Showa Denko K.K. (SDK; Tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) has decided to increase its capacity for high-purity nitrous oxide (N2O), a specialty gas for semiconductor production, by cooperating with Dooam Industrial (Dooam), of South Korea. Dooam is headquartered in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province.
SDK and Dooam have concluded a work commissioning agreement concerning the production of high-purity N2O. The two companies have also agreed to jointly construct a purification facility within the premises of Dooam’s plant near Seoul. The purification facility will have a production capacity of 600 mtric tons per year (m.t./yr), and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2014, will commercial shipments starting in 2015. As SDK is now operating a 1,200 m.t./yr plant at Kawasaki, Japan, SDK’s total high-purity N2O supply capacity, after the completion of the new facility, will increase to 1,800 m.t./yr.
High-purity N2O is used for deposition of an insulating oxide film in the process of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) for producing semiconductors. For this application, demand for high-purity N2O is growing at the rate of 10-15% a year in Asia. In recent years, demand is also growing for use as a source of oxygen for oxide film in the process of producing displays.