Development of a Xenon recycling and supply system for plasma process

Xenon (Xe) has been used in damage-free plasma processes for realizing future semiconductor device manufacturing, even though being very rare and expensive. Therefore, we developed a system that can recycle with a high recovery ratio and supply low-cost Xe. This system can separate Xe from gas mixtures, including Nitrogen (N
₂
), Argon (Ar), Oxygen (O
₂
), Hydrogen (H
₂
), and Helium (He), with a 99.999 % recovery ratio. Usage of this system lowered Xe costs to less than 1/100th the cost of a Xe cylinder.