Ceramic ESC, Ceramic Heater Rising Star
2023 R&D and production/quality improvement goals

[Editor's Note] Micoceramics is a company that has contributed greatly to the growth of the domestic semiconductor equipment market by successfully producing ceramic material parts for semiconductor equipment that were mostly dependent on imports. With over 20 years of research and development, it has achieved global competitiveness in the field of high-functional products such as ceramic heaters and ESCs, and is building trust with customers through rapid feedback. We heard the story of Micoceramics CEO Yeo Moon-won, who is making a name for himself in semiconductor production fields such as deposition and etching.

▲Yeomunwon Mikoceramics CEO

■ Please introduce Microceramics.

Micoceramics is a company that uses ceramic technology to manufacture key ceramic components used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Our representative product is a ceramic heater. This product is a key component that goes into semiconductor deposition equipment. It is a key product that helps the deposition process to proceed well by raising the temperature to 450 degrees, 550 degrees, or 650 degrees or more.

Next, there is a product called ceramic ESC that goes into the etching equipment. This product is a key component that plays a role in fixing the wafer using electrostatic force in the chamber inside the etching equipment.

A variety of ceramic components are used in the chamber. Many products are manufactured using advanced ceramic materials such as AlN, Y2O3, and Al2O3, and we are also designing and manufacturing such products.

■ Miko Ceramics was the first in Korea to develop ceramic heaters, a key component of semiconductor deposition equipment that Japanese companies had over 90% of. It rose to second place in the global market in just 10 years after developing this product. I am curious about what kind of product ceramic heaters are and how Miko Ceramics’ products came to stand out in the global market.

The wafer is placed on a ceramic plate and the temperature is raised to 450℃, 550℃, 650℃. The latest processes are trending towards higher temperatures.

In the case of semiconductors, such as flash memory, the latest flash memory has 238 layers. They say that by 2030, it will have over 1,000 layers. In order to keep increasing the number of layers like that, thin films must continue to be increased.

This heater is a key component in the process of raising such curtains. It has already been over 20 years since Mikoceramics entered the market as a latecomer, a market that Japanese companies have monopolized for decades.

It wasn't accomplished in a short period of time. For 20 years, we have been making progress through consistent research and development, trial and error, and joint development with customers. In particular, when the export regulations on key semiconductor components were imposed in July 2019 due to Japan's export regulations, the government recognized the seriousness of the situation and actively supported related small and medium-sized companies. I think that support was also very helpful.

When developing a new product, it is said that it takes Japanese companies more than six months to design a new product and deliver a prototype. Mikoceramics has implemented a system that provides feedback to customers within a month.

For a product to be designed, tested, and used as a product on equipment, revisions must occur at least ten to as many as twenty times. If you wait six months or a year for each revision, it takes too much time. So, I think that Microceramics was able to come in second place because it actively supported customers by shortening the time as much as possible so that they could see the results quickly and make improvements quickly.

■ Please introduce other products of Mikoceramics, including ceramic heaters.

Besides the ceramic heater, there is the ceramic ESC (electrostatic chuck) that I mentioned earlier.

In the case of a static chuck, as I mentioned, you have to drill a very narrow and deep hole in the membrane that is raised with various layers of membrane.

The etching process must be performed, but if you want to drill a narrow and deep hole in a state where the film quality is very high, a very special ESC is required.

There are many different types of ESCs, but the ESCs we are currently focusing on are those for the oxide etching process, which can create very narrow and deep holes.

This product is the most difficult to make and is used in extremely harsh processing conditions, so it is not only extremely difficult to make, but it is also one of the few products in the world that can be made by very few companies.

Mycoceramics has been focusing on research and development of this product for the past 3 to 4 years and has recently been producing very good results for our customers.

So, currently, our major business is ceramic heaters, but we expect that ceramic ESCs will become a major source of revenue as a rising star in the future.

■ I am curious about this year’s semiconductor market outlook and Microceramics’ management strategy.

The news says the semiconductor outlook is very difficult. As it turns out, the situation is serious.

Now, we feel that our customers, from equipment companies to chip makers, are experiencing tremendous difficulties due to the lack of demand.

Microceramics cannot be unaffected either.

Microceramics is using the current situation as a time to prepare for the future through research and development, production, quality improvement, and sophistication in order to develop next-generation products in a timely manner and to enable these products to be fully sold in the future.

■ Please say a word to e4ds news readers.

Dear e4ds readers, who are leading the way in the electronic IT field. We at Microceramics are working hard to localize semiconductor components.

We ask for your interest and support, and we ask that many college students, academics, and industrialists who are reading this news actively support our company, Microceramics, so that we can grow together into the number one domestic production company.

thank you

▲Main products of Microceramics


▲ Anseong Mayor Kim Bo-ra visited the Miko Group booth at SEMICON Korea 2023.