Clean room facilities and inspection units will be installed to produce the latest photosensitive material, coupled with the finest quality inspection system.
Japan’s leading photography, optics, and electronics firm, Fujifilm, has officially announced plans to invest 20 billion yen to expand its unit for the production, development, and quality of advanced semiconductors. Backed by the increasing demand for autonomous driving, AI, and high-speed communication via 5G/6G, the global demand for semiconductors will potentially increase among various industrial sectors.
Therefore, the requirement for state-of-the-art semiconductor materials has become highly critical. In the semiconductor sector, the company offers cutting-edge chip materials photoresists, photolithography-related materials, Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) slurries, post-CMP cleaners, thin-film chemicals and polyimides, as well as Wave Control Mosaic, including color filter materials for image sensors.
Around 13 billion yen will be invested in setting up the new unit in Yoshida, where clean room facilities and inspection units will be installed to produce the latest photosensitive materials. The new unit is expected to commence in the autumn of 2025, and on the other hand, 7 billion yen will be invested in the southwestern part of Oita to grow semiconductor cleaner production capacity by up to 40 per cent. At the Oita facility, the company will unveil production equipment and inspection devices for post-CMP cleaners, which are key materials in the semiconductor manufacturing process.
Fujifilm’s semiconductor materials business is a subsidiary of FUJIFILM Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. The company will expand its production capacity, increasing the pace of development and ensuring the finest quality inspection system. With an expected yearly growth rate of 9 percent, post-CMP cleaners are gaining immense traction as they are used after polishing with CMP slurry to remove particles, minute metal fragments, and organic residues while protecting the metal surface.
Speaking about Japan’s semiconductor industry growth, around 3.9 trillion yen has been invested by the government between 2021 and 2023. To further grow the industry, the government also formed Rapidus Corporation, a joint venture between the government and eight domestic companies to develop and manufacture advanced semiconductors. The country is also looking forward to increasing in-house production by over three times by 2030 and aiming to sell home-grown semiconductors to over 15 trillion yen by 2030.
