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| Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong arrives at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, Wednesday, along with the company's device solutions business unit chief Kim Ki-nam after finishing a business trip to Europe. / Yonhap |
By Baek Byung-yeul, Kim Yoo-chul
Months after Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong told President Moon Jae-in that the world's top memory chip manufacturer was working on developing extreme ultraviolet (EUV) scanner technology, he has confirmed that the company is in talks to advance its business relationship with ASML further.
"This time, I've been exploring ways to develop relations regarding EUV," Lee told reporters upon his arrival at Gimpo International Airport from the Netherlands, Wednesday. Lee went home after he tested negative for COVID-19.
In a statement, Samsung Electronics headquarters in Seoul said Lee met with top management at ASML including CEO Peter Wennink and CTO Martin van den Brink at their head office in Eindhoven, on the sidelines of his week-long trip.
The meeting covered various issues of mutual interest, such as ASML's plans to sell EUV equipment and the specifics of the two-way partnership's development of next-generation memory chips. The statement also said Lee toured EUV equipment manufacturing lines.
EUV equipment is vital for fabricating chips at the 7-nanometer node level and below. While an alternative fabrication method using multiple overlaid patterning iterations employing older deep ultraviolet (DUV) scanner technology is available to reduce pattern size, EUV technology has the upper hand in terms of better yield (defection rate). ASML has a high level of trust in that technology both in terms of intellectual property and cost.
After Japan delisted Korea from its list of most trusted business partners, President Moon encouraged Samsung and the country's other top manufacturers to invest in cutting their reliance for crucial industrial materials on imports from Tokyo. When Moon visited Samsung's new memory chip lines ― that will use EUV tech ― being built in the provincial city of Hwaseong, Lee said the decision was part of the company's strategy to better prepare for the future.
Amid the growing demand for logic- and custom-based memory semiconductors with the legacy memory chip market being saturated mostly due to the rise of Chinese companies, Samsung has been sharing its EUV tech knowhow with ASML. EUV is still pricey as the tools cost $35 million or more per system. The Korean company is also battling with its chief system chip rival TSMC in the heated foundry chips competition.
Samsung plans to manufacture EUV-based ultra-thin chips below 5 nanometers at its Hwaseong plant.
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