Specialty chemicals company LANXESS has developed a new mixed-bed resin for ultra-pure water in semiconductor production. In comparison with the established Lewatit UltraPure 1296 MD mixed bed, the new UltraPure 1296 MD PLUS boasts a much lower content of metals such as iron, zinc and sodium. Early installations of the product as a final polishing filter in semiconductor manufacturing have yielded results close to the current analytical limits of detection.

LANXESS will be unveiling its new type of ion exchange resin to trade visitors at the UltraPure Micro conference being held in Austin in the US state of Texas from October 10 to 12, 2023.

“The Lewatit UltraPure 1296 MD PLUS produced in Germany is a vital component for cost-effective, sustainable and fault-free manufacturing in the fast-growing international semiconductor industry,” says Hans-Juergen Wedemeyer, Technical Marketing Manager at the Liquid Purification Technologies business unit at LANXESS.

The manufacturing of semiconductors and displays calls for complex water treatment to ensure that the water used is of the required purity. The latest generation of wafers and microchips demands a correspondingly high level of quality from the ion exchange resin systems employed.

The ultra-pure water can be used in etching and cleaning processes in microchip production. “The high total capacity and degree of regeneration of the anion and cation exchange resins also result in excellent operating capacity for the removal of boron and silica, as well as metal ions,” says Wedemeyer.

“The bead sizes of the monodisperse components are designed to avoid an inadvertent separation of cation and anion exchange resins. Due to the special production process for Lewatit UltraPure 1296 MD PLUS, the release of particles and TOC is within an extremely low range,” adds Wedemeyer.