Cleanroom Testing Specifications

Regarding the international standards for the definition, construction, control, and management of clean rooms, you can find a lot of relevant data by searching on the Internet with contamination control. The definition of clean rooms first appeared in the US Federal Standard 209, and then became increasingly popular and widely accepted by the Semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries. In Europe and Japan, with the growing development of industry, versions of various countries have gradually appeared. In the late 1990s, the industry realized that without common standards, economic globalization could not be achieved, so IS0-14644 was born. The following explains the various standards and specifications for clean rooms.

1. Federal Standard 209E (fed-std-209E): US Federal Standard 209E, 209 was published and issued in the 1960s, and then it was continuously revised to respond to technological progress and industrial development. The versions ranged from the original 209 and 209A to the last version 209E in 1992. On November 29, 2001, the United States officially announced the abolition of 209E and replaced it with [SO-14644, so 209E became history in writing. However, in the industry, except for some European companies, the United States, Japan, Taiwan, and mainland China still use 209E. Although particle counter manufacturers have launched new models that meet the metric counting method, it will probably take a long time to wait for the old machines to be completely eliminated, so the new standard IS0-14644 has not yet replaced 209E.

2. SO-14644 series：In order to promote economic globalization, the US government generously gave up its own 209E and instead promoted the international standard ISO-14644 that uses the metric system. The 14644 series has 8 sub-topics (Part), called 14644-1, 14644-2, and up to 14644-8. The entire series covers a wide range of topics, including grade definition, test and monitoring specifications, test procedures and methods, design and construction, operation, and other related equipment. Some topics have been finalized, such as Part 1 and Part 2, some are only drafts, and some are not even drafts yet. Readers can order them on the ISO or IEST website.

3. JIS B9920 (1989): Japan's cleanliness standard, which stipulates the method for determining the concentration of suspended particles in A Clean Room and the definition of cleanliness levels.

4. VDI 2083 (1993): Germany's cleanliness standard, which stipulates the definition of cleanliness levels and the measurement technology of cleanliness.

5. Gost-R 50766 (1995): Russia's cleanliness standard, which defines the classification and general requirements of clean rooms.

The above are the clean room grade regulations and the relevant standards for cleanliness measurement. In addition, there are also some important test specifications for clean room pollution control (that is, cleanliness control) and environmental control (such as temperature, humidity, vibration, noise, etc.), because these environmental factors are all included in the scope of clean room performance testing.

1.IEST-RP-CC-006.2: This famous test specification is intended to make up for the shortcomings of 209. 209 only has particle measurement, and 006 includes wind speed and volume, filter leakage cleanliness, temperature and humidity, parallelism, recovery rate, particle sedimentation test, illumination, etc. The first edition of 006 is called 006-84-T, and 006.2 is the second edition. Now due to the rise of NEBB, 0062 has retired and gradually disappeared.

2. NEBb Clean Room Test Specification Second Edition: This is the most popular test specification at present. When it comes to clean room certification, it must be NEBB. NEBb CleanRoom test specifications can be said to be an improved version of IEST-0062. The test coverage is similar, but the test procedures are clearer and more rigorous, and the use of instruments is also specified in detail. Therefore, the emergence of NEBB cleanroom test specifications has resolved many test disputes, and therefore NEBB cleanroom test specifications have successfully become industry standards. For more information about NEBB, please refer to this site NEBB.

3.1SO-14698 series: 14698 has three sub-topics, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, which are about the control of biological contamination in cleanrooms. Currently, there are only drafts. Each industry, even each company or factory, may have different requirements for cleanrooms. Although the cleanroom definition and CleanRoom test specifications listed above can meet the needs of most manufacturers, strictly speaking, these specifications are only a reference. When setting test specifications, each company should take out the applicable parts from the above specifications according to its own process requirements, and require suppliers and testing units to do so. If necessary, the test standards can be modified as appropriate to truly meet their own needs.