LG Display Switches to Korean Hydrogen Fluoride
15 October, 2019
LG Display has completely substituted Japanese-made hydrogen fluoride with locally produced material, about 100 days after Japan imposed curbs on exports of the chemical to Korea.
"We have replaced all hydrogen fluoride used in manufacturing displays with Korean-made material," an LG Display staffer said Monday.
The company began trial use of Korean-made hydrogen fluoride right after Japan imposed the curbs on July 4, and has used it in some manufacturing processes since last month. It made the decision once it became apparent that the Korean product had sufficient purity to manufacture displays without defects.
Display panels do not require ultra-fine processing technology for etching and cleansing, so the hydrogen fluoride used in production has lower purity than the material used to make semiconductors, on which Japan has a near-monopoly. Chipmakers still rely on Japanese firms for their supply.
Samsung and SK Hynix also recently started to use hydrogen fluoride from local companies using raw materials from China and Taiwan in some production processes.
Since the curbs were imposed, Japan has approved exports of gaseous hydrogen fluoride to Korea but not a single shipment of the liquid form.
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