As the possibility of a Russian invasion of Ukraine increases, the possibility of supply instability in special gases essential for semiconductor processes such as neon, xenon, krypton, and helium is increasing, and the domestic semiconductor industry is closely monitoring the situation.

According to foreign media, on the 21st, Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly said in a speech at an expanded meeting of the Ministry of Defense that if threatened by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), he could respond militarily.

Russia is demanding that the United States and NATO ban Ukraine from joining NATO and is massing troops on the Ukrainian border.

Tensions are rising in Eastern Europe over the possibility of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, it is expected that the domestic semiconductor industry will suffer a serious blow if Russia invades Ukraine.

This is because the country is highly dependent on Russia and Ukraine for rare gases such as krypton (Kr), neon (Ne), and xenon (Xe), which are essential special gases for semiconductor processes.

Among semiconductors, 3D NAND is a circuit that stacks dozens of layers of planar (2D) NAND, and requires an etching process to drill holes to create channels that connect each layer.

At this time, krypton and xenon are used as auxiliary propulsion gases (momentum gases) to inject the etching gas into the deep hole.

This method was first developed by Toshiba Memory (now Kioxia) of Japan. It is known that xenon was used at first, but was abandoned because it was too expensive, and recently it has been replaced with krypton.

Currently, Samsung Electronics is the only company that uses xenon, and the companies that use krypton include Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Kioxia, and Micron.

In particular, for xenon and krypton, our country has the highest usage in the world, and most of the imports are used for semiconductors.

Currently, rare gas usage is increasing so rapidly that suppliers are unable to supply the amount desired by companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

The amount of krypton imports has been continuously increasing from 6,890 kg in 2015 to 17,021 kg in 2016, 15,996 kg in 2017, 12,977 kg in 2018, 32,653 kg in 2019, 69,476 kg in 2020, and 91,509 kg in 2021.

In the case of krypton, as of November 2021, Ukraine ranked 3rd with a cumulative import weight of 22,299 kg this year, and Russia ranked 4th with 9,012 kg.

Ukraine's imports increased significantly from just 21 kg in 2019 to 19,618 kg in 2020 and 22,299 kg in 2021.

Russia recorded 8,094 kg in 2019, 17,461 kg in 2020, and 9,012 kg in 2021.

Xenon imports have also continued to increase from 3,370 kg in 2015 to 6,539 kg in 2016, 11,783 kg in 2017, 17,910 kg in 2018, 18,733 kg in 2019, 25,976 kg in 2020, and 26,605 kg in 2021.

In the case of xenon, as of November 2021, Russia ranked third with a cumulative import weight of 5,359 kg this year, and Ukraine ranked fourth with 3,480 kg.

In Russia in 2018 5,180 kg of xenon was imported in 2018, 5,729 kg in 2019, 6,350 kg in 2020, and 5,359 kg in 2021.

Ukraine imported 1,125 kg of xenon in 2018, 1,169 kg in 2019, 4,134 kg in 2020, and 3,480 kg in 2021.

The reason why imports from Ukraine and Russia continue to increase is that the production of xenon and krypton is limited to a few countries, and the amount produced in the United States and Western European countries is increasing for their own consumption, making it difficult to import domestically.

In the case of the United States, space-use supplies are given national priority over semiconductor supplies, and semiconductor supplies are relatively difficult to obtain.

In particular, a rare gas tender for SpaceX is scheduled for early 2022, and it is known that over 50 million liters of xenon and krypton combined will be required.

This is an amount equivalent to half of global production, and the amount of semiconductors being bid by SpaceX alone will reduce the supply of semiconductors, dealing a blow to the semiconductor industry.

Accordingly, domestic semiconductor specialty gas suppliers are working to secure quantities regardless of price in order to meet next year's supply volume.

This year, suppliers of specialty gases for semiconductors have seen a significant increase in sales due to rising prices of xenon and krypton, but their profits have reportedly decreased because their purchase prices have also increased significantly.

In addition, Samsung Electronics, which had not previously used krypton, has recently been increasing its krypton usage, so the krypton supply shortage is expected to become more serious next year.

So far, there have been no requests from semiconductor manufacturers to purchase rare gases related to the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but special gas suppliers are closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine in preparation for a shortage of supplies next year.It is reported that.

If Russia begins to invade Ukraine, the domestic semiconductor industry is expected to fall into great chaos due to a supply interruption beyond the current shortage of rare gas.