SK Hynix has completed its new semiconductor fabrication plant M16 at its headquarters located in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

The company held a completion ceremony at the Ichon complex on Feb. 1 as SK Group’s internal event in order to adhere to the COVID-19 containment measures.

A total of 16 personnel including SK Group chairman Chey Tae-Won and SK Group senior vice chairman Chey Jae-Won and SK SUPEX Council chairman Cho Dae-sik, attended the on-site ceremony.

“When we decided to build M16 two years ago, the overall semiconductor memory industry was in a downturn. However, the memory market is entering another boom cycle now,” SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won said at the ceremony. “M16 shall remain as a symbol not only for the completion of the company’s another broad plan, but also for the beginning point of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster”.

SK Hynix has invested a total of 3.5 trillion won and construction manpower of 3.34 million workers to build the new plant, which will be a manufacturing site mainly for DRAM products.

The new plant has a building area of 57,000 square meters, equivalent to the size of eight soccer fields put together. It is as tall as a 37-story apartment building. This is the largest among the domestic and overseas production sites of SK Hynix.

What is special about M16 is its introduction of the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment for the first time among SK Hynix plants. The company plans to grow this plant as a next-generation growth source based on the cutting-edge infrastructure. It plans to produce 1a nm DRAM products from the second half of this year by utilizing the EUV equipment. Also, the company plans to increase the utilization of this equipment in the future to further strengthen its technology leadership.

Lee Seok-hee, CEO at SK Hynix said, “M16 is a complex manufacturing plant where cutting-edge infrastructure such as dedicated space for EUV equipment and advanced pollution reduction facilities are concentrated. It will become a production plant of a higher level that contributes to the ESG management as well as creating economic value.”

SK Hynix expects M16 to play a key role in carrying out the company’s “Financial Story.” In October 2020, SK Hynix announced its Financial Story representing its vision to enhance the company’s overall competitiveness in the semiconductor memory industry through DRAM and NAND Flash business segments, and focus on the creation of social value (SV), as well as carrying out the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) management.