Samsung Reaches Key Milestone at New Semiconductor R&D Complex

Samsung holds tool-in ceremony for NRD-K, scheduled to start operation in 2025
Samsung plans to invest about KRW 20 trillion by 2030 for advanced semiconductor R&D

Samsung Electronics today announced that it held a tool-in ceremony for its new semiconductor research and development complex (NRD-K) at its Giheung campus, marking a significant leap into the future. About 100 guests, including those from suppliers and customers, were in attendance to celebrate the milestone.

As a state-of-the-art facility, NRD-K broke ground in 2022 and is set to become a key research base for Samsung’s memory, system LSI and foundry semiconductor R&D. With its advanced infrastructure, research and product-level verification will be able to take place under one roof. Samsung plans to invest about KRW 20 trillion by 2030 for the complex in an area covering about 109,000 square meters (m²) within its Giheung campus. The complex will also include an R&D-dedicated line scheduled to begin operation in mid-2025.

▲ Young Hyun Jun, Vice Chairman and Head of the Device Solutions Division at Samsung Electronics, gives a speech at the tool-in ceremony for Samsung’s new semiconductor research and development complex (NRD-K) in Giheung, Korea.

“NRD-K will bolster our development speed, enabling the company to create a virtuous cycle to accelerate fundamental research on next-generation technology and mass production. We will lay the foundation for a new leap forward in Giheung, where Samsung Electronics’ 50-year history of semiconductors began, and create a new future for the next 100 years,” said Young Hyun Jun, Vice Chairman and Head of the Device Solutions Division at Samsung Electronics.

“At a time when the importance of win-win partnerships is greater than ever, Applied Materials is committed to accelerating innovation velocity through deep collaboration with Samsung Electronics, working together to drive a new wave of growth for the semiconductor industry,” said Park Gwang-Sun, Head of Applied Materials Korea.

▲ Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Young Hyun Jun, center, poses for a photo with executives during a tool-in ceremony at the Giheung Campus. * (left) Wanwoo Choi Head of People Team, Taeyang Yoon Chief Safety Officer, Jiwoon Im NRD-K P/J group head, Siyoung Choi Head of Foundry Business, BongHyun Kim DRAM Process Development Team, Jung-Bae Lee head of Memory Business, r, Young Hyun Jun, Vice Chairman and Head of the Device Solutions Division, Yong In Park Head of System LSI Business, Yujin Lee Flash Process Development Team, Seok Woo Nam Corporate President in charge / FAB Engineering & Operations, Jaihyuk Song Device Solutions CTO, HongGyeong Kim Head of Corporate Office.

Samsung’s Giheung campus, located south of Seoul, is the birthplace of the world’s first 64-megabit (Mb) DRAM in 1992, marking the beginning of the company’s semiconductor leadership. The establishment of the new R&D facility will usher in the latest developments in process technology and manufacturing tools, extending the site’s legacy at the forefront of innovation.

▲ Samsung Electronics executives poses for a photo during a tool-in ceremony at the Giheung Campus.

NRD-K will be set up with High NA extreme ultra-violet (EUV) lithography and new material deposition equipment aimed at accelerating the development of next-generation memory semiconductors such as 3D DRAM and V-NAND with more than 1,000 layers. In addition, wafer bonding infrastructure with innovative wafer-to-wafer bonding capabilities is also planned to dock.

Samsung invested a record KRW 8.87 trillion in R&D in the third quarter of this year, and continues to push boundaries to secure competitiveness in future technologies, such as advanced packaging for high bandwidth memory (HBM) production.