Imec is strengthening its collaboration with South Korean semiconductor corporations, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. During this visit, it is also expected to meet with Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics.
Luc Van den hove, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Imec, said this during a press briefing held on the 18th at the Grand Intercontinental Parnas Hotel in Gangnam, Seoul. Imec held the 'Imec Technology Forum Korea (ITF)' event that afternoon, where Van den hove delivered a keynote speech on the theme of "the various futures of semiconductor systems." This marks the first time in nine years that Imec is holding an ITF event in South Korea.
Imec, founded in 1984, is the largest non-profit comprehensive semiconductor research institute in Europe, jointly established by Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. It operates as a consortium for collaborative technology development among academia and industry, with participation from major universities in the European Union (EU) and global semiconductor corporations. Since the early 2000s, it has been collaborating with Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
Van den hove met with Chairman Lee during his visit to Belgium in June 2022, where they discussed the latest technologies and research and development directions in the semiconductor field. In October of last year, he also met with Kwak Noh-jung, president of SK hynix, at Imec's headquarters to discuss the latest semiconductor technologies and research and development (R&D) directions.
Van den hove stated that since visiting Imec two years ago, Chairman Lee has continuously met to discuss not only current but also future collaboration plans. He noted that during this visit, he plans to meet with President Kwak as well. He mentioned that they are collaborating on technologies expected to be commercialized in 5 to 10 years, including modules (building blocks), next-generation devices, and C-FET.
On this day, Van den hove also announced Imec's major research outcomes. Imec plans to invest 2.5 billion euros. It intends to expand its fab by adding about 100 units of ASML's cutting-edge extreme ultraviolet (EUV) equipment, Hi-NA EUV. Alongside this, it plans to promote long-term research and innovation in collaboration with over 200 universities and global corporations and to contribute to building a semiconductor ecosystem.
In doing so, he expressed concern about the increasing nationalism reinforced by intensifying technological hegemony competition. Van den hove noted, "Cross-border global cooperation has significantly contributed to the advancement of semiconductor technology," and added, "If research and development are conducted separately amid ongoing decoupling, the pace of innovation will sharply decline. Therefore, international cooperation is essential for the development of the semiconductor industry."
Van den hove also hinted at the possibility of opening an Imec research institute in Korea. He stated, "We currently operate Imec research institutes in Taiwan and Japan, and since major memory semiconductor corporations are located in Korea, we are keeping the possibility of operating an Imec institute here in mind."
Van den hove anticipated that the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology would bring changes to the memory semiconductor industry. He explained, "As AI advances, the volume of data that needs to be processed is rapidly increasing. In the future, memory semiconductors will evolve in a direction that increases the functionality of logic chips within them, or they may become physically closer to processors," adding that "Imec is continuously researching new memory technologies related to this."