Fab explosion in Japan

05/01/1997

Fab explosion in Japan. Sources in Japan say that a gas explosion recently occurred at a Yamaha wafer fab in Toyoka-mura, Shizuoka Prefecture. Reportedly, the incident, in which a cylinder cabinet exploded and was seriously damaged, took place one day after cylinders of silane (SiH4) were changed. The apparent cause was a leaky valve. A silane explosion also reportedly happened last year at another Japanese fab, during the cleaning of exhaust lines on plasma equipment.