38.1 INTRODUCTION

Today s manufacturing cleanroom is a complex organism whose purpose is to both support and protect manufacturing processes and personnel. Every cleanroom comprises walls, ceilings, floors, and air systems. For the purpose of this chapter, the cleanroom will be considered to be the classic cleanroom with central plant heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC), exhaust systems, utilities, and so on.

When developing an overall manufacturing strategy, the cleanroom should be considered as a process element. Just as each manufacturing process associated with high-tech manufacturing shall be studied and analyzed in depth in order to optimize its function for producing the finished product, the cleanroom shall be studied and analyzed for optimal support of the manufacturing process. The intent of this chapter is to provide an overview of the issues regarding functionality of the cleanroom as it relates to high-tech manufacturing. This chapter addresses cleanroom standards, types of cleanroom, airflow patterns, cleanroom environmental conditional requirements, process contamination control, vibration and noise control, magnetic and electromagnetic flux (MEF) and electrostatic charge (ESC), life safety, and cleanroom economics. It concludes with practical problems encountered while designing and their solutions as well as constructing a state-of-the-art cleanroom.

38.2 CLEANROOM STANDARDS, CLASSIFICATIONS, AND CERTIFICATION

The reference standards guiding cleanroom design, construction, and certifications currently include FED-STD 209E (English based) and ISO standard 14644 (metric based) (see Tables 38.1 to 38.4).