YTC electronic-grade CO₂ recovery system for the semiconductor industry
Purity engineered for the chip fab
Modern semiconductor manufacturing depends on carbon dioxide at a level of purity far beyond food or beverage grade. CO₂ is used throughout the fab — as a reactant in carbon deposition and low-k dielectric dry etch, as the working fluid in supercritical CO₂ (scCO₂) wafer cleaning and drying, and as CO₂ snow/cryogenic jet cleaning for removing sub-micron particles and post-dicing residues from wafers, optics, and precision components. At this level, even trace impurities — moisture, oxygen, hydrocarbons, or metal ions — can compromise device yield.
The YTC Electronic-Grade CO₂ Recovery System is built on YTC's proven recovery, purification, compression and liquefaction platform, upgraded with fab-grade purification stages to consistently deliver CO₂ suitable for electronic-grade applications, in line with industry references such as **SEMI C3.57** for electronic-grade carbon dioxide.
YTC will be awarded the electronic-grade CO₂ recovery project for TSMC's fab in Japan before end of 2026, with delivery to the owner's facility scheduled for 2027 — a milestone project that reflects YTC's growing role in supporting the world's most advanced semiconductor manufacturers.
Technical specifications
- CO₂ purity : Up to 99.9999% (6N)
- Moisture (H₂O) : ≤ 1 ppm
- Oxygen (O₂) :≤ 0.5 ppm
- Total hydrocarbons (THC) :≤ 0.5 ppm
- Particulates : ≤ 0.1 μm filtration, per cleanroom-grade handling
- Plant capacity : 50 – 5,000 kg/h (custom-engineered per fab demand)
- Reference standard : SEMI C3.57
- Control system : Fully automatic, PLC-based with continuous on-line purity monitoring
Actual purity and impurity levels are validated and tailored to each customer's specific process requirements and downstream application.
Why fabs recover and purify CO₂ on-site
- Supply security – Reduce dependency on external electronic-grade CO₂ suppliers and long logistics chains, minimizing the risk of shortages disrupting production
- Contamination risk reduction – On-site recovery and purification avoids the transport, transfer, and cylinder-handling steps that can introduce moisture or particulate contamination into high-purity gas
- Lower carbon footprint – Recovering and reusing CO₂ generated on-site reduces the need to purchase and transport new gas, supporting fab sustainability and ESG targets
- Cost efficiency – Lower total cost of ownership versus continuous procurement of electronic-grade CO₂ at premium pricing, with typical payback of **2 – 4 years** depending on plant scale
- Consistent quality – Stable, traceable purity levels tailored to the fab's process requirements, batch after batch
Engineered for demanding fab environments
- Ultra-high purity – Up to 99.9999% (6N), with moisture, oxygen, and hydrocarbon impurities controlled to sub-ppm levels
- Multi-application support – Suitable for scCO₂ wafer cleaning and drying, CO₂ snow/cryogenic cleaning, dry etch process gas, and deposition applications
- Fully automatic control system – PLC-based operation with continuous purity monitoring for stable, unattended performance
- Seamless facility integration – Designed around the calculated CO₂ volumes and specific conditions of each fab, integrating into existing gas supply and abatement infrastructure
- Scalable capacity – Engineered range from 50 kg/h pilot/R&D scale up to 5,000 kg/h full production-line demand
- High plant efficiency and availability – Low lifetime operating cost through YTC's holistic process design
The YTC advantage
By combining decades of CO₂ recovery and purification expertise with fab-grade engineering standards, YTC enables semiconductor manufacturers to turn a critical process gas into a locally secured, sustainably managed resource — strengthening supply resilience while advancing environmental performance across the fab.
