Author: Ice on the second road
TYPESETTING: LEAHMA
Exhibit: SOlab
In-depth good text, 4089 words = 8 minutes of reading
Electronic special gas (hereinafter referred to as electronic special gas) refers to the special gas used in the production of semiconductors and related electronic products, penetrating into almost every link of chip production, including lithography, etching, thin film, doping and other processes, is an important raw material in the electronics industry is known as the "blood of the chip industry", is the second largest chip material field after silicon wafers, accounting for about 11.4% of chip materials.
The chip industry needs about 110 kinds of electronic special gases, of which more than 50 are commonly used.
Electronic special gas commonly used in the chip industry Source: Baidu
Common lithographic gases include Ar/F/Ne mixtures, Kr/Ne mixtures, Ar/Ne mixtures, Kr/F/Ne mixtures, Ar/Xe/Ne mixtures, and so on. When the gas mixture is excited at high pressure, plasma is formed, and due to the electron transition, a laser light source of 193 nm or 248 nm is generated. Among them, neon gas is used as a buffer gas in 193 nm ArF laser and 248 nm KrF laser, which is used to mix with noble gas (Ar/Kr) and fluorine gas to prevent electrode short circuit, and is an important electronic gas consumable for DUV lithography.
Neon gas accounts for only 0.00182% of air. DUV lithography has strict requirements for neon gas purity, requiring a grade of 6.0 (purity 99.9999%). In the photolithography process, very small impurities can also lead to major defects in the product, the higher the purity of the special gas, the higher the lithography yield, and the better the lithography quality. There are high technical barriers in the production, separation and purification of neon gas applied to DUV lithography, and its gross margin exceeds 50%. The global chip industry consumes about 540,000 tons of neon gas per year, equivalent to 550,000 cubic meters.
Electronic special gas Source: Baidu
Before the 2014 Crimean crisis, Ukraine was the world's leading producer of neon gas, produced in Mariupol Ingas and Odessa Cryoin and Iceblick. The specific process is that Russian steel plants supply 3/4 of their by-product crude neon gas, which is then purified into high-purity neon gas by the three Ukrainian companies.
Among them, Ingas was established in 1994, producing 1.5-20,000 cubic meters of 5.0 grade (purity 99.9990%) and 6.0 grade (purity 99.99999%) neon gas per month, and Cryoin produces 1-15,000 cubic meters of 5.0, 5.5 and 6.0 grade neon gas per month, serving customers in Germany, Taiwan, South Korea, China and the United States, accounting for more than 75%.
Mariupol neon gas plant Ingas Source: Gas Circle
The outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war has caused a global shortage of neon gas
On February 24, 2022, the Russian-Ukrainian war broke out. Ingas, Cryoin and Iceblick were forced to stop production. Larissa Bondarenko, director of business development at Cryoin, declared that Cryoin could not fulfill 13,000 cubic meters of customer orders and obtain suitable raw materials to produce neon gas (Russian steel plants no longer supply crude neon gas). Ingas said that company management and all key production personnel traveled to the Ukrainian control zone as early as March. Global neon gas prices rose by more than 600%.
The cost of manufacturing chips in the Russian-Ukrainian war has increased Source: CCTV
The course of the Russian-Ukrainian war is already well known, especially the fighting in Mariupol, the stronghold of Ingas.
Mariupol map source: Baidu
Ingas will resume neon gas production in the controlled areas of Ukraine
On October 11, 2022, the head of Ingas, Nikolay Avdzhy, declared: Regarding the equipment left in Mariupol, which belonged to the company Ingas, some of the key equipment was savagely looted on the first day the enterprise was taken over. At present, the main production facilities are also damaged by the shelling, and the remaining precision equipment is not immune to atmospheric pollution. Moreover, the electricity supply has not yet been restored. When the cold comes, heating supply is also a problem. Ingas believes that all of these factors will permanently disable the plant's equipment. They believe that the attempts of the occupation authorities to resume production on equipment in Mariupol are illegal and have nothing to do with the Ingas company.
Gas purification in Ingas' production workshop before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war Source: Baidu
In February 2023, the head of the Ingas company said that new progress was made in the resumption of production at a backup plant in the controlled area of Ukraine. "We are pleased to announce that Ingas will upgrade its gas analysis equipment in early 2023. Our new NovaChrome chromatography system will allow us to perform more accurate quality control testing of finished products. With these new additions to our laboratory equipment and our already modernized production capacity, Ingas positions itself as a world leader in the production of ultra-high purity inert gases".
Irish AGC's NovaChrome chromatography system
The introduction of the Irish AGC's NovaChrome chromatography system is the first step towards resuming mass production.
Even if Russian equipment in Mariupol can resume production of high-purity neon gas, or Ingas' spare plant in Ukraine-controlled areas can resume high-purity neon production, will the global chip industry still need inert gas from Russia and Ukraine?
South Korea began to say no!
TEMC, a South Korean electronic special gas company, was established in 2015 with the goal of fully localizing specialty gases and is actively promoting its IPO.
TEMC Source: Gas Circle
In response to the crisis of the further rise in global neon gas prices after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, South Korea accelerated the pace of localization of lithographic neon gas. In October 2022, SK Hynix, semiconductor specialty gas company TEMC and POSCO worked closely together to jointly develop a method for low-cost neon gas production using existing facilities, and officially announced the completion of localization of neon gas production and technology in Korea.
SK hynix neon gas source localization Source: Baidu
SK Hynix explained that it has found a way to produce neon gas in partnership with TEMC and POSCO, which produce semiconductor-producing gas. For the past few years, Korean semiconductor companies have been completely dependent on imports for neon gas. Due to the unstable situation in major overseas production sites (referring to the Russian-Ukrainian war), there is a risk of instability in the supply of neon gas.
TEMC's annual production capacity is about 22,000 standard cubic meters, equivalent to 16% of Korea's domestic demand. TEMC and POSCO are also studying other electronic gases, including domestic alternatives to krypton and xenon, for chip etching.
Crude neon gas is produced by POSCO and purified by TEMC before being supplied to SK Hynix. Founded in 1968, POSCO Korea is one of the world's largest steel manufacturers, providing more than 26 million tons of steel products to users in more than 60 countries around the world every year, and has been rated as the "world's most competitive steel manufacturer" by Morgan Stanley Investment Bank. Neon gas is a by-product of POSCO.
South Korea's POSCO Source: POSCO official website
SK Hynix plans to increase the utilization rate of domestic neon gas to 100% by 2024!
Taiwan Province of China is also speeding up the localization of neon gas
TSMC is working with a number of gas suppliers to build a local gas supply ecology in Taiwan Province. TSMC is also assessing supply chain risks to ensure it can source more than 2,000 materials and chemicals needed for chip manufacturing to meet plans to build factories and expand capacity in the next 3 to 5 years.
J.K. Lin, TSMC's senior vice president of information technology, materials management and risk management, said, "We have a specific plan to work with suppliers to localize part of our neon gas supply and are currently purchasing equipment. The idea is to have more resources to improve the level of security in the supply chain. But not all supply is implemented locally. That's unrealistic and costly. ”
J.K. Lin said that it usually takes four to five years to build a new chip factory, so we need to make such a plan. Amid the multiple disruptions caused by the pandemic and geopolitical uncertainty, supply chain resilience has become increasingly important over the past two to three years. J.K. Lin also said that while it is important to increase local sourcing, the strategy has limitations. Semiconductors are still a very global industry, global cooperation is essential, and no one can manufacture anything entirely on their own and locally.
According to reports, the Taiwanese manufacturing neon project partner is China-based China Steel Corporation of Taiwan, which is the largest steel producer in Taiwan Province in Kaohsiung City's Linhai Industrial Zone. The partner may be Linde, a multinational supplier of industrial gases.
Chinese mainland is accelerating the localization process of neon gas
On February 2, 2023, Kemet Gas (002549) (002549.SZ) announced that its holding subsidiary Yueyang Kemet Electronic Special Gas received a qualified supplier certification letter from Cymer, a subsidiary of ASML, on the same day, and the lithographic gas products produced by Kemet Electronic Special Gas Company passed the review of Cymer Company, and Cymer Company has included the lithography gas products of Kemet Electronic Special Gas Company in the list of qualified suppliers.
Kemet electronic special gas announcement source: Baidu
Wang Hong, secretary of Kemet Gas, said that the company's lithography gas products have passed the qualified supplier certification of ASML subsidiaries, which is the latter's recognition of the company's production capacity and product quality in the field of lithography gas production. The company will enter the lithography industry market in the future, no longer just third-party agent sales, gross profit margin is more guaranteed.
As we all know, certification is the link between customers and equipment manufacturers, only through qualification certification, it is possible to enter the supply chain of leading enterprises and open high-end supply channels.
In addition, Kemet Gas has also passed the certification of Air Liquide in France and coherent rare gas and mixed gas in the United States in 2021, and the electronic special gas business has gradually increased. At present, Kemet Gas has built and put into operation 12 sets of electronic special gas production and auxiliary equipment.
The first Chinese electronic special gas manufacturer to obtain ASML certification is Huate Gas (688268.SH). In addition to Kemet Gas, Huate Gas has achieved import substitution of more than 20 gas products and has passed the certification of ASML and Japan GIGAPIN Co., Ltd. At present, the representative products such as high-purity carbon monoxide and high-purity nitric oxide developed by Huate Gas have been supplied to domestic leading manufacturers such as Yangtze River Storage in batches, becoming the largest supplier of gallium nitride plant and silicon carbide plant in China.
There is no doubt that neon gas is no longer in short supply. Future producers of inert gases produced in Ukraine and Russia will face fierce market competition.