Comprehensive equipment company SFA Engineering Corporation said on the 18th that it was selected as the lead research institution for the national project "AI-based non-destructive equipment technology development for defect detection and analysis of HBM." The project is part of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI)'s "AI Factory flagship project" and will run for four years with a total budget of 10 billion won.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) aims to become the world's top manufacturing AI country by 2030 and has launched the public-private council "AI Factory M.AX Alliance," which includes Korea's leading industry-specific manufacturing companies as well as academia and research institutions, to roll out the "AI Factory flagship project." Based on strengthening industry-specific manufacturing data sharing and cooperation systems and developing manufacturing AI foundation models, the project applies AI to manufacturing processes to dramatically boost manufacturing productivity and reduce manufacturing expense and carbon emissions.
Actively participating in this project, SFA Engineering Corporation was selected as the lead research institution for the AI-based non-destructive inspection equipment development task to drive quality innovation in HBM in the semiconductor institutional sector. A leading domestic semiconductor company is participating as a demand company, and the Korea Electronics Technology Institute, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Chungnam Technopark, and IP2B are participating as joint research institutions.
Through this project, SFA Engineering Corporation plans to develop inspection equipment that integrates AI-based high-resolution electrothermal inspection and high-speed nano-level CT inspection to dramatically shorten HBM inspection time. Currently, CT equipment supplied by overseas equipment makers takes several hours to inspect a single HBM chip, but achieving quality innovation that shortens this to within 30 minutes is expected to significantly improve Production yield and greatly contribute to boosting productivity on HBM manufacturing lines.
An SFA Engineering Corporation official said, "In the field of HBM semiconductor manufacturing equipment, we will not only successfully enter the logistics system market but also develop CT equipment and precision analysis equipment to secure powerful growth engines that span inspection and measurement."