Set to Arrive in South Korea in 2027
ASML Korea’s President, Lee Woo-kyung, disclosed before attending the SEMICON Korea 2024 Industry Leadership Dinner held at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas in the Gangnam district of Seoul, on the last day of January, “We are looking at the year 2027 to bring in the High-Numerical Aperture (NA) Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) equipment to the new R&D center, a joint venture between Samsung Electronics and ASML.”
This new semiconductor research center is a result of the semiconductor alliance formed during President Yoon Suk-yeol’s state visit to the Netherlands last year, with Samsung Electronics and the Dutch equipment company ASML jointly investing 1 trillion won to establish it within South Korea. The facility will serve as a venue where ASML and Samsung Electronics engineers collaborate using EUV equipment for advanced semiconductor R&D.
The center, being constructed in front of the ASML New Campus in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, will be equipped with advanced High-NA EUV lithography equipment capable of implementing sub-2nm processes.
In response to a question about the construction progress of the R&D center being built in collaboration with Samsung Electronics, President Lee said, “We have newly secured a site near the ASML Korea Hwaseong New Campus and construction will start next year. We are planning to bring in the [High-NA] equipment around the time of completion, which we are looking at no later than 2027.” This is the first time ASML Korea has revealed the location of the soon-to-be-constructed R&D center and the scheduled introduction of the High-NA EUV equipment.
President Lee further explained, “The R&D center is being built for the introduction of the High-NA EUV equipment, and the cost for the necessary building and equipment is estimated at 1.5 trillion won. We have purchased a site twice the size of the original plan for construction and recently solved the power supply issue as well.”
High-NA EUV equipment is capable of implementing sub-2nm processes, leading to intense competition among companies like Samsung Electronics, Intel, and TSMC to secure the initial volume of this equipment for advanced semiconductor production. According to foreign media, Intel began receiving this equipment first by the end of last year. Samsung Electronics is known to use this equipment from the 1nm process onwards.
Samsung Electronics started mass production of 3-nm products in June 2022, the first in the world to apply the Gate-All-Around (GAA) structure, and plans to produce chips with 2-nm processes by 2025 and 1.4-nm processes by 2027.
President Lee also mentioned the Korea-Netherlands Advanced Semiconductor Academy Cooperation MOU signed last year, stating, “In February this year, our country’s semiconductor talent will go to the Netherlands for training.”