Xenon, Xe Specialty Gas

Xenon, Xe Specialty Gas

What Is Xenon Gas?

Xenon (Xe) is a heavy and extremely rare noble gas. Xenon was discovered in 1898, and it was the first noble gas found to form true chemical compounds. It has a very high ionization potential, high density (more than 4.5 times heavier than air), and low heat capacity. Its atomic number is 54.

Industry Applications for Xenon Gas

Xenon is a trace gas and is used in a wide variety of applications.

It is a component of excimer laser mixes to produce specific wavelengths. It is a required component in the gas mixes used to produce 282nm (XeBr), 308nm (XeCl), and 351nm (XeF).

Xe is used in sputter deposition, especially when depositing coatings with higher molecular weights. It is more expensive than commonly used argon, but a higher yield and better coating is obtained when coating with heavier atoms. Xenon is often used for sputter coating heavier coatings, including those used to make hard disks.

Xenon has long been used as a propellant for satellites and other spacecraft. It is a preferred propellant for electric propulsion, whether with Hall effect thrusters or ion thrusters. The thrusters ionize and expel the xenon at up to hundreds of kilometers per second, providing in-space propulsion many times more efficient than conventional chemical propulsion. Xenon electric propulsion has been used for orbit-raising and station-keeping of satellites and has been used to send space probes to Mercury and the asteroid belt.

Xenon’s physical and chemical properties make it useful in lighting applications. It is used in incandescent, halogen, fluorescent, and high-intensity discharge lamps.

It is used for the production of semiconductors in annealing and etching. and lithography applications. Krypton acts both as a surface disruption agent and a plasma modulator, influencing the composition of plasmas through secondary ionization. Historically secondary ionization and surface disruption was achieved using argon due to cost and availability, but krypton provides the ability to select for ions present in plasma in additional ways.

Xenon mixes are used in detectors. including those used to detect radiation and infrared light. Xenon is even used in the very large detectors to find dark matter.

Xenon even has some medical applications, including use to enhance MRI imaging or as anesthesia.

Xenon, Xe Safety Requirements

Safety Requirements: The cryogenic liquid will rapidly boil to the gas at standard temperatures and pressures. The liquefied gas can cause frostbite on any contaminated tissue. The primary health hazard associated with releasing this gas is asphyxiation by displacement of oxygen (see SDS for further information).

Xenon Research/Scientific Grade:

Downloads

Xenon Specifications pdf.

Xenon SDS pdf.