26/09/2024
Semiconductors
Japan to establish chip research center with Intel
Facility to speed up development of equipment and materials via EUV systems.
RYO MUKANO, Nikkei staff writer
September 3, 2024 12:32 JST
TOKYO -- The Japanese national research institute will team up with U.S. chipmaker Intel to build a research and development center in Japan for cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing technology, according to people familiar with the partnership.
The new facility, to be built in three to five years, will feature extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) equipment. Manufacturers of equipment and materials companies will pay a fee to use the facility for prototyping and testing. This will be the first center in Japan where different industry participants will be able to make joint use of EUV equipment.
Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), which operates under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, will run the facility, while Intel will provide expertise in chip manufacturing using EUV technology. Total investment in the center is expected to reach into hundreds of millions of dollars.
The move is intended to further build on Japan's existing expertise in the chip manufacturing equipment and materials industries.
EUV is an essential technology for semiconductor manufacturing at the scale of 5 nanometers and below. The number refers to the number of nanometers -- billionths of a meter -- between transistors on a chip. The smaller the number, the more transistors can be squeezed onto the chip, thus raising computing power.
EUV equipment costs more than 40 billion yen ($273 million) per unit, an investment that is difficult for materials and equipment suppliers to make on their own.
Many companies working in this space use EUV equipment belonging to overseas research institutes, such as Imec in Belgium, to develop their products. In Japan, chipmaker Rapidus, which aims to mass produce cutting-edge semiconductors, plans to introduce EUV equipment for manufacturing in December, but so far research institutes in Japan have not had such equipment.
As strategic competition between the U.S. and China intensifies, Washington has tightened restrictions on EUV-related exports to China, including equipment and materials. This also slows the process of bringing data back to Japan from research conducted at facilities outside the country. The availability of EUV equipment at a domestic research institution will lower this hurdle.
ASML Holding of the Netherlands dominates the manufacture of EUV lithography equipment.
However, chip production requires more than 600 processes, and the development of related equipment and materials is essential.
Among Japanese companies, Lasertec has a 100% share of the market for EUV-related inspection equipment, while JSR and others have strengths in photosensitive materials used to make circuits on silicon wafers. Through the new research center, Intel aims to deepen relationships with these materials and equipment suppliers.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tech/Semiconductors/Japan-to-establish-chip-research-center-with-Intel
