(back row) left: H.E. Mr. Jan JAMBON, Minister-President of the Government of Flanders and Flemish Minister for Foreign Policy, Culture, Digitisation and Facilities right: Mr. Eiji Kakiuchi, Chairman of SCREEN Holdings (front row) left: Mr. Luc Van den hove, President and CEO of imec right: Mr. Masato Goto, President of SCREEN Semiconductor Solutions

SCREEN Semiconductor Solutions Co., Ltd. has renewed its joint development agreement with imec, a world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, to develop advanced and sustainable technologies. Through this agreement, we will promote technological development that contributes to an ecological society through synergy between our expertise in wafer cleaning technology and imec's advanced semiconductor technology.

The need for the advancement of manufacturing processes is increasing in the semiconductor industry, as scaling, stacking, and chiplet technology evolves. To succeed in the expansive, multifaceted world of semiconductors, technological development cannot be attained by a single company alone. Establishing core technologies and improving quality while reducing costs can be achieved through collaboration with manufacturers of cutting-edge semiconductor products, companies operating in different fields, and industry-government-academia.

In over 20 years since joining imec's IIAP (imec Industrial Affiliation Program) in January 2002, we have expanded the scope of our joint development. In May 2022, we started our affiliation with imec 's new research program: "SSTS*”, to reduce the environmental impact in the semiconductor industry. Under the new agreement, SCREEN and imec will jointly validate the concept and feasibility of our semiconductor manufacturing equipment (mainly for cleaning equipment and coater developers) to accelerate our process development. In 2023, We plan to deliver our SU-3200 single-wafer cleaning system and dispatch engineers to imec for joint evaluation. We also aim to proactively expand our sustainability activities through the SSTS program and stimulate collaboration through imec's network in the semiconductor ecosystem.

Together with imec, we will deliver ecological semiconductor equipment that contributes to the realization of a sustainable society. We will continue to provide solutions to maximize the evolution of technological development in the semiconductor industry and added value for device manufacturers.

* SSTS (Sustainable Semiconductor Technologies and Systems):
A program to support the reduction of environmental impact throughout the semiconductor value chain. By utilizing imec's knowledge of infrastructure, technology, and equipment, and by using established, reliable, detailed carbon footprint analysis technology, we can predict the environmental impact of the semiconductor manufacturing process.
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