Voltaix Announces Plans to Bring Its Germane (GeH4) Production Technology to Korea Via Agreement With Wonik Materials

SEOUL, South Korea and BRANCHBURG, N.J., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Voltaix, LLC, the acknowledged world market leader in the production of the germanium chemical vapor deposition (CVD) precursor, germane (GeH4), and Wonik Materials, Ltd., a rapidly growing South Korean Electronic Gas manufacturer and distributor, today signed an agreement which contemplates the construction of a 25 MT expansion of Voltaix's germane production capacity at a manufacturing site in Choongchung Nam Do Province, S. Korea. The multi-purpose manufacturing site will enable future localization of additional critical products used in the semiconductor, photovoltaic, and LCD industries.

Germane has an interesting history as an electronic gas.  Originally used in Japan as a component in electrostatic printer manufacturing in the late 1970's, it has seen growing use for manufacturing silicon-germanium alloy films for both logic and memory integrated circuits where the presence of germanium can alter the mechanical and electronic properties of silicon, producing both stressed and doped layers with enhanced electronic conductivity.  In TFPV solar cells germanium improves solar conversion efficiency by increasing the absorption of red and infrared components of the solar spectrum.  Many of these technologies have been embraced by the Korean electronics industry in response to the ever growing requirement for "improving semiconductor performance" (Registered Voltaix trademark), and a need has arisen to localize germane production in Korea.  The proposed 25 MT plant, in conjunction with Voltaix's comparable US production capacity, provides customers access to germane supplies adequate to meet their growing demand for the product in Korea and throughout east Asia.  Wonik and Voltaix will continue their germane distribution arrangement in Korea.  

About Voltaix

Voltaix is the world's leading producer of germane, diborane, trisilane, and trimethyl boron - specialty chemicals that enhance the performance and manufacturability of semiconductors and photovoltaics.  Voltaix chemicals enable logic chips to compute more quickly and solar cells to absorb a broader portion of the solar spectrum, and they improve manufacturability by minimizing defect formation and increasing machine throughput.  

Utilizing exceptional expertise in silicon, germanium and boron chemistry, our products are custom designed for the most demanding applications, including:

• Advanced DRAM computer memory
• Silicon-Germanium (SiGe) transistors for wireless communications chips
• Strained silicon for high speed logic computer chips (CPUs)
• Copper-enabling low-K dielectrics for computer chips
• High efficiency thin film silicon solar cells

We use proprietary synthesis, purification, and packaging technology developed in-house.   We also design and build our own equipment for use in our manufacturing operations.  The company, founded in 1986 and privately held, currently employs approximately 100 people at its sites in North Branch, NJ and High Springs, FL.  Voltaix investors include Intel Capital, Novus Energy Partners, and Mission Point Capital Partners.  Further information about Voltaix is available at www.voltaix.com.  

SOURCE Voltaix, LLC