June 12, 2012 — Electronics fab gases supplier Linde Gases, a division of The Linde Group, will deliver on-site fluorine (F2) for memory and image sensor maker SK Hynix Inc., under a new long-term supply contract for multiple volume semiconductor production sites in Korea.
All of SK Hynix’s fabs have used Linde’s on-site F2 technology since 2004. On-site F2 is an alternative to cylinder fluorine (NF3) for cleaning chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chambers. “There is a clear technical, environmental and business case for us to use Linde’s market-leading on-site F2 technology across as many applications as possible. It plays a critical role in helping us meet our targets for better environmental efficiency and safety, and it enables us to reduce the cost of our manufacturing process,” said Chang Hyun Oh, ESH R&D Centre Manager at SK Hynix.
SK Hynix have been actively working to expand the range of processes for which they use on-site fluorine and have been investigating switching from NF3 to fluorine for chamber cleaning on single-wafer process tools.
NF3 is used in semiconductor, thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD), and photovoltaics manufacturing processes, but its designation as a greenhouse gas means it could be restricted by legislation. NF3’s global warming potential (GWP) is 17,200 times greater than carbon dioxide (CO2), whereas F2 has a 0 GWP. Total cleaning time can also be reduced up to 40%, and gas mass used is cut by 35%.
The Linde Group is a gases and engineering company. For more information, visit www.linde.com or www.linde-gas.com/electronics
SK Hynix Inc. is a memory semiconductor supplier offering dynamic random access memory (DRAM), Flash memory (NAND Flash), and CMOS image sensors (CIS). The Company’s shares are traded on the Korea Exchange, and the Global Depository shares are listed on the Luxemburg Stock Exchange. Further information about Hynix is available at www.skhynix.com.