New-Tech Europe | March 2016 | Digital edition

RISK ASSESSMENT OF NANOMATERIALS

Dr. Mieke Van Bavel, Imec

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14 partners from 3 different worlds (R&D, industry and academia), active in various aspects of materials and semiconductor research and processing industry and academia), active in various aspects of materials and semiconductor research and processing. To be clear, the project will not deal with the risks of nanomaterials in consumer products. Dimiter Prodanov: "In fact, there are two approaches to nanotechnology. One is the bottom-up approach, where researchers or industry synthetize nanoparticles with special properties and introduce them in consumer products such as bicycles, paints, coatings, medicines or cosmetics. This will not be the focus of the project. NanoStreeM will deal with a second approach, the top-down

transistor dimensions continue to shrink, a variety of novel nanostructured materials enter the semiconductor fab. Most of these materials have poorly understood hazardous properties. And this has become a shared concern of the semiconductor industry. Dimiter Prodanov: "Understanding how these materials affect human health, other biological systems and the environment is a relatively new area of scientific study. 50 how can we safely handle these materials? Which nanomaterials are being used and will be used in the future, and what is their potential danger? What is the risk for exposure by the fab workers? And how can the risks be assessed and managed? That will be the focus area of the Nano5treeM project. "The project, coordinated by imec, gathers

n January 28, 2016, the 14 partners of the European

NanoStreeM gathered at imec for the project's kick-off meeting. Together, they will build an inventory of all the nanomaterials that are used in today's and future semiconductor manufacturing processes. The consortium will evaluate methodologies for risk assessment to protect human health and the environment. Imec's Dimiter Prodanov, coordinator of the NanoStreeM project, talks about nanomaterials in semiconductor manufacturing and the precautionary approach to risk assessment and risk management. Nanomaterials in the semiconductor fab As Moore's Law proceeds and project

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