Semiconductor Innovation for Next-Generation Chip Production

Since the industry’s birth in Silicon Valley in the 1960s, Swagelok has supported the evolution of semiconductor production every step of the way.

It began with our pioneering VCR® fitting in 1966. An industry first, the VCR fitting utilized a soft metal gasket to create a leak-tight, metal-to-metal seal.

In the 1980s, we introduced the BN series high-purity bellows valve. This packless valve featured an all-metal seal to atmosphere for cleanliness, an externally wetted bellows for reduced purge time, and enhanced precision in the harshest environments.

The late 80s also saw the introduction of Micro-Fit® weld fittings that allowed miniaturized, smooth bore, ultrahigh-purity, repeatable weld joints for closely spaced gas lines common in semiconductor production.

Around this time, we also introduced the first ultrahigh-purity diaphragm valve for the semiconductor industry: the DA series. This now-retired valve featured a reduced wetted surface area to significantly reduce purge time.

In the 1990s, the high-performance DP series UHP diaphragm valve built on the design of the DA valve and is still used in the industry today.

In that same decade, ensuring uncompromising cleanliness in production processes grew increasingly important. In response, Swagelok developed the Cleanliness Chain—a proprietary method standardizing the manufacturing of semiconductor fluid system components.

The Cleanliness Chain considers the design, manufacturing, cleaning, packaging, and verification of Swagelok products and continues to guide our uncompromising cleanliness today.

At the turn of the 21st century, the emergence of atomic layer deposition, or ALD, led to us developing solutions that could meet increasingly advanced needs for speed, repeatability, and flow consistency.

Swagelok unveiled its ALD3 and ALD6 UHP diaphragm valves—the industry’s first valves engineered specifically for ALD processes. ALD series valves have remained the industry standard for more than 20 years.

Through our ongoing collaboration with our customers, we maintain a deep understanding of rapidly evolving needs in this dynamic, competitive landscape.

Recent additions to our portfolio reflect our commitment to the industry. Our ALD7 UHP diaphragm valve is engineered and manufactured to provide the performance required by today’s—and tomorrow’s—ALD processes with improved consistency, precision, and repeatability.

And the ALD20 UHP valve delivers industry leading flow rate and precision at high temperatures, enabling semiconductor fabricators to overcome challenging applications in current production processes and unlock new capability for next generation low vapor pressure precursor delivery.

Today, we’re working more closely with customers than ever. We are actively developing innovative new products to meet the demands of their cutting-edge processes.

We are also applying our experience and expertise beyond product development, delivering engineering services that increase uptime, mitigate risks, and improve production efficiencies. For example, we have recently helped fabs around the world save millions of dollars in cost by providing technical support for chiller lines through our thermal loop solutions.

With our full breadth and depth of fluid system solutions for chip production and facilities, backed by our global support and service, we’re committed to supporting the growth and evolution of the industry now and in the future.

At Swagelok, we continue to leverage our decades of experience, technical expertise, and deep partnerships to enable what's next.

For more information, contact your local authorized Swagelok sales and service center, or visit swagelok.com.