The 2D lidar sensor for semiconductor wafer transport equipment, which had been entirely dependent on foreign products, has been successfully produced domestically, raising expectations that import substitution and domestic commercialization will become possible in the future.

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Park Sang-jin) under the Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 17th that it has succeeded in domestically producing a 2D lidar sensor to be installed in semiconductor wafer transfer equipment together with domestic lidar sensor specialist SOS Lab (CEO Jeong Ji-seong).

Lidar sensors are a device that continuously fires millions of laser beams per second and measures distances based on the time it takes for them to return to the sensor, thereby recognizing the surrounding environment in three dimensions. They are a key component essential for autonomous driving.

In semiconductor production lines, an autonomous driving system called 'OHT (Overhead Hoist Transport)' is applied to transport wafers by moving along rails installed on the ceiling to transport wafers without people. Two to four lidar sensors are required per OHT, but up until now, we have relied entirely on imported products from Germany, Japan, etc.

Meanwhile, the research team led by Senior Researcher Ha Chang-wan of the Artificial Intelligence Machinery Research Lab of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, SOS Lab, a lidar sensor specialist, and Semes, a demand company, collaborated to develop and commercialize domestic lidar sensor technology, successfully improving the performance of domestic products and securing technology for mass production.

The research team began developing customized products that are perfect for actual semiconductor production sites in cooperation with related specialized companies to localize the technology. In addition, they conducted performance evaluations with companies that need the products to maximize reliability when applied on site.

The research team improved the measurement resolution and accuracy, which are the core performances of the lidar sensor, through product optimization considering mass production and improvement of optical alignment, and secured mass production technology for mass production by automating the calibration and performance evaluation steps that were previously performed manually after product assembly.

The technology is expected to have the effect of replacing imports of 2D lidar sensors for semiconductor wafer transport equipment worth approximately 4,000 units per year based on demand companies. In addition, it is expected to be applied to the development of various lidar sensors in the future and utilized for autonomous driving of automobiles, smart mobility, and implementation of smart infrastructure.

Ha Chang-wan, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, said, “It is very meaningful that the research institute, domestic companies, and demand companies actively cooperated to successfully produce domestic products that were previously dependent on foreign products,” adding, “We expect that this will allow us to protect the domestic semiconductor ecosystem more stably even in external environmental changes such as Japan’s strengthened export regulations.”

SOS Lab CEO Jeong Ji-seong said, “We are very grateful to be able to contribute to improving our national technological prowess through the localization of sensors in smart factories,” and added, “We will continue to do our best to become the world’s best lidar company in the autonomous driving and smart infrastructure markets.”

Meanwhile, this achievement was carried out as part of the '2D LiDAR Sensor Performance Improvement and Mass Production Technology Development for Semiconductor Wafer Transfer Equipment' project promoted as part of the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology's Materials, Components, and Equipment Mass Production Performance Evaluation Support Project.