Air Liquide invests US$170 mn in US to support SK hynix’s chip facility

As part of a long-term contract, Air Liquide will build, own and operate two new production units in the state of Indiana to deliver ultra-pure gases to the first US fab of SK hynix, a South Korean memory chips producer. Through this investment exceeding US$170 million, Air Liquide adds it will support the growing demand for next-generation chips that are critical to enable the AI revolution.

As next-generation memory chips, such as High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), require ever-increasing quantities of high-purity gases, Air Liquide will deliver large volumes of nitrogen, oxygen, argon, hydrogen and other industrial gases to SK hynix’s new cutting-edge advanced chips packaging facility. The new units will be commissioned at the end of 2028.

By installing its two production units at the customer’s site, it adds it will ensure a continuous, high-quality supply directly to the customer’s manufacturing lines. This strategic proximity is crucial to meet the stringent, high-precision environment needed for advanced packaging, a key enabler for HBM. This process involves vertically stacking multiple layers of memory chips on a smaller footprint to reach higher computational performance and energy efficiency.

Air Liquide’s ultra-pure gases are fundamental to guarantee the fab’s clean environment required by its customers to develop the technologies.

With this investment, Air Liquide says it reinforces its leadership as a major supplier to the US semiconductor industry and builds upon its long-term global partnership with SK hynix, further strengthened by a recent milestone investment in South Korea.