South Korea’s SK Materials Co. has teamed up with Japan’s Showa Denko K.K. to produce high-purity monofluoromethane gas (CH3F) used in the manufacturing process of semiconductor chips, according to the firms Sunday.

CH3F is an electronic specialty gas used to produce semiconductor for micromachining nitride film by etching, largely for manufacturing multi-layered 3D NAND flash and high-performance memory chips.

Showa Denko specializes in the gas field offering 20 types of electronic specialty gases, or high-purity gases, such as ammonia, chlorine, and fluorine-containing gases. Its market capitalization stands at around 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion won).

SK Materials Co., acquired by SK Group last year, also produces specialty gases. The two’s joint-venture dubbed SK Showa Denko would be created at 51:49 ratio with the Korean company accounting for the bigger share.

The initial capital has been pledged at 21 billion won. The two would expand depending on the demand. SK Showa Denko will set up a CH3F production facility with a 20-ton annual capacity within SK Material’s factory in Yeongju City in North Gyeongsang Province in Korea by August next year.

Demand of CH3F is expected to outpace capacity next year amid stronger demand for high-performance memory chips for mobile devices.

By Jung Wook

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Source: Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea (Dec. 19, 2016)