Trace Gas Detection In Sealed Devices Through Residual Gas Analysis

By Author: Ors Labs
Total Articles: 4
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During the production of hermetically sealed devices it’s quite possible that any trace gases or moisture could creep into the package. It is not good for industries as such intrusion could degrade the quality of the device. With moisture there could be cases of corrosion and fogging. Many times manufactures also report errors in the actual working of the device due to such trace elements. If products with such imperfections get launched in the market then it could lead to a lot of consumer issues that could also affect the reputation of the brand. Hence it is quite critical for industries to take control of such aspects and keep a check on it. Many industries have a separate failure analysis team that test devices on such factors especially the semiconductor industries. A technique that could be employed for this purpose is residual gas analysis or RGA.
RGA Analysis: Working
The specialized instruments that are used for trace gases detection are known as residual gas analyzers. These instruments are also known as mass spectrometers and employ quadrupole technology in their operation. Here the trace gases ...
... are converted to ions for analysis. In general these instruments contain three major parts i.e. ionizer, mass analyzer and an ion detector. The ionizer turns the gases to ions the mass analyzer is involved with the mass determination aspect and detection is done by the ion detector.
Applications
This technique could form a very important tool for failure or quality analysis of the device under test. It could be employed for determining out gassing in sealed devices. It is helpful in process control applications and could be used to ascertain issues that happen during production. This would troubleshoot some of the production issues.
Nowadays residual gas analysis has become one of the most trusted testing technique as it is non destructive. It is being employed at major industries that deal with the manufacturing of sealed components. This methodology helps them to gain information if there is any kind of vapors or residues in the sample. Industrial segments based on microelectronics, ceramics, metals, telecommunications, defense, illumination, pharmaceuticals and all other dealing with enclosed devices could utilize this testing technique for prohibited material detection.
If you are involved with an industry that faces issues such as vapor residues or trace gases in their components then they RGA for testing and analysis. There are specific labs that offer such services. You can search for such companies on the internet and avail the facility.
Author is a FA engineer. In this article he explains RGA analysis that could be utilized to detect trace gases and other prohibited materials in hermetically sealed devices.