By Oke Peter
Helium is a finite resource that plays a critical role across several industries, including semiconductor manufacturing, medical imaging, aerospace engineering, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, fiber optics, particle physics, scientific balloons, and many more, with limited or no available alternatives in some cases. With the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz paralyzing a major transport route for global energy, the repercussions are beyond just oil & gas and extend to the world’s helium supply, with downstream impact on industries such as semiconductor manufacturing that are critically reliant on helium.
Semiconductor manufacturing critically relies on helium
Sophisticated semiconductor products can have over a billion transistors etched onto silicon die the size of a fingernail. Realizing this complexity requires multiple steps within the manufacturing line to precisely control processes at the atomic level, across wafers that can be 12 inches in diameter.
Many chemicals and gases are critical to the semiconductor manufacturing process. Helium is one of them owing to its cryogenic properties, exceptional thermal conductivity, chemical inertness, small size, and high diffusivity, with no direct substitutes. It is used throughout the manufacturing line and is essential to the operation of fabrication facilities. According to IDTechEx’s forecasts in its report “Helium for Semiconductors and Beyond 2025-2035: Market, Trends, and Forecasts”, helium demand for semiconductor manufacturing is set to increase over 5-fold by 2035.
