Solution-2

A reduction of the initial particles that occurred when the customer’s system was started up

We were contacted by a customer who had been struggling for years to reduce the initial particles that occurred from the yttria coating parts when his semiconductor manufacturing system was started up.
As a result of observation under magnification, we hypothesized that a weak area of the surface layer that had been crushed was peeling off, causing the problem. Together with the customer, we did an implementation investigative analysis, whereupon we determined that the weak area on the surface was indeed the cause.
Determining the cause and solution enabled the initial particles to be reduced by 90%, which in turn led to a shortening of the system’s start-up time.

Results of SEM surface observation

The existence on the coating surface of a crushed area that easily peeled off was confirmed. By removing it, the particles were reduced.