company, a division of Ashland Inc. plans to open a 40,000-square-foot facility in Carrollton, Texas, to support the regional microelectronics industry’s needs for cleaning, preventive maintenance and rebuilding of processing equipment components.
The new facility, in the heart of the Dallas area microelectronics hub, will be Ashland’s largest facility for servicing semiconductor tool components. The cost of the facility was not disclosed.
Scheduled to open in the fall of 2001, the facility will offer wet and dry cleaning processes, along with preventive maintenance and component rebuilding services. It will expand on services Ashland currently provides at facilities in Tempe, Ariz., and Austin, Texas.
“Ashland has the expertise, logistics and commitment to support the semiconductor industry’s stringent cycle-time requirements for this essential service,” said Charles W. Cook, Jr., vice president and general manager, Ashland’s Electronic Chemicals Division (ECD).
Mike Pregent, ECD’s Fab Services manager said the new Carrollton complex will use a design similar to a semiconductor fab layout and will incorporate a wide range of capabilities. “We will utilize a number of mini- environments at the Carrollton complex, enabling us to isolate certain operations and emphasize contamination controls,” he explained.
Pregent noted that wet cleaning areas are designed with separate stations dedicated to specific cleaning chemistries including corrosives, caustics and solvents, while allowing the versatility to accommodate customer-specific requirements. Capabilities will support the cleaning, rebuilding and service needs from implant, diffusion, etch, photolithography, and thin film areas of semiconductor manufacturing.
All implant source rebuilding operations, final CO2 cleaning and packing operations will be conducted within strictly controlled ISO Class 5 (Class 100) cleanroom environments certified in compliance with National Environmental Balancing Bureau procedures.