On Tuesday local time, Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML said it plans to build a new technical support center in Hokkaido, Japan, by the second half of 2024 to support Japanese chip manufacturer Rapidus' chip factory production.
According to reports, about 50 ASML engineers will install extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment on the prototype production line of the semiconductor factory being built by Rapidus. In addition, ASML will provide technical support and equipment maintenance for Rapidus' factories.
ASML, headquartered in Veldhoven, the Netherlands, is the world's only manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment, which is necessary for the mass production of advanced semiconductors from 5 nanometers to 7 nanometers and below. It is reported that Samsung Electronics, Intel, TSMC, etc. have purchased the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment.
Rapidus was jointly invested and established in August 2022 by eight major Japanese companies (Toyota Motor, Sony, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, NEC, Nippon Denso, SoftBank, Kioxia and Mitsubishi UFJ Bank). It mainly researches, develops, designs, manufactures and sells advanced logic semiconductors.
Foreign media said that the company, with substantial financial support from the Japanese government, is venturing into the highly competitive custom-made cutting-edge microchip manufacturing market.
In February this year, the company announced that it had selected Chitose City, Hokkaido, as the location for its new advanced semiconductor factory. The new factory will be Japan's first 2-nanometer wafer factory and will produce advanced chips for 5G communications, quantum computing, data centers, autonomous vehicles and digital smart cities.
On September 1 this year, Rapidus held a groundbreaking ceremony for the factory in Chitose City, Hokkaido, which plans to produce 2-nanometer process semiconductors.
According to reports, the Japanese government has decided to provide Rapidus with a total of 330 billion yen in subsidies to strengthen the country's semiconductor industry.
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