Fujifilm 在平澤擴充 EUV 光阻產能，為量產作準備並深化與 Samsung Electronics 合作

Brian O’Donnelly, president of Fujifilm Electronic Materials USA and vice president of Fujifilm.

Japan’s Fujifilm is expanding its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photoresist (PR) production capacity to strengthen cooperation with Samsung Electronics. Some products have already passed customer qualification tests.

Brian O’Donnelly, president of Fujifilm Electronic Materials USA and vice president of Fujifilm, recently told THE ELEC, “We are producing EUV photoresists in Pyeongtaek, close to our customers. Although we have not yet entered full-scale mass production, some EUV PR products have passed qualification tests at major customers.”

Fujifilm has expanded its EUV PR production facilities in both Shizuoka, Japan, and Pyeongtaek, South Korea. Shizuoka serves as the company’s primary hub for advanced photoresist development and production. Fujifilm selected Pyeongtaek, near major customer Samsung Electronics, as a production site for its most advanced products. EUV PR production and inspection equipment at both locations began operating in October 2025.

“Being close to customers allows us to respond quickly to adjustments in product specifications and makes it easier to provide technical support after mass production begins,” O’Donnelly said. “Joint development is important for materials suppliers developing products for next-generation processes, and proximity allows us to work with customers from the early stages of development.”

Fujifilm has expanded an existing production site to manufacture high-value materials for advanced semiconductor processes. Its Pyeongtaek plant previously produced color mosaic materials for image sensors. These materials allow specific colors of light to pass through individual pixels to reproduce color images. Fujifilm holds more than 80% of the global market for these materials.

“Artificial intelligence (AI) is driving demand for materials used in processes at 2 nanometers and below,” O’Donnelly said. “The expansion of advanced manufacturing processes has increased demand for argon fluoride (ArF) and EUV photoresists.”

Photoresist is a light-sensitive material applied to semiconductor wafers during photolithography, where exposure equipment projects light to form circuit patterns. EUV PR is a critical material for shrinking circuit dimensions in advanced logic and memory semiconductors. Development is challenging because the material must produce uniform nanometer-scale patterns while minimizing defects. Its properties must be precisely adjusted to customer processes and repeatedly verified, making development and qualification time-consuming.

Fujifilm used the joint research infrastructure of Belgian semiconductor research institute imec for development because materials suppliers face difficulties acquiring expensive EUV lithography equipment independently. EUV lithography systems supplied exclusively by the Netherlands’ ASML cost approximately 250 billion to 500 billion won per unit. Imec provides development environments equipped with advanced tools through programs involving semiconductor manufacturers and equipment and materials suppliers.

“We conduct initial modeling using our own equipment, then repeatedly refine our products using imec’s EUV lithography systems,” O’Donnelly said. “Even EUV PR suppliers with large market shares, such as JSR, find it difficult to acquire expensive EUV equipment and therefore collaborate through consortiums.”

Fujifilm is also expanding its chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) slurry production facility near Samsung Electronics’ Cheonan campus. The company plans to increase production capacity by approximately 30%, with the additional facilities scheduled to begin operating in the first half of 2027. Fujifilm holds the largest global market share in CMP slurries for copper interconnects.

In the United States, Fujifilm operates a production facility in Carrollton, Texas, near Samsung Electronics’ Taylor plant. “Samsung Electronics is in Taylor, so we also have a facility in Texas,” O’Donnelly said. “We need to prepare from the early stages to respond when customers increase production.”

O’Donnelly emphasized Fujifilm’s “one-stop solution” strategy, which combines supplies of photoresists, CMP slurries, cleaning chemicals, precursors and packaging materials. Leveraging 18 production sites worldwide, the company aims to jointly develop and manufacture a range of process materials with customers while providing technical support.

Fujifilm operates production facilities in Arizona, where Intel and TSMC have manufacturing operations, and in Hsinchu and Tainan, Taiwan, where TSMC, UMC and other semiconductor companies are located. Its five European sites serve materials demand from customers including automotive semiconductor manufacturers.

“Demand from end customers drives the materials business, making South Korea a strategically important region,” O’Donnelly said. “We aim to become a one-stop solutions provider that delivers the materials and technologies customers need close to their operations.” He added, “Although we currently have two production facilities in South Korea, we are considering various options to expand our manufacturing presence so we can support customers more closely.”