Samsung Electronics said on the 27th that the company will work with POSCO to promote the local production of xenon, the core material of semiconductors, which currently relies on imports.
Xenon is one of the rare gases necessary for the production of high-end semiconductors such as 3D V-NAND. The content of xenon gas in the air is extremely low, and xenon gas is mainly produced by steel plants with large air separation plants.
Samsung Electronics and POSCO signed a memorandum of understanding on "Xenon business cooperation for semiconductors" on the same day, and decided to accept POSCO's xenon supply from 2024. Posco plans to develop equipment technology for extracting xenon gas from the air separation unit of Gwangyang Steel Plant by next year, start producing xenon gas in 2024, and further expand production by 2027.
Samsung Electronics plans to certify the quality of xenon produced by POSCO and put it into production.
