Environmental analysis in clean rooms using total reflection X-ray fluorescence Technique

Clean rooms have come into wide use in the field of various manufacturing industries as well as semiconducting industry. The measurement of airborne particles in the clean rooms, therefore, gains increasing importance. However particle counters are the only instrument used for this purpose. We have developed a new method to analyze airborne particles of trace amount in the clean rooms using the total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) technique. Especially, our method of collecting particles meets both the requirements of short collecting times and no contamination. In our measurements of some clean rooms with same clean levels, we were able to find characteristic chemical elements and trace the source of the particles. (author)