SEMICONDUCTOR FAB
SEMICONDUCTOR FABOur NiCo Electrode for Semiconductor Fab Hydrogen
Semiconductor fabs use hydrogen for epitaxial deposition, carrier-gas blends, and reduction atmospheres. Our bifunctional NiCo electrode supplies the hydrogen side at 91.4% energy efficiency at 0.5 A/cm2 in an AEM cell with a commercial Zirfon separator.
Polarization (RT vs 60 °C)
TESTBEDCompact electrolyzer footprint for fab utility rooms
Bifunctional NiCo electrode on Ni foam from 100 to 1000 cm2. Pilot cells sized for fab utility-room footprints; the published bench-scale data at 5 cm2 reproduces directly.
High duty cycle suits fab uptime expectations
1000-hour continuous run with bifunctional NiCo and commercial Zirfon separator: 21 uV/hr voltage drift. Fabs run 24/7 and need utility systems that match.
Bifunctional reduces utility-room SKUs
Same electrode SKU on both sides. 80 mV / 260 mV overpotential at 100 mA/cm2 (no IR correction).
AEM cell with 30 wt% KOH, zero-gap
Published cell configuration uses 5 cm2 active area, zero-gap assembly, 30 wt% KOH, commercial Zirfon separator. Fabs evaluating multiple electrolyzer technologies have a clean reference set.
Hydrogen in semiconductor manufacturing
Semiconductor fabs use hydrogen as a process gas for epitaxial silicon and SiGe deposition, as a carrier for boron and phosphorous dopants, and as a reductant in some metallization steps. The total fab hydrogen demand is modest in absolute terms but the quality and uptime requirements are demanding.
Our bifunctional NiCo electrode on Ni foam (100 to 1000 cm2), electroless-deposited, can supply the hydrogen side of fab utility systems via AEM water electrolysis. The same coated electrode operates as both HER cathode and OER anode at 80 mV and 260 mV overpotential at 100 mA/cm2 in 30 wt% KOH (no IR correction).
0.5 A/cm2 @ 60 deg C
1.0 A/cm2 @ 60 deg C
Cell-level numbers for fab utility design
In a 5 cm2 AEM cell with bifunctional NiCo electrode on both sides and a commercial Zirfon separator (500 um), 0.5 A/cm2 at 1.62 V at 60 deg C (91.4% efficiency). Fab utility designers can plan capacity around this operating point.
Uptime expectations
Fabs target very high uptime for utility systems. The 1000-hour run with our bifunctional NiCo electrode on both sides and commercial Zirfon separator at 0.5 A/cm2 / 40 deg C showed 21 uV/hr voltage drift. ΔV before/after LSV at 0.5 A/cm2: 30 mV.
Renewable-coupled fab capacity
Some fabs are integrating on-site renewables. Our bifunctional NiCo electrode was tested under PV-derived schedules for 9 days and wind-derived schedules for 100 hours, both with commercial Zirfon. The published dynamic-load tolerance lets fab utility designers plan for renewable-coupled hydrogen capacity.
PV-derived current profile
9 DAYSWind-derived current profile
100 HRNote on hydrogen purity for fab use
Semiconductor-grade hydrogen typically requires additional purification downstream of any electrolyzer. The bifunctional NiCo electrode's role is the electrochemical conversion of water to hydrogen; downstream purification (drying, deoxygenation, ppb-level cleanup) is a separate system that fab utility designers integrate per their grade specifications.
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Frequently asked questions
Why use a bifunctional NiCo electrode for semiconductor fab gas supply?
Our bifunctional NiCo electrode operates as both HER cathode and OER anode at 80 mV and 260 mV overpotential at 100 mA/cm² in 30 wt% KOH (no IR correction). For semiconductor fab gas supply, using a single electrode SKU on both sides simplifies stack BOM and qualification.
What cell-level performance is published?
In a 5 cm² AEM cell with bifunctional NiCo electrode on both sides and a commercial Zirfon separator (500 µm) at zero-gap, the cell logs 0.5 A/cm² at 1.81 V at room temperature (82% efficiency) and 1.62 V at 60 °C (91.4%). At 1.0 A/cm²: 2.05 V at RT and 1.79 V at 60 °C.
What is the stability baseline?
Continuous 1000-hour chronopotentiometry at 0.5 A/cm² and 40 °C in 30 wt% KOH (bifunctional NiCo electrode on both sides, commercial Zirfon separator) showed voltage drift of 21 µV/hr. Before/after linear-sweep polarization curves differ by 30 mV at the operating point.
Is the electrode validated for renewable-coupled operation?
Yes. PV-irradiance-derived current schedules applied for 9 continuous days (peaks ~570 mA/cm²) and wind-variation-derived schedules for 100 hours (0 to 0.78 A/cm²) on the same cell. ΔV at 0.5 A/cm² before and after the 100-hour wind run: 20 mV.
What substrate sizes ship?
The bifunctional NiCo electrode is produced on Ni foam in the 100 to 1000 cm² size range. Bench-scale 5 cm² coupons matching the published test cell are also available so customers can reproduce numbers on their own rig before scaling up.
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