How to choose Ultrasonic Cleaner

In addition to ultrasonic cleaning, industrial cleaning includes jet-flow cleaning, bubbling cleaning, shower cleaning, cleaning while moving up and down, and vapor cleaning. Each cleaning method differs depending on the contamination of the workpiece and the required cleaning quality.

Ultrasonic cleaning has the following features

・Uniform cleaning quality
・Shorter cleaning time
・The entire workpiece can be cleaned (advantageous for precision parts and parts with complex shapes).

In ultrasonic cleaning, it is important to select an appropriate cleaning solution according to the type of contamination and to combine the physical action of ultrasonic waves with the chemical action of the cleaning solution to maximize the cleaning effect.

(1） Purpose of cleaning: degreasing, removal of polishing powder (buffing powder), chips, particles, etc.
(2) Type of workpiece (workpiece to be cleaned): material, dimensions (if a basket is used, dimensions of the basket), etc.
(3) Selecting the type: separate type (generator and transducer are separated),benchtop type, quartz transducer unit type, and nozzle type.

*When introducing an ultrasonic cleaner, it is also important to determine which processes will be incorporated into the system.
　At least three processes are required: washing, rinsing, and drying.

Stain Size	Example of dirt application to be cleaned	Damage to workpiece	Frequency	Special feature
Visible stains	Oil-based Degreasing and cleaning of metal parts Degreasing and cleaning of resin Removal of polishing powder (buffing powder) and chips	Big Small	28kHz	Used to remove persistent contamination such as grease, due to the strong cleaning energy. Enhances the effectiveness of the cleaning liquid.
10 μm or more	Dust Initial cleaning of LCD glass, Cleaning of precision metal parts		40kHz	It is often used to clean precision parts because it causes less damage to the workpiece than 28 kHz.
5μm～10μm	Cleaning of HDD, CSP substrates, precision metal parts, optical disks and HD heads		75kHz 　～ 100kHz	It is often used when 40 kHz causes damage to the workpiece. This frequency has been attracting attention recently because it has relatively strong cleaning energy and causes less damage to the workpiece.
1μm～10μm	Compound Wafer HDD		120kHz 　～ 160kHz	Used to perform initial cleaning of wafers. Possible to remove fine contamination with minimal damage to the workpiece.
0.2μm～5μm	Silicon Wafers Glass wafers and glass substrates		400kHz	A wide range of particle sizes to removeand various precision cleaning are expected.
0.2μm～1μm	Final cleaning of glass substrates, silicon wafers (with circuits), glass masks		1MHz	Used to remove small particles that are not visible to the naked eye. Less damage to the workpiece. Widely preferred as the frequency to use for wafer cleaning.
0.2μm or less	Silicon wafer (with circuit), glass mask		3MHz	Used for the finer particle removal than cleaning by 1MHz.