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Samsung has recently signed a deal with Netherlands-based semiconductor chip equipment maker ASML. Samsung Electronics president Lee Jae-yong said to the press that he is satisfied with the business deals signed with the Dutch firm ASML. Lee said that most of the achievements made there were focused on semiconductor chips.
How ASML can help Samsung
ASML is the only company that makes advanced EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) chip-making equipment of 7nm or better. Each of these EUV machines costs millions of dollars and ASML can only manufacture 40-50 such machines. Acquiring these machines has become a challenge for chip-making firms like Samsung and TSMC.
Last week, Samsung signed a KRW 1 trillion ($755 million) deal with ASML. For this deal, both companies will invest in building a semiconductor chip research plant in South Korea. According to a report by Sammobile, this plant will be used by the companies to develop EUV technologies.
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kyung Kye-hyun, who heads the Device Solutions Division, emphasised that the company's latest agreements will help it secure next-generation high-NA (Numerical Aperture) EUV lithography scanner equipment.
Kyung said: “Samsung has secured a priority over the High-NA equipment technology. (From the trip), I believe we created an opportunity for us to optimise the usage of High-NA technology for our production of DRAM memory chips and logic chips in the long term.”
How ASML and Samsung will use the upcoming chip plant
The upcoming chip research facility is set to be established in Dongtan, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. In this facility, engineers from both ASML and Samsung Electronics will work together to improve the EUV chip fabrication technology.
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Instead of focusing on getting 2nm chip-making equipment to South Korea, Samsung's deal with ASML emphasises building a partnership with the Dutch firm. This will help the Korean tech giant to make better use of the next-generation equipment.
ASML and Samsung’s plans for 2nm chips
ASML is expected to launch the equipment to make 2nm node chips in the coming months. The latest equipment will increase the light collecting capability from 0.33 to 0.55. This will allow chip makers to use ultrafine patterning technology to make chips based on 2nm nodes.
The Dutch chip equipment maker is reportedly planning to make ten such equipment in 2024. Intel has already acquired six of those machines. In the coming years, ASML is planning to improve the production capacity of such chips to 20 per year.
Samsung plans to start the production of 2nm chips by late 2025. However, as with any technology and strategic plan, there could be delays in the launch of such chips. This will depend on the market condition and the quality of production.
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