Ensights

Natural Sources of Airborne Molecular Contamination When we think about the natural world, we often picture pure, uncontaminated beauty. We don’t think about gas-phase contamination that can affect people, processes, and products. Unfortunately, the natural world – even if it is completely untainted by pollution – still frequently produces chemicals that can have a negative effect on commercial and industrial facilities. Sometimes, airborne molecular contamination (AMC) forms as a result of human-caused pollution – smog in the atmosphere, for example. Other times, there are natural sources of contamination that can affect your people, processes, and products. These include oceans and salt lakes, freshwater lakes and wetlands, and atmospheric interactions. Here’s what to look out for depending on where you work.

Advancing Space Domain Awareness: MIT Lincoln Laboratory's Innovative Mirror Technology and the Role of Entegris SUPERSiC®-SP Enhancing our understanding of the space environment is crucial to navigating the ever-evolving landscape of space exploration. As part of collaboration efforts between the U.S. and Japan to boost space domain awareness through cutting-edge mirror technology, MIT Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL) built payloads hosted on Japanese satellites. MIT LL built two identical space payloads for the Japanese QZS-6 and QZS-7 satellites and selected Entegris’ SUPERSiC-SP silicon carbide (SiC) material to serve as a substrate for their mirrors. They also chose our chemical vapor deposition (CVD) SiC solution to serve as a mirror cladding. These payloads are part of a collaborative effort between the U.S. and Japan to augment space domain awareness of objects in or near geosynchronous orbit (GEO). This initiative not only showcases international cooperation but also highlights the innovative engineering challenges and solutions involved in creating functional space payloads.

Phobic vs. Philic: How the Process Indicates the Membrane in Bioprocess Applications Some membranes attract water, and some actively repel it. Those that attract water are known as “hydrophilic,” and those that repel water are known as “hydrophobic.” Which kind of membrane is best suited for your application?

Exploring the Superiority of Silicon Carbide in Optical Components Silicon carbide (SiC) is a leading material for high-performance optical components, offering numerous advantages over traditional materials such as glass and metal. Its exceptional specific stiffness, high thermal conductivity, and outstanding dimensional stability position SiC as a superior choice compared to beryllium and low-expansion glass ceramics. Historically, the high costs associated with the preliminary shaping and final finishing of SiC have hindered its widespread adoption in optical systems. The material is both hard and strong, requiring precision machining with expensive diamond tooling on high-quality, rigid machine tools. However, advances in manufacturing techniques, such as near-net-shape slip casting, have demonstrated success in reducing costs despite necessitating significant diamond grinding. Building on this success, Entegris offers an entirely new way of creating SiC. Using our chemical vapor conversion process, we can create net- or near net-shaped SiC components in complex forms while spending much less time on fabrication.

Designing for Extended Performance in Life Science Contaminant Removal Filters have a finite lifetime, and their performance also changes over time. How do you get the most performance over the longest lifespan?

Entegris Offers New FOUP Form-Factors for Non-Standard Wafers Over the last few years, 3D stacking has gone from a relatively niche fabrication method to an absolute necessity for cutting-edge applications. As chipmakers delve into smaller and smaller nodes, stacking and die-bonding wafers has become a preferred way of creating more processing power in a smaller space. Stacked and bonded wafers don’t behave the same way as 2D wafers: Wafers are thinned prior to bonding, which results in wafers that can sag when handled Bonded wafers are thicker and heavier than 2D wafers when assembled Bonded wafers can also warp following assembly Many automation tools rely on the predictable geometry and characteristics of 2D silicon wafers for safe handling and transport. While stacked and bonded wafers are a game-changer for miniaturization, they can also force manufacturing compromises unless chipmakers adopt specialized tools for the back end of the line (BEOL).

A Thermal Stability Study of Phosphoramidites Employed in Oligonucleotide Synthesis In the dynamic world of drug design, thermal stability plays a crucial role, often determining the success of innovative treatments. As researchers push the boundaries of medicine, the need for robust and effective RNA- and DNA-based drugs has never been greater. This is where the phosphoramidite method of DNA synthesis shines, but understanding the thermal stability of its components, especially phosphoramidites, is essential. In this blog, we will explore why thermal stability is vital in drug development, delve into a study focused on phosphoramidites, and discuss its implications for the field.

The use of silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors offers a huge advantage for electric vehicles (EVs) due to lower switching losses and higher efficiencies, but cost has always been a drawback. SiC wafer manufacturing can suffer from high costs and lower yields, causing SiC semiconductors to cost up to eight times more than their silicon equivalents. This cost often gets passed on to the end customer, making EVs more expensive.

Reducing Holdup Volume in Sterile Filtration

What does an Entegris employee look like? What do they do all day, and what do they like about their jobs? This blog is part of a series that will take a deep dive into a variety of careers at Entegris. We’ll highlight several employees and their valuable contributions to the organization. What do they do, how are they succeeding, and why do they think Entegris is a great place to work?

We’re pleased to share that our Hangzhou, China facilityhas successfully completed an audit with the independent supply chain consortium, Rx-360.

A “one size fits all” approach for chemical air filtration entails a productivity and safety risk in commercial environments reliant on pure air quality. Trying to use one type of chemical air filter for every scenario may provide protection, but without optimization the protection is both limited and temporary.