Amid Trade Row With Japan, South Korea Gains DuPont Investment to Make Chip Materials
January 14, 2020 | ReutersEstimated reading time: 1 minute
South Korea said on Thursday DuPont will invest $28 million in the country to produce advanced photoresists and other materials by 2021, a move that will help reduce its reliance on Japan for the products used in semiconductor manufacturing.
Amid a bilateral row over wartime laborers, Japan in July imposed curbs on exports of three materials including photoresists to South Korea, prompting a scramble among South Korean tech firms to diversify their supply chain.
Last month, Japan reversed the curbs on exports of photoresists, although tighter curbs on the two other materials - fluorinated polyimides used in smartphone displays and hydrogen fluoride used as an etching gas when making chips - remain.
“Although Japan has recently eased export controls of photoresists, which is partial progress, but it is not a fundamental solution,” South Korea’s Industry Minister Sung Yoon-mo said in a statement.
A trade ministry official said DuPont will invest in two existing factories in South Korea and build a new one.
Photoresists are thin layers of material used to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers. Japan produces around 90% of photoresists.
The ministry official said Dupont’s Korean subsidiary currently produces photoresists, but not ones needed to make chips with an advanced technique known as extreme ultraviolet or EUV lithography.
The new investment will also go towards the production of CMP pads, which are polishing pads used during the semiconductor manufacturing process, the ministry said.
A representative for the U.S. industrial materials maker was not immediately available for comment.
Suggested Items
Material Insight: The Dielectric Constant of PCB Materials
05/17/2024 | Dr. Preeya Kuray -- Column: Material InsightIn the world of PCB design, miniaturization can be achieved by using low dielectric constant (Dk) materials. Low Dk materials can allow for a reduction in thickness while maintaining a given trace width, leading to lower transmission loss and higher density circuitry.
IPC APEX EXPO: Some Thoughts About Growth
05/16/2024 | Dan Feinberg, I-Connect007After two and a half days of wandering the aisles at IPC APEX EXPO 2024, for the first time, I almost felt like I was exploring CES. There were so many booths and exhibits that I could describe, but I’d like to focus on the growth and huge value of this event, which has expanded well beyond just the growing and impressive exhibit show floor.
The Shaughnessy Report: Unlock Your High-speed Material Constraints
05/15/2024 | Andy Shaughnessy -- Column: The Shaughnessy ReportThe world of PCB materials used to be a fairly simple one. It was divided into two groups: the “traditional” laminates, often called FR-4, and the high-speed laminates developed especially for high-speed PCBs. These were two worlds that usually didn’t collide. But then traditional laminates started getting better, and high-speed designers and design engineers took notice and started to reconsider what FR-4 could be used for.
Breaking High-speed Material Constraints: Design007 Magazine — May 2024
05/14/2024 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamDo you need specialty materials for your high-speed designs? Maybe not. Improvements in resins mean designers of high-speed boards can sometimes use traditional laminate systems instead of high-speed materials, saving time and money while streamlining the fab process. In the May 2024 issue of Design007 Magazine, our contributors explain how to avoid overconstraining your materials when working with high-speed boards.
Indium Experts to Present at Electronics in Harsh Environments SMTA Conference
05/13/2024 | Indium Corporationndium Corporation Technical Manager for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, Karthik Vijay, will deliver a technical presentation and Indium Corporation Senior Technologist, Dr. Ronald Lasky, will deliver both a workshop and technical presentation at the Electronics in Harsh Environments SMTA Conference on May 14-16 in Copenhagen, Denmark.