During metal manufacturing processes – be it welding, heat treatment, rolling or others – oxide layers are formed, often referred to as mill scale, that must be removed in order to prepare the metal for further processing. Acidifiers are used in this stage of metal finishing to:

• Remove oxides and scale
• Clean the surface of oils, rust and contaminants
• Prepare the surface to improve bonding of paints, plating or coatings

Let’s dive deeper into the use of acid in metal finishing for one particular application: semiconductor manufacturing. Native oxide layers, which form spontaneously on conductive metals, are most often non-conductive and thus interfere with electrical performance, adhesion or subsequent deposition steps.

In semiconductor manufacturing, acid finishing works to remove these oxides, prevent contamination and prepare the metal for deposition. Without this step, there can be significant negative impact on performance, including decreased:

Simply, SBS-based metal finishing is critical in semiconductor production because it can strip away unwanted oxides, prepare pristine surfaces, and enable the formation of high-quality, reliable metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structures.

Sodium bisulfate is typically used for pickling, scale removal, rust removal and etching or when preparing metals for subsequent plating, painting, or storage.