Global materials company Merck is actively responding to the rapidly increasing demand for semiconductors through the development and support of new materials technologies. In particular, we will increase the utilization of EUV and promote technological advancement through material innovation in the ultra-fine field.

On the 2nd, Merck held a press conference at Shilla Stay in Samseong-dong, Seoul, attended directly by the heads of the semiconductor business at its German headquarters, and shared an introduction to Merck's semiconductor business and outlook for the semiconductor market.

At Merck, Kim Woo-kyu, CEO of Merck Korea, introduced ‘Introduction of Merck Korea’ and ‘Delivery System & Service Business’, and Anand Nambiar, Senior Vice President, introduced ‘Merck Electronics Business and Semiconductor’ and ‘Patterning Flattening and Patterning Business’.

Next, Senior Vice President Benjamin Hein introduced the ‘Specialty Gases Business’, and Head of Digital Solutions Safa Kutub Kut gave a presentation on ‘Merck Digital Solutions and AI’.

According to the announcement, Merck predicted that AI advancements will drive the entire semiconductor market, and that the semiconductor market will grow from the current $500 billion market to a $1 trillion market in 7 to 8 years.

It also predicted that AI advancements could increase semiconductor productivity by 50% and that 94 new fabs would be added over the three years starting in 2024, leading to growth in the materials market for semiconductor production.

In particular, memory is a key element of AI, and the need for memory is expected to increase, and the use of EUV in ultra-fine processes is expected to increase.

However, since the investment cost for EUV is quite large, a cost-effective way to use EUV is needed, and Merck announced that it will support the use of EUV through DSA (directed self-assembly).

DSA is a process that forms a circuit pattern by applying chemical materials on a wafer and then heating it.It can effectively reduce costs by enabling better patterns when using EUV and by omitting two steps in the EUV process.

Accordingly, DSA stated that it will become important not only as a simple material but also as a key semiconductor process technology.

In addition, the company stated that it will supply special gases to customers safely and stably, cooperate with the entire semiconductor ecosystem with sustainability in mind, and consider CO2 from the production stage so as not to pass on the CO2 burden to customers.

To this end, the company announced that it will actively reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions it produces and reduce greenhouse gas emissions when producing special gases.

In addition, the company announced that it will collaborate with customers to help reduce the amount of etching gas used and increase the effectiveness of etching gas.

In relation to the thin film business, he said that the complexity of semiconductor processes is becoming excessive, and that the size of chips has been reduced to almost atomic units to create the highest-performance semiconductors.

To this end, the company is actively supporting technological advancements, and recently acquired Korea's M Chemical to fill Merck's insufficient portfolio, including Hi-K Genomics. It also mentioned that it has already invested 300 million euros out of its planned 600 million euro investment in Korea, and will complete the 300 million euro investment in the near future to support its customers.

In addition, regarding the supply of special gases, the company stated that in addition to producing and supplying special gases, it is also directly participating in plant construction and providing stable supplies to customers through regional production sites, and is continuously developing new products to provide safe and reliable supplies.