Recently, a heartbreaking tragedy occurred in Hangzhou: a 52-year-old woman died after accidentally coming into contact with discarded hydrofluoric acid while walking. This incident not only sparked widespread public concern about chemical safety management, but also brought hydrofluoric acid, a chemical widely used in industry but posing significant risks, back into the public spotlight. Meanwhile, the rise of high-end manufacturing technologies such as laser marking and
Laser Cleaning machines is bringing transformative opportunities to traditional applications of hydrofluoric acid, potentially leading to its gradual elimination.
As a highly corrosive chemical, hydrofluoric acid plays a vital role in industrial production. It is primarily used for glass etching, where its chemical reaction with silicon dioxide creates microstructures on glass surfaces. It is widely used in optical components and display manufacturing. Furthermore, in chemical laboratories and electronics factories, hydrofluoric acid is used as a cleaning agent to remove metallic impurities and organic matter from the surfaces of semiconductor wafers to ensure chip yield.
However, the hazards of hydrofluoric acid far exceed those of ordinary acids. It can quickly penetrate the skin and bind to calcium and magnesium ions in the body, causing severe bone and muscle damage and even systemic calcium metabolism disorders. Even more frightening, initial exposure may be painless, but severe pain and tissue necrosis develop hours later. Delayed treatment can be life-threatening. The recent death of an elderly woman in Hangzhou from exposure to waste hydrofluoric acid is a tragic example of the dangers of this chemical.
The disposal of waste hydrofluoric acid is equally critical. Without professional treatment, it can contaminate soil and water sources, causing long-term damage to ecosystems. This incident has exposed the serious safety hazards of hydrofluoric acid in its storage, transportation, and disposal, and has also raised strong public concerns about chemical safety management.
While hydrofluoric acid raises safety concerns, laser technology, with its safety, efficiency, and environmental advantages, is rapidly penetrating high-end manufacturing, becoming a strong competitor to hydrofluoric acid.
In the field of glass etching, laser marking machines demonstrate significant potential. They use high-energy laser beams to locally heat the glass surface, melting or vaporizing the material to create patterns or text with micron-level precision. Compared to traditional hydrofluoric acid etching, laser marking machines offer advantages such as non-contact processing, high precision, flexibility, and wide material compatibility. They avoid chemical corrosion and produce no waste, aligning with the trend toward green manufacturing. They enable rapid switching of complex patterns, accommodating personalized customization needs. They are also suitable for a variety of materials, including ordinary glass, quartz glass, and sapphire.
Laser cleaning machines are emerging in areas such as semiconductor cleaning. They utilize the shockwave effect of laser pulses to remove surface contaminants (such as oil, oxides, and residual adhesive layers) without the need for chemical solvents. This technology is environmentally friendly and pollution-free, producing no harmful substances during the cleaning process and complying with environmental standards such as RoHS. Precise controllability allows for adjustable laser parameters, enabling micron-level cleaning and minimizing substrate damage. They are also highly efficient and energy-efficient, boasting cleaning speeds several times faster than traditional methods and reducing energy consumption by over 30%.
Despite the significant advantages of laser technology, it remains difficult for hydrofluoric acid to be completely replaced in the short term. Cost is a key factor, as the initial investment in laser equipment is high, placing significant pressure on small and medium-sized enterprises to transition. Furthermore, hydrofluoric acid etching offers advantages in terms of uniformity and efficiency for specialized applications, such as ultra-thin glass and large substrates. At the same time, traditional industries such as semiconductors and photovoltaics rely heavily on hydrofluoric acid processes, and replacing them will take time to prove successful.
However, with declining laser costs (for example, fiber laser prices have fallen by over 10% annually) and process optimization (such as multi-beam parallel processing technology), the economic viability of laser technology will continue to improve. According to industry forecasts, by 2030, laser etching will account for over 40% of the glass processing market, gradually shrinking the application space for hydrofluoric acid.
To accelerate the replacement of hydrofluoric acid, many countries around the world have introduced policies and guidance. China has included laser processing in its "Strategic Emerging Industries Classification (2018)" and encourages its application in areas such as semiconductors and display panels. The European Union has passed the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation, strictly restricting the use of hydrofluoric acid and encouraging companies to adopt clean technologies such as lasers. The US Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is funding a laser micro-nano manufacturing project aimed at breaking the monopoly of hydrofluoric acid in high-end chip manufacturing.
At the same time, laser companies are consolidating their advantages through technological iteration. For example, Chongqing Chuke Intelligent Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd., a leading domestic company in the laser marking industry, uses ultrafast lasers (picosecond/femtosecond lasers) to achieve "cold processing," avoiding heat-affected zones and making it suitable for high-precision etching of brittle materials such as glass. Laser hybrid processes combine laser and chemical etching, reducing the use of hydrofluoric acid in key steps and gradually transitioning to an all-laser process. Laser equipment equipped with intelligent integrated technology, machine vision, and AI algorithms can automatically identify material defects and adjust parameters to improve production yields.
The tragedy of the Hangzhou woman serves as a wake-up call for chemical safety management and highlights the urgency of replacing hydrofluoric acid with laser technology. Driven by both policy guidance and corporate innovation, laser technology is expected to gradually replace hydrofluoric acid in the future, providing safer, more efficient, and more environmentally friendly solutions for industrial production.
