Capabilities and Capacity
PI has the capability to manufacture and qualify products under cleanroom conditions at a number of production sites. This capability is extended and improved continually according to market needs.
Depending on the processes at the respective locations, PI or its partners have the ability to clean parts and products at each location according to the regulations and then check the cleaning results for particle contamination and if necessary, for other types of contamination as well.
Calibrated particle measuring devices allow PI to monitor the cleanroom quality according the specifications of ISO 14644-1.
PI also has the ability to measure the quantity of particles that originate from its own products under operational conditions.
Standards
Since 2001, classification of cleanrooms no longer takes place according to US FED STD 209E but instead, according to ISO 14644-1. Some of the cleanroom classifications are listed according to both standards in the following tables.
Cleanroom Classification According to ISO14644-1
Particles per m³
| Class | 0.1 µm | 0.2 µm | 0.3 µm | 0.5 µm | 1.0 µm | 5.0 µm |
|---|
| ISO 5 | 100,000 | 23,700 | 10,200 | 3,520 | 832 | |
| ISO 6 | 1,000,000 | 237,000 | 102,000 | 35,200 | 8,320 | 293 |
| ISO 7 | 352,000 | 83,200 | 2,930 | |||
| ISO 8 | 3,520,000 | 832,000 |
Cleanroom Classification According to US FED STD 209E
Particle per m3
| Class | 0.2 µm | 0.3 µm | 0.5 µm | 5.0 µm |
|---|
| 100 | 26,486 | 10,594 | 3,531 | |
| 1,000 | 35,315 | 247 | ||
| 10,000 | 353,147 | 2,472 | ||
| 100,000 | 3,531,470 | 24,720 |
Available Cleanrooms / Ultraclean Workplaces
In addition to cleanrooms, PI also has ultraclean workplaces, which are installed either inside or outside of the cleanrooms. Their purpose, when compared to the respective environment, is to achieve a further reduction of particle contamination during certain process steps.
The following overview lists the existing and planned facilities according to location.
PI Karlsruhe is the largest production and development site in the PI Group. Standard and custom products, mainly in the field of piezo-based positioning systems, hexapods, and magnetic drives are assembled and qualified here. All areas for mass production, including incoming goods inspection, are ISO class 8 cleanrooms.
In addition, PI Karlsruhe has a newly created ISO class 5 cleanroom that also considers all standards applied to EUV applications. The Special Products Fractal, in addition, has rooms classified according to ISO class 7 as well as ISO class 5 ultraclean workplaces. An ISO class 7 laboratory is available in the Development department.
The entire process chain for multilayer production, beginning with tape casting, is realized at PI Ceramic in cleanrooms according to ISO class 6, 7, and 8; the assembly processes for piezo actuators and sensors of the Building Components product division also take place consistently in ISO class 7 or 8 cleanrooms. Depending on the process requirements, ISO class 7 to 9 cleanrooms are available for further selected processes such as sputtering, screen printing, and dispensing.
PI USA has an ISO class 8 assembly island in the production area, which includes measuring capabilities, cleaning, and packaging under cleanroom conditions.
