High Purity Gases: Applications and Importance

High purity helium is used as a GC and GC-MS carrier gas in pharmaceutical, environmental, and petrochemical labs; as a component in excimer laser gas mixtures (ArF, KrF) for semiconductor photolithography; in helium leak detection for HVAC and vacuum systems; for MRI and superconducting magnet cooling; and in NMR plasma support. SpecGas supplies helium in purity grades and cylinder sizes from 17 liters to 2000 liters.

NIST Traceable means the calibration gas has been produced and verified using measurement standards traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This ensures the gas concentration is accurate and the results can be compared to a national standard. All SpecGas calibration gas mixtures are NIST Traceable, making them suitable for regulatory compliance, emissions monitoring, and precision analytical applications.

High purity gases typically achieve 99.99% (4N) purity, while ultra-high-purity (UHP) grades reach 99.999% (5N) or higher. The distinction matters greatly in semiconductor fabs, GC carrier gas applications, and laser systems where trace impurities can damage equipment or skew analytical results. SpecGas offers both high purity and ultra-pure grades across its product line, customized to customer specifications.

In semiconductor manufacturing, high purity gases are used as excimer laser gas mixtures (ArF at 193 nm, KrF at 248 nm) for photolithography patterning, as CVD and epitaxy process gases, for sputtering and PVD processes, and in toxic gas monitoring systems within cleanrooms. Even trace contamination in process gases can cause defects in microchip fabrication, making ultra-high purity grades and NIST Traceability essential.

Yes. SpecGas specializes in custom gas blending to exact customer specifications, including PPB and PPM level concentrations of reactive, toxic, hydrocarbon, rare, and atmospheric gases. All custom blends are produced in-house using gravimetric blending with proprietary techniques and are NIST Traceable. If a customer disputes the stated results, SpecGas will immediately remake and re-ship a replacement mixture.

SpecGas offers high purity gases in disposable aluminum and steel cylinders, refillable high-pressure aluminum and steel cylinders, and nickel-plated cylinders for reactive gases. Sizes range from 17-liter disposable cylinders suited for field applications and overseas shipping up to 250 FT³ refillable cylinders, with gas phase volumes from 58 liters up to 2000 liters depending on the product.