Air Products, a company serving customers in technology, energy, healthcare and industrial markets worldwide, has planned to increase the production capacity of nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) by expanding its Ulsan, Korea facility.
NF3 is used as a chamber cleaning gas by manufacturers of thin-film photovoltaic, thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) and semiconductor products. The new capacity is anticipated to start operations in the latter half of 2012.
For over 30 years, the company has been producing and distributing NF3, as it has realized the potential use of the product. Wayne Mitchell, VP and General Manager of Electronics, stated that there is an increasing demand for NF3 in the market and several OEMs have planned to use NF3 for their next-generation processes. Hence, Air products has decided that this is the right time to expand its existing facility and make the expansion more cost-effective.
In addition to the Ulsan facility, there are three NF3 plants operated by the company at its Electronic Specialty Materials manufacturing facility located in Hometown, Pennsylvania.
TFT-LCD, PV and semiconductor manufactures now have a greater choice of chamber cleaning solutions based on Air Products' product portfolio, record of fluorine production and handling and its expertise in the chamber cleaning process.