Toto is mainly known for its advanced toilets and sanitary ceramics. However, the company's expertise in ceramic production can also be applied to semiconductor manufacturing. Since the 1980s, Toto has made electrostatic chucks (e-chucks) indispensable in modern semiconductor manufacturing. According to Nikkei, operating profits from these products are expected to exceed $100 million this year.
In contemporary semiconductor manufacturing, electrostatic chucks (ESCs) securely hold a silicon wafer (or other substrate) in place using electrostatic forces rather than mechanical clamping or vacuum-based methods. The ESC is a key component in many steps of chip production, including EUV lithography steps, plasma etching, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), and other steps requiring precise wafer positioning and minimal contamination.
