MINSK, 30 January (BelTA) – On 30 January, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko will visit Planar, a company operating in the microelectronics industry and recognized as one of the leaders in this field, BelTA has learned.
The head of state will be briefed on the results of Planar’s work in 2023-2025, as well as its goals and objectives for 2026-2030. The president will explore the enterprise’s production activities. A ceremony will be held to inaugurate the center for specialized technological equipment for the production of photomasks and micro-optics. After the ceremony, Aleksandr Lukashenko will meet with the staff.
A photomask is a highly precise stencil (on glass or film) that contains the design for a future microchip or printed circuit board. It is used in photolithography to transfer the image onto a substrate. In other words, no microchip can be made without a photomask.
Aleksandr Lukashenko last visited Planar in March 2023. Then he was presented with the company’s development strategy and its efforts in import substitution. During that visit, the president held a meeting to discuss the prospects for microelectronics development at the enterprise, stressing the symbolic importance of the site: “It was here, at Planar, in the 1960s that the brain and heart of Soviet microelectronics were created,” he noted.
The new center being launched is the only facility of its kind in the former Soviet Union capable of producing items at the 90 nm technological level. These products are crucial for creating advanced models of electronic equipment. The center will also serve as a testing ground for new versions of software developed at the enterprise.
The establishment of the center will make it possible to supply photolithographic equipment and photomask production machinery with domestically manufactured components.
All preparatory, design, and construction-installation work was completed in the shortest possible time, allowing the center to be finished two years ahead of schedule.
As a result, a specialized technological equipment center for the production of micro-optics and photomasks has been created within the engineering and laboratory building. Only a handful of countries worldwide (the United States, Japan, and certain EU states) possess the expertise to design and manufacture such equipment. At the same time, the line of equipment for defect-free photomask production installed at the center is unique, since no other country in the world has the full competencies to develop and manufacture the entire range of laser equipment for electronic engineering required to organize the technological process of photomask production.
Looking ahead, the center has the potential to transition to even smaller design standards, 65 nm, for which additional production upgrades are planned.
Currently, Planar is implementing a number of investment projects aimed at expanding and developing production. Modern high-tech equipment is being purchased, enabling the introduction of new technological processes, the expansion of production capacity and technological capabilities, and the manufacture of the latest optical-mechanical, measuring, and assembly equipment for advanced microelectronics products.
Photos by Jan Gorbanyuk/ BelTA
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