To Narrow Market Share Gap with TSMC
Samsung Electronics has begun developing an advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) pellicle to narrow its market share gap with foundry rival TSMC.
The company's Semiconductor Research Institute recently put out a recruitment notice to develop a pellicle that satisfies an EUV transmittance of 92 percent. “We have developed a pellicle with an EUV transmittance of 82 percent and plan to increase the transmittance to 88 percent by the end of the year,” the company said at the Samsung Foundry Forum held in October 2021. Currently, Samsung Electronics is known to have developed a pellicle with a 88 percent transmittance. This means that the Korean tech giant attained its goal in about a year and put forward a new development roadmap to raise the transmittance by 4 percentage points.
Samsung Electronics has also begun research on pellicles for a high numerical aperture (NA), which is called a next-generation EUV process. The company mentioned the development of a next-generation pellicle based on new materials in its latest recruitment notice. It announced that it would develop and evaluate EUV pellicles made of carbon nanotubes and graphene in cooperation with outside research institutes. The company also plans to select researchers who will be in charge of designing mass production facilities for the nano-graphite film (NGF) the company has developed on its own.
“Samsung Electronics’ push for the development of EUV pellicles is intended to quickly catch up with TSMC, the No. 1 foundry company,” an analyst said.
EUV pellicles are a material necessary for the exposure process where a circuit shape is printed on a semiconductor wafer using light. They serve as a cover to block foreign substances from being attached to a mask. Pellicles help cut costs by minimizing defects during the process and extending the lifespan of expensive masks. However, commercialization is difficult due to the characteristic of EUV light being absorbed by most materials. Although Samsung Electronics has enhanced the level of pellicle technology, it has not introduced this material to its foundry/DRAM lines, judging that it is premature to apply this material to mass production lines, experts say.
Samsung Electronics’ rival TSMC has been using EUV pellicle of its own development in its mass production line since 2019. The Taiwanese foundry giant declared in 2021 that it will increase its own EUV pellicle production capacity by 20 times compared to 2019.