Factory Mutal and Sematech establish protocols

10/01/1998

Factory Mutual and SEMATECH establish protocols

Work has begun in earnest at Factory Mutual`s research and engineering arm on a SEMATECH-contracted project that will help establish protocols for determining how new noncombustible plastics fit with existing fab processes.

The project could be seen as a milestone of sorts for Factory Mutual, a property loss control engineering operation directed by three of the industry`s top insurance companies - Allendale Insurance, Arkwright, and Protection Mutual Insurance. Its independent research arm, Factory Mutual Research Corp. (FMRC), was selected from a pool of three other suppliers to devise a set of procedures that can be used to check a material`s leaching, outgassing, and chemical resistance properties.

While the group has been advocating use of noncombustible materials for wet benches and throughout cleanrooms, this project brings it one step beyond property loss issues. In fact, assistant VP Greg Hazlett, Allendale`s semiconductor and cleanroom industries specialist working with the Factory Mutual researchers assigned to the SEMATECH project, said the group had always taken the stance that process compatibility was not Factory Mutual`s area of expertise.

"(The project) really does go beyond fire protection science," Hazlett said, noting that the SEMATECH contract surprised many in the makes Factory Mutual, as well as Allendale, a more all-around expert and consultant to the industry."

After seeing cleanroom fires and losses skyrocket in recent years, Factory Mutual began its thrust for an inherently fire-safe fab. FMRC developed a cleanroom materials flammability test protocol (known as FM4910) and apparatus; materials that now meet the protocol requirements are approved by Factory Mutual for use in cleanrooms.

But a material`s suitability for fab use goes beyond fire safety into process compatibility and machinability issues. Work under the SEMATECH contract, which began earlier this year and is expected to be completed by year-end, is aimed at developing the process compatibility methodology. Evaluation of a material`s ease of construction is not included in the contract assigned to FMRC, but Avtar Jassal, the International SEMATECH project manager overseeing the work, said SEMATECH recognizes this as an important piece, and is determining whether a weldability project could be undertaken.

Jassal emphasized that the goal of the process compatibility work is not to promote any particular material, but rather to develop a method of evaluating the materials. "We are not here to be a clearinghouse of materials," he said.

In developing the methodology, polypropylene, FRPP, and PVC - traditional wet bench materials that do not meet FM4910 standards - will be used as baseline or reference materials. Until now, these materials, Jassal points out, have also not been evaluated along process compatibility lines.

A handful of the newer FM4910 approved materials - such as Corzan CPVC, Halar, PVDF - will also be tested along with the baseline materials. Both sets of materials will be measured on several indexes: leaching, chemical resistance, off-gassing, and surface deposit, said Jassal. Balazs Analytical Laboratory will also participate in the work as a sub-contractor to FMRC. - C.L.