SNS Tech Extends Investment Period to Secure Synergy in New Business

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] SNS Tech, a specialist company in blank masks, announced on the 5th that it will divide its new facility investment plan into two phases and change the investment period to improve investment efficiency and adapt to changes in the management environment.

SNS Tech will extend the investment period considering the correlation between the EUV new business and the existing blank mask business as well as financial stability, following adjustments in investment plans by many semiconductor companies due to the recent increase in global economic uncertainty.

SNS Tech has completed administrative procedures such as factory design and construction permits to expand its business and mass-produce EUV-related materials. The company planned a facility investment to build a new factory in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, with an investment of 20 billion KRW. SNS Tech held a board meeting and decided to postpone the completion of the Yongin factory construction by two years from the original plan to complete it within this year.

According to the revised investment plan, 4.3 billion KRW will be invested in the first phase to expand the cleanroom of the existing Daegu factory, to be completed within this year. While preparing for mass production of EUV blank masks, equipment for the initial mass production of EUV pellicles will also be established.

In the second phase, a mass production factory will be newly built in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, by December 2024. EUV blank masks are produced through a process of re-stacking absorber-based alloys on a nanometer (nm)-level thin multilayer film, serving as the original pattern mask used to engrave circuits on wafers in the EUV lithography process.

SNS Tech introduced new inspection equipment in June this year to improve defects in EUV blank masks. Mass production equipment for multilayer film deposition will also be introduced within this year, aiming to complete preparations for mass production of EUV blank masks by 2023.

Regarding EUV pellicles, after completing the development of pellicles with 90% transmittance in 2021, the company is currently developing pellicles with 92% transmittance and conducting evaluations with institutions and companies. Development and mass production line establishment will proceed according to market demand timing.

An SNS Tech official explained, "The investment plan is intended to accelerate the development of EUV blank technology by building new equipment that shares existing mass production facilities at the Daegu factory, preventing unnecessary duplicate investments and efficiently utilizing resources."

Regarding the EUV pellicle business, the official stated, "Except for the extension of the completion date related to the Yongin factory construction investment, the previously scheduled investments will proceed without changes."