ABSTRACT
Contamination-free manufacturing (CFM) means carrying out product manu facturing in environments and with processes that do not cause degradation in product performance or manufacturability attributable to contamination inad vertently introduced by these environments or processes. Contaminants by this definition are any impurities or undesired materials that degrade product perfor mance or reliability or adversely affect manufacturability. “Contamination free” does not necessarily imply immeasurable quantities of any impurities or extra neous material on or in the product; it simply signifies that the concentrations of any of these impurities or extraneous materials are below the threshold of product impact. These thresholds will vary with product type; a manufacturing environment and sequence that is contamination free for one product may not be so for a second product, even one seemingly differing from the first by only mi nor changes in function, size, or application. Thus CFM is a moving target, the measure of adequacy being the performance and reliability of what is produced.
