Equipment used in the manufacture, measurement, and inspection of integrated circuits is sensitive to vibration and sound. It is therefore necessary to establish levels of vibration sensitivity for them and to ensure that vibrations occurring in the facility or at the site at which they are located are below those levels.

Such equipment will be referred to as process tools in this Recommended Practice (RP).

This RP is intended to provide guidance for use in the microelectronics industry. However, it may also be applicable in pharmaceutical and biological research, metrology laboratories, and other contexts in which vibration control is important.

This RP provides guidelines for conducting vibration measurements and reporting vibration data, specifically for:

a) Selecting suitable instrumentation and hardware for use in vibration measurements.

b) Establishing sensitive process tool vibration thresholds.

c) Conducting vibration measurements on sites and in facilities.

d) Reporting results of vibration measurements in a uniform and consistent format.