Kurita Water Industries Ltd. (TOKYO: 6370) (Head Office: Nakano-ku, Tokyo; President: Michiya Kadota; hereinafter "Kurita") is pleased to announce that the KR-FM resin, a functional material for high purity ultrapure water production designed for yield improvement and stable operation of cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing, has recently been adopted in North America amid its efforts to help customers improve production efficiency and product quality for the purposes of advancing industrial production technologies.

The KR-FM resin is a functional material, specifically an ion exchange resin, jointly developed with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation for high purity ultrapure water production systems for the semiconductor industry. Its key feature is that it generates very little fine particles when it is applied to the ultrapure water production process.

Ultrapure water is indispensable to cleaning in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Semiconductors are widely used in electronic products and data center equipment. Ultrapure water is produced by water treatment systems equipped with ion exchange resins, UF membranes and other functional materials. However, given a recent trend towards higher performance and finer semiconductors to meet diversifying needs, high purity ultrapure water has been in demand. It is difficult for UF membranes to completely remove fine particles from conventional ion exchange resins. That poses a problem in using conventional functional materials for the production of ultrapure water.

In contrast, the application of the KR-FM resin jointly developed by Kurita to ultrapure water production facilities leads to the successful production of high purity ultrapure water and a reduction in organic substances and metal ions generated in the manufacturing process, as well as in fine particles and other impurities affecting the purity level of ultrapure water. Consequently, the resin is expected to help increase the yield and achieve stable operation of cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing. Kurita won a technology award from the Japan Society of Ion Exchange for this technology.

Formerly, Kurita promoted the KR-FM resin chiefly to customers based in Japan and the rest of Asia. However, a large semiconductor manufacturer based in North America has recently adopted this resin in recognition of its capability to reduce fine particles and other impurities in ultrapure water.

Kurita will take advantage of this occasion to speed up the overseas rollout of the KR-FM resin, a technology that contributes to advancement of production technologies in the semiconductor industry.　

The Kurita Group places corporate social responsibility (CSR) at the center of its management and focuses on creating shared value with society under its medium-term management plan titled Maximize Value Proposition 2022 (MVP-22). In the electronics sector, which it defines as one of its priority domains, the Kurita Group will continue to contribute to the advancement of industrial production technologies by offering solutions based on state-of-the-art water treatment technologies broadly to customers in all geographical areas.

Supplementary Information

Related Information: Kurita won a technology award from the Japan Society of Ion Exchange in October 2021.

This honor was in recognition of its contribution to the progress of industry with ion exchange technologies and to improving the industrial value of this domain through the development of the KR-FM resin and other cutting-edge technologies helpful to ultrapure water production.

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