[Edaily Reporter Choi Oh-hyun ] SamsungElectronics is partnering with ASML, the world’s largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer, to develop a new manufacturing standard that will expand the industry’s long-standing 6-inch photomask to 12 inches. The company aims to transform the framework of ultra-fine processes by combining next-generation lithography equipment—high-numerical-aperture extreme ultraviolet (High-NA EUV)—with 12-inch masks. It plans to become the first in the industry to apply this technology to mass production of DRAM by 2028.

SamsungElectronics announced on the 8th that it is joining the “Large Mask Consortium” led by ASML. The consortium aims to transition from the 6-inch photomasks used in semiconductor lithography processes for the past several decades to 12-inch photomasks. For semiconductor manufacturers, securing EUV equipment is considered the most critical prerequisite for entering the ultra-fine process—the cornerstone of technological supremacy. SK hynix is also considering joining this consortium.

A photomask is a precision template containing the microcircuit patterns to be etched onto a wafer. An exposure system uses light to transfer the circuit patterns from the photomask onto the wafer. While high-NA EUV enables finer patterning than conventional EUV, the area that can be exposed in a single pass decreases when using a photomask of the same size. The semiconductor industry expects that using large-area photomasks will allow circuits to be etched onto wafers in a single pass, thereby improving productivity and reducing manufacturing costs.

As semiconductor circuit designs have become increasingly complex, the adoption of high-NA EUV has become essential not only for logic processes but also for advanced memory manufacturing. SamsungElectronics plans to introduce high-NA EUV into its advanced DRAM mass production processes by 2028. Building on its experience as the first in the industry to apply EUV to DRAM mass production in 2020, the company aims to establish an early mass production system for high-NA EUV as well.

Jeon Young-hyun, Vice Chairman of SamsungElectronics, stated, “The advent of the AI era is changing the paradigm of the semiconductor industry,” adding, “Through our collaboration with ASML, we will lay the foundation for ‘Next AI’ technology.”