Development of a simplified carbon footprinting methodology for the semiconductor industry

This study aims to establish a parametric-based tool capable of identifying key factors of the complicated manufacturing processes (both front- and back-ends) in the semiconductor industry to simplify the calculation of carbon footprint of products (CFP). Development of this methodology for front-end processes has been completed. First, an inventory of carbon emissions from a total of 7,114 samples was conducted, down to each “move,” including all 6-, 8-, and 12-in wafer processes. Several regression models for CFP, which include key parameters, were developed. The results indicate that these regression models can effectively predict the CFP of the front-end processes. Our developed simplified carbon footprinting methodology can reduce the requirements of time, cost, and information of the product for traditional LCA. Furthermore, it also provides criteria for green design via quantity adjustments of key parameters.