Cleanroom Packaging

Why is Cleanroom Packaging Important?

Cleanroom Packaging is the method of using clean, certified packaging materials and sealing techniques to protect the cleanliness of precision cleaned surfaces and components.   After hardware and components under go precision cleaning and cleanliness verification testing, the final step is most often the packaging. Precision cleaned parts can then be safely transported and stored outside of cleanroom environments without compromising cleanliness.  The material must also be capable of protecting the part during transportation and handling, which means it must resist punctures and tearing.  Additionally, the packaging material itself cannot be the source of contaminants.  Particles resulting from friction between the material itself and the part inside or outgassing of plasticizers are commonly found in flexible materials in everyday commercial packaging.

TMPI uses specialized precision cleaning packaging options such as polyethylene film, nylon film, or aclar film.  Polyethylene and nylon films are available in plain or antistatic varieties, which protect sensitive electronic components from damage induced by static electricity.

The plastic films that we employ undergo rigorous testing prior to use. The amount of particulate contamination and residue on the film surface is measured and then certified to a corresponding cleanliness level.

• TMPI packages cleaned product according to best practices or to customer specification after precision cleaning;
• The application of customer specs is subject to explicit ordering;
• State of the art “standard packaging” is supposed to preserve the integrity during transfer back into the control of the customer and to allow a proper transfer into the customer’s clean room (e.g. double bagging);
• State of the art packaging consists of the proper foils1 and evacuation and back-filling2 as well as controlled bag-welding3;
• In case of rough surfaces, Al foil and lint free paper can be added inside the bags;
• TMPI does not make any claim to the shelf life of parts inside packages;
• Good practices like “first in, first out” are the responsibility of the customer

1 state of the art foil is a double layer foil (4 micro m)  out of a combination of resins like poly ethylene and poly propylene of the highest cleanliness (residue and particles) provided by suppliers well versed in the requirements and specifically manufactured and cleaned for the industry with the highest demands; double foil is supposed to reduce the chances of “naturally” occurring pin holes in foils and decrease “natural” permeance of the foil material for gases incl. water vapor; double foil cannot eliminate permeance of the foil completely;

2  in the standard process, bags are evacuated twice with oil-free pumps and back-filled twice with filtered nitrogen from LN2 evaporator or generator;

3 the welding (temperature) is controlled so that foils do not disintegrate at welding;