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The Sievers UPW Boron Analyzer accurately measures boron in parts-per-trillion levels.

The Sievers UPW Boron Analyzer enables manufacturers to control harmful silica. Numerous published papers have documented that in a typical UPW system, boron is the first contaminant to be released from a mixed-resin bed, preceding silica by a significant period of time (see boron-related papers in the Library). At the point of measurable increases in silica concentration, boron breakthrough has typically been underway for a prolonged period of time, causing significant exposure to processes that may be sensitive to boron intrusion. Until the Sievers UPW Boron Analyzer was introduced, however, there was no convenient on-line way to accurately measure boron at the low parts-per-trillion levels needed to determine mixed-bed exhaustion.

The Sievers UPW Boron Analyzer can run up to 10 analyses per hour and has a detection limit of 15 ppt B. It offers a simple way to predict mixed-bed exhaustion, optimize EDI performance and control polish loop boron levels. The UPW Boron Analyzer achieves the same sensitivity of ICP-MS, has demonstrated better accuracy (see Intel paper, "Progress Report on New On-Line Boron Analysis Research") and does so at a fraction of the cost and without the need for an operator. Applying the analyzer to limit boron loading of non-regenerable polishing resins significantly extends the life of those resins, saving more than the cost of the analyzer in a short period of time (see "Controlling Boron Levels in Semiconductor UPW using an Experimental On-line Boron Analyzer").

Other Boron Analyzer applications include:

• At the outlet of primary mixed-resin beds. Boron is released from these beds prior to silica (see boron-related technical papers in the Library), and continuous monitoring of bed effluent provides operators with the earliest indication of changing bed conditions and bed exhaustion.
• At the outlet of polishing resins. The earliest indicator of polishing resin exhaustion, and a potential contaminant in wafer processing, real-time boron data from the polishing bed effluent is critical to today's advanced fabrication facilities.
• At the outlet of Electrodeionization units. A well-run EDI balances power consumption against contaminant removal. Boron is weakly ionic, and is a critical indicator of EDI performance (see two technical papers by Steve Chen).
• Regeneration processes. An expected source of boron in any UPW system is regenerated resins. Boron specifications for regenerated resins help ensure the lowest possible boron loading of UPW systems, thus minimizing future regenerations and polish resin contaminant loading.