Air Liquide bags industrial gases contract from Chinese electronics company

Air Liquide has been awarded a major long-term contract in China by CEC Panda Flat Panel Display Technology Co Ltd (a CEC-Panda and Sharp LCD joint venture) to supply ultra-pure carrier molecules to its first fab that will manufacture Oxide-TFT screens for mobile devices and TV sets on generation 8.5 size (G8.5) glass substrates.
 
Oxide-TFT is a disruptive and complex high resolution display technology that only a few manufacturers have mastered at the mass production level. Applied to mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets and notebooks, it helps optimise battery life and improves user experience by increasing run time and decreasing the weight of the devices.
 
Air Liquide will invest around Euro 25 million in a large on-site generator to produce ultra-high purity nitrogen and required bulk gases and back-up infrastructures for CEC-Panda’s new fab, which will be based in Nanjing Crystal Park, in Jiangsu Province. The total amount of ultra-pure nitrogen under the new contract will be 23,000 Nm3/h. Air Liquide will also supply electronic specialty gases, equipment and installation, and on-site management.
This is Air Liquide’s second contract with CEC-Panda. The Group has been supplying CEC-Panda’s first G6.0 fab, based in Nanjing Crystal Park, since 2010. By 2015, Air Liquide will supply a total of 37,000 Nm3/h of ultra-pure nitrogen to these two CEC-Panda fabs.
 
Michael J Graff, Air Liquide Group Senior Vice-President for the Americas and Executive Committee member overseeing Electronics, commented, “This new contract attests to our ability to supply leading electronics customers with products and services that meet the highest standards. It also reaffirms the value and competitiveness of our offer and our position in the fast growing mobility and smart devices revolution. Air Liquide is positioned to capture the growth of the high resolution and next generation mobile displays.”