This breath of air is indispensable in the semiconductor production process

According to the Shanghai Securities News China Securities Network, on April 12, Guangdong Huate Gas Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Huate Gas")'s application for the first public offering of shares and listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board has been officially accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange. According to the prospectus of Huate Gas , the company is a gas manufacturer dedicated to the localization of special gases and the first to break the import restrictions on gas materials in cutting-edge fields such as very large-scale integrated circuits and new display panels. The company's main business includes the research and development, production and sales of special gases, supplemented by general industrial gases and related gas equipment and engineering business, and provides one-stop comprehensive application solutions for gases.

In previous introductions, we have learned a lot about semiconductor production and the value of silicon wafers to the semiconductor industry. But perhaps you still don’t know the value of electronic gases in the semiconductor production process. According to SEMI reports, the total sales of wafer manufacturing materials in 2017 were US$27.8 billion, of which electronic gases accounted for 14%, second only to silicon wafers.

(Source: LiDing Industry Research Network)

What is electron gas?

Gases used in the semiconductor industry are collectively referred to as electronic gases. In the semiconductor production process, from chip growth to the final device packaging, almost every step and every link is inseparable from electronic gases. The cost of electronic gases accounts for 5% to 6% of the total cost of IC materials. The purity of electronic gases has a great impact on chip quality.

Electronic gases can be divided into three categories: pure gas, high-purity gas and semiconductor special gas. Semiconductor special gas can be divided into electronic grade, LSI (large-scale integrated circuit) grade, VLSI (very large-scale integrated circuit) grade and ULSI (ultra-large-scale integrated circuit) grade according to purity level and application occasion.

Among them, high-purity gases are mostly used in high-tech fields such as ultra-large-scale integrated circuits and separation devices, optoelectronics, etc., including oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, helium, argon, etc. (the purity is usually greater than 99.999%). Special gases are mainly used in epitaxy, doping and etching processes. This type of electronic gas is mainly divided into hydrides (ultra-pure hydrogen, silane, phosphine, etc.), fluorides (sulfur hexafluoride, nitrogen trifluoride, silicon tetrafluoride, etc.), and fluorocarbons (carbon tetrafluoride, hexafluoroethane, etc.).

(Photo source: Xueqiu)

Semiconductor Specialty Gas Market Situation

According to SEMI data, the global electronic gas market size reached US$3.5 billion in 2014, of which specialty gases accounted for about 65%. Among them, the five major gas companies, led by Air Products and Chemicals (30%), Praxair (20%), Showa Denko (15%), BOC (acquired by Linde Group, Germany), and Air Liquide (5%), accounted for more than 80% of the global specialty gas market share.

In terms of semiconductor special gases, China still has a large gap with international manufacturers. The high-purity electronic special gases used in the domestic semiconductor industry are almost all imported. There are certain technical difficulties in the storage and transportation of high-purity gases. According to relevant data, the various electronic special gas competitors are not much different in terms of cost, price, and delivery time. The main advantages of some gas companies are logistics services such as dangerous goods bonded warehouses and monopoly products.

In addition, the types of semiconductor special gases that China can supply are incomplete, so related large manufacturers will also turn their attention to international manufacturers for cost considerations. In addition, most of China's local gas companies have transformed from large chemical industries or industrial gases, and their technical levels are uneven, making it difficult to meet the requirements of wafer manufacturing, which has also become one of the factors restricting the development of domestic semiconductor special gases.

However, as China has been vigorously developing the semiconductor industry in recent years, semiconductor-related products have great potential in terms of output value and scale. This market opportunity has also brought opportunities for the development of domestic semiconductor special gases.

Can domestic manufacturers produce this "breath"?

During the 12th Five-Year Plan period, the country focused on implementing the "Very Large Scale Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Technology and Complete Process" project, namely the 02 Special Project "High Purity Electronic Gas Research and Industrialization" project. According to the "National Industrial Structure Adjustment Guidance Catalogue" (2011 Edition) revised in 2013, high purity electronic gases and their downstream industries are all national encouraged projects; the "National Integrated Circuit Industry Development Promotion Outline", "Electronic Information Industry Development Fund Guide", "2014-2016 New Display Industry Innovation Development Action Plan" and other policies have proposed a series of policies to encourage and support the downstream industry of electronic chemical materials.

After several years of development, some related companies in my country have made breakthroughs in certain special semiconductor gases.

The 718th Institute is the leading unit of the national "02 Special Project" gas project. It has successively developed high-purity nitrogen trifluoride, tungsten hexafluoride gas and trifluoromethanesulfonic acid products, and achieved large-scale production. The relevant products have been tested and certified by leading semiconductor companies such as SMIC. It is reported that the special gas materials of the 718th Institute have been used in more than 90% of domestic semiconductor factories, and some products have reached 100%. The company predicts that by 2020, the production capacity of high-purity nitrogen trifluoride gas will reach 12,000 tons/year, the production capacity of high-purity tungsten hexafluoride gas will expand to 200 tons/year, and the production capacity of other special gases will reach 3,000 tons/year.

Walter Gas is the first domestic gas company to break the import restrictions on high-purity hexafluoroethane, high-purity trifluoromethane, high-purity octafluoropropane, high-purity carbon dioxide, high-purity carbon monoxide, high-purity nitric oxide, Ar/F/Ne mixed gas, Kr /Ne mixed gas, Ar/Ne mixed gas, Kr/F/Ne mixed gas and other products, and has taken the lead in replacing imports of nearly 20 products. It is a pioneer in the localization of special gases in China. At present, the company is the only gas company in China that has passed the certification of ASML , and it is also one of the only four gas companies in the world that have all the above four products passed its certification.

Zhejiang Juhua Co., Ltd. and Juhua Group have a variety of raw material resources required for the production of high-purity electronic gases, such as HCl, HF, SiF4, F2, Cl2, CO2, CH2F2, CHF3, C2HF5, C4F8, etc., which provide raw material guarantees for the development of high-purity electronic gases. On March 16, the Zhejiang Provincial Property Rights Exchange Center publicly listed 100% of the equity of Zhejiang Borui Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Kaisheng Fluorine Chemical Co., Ltd., two subsidiaries of Juhua Co., Ltd., at a package price of 940 million yuan. Judging from the relevant announcement of Juhua Co., Ltd., this transaction of the two subsidiary platforms is undoubtedly paving the way for its joint venture "Zhongjuxin Technology" established at the end of 2017. According to the previous announcement of Juhua Co., Ltd., the company plans to jointly invest in the establishment of a joint venture company "Zhongjuxin Technology" with several funds such as the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Company.

Bochun Materials is a Sino-foreign joint venture established in 2009. Bochun Materials is committed to providing high-purity electronic gases and related application equipment for the international, especially Asian semiconductor, LED, LCD and PV markets. It mainly engages in the research and development and production of professional electronic materials. All related products have independent intellectual property rights. It is a high-tech gas and chemical materials company with a new system and vitality. In 2018, Entegris cooperated with Bochun Materials to open a new factory in Quanzhou, China. The event marked the official start of production and operation of special gas products used in semiconductor manufacturing processes. Bochun Materials Quanzhou Factory covers an area of ​​55,000 square meters, including two Class 2.3 hazardous goods warehouses and more than 20 electronic gas packaging, purification and synthesis process centers. The plant can manufacture the world's most advanced semiconductor ion implantation materials in China.

The semiconductor industry involves all aspects, but every little detail is crucial. Just like breathing, it seems to be a very ordinary thing, but it is also an indispensable thing. And this breath is equally important to the semiconductor industry.

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