A new wave of development in the Japanese semiconductor industry, initiated by the launch of a pilot production of 2-nm chips by Rapidus, will require ASML to increase the number of personnel servicing chip production equipment fivefold in the next few years, the Nikkei agency has found.
Image Source: ASML
As the source recalls, the Dutch company ASML is the only supplier to Japan of equipment that allows for the production of advanced chips using ultra-hard ultraviolet lithography (EUV). Such equipment, in particular, will be used by the Japanese company Rapidus, which expects to launch mass production of 2-nm chips in Japan by 2070. Naturally, its maintenance will require qualified personnel, so ASML will increase its local numbers in Japan.
ASML’s lithography systems have nearly 100,000 components and are complex. They require careful setup to be successfully integrated into the process. Rapidus will not be the only customer for ASML’s equipment in Japan; Micron Technology plans to install it at its DRAM chip manufacturing facility in Hiroshima next year. ASML plans to increase its Japanese staff fivefold to about 100 people by 2027.
The technological process of manufacturing a semiconductor chip can have from several hundred to a thousand different stages, and each of them requires not only the appropriate equipment, but also its proper setup and maintenance. Stopping an EUV system in production can lead to lost revenue measured in thousands of dollars per minute, as ASML itself believes. A team of repair specialists must be on duty around the clock near the production line to prevent this.
Another major ASML customer in Japan is JASM, a joint venture between Taiwan’s TSMC and Japan’s Sony and Denso. It has not yet begun using EUV systems in its production facilities and will not do so anytime soon, but ASML needs to be prepared for the manufacturer’s evolving technological capabilities in the future. In any case, JASM already uses older generations of ASML equipment, which also requires maintenance.
Japanese chip-making equipment suppliers are also beefing up their support staff. Tokyo Electron plans to hire 3,000 people over the next three years. Kokusai Electric has already increased its support staff by 50% over the past five years.