SK Hynix has signed a 5-year contract worth KRW4.75 trillion (US4.3 billion) with ASML to procure extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems, local media reports in South Korea quoted the memory chipmaker as saying.
SK Hynix announced earlier in February 2021 the completion of its new DRAM plant, dubbed M16, where its first EUV equipment is installed. The company also disclosed plans to produce EUV-based DRAM products starting the second half of 2021.
Dubbed 1a-nm, the fourth generation of SK Hynix' 10nm process technology will be the company's first EUV-based process manufacturing for DRAM memory.
Occupying a 57,000 square-meter land, M16 is located in Icheon where SK Hynix is headquartered. The company broke ground for the plant in November 2018.
As the first vendor to adopt EUV for DRAM production, Samsung Electronics disclosed previously plans to start deploying EUV in the 10nm-class D1a process or 14nm-class DRAM. Samsung expects to begin volume production of D1a-based DDR5 and LPDDR5 DRAMs this year.
