How To Choose Semiconductor Clean Room Wall Panels? Clean Room Panel Classification And Application

The semiconductor industry is a unique field that is at risk of any particles, static electricity, and volatile gases, yes even minute minute impurities that are not quite visible to the naked eye can cause a low yield in chips. Thus, construction of a solid, secure and manageable Semiconductor Clean Room is the central point of chip manufacturing firms.

Clean Room Panels directly influence airtightness, fire resistance, anti-static performance and effortlessness in cleaning a clean room, which in effect is the skeleton of the whole clean room in terms of unseen walls. This paper will describe the classification and use of clean room panels in a systematic manner with regard to the particularities and aspects of the selection of wall panels in the semiconductor industry. This is going to enable you not to fall into selection traps and create a really qualified industrial clean room.

Main Types of Clean Room Panels and Their Applications

Currently, mainstream cleanroom wall panels are classified into the following categories based on core material, performance, and installation structure:

1. PU Polyurethane Sandwich Panels

• Characteristics: Great thermal insulation, light in weight and comparatively cheap.

• Applicable: Food processing and packaging areas, and wherever treatment of medium cleanroom requirement is desired.

2. EPS Polystyrene Sandwich Panels

• Features: Low price, average thermal insulation, and unsuitable for high-humidity environments.

• Applicable: Temporary cleanroom areas or projects with strict cost controls.

3. Rock Wool Sandwich Panels

• Features: Grade A fireproofing, excellent sound insulation, and structural stability.

• Applicable: Pharmaceuticals, laboratories, and electronics workshops, among other sites where fire protection regulations are observed to the end.

4. Silicon Rock Panel

• Features:  Good fireproof appeal, anti-moisture and anti-bacterial feature, fit in the application area of high clean room demands.

• Applicable: High-humidity or chemical environments, such as pharmaceutical workshops and microbiology labs.

5. Magnesium Oxide Panel

• Features: High structural integrity, un-deformable and with good impact resistance.

• Applicable: Semiconductors, precision electronics and core laboratory process areas.

Such Panel types of Clean Room can be mixed and matched to suit the complex requirements of the different industrial clean rooms environments.

Why are semiconductor clean rooms particularly picky about wall panels?

Reasons for high performance standards for semiconductor clean rooms:

• Strict cleanroom specifications: High cleanroom demands: Usually, they should work at Class 100 to Class 10000 and have very low particle concentration values. Wall panels should be non-dusting, non-adsorbing, and non-releasing.

• High anti-static needs: Static electricity may mean serious problems with chip circuits; wall panels should therefore be provided with an anti-static coating or conductive layer.

• Strict chemical stability: The process typically contains such corrosive chemicals as hydrogen fluoride and isopropyl alcohol, which means that the walls will have to be corrosion-resistant and non-permeable.

• High construction accuracy and modularity: The structure of wall panels should have a sufficient number of installation channels, cable holes, access holes and pass the requirements of convenience of assembly and disassembly and good sealing.

Therefore, we generally recommend the following types of wall panels for semiconductor clean rooms:

• Glass-magnesium rock wool sandwich panels: They combine high fire resistance with structural strength, are durable and resist deformation and dust accumulation, and can be surface-treated to accommodate anti-static treatments.

• Galvalume Antistatic Color-Coated Steel Sheet: Coated with an antistatic coating, it effectively dissipates static charge and is suitable for use in ESD-sensitive areas such as photolithography, testing, and packaging.

• Concealed Modular Aluminum Alloy Frame Wall Panel System: Ensures high sealing while facilitating maintenance and functional expansion.

These Wall Panels have been widely used in many renowned chip fabs worldwide and have become the standard choice for high-end semiconductor clean room designs.

Considerations When Choosing Semiconductor Clean Room Panels

Although there are numerous wall panel types and varying price points on the market, choosing a panel shouldn't be solely based on price and appearance. Instead, consider the following key factors:

1. Matching cleanroom levels with functional area requirements

For example, consider antistatic, high-cleanroom panels for photolithography rooms, corrosion-resistant glass magnesium panels for acid and alkali cleaning areas, and rock wool panels for auxiliary areas. Select panels based on functional areas to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach.

2. Examine the panel's technical specifications

Including weight per unit area, thermal conductivity, fire rating, flexural strength, compressive strength, surface coating type, and particle release test reports.

3. Evaluate the supplier's engineering experience and delivery capabilities

Are complete wall panel system drawings available? Can openings, pre-installed cables, and piping be customized for the project? Does the supplier offer on-site installation and technical guidance? These factors directly impact project implementation efficiency.

4. Ease of maintenance and expansion

Are the wall panels modular, easily disassembled and reassembled, and compatible with existing systems? This is especially important for industries such as chip factories that frequently change production lines.

Selecting a Semiconductor Clean Room Panel that will meet your acceptance criteria is not just a way to keep the corners straight, but it will be an unseen angel that watches over chip yield.

Being a professional clean room company with more than 17 years of experience in the clean room industry, not only does Amber provide a variety of types of wall panels but also gives a complete package of services, starting with consultations on design and drawing development, moving to on-site installation, really helping customers to attain a smooth passageway by transforming their clean space into a stable production.