PNNL

RICHLAND, Wash.—A research team at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has successfully designed and built high-purity gas conversion and purification systems for silane and germane. These two gases are essential for U.S. research and development in quantum information science and other advanced technology areas. They are both used in the semiconductor industry to deposit thin films of silicon and germanium for advanced computing chips, among other uses.

The work, under the direction of DOE’s Office of Isotope R&D and Production (IRP), is a significant milestone toward developing a domestic pathway from commercially available enriched starting compounds to device-compatible precursor gases. 

With the support of IRP, PNNL continues research to further isotopically enrich silane and germane using enhanced thermal diffusion isotope separation (TDIS) technologies. PNNL has previously developed such systems for enriching argon and chlorine, but additional research is required to design and safely operate TDIS systems enriching silane and germane. 

PNNL’s expertise implementing rigorous safety measures for TDIS systems includes developing automated control systems. These controls monitor hundreds of process variables and notify operators if conditions drift outside target levels. 

“Isotopic dilution of enriched silicon is a challenging problem,” said Mike Powell, the project principal investigator, “but we carefully designed our systems and handling procedures to maintain the starting feedstock isotopic purity through to the final silane and germane products.”

Read DOE’s official announcement of the milestone critical minerals work.