News Gas Used to Make Semiconductors Threatened by Russian Invasion of Ukraine

[Admin]

As the Russo-Ukrainian war progresses, reports on the impact of the conflict on the worldwide semiconductor manufacturing industry are increasingly bleaker. As prices for noble gases crucial to manufacturing explode, so too could price for the end user.

Gas Used to Make Semiconductors Threatened by Russian Invasion of Ukraine : Read more

 

[InvalidError]

Since noble gasses should be infinitely reusable from not reacting to anything, I'm sure manufacturers could build fab plants with greatly reduced noble gas consumption if gas prices become a large enough cost factor to justify the added equipment footprint and costs.

 

[Co BIY]

Since noble gasses should be infinitely reusable from not reacting to anything, I'm sure manufacturers could build fab plants with greatly reduced noble gas consumption if gas prices become a large enough cost factor to justify the added equipment footprint and costs.

That is an important point although such changes would take many months if not years to implement.

Crisis pricing it worse than the long term pricing will be no matter the outcome of the crisis. If Ukrainian sources are permanently off-line (or unavailable) then other sources will raise their production capability. But the investments won't be made until the outcome is known.

 

[InvalidError]

If Ukrainian sources are permanently off-line (or unavailable) then other sources will raise their production capability.

Short of nuclear alchemy, you cannot "produce" elements. You can only extract them from wherever they are available from. Most noble gasses are extracted from oil and gas during the refining process. Ukraine being one of the largest exporters is likely because its oil and gas fields have more of them trapped in there.

The loss of Ukraine's noble gas supply would be extremely difficult and costly to replace.

As for the feasibility of implementing tighter gas recycling in existing fabs, that would depend on how much reusing is already going on in there.

 

[Co BIY]

Semi-conductor grade Neon is extracted from liquified air by distillation. (Same for Argon, Xenon and Krypton).

I'm sure it is a complicated process that is capital intensive but the natural resource is literally equally available world-wide.

Helium is extracted with natural gas. Again it is more a matter installing the equipment for extraction on existing gas equipment than a matter of there being a shortage of the element.

 

[InvalidError]

Also for Helium storage is a challenge.

Not a challenge, just expensive. For small quantities, a high pressure steel tank can do the job. For larger quantities like an MRI machine, all you need is a recovery condenser of adequate capacity to keep up with the boil-off rate.

 

[Co BIY]

Not a challenge, just expensive. For small quantities, a high pressure steel tank can do the job. For larger quantities like an MRI machine, all you need is a recovery condenser of adequate capacity to keep up with the boil-off rate.

For point of use quantities. But there is only one large-scale Helium storage location in the entire world. Most Helium in natural gas is allowed to remain in the gas rather than extracted and is vented when the gas is burned.

 

[maik80]

They can already consider the lack of these noble gases, Russia has completely changed its strategy, instead of a "clean" war they have returned to a US-Russia style war, destroying everything along the way.