SK Hynix will fully domestically produce neon gas, used in semiconductor exposure processes, by 2024, and will begin to strengthen its semiconductor raw material supply chain.

SK Hynix announced on the 5th that it has expanded the proportion of process introduction to 40% after successfully localizing neon (Ne) gas, an essential semiconductor raw material, for the first time in the domestic industry.

SK Hynix explained that this has enabled it to secure a stable supply of neon despite the unstable international situation and significantly reduce purchasing costs. Going forward, SK Hynix plans to increase its domestic production of neon to 100% by 2024.

Until now, domestic semiconductor companies have relied solely on imports for their neon supply. As the international situation in major overseas production regions has become unstable over the past few years and neon prices have shown signs of soaring, SK Hynix has worked with its partners, semiconductor gas manufacturer TEMC and POSCO, to find ways to produce neon domestically to preemptively address the risk of supply and demand instability.

To extract neon, which is diluted in the air, a large-scale ASU plant (Air Separate Unit) is required, resulting in high initial investment costs.

On the other hand, TEMC and POSCO, which sympathized with SK Hynix's goal of localizing neon, participated and developed a technology to produce neon at a low cost by utilizing existing facilities.

SK Hynix successfully achieved domestic production of neon earlier this year through evaluation and verification of the domestically produced neon. The domestically produced neon is produced at POSCO, processed by TEMC, and then supplied to SK Hynix with top priority.

Neon is the primary ingredient in excimer laser gas, a material used in semiconductor lithography processes. Excimer laser gas generates ultraviolet light with extremely short wavelengths, known as excimer lasers, which are used to engrave microscopic circuits onto wafers. While neon constitutes 95% of excimer laser gas, it is a rare element, occurring in the air at only 0.00182%.

SK Hynix became the first company in the domestic industry to introduce domestically produced neon into its semiconductor exposure process in April of this year, and has replaced approximately 40% of its total neon usage with domestic products to date. By 2024, all neons will be replaced with domestically produced products.

In addition, SK Hynix plans to minimize raw material supply risks by localizing krypton (Kr)/xenon (Xe) gases used in the etching process by June of next year, and to continue to secure the resources necessary for developing advanced semiconductor technology as a global first-class technology company.

SK Hynix FAB Raw Materials Purchasing Vice President Yoon Hong-seong stated, “This is a case where collaboration with domestic partners contributed significantly to stabilizing supply and demand even in an unstable supply situation due to the unstable international situation,” and “We plan to strengthen the semiconductor raw materials supply chain through continued collaboration.”