Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA
Evaluation of cleanroom suitability
Cleanroom Certification
For the production of many products, cleanrooms are an indispensable infrastructure and a mandatory requirement for high quality and product safety. They are particularly relevant in the semiconductor, electronics, optics, aerospace, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
The cleanliness relevant components within cleanrooms include filters, ceiling/wall systems, coatings, lighting and floor coverings. However, cleanrooms alone are no guarantee for a sufficiently clean production. The used equipment, system components and consumables also have a decisive influence on product cleanliness, as they are often used directly on the product or in its immediate surrounding. Furthermore, the materials used also have an influence.
In order to sufficiently ensure clean production areas, an objective, practicable and meaningful evaluation of the cleanliness relevant properties of all cleanroom components, equipment and consumables is particularly important.
Test labels Fraunhofer TESTED DEVICE® and CSM®
Fraunhofer IPA is an independent, public research institution and offers objective and internationally recognized certification services with the test marks »Fraunhofer TESTED DEVICE®« and »CSM®«.
»TESTED DEVICE®« exists since 1998 and is a registered trademark in the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA). Within 20 years, more than 2500 products and materials have been tested and certified for their cleanliness and cleanroom suitability for industrial partners in over 30 countries. All tests procedures are always carried out according to the latest technological standards. Fraunhofer IPA currently offers more than 60 different test procedures and has a unique testing infrastructure.
Our certification services
In order to ensure a holistic approach, we offer a comprehensive service portfolio:
- Development of test and measuring methods for cleanliness control
- Certification of systems, equipment, components, materials and environments for contamination-critical manufacturing
- Testing for particle emission behaviour, outgassing, ESD properties, chemical and biological resistance, cleanability, antibacterial effectiveness, flow behaviour etc.
- The qualification package includes:
- Customer and market-oriented documentation
- Individualized test mark»Fraunhofer TESTED DEVICE®« or »CSM®« incl. unique report number for traceability
- Test report: Contains measurement data and detailed result analyses
- Certificates
Option to publish test results in database.
Fraunhofer IPA as technology partner
In addition to the certification service, the department of Ultraclean technology and micromanufacturing is also available to its customers as a technology partner. Depending on requirements, we develop holistic, detailed potential analyses for the optimization of systems, devices and components, design them in terms of cleanliness and carry out flow simulations and visualizations. Additionally, we also provide support in equiment and hygienic design.
Research focus
Current research priorities in the field of cleanroom certification are the development of standardized, meaningful methods for the evaluation of cleanroom-suitable equipment and consumables as well as fundamental research on particle generation in a vacuum.
International cooperationen
Our international customer group extends to over 30 countries. 70% are European customers, 30% are mainly spread over China, Korea, Japan, Canada and USA.
VDE-Korea Cooperation
In January 2018, the partnership with VDE Korea was established by a cooperation agreement for the next five years. Korea is regarded as one of the world's emerging high-tech nations, thus making VDE with its network is an important strategic partner.
Further information can be found here.
Test procedures and measuring methods
Riboflavintest
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Chemical resistance
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Outgasing behavior
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H2O2
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Particle emission behaviour
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