DATA CENTRE STRATEGY Why helium is critical to the data centre industry Semiconductor chips are the bedrock of the data centre industry, powering servers, storage systems and networking equipment. To manufacture these chips, ultra-pure helium is absolutely essential. The gas is critical for maintaining the ultraclean and ultracold environments required during fabrication.
Specifically, helium is used for wafer cooling in the photolithography process and for leak detection in complex sub-5-nanometre chip fabrication. Its unique properties – including having the lowest freezing point of any element – make it impossible to replace in these highly sensitive applications.
“ Helium is a critical process gas in semiconductor manufacturing,” says Kevin Hein, Senior Analyst at Tirias Research, speaking to Forbes.“ Even brief supply disruptions can slow or halt production, especially at advanced nodes lacking practical substitutes.”
Without access to semiconductorgrade helium, the fabrication of logic and memory chips will slow down or come to a complete halt, starving data centres of the hardware they need to function and expand.
78 May 2026