Axcelis to complete first ion implant kit factory in South Korea

Ion implant equipment maker Axcelis Technologies is expected complete its first foreign factory in South Korea in the second half of the year, the company said.

The new factory will allow it to respond quickly to customers such as Samsung, SK Hynix and ON Semiconductor as well as overall demand in Asia from China, Taiwan to Japan, Axcelis said.

A “substantial” number of ion implant equipment will be made and shipped from the factory at Pyeongtaek, South Korea, the company said.

Out of these equipment, 40% will be for local customers in South Korea and 60% will be exported abroad, it said.

The factory’s production capacity is around 20% of that at Axcelis’ headquarters in the US.

Axcelis Korea, the South Korean regional office of the company, invited its customers last month to explain this plan.

The office has also hired 40 additional staff for the operation of the factory, increasing the total number of Axcelis Korea employees to 120.

The regional subsidiary also plans to procure components such as pumps more from local suppliers __ the plan is to increase this from the current 5% to 50% in the long run.

Axcelis Korea’s revenue last year was 67.6 billion won and its operating profit was 3.6 billion won, according to its filings to South Korean regulators.

Ion implant equipment is used to implant ions converted from source gases on the wafer during wafer fabrication.

This makes the silicon wafer conductive, making it a semiconductor of electricity.