Rapidus has achieved a significant milestone, becoming the first Japanese semiconductor company to receive Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment, marking a crucial step toward producing Japan's most advanced semiconductor chips.
The company has begun installing the EUV system at its under-construction chip manufacturing facility in Chitose, a city in northern Hokkaido.
“We will bring Hokkaido and Japan's cutting-edge semiconductors to the world,” said Rapidus CEO Atsuyoshi Koike during a ceremony held at New Chitose Airport on Wednesday.
The first batch of EUV lithography systems, produced by Dutch supplier ASML, arrived at the airport on Saturday. The installation at the plant is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
Due to its massive size, the system will be installed in four phases. A complete unit weighs a staggering 71 tons — comparable to the weight of a whale — and stands 3.4 meters tall.
The EUV machine integrates a specialized light source, lenses, and other advanced technologies to create ultra-fine circuit patterns. Its compact design minimizes the effects of vibration and other disturbances.
ASML is the world's sole supplier of EUV systems. Each unit costs around $180 million, depending on the model. Operating these systems requires a high level of technical expertise, and only a few semiconductor manufacturers, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Samsung Electronics, and Intel, have adopted them. In 2023, only 42 units were delivered worldwide.
In November, Rapidus CEO Koike led ASML Supervisory Board Member Martin van den Brink on a tour of the cleanroom and other areas of the facility. Van den Brink, a former Chief Technology Officer who played a pivotal role in the development of EUV technology, approved the system’s installation.
Rapidus is collaborating with IBM to develop prototype chips using the cutting-edge 2nm process by spring 2025, with plans for mass production by 2027. TSMC, the world's largest semiconductor foundry, aims to begin mass production of 2nm chips in 2025.
Finer circuit patterns grant logic chips higher energy efficiency and processing power. As the "brains" of electronic devices, these advanced chips are essential for technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), which are expected to shape global economic dominance in the coming decades.
In the 1980s, Japan's semiconductor industry held over 50% of the global market share. However, by the 21st century, Japan had exited the competition for producing increasingly smaller logic chips.
No Japanese semiconductor manufacturer currently produces chips with more advanced than 40nm technology.
The Rapidus project, backed by the Japanese government, aims to restore Japan's capacity to produce advanced chips and reduce dependence on imports. The Japanese government aims to triple the sales of Japanese chipmakers to over ¥15 trillion ($97 billion) by 2030, compared to 2020 levels.
Japanese contractor Kajima is constructing the building that will house the Rapidus EUV system, while Takasago Thermal Engineering is building the cleanroom.
The next challenge for Rapidus is building technical expertise. The company has already sent around 150 engineers to IBM to learn how to manage production lines.
According to Japanese government data, the global market for advanced semiconductors is expected to reach ¥53 trillion ($340 billion) by 2030 — nearly eight times its size in 2020.
