From research to industry: using an upscaling method to calculate the environmental impacts of semiconductors devices

The environmental impact of semiconductors is becoming increasingly important as applications expand and demand grows. That calls for an integration of the environmental impact analysis of semiconductors at the early phases of development, allowing reducing the environmental impacts at large scale production. This study presents a methodology for anticipating the environmental impact of semiconductors using the life cycle assessment approach. Data relating to the production of semiconductors in a research centre are transposed to the industrial scale in order to calculate the final environmental impact of semiconductors. The proposed methodology involves upscaling three parts of the production system: processes, equipment, and infrastructure. Processes and equipment are analysed individually by experts and adjusted if necessary. Scenarios for the cleanroom infrastructure are provided and explained. At the end of the article, a scaling example is applied to a GaN power device and the results are discussed. This paper demonstrates how to assess the environmental impacts in the early stage of development of semiconductors using an upscale method for data collected in a research centre. The results proved that upscale products can have different hotspots from the research scenario as improved environmental performance in the deposition (-79%) and epitaxie (-79%). On the other hand, worsen results were seen in infrastructure (+86%), wet cleaning (+53%) and grinding (+129%). This approach allows the identification of the most important points to decrease the environmental impacts from the early phases of semiconductor development.