Dr. Andreas Jantschak | Chemical Lab, Environmental Manager, Hamburg, Germany

Dr. Andreas Jantschak, who heads the Hamburg team for reducing PFC emissions in our manufacturing facilities, says that they're already “well below the target” for 2010. That's good news for us and even better news for the environment.

Perfluorocompounds (PFCs) are essential chemicals in today's semiconductor manufacturing processes. When it comes to etching integrated circuitry features onto silicon wafers or cleaning the internal chambers of deposition equipment, PFCs have no equal. Without them, semiconductor companies would not be able to produce the complex, high-performance ICs that have become so essential in our daily lives.

Unfortunately, these same chemicals are highly potent greenhouse gases. They're generally very stable and, when released into the atmosphere, can absorb a lot of heat. As a result, they can have a negative impact on global warming.

In Germany, as in many other countries, industry groups are working to meet government targets for PFC reduction. NXP supports these efforts. Several years ago, we were part of the voluntary agreement, made between the German government and CEOs of the German semiconductor industry, to achieve a 10% reduction from the 1995 baseline by 2010. That same goal is part of our company-wide EcoVison program, so all our facilities, not just those in Germany, are working toward a common reduction target.

Andreas is co-lead on the PFC task force for the German semiconductor industry. “All of Germany's semiconductor companies have taken action and started successful programs that promise to have a positive influence on the environment. It's looking good for meeting the target.”

It's looking especially good at NXP's manufacturing site in Hamburg. Andreas and his colleagues have refined their process technologies, developing a special etch process that makes better use of PFCs. They've also changed gases, switching to a PFC with a lower global warming potential (GWP). Andreas points out that PFCs are expensive, so using fewer PFCs has the added benefit of saving money, too.

In 2007 and 2008, the site invested in modern PFCabatement equipment that uses a special burner-scrubber technology to remove PFCs from the exhaust. “They have an efficiency of between 95 and 99%," says Andreas, "and have made a big difference.”

In 2009, the economic crisis helped create a drop in PFC emissions because production was scaled back. But Andreas isn't worried. “Thanks to our new abatement systems, we're likely to remain well below our target even if we increase production volume.”