Electronic Chemicals: Different Types and the Current Market Scenario Due to COVID-19 Outbreak

In electronics industry, a broad range of highly sophisticated specialty chemicals are used to improve the performance of electronic devices. A bulk of different types of chemicals are also used in the electronic industry for manufacturing and packaging processes. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the electronic chemicals industry is predicted to witness a drastic downfall in .

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Princy A. J  |  September 09,

         

An extensive range of highly sophisticated specialty chemicals are used in the electronics industry, which are called as electronic chemicals. These chemicals are used in manufacturing of electronic products and components, in integrated circuits and silicon wafers, for printed circuit boards and packaging, in the manufacture of optoelectronics and compound semiconductors, in the production of several flat panel display products, and numerous other areas of application in electronic industry.

Different Types of Chemicals Used in Electronics Industry

Diodes and capacitors, and transistors and resistors are the things that come to our mind when we think about the bulk of raw materials used at the electronic device manufacturing company&#;s factory floor. However, apart from these electronic components, a bulk of different types of chemicals are also used in the electronic industry for manufacturing and packaging process.

These electronic chemicals can exist in solid, liquid, or gas form. The different types of electronic chemicals utilized by every electronic device manufacturer in some capacity are as follows:

1. Manufacturing of Silicon Wafers

The thin slices of silicon crystals, silicon wafers are utilized in the fabrication of ICs (integrated circuits) and other semiconductor-based micro devices. Since these wafers do not pre-exist in the environment, they are actually produced from sand (silica) and then processed until they take the shape of a wafer.

The manufacturing of silicon wafers involves several electronic chemicals and some of these are listed below:

• Ammonium chloride is utilized in the production of polysilicon crystals.

• Hydrogen chloride is used to remove impurities.

• Ammonia is utilized in the production of monosilane, which is an active byproduct of silicon wafer manufacturing process.

The chemicals used in production of silicon wafers is the most used out of the total chemical consumption in electronics industry.

2. Manufacturing of Photoresists

Coated onto a silicon wafer, photoresists are light sensitive materials that serves as a supporting component for the photolithography process. Every electronic device built with semi-conductor undergoes the process of photolithography.

These coatings of photoresist are composed of a combination of light sensitive chemicals and film forming agents. The most frequently used film forming agents fit to the category of cresol novolac resins. Most manufacturers prefer to use naphthoquinone diazides for the light sensitive chemicals.

3. Wet Processing Chemicals

Used in different stages of semiconductor processing, wet processing chemicals are etchants and solvents, and bases and acids. Some of the most frequently used wet processing chemicals include:

• Phosphoric acid   

• Sulfuric acid

• Nitric acid

• Ammonium-hydroxide

• Iso-propyl alcohol

In electronic industry, the consumption of wet processing chemicals is estimated to be 6% of the total chemical consumption.

COVID-19 Market Scenario

According to the Research Dive published report, the COVID-19 pandemic is predicted to adversely impact the global electronic chemicals market. This is mainly due to the shortage of raw materials supply and delay in shipment time from several countries across the globe. According to the ET Markets estimation, the production of electronic chemicals has been affected by nearly by 20% owing to the shortage of raw materials supply from China. Besides, the major manufacturers of the electronic chemicals industry have reduced their operation capacity owing to non-availability of labor and disruption raw materials supply.

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Furthermore, due to temporary discontinuation of operations, there is a decrease in demand for electronic chemicals from end-users. According to Independent Chemical Information Services (ICIS), there was about 15-20% decrease in the production of electronic chemicals owing to logistic and supply chain disruption. Moreover, various restrictions imposed by the government of various countries have negatively impacted on the profit margin in the electronic chemicals market. On the other hand, the global electronic chemicals market is expected to grow at an impressive rate after the COVID-19 pandemic owing to advancements in electronic chemicals to enhance the performance of electronic devices.

About the Author(s)

Princy A. J

Princy holds a bachelor&#;s degree in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. University at Chennai, India. After a successful academic record, she pursued her passion for writing. A thorough professional and enthusiastic writer, she enjoys writing on various categories and advancements in the global industries. She plays an instrumental role in writing about current updates, news, blogs, and trends.

Electronic chemicals (electronic chemicals), also known as electronic chemical materials, generally refers to the fine chemical materials specifically for the electronics industry, namely integrated circuits, electronic components, printed circuit boards, industrial and consumer machine production and packaging of various chemicals and materials. The Department of Electronic Chemicals is a multidisciplinary and integrated field of chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, and electrical engineering.

The range of electronic chemical products and technologies is extensive. Products can be divided into microelectronic chemicals, optoelectronic chemicals, display chemicals, printed circuit board chemicals, surface assembly chemicals, etc. by application

There are several categories such as battery chemicals.

Electronic chemicals can be divided into more than a dozen categories according to the different applications. They typically include: microfabrication photoresists, wet electronic chemicals, electronic specialty gases, electronic packaging materials, polishing materials for silicon wafers, electronic chemicals for printed circuit boards, electronic plastic packaging materials, inorganic electronic chemicals, chemicals for hybrid circuits, materials for capacitors, rare earth compound materials, electrical coatings, conductive polymers and other electronic and electrical chemicals, battery materials, electronic chemicals for the flat panel display industry, etc. More than 16,000 species of electronic chemicals are involved, representing about 65% of the total number of species of electronic materials. Electronic chemicals can be divided into microelectronic chemical materials (for integrated circuits and discrete devices), chemical materials for PCB surface treatment and assembly technology and chemical materials for display parts according to the scope of use.

Upstream of electronic chemicals are basic chemicals. Basic chemical products have a significant impact on the quality and production costs of electronic chemicals. The downstream of electronic chemicals is the electronic information industry (information communication, consumer electronics, home appliances, automotive electronics, energy-saving lighting (LED, etc.), flat-panel displays, solar cells, industrial control, aerospace, military industry, etc.), and the electronic information industry influences and determines the development of electronic chemicals to some extent. As a result, electronic chemicals have become one of the key materials that countries around the world have prioritized for the development of the electronics industry.

 

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Figure 1-1: The electronic chemicals industry chain

 

 

1.1.2 The importance of electronic chemicals in the development of the electronic information industry

With the continuous development of technological innovation, the application of electronic chemicals is also expanding, penetrating into various fields of national economy and national defense construction. To a certain extent, electronic chemicals determine or influence the development and progress of downstream and terminal industries, and are of great significance to the upgrading of domestic industrial structure, national economy and national defense construction.

At present, there are tens of thousands of varieties of electronic chemicals, with high quality requirements, low dosage, high requirements for cleanliness of production and use environment, and fast product renewal and replacement. "A generation of materials, a generation of products", with advanced materials to produce advanced products. When a new generation of electronics emerges, there will be a new generation of electronic chemicals to go along with it.

The development of electronic technology cannot be achieved without the accompanying electronic chemicals. Take the microelectronics industry electronic chemicals, for example, it is the microelectronics microfabrication technology, i.e., integrated circuits and discrete devices in the production process of key materials, including mainly wet electronic chemicals used in the pre-process (also known as process chemicals), electronic special gases and electronic packaging materials used in the post-process. The quality of these materials directly affects the performance and quality of electronic products, especially wet electronic chemicals, photoresist and electronic special gases are bottlenecks that constrain the development of microelectronics microfabrication technology. And with the rapid development of electronic technology, the demands on these materials are increasing. It can be said that without the development of microelectronic chemicals, there would be no rapid development of the modern electronics industry. These microelectronic chemicals play an irreplaceable role in the development of electronics technology that no other chemical material can replace and are the cornerstone of the development of modern electronics technology.

According to the latest statistics on global consumption of electronic chemicals, the Asia-Pacific region, especially China, has become the dominant market for the global electronics industry and its chemicals. Chemical companies, including Dow, Honeywell, Mitsubishi Chemical and BASF, are competing to focus their e-chemicals business on the Asia-Pacific region. The domestic electronic chemicals industry is in a period of rapid development, and the market capacity is expected to reach 40 billion to 45 billion yuan by , with an average annual growth rate of over 15%.

In , the global wet electronic chemicals market volume was about 20.8 billion yuan and is expected to maintain a growth rate of 7% to 8% in the coming years. Since the mid-s, China's wet electronic chemicals industry has been developing rapidly, accounting for nearly 30% of the Asian market, with total sales of 2.4 billion yuan in and expected to reach 5 billion to 6 billion yuan in . China is already the world's second largest market for integrated circuits, and the total annual use of wet chemicals for integrated circuits is estimated at 162,000 tons in . With the continuous development of China's integrated circuit and optoelectronics industry, the demand for wet electronic chemicals will continue to rise.

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