New chip solvent cuts wastes

Scientists at the US Department of Energy's Los Alamos Laboratory have found an alternative to the huge amounts of corrosive chemicals and water that are currently used to remove photoresists from semiconductors during manufacturing. The Los Alamos group and associated Hewlett-Packard researchers have found that highly pressurized carbon dioxide behaves as a liquid solvent and, when combined with small amounts of a cosolvent, will dissolve photoresists and carry them away. The process leaves virtually no hazardous wastes behind and the carbon dioxide and the cosolvents can be reused.

The source article is at beyond2000.