✧✦Catherine✦✧2d ago

semiconductor folks! I've seen a lot of talking heads repeat the claim that "a helium shortage is bad for chip production", never substantiated with useful information. do any of you know:

  • what is helium actually used in the processes?
  • which specific processes would be affected?
  • how much helium (ballpark) is needed per year?
  • where, if anywhere, a closed cycle is used?
  • what happened to the strategic helium reserve in the US?
Show threadBrandon2d ago

@whitequark helium is non-reactive, so it’s used as a carrier gas and a chamber control gas (fill the chamber with it and flow your chemical vapor deposition gases into that environment). Different gases have different effects on the temperature control of the chamber for different materials’ growth processes. As a carrier gas I believe helium has the most use in Si-doping.

A few paragraphs on helium’s thermal properties in https://semiengineering.com/using-less-helium-in-semiconductor-manufacturing/

Using Less Helium In Semiconductor Manufacturing

With price spikes and shortages expected, companies should look for ways to reduce reliance on limited helium supplies.

Semiconductor Engineering
Show thread✧✦Catherine✦✧2d ago
@be_far thanks. I have some background in vacuum systems so this makes a lot of sense. do you know the ballpark number for how much helium is used, after accounting for reclamation?
Show threadBrandon2d ago
@whitequark the one number I’ve ever seen (couldn’t ever find a source, everyone just repeats it) is that one advanced TSMC fab uses 500,000 cubic meters of helium a year. If it’s used as a purge gas like you mentioned in another comment I imagine it’s very low reclamation but I don’t know if that number takes reclamation into account (even if it’s not made up).
Show thread✧✦Catherine✦✧2d ago
@be_far yeah it's infuriating how often someone just pulls a figure out of who knows where and then everyone else repeats it
Show threadBrandon
@whitequark it has to be AI generated at this point, you’d think there would be some interview somewhere saying it but I’ve never found one. TSMC’s own periodic sustainability reports are in dollars, maybe you could convert using price data?
Apr 3 at 2:28pmWeb