This is another application where Vertrel^® really shines. We call this displacement cleaning.

The unique circumstances of this application are found in instances when the contamination is not soluble in any solvent cleaner or even the aqueous cleaners. This happens more often than you might think. Solder balls, metal finings, dust and grit all are examples of contamination which are not soluble in anything.

To compound the difficulties, often the particulate is bound to the substrate with a tiny static charge. At the microscopic scale of these particulate, even faint ionic bonds are very strong when compared to the mass of the contamination. The strength of these bonds makes it almost impossible to remove this contamination. For these applications, Vertrel^® is a great choice because it is extremely dense and it can actually float the contamination away, in a manner that aqueous cleaners simply cannot match.

Here are the two best choices for displacement cleaning:

• Vertrel^® XP -- Is a mix of the Vertrel^® technology with a little bit of isopropyl alcohol. The IPA is conductive so it dissipates the ionic charges which bond the particulate to the substrate. Then, the dense Vertrel^® simply floats the particulate away.
  
  
• Vertrel^® XM -- This product works very similarly to the Vertrel^® XP product, but instead of using isopropyl alcohol it uses methanol. This is a slightly stronger cleaner and may work better in most applications. The downside? Some facilities would prefer not to use methanol. Take a look at the MSDS sheets and you decide.

Check out the handy Vertrel^® Application Guide for a graphical description of the different cleaners and their capabilities, and contact Micro Care's Vertrel^® Tech Support Hotline for additional guidance at 1-888-595-4525

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