Japanese lithography tool maker Gigaphoton has introduced a neon gas recycling system called hTGM for argon fluoride (ArF) excimer lasers. The company says the system achieves a 50% neon recovery rate, with potential for improvement through adjusted configurations. A single unit could cut neon consumption by up to 470 kilolitres per year, reducing material costs and reliance on global supply chains.
The push comes after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine disrupted neon supplies, as Ukraine had shipped up to half of the semiconductor industry's neon. Since then, China, Taiwan, and South Korea have boosted domestic production, and some chipmakers have integrated recycling. Gigaphoton's system extends its earlier KrF laser recycling work to ArF lasers, which are widely used in advanced DUV lithography.
Still, the 50% figure is not groundbreaking. Cymer's excimer laser recovery system hit the same efficiency in 2015, and Gigaphoton's own 2017 testing suggested ArF recovery could exceed 90%. Fellow Japanese firm Kanken Techno recently demonstrated a neon recycling system with over 90% efficiency at SemiCon Taiwan, and it is undergoing certification. That suggests Gigaphoton's system has significant headroom as the industry works to close the neon loop. The source notes that EUV lithography and alternative technologies may eventually reduce neon demand, but for now recycling is a practical stopgap. The article is based on a single source, so no conflicting reports{