(184c) Distillation of Pyrophoric Materials UNDER High Vacuum

Distillation is still the primary means of producing ultra-high purity raw materials for the microelectronic industries. While most microelectronic raw materials are distilled at atmospheric pressure, some materials such as dopants and other higher boiling point materials must be distilled at reduced pressures for either easier processing or to prevent thermal decomposition.

Many dopants must be distilled at extremely low pressures, which causes many problems with both product purity as well as significant safety concerns.

We will discuss process design as well as operating procedures with examples from both microelectronic materials as well as from the metal processing industry. Interesting aspects for system design and operations required for process safety will be discussed where these are closely related to high vacuum processing. These are especially important when dealing with materials that are air and/or water sensitive.