Electronic gas is an important raw material in semiconductor industry

Introduction to electron gas

Special electronic gas (referred to as special electronic gas) is an important branch of special gas, is the production of integrated circuit (IC), flat panel display (LCD, LED, OLED), solar (8.360, -0.12, -1.42%) batteries and other electronic industry indispensable raw materials.

Generally speaking, the gases in the semiconductor manufacturing industry are classified into ordinary gases and special gases. Among them, common gas refers to the gas that is centrally supplied and uses a variety of gases, such as N2, H2, O2, AR, he, etc. Special gas refers to some chemical gases used in semiconductor manufacturing, such as expansion, ion implantation, mixing, cleaning, masking, that is, electronic gases in the gas category, such as high purity SiH4, PH3, AsH3, B2H6, N2O, NH3, SF6, NF3, CF4, BCl3, BF3, HCl, Cl2, etc. It is used in integrated circuit production and has a core range of about 30 common types. It is these gases that give silicon chips semiconductor properties through various processes, and thus determine the performance, integration and yield of integrated circuits. Even if certain pollutants exceed standards, serious quality defects can result. In severe cases, the spread of unqualified gases can contaminate the entire production line or even paralyze production completely. Therefore, electronic gas is the key basic material in the electronic manufacturing process, and it is indeed the "blood" of the electronic industry.

The raw materials of electronic gas are mainly basic chemical raw materials such as air separation gas, low purity raw gas and waste gas produced in the process of petrochemical and coal chemical production. Primary raw materials are available from a wide range of sources, the market is in sufficient supply, and are more readily available from relevant raw material suppliers. China's large iron and steel enterprises and fertilizer enterprises are basically equipped with air separation equipment, air separation gas supply is large, the price is stable. In petrochemical and coal chemical industries, the consumption of raw gas of special electronic gas accounts for a small part of raw gas output. A stable petrochemical and basic chemical industry can provide sufficient raw materials for the specialty electronic gas industry. The 13th Five-Year Plan defines targets for environmental protection and industrial emissions, and supplies for upstream industries will be ample. Because gas containers can be used for a long time, they account for a relatively small portion of the cost of electronic gases, and price fluctuations have little impact on the industry.

Classification and application of electronic gases

Many types of electronic gases are widely used in the manufacture of electronic products. At present, there are more than 60 pure gases and 80 mixed gases. Electronic gas can be divided into pure gas, high purity gas and semiconductor special material gas. Special material gas is mainly used in epitaxy, doping, etching and other processes. High purity gas is mainly used as dilution gas and carrier gas.

Electronic gas is mainly used in semiconductor, flat panel displays, solar cells and other fields, with a domestic market demand of 8 billion yuan. According to the statistics of China Industrial Gas Industry Association, domestic demand for electronic gases reached 8 billion yuan in 2019, including 3.5 billion yuan for integrated circuits, 2.2 billion yuan for aircraft displays and 800 million yuan for solar cells.