Beyond Disinfection: Ozone Technology Enters the Heart of Semiconductor Advanced Manufacturing
For most people, ozone means one thing: disinfection. Swimming pools, drinking water, hotel rooms, food processing plants—these are the applications that come to mind. And indeed, Feili Electric has spent fifteen years mastering ozone for precisely these purposes.
But there is another world where ozone plays an equally critical role, far from the familiar smell of pool water or the sterile air of a hotel room. It is a world measured in nanometers, where a single particle of contamination can destroy millions of dollars worth of product. It is the world of semiconductor manufacturing. And here, ozone is not just a disinfectant—it is an enabler of progress.
The Shift from Traditional Chemicals to Ozone
For decades, semiconductor fabs relied on aggressive chemical mixtures to clean wafers. The standard approach—known as SPM (sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide mixture)—is effective but problematic. It consumes vast quantities of chemicals, generates hazardous waste, and can damage increasingly delicate chip structures as line widths shrink below 5 nanometers.
Enter ozone. As a leading semiconductor equipment manufacturer recently confirmed to investors, "ozone cleaning is one of the development directions of cleaning technology for advanced processes, with advantages including environmental protection, high efficiency, and low damage, and has already been applied in multiple key process links" .
This is not a niche opinion. Industry research firms have identified the shift from traditional chemical cleaning to ozone-based processes as a definitive market trend. The logic is simple: as chips become smaller and more complex, the margin for error shrinks. Traditional chemicals leave residues and can etch sensitive materials. Ozone, by contrast, oxidizes organic contaminants at the molecular level then decomposes into oxygen, leaving nothing behind .
The New Wave: Ultra-High Concentration Ozone for FEOL/BEOL Cleaning
The most exciting developments are happening at the high end of the market. Companies like Hefei Hengxin Semiconductor have recently secured new rounds of funding specifically to deliver semiconductor-grade ozone generation systems . These are not the ozone generators you would find in a swimming pool equipment room. These are precision instruments valued at over ten million yuan (approximately $1.4 million USD) per unit.
What justifies such a price tag? Performance. These systems achieve ozone concentrations exceeding 300 mg/L and flow rates of 200 SLM (standard liters per minute)—specifications that put them in direct competition with established international players like MKS Instruments (USA) and Sumitomo Precision Products (Japan) .
The applications are as demanding as the specifications: FEOL (front-end-of-line) and BEOL (back-end-of-line) cleaning in advanced logic and memory chip production. For context, FEOL cleaning occurs before transistor formation, when any contamination can permanently damage device performance. BEOL cleaning happens during the wiring stages, where residues can cause electrical failures. In both cases, ozone offers a winning combination: superior particle removal efficiency with minimal substrate damage .
The Domestic Replacement Imperative
This technological push is not happening in a vacuum. It is driven by a strategic imperative: semiconductor supply chain independence. For years, Chinese fabs relied on imported ozone systems from Japanese and American suppliers. But as export controls tighten and the need for self-sufficiency grows, domestic manufacturers are stepping up.
Companies like Qingdao Guolin Technology have developed complete suites of ultra-pure, high-concentration ozone gas equipment and functional water systems for semiconductor, photovoltaic, and panel display applications . These systems are not just copies of foreign designs—they incorporate proprietary innovations in discharge tube design, temperature control, concentration monitoring, and safety systems.
The timing is critical. According to industry analysis, the global semiconductor cleaning equipment market is approximately $12 billion annually, with the ozone equipment segment accounting for $1.8-2.4 billion of that total . This is not a niche opportunity—it is a substantial market where domestic suppliers are currently underrepresented.
Where Traditional Disinfection Meets Advanced Manufacturing
For a company like Feili Electric, this market evolution raises an interesting question: where do traditional ozone applications end and advanced semiconductor applications begin? The answer is that they are increasingly connected.
The same core technology—corona discharge ozone generation—powers both a swimming pool system and a semiconductor fab tool. What differs is the precision of control, the purity of materials, and the sophistication of monitoring. A pool ozone generator operates at parts-per-million concentrations; a semiconductor system operates at parts-per-billion purity levels. A commercial unit runs on ambient air; a semiconductor system requires ultra-high-purity oxygen feed with absolute filtration.
But the underlying physics is the same. And the manufacturing expertise required to build reliable, long-lasting ozone generation equipment is directly transferable.
Feili Electric's Position in the Evolving Market
As a National High-Tech Enterprise with nearly 40 patents and customers in over 130 countries, Feili Electric has built its reputation on commercial and industrial ozone applications. Our Commercial Ozone Air Cleaner systems serve hotels, restaurants, gyms, and medical facilities worldwide. Our Ozone Air Purifier products are trusted for their 304 stainless steel construction, precise digital controls, and reliable performance.
We have not yet entered the semiconductor space. But we watch it closely. The convergence of three trends—the shift to ozone-based cleaning in advanced nodes, the imperative for domestic supply chain independence, and the demonstrated success of Chinese manufacturers in developing world-class ozone technology—suggests that the semiconductor ozone market will continue growing rapidly.
For our existing customers, this context matters because it demonstrates the depth of Feili's technological foundation. We are not a company that stumbled into ozone. We are a company that has dedicated fifteen years to understanding the science, engineering the hardware, and perfecting the manufacturing processes that make ozone generation reliable and cost-effective.
The Bigger Picture: Ozone as a Platform Technology
What the semiconductor industry's adoption of ozone reveals is that ozone is not merely a disinfectant—it is a platform technology with applications far beyond traditional sanitation. In water treatment, ozone removes micropollutants that chlorine cannot touch. In food processing, it extends shelf life without chemical residues. In healthcare, it sterilizes equipment and spaces without toxic byproducts. In semiconductor manufacturing, it cleans wafers at the atomic scale.
This versatility is the reason Feili Electric has continued investing in ozone technology year after year. The same corona discharge cell that generates ozone for a hotel room can, with appropriate engineering, generate ozone for a billion-dollar semiconductor fab. The difference is in the precision, the purity, and the control—all areas where Feili has deep expertise.
Looking Ahead
As the semiconductor industry continues its relentless march toward smaller nodes and higher performance, the demand for advanced cleaning technologies will only increase. Ozone is uniquely positioned to meet that demand, offering a combination of effectiveness, environmental compatibility, and cost efficiency that traditional chemical processes cannot match.
For Chinese manufacturers of semiconductor-grade ozone equipment, the opportunity is clear. The market is large, the barriers to entry are high (requiring deep technical expertise and precision manufacturing capabilities), and the strategic imperative for domestic supply is strong. Companies like Hengxin Semiconductor have demonstrated that world-class ozone systems can be designed and built in China .
For Feili Electric, the semiconductor market remains a future opportunity rather than a current focus. But the trends that drive that market—the shift from chemicals to ozone, the demand for higher precision, the need for reliable domestic supply—are trends that validate our core thesis: ozone is a transformative technology, and those who master it will be well-positioned for the future.
