New Taiwan facility expands semiconductor materials production

Asahi Kasei has expanded its manufacturing capabilities for dry film photoresist (DFR), a key material used in advanced semiconductor packaging, with the opening of a new slitting facility at its site in Tainan, Taiwan.

The new facility began operations in July 2026 and has been established to support growing demand for high-performance semiconductor packaging materials, driven by advances in artificial intelligence and increasing data processing requirements.

Dry film photoresist plays an important role in semiconductor packaging by enabling the transfer of fine circuit patterns onto substrates. As packaging technologies become more advanced, materials must meet increasingly demanding requirements for precision, quality and supply reliability.

The Tainan site has produced Asahi Kasei’s SUNFORT™ DFR materials since 1997. The new slitting facility strengthens local production capabilities by allowing master rolls of film to be processed into customer-specific widths closer to semiconductor manufacturing partners in Taiwan, one of the world’s leading semiconductor production regions.

The facility represents an investment of approximately ¥2 billion (around $12 million or €11 million) and increases slitting capacity by 40%, with the potential to double current output. Equipped with advanced processing equipment and high-standard cleanroom environments, the facility is designed to improve manufacturing efficiency while maintaining consistent product quality.

SUNFORT™ DFR materials are used with conventional stepper exposure systems and laser direct imaging technologies to create precise circuit patterns during semiconductor packaging processes. The materials support the development of advanced packaging solutions required for applications including AI servers and high-performance computing.

The expansion forms part of Asahi Kasei’s wider strategy to strengthen its Electronics Business and respond to increasing demand for semiconductor-related materials. In 2025, the company introduced SUNFORT™ TA, a dry film photoresist series developed for advanced semiconductor packaging applications.

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