Semiconductor wafer carriers known as FOUPs are gaining strategic importance as memory chip manufacturing processes become longer and more intricate, increasing the need for contamination control. Industry sources say advanced chips such as high-bandwidth memory keep wafers in fabs for more than 100 days, raising risks from humidity and airborne molecular contamination. South Korean equipment makers are reporting rising orders for FOUP cleaners and humidity-control solutions used by major memory makers.

Semiconductor equipment company ISTE said on Thursday it won a contract from SK Hynix to supply FOUP cleaner equipment. The contract will be applied to a new line at a new fab in Cheongju and to supplementary investment at the Icheon fab. ISTE said it previously signed a contract in January to supply automation equipment for the new Cheongju fab and has expanded its supply scope. It said cumulative orders since January have risen more than 300 percent from a year earlier.