{"id":2101,"date":"2024-04-01T00:00:59","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T00:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8080\/sk-hynix-teams-up-with-local-partners-to-develop-pioneering-neon-gas-recycling-tech\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T07:12:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T07:12:16","slug":"sk-hynix-teams-up-with-local-partners-to-develop-pioneering-neon-gas-recycling-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.skhynix.com\/en\/sk-hynix-teams-up-with-local-partners-to-develop-pioneering-neon-gas-recycling-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"SK hynix Teams Up With Local Partners to Develop Pioneering Neon Gas Recycling Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

SK hynix announced on April 1 that it has successfully developed the industry\u2019s first neon gas recycling technology with TEMC, a South Korean specialty gas manufacturer for the semiconductor sector. As recent geopolitical instability has increased uncertainty regarding the import-reliant supply of neon, SK hynix\u2019s collaboration with local partners looks to tackle this issue and has led to a significant achievement within a year.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In February 2024, <\/span>SK <\/span>hynix<\/span> became the first semiconductor company to <\/span>unveil <\/span><\/span>a mid- to long-term roadmap for bolstering the use of recycled materials<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span>. <\/span><\/span>Through the roadmap,<\/span><\/span> the company <\/span>aims to<\/span> raise<\/span> the percentage of recycled materials <\/span>used in its products <\/span>to 25<\/span><\/span>%<\/span><\/span> by 2025 and to above 30<\/span><\/span>%<\/span><\/span> by 2030. <\/span>The development of the neon recycling technology is expected to be a significant achievement for the company\u2019s Material Recycling department in line with this roadmap. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Figure<\/p>\n

\u25b2 Figure 1. The process for recycling neon gas<\/p>\n

Neon<\/span> is<\/span><\/span> one of the <\/span>rare<\/span> gases<\/span><\/span>*<\/span>\u00a0and<\/span> a key <\/span>component<\/span> of <\/span>excimer laser gases<\/span><\/span>*<\/span>,<\/span><\/span> which are essential in the semiconductor lithography process<\/span><\/span>*<\/span>. <\/span><\/span>As n<\/span>eon does not chemically decompose or transform when used as a laser light source, it can be recycled <\/span>and reused <\/span>through separation and <\/span>purification <\/span>processes<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Taking advantage of this characteristic, SK <\/span>hynix<\/span> and TEMC succeeded in developing neon recycling technology.<\/span><\/span> For the<\/span> recycling process<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>a scrubber<\/span><\/span>*<\/span> is used to<\/span><\/span> capture the neon gas <\/span>which is <\/span>then<\/span><\/span> collected in a <\/span>tank<\/span><\/span> following<\/span> lithography<\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span>The <\/span>neon <\/span>gas<\/span> is then s<\/span>electively separate<\/span>d<\/span> and purifie<\/span>d<\/span><\/span> using<\/span> TEMC\u2019s gas treatment process<\/span><\/span> before being<\/span> supplied to SK <\/span>hynix<\/span> for reuse in semiconductor manufacturing. <\/span>Currently, t<\/span>he neon recovery rate<\/span>, which is measured by <\/span>multiplying emissions, capture volume, and purification yield, <\/span>is at 72.7<\/span><\/span>%<\/span>. <\/span><\/span>SK <\/span>hynix<\/span> plans to increase th<\/span>is<\/span> rate to 77% by continuously improving the purification yield<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/span>Rare\u00a0gas:\u00a0Gases including\u00a0helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon\u00a0that exist in low concentrations in the\u00a0atmosphere.\u00a0Largely used in industrial\u00a0processes, they\u00a0are\u00a0difficult to mass produce and impossible to synthesize artificially.
\n*<\/span>Excimer laser gases:\u00a0A mixture of\u00a0noble, halogen and buffer gases\u00a0used for\u00a0an\u00a0excimer\u00a0laser,\u00a0a type of\u00a0ultraviolet laser used\u00a0in lithography.
\n*<\/span>Lithography:\u00a0The process of creating patterns onto a substrate, typically silicon wafers, with a laser to define the layout of electronic components.
\n*<\/span>Scrubber:\u00a0Equipment\u00a0that filters and\u00a0treats\u00a0waste gases generated during the\u00a0semiconductor manufacturing process.<\/p>\n

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One-Team Collaboration with Partners Expected to Cut Neon Purchasing Costs<\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Figure<\/p>\n

\u25b2 Figure 2. SK hynix collaborated with materials and equipment partners to recycle neon gas<\/p>\n

SK <\/span>hynix<\/span><\/span> was able to <\/span>develop this technology <\/span>as a<\/span> result of<\/span> close co<\/span>operation<\/span><\/span> and <\/span>synergy<\/span> with<\/span> its materials and equipment partners <\/span>which <\/span>boast<\/span> expertise<\/span> in <\/span>their respective<\/span> field<\/span>s<\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span>The company<\/span> plans to develop <\/span>more of these<\/span><\/span> partnerships with<\/span><\/span> industry specialists<\/span><\/span> in the future<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The application of <\/span>the recycling<\/span> technology offers <\/span>significant benefits<\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span>When <\/span>used in <\/span>semiconductor <\/span>fabs<\/span>, the neon recycling technology is expected to <\/span>cut<\/span> the cost of <\/span>purchasing<\/span> neon by <\/span>KRW <\/span>40 billion<\/span><\/span> (<\/span><\/span>USD 30 million<\/span><\/span>*<\/span>) <\/span><\/span>per year<\/span><\/span>*<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/span>Based on the KRW-USD exchange rate in March 2024.
\n*<\/span>This figure is based on the unit cost of neon in 2022 and expected volume that will be used in one fab of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster.<\/p>\n

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The First Step to Developing 10 Raw Material Recycling Technologies by 2025<\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Figure<\/p>\n

\u25b2 Figure 3. (From left to right) Hwanuk Song, Buseup Song, and Youngjun Jeong of the Material Recycling department discuss recycling innovations<\/p>\n

The <\/span>Material Recycling <\/span>department<\/span> led the development of <\/span>the <\/span>neon<\/span> recycling <\/span>technology<\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span>As <\/span>a<\/span> subcommittee <\/span>of<\/span> the Carbon Management Committee<\/span><\/span>*<\/span>, it <\/span>is responsible for<\/span> securing recycling technologies for <\/span>non-chemically modified <\/span>materials<\/span> and <\/span>establishing<\/span> a recycling-friendly <\/span>fab<\/span> environment based on these <\/span>innovations<\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span>The subcommittee aims<\/span> to <\/span>recycle all materials that are not chemically de<\/span>composed<\/span> and transformed <\/span>during<\/span> the semiconductor process. By 2025, <\/span>it<\/span> plans to develop recycling technologies for<\/span> a total of<\/span><\/span> ten<\/span> raw materials, <\/span>including<\/span><\/span> neon, deuterium, hydrogen, <\/span>and <\/span>helium<\/span> gases<\/span>, a<\/span>s well as<\/span> chemical<\/span>s <\/span>such as sulfuric acid. <\/span>Looking further ahead, <\/span>the company aims to complete a technology review for all <\/span>non-chemically modified <\/span>materials<\/span> b<\/span>y 2030<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/span>Carbon Management Committee: A company-wide organization involving research, manufacturing, facilities, environment, and procurement to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The committee leads initiatives such as low-power equipment development, process gas reduction, and energy reduction based on AI\/DT technology.<\/p>\n

\"Figure<\/p>\n

\u25b2 Figure 4. The five stages of developing recycling technology<\/p>\n

To achieve these goals, the subcommittee has categorized<\/span> the development of recycling technologies into five stages based on technological maturity<\/span>.<\/span> As shown in<\/span> Figure 4<\/span>,<\/span> the subcommittee aims to reach stage 3 (material evaluation) for ten raw materials including neon by 2025.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, SK hynix plans to overcome the uncertain supply of materials which are largely imported from overseas, thereby elevating the company\u2019s competitiveness for years to come. \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SK hynix announced on April 1 that it has successfully developed the industry\u2019s first neon gas recycling technology with TEMC, a South Korean specialty gas manufacturer for the semiconductor sector. As recent geopolitical instability has increased uncertainty regarding the import-reliant<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":2096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_migrated_source_id":14642,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[163,607,231,609,229,82,228,608],"class_list":["post-2101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-story","tag-esg","tag-excimer-laser","tag-materials","tag-neon","tag-net-zero","tag-photolithography","tag-recycle","tag-temc"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.skhynix.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.skhynix.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.skhynix.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.skhynix.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.skhynix.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2101"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/news.skhynix.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6718,"href":"https:\/\/news.skhynix.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101\/revisions\/6718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.skhynix.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.skhynix.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.skhynix.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.skhynix.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}