Rapidus Corporation recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new semiconductor plant at the Chitose Bibi World, an industrial park in Chitose City, Hokkaido, Japan. Particularly, the Rapidus’ Innovative Integration for Manufacturing (IIM-1), once operational, will develop and yield advanced semiconductors.

Distinguished guests attended the groundbreaking ceremony. Among them, Yasutoshi Nishimura, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry; Naomichi Suzuki, Governor of Hokkaido; and Ryuichi Yokota, Mayor of Chitose City;

Hiroshi Oikawa, Vice President of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) also attended the event. Moreover, officials from Rapidus’ management team who attended the event included Tetsuro Higashi, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Atsuyoshi Koike, President, and Representative Director. Attendees gathered for a traditional Japanese-style groundbreaking ceremony to pray for safe and speedy construction.

State-of-the-Art Facility

During his speech, Koike said, “Rapidus Corporation celebrated its first anniversary on August 10. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you here for your support that has enabled us to hold this groundbreaking ceremony in this short period of time. Today’s ceremony is just the beginning. We will complete the plant at an unprecedented speed, as the company name Rapidus implies. We would like to thank you all for your continuous support.”

The construction of Rapidus’ IIM-1, the first facility in Japan to produce state-of-the-art logic semiconductors at 2nm and beyond, will begin this month. Consequently, Rapidus has been dispatching researchers to the Albany Nanotech Complex in New York, United States, one of the world’s most advanced semiconductor research centers, to work with IBM. Particularly, they aim to develop technologies for the production of 2nm logic semiconductors.

The company is also planning to acquire EUV lithography technology from imec. Accordingly, this is essential to produce cutting-edge semiconductors. Utilizing these technologies, the company plans to start operation of a pilot production line at IIM-1 in April 2025, and begin mass production in 2027.

Rapidus will contribute to the enhancement of Japan’s industrial strength through the realization of a state-of-the-art LSI foundry by building cooperative frameworks with domestic and overseas materials and equipment industries, as well as international collaborations with IBM, imec, and other partners.