Zeiss, a global optical solutions company, opened its first Global Semiconductor Innovation Center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, to strengthen technological cooperation with Korean semiconductor customers.

ZEISS held a press conference on the 10th and announced that it has opened the 'ZEISS Semiconductor Innovation Center' (ZSKIC) within the Surplus Global Semiconductor Equipment Cluster in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

They announced that through the opening of the Semiconductor Innovation Center, they will provide on-site support for the mass production processes and advanced packaging technology development of Korean customers.

This center is the first global semiconductor innovation center established by Zeiss's semiconductor division worldwide.

Viewing Korea as one of the key hubs of the global semiconductor industry, ZEISS selected Yongin to rapidly conduct equipment evaluation, process optimization, and solution verification closer to its customers.

Matthew Wilson, Vice President of Zeiss Korea, stated at a press conference, “Yongin is establishing itself as Korea’s new semiconductor hub,” adding, “What Korean customers demand is the provision of German technology at Korea’s speed.”He said.


The center has a total area of 350 square meters and is equipped with Zeiss's latest solutions for photomasks and wafer packaging.

Currently, two units of equipment are installed at the center, and a third unit is scheduled to be introduced.

Zeiss explained that the center was designed to operate four pieces of equipment simultaneously.

However, rather than a method of permanently deploying equipment for a long period, we are planning a flexible operational model in which we proceed with joint development with the client, relocate to the client's site once a certain level of maturity is reached, and bring in new equipment.

We currently have a five-year plan based on the center, and we are also keeping open the possibility of future expansion.

The key equipment that ZEISS has initially deployed at the Yongin Center is the ZEISS NLX®-100 and ZEISS DUNE® 100, which are aimed at the advanced packaging market.

The NLX®-100 is an inline 3D X-ray laminography-based metrology and inspection solution that diagnoses complex package structures at high resolution and provides data.

In particular, it can detect defects inside advanced packaging structures such as microbumps and TSVs in a non-destructive manner, so it can be utilized in wafer-level and advanced packaging processes.

Zeiss explained that through NLX-100®, process development teams and engineers can adjust process parameters based on defect information and contribute to yield improvement in the long term.

DUNE® 100 is a solution for measuring and calibrating wafer shapes.

In advanced packaging and 3D integration processes, problems such as wafer bending or distortion occur during metal layer formation, bonding, and lithography.

Such warpage can cause focus errors and planar distortion, leading to yield loss.

DUNE® 100 boasts the strength of being able to correct distortion in specific areas as well as the entire wafer, and enabling the process without chemicals such as chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) slurry.

Dr. Michael Helzel explained, “DUNE® can support yield improvement by correcting wafer shape during the pre-bonding and lithography stages.”


ZEISS also plans to introduce the next-generation photomask repair equipment, ZEISS MeRiT AE, to Korea.

MeRiT AE is the next-generation solution of the existing MeRiT LE and is equipment that expands the ability to repair fine defects in photomasks, which play a key role in state-of-the-art processes.

Zeiss announced that it will bring the first prototype of this equipment to Korea and collaborate with customers to address future processes.

The reason Zeiss established such a facility in Korea lies in the structural changes in the semiconductor industry caused by the spread of AI.

Vice President Wilson said that the current semiconductor market isIt was assessed that development cycles are rapidly shortening as we enter the "AI Supercycle."

In particular, advanced packaging is emerging as a key technology that supports performance enhancement demands that are difficult to address solely through microfabrication.

Dr. Caroline Pigdon explained that Zeiss’s semiconductor manufacturing technology division provides semiconductor manufacturing optics, mask metrology and process equipment, and wafer fab solutions, and that the wafer fab solutions, in particular, support inspection, metrology, defect analysis, wafer shape control, and advanced packaging.


Dr. Michael Helzel also emphasized, “Advanced packaging is currently the hottest topic in the industry,” adding that “Korea is a market with an important ecosystem in the fields of AI and heterogeneous integrated semiconductors.”

He explained that NLX®-100 must also meet the roadmap for next-generation packaging, such as hybrid copper bonding.

However, he added that as hybrid copper bonding becomes more prevalent, the structure becomes smaller, and X-ray resolution and radiation dose management become critical challenges.

Zeiss has adopted resolution improvement and radiation dose reduction as its core roadmap, while simultaneously developing technologies to protect high-value packaging products such as HBMs.

Zeiss has a policy of not operating the center as a mere equipment showroom.

Not only can customers directly view and test the equipment, but Zeiss headquarters R&D personnel and local Korean staff can also collaborate to develop solutions tailored to the customer's processes.The intention is to use it as a collaborative space.

Vice President Wilson stated, “We hold roadmap meetings with Korean clients several times a year to discuss the entire technology spectrum,” adding, “The center will operate by developing equipment to a mature stage together with the client and then transferring it to the actual customer site.”

Meanwhile, Zeiss is a German optics company with a history of about 180 years, and in the semiconductor field, it possesses a portfolio of core optical modules for DUV and EUV lithography, photomask solutions, process control, materials, and packaging 3D analysis and measurement.