HiSiaddi is an innovative foreign trade service provider driven by dual engines of technology transformation and foreign trade services. It has established a "1+2+3+4=1" service system and can supply titanium diboride sourced from multiple well-known original manufacturers. As a foreign trade enterprise with R&D capabilities, HiSiaddi has repeatedly resolved customized product demands for customers through technical transformation cooperation with manufacturers and precise market demand insight. The following is a case where HiSiaddi addressed customized requirements for titanium diboride products.
For more customized service inquiries, please contact HiSiaddi customer service.
Belgian BelTarget NV is located in the Liège High-Tech New Materials Industrial Park. It is a leading Western European enterprise specializing in mid-to-high-end semiconductor sputtering targets, vacuum coating and hard cutting tool raw materials. Its products support downstream coating foundries of Infineon and ASML. The company has long imported electronic-grade titanium diboride powder from Germany, with an annual customized TiB₂ procurement volume of 96 tons. The material is used for metallization coating of semiconductor components and wear-resistant coatings on high-end CNC cutting tools, complying with EU REACH, RoHS, SVHC and semiconductor raw material impurity control specifications.
Driven by surging prices of local European chemical raw materials, maintenance shutdowns of overseas smelting plants, extended delivery lead times up to 110 days and a 42% hike in purchasing unit prices, the client launched a plan for localized Chinese substitution. It proposed non-standard rigid indicators far superior to domestically mass-produced industrial-grade titanium diboride, which cannot be met by off-the-shelf domestic titanium diboride for coating production:
1. Purity indicators: TiB₂ main phase content ≥99.5%, free titanium <0.2%, free boron <0.15%, no TiO₂ or B₂O₃ impurity phases;
2. Particle size control: D50=2.2～2.6μm, narrow particle size distribution with D90/D10≤2.5, no hard agglomerated particles larger than 10μm;
3. Strict impurity control (semiconductor mandatory requirement): Single heavy metals including Fe, Cr, Ni, Cu <8ppm; single alkali metals K, Na, Li <1ppm; total oxygen content ≤0.45wt%. Excessive impurities will cause pinholes in target coating and leakage failure of semiconductor chips;
4. Customized surface properties: Low powder agglomeration and high looseness, compatible with the client’s vacuum hot-pressing sintering process for target materials, achieving sintered density ≥99.2%.
The client independently contacted 3 domestic titanium diboride manufacturers for sample trial production in the early stage but failed repeatedly. Most domestic manufacturers adopt carbothermal reduction to mass-produce industrial-grade titanium diboride, with production lines designed for wear-resistant welding rods and general metallurgical raw materials. Their synthesis temperature, raw material purity and crushing/classification equipment fail to meet standards for electronic target materials. Renovating closed synthesis and high-purity classification production lines requires huge capital investment, so most factories are unwilling to adjust processes for small-batch high-end customization. Four batches of samples were air-freighted to Belgian laboratories for sintering verification, all presenting excessive impurity phases, heavy metal overload and insufficient sintered density. With the 60-day raw material stocking deadline approaching, the target production line faced raw material supply disruption and liquidated damages for breaching downstream semiconductor orders. After repeated unsuccessful sample testing, the client fully entrusted HiSiaddi with a full turnkey customized service covering indicator decomposition, screening of qualified manufacturers, optimization of synthesis processes, multi-stage sample verification and export compliance support.
HiSiaddi set up a special team consisting of powder material engineers, foreign trade project specialists and compliance officers to sort out core customization challenges for high-purity target-grade titanium diboride: high-temperature synthesis of titanium diboride easily generates oxidized impurity phases and free elemental substances, while ultra-fine high-purity classification may introduce metallic impurities from equipment. The full process requires supporting facilities including closed synthesis with high-purity raw materials, inert atmosphere sintering and full ceramic-lined crushing/classification. Small and medium-sized powder manufacturers lack relevant hardware support. HiSiaddi eliminated small and medium factories focusing on general industrial materials and designated specialized new material enterprises equipped with self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) closed production lines, full ceramic crushing/classification workshops and high-purity raw material pretreatment systems for customized R&D and production.
Conventional mass production adopts industrial-grade titanium dioxide and boron anhydride raw materials containing inherent heavy metal and alkali metal impurities. The customized solution fully adopts electronic-grade high-purity TiO₂ and amorphous high-purity boron powder. Raw materials undergo pickling purification and vacuum drying deoxygenation in advance to pre-eliminate iron, chromium, sodium and potassium impurities from mineral sources, limiting initial impurities within 5ppm at the raw material end.
Abandoning open hearth carbothermal reduction, the process adopts argon fully closed protected self-propagating high-temperature synthesis with precise temperature control and titanium-boron molar ratio adjustment to accurately inhibit generation of oxide by-products including TiO₂ and B₂O₃, and restrict free titanium and free boron content. Crude materials are slowly cooled under inert atmosphere after synthesis to avoid air oxidation and elevated total oxygen caused by high-temperature discharging. The measured free titanium of crude products is 0.16% and free boron 0.11%, meeting the client’s upper limit requirements.
Carbon steel lined ball milling equipment is eliminated; all crushing and classification equipment chambers are lined with silicon nitride ceramics to prevent iron and nickel impurities precipitated by mechanical wear. Three-stage gradient precision air classification is adopted to remove ultra-fine dust and oversized agglomerated particles, stably locking D50=2.4μm and D90/D10=2.35, perfectly falling within the client’s particle size range.
Finished powder enters a vacuum deoxygenation furnace for low-temperature heat preservation to remove surface adsorbed oxygen, reducing total powder oxygen from 1.3% of conventional industrial materials to 0.41%. Meanwhile, post-treatment dispersion processes are optimized to lower powder hard agglomeration. The client’s hot-pressing sintering test achieved a density of 99.45%, exceeding the client’s internal control standard of ≥99.2%.
1. Small-batch sample stage: Each 5kg batch is vacuum-sealed in aluminum foil packaging, accompanied by CNAS third-party full-item test reports covering 16 indicators including XRD phase analysis, particle size distribution, full-element ICP impurity testing and oxygen content. Batches are air-freighted to the Belgian R&D center. The first two batches adjusted synthesis ratios and classification parameters, while the third batch fully matched all physical properties of original German titanium diboride. The client passed full testing of target sintering and coating and issued a formal product qualification confirmation letter.
2. Pilot scale-up trial production: A 500kg pilot batch fully replicates mass production processes to simulate continuous production conditions. Target materials produced from pilot raw materials present no coating pinholes and zero chip leakage defects, formally locking standardized mass production SOP.
3. Custom moisture-proof packaging optimization: Titanium diboride powder is prone to moisture absorption and oxidation. HiSiaddi coordinated manufacturers to adopt aluminum foil vacuum inner bags + 25kg iron drum sealed packaging. Drums are printed with bilingual English-Dutch labels in compliance with EU CLP regulations, marking CAS number, GHS classification and REACH registration information to avoid moisture oxidation during ocean shipping.
HiSiaddi’s compliance team compiled bilingual 16-chapter SDS, product Declaration of Conformity (DoC) and batch COA quality inspection documents in accordance with Belgian chemical regulations and the latest REACH specifications, assisted with REACH pre-registration and SCIP database declaration of products, and submitted full sets of documents to Belgian customs brokers for pre-review in advance. The first trial batch of 30 tons was shipped from Shanghai Port to Antwerp Port, passing customs clearance and warehousing in one go upon arrival. After raw materials were put into mass production, the target production line operated at full capacity, with coating defect rate dropping from 19.8% in sample testing to below 0.25%. The comprehensive localized customized procurement cost decreased by 34.6% compared with original German materials, and ocean delivery lead time was shortened from 110 days to 39 days. The remaining 66 tons were scheduled for production and delivery in 4 batches based on the client’s seasonal production and sales fluctuations, with 100% on-time performance for the full-year 96-ton order.
In the following year, BelTarget NV renewed a long-term annual order of 118 tons of titanium diboride. Meanwhile, it fully entrusted HiSiaddi with exclusive responsibility for Chinese customized development, sample coordination and export compliance of special powders including zirconium diboride and tantalum carbide for semiconductor target materials. Relying on the implementation of this project, HiSiaddi successfully secured powder procurement businesses from two mid-to-high-end European semiconductor target manufacturers in the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
1. Industry Pain Points: Most domestic titanium diboride manufacturers focus on general industrial-grade products with fixed production line processes, lacking supporting facilities for closed high-purity synthesis and full ceramic precision classification. Their products target low-end markets such as welding rods and metallurgical additives. Domestic low-end downstream customers have high formula tolerance and can cover powder defects via auxiliary material addition. In contrast, production processes of mid-to-high-end European semiconductor target enterprises are filed with EU institutions, prohibiting arbitrary modification of sintering and coating processes. Trace impurities and excessive impurity phases in powder will lead to scrapping of entire batches of target materials. High investment is required for refined customization, so most factories refuse to carry out production line technical renovations.
2. Core Service Value of HiSiaddi: Breaking the traditional foreign trade middleman model limited to goods resale, HiSiaddi formed a closed-loop full-chain technical service covering overseas customized indicator decomposition → upstream high-purity raw material control → special technical renovation of synthesis processes → multi-stage sample verification → customized moisture-proof packaging → cross-border compliance customs clearance. It bridges the two-way information gap between domestic manufacturers unfamiliar with EU semiconductor raw material access standards and overseas customers unaware of domestic refined powder customization capacity, and deeply binds mid-to-high-end European and American end customers through technical value-added customization services.
3. High-End Customer Procurement Logic: Procurement priority of Western European new semiconductor material enterprises: customized physical and chemical matching degree of products > batch stability > full-chain compliance guarantee > procurement unit price. One-stop non-standard customized implementation capability is the decisive factor for customers to lock in long-term cooperation.
For more customized service inquiries, please contact HiSiaddi customer service.
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