US chipmaker Micron Technology has announced plans to invest Y500bn ($3.62bn) to develop advanced memory chips in Japan.
The company plans to install extreme ultraviolet (EUV) equipment, which will be used to manufacture the next generation of DRAM, 1-gamma node.
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Micron’s chip fabrication facility in Hiroshima will be producing a 1-gamma node, which follows the development of 1-beta.
Micron said it hopes to ramp EUV into production on the 1-gamma node in Taiwan and Japan from 2025 onwards.
Incorporating EUV into the next node will enhance the speed, power efficiency, and performance of its memory products, the company said.
The upcoming 1-gamma technology, featuring the world’s smallest cell size, will enable the mass production of advanced products needed in diverse applications, including critical infrastructure and image processing networks, it added.
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By GlobalDataMicron president and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said: “Micron’s Hiroshima operations have been central to the development and production of several industry-leading technologies for memory over the past decade.
“We are proud to be the first to use EUV in Japan and to be developing and manufacturing 1-gamma at our Hiroshima fab[rication plant].”
Micron said the investment will be made with support from the Japanese government.
The company could receive $1.5bn in subsidies from the government, reported Bloomberg, citing sources.
The funding highlights Japan’s aspirations to strengthen its semiconductor industry as a potential alternative to Taiwan in light of escalating tensions between the US and China.
Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Director-General of the Commerce and Information Policy Bureau Satoshi Nohara said: “Micron is the only company that manufactures DRAM in Japan and is critical to setting the pace for not only the global DRAM industry but our developing semiconductor ecosystem.
“We are pleased to see our collaboration with Micron take root in Hiroshima with state-of-the-art EUV to be introduced on Japanese soil.”
