At the Semicon West 2012 trade show in San Francisco,CA,USA(10-12 July),laser-based trace gas analyzer manufacturer Tiger Optics LLC of Warrington,PA,USA unveiled the HALO-KA,which can detect traces of contaminants to 200 part-per-trillion levels in an ultra-high-purity(UHP)gas stream.
The HALO-KA has what is claimed to be the smallest footprint of any high-purity analyzer on the market,providing cost savings.With a low detection limit of 500ppt H2O in nitrogen(200ppt in helium),two of the new instruments can fit in a 19-inch rack.Moreover,its patented continuous-wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy(CW CRDS)principle of operation requires no moving parts or calibration,saving on down-time,labor,and consumables,the firm adds.
The HALO-KA is the latest addition to a platform that debuted in 2006 as the HALO,a'mini'device measuring moisture in a range from 2ppb to 20ppm,offering the speed,specificity and reliability of the original Tiger tools but at about half of the price and a quarter of the size.The original HALO was conceived by Dr Farhang Shadman,director of the NSF/SRC Engineering Research Center for Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing at the University of Arizona.
The HALO+analyzer,introduced at Semicon West 2007,provided detection limits down to 400ppt for fields as diverse as gas manufacturing,semiconductor fabrication,and national metrology institutes.When a user requested an analyzer with an extended upper detection limit,Tiger Optics responded in 2010 with the HALO-500-H2O,providing the widest detection range of any Tiger product.
''Our newest HALO is unique in its ability,as an all-in-one device,to monitor extremely low levels of contamination in a UHP gas stream,''claims founder&chief executive Lisa Bergson.''Not only can the HALO-KA monitor moisture,but we also have systems available to monitor a wide variety of analytes in both inert and corrosive gases,''she adds.
