Air Liquide’s Two Gas Production Units for SK hynix Chips
French multinational high purity gas supplier, Air Liquide, has announced it will own and operate two new production facilities in Indiana, US, to support South Korean semiconductor manufacturer SK hynix’s operations in the state.
Advanced memory chips, which are critical to AI data processing, require voluminous amounts of high purity gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, argon and hydrogen in the packaging stage.
According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the US’s semiconductor footprint captures more than US$500bn in recently announced investments alone, for over 100 chip ecosystem projects across 28 states.
Air Liquide and SK hynix US production
Air Liquide is installing two production units at SK hynix's site, which it says will ensure a continuous, high-quality supply directly to the customer's manufacturing lines.
SK hynix is a leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips and will need access to a growing amount of gases at its advanced semiconductor packaging line that is set to mass-produce HBM in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Announcing the advanced packaging fab in 2024, SK hynix said it would invest US$3.87bn in the facility. Air Liquide says its new units will be commissioned at the end of 2028.
Matthieu Giard, Group Executive Committee Member at Air Liquide, says: “This milestone investment underscores Air Liquide’s ability to bolster the growth of our long-standing and strategic partners and accelerate the development of AI technologies.
“Relying on our three-decade presence in the electronics sector in the US, we are proud to support SK hynix’s first landmark expansion in America and contribute concretely to the rise of the most advanced semiconductor technologies.”
Advanced packaging with high-purity gases
Air Liquide says the strategic proximity of its two new facilities is crucial to meet the stringent, high-precision environment needed for advanced packaging, a key enabler for HBM.
“As development begins on America’s first advanced packaging facility for HBM, we are pleased to partner with key industry leaders to build a robust semiconductor ecosystem in Indiana.”
This process involves vertically stacking multiple layers of memory chips on a smaller footprint to reach higher computational performance and energy efficiency.
Ultra-pure gases are fundamental to guarantee the semiconductor fab’s clean environment required to develop state-of-the-art technologies.
US semiconductor manufacturing
Currently, semiconductor manufacturing is heavily concentrated in Asia, with South Korea and Taiwan being the leaders in global semiconductor fabrication.
The US is heavily ramping up investment through initiatives like the CHIPS and Science Act in an attempt to shore up production domestically.
- SK hynix was founded in 1983
- SK hynix overtook Samsung Electronics to become South Korea's most valuable listed company in June 2026
- SK hynix chips are used by customers such as NVIDIA and Google
A CHIPS project, SK hynix's Indiana facility was supported by US$458m in direct funding.
According to the SIA’s State of the US Semiconductor Industry report, published in 2025, companies in the semiconductor ecosystem have announced more than US$500bn in private-sector investments, setting in motion a projected tripling of US chipmaking capacity by 2032.
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Matthieu Giard
Group Vice President overseeing the Americas, Digital & IT, Business Service Centers and Real Estate
