Dutch semiconductor toolmaker Nearfield sets up shop in S'pore

The Netherlands' Nearfield Instruments plans to make Singapore an innovation and service hub for its machines that help chipmakers boost the production yield and efficiency of their integrated circuit devices.

- Ovais Subhani

The company, which counts Temasek as one of its key investors, is in talks with several local precision engineering firms over its plans.

They will manufacture parts and modules of its equipment that provide highly accurate nanometre-level measurements of individual, and even buried, features and defects especially in advanced memory and logic chips for artificial intelligence (AI) that are more complex.

Nearfield Instruments Singapore, established in April, will operate a supply chain and services hub here to serve its customers in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, Mr Hamed Sadeghian, chief executive of the parent company, told The Straits Times in a virtual interview.

Nearfield will also collaborate with the local and regional chip ecosystem, universities and institutions to accelerate its research and development activities.

In May, the company signed a multi-year research collaboration agreement with Singapore's Institute of Microelectronics - a research institute under A*Star - to drive innovation in semiconductor metrology technologies, including for AI and advanced packaging.

Metrology in the chip industry refers to measuring and characterising the physical properties of semiconductor devices and materials during manufacturing. It plays a crucial role in ensuring quality, accuracy and reliability of semiconductor devices at every stage of the manufacturing process.