GORE UPW Filters Improve Water Quality and Particle Retention in Microelectronics Manufacturing

Gore has used its expertise in ePTFE materials and membrane technology to engineer a family of filters that offer 3x the flow rate of best-in-class filters without sacrificing particle retention, and that can be easily substituted for filters in the field that no longer meet performance or cost requirements. They also can provide a more economical alternative to ultrafiltration (UF) modules.

Applications include a US semiconductor fab that replaced its Nylon pre-filters with GORE 0.01 µm filters in its UPW facility. The high flow rate of the GORE® Filters enabled the manufacturer to replace 840 10-inch equivalents with only 210, reducing their total cost of filtration by more than 50%.

TSMC Shanghai has demonstrated that the GORE® HR (high retention) filters provide a significantly lower-cost alternative (50% less capital expenditure) to ultrafiltration modules and will meet the needs for most ultrapure water systems.

A major semiconductor manufacturer in Asia has replaced a large-pore-size guard filter with GORE® 0.1 µm filters -- instead of installing an additional skid of expensive UF filters -- to address periodic water quality problems, provide protection against system upsets, and reduce baseline counts during normal operations.

GORE® Filters incorporate Gore’s proprietary high-flow ePTFE (expanded polytetrafluoroethylene) filtration media. Gore technology has been used for decades in the world’s best-performing filters for semiconductor, electronics, high-purity chemical and pharmaceutical applications.