|
The silicon wafer fab I work at uses helium by the tanker-truck load. I'm not sure of all the processes that use it, but there are superconducting super magnets used in the CZ grow process. The super magnets control thermal convection and oxygen contamination.
So you have 500 lbs of silicon at nearly 2600 degrees F, with a superconducting jacket just inches away at 4 Kelvin, or about -452 F, and an inert argon atmosphere for the crystal to grow. This is a very expensive process, and there has got to be a better way to make photovoltaic cells (or computer chips).
|