ESOL to showcase prototype Gen 2 EUV equipment this year
Gen 1 completed with 4 products, CEO says
EUV equipment maker ESOL will launch a prototype of its second-generation EUV equipment this year, CEO Kim Byung-gook told TheElec in an interview.
Kim said the company last year secured 35 billion won in funding and most of it will be going into research and development.
ESOL has launched four products in its first-generation lineup so far, the CEO said.
Of these, the EUV mask review machine and EUV pellicle transmittance inspection machine are already generating revenue, he said.
ESOL, a subsidiary of chip pellicle maker FST, was founded in 2018 by Kim Byung-gook, who previously worked at Samsung’s chip business.
ESOL stands for EUV solution and the company is focused on developing various solutions and equipment for EUV, or extreme ultraviolet, lithography applications.
The other two products of its first-generation lineup, the EUV phase inversion mask machine, and lithography for photoresist development, are also expected to generate revenue this year.
ESOL’s main product among its current four is its pellicle transmittance inspection equipment, a sector where it is competing with at least two rivals.
The EUV mask review equipment, called SREM 330, standing for scanning reflection EUV microscope, has companion equipment in development called FREM, or full-field reflection EUV microscope.
Meanwhile, the second-generation lineup will have a total of three products with one of them coming out this year.
One of them will include an upgraded EUV mask review machine that can scan the entire surface of the mask rather than only certain points like its first-generation counterpart.