Showa Denko in Chinese jv for high-purity gas for electronics

Japan’s Showa Denko K.K. has established Chengdu Kemeite Showa Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. in Chengdu, China, jointly with Chengdu Kemeite Special Gas Co. of China, aiming to strengthen SDK’s business to produce and sell high-purity gases for electronics. The new company will start its operation in January 2021, and it will mainly be in charge of the implementation of final process in the manufacturing process of high-purity FC-14 gas (tetrafluoromethane: CF4) which is used in the process to manufacture semiconductors.

Read: Showa Denko establishes Chinese branch to distribute high-purity gases for electronics

CF4 is one of major products of SDK’s electronic gas business. CF4 is the primary and basic etching gas among high-purity gases for electronics, and has been mass-produced and used for more than 40 years. The demand for CF4 is expected to increase steadily because it is not only easy to handle but also suitable for micromachining of semiconductor chips which is improving further, and the amount of CF4 used in the process to produce leading-edge electronic devices including organic electroluminescent displays has been increasing.

Through execution of this buildup policy, SDK’s CF4 business will have a system to produce CF4 with two production bases, namely, production facilities in SDK’s Kawasaki Plant which is in operation and those in the new company. The Showa Denko Group will really strengthen stability of its system to supply CF4 for East Asian market, and expand its strategic business to provide materials for production process of semiconductors further.