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Gil Deokshin, Vice President in charge of Material Development at SK Hynix. Photo by SK Hynix Newsroom

"Based on advanced technology, we will achieve ‘material-driven integrated innovation.’"

Gil Deokshin, Vice President in charge of material development at SK Hynix, stated in an interview released on the 13th through the SK Hynix Newsroom, "In the past, materials played a supplementary role in improving process characteristics, but recently, innovation in materials has significantly contributed to improving UPH (Unit Per Hour, the number of products produced per hour on the line) and reducing investment costs through process reorganization, directly impacting the productivity and cost competitiveness of DRAM and NAND products."

Vice President Gil was promoted to Senior Research Fellow in charge of material development under the newly established ‘Core Technology Center’ in the executive personnel reshuffle at the end of last year. As semiconductor materials have recently played a significant role in product development and production processes and have been recognized as a key to technological innovation, SK Hynix entrusted Vice President Gil with the important task of leading innovation.

Since joining the company in 1999, Vice President Gil has devoted himself solely to ‘material innovation,’ contributing in various ways to strengthening competitiveness in this field. Notably, in 2023, he succeeded in domesticating EUV PR (Extreme Ultraviolet Photoresist), which had previously been 100% imported from overseas.

Vice President Gil said, "Going forward, the Core Technology Center plans to continuously develop new materials so that the material development division can play a major role in creating synergy between advanced technology and mass production technology." He introduced the organization by adding, "The material development division oversees not only the development of advanced technologies but also the development of materials used in the manufacturing process, comprehensively supporting and managing overall research and development."

Vice President Gil predicted that the role of semiconductor materials will grow even more in the future. He said, "Materials will not only contribute to performance improvement but also evolve in a direction that reduces carbon emissions and possesses harmless characteristics to the human body." He added, "We are striving to develop new alternative materials for this purpose." He emphasized, "We plan to clearly identify the needs at each technological stage and apply practical yet differentiated solutions. As our role becomes increasingly important, we will achieve a ‘Renaissance of Material Development’ in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.