Japan Oxygen officially announces a 30% price increase, triggering a new round of price hikes. Helium is being elevated to a "bottleneck" level strategic material in the semiconductor supply chain.

1. What Happened? — Electronic-Grade Helium: The "Golden Gas" of Semiconductor Manufacturing

1. What Is Electronic-Grade Helium?

Helium is the second element on the periodic table and the substance with the lowest known boiling point in nature (-268.9°C). It is colorless, odorless, and extremely chemically inert. The core difference between electronic-grade helium and industrial-grade helium lies in purity levels: industrial helium typically has a purity of 99.995% (4N grade), while electronic-grade helium requires 99.9999% (6N grade) or even 99.9999999% (9N grade), with individual impurity levels controlled to the ppb level. This stringent requirement stems from the semiconductor industry's zero tolerance for trace contamination.

Electronic-grade helium is refined from ordinary helium (also known as industrial-grade or crude helium) through a multi-stage purification process. The core difference lies in purity levels, and this difference is achieved through a series of complex purification technologies. In daily bulk trading and spot markets, the price of electronic-grade helium (typically 6N grade or higher) used in semiconductors and AI chips is usually 6 to 10 times that of ordinary industrial-grade helium (4N grade). During extreme supply chain shortages, this price gap can even expand to more than 10 times.

2. Core Physical and Chemical Properties of Helium and Their Semiconductor Applications:

Electronic-grade helium is irreplaceable in semiconductor manufacturing due to its unique physical and chemical properties:

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