Critical Role of Intermetallic Particles in the Corrosion of 6061 Aluminum Alloy and Anodized Aluminum Used in Semiconductor Processing Equipment

doi:10.1007/s40195-025-01841-1

Abstract

Abstract:

The effect of intermetallic particles on the corrosion of 6061 aluminum alloy and its coating used in semiconductor processing systems was systematically studied via liquid and gas experiments and micromorphology characterization. The results revealed that a huge difference of corrosion resistance between imported and domestic 6061 aluminum alloys in HCl solution and gas acid mist experiments mainly was attributed to the different size and amount of Al₁₅(Fe,Mn)₃Si₂. The corrosion resistance of domestic 6061 alloy in dry/wet semiconductor electronic special gas environments was worse than that of imported aluminum alloy, and there are great differences in the corrosion mechanism of 6061 alloy caused by the second phase in the two dry/wet environments. And the corrosion resistance of the hard anodized alumina film was closely related to the microscopic morphology of holes. The vertical and elongated α-Al₁₅(Mn,Fe)₃Si₂ phase was formed in the rolled aluminum alloy that has been rolled perpendicular to the surface of the substrate. Compared to the horizontal long hole, the longitudinal long holes generated by the vertical α-Al₁₅(Mn,Fe)₃Si₂ phase will enable the corrosive medium to reach the substrate rapidly, which significantly weakens the corrosion resistance of the hard anodized film.

Key words: Semiconductor, Intermetallic particles, Anodized aluminum, Corrosion

Yang Zhao, Bo He, Jinliang Yang, Yongxiang Liu, Tao Zhang, Fuhui Wang. Critical Role of Intermetallic Particles in the Corrosion of 6061 Aluminum Alloy and Anodized Aluminum Used in Semiconductor Processing Equipment[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2025, 38(6): 904-924.

Figures/Tables 23

Table 1 Chemical composition of 6061 aluminum alloys (wt%)

Alloys	Mg	Si	Mn	Fe	Cu	Zn	Ti	Cr	Al
AA6061	1.060	0.634	0.128	0.443	0.257	0.065	0.025	0.306	Bal.
SW6061	0.895	0.532	0.037	0.262	0.211	0.006	0.032	0.128	Bal.

Table 2 Experimental conditions for gas corrosion

Experimental group	HCl (sccm)	Ar (sccm)	ArH₂O (sccm)	T (°C)	P (Torr)	Time (h)
1	167	-	100	120	100	72
2	167	100	-	120	100	72

Fig. 1 a 120 °C dry gas (HCl + Ar) and b 120 °C wet gas (HCl + ArH2O)

Fig. 2 Morphology and EDS of a AA6061 and b SW6061 aluminum alloy

Fig. 3 TEM-BF and SAED image, STEM-HAADF image and EDS spectrum of Al-Fe-Si phase of a AA 6061, b SW6061 aluminum alloy, and the TEM-BF image and SAED image, STEM-HAADF image and EDS spectrum of Al-Mg-Si phase of c AA 6061 and d SW60616061 aluminum alloy

Fig. 4 Distributions of Al-Fe-Si and Al-Mg-Si on the surface of AA6061 and SW6061 aluminum alloys: a the distribution of size and cumulative probability, b the fraction of area, and c the density distribution

Fig. 5 a Potentiodynamic polarization curves of the AA6061 and SW6061 aluminum alloy in 0.1 mol/L HCl solution at 30 °C, and b the statistics of self-corrosion current and self-corrosion potential

Fig. 6 a Corrosion rates of the AA6061 and SW6061 aluminum alloy under 0.1 mol/L HCl in hydrochloric acid mist experiments at different temperatures (30, 60, 90 and 120 °C), and b activation energy of reaction

Fig. 7 Morphologies of AA6061 and SW6061 aluminum alloys before and after immersing 0.1 mol/L HCl for 30 min

Fig. 8 Corrosion rates of AA6061 and SW6061aluminum alloys in the gas experiments at 120 °C and 100 Torr with a dry gas (HCl + Ar), and b wet gas (HCl + ArH2O)

Fig. 9 Morphologies of Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2 in AA6061 and SW6061 aluminum alloys of before and after the dry gas (HCl + Ar) corrosion, and after removal of corrosion products

Fig. 10 Morphologies of Mg2Si in AA6061 and SW6061 aluminum alloys of before and after the dry gas (HCl + Ar) corrosion, and after removal of corrosion products

Fig. 11 Morphologies of Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2 in AA6061 and SW6061 aluminum alloy of before and after the wet gas (HCl + ArH2O) corrosion, and after removal corrosion products

Fig. 12 Morphologies of Mg2Si in AA6061 and SW6061 aluminum alloys of before and after the wet gas (HCl + ArH2O) corrosion, and after removal of corrosion products

Fig. 13 Surface morphologies of HAFA of before and after wet gas (HCl + ArH2O) corrosion

Table 3 Elemental content of corrosion products for HAAF after gas corrosion (at.%)

Points	O	Al	Si	Fe	Cl
1	52.34	45.45	-	-	2.21
2	50.50	22.98	19.15	3.25	4.12
3	28.47	43.28	12.32	-	15.93

Fig. 14 a EDS spectra and b the cross-sectional morphologies (TEM-BF) of HAFA

Fig. 15 Cross-sectional morphologies of HAFA of AA6061 aluminum alloy with a horizontal rolling, and b vertical rolling

Fig. 16 a Potentiodynamic polarization curves of the HAFA of AA 6061 aluminum alloy with horizontal or vertical rolling in 0.1 M HCl solution at 30 °C, and b the statistics of self-corrosion current and self-corrosion potential

Fig. 17 Dissolution potential of different intermetallic compounds in aluminum alloys

Fig. 18 Calculation results of thermodynamic phase diagram

Fig. 19 Gas corrosion mechanism diagram of 6061 aluminum alloys with a, b dry gas (HCl + Ar), and c, d wet gas (HCl + ArH2O)

Fig. 20 Dry and wet gas (HCl + ArH2O) corrosion mechanism diagram of different processes of HAFA: a dry gas with vertical rolling and with b horizontal rolling, c wet gas with vertical rolling and with d horizontal rolling

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