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Special Report Special Report

mittee, G/SPS/GEN/1847 (21st Oct. MRLs) shall not be applied in a man- to impose “mirror measures” to ensure Speciality gases for semiconductor manufacturing
2020). ner which would constitute a disguised that the EU’s plant protection measures
restriction on international trade. are also applied to the imported pro-
The Resolution fails doctrine of Most- ducts. he major categories of specialty (WF ), germane (GeH ) and nitrous Due to the industry’s special re-
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Favoured-Nation (MFN) and National The resolution violates Article 27 of chemicals consumed in the pro- oxide (N O). Other specialty gases are quirements for product purity, the puri-
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Treatment the Vienna Convention of Law of The primary purpose of the WTO is Tduction of integrated circuits or also used for ‘doping’, i.e., altering the fi cation, impurity detection, storage
If trade-related environmental or Treaties (VCLT) to open trade for the benefi t of all Mem- silicon chips, include silicon wafers, properties of the semiconductor crystal and transportation technology of elec-
health measures are to be consistent The provisions of VCLT are applied bers. However, EU seems to be moving atmospheric & specialty gases, photo- to improve its conductivity. Gases are tronic special gases is critical. As the
with WTO rules, they cannot result in all WTO settlement cases. in the opposite direction. The European resists, ancillary chemicals, wet-process- even used to clean the process cham- impurity content to be detected is as
in discrimination between “like pro- Parliament Resolution shows “delibe- ing chemicals, CMP slurries, thin fi lm bers afterwards. low as parts per billion (ppb) levels,
ducts”. The principle of “non-discrim- Article 27 of the Vienna Convention rate disregard” to the binding provisions metals, and copper plating chemicals, conventional analysis methods are not
ination” stipulates that a member shall clearly states that a Party [in this case of the SPS Agreement and deviates among others. Purity matters competent, and special methods such
not discriminate between “like pro- EU] cannot invoke the provisions of signifi cantly from the mandatory Conventionally, advances in semi- as gas chromatography, Inductively
ducts” from different trading partners its internal law as a justifi cation for its requirements set thereunder. The non-EU Atmospheric and specialty gases conductor technology are achieved by Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission
giving them equally MFN status; bet- failure to perform its obligations under countries should collectively challenge are critical to creating the chips that dimensional scaling, with new genera- Spectroscopy (ICPAES) and Inductively
ween “like products” from different a treaty [including WTO SPS Agree- the EU, availing the WTOs Dispute enable our everyday lives. Certain gases tions of semiconductors characterised Coupled Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS)
trading partners and between its own ment]. Settlement Understanding (OSU). chemically remove targeted materials by smaller feature sizes. This produces are needed.
and like foreign products giving them off the wafer, while others with unique multiple benefits: more transistors
“national treatment”. The impugned CONCLUSION About CENTEGRO chemistries (e.g., fl uorine, chlorine- packed into a given volume, improved In storage and transportation, the
resolution would lead to discrimination It is evident that the so called Centre for Environment and Agri- based derivatives) are used to fl ow into current fl ow, lower power consump- dissolution performance of the con-
between the “like products.” “import tolerance” pesticide MRL of culture (CENTEGRO) is a Mumbai- a processing tool. Chip manufacturing tion, and faster switching. tainer has also to be taken into account.
0.01-ppm is carefully designed to be a based think tank. It actively works, success depends upon the reliability, Some highly toxic gases also need to be
Basic obligation contained in non-tariff barrier to protect EU’s own among others, on matters that concern safety, and innovation of these gases. However, as the critical dimensions stored in negative pressure cylinders to
Article 2.3 of the SPS Agreement requires domestic production from outside com- agriculture, trade, economy, health, and of semiconductors are driven down- reduce the risk of leakage.
that SPS measures (including pesticide petition. The EU is apparently trying the environment. While these gases come in vari- ward, the devices become more and
ous sizes and types, they all require more delicate. In a world where the Low temperature distillation, mem-
Chemical Weekly specialized and safe handling, and the positions of single atoms are important, brane separation and adsorption separa-
specialty gases industry is challenged fault tolerance thresholds are incredibly
tion are the main purifi cation techno-
Import-Export Data with catering to this growing demand tight. Contamination is the single grea- logies used to render bulk gases suitable
while maintaining safety, quality, and test risk in any fab. Clean rooms are
for application in semiconductor manu-
reliability.
controlled to eliminate all dust, since
facturing.
Market Surveys At present, there are more than 110 circuit. But contamination via impuri- Commonly used bulk gases
even a single speck can ruin a micro-
The most commonly used bulk gases
Directories kinds of specialty gases used in the ties in gases is also a potential source – in semiconductor manufacturing are
semiconductor industry, of which about hence the importance of providing only
Business Forums 30 are commonly used. The main cate- the highest standard of electronic gases. nitrogen, helium, hydrogen and argon.
gories (by end functionality) are:
 Silicon precursors; In plasma etching, for instance, They are supplied to semiconductor
Expositions  Dopants; even 0.0001% – which corresponds to 1 manufacturers in cylinders as well as
part per million (ppm) – impurity inhi-
Etchants; and
in larger – bulk – quantities. Some pro-

 Atmospherics bits the effectiveness of the fl uorinated cesses, such as sputtering, require only
The only organisation in India catering exclusively to the needs of the entire chemical industry gas used. Among other consequences, small volumes of gas, making single-
Every chip starts with a ‘wafer’ this can mean that the trenches isolat- cylinder usage of argon, for example,
Contact: made of a pure semiconducting mate- ing the individual circuits on the semi more economical.
rial, such as silicon. Thin layers of dif- conductor material are not deep enough –
SEVAK PUBLICATIONS PVT. LTD. ferent materials are added to the surface rendering the chip useless. Nitrogen
The semiconductor industry is a
of this silicon wafer, by way of deposi-
602-B, Godrej Coliseum, K.J. Somaiya Hospital Road, tion (additive) and etching (subtractive) Typically, purity levels of gases major consumer of nitrogen. A modern
Behind Everard Nagar, Sion (E), Mumbai 400 022. chemical reactions – each requiring range between 99.998% to 99.99994%, fab plant can expect to use as much as
Phone: +91-22-24044471 / 72; various reactive gases such as nitrogen but varies between the gases supplied 50,000-m /hour of nitrogen. The nitro-
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Email: admin@chemicalweekly.com trifl uoride (NF ), tungsten hexafl uoride and the application. gen plays the role of a general-purpose
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174 Chemical Weekly February 20, 2024 Chemical Weekly February 20, 2024 175

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