Air Products To Double WF6 Capacity At Hometown Plant

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has announced plans to more than double the tungsten hexafluoride (WF6) capacity of its electronic specialty gas manufacturing facility in Hometown, PA. The facility's production will increase to over 300,000 lbs. per year to meet increased demand from semiconductor manufacturing customers.

Commenting on the expansion, Richard C. Kenner, general manager for Air Products' electronics specialty gases, said, "We are seeing a continued demand for WF6 due to the increasing number of layers in electronic devices." The new WF6 capacity will become available in the third quarter of 1999, following the installation of additional reactors and associated purification equipment at the Hometown plant.

WF6 is widely used by the semiconductor industry in the manufacture of integrated circuits as a metalization source for the formation of tungsten plug interconnects between multiple layers in the devices. Air Products believes demand for the specialty gas will continue growing at double-digit rates over the next several years.

For more information: Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., 7201 Hamilton Boulevard, Allentown, PA 18195-1501. Telephone: 610-481-4911. Fax: 610-481-5900.