Current Research Trends and the Need for Localization in Ultrapure Water Production Facilities in Semiconductor Industries

Abstract

Objectives : This study aims to summarize the market status, patent applications, and technology trends for the production of ultrapure water in semiconductor industries. In addition, the potential of technological localization of ultrapure water production facility is reviewed in order to incubate domestic core technologies as well as to reduce the technical dependence to the market stake holders.Methods : Through the collection and summary of information from global water institute (GWI), market analyst firms in ultrapure water fields, and the patent analysis for the past 10 years, the technological gap between domestic and market leading in Japan, the United States, and Europe were analyzed. In addition, the research trend related to the core removal processes for the production of ultrapure water was also analyzed.Results and Discussion : As a result of market analysis in the industrial water sector, the capital investment is expected to reach USD 39.9 billion by 2024, with a steady growth of 4.1% per year. The unit processes required for the production of ultrapure water becomes more complex and diversified, and the recent technological advancement has been mainly put on the development of eco-friendly water treatment processes such as electrodeionization (EDI) in order to reduce the chemical usage. In addition, research on the development of new processes for the treatment of hardly degradable trace substances (i.e. urea, THM, IPA, etc.) is actively under investigation. However, the patent analysis revealed that the three Japanese companies occupied 71% of the world’s patents on the ultrapure water production.Conclusions : In ultrapure water production technology, the design of unit processes is important, and the design of a system that combines and arranges unit processes is the core technology. Thus, the incubation of domestic companies that have ability to design the array of unit processes for ultrapure water production is necessary for the localization of ultrapure water technology. However, although a few companies have completed the commercialization of core technologies, there is lack of the test field to evaluate the long-term performance of products. Therefore, for the development of domestic technologies in the ultrapure water production, it is necessary to construct a test-bed capable of evaluating the performance of domestic products. In addition, it is expected that localization of ultrapure water production technology will be facilitated with the participation of consumers.