Samsung and ASML to develop next-generation semiconductor manufacturing technology

Samsung Electronics is joining ASML and other major chipmakers to develop a next-generation manufacturing process based on 12-inch photomasks, while preparing to use ASML’s newest lithography equipment for advanced DRAM production from 2028.

ASML, the Dutch company that dominates the market for equipment used to print microscopic circuits, said Samsung would participate in an ASML-led consortium. Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. are also taking part.

The consortium will work on replacing the 6-inch photomasks used for decades with masks measuring 12 inches. A larger mask could allow broad circuits to be printed on a wafer in one operation rather than divided into multiple sections. The change could reduce defects and costs, particularly with the latest lithography equipment, where existing masks limit the area that can be printed at once.

Samsung also plans to become the first company in the industry to use ASML’s High-NA extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment in mass production of advanced DRAM. The company intends to begin in 2028, after stabilizing the manufacturing process early. High-NA EUV increases the lens system’s numerical aperture, allowing it to print narrower circuit lines. It can also sharply reduce the number of multipatterning steps needed to create extremely fine circuits, shortening production time and the number of process stages.

TSMC plans to use the equipment in mass production in 2030, two years after Samsung’s target. Samsung brought ASML’s High-NA EUV equipment into South Korea for the first time last March, according to the article.

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Samsung Electronics plans to participate in the consortium led by ASML and jointly develop next-generation semiconductor technologies.