Merck KGaA opens SOD facility in South Korea

Germany company Merck KGaA has opened a spin-on-dielectric (SOD) application center in South Korea.  

The new facility is part of Merck’s plan to invest 600 million euros (USD 656 million) in South Korea by 2025 to expand its production capacity and strengthen R&D in the semiconductor material industry, according to a report in the Korea Times.

The company said over half of the planned investments have been executed.

The facility in Anseong in South Korea’s Gyeonggi Province is Merck’s second SOD application center in Asia. The Korean plant has advanced technology for measuring and analyzing SOD materials coated on silicon dioxide films and will operate as part of Merck’s global R&D network, the company said.

SOD plays a key role in the development of state-of-the-art DRAM and NAND flash devices, high-bandwidth memory for AI applications, and advanced logic chips, the Korea Times report said.

“Today’s opening marks another significant step in our journey to drive innovation in the semiconductor industry,” said Kai Beckmann, a member of Merck’s executive board and CEO of the electronics division. “The breakthroughs that will come from this lab will help shape the future of semiconductor technology, allowing us to meet the rapidly evolving demands of the digital world.”

“As the global material industry leader, Merck has acquired M Chemicals and, this time, opened the SOD application center to support Korean clients,” Kim Woo-kyu, managing director of Merck Korea, said. “This is an important part of Merck’s strategy to strengthen its capabilities in Korea as an innovation and production hub.”

In March, Merck announced an investment of over €300 million (USD 328 million) into a new Bioprocessing Production Center in Daejeon, South Korea, the largest investment by the company’s Life Science business sector in Asia-Pacific so far.  

Last year, Merck took over M Chemicals, a chemical business spin-off of Korean semiconductor material firm Mecaro.