The localization of electronic special gas meets the historic opportunity

2. Technology is difficult to overcome in the short term

One of the main reasons for the wide market share of domestic and foreign enterprises is the technical gap that is difficult to make up in a short period of time. The production of special gas is a systematic engineering, which involves the deep purification technology of gas, the analysis and detection technology of trace impurities, the inner surface treatment technology of gas cylinder, and the detoxification treatment technology of toxic exhaust. 

There are many reasons that e-gas technology can't overcome:

First, the deep purification technology is difficult. According to Jing Song, a researcher at the Institute of Semiconductor Materials, Zhejiang University, taking silane as an example, there is a long way to purify its purity from 4N to 6N, in addition to solving the purification problem of ordinary gaseous impurities, but also to purify metal elements to 10-9 and 10-12 levels, to develop new processes or new adsorbents, catalysts.

Second, the storage and transportation of packaging boxes can not keep up. The production and application of ultra-high purity gas require the use of high-quality gas packaging storage and transportation containers, corresponding gas transmission lines, valves and interfaces to avoid the occurrence of secondary pollution. Internationally renowned gas companies have independently developed cylinder and cylinder handling technologies suitable for contemporary electronic gas packaging storage and transportation. China has not carried out systematic research and development work in this area, and the gap with foreign countries is very large.

Third, the concept of analysis and inspection is backward. Foreign countries have developed systematic and complete analysis and testing methods and on-site analysis instruments, which have withdrawn a variety of analytical instruments for impurity components, particles and metal ions that are more harmful in electronic gases. However, under the guiding ideology of "the product is produced, not detected", China has not paid enough attention to the research and development of analytical detection technology in the field of electronic gas production and application. At present, the level of domestic analysis and testing technology is not in line with international standards.

3, domestic electronic gas is difficult to enter the integrated circuit and other fields

Although from the technical point of view, some domestic enterprises have basically had the ability to produce high-purity electronic gases, but they can not enter the integrated circuit and other fields for three main reasons:

First, the local electronic gas production and suppliers are small in scale, and can not provide users with a full range of services. Compared with international giants, domestic suppliers are generally small in size, and most of them occupy a limited market share through low-price competition. Fierce competition among local suppliers leads to rapid price decline, thin profits, and even losses.

Second, electronic gases, especially high-purity electronic gases, are important factors affecting the reliability and yield of electronic devices. With the rapid development of electronic information technology, the quality stability of electronic gas is more and more demanding. If an electronic gas product is validated in the IC manufacturing process, such purity and quality requirements are locked in. Chipmakers don't want to see any change in the quality of their products, and even a further increase in purity could create unexpected problems. Therefore, any change in the production process of electronic materials, including the replacement of raw material suppliers, changes in the production process, etc., must be notified in time to the chip manufacturer, and decide whether to re-verify according to the situation. Electronic gases produced by domestic enterprises have suffered many quality accidents, affecting the trust of chip manufacturers in local electronic products.

Third, the packaging, storage and transportation of domestic electronic gas products have failed to meet the requirements of the modern electronics industry. In order to save costs and compete at low prices, many enterprises have reduced requirements in packaging, storage and transportation, so there have been various problems.

4. Future development trend

The specialty gas market is growing rapidly. Under the new normal of the economy, more emphasis will be placed on the optimization and upgrading of the economic structure, and the contribution of integrated circuits, display panels, photovoltaic energy, optical fiber and cable, new energy vehicles, aerospace, environmental protection, medical and other industries to China's economic growth will become more prominent. As an indispensable key material for the development of the above industries, the market size of special gases will continue to maintain rapid development. According to Zhuochuang information statistics, 2010-2017 China's special gas market average growth rate of 15.48%, 2017 China's special gas market size of about 17.8 billion yuan, of which integrated circuits, display panels, photovoltaic energy, optical fiber and cable semiconductor field of special gas market size of about 10 billion yuan. At the same time, according to Zhuo Chuang Information, the growth rate of China's special gas market in 2018-2022 will still be as high as 15%, and the size of China's special gas market will reach 41.1 billion yuan by 2022. Special gases will inject new impetus into the development of emerging industries in China. In the world, the special gas also maintained a high growth rate, in 2017, the global special gas market reached 24.1 billion US dollars, an increase of 11.55% compared with 2016, the special gas market space is broad.