[Edaily Reporter Kwon Oh-seok] Semiconductor equipment and AI infrastructure company #IST has completed its global memory customer portfolio by supplying its first equipment to Samsung Electronics’ HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) line. IST announced on the 17th that it had secured an order from Samsung Electronics for the initial batch of “HBM-dedicated FOUP (Full-Overflow Unit) cleaners” used in the HBM manufacturing process.

With this, the company has secured Samsung Electronics as a customer following SK Hynix, thereby counting all major memory semiconductor companies among its clientele. This contract is a follow-up achievement resulting from an agreement reached last month with Samsung Electronics to collaborate on FOUP cleaner equipment for HBM and next-generation packaging processes. The equipment is the first model in Korea to apply vacuum technology; it significantly improves cleaning performance and drying efficiency compared to existing models, effectively preventing microscopic contamination at its source.
IST is also conducting evaluation and verification of “FOUP inspection combination equipment” with Samsung Electronics, with the goal of improving yield for HBM and advanced processes. The company delivered the relevant demonstration equipment in late February and has now entered the full-scale evaluation phase; it also recently completed delivery of the front-end FOUP cleaner it secured an order for last November.
A FOUP cleaner is a piece of equipment that automatically cleans and dries microscopic contaminants inside the sealed containers (FOUPs) used to transport and store wafers, and has primarily been used in the front-end process until now. However, as packaging processes—such as HBM, which vertically stacks multiple DRAM chips—become more sophisticated, extreme cleanliness is now required in the back-end process as well, leading to a rapid increase in demand for related equipment. Amid these changes, ISTI anticipates that FOUP cleaners will establish themselves as core infrastructure for yield management.
Proactively responding to market changes, the company developed Korea’s first “HBM-dedicated FOUP cleaner” in 2024 and has secured an exclusive position with its customer by conducting evaluations and supplying the equipment through SK Hynix. This year, the company has also drawn industry attention with a series of orders for HBM-dedicated and front-end process equipment from SK Hynix.
Cho Chang-hyun, CEO of ISTI, said, “In the advanced semiconductor market, where process cleanliness and yield standards are becoming increasingly stringent, we will establish our proprietary technology as a global standard and, through this, drive both shareholder value and mid- to long-term growth.”