| HS Code | 512526 |
| Product Name | Hydrobromic Acid Electronic/EL Grade |
| Chemical Formula | HBr |
| Cas Number | 10035-10-6 |
| Molecular Weight | 80.91 g/mol |
| Typical Concentration | 48% w/w HBr |
| Appearance | Clear, colorless to very faint yellow liquid |
| Assay | ≥48.0% HBr |
| Density At 20 C | 1.49 g/cm³ |
| Boiling Point | 124°C |
| Melting Point | -11°C |
| Refractive Index At 20 C | 1.438 |
| Residue On Ignition | ≤10 ppm |
| Metal Impurities | <0.05 ppm each for common metals (Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Ni, Pb, Zn) |
As an accredited Hydrobromic Acid Electronic/EL Grade factory, we enforce strict quality protocols—every batch undergoes rigorous testing to ensure consistent efficacy and safety standards.
| Packing | Packaged in 2.5L fluoropolymer-lined HDPE bottles, sealed under nitrogen for ultrapure electronic-grade hydrobromic acid. |
| Container Loading (20′ FCL) | Loading 20′ FCL of electronic-grade hydrobromic acid requires UN-approved packaging, secure bracing, ventilation, and segregation from incompatible materials. |
| Shipping | Hydrobromic Acid Electronic/EL Grade ships as a hazardous material (UN1788), requiring corrosion-resistant containers, typically HDPE drums with secure seals. Transport must follow strict regulatory guidelines for corrosive liquids, ensuring proper labeling, segregation from incompatible materials, and temperature control to prevent pressure buildup. Only trained personnel handle this high-purity acid during transit. |
| Storage | Store Hydrobromic Acid Electronic/EL Grade in tightly sealed, high-purity containers made of glass or fluoropolymers to prevent contamination. Keep in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area, away from sunlight, moisture, and incompatible materials such as bases, oxidizers, and reactive metals. Ensure secondary containment and clearly label for electronic-grade use. |
| Shelf Life | Shelf life is typically 6 months under proper sealed storage; protect from light, heat, and contamination. |
In InP photonic integrated circuit fabrication, 48% electronic-grade hydrobromic acid is used in wet mesa etching of InGaAsP/InP heterostructures where plasma-only patterning would introduce lattice damage, surface depletion, or excessive sidewall roughness in ridge waveguides. The etch bath is typically prepared with a volumetric ratio of 48% HBr : 30% H2O2 : H2O of 1:1:10 and is maintained at 20 ± 0.5°C in a recirculating PTFE/PFA bath with 0.1 µm cartridge filtration. Bath density is held between 1.15 g/cm³ and 1.25 g/cm³; HBr 48% is replenished at 0.2–0.5 L per 100 L bath volume per hour when inline density falls below the lower control limit. Etch rate on InP is verified through patterned witness wafers with scanning electron microscopy cross-sections and typically falls between 0.15 µm/min and 0.45 µm/min depending on heterostructure composition and bath age. Sidewall roughness is controlled by post-etch rinse in ultrapure water within 30 seconds to prevent local redeposition of InBr3 species; areal roughness is verified by atomic force microscopy according to ISO 25178-2:2012 and is commonly specified below Sa 2 nm on the etched sidewall. Compliance for the finished optoelectronic components includes Telcordia GR-468-CORE qualification for long-term reliability of active devices and IEC 60825-1 laser product safety. The cleanroom environment for wet etch is normally operated at ISO 14644-1:2015 Class 4 with point-of-use 0.04 µm ultrapure water filtration. Terminal products include InP distributed feedback laser diodes, electro-absorption modulated lasers, semiconductor optical amplifiers, and 100G/400G optical transceivers for data center interconnects. Process incompatibilities include concentrated nitric acid and permanganate oxidizers, which can rapidly liberate elemental bromine; storage tanks and etch tools are fabricated from PFA, PTFE, or quartz, and stainless steel is excluded from wetted parts.
The emitter mesa sequence in InP heterojunction bipolar transistor manufacturing uses electronic-grade 48% HBr as a bromide source in wet etch mixtures designed to remove InP emitter caps while preserving InGaAs base layers and reducing undercut at the emitter-base junction. A typical bath formulation contains 48% HBr, 96% H2SO4, 30% H2O2, and deionized water in a volume ratio of 1:1:1:20, although the HBr fraction is reduced to 2–4 vol% when lateral etch budget must remain below 0.1 µm per side. The etch is conducted in a single-wafer spray processor with real-time temperature control at 25 ± 0.3°C; endpoint detection is performed by optical emission spectroscopy or laser reflectance, and overetch is limited to 5–10 seconds to avoid attack of the underlying InGaAs. Production experience shows that HBr concentrations above 8 vol% produce measurable pitting on InGaAs surfaces after 20 seconds, so bath titration for bromide is performed at the beginning of each shift by argentometric titration and the bath is automatically diluted or re-spiked through a metering skid. Published industrial data for exact selectivity ratios in this H2SO4-HBr-H2O2 configuration is limited; fab introduction therefore uses patterned test vehicles to verify undercut before lot rollout. The process is found in 150 mm InP production lines where sulfuric-peroxide etches alone fail to remove InP at a controlled rate without surface oxide residues. The wet etch is followed by deionized water cascade rinsing and spin drying in N2 at 80°C. Reliability qualification for packaged devices follows JEDEC JESD22-A108 temperature cycling and JEDEC JESD22-A101 steady-state temperature-humidity bias. Terminal devices include InP heterojunction bipolar transistors for 100 GHz–1 THz millimeter-wave amplifiers, sub-THz imaging transceivers, and high-linearity optical modulator drivers. Operational limits include avoidance of amine-containing photoresist strippers before wet etch because residual amines produce non-uniform InP dissolution; wetted materials are limited to quartz, PTFE, PFA, and PVDF.
Zinc-bromine flow battery manufacturers blend 48% electronic-grade HBr with high-purity zinc bromide to maintain the free-acid concentration that suppresses hydrolysis of Zn²⁺ and keeps elemental bromine complexation predictable during charge. The electrolyte is prepared by dissolving anhydrous zinc bromide in ultrapure water to a concentration of 2.0–3.0 mol/L, then adding 48% HBr in a controlled exothermic step until the free-acid endpoint reaches 0.5–0.8 mol/L, corresponding to an addition ratio of approximately 50–85 L of 48% HBr per 1,000 L of final electrolyte. Blending is performed in a 5,000 L PVDF-lined reactor at 15–25°C with a recirculating cooler, and the batch is filtered through a 0.2 µm polypropylene capsule before filling into HDPE totes or stack tanks. The electrolyte circulates through anolyte and catholyte loops with interdigitated carbon-bromine electrodes and a low-resistance separator; charging deposits zinc on the negative electrode while bromide is oxidized to bromine complexes in the positive loop. Electronic-grade HBr is selected because transition-metal impurities above 50 ppb initiate parasitic hydrogen evolution at the zinc electrode and reduce coulombic efficiency; each lot is therefore verified by ISO 17294-2:2016 inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. System compliance includes IEC 62932-2 for flow battery safety and installation; transport of HBr solution is governed by UN 1788 as a corrosive liquid. Terminal products include containerized 250 kW–2 MW zinc-bromine flow battery energy storage systems for grid frequency regulation, solar time-shifting, and microgrid support. Operational boundaries include exclusion of metals that catalyze HBr decomposition and a maximum storage temperature of 30°C; above this temperature free bromine vapor pressure rises markedly and tank headspace must be scrubbed.
For precursor synthesis of lead bromide intended for perovskite absorber layers and optoelectronic quantum-dot films, electronic-grade 48% HBr is metered into a 100 L glass-lined stirred reactor at 1.0–1.2 mol HBr per mol of lead precursor, where the lead source is high-purity lead oxide or lead carbonate with total metal impurities below 50 ppb. The exothermic reaction is controlled at 55–65°C under nitrogen blanketing, and the mixture is held for 2–4 hours until the pH stabilizes between 4.0 and 5.5; excess HBr is avoided because residual bromide in the final lead bromide crystals shifts perovskite precursor stoichiometry and accelerates slot-die coating corrosion. The crystallized lead bromide is isolated by vacuum filtration on a PTFE membrane, washed with cold ultrapure water at 2–5°C to remove residual HBr, and dried in a vacuum oven at 80 ± 5°C for 12 hours under 10 mbar. Incoming HBr is verified for chloride, sulfate, and metal contamination by ISO 10304-1:2007 ion chromatography and ISO 17294-2:2016 ICP-MS; this is critical because chloride concentrations above 20 ppm in the lead bromide precursor produce large grain-boundary dark spots in the final perovskite film. Downstream, the lead bromide is dissolved in anhydrous dimethylformamide/dimethyl sulfoxide blends to produce perovskite ink, deposited by slot-die or blade coating on 150 mm glass substrates, and annealed at 100–150°C under controlled humidity below 30% RH. Finished devices are qualified under IEC 61215-1:2021 for terrestrial photovoltaic module series production and IEC 61215-2:2021 for accelerated ultraviolet and damp-heat reliability. Terminal products include single-junction perovskite solar modules and lanthanide-doped perovskite quantum-dot down-shifting films for display backlight units. Operational limitations include incompatibility with stainless steel reactors when residual HBr remains above 0.05 M; the drying oven and filter housing must be constructed from Hastelloy C-276, PFA, or glass.
Analytical laboratories supporting 300 mm wafer fabs deploy electronic-grade 48% HBr as a digestion reagent for trace metal extraction from wafer surfaces, ion-implanted monitor wafers, and process residues where volatile bromide complexes improve recovery of tin, indium, germanium, and arsenic. A closed-vessel digestion method begins with a 0.5 g sample placed in a pre-cleaned PFA vial; 5 mL of 48% HBr and 1 mL of 67–69% semiconductor-grade HNO3 are added, and the sealed vessel is heated to 120 ± 5°C for 8 hours. After cooling, the digestate is diluted to 50 g with 18.2 MΩ·cm ultrapure water and analyzed by triple-quadrupole ICP-MS with helium collision mode and mass-shift reaction using oxygen, following ISO 17294-2:2016. The method is validated through spike recovery of 0.1 ng/g, 1.0 ng/g, and 10 ng/g multi-element standards; recovery limits are set at 85–115% for Al, As, Ge, In, Sb, Sn, and Ti. The laboratory operates under ISO 17025:2017 accreditation with proficiency testing for acid purity and trace metal recovery. The HBr lot is routinely tested for arsenic and transition metals before use because reagent contamination above 10 ppt would blank out the determination at reporting limits of 0.05 ng/cm² wafer surface concentration. This application supports root-cause analysis of silicon wafer contamination after implantation, wet cleans, and etch residue removal; terminal outputs are analytical certificates and wafer surface metal maps that determine lot acceptance or failure under fab-specific contamination control limits. Operational limitations include the exclusion of borosilicate glass volumetric ware because HBr leaches trace metals from glass; PFA and quartz are the only acceptable wetted materials. Digestions with perchloric acid are rejected in closed-vessel protocols due to explosion risk.
| Parameter | Test method | Control band |
|---|---|---|
| Assay HBr | Acid-base titration, traceable to national metrology institute | 47.0–49.0 wt% |
| Trace element panel | ISO 17294-2:2016 ICP-MS | ≤ 10 ppb per element |
| Chloride | ISO 10304-1:2007 ion chromatography | ≤ 5 ppm |
| Free bromine | Iodometric titration, traceable to national metrology institute | ≤ 20 ppm |
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Electronic/EL grade hydrobromic acid is an aqueous hydrogen bromide solution — HBr, CAS 10035-10-6, molecular weight 80.91 g/mol — manufactured for semiconductor and electronics wet-process applications in which trace-cation, anion, and particulate burdens must be controlled below levels accepted in general chemical synthesis. Product designations commonly carry model identifiers such as HBr-EL 48 and HBr-EL 62, where the numeral indicates the nominal HBr mass fraction. The 48 wt% product is a fuming, strongly acidic liquid with a density of approximately 1.49 g/mL at 20 °C; at atmospheric pressure, the constant-boiling azeotrope contains 47.6 wt% HBr and boils at 124.3 °C. HBr is a strong acid with a pKa of -9.0, compared with -7.0 for hydrochloric acid, but electronic-grade production does not alter this intrinsic acidity.
The product is used primarily as a high-purity bromide source in plasma etching, wet etch formulations, and post-etch residue removal. Its distinction from technical-grade HBr lies in analytical control of metal, anion, and particle populations rather than in acid strength or HBr assay. A technical-grade HBr shipment may enter a bromination reactor without harm, but the same material in a fab wet bench can raise defect density and shift transistor electrical parameters. For this reason, electronic/EL grade HBr is not simply reagent-grade acid in smaller bottles; it is a controlled material whose supply chain includes fluoropolymer-lined storage, point-of-use filtration, and lot-specific trace-analysis documentation.
Published ACS reagent-grade hydrobromic acid specifications commonly list iron and heavy metals at 5 mg/kg or below, while electronic/EL grade datasheets reduce individual transition-metal maxima by roughly three orders of magnitude, to 0.005 mg/kg or lower for iron, nickel, copper, chromium, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and zinc. The shift from mg/kg to µg/kg is the key differentiating feature, because semiconductor front-end devices are sensitive to surface metal contamination at the 1010–1011 atoms/cm² level. Technical-grade HBr is typically sold as 47–49 wt% aqueous acid for bromination, pH adjustment, and synthesis, with no particle specification and variable anion content. ACS reagent-grade material is chemically purer than technical product but is not filtered to semiconductor particle specifications and is not packaged with the same exclusion of release agents.
EL grade also differs in packaging. Electronic/EL HBr is typically filled into PFA-lined drums or high-density polyethylene containers that have been rinsed with ultrapure water and checked for leachable organics. Technical and reagent grades may be packaged in unlined polyethylene or glass; transfer wetted surfaces are not necessarily restricted to PFA, PTFE, and PVDF. This packaging difference is not cosmetic: extraction of iron from a steel drum or a glass bottle interior can raise cation contamination above device tolerances even when the original liquid met specification.
In semiconductor fabs, the 48 wt% HBr-EL product is normally received in drum or isotainer quantities and may be qualified against SEMI C8 where a defined electronic-chemical specification is required. The following table compiles representative control bands and verification methods from published electronic-chemical datasheets; supplier-specific limits may differ, and custom low-sodium or low-aluminum variants are commonly available.
| Parameter | Common control band | Reference method |
|---|---|---|
| HBr assay | 48.0–49.0 wt% | Acid-base titration |
| Density at 20 °C | 1.48–1.50 g/mL | ASTM D4052-18 |
| Azeotropic composition at 101.325 kPa | 47.6 wt% HBr, boiling point 124.3 °C | Phase-equilibrium data |
| Chloride (Cl⁻) | ≤ 1 mg/kg | ASTM D4327-17 |
| Sulfate (SO₄²⁻) | ≤ 1 mg/kg | ASTM D4327-17 |
| Iron, nickel, copper, chromium, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc | ≤ 0.005 mg/kg per element | EPA 6020B (ICP-MS) |
| Particles ≥ 0.2 µm | ≤ 50 particles/mL | ISO 21501-4 |
Anion determinations by suppressed-conductivity ion chromatography require pre-dilution to avoid column overload and to bring the HBr matrix into the calibration range. ICP-MS analysis at 0.005 mg/kg levels requires cleanroom sample preparation, internal standards, and collision/reaction-cell gas to control polyatomic interferences generated by the bromide matrix. Particle counts are performed using a liquid particle counter with 0.2 µm sensitivity, calibrated to ISO 21501-4; filling is conducted under ISO 14644-1 Class 5 or better conditions. Each lot is typically individually certified, and certificates of analysis list the actual measured value for each controlled element rather than a pass/fail mark alone.
Incoming quality control in fab laboratories typically includes inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry on selected lots, ion chromatography for chloride and sulfate, and particle counting on composite samples. Batch-to-batch variance in trace metals is routinely monitored because a single excursion above the control band can alter device parametrics even when the product remains within assay specification. Analytical reproducibility at 0.005 mg/kg requires matrix-matched calibration standards and may be limited by instrument drift; laboratories therefore analyze a reference HBr standard before and after each sample block. This level of control is justified by the cost of unscheduled tool downtime and rework after contamination events, which usually exceeds the incremental cost of electronic/EL grade over ACS reagent material.
A cation concentration of 0.005 mg/kg is equal to 5 ng/g; when a single-wafer dispense module delivers 50 mL per wafer, the total added metal loading is approximately 0.25 µg per wafer. This order of magnitude is relevant to gate-oxide integrity and interface-trap charge in advanced devices. In high-volume manufacturing, source-chemical purity, ultrapure water quality, and tool materials of construction are treated as linked variables in a metal-budget calculation. Consequently, custom HBr-EL grades may specify lower maxima for sodium, aluminum, and calcium because these species are electrically active at gate-oxide interfaces. Supplier model suffixes such as HBr-EL 48-LS are used to designate low-sodium or low-aluminum variants; the suffix nomenclature is not standardized.
For wet etch and cleaning uses, a second key release criterion is particle count. Particles retained from the source chemical are transferred onto the wafer surface and can produce pattern defects or local blockage of megasonic cleaning. The common release limit of ≤ 50 particles/mL at 0.2 µm is not a universal specification; it represents a frequently observed control band for electronic/EL HBr in fabs. Published data for exact defect-yield loss as a function of HBr particle concentration in specific device nodes is limited.
From a production-tool perspective, the dominant failure mode related to HBr purity is not gross chemical failure but gradual chamber contamination. Metal cations deposit on dielectric sidewalls and change etch-rate uniformity by the time they are detected by in-line particle monitors. Lot-to-lot variation in sodium and aluminum concentrations in some HBr streams has been observed to correlate with shifts in transistor threshold voltage; therefore high-volume fabs often require lot-specific certificate of analysis and make lot acceptance dependent on all controlled trace elements, not only assay.
In single-wafer inductive plasma etch tools operating at 13.56 MHz, HBr is co-fed with chlorine and oxygen to etch polysilicon and silicon-germanium. The bromide radicals generated in the plasma increase lateral etch inhibition relative to chlorine-only chemistries because SiBrₓ etch products are less volatile than corresponding SiClₓ species and therefore accumulate on sidewalls. This sidewall passivation improves profile anisotropy and reduces undercut. The mechanism is well established in plasma etch literature; published data for exact selectivity ratios across specific etcher models is limited, but process-development datasets commonly show Si:SiO₂ selectivity above 10:1 for HBr/Cl₂/O₂ mixtures at low-bias conditions. The absolute selectivity depends on source power, bias power, chamber pressure, and gas residence time.
Electronic/EL HBr is specified for this use because trace metals introduced through the gas delivery system can become incorporated into the etch plasma and deposit onto exposed dielectric surfaces. A metal contaminant level that is tolerable in bulk bromination is not acceptable when the same vaporized acid passes through a mass flow controller and enters a plasma chamber. The particle specification matters for liquid delivery systems that vaporize HBr in a dedicated vaporizer; undissolved particles can clog vaporizer frits or create localized residue on chamber walls. The 48 wt% material is typically vaporized, while 62 wt% HBr may be used where a higher bromide mass fraction reduces water vapor load in the etch tool.
Mass flow controllers for HBr service are calibrated in standard cubic centimeter equivalent flow; the actual vaporized mass delivered depends on vaporizer temperature and liquid density. Gas-panel components in HBr service are typically made of Hastelloy C-22 or PFA-lined stainless steel; high-purity all-PFA delivery is used where trace metal contamination must be minimized. Exhaust lines are treated with scrubbers for hydrogen bromide and bromine. A failure mode observed on production etch tools is vaporizer frit clogging from particulate matter or nonvolatile residue; this is one reason the particle count of the liquid feed is controlled at release.
In wet wafer processing, HBr-EL 48% is blended with ultrapure water to produce dilute acid solutions generally in the pH 1.5–2.5 range and then dispensed in single-wafer spin processors. The solution is used for metal-oxide removal, residue dissolution, and selective etching in formulations where bromide complexation is desirable. Bromide ion forms soluble complexes with silver, lead, and tin; this behavior is useful in back-end cleaning where chloride-rich formulations can over-etch aluminum bond pads. Compared with hydrochloric acid, hydrobromic acid is a stronger proton donor and supplies a different ligand set, but it also introduces higher density and different vapor-pressure behavior. The selection between HBr and HCl for a given cleaning step is therefore based on the target residue chemistry and the thermal budget of the dispense module rather than on generic acid strength.
Electronic/EL HBr is stored at 10–25 °C in containers whose liquid-contact surfaces are PFA, PTFE, or PVDF. Stainless steel is not acceptable because hydrogen bromide attacks steel and can generate hydrogen gas; the resulting iron contamination can exceed electronic-grade limits within hours. High-density polyethylene is used as an overpack or for short-term storage, but it is not considered equivalent to fluoropolymer liners for long-term low-metal service. Containers are pressure-relieved or vented because the vapor space contains HBr and water vapor; repeated thermal cycling can weaken polymer-lined closures and increase moisture ingress. For 62 wt% material, moisture ingress is operationally more significant because dilution changes the mass fraction and can shift process dosing calculations. For storage areas above 60% relative humidity, dry inert gas blanketing is required to limit moisture uptake through vented closures.
Point-of-use distribution typically uses nitrogen-pressure transfer through 0.05 µm PFA filter cartridges. HBr is incompatible with strong bases, oxidizing acids, hypochlorite, and amine-based strippers; contact with metals releases flammable hydrogen gas, and mixing with nitric acid generates bromine and nitrogen oxides. Empty containers retain acidic vapor and must be treated as corrosive waste. If the process requires recycle, the material must be re-analyzed for trace metals, anions, and particles after any transfer outside the original closed loop; published data for long-term HBr re-use in closed-loop etch systems is limited.
Two standard product configurations are commonly listed: HBr-EL 48 and HBr-EL 62. The 48 wt% product is near the atmospheric azeotrope and therefore remains compositionally stable in storage; the 62 wt% product has a higher HBr mass fraction and higher density, but it must be blanketed with dry inert gas in high-humidity areas to prevent moisture ingress. Point-of-use dilution with ultrapure water requires water with resistivity ≥ 18.2 MΩ·cm at 25 °C and total organic carbon below site-specific limits; dilution hardware should use fluoropolymer wetted surfaces to avoid recontamination.
