A global indicator as a tool to follow airborne molecular contamination in a controlled environment

• DOI: 10.1007/s00216-004-2953-y
• Publication Date: 2005-02-11T06:07:02Z
• Authors: St�phane Cariou; Jean-Michel Guillot; Laurence P�pin; Pascal Kaluzny; Louis-Paul Faure
• Keywords: Cleanroom; Measurement; [SPI]Engineering Sciences [physics]; Pollutant impact; 13. Climate action; VOC; Air quality; 7. Clean energy; 01 natural sciences; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

The impact of pollutants on production quality in nanotechnology necessitates reduction of contaminant levels in cleanrooms. So, devising a global airborne-pollutant indicator (GAPI) for rapid determination of the level of pollution and its danger to the process is justified. This tool used relative impact weights of the different molecules to quantify the pollution. A calculation of impact weight is proposed in this paper. Impact weights could take into account several characteristics of the molecules (molecular volume, sticking coefficient, ...). They could also be combined to be as close as possible to reality. An example of calculations of the impact of molecular volumes on air quality is given.