Semiconductor industry manufacturers use Teflon™ coatings to prevent chip and component contamination from airborne particles. In “clean rooms,” where often no personnel are even permitted, manufacturers coat equipment parts with Teflon™ coatings to keep any extraneous particles from entering the manufacturing process.

How Are Teflon™ Coatings High Purity? 

The high purity and inertness properties of Teflon™ coatings have several secondary benefits in clean rooms. Teflon™ coatings have superior reliability, retention, and durability while also preventing contamination of any kind. Another benefit is that Teflon™ coatings are easy to clean. This is due to another Teflon™ coating property—“non-wetting.”

Non-wetting means that Teflon™ coatings are both hydrophobic and oleophobic, making cleanup easier and more thorough. Hydrophobic substances repel the polar ions in water and resist wetting. The low surface energy of the coatings means that the cohesive forces in the water are strong enough to make the water bead up and not spread across the surface of the coating. Oleophobic means oil molecules are “repelled” from the surface. To be completely accurate, molecules are not repelled, rather there is a complete lack of any attraction.

Teflon™ Coatings in Semiconductor Manufacturing

PFA topcoats are also popular for semiconductor factory applications because of their versatility, abrasion resistance, and purity. PFA topcoats are often used for coat liquid tanks, liquid nozzles, and semiconductor wafer carriers. The non-wetting property of Teflon™ coatings is especially important for coating laboratory glassware, such as beakers and test tubes, in order to minimize cross-contamination.

Teflon™ coatings also coat less critical semiconductor industry parts, such as robotic armatures, for corrosion resistance. Popular one-coat options include the FEP Epoxy Liquid line that comes in green (954G-304) or black (954G-303). These coatings resist chemicals and chemical vapors and can be easily cleaned.