Samsung Electronics, a global leader in electronics, launched the "Supplier Relationship Management Program" (SRM) to develop and support the outstanding suppliers who meet their global criteria to become long-term strategic suppliers. KSG (Korea Specialty Gases Ltd, our wholly-owned subsidiary in Korea) was selected as a strategic partner for this program for the project of C4F6 (Hexafluorobutadiene) localisation. The selection was based on Samsung's review of KSG's capabilities and contribution to Samsung. KSG is considered one of 30 core and strategic partners out of all Samsung's suppliers in the semiconductor, LCD (liquid crystal display), digital media and home appliance businesses.

Samsung and KSG will work closely on C4F6 evaluation at Samsung Fabs and will complete this project of C4F6 localization to expand KSG C4F6 at Samsung's major Fabs. C4F6 is the new oxide etchant in semiconductor process and its market is growing rapidly worldwide.

JW You, general manger of KSG Korea Electronics said, "It is a great privilege to be selected as one of 30 core strategic partners out of thousands of suppliers by Samsung Electronics, the world's leading company in electronics industry and one of the largest customers for Air Products. KSG has been working with Samsung Manufacturing Technology Team on JDP (Joint Development Program) Laboratory since 1995 and the SRM program will extend the boundary of our strategic relationship with Samsung. This is a remarkable success of our teamwork and we would continue our strong commitment to support Samsung."

Air Products Delivering the Difference with InfineonTechnologies

On 25 March, Infineon Technologies hosted a supplier day in Munich, Germany, and Air Products was invited. This was the first such event hosted by Infineon since the start of the electronics industry downturn in 2000/01, and it was held to recognise and reward supplier excellence. The event was attended by the top two percent of Infineons' suppliers worldwide as well as some of their JV partners. Air Products were rated second overall on their supplier evaluation of gas suppliers for 2003. On top of this, Infineon chose to specifically recognise Air Products for our "commitment to excellence" over and above MG/Nippon Sanso, Air Liquide, Praxair and Linde.

"This is a great result after all the challenges we have had to face over the last 12 to 18 months—the implementation of SAP (Infineon has been with us since Release 1 in Germany 2 years ago); the acquisition of Ashland Electronic Chemicals; the integration of the Schumacher product lines into our own portfolio and the prolonged industry downturn," said Dave Edmondson, general manager Electronics Europe. "Recognition from a customer like Infineon should not be underestimated and is testament to the relationship we have developed with them. Heartfelt thanks go to all the customer-facing teams who have helped manage us through this difficult period. In particular credit should go to Guido Kaltenbach—our focus account manager for Infineon, as well as everyone in the Electronics team worldwide who is involved with the Infineon account."

Air Products Receives Royal Recognition 

Air Products plc, Special Gases Group, has been awarded the Queen's Awards for Enterprise: Innovation 2004, for its BIP® technology, which uses a patented method of removing impurities as the gas is withdrawn through a self-contained purifier built into a gas cylinder. 

The award recognises Air Products' Special Gases Group for its outstanding efforts in developing technology to meet customers' requirements in modern analytical chemistry techniques. It also rewards an impressive commercial track record, as sales of BIP cylinders have grown tenfold over the last five years to become the new Analytical Industry standard.

"This award provides the highest external validation of our BIP technology. It recognises its excellence both in terms of innovation and its commercial success. It is unique and positions us ahead of competition. No other technology can guarantee such gas purity and quality—purchasing a BIP cylinder is like purchasing an insurance policy on the quality and consistency of your results," said Ivo Bols, vice president, Northern Continent and Packaged Gases Europe." 

"For a company that prides itself on its passion, integrity and understanding, what better endorsement of our pioneering and innovative spirit" added Ivo. 

Korea: "Flawless and Superb Reliability and Quality"

Last month, J Y Yoon, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, presented Korea Industrial Gases (KIG) with Samsung's 2004 Excellent Supplier Award. The award went to the top 40 suppliers (of 550 suppliers) for corporate Samsung Electronics including semiconductor, TFT-LCD, home appliance, network, telecommunication and other businesses. S Y Lee, president of KIG, received this award during Samsung Supplier's Day held at Samsung's Suwon facility.

"In recognition of KIG's flawless and superb reliability and quality in supply and service for over a decade and its proactive and preemptive investment for N2 plants and BSGS systems, which enabled to keep Samsung well served in timely manner, Samsung has decided to give this award to KIG and appreciated KIG as an ideal long-run partner," said S Y Lee.

Air Products in Korea provides continuous support to Samsung through Korea Industrial Gases (KIG), Korea Specialty Gases (KSG), HanYang Technology (HYT) and AP ACT in the area of liquid bulk gases, pipeline nitrogen, electronics specialty materials, equipments, and Megasys operations to Samsung's IC fabs in Giheung, Hwasung and Onyang as well as its LCD fabs in Giheung and Cheonan, Korea and a memory fab in Austin. 

Pictured: S Y Lee receives the Excellent Supplier Award from J Y Yoon of Samsung   

Air Products Wins Intel's Preferred Quality Supplier Award

Air Products was named a recipient of Intel Corporation's Preferred Quality Supplier (PQS) award for outstanding performance in providing products and services essential to Intel's success, including gases, equipment, chemicals and services. Air Products and other PQS award winners were honored at a celebration in Burlingame, California, on 23 March.

"Air Products' Electronics Division truly values the relationship we have with Intel, and we are very excited to be recognized as one of their 2003 PQS Award winners," said Jerry Ermentrout, vice president and general manager, Electronics Division. "This award is a credit to the Air Products team members who work very hard to service the Intel account everyday. When you consider the breadth and scope of the relationship, supplying over 50 different products to Intel manufacturing facilities around the world, it is a very special accomplishment."

"Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has responded to the tough challenges of semiconductor manufacturing in the new Millennium by continuously improving their productivity and cost structure, without compromising on Intel's exacting quality specifications," said John McGowan, Intel vice president, Corporate Services.

Air Products Receives Prestigious ElectronicsSupplier Award From
TSMC For Second Consecutive Year

For the second consecutive year, San Fu Gases Company (San Fu)—in which Air Products has a 70 percent controlling interest—has been awarded the Electronic Gas Supplier of the Year Award by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). TSMC-6 in Tainan, Taiwan, is supported by San Fu's Nanke facility, which is made up of the world's largest ultra high purity bulk gas production plant, pipeline bulk gas distribution network and a related state-of-the-art electronics specialty materials production centre. San Fu also supplies TSMC locations with bulk and cylinder electronic specialty gases, MEGASYS® services and GASGUARD® gas cabinets. The Supplier of the Year Award, which has eight distinct categories, surveys and ranks more than 100 suppliers on their ability to maximise quality, service, supply reliability, engineering capability and cost. J. B. Chen, vice president of Risk Management and Materials Management for TSMC, presented the awards on 18 September at a ceremony in Hsin Chu.

"This award is wonderful recognition for our employees in Taiwan, and indeed, for all of Air Products. Our top priority is to understand and anticipate the needs of our customers and to receive this award from a distinguished customer for two straight years is proof of that commitment," said Allen Chien, president of San Fu. "Our challenge going forward will be to maintain that passion, and we look forward to doing that," he added.

San Fu, which supplies all TSMC fabs at both Hsin Chu and the Tainan Science-based Industrial Parks, is not the only way that Air Products works with TSMC. Schumacher, part of the Electronics Specialty Materials family and the newly acquired Ashland Electronic Chemicals Business, also provides products and services to TSMC. Located in the Hsin-Chu Science-Based Industrial Park in what is referred to as Taiwan's "Silicon Valley," TSMC is the world's largest semiconductor foundry.

Earlier in the year two Air Products employees, Mr. S.Y. Lee and Mr. Y. S. Kwak, received the company's highest honor, The Chairman's Award, for their work with Samsung Electronics.  In their decade-long effort, Mr. Lee and Mr. Kwak led teams that developed innovative supply solutions to deliver high-quality products and services.

Air Products a Winner of EPA's 2002 Climate Protection Award

Related interview: Dr. Pete Maroulis, Dr. Andy Johnson, and Dr. Bob Ridgeway recall efforts leading to EPA award.

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. was awarded the 2002 United States Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Protection Award on March 25th in Washington, D.C. The EPA presents this award for "outstanding leadership, personal dedication, and technical achievements in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting Earth's climate."

Accomplishments of the recipients include stewardship, product introduction, pollution prevention, recycling and engineering innovation. The 2002 winners were from five different countries with Air Products being the only industrial gas company and only one of two U.S. chemical companies to receive the award.

Left to right: Dr. Andy Johnson, Richard Pearce, Dr. Pete Maroulis, Dr. Haifeng Zhang, and Dr. Chris Hartz are among the many Air Products people recognized for their outstanding leadership, personal dedication, and technical achievements in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the environment. See related interview.

Air Products has been a leader in ESH for many years, focusing on the safety of its employees and the communities in which it operates, successfully reducing emissions from manufacturing facilities and focusing on the sustainability of the planet. The EPA Climate Protection Award was based on the accomplishments of the Electronics Technology Customer Applications group.

Since its founding more than 10 years ago, the group has been actively involved in assessing the impact of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) on global warming and creatively establishing ways to mitigate PFC emissions from semiconductor factories. It performed steady-state calculations to estimate the maximum effect the release of these gases from the semiconductor industry could potentially have on global warming. The group also established quantitative analytical methods for measuring emissions from semiconductor processes.

Jay P. Maille – EHS Projects Manager Lam Research Corporation "Air Products sets the standard for real-time measurement and characterization of exhaust emissions from semiconductor processes ...  Air Products developed an emissions measuring protocol that has become the standard methodology for characterizing greenhouse gas emissions in the semiconductor industry."

These methods have become one of the standard analytical protocols used by the semiconductor industry for determining PFC emissions. In 1995, legacy chamber cleaning processes were estimated to be 80 to 90 percent of the source of PFC emissions from the semiconductor industry. Air Products' Customer Applications Group has developed alternative chamber cleaning procedures and worked with more than 20 customers to optimize in excess of 40 established processes.

For example, Air Products collaborated with Motorola and Applied Materials to develop an NF3 Remote Chamber Clean process that can be used with existing CVD processing equipment and worked with many of our global customers (e.g., TSMC, Samsung, Infineon, UMC) to optimize legacy processes that still use C₂F₆ as the chamber clean gas. In each of these cases, PFC emissions reductions have generally been greater than 50 percent. In addition, the Customer Applications Group worked with Applied Materials to gain acceptance of the new NF₃ Remote Chamber Clean process for new tools, which reduces PFC emissions by greater than 99 percent from traditional CVD chamber cleans.

Professor Farhang Shadman Univeristy of Arizona "Air Products has made very significant contributions to the climate protection both through internal research and technology development and through sponsorship of long-term research in this area by other investigators. AP's success has been primarily due to its strategy of partnership with its customers to achieve the environmental goals."

The work that has been undertaken in characterizing and mitigating PFC emissions has resulted in over 40 publications, 10 U.S. patents and 11 SEMATECH technical transfer documents and continues to be an active area of research with our customers to drive emissions even lower.

Over the years, the group has expanded into many areas including HAPS and VOC emissions monitoring. The group's goal is to work with our customers to improve process performance while reducing emissions to the atmosphere.

The Climate Protection Awards began in 1998 and have been presented to 68 corporate, governmental, association and individual winners from 12 countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the People's Republic of China, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Laura Mendicino – Manager, Environmental Process Initiatives Motorola Digital DNA™ Laboratories "Motorola nominated Air Products for this prestigious Climate Protection Award in recognition of its outstanding contributions toward reducing emissions of global warming gases for the semiconductor industry. We have worked in partnership with Air Products for the past eight years to quantify our emissions of perfluorocompound (PFC) gases from our manufacturing facilities and to develop alternative chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber cleaning processes that reduce or eliminate these PFC emissions. As a result of this collaboration, Motorola has established an aggressive PFC emissions reduction goal to be achieved by 2010."

Among the other 2002 winners are the International SEMATECH Emission Reduction Working Group; the Land and Water Fund for the Rockies; the Voluntary Aluminum Industrial Partnership; City of Portland, Oregon; Consol Energy; Denso Water Heater Design Team (Japan); Du Pont; New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; Ontario Power Generation's Energy Efficiency Program (Canada); and Hitachi Ltd. (Japan).

Air Products' selection for the 2002 EPA Climate Protection Award demonstrates its commitment to work together with customers to enhance the performance of their processes while reducing environmental emissions.

See related news release.

Interview: Dr. Pete Maroulis, Dr. Andy Johnson, and Dr. Bob Ridgeway recall efforts leading to EPA award.