Sinochem's Haohua Yuhang starts trial production of 99.9999% pure hydrogen chloride for chips
The Chinese company reported purity above 99.9999% and no more than 0.2 ppm of impurities on its first run. The gas is used to clean and prepare silicon wafers.
Haohua Yuhang, a subsidiary of state-owned chemical company Sinochem Holdings, has started trial production of ultra-high-purity hydrogen chloride for semiconductor manufacturing, Interesting Engineering reports, citing Science and Technology Daily. interestingengineering.com
Interesting Engineeringinterestingengineering.comOpen source ↗ According to the report, the facility achieved good results on its first run. Testing showed purity above 99.9999 percent, with total impurities of no more than 0.2 parts per million. The project is part of China's push to localize chipmaking.
A single stray impurity or molecule can ruin a batch of microchips, so manufacturers use specialty gases refined to near-perfection. Standard industrial hydrogen chloride contains trace amounts of moisture, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and various chlorosilanes. Bringing it to electronic grade requires a different level of precision.
Role in wafer fabrication
Fabs use ultra-pure hydrogen chloride to clean and prepare silicon wafers. Technicians use it to polish wafers, etch microscopic patterns and treat surfaces before new semiconductor layers are grown.
When the gas reacts with silicon or trace metals, it converts impurities into gaseous byproducts that are pumped out of the reaction chamber without leaving physical residue. This removes surface imperfections and native oxides and leaves the underlying silicon crystal undamaged. interestingengineering.com
Interesting Engineeringinterestingengineering.comOpen source ↗
Purification methods
To bring total impurities below 0.2 parts per million, producers use fractional distillation columns made of corrosion-resistant alloys, along with cryogenic and adsorption purification systems. The Sinochem project team redesigned its distillation and purification methods and made several technical adjustments before finalizing the production process.
China already has domestic suppliers in this niche, including Zhejiang-based specialty gas producer GrandiT Technology. The Haohua Yuhang facility remains in the trial phase.
In a related area of quality control, the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) established purity testing procedures for 15 high-purity semiconductor gases, along with six certified reference materials.
