El corte de suministro de gases nobles de Rusia podría afectar la producción de chips

It turns out that Russia was a major supplier of, entre muchas otras cosas, industrial-grade noble gases, which are vital for semiconductor production. Silicon lithography happens in a sterile environment that’s completely free of particulate matter, in a chamber filled with noble (inert) gases. Earlier this month, the Russian government announced that it is cutting supply of noble gases to “unfriendly countries” (countries in the US sphere of influence), unless they pay for the merchandise in Russian Rubles, by creating remittance accounts in Russian banks (similar to how it wants these countries to pay for crude oil and natural gas).

Russia and Ukraine were leading global suppliers of industrial noble gases, together making up a third of the noble gas consumed by the semiconductor industry. Much of the heavy industry in Ukraine is either out of service, or committed to the war effort, which lets Russia dictate terms for its supply. Argon, xenon, helium, and neon are the most sought after noble gases in the semiconductor industry. In addition to the inert environment, mixtures of these gases are required by the lasers that perform lithography (etching microscopic circuits on silicon wafer).