Samsung Electronics Co. will strengthen its ties with Zeiss Group, the sole optical system supplier of the world’s only extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography system supplier, ASML Holding NV, in the field of EUV technologies and microchips. next generation, thus increasing participation to overtake the global foundry. leading Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (TSMC).
Jay Y. Lee, executive chairman of the South Korean chip giant, met Friday with Zeiss Chairman and CEO Karl Lamprecht and other company executives during his visit to the headquarters of the global optical technology conglomerate and optoelectronics in Oberkochen. Germany, according to Samsung Electronics on Sunday.
At their meeting, they agreed to expand their partnerships in EUV technology and in the research and development of advanced semiconductor equipment to improve their commercial competitiveness in the foundry and memory chip sectors.
Samsung Electronics is the world’s leading producer of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, and Zeiss is the multinational developer of optical and optoelectronic solutions with more than 2,000 core patents in EUV technology, which plays a key role in chip production high-performance advancements.
The German company is also the exclusive supplier of optical products to ASML, the only global supplier of EUV lithography systems wielding great power over global chip giants, especially contract chip makers, such as the world leader in the TSMC foundry and the distant finalist Samsung Electronics.
Through its deep ties with Zeiss, the Korean memory giant hopes to improve its next-generation semiconductor technology, optimize its chip manufacturing process and refine production yields of advanced chips.
Samsung Electronics aims to become a leader in sub-3-nanometer microfabrication process technology, with a plan to mass produce sixth-generation 10-nanometer DRAM chips with EUV lithography technology this year.
EUV AT THE CENTER OF FOUNDRY SUPREMACY
EUV lithography allows chip producers to shrink the size of transistors to just a few nanometers, tens of thousands of times thinner than a strand of human hair.
The lower the number of nanometers, the more advanced the technology, promising faster computing speed, higher performance and lower power consumption.
This technology is considered crucial for developing high-performance chips such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips needed to operate artificial intelligence-powered devices.
Demand for high-performance memory chips has increased sharply amid the current AI boom.
Samsung Electronics is actively seeking to commercialize 2nm chips by 2025 and 1.4nm chips by 2027 after mass-producing 3nm chips last year. It became the first foundry to produce the industry’s smallest chip.
Samsung Electronics is the world’s largest memory producer, but lags far behind TSMC in contract chip manufacturing. The two rivals are in a frantic race to become a leader in micromanufacturing process technology.
The Korean foundry player hopes to leverage more advanced processing technology to overtake its larger Taiwanese foundry rival.
INVESTMENT FROM ZEISS, ASML
Samsung Electronics has strengthened its partnership with the German optical solutions provider in recent years.
In November 2022, Zeiss announced an investment plan of approximately 48 billion won ($35 million) to build its first-ever overseas-based R&D center for microscopy research solutions in Korea.
It also plans to open Asia’s first R&D center for its process control solutions for advanced logic and memory chips in the Northeast Asian county.
Zeiss decided to invest in Korea to meet the growing demand for optical solutions not only from the Korean semiconductor sector, but also from the battery and electric vehicle industries.
Zeiss also offers photomask solutions, essential in a photolithography process. A photomask is an opaque plate or film with transparent areas and a defined pattern.
Its R&D centers in Korea are expected to open in 2026.
Lee’s visit to Zeiss highlights Samsung Electronics’ efforts to build a strong semiconductor supply chain. Its rivals TSMC and Intel are also actively strengthening their relationships with major semiconductor manufacturing equipment suppliers such as ASML to widen the technology gap with their followers.
In December last year, Samsung and ASML also signed an agreement to build an EUV R&D facility in Korea with a joint investment of 1 trillion won.
Lee will continue his tour in Europe – France and Italy – to check the supply chain and regional semiconductor market, according to Samsung Electronics.
Write to Eui-Myung Park at [email protected]
Sookyung Seo edited this article.
