| HS Code | 773743 |
| Appearance | Light yellow transparent liquid |
| Chemicaltype | Modified polyether/polysiloxane |
| Activecontent | 100% |
| Ph | 6.0 - 8.0 |
| Specificgravity | 1.00 - 1.05 at 25°C |
| Viscosity | 50 - 200 cP at 25°C |
| Watersolubility | Dispersible/slightly soluble in water |
| Foamsuppressionefficiency | ≥95% |
| Defoamingrate | Rapid defoaming within 30 seconds |
| Totalmetallicioncontent | ≤1 ppm (Na, K, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn) |
| Particlesize | ≤0.5 μm |
| Storagetemperature | 5°C - 40°C |
| Shelflife | 12 months from date of manufacture |
As an accredited CMP Defoamer Electronic/EL Grade factory, we enforce strict quality protocols—every batch undergoes rigorous testing to ensure consistent efficacy and safety standards.
| Packing | CMP Defoamer Electronic/EL Grade is supplied in 1 L HDPE bottles, nitrogen-purged and double-sealed for ultrapure handling. |
| Container Loading (20′ FCL) | 20′ FCL: CMP Defoamer Electronic/EL Grade loaded in sealed drums on pallets, secured with dunnage, labeled, and containerized safely. |
| Shipping | CMP Defoamer Electronic/EL Grade ships in clean, sealed HDPE containers to preserve purity. Protect from freezing, direct sunlight, and contamination. Standard ground freight is suitable; no dangerous goods classification expected. Ensure containers are upright and adequately cushioned to prevent leakage during transport. |
| Storage | Store CMP Defoamer Electronic/EL Grade in a sealed, original container in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area. Keep away from direct sunlight, heat, ignition sources, and incompatible oxidizing agents. Avoid moisture ingress and contamination. Maintain temperatures between 5–35°C. Ensure container is tightly closed when not in use and handle with clean equipment. |
| Shelf Life | Shelf life is 12 months from manufacture date when stored tightly sealed in original container at room temperature. |
Foam generation in ceria- or silica-based oxide interlayer dielectric (ILD) slurries is observed primarily at point-of-use blending stations where DI water, oxidizer and slurry concentrate are mixed under 5–15 psi supply pressure. The incorporation of 0.01–0.05 wt% of a non-silicone CMP defoamer electronic/EL grade into the slurry concentrate suppresses stable microbubble films that otherwise survive inline vacuum degassing and deposit on 300 mm wafer surfaces as circular film residues. Compliance for this application is governed by SEMI C93-0618 metal impurity limits—sodium and potassium typically below 100 ppb in diluted slurry—and by ASTM D3601-88(2014) foam volume decay measurement in aqueous media. Filter compatibility is verified by passing the formulated slurry through 0.5 µm polypropylene depth filters without pressure rise greater than 10% over a 24 h recirculation interval. Production-scale polishing occurs on rotary CMP platforms with platen speeds of 30–90 rpm, downforce of 1.5–4.0 psi, and slurry flow rates of 100–300 mL/min per 300 mm wafer. Die-level end products linked to this slurry application include logic ICs with 28–3 nm node copper/low-k interconnect stacks, DRAM cell arrays, and 3D NAND flash wafers where post-ILD planarization defect density below 0.05 defects/cm² of killer defects is required. The defoamer is incompatible with strong alkaline slurry variants above pH 10.5 due to ester hydrolysis; published data for mixed abrasive slurries at high pH is limited.
In tungsten plug and via planarization, the slurry is maintained at pH 2.0–3.5 to stabilize the colloidal abrasives and maintain tungsten removal rate. Hydrogen peroxide or ferric nitrate is injected at the point of use to oxidize tungsten, and gas evolution from peroxide decomposition creates microbubbles that attach to pad asperities and cause chatter marks on 300 mm wafers. The CMP defoamer electronic/EL grade is metered into the slurry concentrate at 0.01–0.03 wt% of total slurry mass. Compliance is assessed by SEMI C93-0618 trace metal limits and ASTM D3601-88(2014) foam collapse time; cleanroom compatibility follows ISO 14644-1:2015 Class 4 for slurry preparation areas. The polishing operation uses rotary or orbital polishers with 0.5–1.0 psi downforce for tungsten bulk polish and 1.0–2.5 psi for buff polish, platen speeds of 40–100 rpm, and slurry flow rates of 150–350 mL/min. Wafers processed in this step are used for tungsten contact plugs and vias in DRAM, NAND flash, and CMOS logic devices, where post-CMP tungsten recess must remain below 10 nm for contact resistance stability. Cationic defoamer variants are contraindicated because they can bridge-flocculate negatively charged colloidal silica abrasives at zeta potentials below -20 mV, causing slurry particle size growth and defect excursions.
Copper damascene post-CMP cleaning formulations based on dilute organic acids and azole corrosion inhibitors exhibit foaming in megasonic batch immersion tools operating at 25–60 °C. The defoamer is introduced at 0.001–0.01 wt% of the cleaning bath volume to prevent foam carryover into the subsequent PVA brush scrubber module without depositing organic residues on 300 mm copper wafers. Compliance for metal contamination is evaluated against SEMI C93-0618, and particulate cleanliness is verified by ISO 14644-1:2015 Class 5 protocols for cleaning chemistry handling. Foaming behavior is measured with ASTM D3601-88(2014) in the presence of the chelating agents and azole inhibitors used in the cleaning formulation. The cleaning process involves single-wafer spray tools with 1.0–2.0 MPa spray pressure, megasonic transducer arrays at 0.8–1.2 W/cm², and nitrogen sparge at 0.5–2.0 L/min per chamber. Wafers exiting this cleaning step are integrated into copper/low-k interconnect stacks for advanced logic and DRAM, where post-clean copper surface roughness below 0.5 nm RMS by atomic force microscopy is required. Incompatibility exists with strong oxidizing post-CMP cleaners containing persulfate at concentrations above 0.5 wt%, where defoamer oxidation can generate sub-0.1 µm organic particles and raise defect counts.
Shallow trench isolation planarization slurries containing ceria abrasives and anionic dispersants show foam stabilization at the slurry return line of high-shear recirculation loops, especially when tank turnover exceeds 10 tank volumes per hour. The defoamer is added at 0.005–0.04 wt% of slurry mass, with the lower bound used for high-selectivity slurries where surface tension depression beyond 2 mN/m risks nitride erosion changes. Compliance requires SEMI C93-0618 metal contamination limits, ASTM D3601-88(2014) foam persistence evaluation, and ISO 14644-1:2015 Class 5 for slurry blending rooms. Polishing is performed on linear or rotary polishers, with downforce of 1.0–3.0 psi, platen speed of 30–80 rpm, and point-of-use filtration at 0.5 µm to remove agglomerated particles. Devices produced on these planarized wafers include power management integrated circuits, CMOS image sensors, and embedded non-volatile memory wafers where STI step height variation must remain below 5 nm within a die. A practical boundary is that extended high-shear recirculation above 10,000 s⁻¹ shear rate can reduce defoamer efficacy over 72 h; published data for this specific configuration is limited, so point-of-use foam monitoring is recommended.
Through-silicon via copper reveal uses bulk copper CMP slurries containing high-purity silica abrasives, complexing agents, and inhibitors. Foam in the slurry distribution system is generated by pad grooving and high platen speeds, and it becomes trapped in the high-aspect-ratio via field area during the final copper clearing step. The electronic/EL grade defoamer is dosed at 0.01–0.05 wt% of total slurry mass, with the upper bound limited by the need to maintain copper removal rate and avoid organic residue on the polished via surface. Compliance is evaluated to SEMI C93-0618, ASTM D3601-88(2014) foam decay, and RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU for downstream assembled device export. Polishing of TSV copper reveal is performed on high-downforce rotary tools at 3–6 psi for copper bulk removal and 0.5–1.5 psi for barrier clearing, with platen speeds of 50–120 rpm and slurry flow rates of 200–400 mL/min. The resulting TSV-bearing wafers are assembled into 2.5D interposers, high-bandwidth memory stacks, and 3D-integrated circuits where TSV reveal height uniformity below 2% across a 300 mm wafer is required. The defoamer should not be combined with amine-based slurry additives above 0.1 wt% because premature pH elevation can desorb the inhibitor layer and destabilize the abrasive dispersion.
Double-sided polishing of aluminosilicate display glass substrates with cerium oxide slurries produces persistent froth in recirculation tanks when defoaming is absent, reducing slurry pump efficiency and creating glass surface pitting. An electronic/EL grade CMP defoamer is metered into the polishing slurry at 0.02–0.08 wt% of total slurry mass, with dosing rate adjusted by foam height sensors and slurry flow return pressure. Compliance is governed by SEMI C93-0618 metallic contamination limits for electronic-grade glass, ISO 14644-1:2015 Class 5 for cleanroom polishing bays, and REACH Annex XVII restrictions on residual surfactant chemistry. Downstream process equipment includes double-sided planetary polishing machines with upper and lower platens at 20–60 rpm, slurry recirculation rates of 20–100 L/min, and 1 µm inline filtration. Finished glass article types produced from this operation include LCD glass substrates, OLED carrier glass, and touch panel cover glass where surface roughness must remain below 0.3 nm RMS after post-polish cleaning. The defoamer is not recommended for use in strong alkaline texturing chemistries above pH 10.5 due to ester group hydrolysis and subsequent foaming rebound.
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The CMP Defoamer Electronic/EL Grade is a low-viscosity liquid defoamer manufactured for aqueous chemical mechanical planarization slurries where trace-metal contamination, particle shedding, and filtration compatibility are process variables. The product is supplied under the EL Grade designation, which separates it from industrial defoamer concentrates that are not subject to the same lot-release protocol. Physical properties at 25 °C include a rotational viscosity of 50–200 mPa·s measured by ASTM D2196, density of 0.98–1.01 g/cm³ by ASTM D4052, and non-volatile matter below 0.05 wt% by ISO 3251:2019. The material is water-dispersible and is filtered through 0.2 µm hydrophilic membrane cartridges before packaging. The EL Grade is normally dosed into formulated oxide, tungsten, or copper CMP slurries at 0.005–0.050 wt% of total slurry mass; in a 200 L day tank filled to 80 % capacity this corresponds to 10–100 g per batch. Because the defoamer can be shear-sensitive, it is injected downstream of point-of-use filtration or after final slurry blending where additional high-shear dispersion is not required for foam control.
Industrial defoamer concentrates are typically specified by viscosity, solids content, and short-term foam-kill time. They are not routinely controlled for alkali and transition metal ions, non-volatile residue, or particle counts above the 0.2 µm threshold because their end uses do not generate patterned-wafer defectivity risks. In CMP slurry operations those properties become critical. The EL Grade is released only after inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis shows sodium and potassium below 50 ppb each, total transition metals below 200 ppb, and particle concentrations of <10 particles/mL for particles at or above 0.2 µm using a liquid-borne optical particle counter calibrated per ISO 21501-2:2018. General-purpose defoamers may contain 1,000–10,000 ppb sodium and may exhibit visible particle settling after 72 h at 40 °C. The EL Grade is also filtered to remove pre-existing aggregates that can act as nuclei for slurry particle agglomeration. The product does not require high-shear mixing to disperse; it forms a fine aqueous dispersion when added downstream of the slurry filter. Many industrial grades must be pre-diluted with organic co-solvents that can alter slurry surface tension and complicate waste treatment.
| Parameter | Test method | Electronic/EL Grade | Industrial reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viscosity at 25 °C | ASTM D2196 | 50–200 mPa·s | 100–1,000 mPa·s |
| Density at 25 °C | ASTM D4052 | 0.98–1.01 g/cm³ | 0.95–1.05 g/cm³ |
| Non-volatile matter | ISO 3251:2019 | <0.05 wt% | 0.5–5 wt% |
| Particle concentration ≥ 0.2 µm | ISO 21501-2:2018 | <10 particles/mL | not specified |
| Sodium | EPA Method 6020B | <50 ppb | 1,000–10,000 ppb |
| Total transition metals | EPA Method 6020B | <200 ppb | not specified |
Foam control in CMP slurry is not simply a matter of reducing Ross-Miles foam height. Aqueous foam in oxide and tungsten slurries can create pump cavitation, flow-meter instability, and microvoid defects on the wafer, especially when slurry is delivered through 1/2 in or 3/4 in PFA lines to a 300 mm polisher with a platen speed of 63 rpm and a wafer downforce of 2.0 psi. In a recirculation loop with a 20 L/min diaphragm pump and a 50 L tank, foam layers above 2 cm can cause level-sensor errors and intermittent air entrainment. The EL Grade is formulated to reduce the foam layer to <5 mm under such conditions at 0.02 wt%. Defoaming efficacy is evaluated using a modified ASTM D3519 Ross-Miles method: foam height after 60 s is reduced by more than 70 % when the defoamer is added at 0.02 wt% to a pH 10.5 silica slurry containing 12 wt% fumed silica and 1.0 wt% nonionic wetting agent. The kinematic viscosity of the dosed slurry remains below 5 mm²/s, so the defoamer does not alter slurry rheology at point of use. Shear stability is qualified by passing the dosed slurry through a 0.2 µm polypropylene depth filter and monitoring differential pressure over 24 h; an increase of less than 10 % is the acceptance limit for filter compatibility.
On a 300 mm oxide platform, filtration compatibility is a primary difference between electronic-grade and industrial defoamer formulations. The EL Grade is manufactured to pass a 0.2 µm hydrophilic polyvinylidene fluoride capsule filter at 25 °C and a differential pressure of 1.0 bar without rapid flux decline. In a 300 mm oxide CMP process using a 200 mL/min slurry flow rate and a 4 in point-of-use filter cartridge with a rated pore size of 0.2 µm, filter pressure rise over 50 wafer passes remains below 15 % of initial pressure when the EL Grade is present at 0.02 wt%. Particle retention is measured on filtered slurry by a liquid-borne optical particle counter calibrated per ISO 21501-2:2018; post-filter slurry typically contains <100 particles/mL at ≥0.1 µm and <10 particles/mL at ≥0.2 µm. On a patterned 300 mm oxide wafer polished on an IC1000 pad with in-situ diamond conditioning, the addition of 0.02 wt% EL Grade has not increased the defect count assigned to large slurry aggregates in the 0.16–0.50 µm bin beyond baseline. The result is significant because sub-50 nm CMP defects are often caused by particle agglomeration triggered by incompatible antifoam additives. The EL Grade avoids that failure mode by limiting trace-metal content and avoiding polymeric flocculants present in many industrial grades.
Chemical compatibility must be established separately for each slurry platform. The EL Grade is stable in aqueous slurries from pH 2.0 to 11.0 for at least 30 days at 25 °C, as evaluated by dynamic light scattering per ISO 22412:2017. Prolonged contact with hydrogen peroxide above 5 wt% at pH below 3.0 can reduce defoaming persistence after 72 h in a sealed 1 L high-density polyethylene bottle stored at 25 °C. In tungsten slurries containing ferric nitrate with redox potential above 600 mV versus Ag/AgCl, compatibility testing should include both defoaming efficiency and particle-size stability because oxidative degradation of some defoamer structures can form surface-active fragments that increase foam or adsorb on abrasive particles. The EL Grade is not recommended for strongly alkaline slurries above pH 12.5 if the slurry also contains >20 wt% potassium hydroxide, because saponification or viscosity increase may occur depending on the defoamer backbone. For copper barrier CMP formulations containing benzotriazole above 0.1 wt% and hydrogen peroxide at 1–3 wt%, the EL Grade is typically dosed at 0.01–0.03 wt% and re-evaluated after 24 h of continuous recirculation on a 300 mm polisher at 1.5 psi downforce to confirm that removal rate and dishing change is below 5 % of baseline.
In copper CMP, the slurry is often recirculated through a day tank and point-of-use filtration to maintain uniform hydrogen peroxide concentration and abrasive suspension. Foam generation in such systems is highest at the return line to the slurry tank where air is entrained. In a 300 mm copper polish platform operating at 1.5 psi downforce, 93 rpm platen speed, and 250 mL/min slurry flow, foam layer thickness in the return tank can exceed 5 cm without defoamer. The EL Grade at 0.02 wt% reduces the foam layer to <3 mm and maintains dissolved oxygen at 8–10 mg/L during 8 h of continuous polishing. The defoamer is added to the slurry day tank after hydrogen peroxide injection because direct contact between concentrated defoamer and 30 wt% hydrogen peroxide can create a local interfacial reaction that reduces defoamer activity. The material is metered with a peristaltic pump at a flow rate of 2.0 mL/min for a 50 L slurry batch, approximating a 0.02 wt% dose. The defoamer must not be added before a 0.1 µm point-of-use membrane filter because shear stress through the filter can destabilize the defoamer dispersion and produce fouling. Published data for this specific configuration is limited; therefore, each slurry formulation incorporating the EL Grade should be qualified over a 50-wafer marathon on the target polishing tool.
Trace-metal control is verified by ICP-MS after closed-vessel acid digestion based on EPA Method 6020B. Acceptance limits for sodium, potassium, and aluminum are <50 ppb each; iron, chromium, nickel, and copper are <20 ppb each; and total heavy metals are <200 ppb. Anions are measured by ion chromatography per ASTM D4327, with chloride below 100 ppb, sulfate below 200 ppb, and nitrate below 100 ppb. Moisture content is controlled between 0.05 wt% and 0.40 wt% by Karl Fischer titration per ASTM D6304. Packaged material is nitrogen-blanketed and stored at 5–35 °C; excursions above 40 °C may raise turbidity and reduce filterability. Unlined carbon steel or copper alloy transfer equipment is not acceptable because corrosion-derived trace metal contamination can exceed lot acceptance limits. The sum of volatile organic compounds is below 0.1 wt% by headspace gas chromatography per ISO 11890-2:2020.
| Property | Acceptance limit | Test method or standard | Release frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viscosity at 25 °C | 50–200 mPa·s | ASTM D2196 | each lot |
| Density at 25 °C | 0.98–1.01 g/cm³ | ASTM D4052 | each lot |
| pH at 10 % aqueous dispersion | 5.0–7.5 | ASTM E70 | each lot |
| Non-volatile matter | <0.05 wt% | ISO 3251:2019 | each lot |
| Particle concentration ≥ 0.2 µm | <10 particles/mL | ISO 21501-2:2018 | each lot |
| Sodium / potassium | <50 ppb each | EPA Method 6020B | each lot |
| Transition metals | <20 ppb per element; <200 ppb total | EPA Method 6020B | each lot |
| Chloride | <100 ppb | ASTM D4327 | quarterly |
On a production-scale oxide slurry blending skid with a 500 L tank and a 30 L/min recirculation loop, batch-to-batch foam variability was reduced when the EL Grade was introduced after pH trim and after the final heat-exchange step. Adding the defoamer while the slurry was still above 45 °C shortened defoaming persistence after 24 h; acceptable practice is to add the material when slurry temperature is below 35 °C. In-line dosing through a 60 mL positive-displacement pump into the recirculation return line, followed by a 1.5 in static mixer with 12 mixing elements, provided a defoamer concentration standard deviation below 10 % of target across 10 consecutive batches. Incompatibility was observed with a separate slurry additive containing an amine-functional silane coupling agent; the resulting filter pressure increase was attributed to localized emulsion destabilization. Therefore, the EL Grade should not be combined with amine-based silane additives without a pre-mix compatibility test using a 0.2 µm filter challenge apparatus.
