Special gases to manage the infinitely small of semiconductor production
Mixed with nitrogen or hydrogen, diborane is one of the special gases used in the etching and deposition stages to manufacture electronic chips. These manufacturing scales relate to the infinitely small, where no mechanical drill can intervene to model the architecture of the components.
With a surface area of 1 cm², the chips can contain up to 238 layers and billions of miniature components, such as 10 nanometer transistors. Dimensions “ten times smaller than a virus, 7000 times smaller than a hair, it is therefore necessary to work at the molecule level, with special gases to deposit molecules and engrave the surfaces», schematizes Guillaume Cottet, head of the Electronics division of Air Liquide.
On the Sejong site in South Korea, the Air Liquide diborane plant, inaugurated on May 22, 2024, started its first commercial production in the spring to serve local semiconductor production. © Liquid air
Officially inaugurated on May 22, the Korean diborane unit is part of an Air Liquide investment of 200 million dollars (approximately 184 million euros), which also includes the construction of a similar unit in Taiwan, other essential strategic hub for semiconductors in Asia, behind the Chinese ogre, Japan and Singapore.
Boosted by technological advances in electronic goods and, more recently, by the needs generated by the emergence of artificial intelligence, the semiconductor market is enjoying colossal growth. Estimated at 520 billion dollars (480 billion euros) in 2023, it is expected to double by 2030. Enough to generate hundreds of billions of industrial investments in recent years in the United States, Asia and in smaller proportions. in Europe, to keep up with the pace.
Hundreds of billions of dollars invested in South Korea for semiconductors
In South Korea, Nicolas Foirien, president of Air Liquide Korea, mentions “a spectacular increase in volumes in semiconductors, with units whose size has multiplied by 5 to 10 in 10 years“. He points out in passing that the two local champions, Samsung and SK Hynix, world leaders in the field of memory chips, have “invested respectively 200 billion dollars and 100 billion dollars in ten years in the country“.
On May 23, South Korea also unveiled a new public support plan of more than 17 billion euros for its semiconductor industry. This race for capacity is coupled with a technological race to further miniaturize and increase the performance of microprocessors or memories. A boon for Air Liquide and its special gases for electronics.
In Sejong, the special gases are packaged in the form of cylinders to then be transported by truck to the large Korean semiconductor factories. © Liquid air
Especially since the French group would be the “the only major gas company to have in its portfolio all the gases and molecules used to manufacture semiconductors», assures Guillaume Cottet, specifying that “neither Linde nor Air Products are positioned in certain advanced materials“. This segment includes vectors for chemical vapor deposition and atomic layer deposition.
In 2023, the Electronics division represented 9% of the 27.6 billion euros in turnover generated by Air Liquide. But the sales of this division “are growing strongly, they have almost doubled in ten years», notes Guillaume Cottet. Focused on around ten countries (United States, France, Germany, Italy, China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore), with 4,600 employees, the division is developing mainly in Asia, the group’s leading market in this area. segment.
On this continent, the electronics market accounts for 33% of sales compared to only 5% in the United States and 2% in Europe. And if Air Liquide’s gases are used for the production of flat screens or solar panels, 90% of the turnover in the segment comes from the semiconductor market.
Three Air Liquide factories for electronics needs in South Korea
In South Korea, for electronics, the group has a small R&D site in Seoul – its center of excellence in Asia being based in Japan – and three industrial sites positioned on these special gases. In addition to that of Sejong, two factories are located in the southwest of the capital: that of Hwaseong, which produces etching gases and silicon-based precursors, and that of Cheonan which has been manufacturing precursors, silicon-based precursors since 2020. helium, xenon and krypton. Additional xenon and krypton capabilities for “the semiconductor and aerospace markets will be inaugurated there in a year», underlines Armelle Levieux, Director of Innovation in charge of Air Liquide’s Hydrogen and Electronics activities.
In electronics, the group also produces large volumes of nitrogen, an inert gas used extensively in semiconductors to remove all etching dust. These nitrogen productions for chip producers are located directly on the sites for incessant and large volume needs. Air Liquide has more than 250 large units directly on site around the world, and therefore also in South Korea.
On the other hand, special gases are transported to site in the form of a cylinder. The group has developed and is also installing systems and equipment on customer sites to directly connect the cylinders to power and connect the flows to the clean rooms where the semiconductors are produced.
Semiconductor producers want local supply chains for their supplies
In the post-Covid era, however, the world order has changed in the semiconductor field. Highlighting the “geopolitical tensions“, THE “supply chain disruptions» or even the “Customs barriers» which have animated the semiconductor battle since the pandemic, the general director of Air Liquide François Jackow is now speaking of a “world which is no longer flat but fragmented” in the field.
The boss of Air Liquide thus underlines that a “a certain number of geographical areas have become aware of their dependence and their need for sovereignty“. And if major industrial investments flourish around the world, “Customers are also increasingly demanding localization of the supply chain. They are willing to pay more to benefit from more resilience and security“.
For special gases dedicated to electronics, the French group is now banking on smaller but more localized factories. Hence recent specific investments in Singapore and Japan, and today in Taiwan and South Korea.
