Water Desalination & Treatment
ARBOK-Halogens is not a brine-metal recovery case — it is a distinct technology for supplying ultra-high-purity (UHP) halogen gases to semiconductor fabs.
Technology brief
ARBOK-Halogens is not a brine-metal recovery case — it is a distinct technology for supplying ultra-high-purity (UHP) halogen gases to semiconductor fabs.
The challenge
Primary use cases: on-site UHP supply of Cl₂, F₂, Br₂, NF₃, and precursor gases for plasma etch, deposition, and chamber clean.
Outputs (market tiers): bulk Cl₂/Br₂/I₂ (99–99.9 %, $0.2–2/kg); electronic grade 5N ($5–50/kg); semi-product NF₃/CF₄/SF₆ 4N–5N ($20–100/kg); precursors SiCl₄/WF₆/ClF₃ 5N–6N ($10–150/kg); UHP F₂/Cl₂ 6N–9N ($100–1 000+/kg).
Industries and users: semiconductor fabs and their gas supply chains.
Scale: per-fab on-site finishing modules; tonnages 1–10 000 t/year by tier.
ARBOK solution
ARBOK-Halogens is not a brine-metal recovery case — it is a distinct technology for supplying ultra-high-purity (UHP) halogen gases to semiconductor fabs. The product logic: do not ship pure halogen or finished UHP gas; ship a standardized 4N–5N semi-product and finish it on-site to 6N–9N in a compact vacuum block with inline purification right before the reactor. This removes transport risk, purity degradation in transit, and the CAPEX of large gas systems — shifting the margin from chemistry to infrastructure and the control of the last step before the vacuum chamber.
Two-loop architecture: an external semi-product loop delivers a stable 4N–5N gas; an internal on-site finishing loop, built around a vacuum block (chambers at 10⁻³–10⁻⁶ Torr), upgrades it to 6N–9N with mandatory inline purification immediately before feed. The halogen at this stage acts as a plasma-chemistry tool, not just a substance. Feed pressure/flow must be stable with mixture-composition deviation ≤ ±0.1 %; any spike is a wafer defect. Vacuum is the framework of the whole system, not a single step.
Limitations: extreme purity targets (H₂O < ppb, metals < ppt); requires continuous online analysis.
Market and application
The semiconductor UHP-gas market is large and standardized; the differentiated entry point is the final on-site finishing/purification step, where purity (and wafer yield) is won or lost.
Value/margin sits in the on-site finishing infrastructure rather than bulk gas: 4N–5N semi-product (lower price tiers) upgraded to 6N–9N UHP ($100–1 000+/kg). CAPEX is the fab-side vacuum + purification module; economics scale with fab gas demand and purity tier. (Detailed economics per fab.)
Use cases
Primary use cases: on-site UHP supply of Cl₂, F₂, Br₂, NF₃, and precursor gases for plasma etch, deposition, and chamber clean.
Outputs (market tiers): bulk Cl₂/Br₂/I₂ (99–99.9 %, $0.2–2/kg); electronic grade 5N ($5–50/kg); semi-product NF₃/CF₄/SF₆ 4N–5N ($20–100/kg); precursors SiCl₄/WF₆/ClF₃ 5N–6N ($10–150/kg); UHP F₂/Cl₂ 6N–9N ($100–1 000+/kg).
Industries and users: semiconductor fabs and their gas supply chains.
Scale: per-fab on-site finishing modules; tonnages 1–10 000 t/year by tier.
Steps: define fab gas/purity spec → install on-site vacuum finishing + inline purification → integrate online analysis and feed control → qualify. Continuous, tightly controlled (±0.1 % composition).
Interfaces with fab gas lines and vacuum process tools; standardized 4N–5N semi-product market upstream; online metrology and control systems.
ARBOK-Halogens is not a brine-metal recovery case — it is a distinct technology for supplying ultra-high-purity (UHP) halogen gases to semiconductor fabs. The product logic: do not ship pure halogen or finished UHP gas; ship a standardized 4N–5N semi-product and finish it on-site to 6N–9N in a compact vacuum block with inline purification right before the reactor. This removes transport risk, purity degradation in transit, and the CAPEX of large gas systems — shifting the margin from chemistry to infrastructure and the control of the last step before the vacuum chamber.
Primary use cases: on-site UHP supply of Cl₂, F₂, Br₂, NF₃, and precursor gases for plasma etch, deposition, and chamber clean.
Outputs (market tiers): bulk Cl₂/Br₂/I₂ (99–99.9 %, $0.2–2/kg); electronic grade 5N ($5–50/kg); semi-product NF₃/CF₄/SF₆ 4N–5N ($20–100/kg); precursors SiCl₄/WF₆/ClF₃ 5N–6N ($10–150/kg); UHP F₂/Cl₂ 6N–9N ($100–1 000+/kg).
Industries and users: semiconductor fabs and their gas supply chains.
Scale: per-fab on-site finishing modules; tonnages 1–10 000 t/year by tier.
Two-loop architecture: an external semi-product loop delivers a stable 4N–5N gas; an internal on-site finishing loop, built around a vacuum block (chambers at 10⁻³–10⁻⁶ Torr), upgrades it to 6N–9N with mandatory inline purification immediately before feed. The halogen at this stage acts as a plasma-chemistry tool, not just a substance. Feed pressure/flow must be stable with mixture-composition deviation ≤ ±0.1 %; any spike is a wafer defect. Vacuum is the framework of the whole system, not a single step.
Limitations: extreme purity targets (H₂O < ppb, metals < ppt); requires continuous online analysis.
Purity tiers: 4N–5N semi-product → 6N–9N UHP on-site. Targets: H₂O < ppb, metals < ppt for UHP; H₂O ≤ 1 ppm at 4N–5N.
Feed stability: composition deviation ≤ ±0.1 %; stable pressure and flow.
Working medium: vacuum 10⁻³–10⁻⁶ Torr. Mandatory online analysis: H₂O, O₂, metals, particles.
External semi-product supply (4N–5N); local vacuum finishing block; inline purification module (final step before reactor); online analyzers (H₂O/O₂/metals/particles); stable pressure/flow feed and control. Compact, fab-side.
Technical: control of the last, decisive purification step at the point of use; vacuum-framed finishing to 6N–9N.
Economic: shifts margin from bulk chemistry to on-site infrastructure; removes large gas-system CAPEX and transport-purity losses.
Strategic: a new market entry point — not making the substance, but owning the final-step UHP control that fabs depend on.
Interfaces with fab gas lines and vacuum process tools; standardized 4N–5N semi-product market upstream; online metrology and control systems.
Steps: define fab gas/purity spec → install on-site vacuum finishing + inline purification → integrate online analysis and feed control → qualify. Continuous, tightly controlled (±0.1 % composition).
TRL 7 (confirmed by Michael). Prototype-level two-loop vacuum finishing validated in a relevant environment; distinct from the metals-recovery platform. Remaining: full fab qualification of the on-site UHP finishing stage.
The semiconductor UHP-gas market is large and standardized; the differentiated entry point is the final on-site finishing/purification step, where purity (and wafer yield) is won or lost.
Value/margin sits in the on-site finishing infrastructure rather than bulk gas: 4N–5N semi-product (lower price tiers) upgraded to 6N–9N UHP ($100–1 000+/kg). CAPEX is the fab-side vacuum + purification module; economics scale with fab gas demand and purity tier. (Detailed economics per fab.)
Extreme purity/qualification barriers (fab acceptance); continuous metrology dependence; this is a distinct concept needing its own prototype/validation; not to be conflated with the metals platform.
ARBOK-VC (Vacuum Cracking) · ARBOK-CHLORIDE · ARBOK Opto-QUANTUM
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