Snow for the highest purity and reliable function

The quattroClean snow jet cleaning allows for the dry and gentle removal of contamination, for example after structuring of MID. (Image source: acp systems AG)

The Industry 4.0-compatible process can be integrated into automated manufacturing environments, and the quality of the cleaning jet can be monitored with sensors and transmitted as a digital value. (Image source: acp systems AG)

Increasingly smaller structures combined with rising demands on reliability and lifespan require reliable and needs-based cleaning in electronics manufacturing. The dry quattroClean snow jet technology enables efficient and inline solving of various cleaning tasks – even in cleanrooms.

The climate-neutral and scalable quattroClean snow jet technology from acp systems AG is a dry, Industry 4.0-compatible cleaning process that has proven effective across a wide range of applications in electronics manufacturing. These include full-surface or partial cleaning of particulate and/or filmic contamination on passive components, as well as before or after bonding, circuit board assembly, and foil circuit boards. Removal of ablation residue in MID manufacturing is also an application area. Another application is cleaning optical components in EUV lithography, which are heavily contaminated with residues and smudges. The Industry 4.0-compatible process can be easily designed and integrated for clean environments or cleanrooms.

Dry and residue-free cleaning

The medium used in this cleaning process is liquid, infinitely storable carbon dioxide, which is produced as a byproduct during chemical processes and biomass energy generation. It is guided through a patented, wear-free two-component ring nozzle and relaxes at the nozzle exit into fine CO2 snow. This core jet is bundled by a separate, ring-shaped compressed air mantle jet and accelerated to supersonic speed. When the well-focused snow compressed air jet hits the surface to be cleaned, a combination of thermal, mechanical, sublimation, and solvent effects occurs. The interplay of these four mechanisms safely removes particulate and filmic contaminants with reproducible results. Since the cleaning is gentle on materials, even sensitive and finely structured surfaces can be treated.

Removed contaminants are blown away by the aerodynamic force of the compressed air and removed via an integrated suction system.
To ensure consistently high process quality, the jet consistency of each nozzle can be continuously monitored with a sensor system, the measured values automatically stored, and transmitted to a higher-level system.