Connect 2 Cleanrooms (C2C) has completed a new 340m2 cleanroom facility for Ilika at its 1600m2 Stereax—millimetre-scale solid-state batteries—manufacturing facility.
Dan Tidswell
The cleanroom is a key element of Ilika’s new facility as it scales up Stereax, to become the first volume manufacturer of micro-batteries for next-generation medtech and IoT in the UK.
Acting as principal contractor, C2C delivered the cleanroom facility—from order to handover—in six months, between February and August 2021.
This schedule was achieved, despite COVID-19 restrictions and disruption, through high levels of communication and collaboration. C2C carried out daily project management meetings with Ilika, and weekly steering group meetings with a multi-disciplinary team, to ensure all aspects of operations and process were taken care of.
The project involved the design and build of the cleanroom, with eight zones—three main process areas and five ancillary zones—to provide segregated spaces for various process activities.
The decentralised HVAC system controls the particle concentration in zones to achieve ISO 14644-1:2015 classes 7 or 8, according to the sensitivity of the process. A temperature range of 20±1°C and a humidity range of 45%RH±10%RH is achieved throughout, with tighter range in the photolithography (wet etching) area. This stringent control within defined tolerances creates a stable environment that is appropriate for the advanced materials utilised.
The batteries are created on the surface of a wafer by layering semiconductive materials in intricate patterns. Each layer is part of a step and it takes over 60 steps to achieve the exact electrochemistry. The battery needs to move back and forth between the zones, so an optimised layout was critical to achieving people and product transfer.
You enter the cleanrooms through an ISO class 8 changing room into the ISO class 7 dry etching zone. There are then three routes. You can then either enter the ISO class 8 chase zone, the ISO class 6 photolithography zone, or through the ISO class 7 tool 1 processing zone into the ISO class 8 semi cleanroom. From the semi cleanroom, you can access the unclassified corridor and cleaning room. Some machinery crosses zones and so apertures were created to profile walls around the specialist equipment.
Part of the project scope included the supply of process vacuum, clean dry air, process gas (including helium, argon, and nitrogen), DI water distribution, and gas detection. C2C worked with specialist contractor MicroGas, who designed the process installation to deliver the services to the critical points of production.
The new cleanroom will enable Ilika to manufacture its Stereax micro-batteries to the desired reliability, yield, and quality.
C2C’s CEO Joe Govier said: “Projects like this give C2C real purpose as our passion lies in supporting customers to develop life improving technologies. We wish Ilika every success with Stereax micro-batteries and we look forward to a continued relationship over the years.”
