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Innovating
towards green
semiconductors

Toshiki Kawai
President and chief executive
Tokyo Electron Limited

In the year of its 60th anniversary, Tokyo Electronis strengthening the links between digitalisation anddecarbonisation.

On November 11th 2023, Tokyo Electron (TEL), which produces
equipment used in the making of nearly every semiconductor
worldwide, celebrated its 60th anniversary. The milestone comesas “digital technology is becoming increasingly crucial in realisinga robust and resilient society,” says Toshiki Kawai, the company’s
chief executive. That includes contributing to climate action
through concepts the company calls green by digital—acceleratingdecarbonisation by promoting digital communication—and green ofdigital, the decarbonisation of digital tools themselves.
These concepts mesh with a new corporate vision of TEL as“a company ﬁlled with dreams and vitality that contributes totechnological innovation in semiconductors”. The aspiration is toprovide technology and services that support the world’s sustainable
development in a way that produces shared value for the company
and its customers, leading to medium- and long-term proﬁt growth.

“Digital technology is becoming
increasingly crucial in realising a robust
and resilient society.”Toshiki Kawai, president and chief executive, Tokyo Electron

GROWING FROM A FOUNDATION OF TRUSTTEL is building on a relationship of mutual trust with its
customers that is part of its core value proposition. In responding
to the challenges faced by manufacturers of semiconductors,
the company draws on an extensive product line and intellectual
property spanning almost 22,000 patents.
With eight pillars in its product range, each in the leading or
number two position by market share, TEL’s strength comesfrom the ability to provide manufacturing technology for the key
processes that determine semiconductor performance. It is theonly player in the global market that can simultaneously addressneeds in four sequential processes involved in semiconductor
patterning: deposition, coating/development, etching and cleaning.
INVESTING IN R&D FOR LONG-TERM VALUETEL expects to gain an increased edge from investment inresearch and development (R&D), which is rising from the roughly
600bn yen spent over the past ﬁve years, from FY2018 to FY2022,

to a total of 1trn yen or more during the next ﬁve years, fromFY2023 to FY2027. “The company provides customers with highvalue-added equipment based on long-term perspectives,” MrKawai says, “and R&D investment is vital to making it happen.”
R&D happens close to production, ensuring that manufactured
output stays close to the development team’s vision. That includes
setting up R&D sites near customer plants to optimise equipment
for speciﬁc needs. “The ﬁnal phase of the process, including
evaluation, customisation and ﬁne-tuning, is carried out at locations
close to customers’ production bases,” Mr Kawai says.
WORKING TOWARDS NET ZEROTEL also works closely with its customers and partners in its efforts
to achieve net-zero emissions. In 2021 it launched an initiative called
E-COMPASS—“Environmental Co-Creation by Material, Process andSubcomponent Solutions”—using technological innovation to reduce
semiconductors’ environmental impact throughout the supply chain.
This initiative has three components: improving
semiconductors’ performance while lowering their power
consumption, achieving high performance—including
environmental performance—of production equipment, andreducing CO2 and equivalent emissions in all business activities.
“We cannot complete these initiatives independently,” says
Mr Kawai. “They require collaboration and co-operation with
our suppliers and partners.” In the future, Mr Kawai expects
an emphasis on people to further speed the improvement ofsustainability. He also looks forward to a continued technologicalboom. Semiconductors have delivered tools like generative AI
and virtual reality that drive furtheradvances in hardware. “The positive
cycle is building crucial momentum
for global progress,” he says.
“That is why we will have excellent
opportunities to contribute to thewww.tel.com
development of society based on
TEL’s vision.”