Air Products starts electronic materials R&D plan with China university

Air Products initiated a joint research and development (R&D) project with the sustainable energy laboratory of the China University of Geosciences Wuhan to accelerate the development of materials for the microelectronics industry.

By utilizing computational modeling, the project will enable better understanding of the chemical mechanisms responsible for the deposition of thin films, the company said.

The knowledge gained from such studies will help guide the selection of new chemical precursors that address needs for next generation logic and memory devices.

"Air Products has been cooperating with leading universities in China to accelerate the introduction of innovation to the marketplace,” said Ed Shober, director for advanced integration materials at Air Products.

“By leveraging the computational modeling capabilities of the China University of Geosciences, we are accelerating new product development to fulfill the requests we are receiving for electronics materials from our industry partners and customers in China and Asia," he added.

Since 2006, Air Products has established a longstanding research collaboration program with the sustainable energy laboratory.

The two organizations have previously signed several R&D agreements and the collaboration has been highly successful in developing young talent, improving research facilities at the university and enabling Air Products to accelerate the development of multiple advanced technologies and industrial gas applications, the company said.

In the past five years, several US patents and patent applications were filed and a number of research articles were published in high-profile scientific journals as a result of this collaboration, according to company officials.

Air Products was the first global industrial gas company to establish an internal R&D capability in China when it set up its Asia Technology Center in 2005, which today serves high growth market segments in China and the rest of Asia, including performance materials, electronics and merchant industries.