Linde Secures Silane Supplies ...

Linde has reached two agreements that will increase its ability to supply thin-film photovoltaic makers with high-purity silane gas. The first is a collaboration with Schmid Silicon Pilot Production, which is building a silane and polysilicon production facility in Schwarze Pumpe near Dresden, Germany. Linde will own and operate a silane filling facility with a capacity of 300 metric tons per year due onstream in 2009. The second deal is a multiyear supply arrangement with South Korea's Sodiff Advanced Materials in which Sodiff will provide Linde with a "significant portion" of the electronics-grade silane that will come from a new 2,000-metric-ton-per-year plant due onstream in the second half of 2009.