# EUV Materials Suppliers in Korea and Japan Advance High-Power CNT Pellicle Mass Testing *FST, Mitsui Chemicals, and LINTEC expand dedicated manufacturing capacity as advanced semiconductor fabs qualify carbon nanotube membranes for EUV light sources exceeding 400 watts.* **Published:** August 29, 2026 **By:** Mina Okoro **Section:** Analysis & Comparison — Cross-border **Format:** Asia Compare **Confidence:** high **Source:** https://eastasiabrief.com/analysis/euv-materials-suppliers-korea-japan-advance-high-power-cnt-108 **Publisher:** East Asia Brief (https://eastasiabrief.com/) --- ![Engineers in cleanroom suits examine a lighted processing chamber inside an advanced semiconductor materials facility. (AI-generated image)](https://eastasiabrief.com/media/2026-08-28-d2589e76bb04.webp) *Engineers in cleanroom suits examine a lighted processing chamber inside an advanced semiconductor materials facility. (AI-generated image)* Advanced semiconductor materials manufacturers across South Korea and Japan are accelerating high-volume manufacturing qualification and equipment installations for carbon nanotube pellicles designed to withstand extreme ultraviolet light source powers exceeding 400 watts. The regional push marks a structural transition in lithography consumables as leading foundries and memory chipmakers scale scanner output power to raise hourly wafer throughput and prepare for High Numerical Aperture tool deployments. Photomask pellicles are ultra-thin protective membranes mounted several millimeters above patterned photomasks inside photolithography scanners, preventing airborne contaminant particles from settling on circuit templates and printing recurring defects across silicon wafers. While conventional polysilicon and silicon-based membranes have supported commercial extreme ultraviolet (EUV) production at source powers below 300 to 400 watts, higher-power exposure platforms demand thermal resilience beyond the operational limits of silicon. At source power levels approaching 500 to 600 watts and above, silicon membranes experience severe thermal stress, warping, and accelerated chemical erosion, compelling fabs to adopt carbon nanotube (CNT) architectures capable of delivering extreme heat dissipation and EUV light transmittance exceeding 90 percent. In South Korea, Fine Semitech Corporation (FST) has progressed customer scanner evaluations, confirming that its carbon nanotube pellicles sustain operational stability under EUV scanner light source conditions exceeding 400 watts. The company verified an operational membrane lifetime exceeding 5,000 wafer exposures in live customer scanner environments, while cumulative exposure assessments conducted on ASML Holding NV's Dexter testing equipment demonstrated endurance reaching approximately 11,000 wafer cycles. FST is currently executing subsequent evaluation sequences calibrated to 500-watt light source thresholds. To support its volume manufacturing pipeline, FST completed site acceptance testing for its initial CNT100 SEMI synthesis reactor and post-processing line in July 2025 under a commercial production licensing agreement executed with Finnish nanomaterials specialist Canatu. FST followed with a purchase order exceeding 5 million euros ($5.5 million) for an additional CNT100 SEMI reactor and long-lead components scheduled for delivery in 2027. In Japan, industrial chemical manufacturer Mitsui Chemicals is expanding its advanced pellicle manufacturing footprint at its Iwakuni-Ohtake Works in Yamaguchi Prefecture, establishing dedicated production infrastructure engineered to output 5,000 CNT pellicle units annually. The investment operationalizes a strategic commercialization alliance established with Belgian nanoelectronics research institute imec. The joint development targets extreme ultraviolet transmittance of at least 92 to 94 percent with low EUV reflectance and minimal optical distortion, while engineering membrane thermal durability rated for EUV light power ratings reaching 600 watts to 1,000 watts. Mitsui Chemicals, which previously established high-volume silicon-based EUV pellicle assembly lines under license from ASML, is positioning its CNT product pipeline to support high-power 0.33 NA scanners and 0.55 NA High NA exposure systems across logic foundry and memory clients. Simultaneously, Japanese precision adhesive and materials producer LINTEC Corporation is establishing a commercialization base to ramp CNT pellicle production. LINTEC resolved to open its Tsukuba Innovative Creation Center within the central site of Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Ibaraki Prefecture, directing an estimated 7 billion yen ($48 million) toward production lines designed for an annual manufacturing capacity of roughly 10,000 pellicle sheets. Through collaborative development with AIST's Semiconductor Frontier Research Center, LINTEC addressed hydrogen plasma-induced degradation, a primary cause of membrane thinning and premature mechanical failure when ionized hydrogen reacts with carbon bonds inside EUV scanner vacuum chambers at temperatures between 200 and 600 degrees Celsius. LINTEC developed protective inorganic barrier coatings and a proprietary dual-density nanotube matrix that reinforces peripheral structural zones while maintaining overall EUV light transmittance near 90 percent. The operational shift toward carbon nanotube pellicles carries direct consequences for fab economics, tool uptime, and lithography cost modeling. Advanced logic nodes below 3 nanometers and sub-10-nanometer DRAM manufacturing require EUV scanner source power escalation to reduce per-wafer exposure time and raise hourly wafer output. Operating high-power EUV scanners without a protective pellicle eliminates transmission loss but introduces severe operational risks: a single sub-micron particle falling on an unprotected multi-million-dollar photomask generates printing defects across every subsequent exposure field, necessitating frequent tool halts for actinic pattern inspection and mask cleaning. Conversely, adopting robust CNT pellicles allows fabs to maximize scanner source wattage without risking yield loss, offsetting high initial pellicle procurement expenses through improved overall equipment effectiveness and reduced photomask replacement frequency. Commercial chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), and Intel, have not issued formal mass production qualification notices or binding volume procurement contracts for commercial CNT pellicles. Materials suppliers and lithography engineering units continue comparative evaluations on pilot exposure lines to establish defect-density tolerances, mechanical mounting stability, and long-term chemical durability across extended operational runs. FST and Mitsui Chemicals are currently supplying evaluation samples to partner fabs, with additional tool validation cycles scheduled throughout late 2026 and 2027. ## Impact map | Event | Korea | China | Japan | Global impact | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | High-power EUV CNT pellicle scaling | FST validates 400W+ performance and expands reactor fleet | advanced lithography access restricted | Mitsui and LINTEC build dedicated capacity | higher source power improves wafer throughput | ## In this story - **Companies:** Fine Semitech, Mitsui Chemicals, LINTEC Corporation - **Tickers:** 036810.KQ, 4183.T, 7966.T - **Exposed:** ASML, Canatu, Samsung Electronics, TSMC - **Policy:** Economic Security, Subsidies - **Impact:** Supply Chain, Capex, Cost Structure ## Primary sources 1. kims.re.kr 2. thelec.kr 3. canatu.com 4. mitsuichemicals.com 5. lintec-global.com --- Cite as: East Asia Brief, "EUV Materials Suppliers in Korea and Japan Advance High-Power CNT Pellicle Mass Testing," August 29, 2026. https://eastasiabrief.com/analysis/euv-materials-suppliers-korea-japan-advance-high-power-cnt-108