TOKYO, JAPAN: Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd said it will construct a new plant in Echizen city, Fukui prefecture, Japan to expand its photomask blanks business. Shin-Etsu expects to complete construction and start operations by end of 2016. The investment amount is expected to be about ¥7 billion ($56.9 million), it said.
One of the objectives of the construction of this new plant is to steadily capture the growing demand for cutting-edge photomask blanks. Furthermore, this new plant will enable the company to have multiple photomask blanks production bases, said Shin-Etsu.
With the construction of the new plant, Shin-Etsu’s photomask blanks production capacity will increase by 20 percent from its present level; however, going forward, it aims to double the present production capacity.
Photomask blanks are the base material of photomasks that are used as the patterning templates of circuits on silicon wafers during the semiconductor lithography process.
Shin-Etsu has continued developing cutting-edge photomask blanks that respond to customers’ needs. As a result, Shin-Etsu has succeeded in developing photomask blanks that can be used to realize super- high-precision microfabrication and that the photomask blanks are recognized as the world’s standard, the company said.
With the increase in production volume of semiconductor devices and the progress in microfabrication, demand for photomask blanks is increasing. With the construction of the new photomask blanks plant, the company will capture the rise in demand and expand business, it said.
© Worldofchemicals News