[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Kukil Paper announced on the 28th that its subsidiary Kukil Graphene will discuss cooperation plans with global companies, supported by its efforts to develop graphene pellicle components.
Following last month's announcement to develop graphene pellicle components, Kukil Graphene is conducting research to achieve a technology development outcome capable of over 85% transmittance.
Pellicles are contamination prevention components used in the photolithography process, where circuits are printed on semiconductor wafers using light. They are effective in reducing photomask replacement cycles, thereby lowering process costs and improving productivity. The industry views pellicle adoption as essential, so major companies are expanding investments for commercialization while simultaneously pursuing in-house development and external cooperation.
Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) pellicles must simultaneously meet various specifications such as 90% transmittance, uniformity, and reflectance while maintaining an ultra-thin thickness of less than several tens of nanometers. Despite these challenging conditions, as semiconductor production using EUV processes and the number of EUV layers increase, the demand for pellicles and inspection equipment is also rising. The current annual market size for pellicles is estimated to reach approximately 4.5 trillion KRW.
A company official stated, "We are continuously discussing with multinational company A and others through conference calls and last week's overseas visits," adding, "A specific schedule for their visit to our company to promote cooperation plans has been set, which will serve as an opportunity to concretize the market entry timing going forward."
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