Osaka Organic Chemical Industry, a Japanese manufacturer of high-end chemicals used in chip production, is betting on the materials market for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, a method for making advanced chips.
Little known even in its home country, Osaka Organic has carved out a critical niche in the semiconductor industry by supplying companies that make photoresists, the light-sensitive chemicals used to etch patterns on wafers.
It already has a 70% share of the market for the argon fluoride (ArF) monomers used in photoresists and now aims to grow in chemicals for EUV resists — an area becoming increasingly important as the global semiconductor industry is seen doubling in value in the decade to 2030.