Merck said it will present integrated materials solutions and new molybdenum-based innovations for AI chip development at SEMICON Korea 2026, under the theme “The Next Big Thing Starts with Us.”
At the exhibition, Merck will showcase AI-driven Materials Intelligence™ solutions alongside a broad semiconductor materials portfolio designed to support advanced chip technologies, including Gate-All-Around (GAA) architectures, high-density DRAM, 3D NAND, HBM and advanced packaging. The company aims to demonstrate how the combination of innovation-critical materials, digital capabilities and a strong local footprint in Korea can help customers address rising demands for performance, power efficiency and scalability in the AI era.
“The era of AI is driving rapid advances in chip technology, while also increasing architectural complexity,” said Katherine Dei Cas, executive vice president and head of Delivery Systems and Services and Specialty Gases at Merck. “To accelerate innovation, we have built integrated solutions that combine materials science, equipment, metrology and inspection capabilities. Through our Materials Intelligence™ platform, we are leveraging AI and digitalization to speed up the discovery and optimization of new materials for GAA, high-density memory, HBM and advanced packaging.”
A key focus at SEMICON Korea 2026 will be Merck’s latest molybdenum-based solutions for AI chips. Molybdenum is emerging as a critical material for smaller nodes and increasingly complex chip architectures, offering improved electrical conductivity compared with conventional materials such as tungsten and copper. It is expected to be widely applied in low-resistance thin films for 3D NAND, DRAM and advanced logic devices.
Merck offers a range of molybdenum precursors, including molybdenum dichloride dioxide (MoO₂Cl₂), used in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes. These precursors are produced to high quality and purity standards to support improved yield and device performance in semiconductor manufacturing.
The molybdenum compounds are supplied together with Merck’s CHEMKEEPER® delivery systems, which are designed to support high-volume manufacturing by maximizing uptime and reliability. The integrated solution achieves material utilization rates of more than 99 percent and helps reduce total cost of ownership.
Merck has localized its molybdenum solutions supply chain in Korea to enhance responsiveness to customer needs. Molybdenum compound manufacturing is being localized at the company’s Eumseong site, while delivery systems are produced at its Ansan facility, establishing a resilient and high-quality supply chain for this critical material.
Beyond materials, Merck continues to expand its portfolio to support next-generation chip architectures. The company is highlighting innovations across thin films, formulations, specialty gases, delivery systems, and metrology and inspection technologies. In specialty gases, Merck is showcasing its ION-X® product line for the safe storage and sub-atmospheric delivery of ultra-high-purity dopant gases, as well as low global warming potential gases for etch and clean processes aimed at reducing the industry’s carbon footprint.
Merck is also integrating metrology and inspection capabilities following its acquisition of Unity-SC in 2024. The solutions enable advanced wafer characterization across substrates ranging from silicon to compound semiconductors, contributing to improved yields and faster time to market, particularly for advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration.
Merck has worked with Korean semiconductor customers for more than 37 years and continues to expand its local presence across research and development, manufacturing and technical services. The company operates multiple sites in Korea covering thin films, formulations, specialty gases, delivery systems and services, and optronics.
“We are the most localized global materials partner for Korea’s semiconductor industry,” said Wookyu Kim, managing director of Merck Korea. “We have invested more than €220 million in Korea and announced an additional €600 million investment plan in 2021. By localizing critical materials such as molybdenum chemistry, expanding specialty gas capacity, and strengthening application and technical centers, our Korea operations are positioned as a global hub for innovation and manufacturing in the AI era.”
Recent milestones include the opening of the SOD Application Center in Anseong in 2024, which supports new application development, formulation tuning for future nodes, curing recipe optimization and troubleshooting. Merck has also expanded production capacity at its Sihwa plant to meet growing demand for specialty gases, particularly for memory and NAND applications.
