Advanced quality control of quartz parts for semiconductor equipment based on the food industry´s well-established QC methodology (HACCP)

Quartz parts used in semiconductor equipment contains metal impurities that originate in manufacturing processes. Unfortunately, it is impossible to analyze all quartz parts for metallic contamination in order to determine the quantity of contamination because of destruction analysis. It has thus been considered difficult to control metallic contamination of quartz parts. In this study, to solve this problem, we applied the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) methodology, which is a well-established quality control methodology in the food industry, to control metallic contamination in quartz parts manufacturing processes. The results have demonstrated that we succeeded in reducing the quantity and variation of metallic contamination in quartz parts.