Suddenly! China's largest lithography machine company has been banned! The difficult moment has arrived .....
Recently, the US Department of Commerce announced that 36 Chinese high-tech enterprises and research and development institutions have been included in the US export control "entity list", continuing to expand the crackdown on China's semiconductor industry. As soon as the news came out, many people noticed the well-known domestic storage chip company Changjiang Storage, but at the same time, they may have overlooked another key enterprise on the list - Shanghai Microelectronics.
Shanghai Microelectronics - The Light of China's Photolithography Machine Industry
Many people may not know that Shanghai Microelectronics is currently the most advanced lithography machine enterprise in China. Its 600 series lithography machines can achieve a maximum process of 180nm, occupying a high market share in the entire domestic market.
In addition, Shanghai Microelectronics' 6000 series lithography machine technology is also very mature, with a process technology of up to 90nm, which greatly assists in the research and manufacturing of domestic mid to low end chips. Therefore, it can be said that Shanghai Microelectronics holds a relatively high position in China's lithography machine industry, similar to SMIC, a chip foundry enterprise, which is an important presence in their respective fields.
The progress of domestic lithography machine research and development is hindered
Although Shanghai Microelectronics is one of the largest lithography machine companies in China, there is still a significant gap with international lithography machine giants such as ASML, and some key components are still restricted by other countries.
It is reported that some of the main components of Shanghai Microelectronics lithography machines come from American component suppliers such as MKS, and the localization rate of these components is very low. In addition, components are a small and American race track that tests basic research and long termism, with extremely high technical barriers, and the possibility of domestic suppliers replacing American suppliers in the short term is almost zero.
But now the United States has officially ordered the ban on Shanghai Microelectronics, preventing it from purchasing any American technology, equipment, and raw materials, which will cast a shadow over the development progress of domestic lithography machines. It should be noted that as early as 2020, according to media reports, Shanghai Microelectronics disclosed that it would deliver the first domestically produced immersion lithography machine with 28nm process in 2021-2022. However, as 2022 is approaching its end, there is no news of the first domestically produced immersion lithography machine with 28nm process delivered by Shanghai Microelectronics, but news of Shanghai Microelectronics being completely banned by the United States is inevitable, which is heartbreaking.
It has to be said that the move of the United States is really poisonous. It has banned one of China's largest lithography machine companies, dragging down the progress of domestic lithography machine research and development. Without lithography machines, domestic chips will inevitably be greatly affected. Perhaps the most difficult moment has arrived. It is worth noting that this is not the first time the domestic lithography machine industry has been suppressed!
The domestic lithography machine industry has been suppressed multiple times
The CEO of ASML has stated that China's entire nation cannot produce EUV lithography machines, and even with publicly available drawings, no one can produce them; Eric Johnson, CEO of Japanese photoresist supplier JSR Corporation, also pointed out that China simply cannot master the complex chip manufacturing process based on extreme ultraviolet lithography technology, or EUV lithography technology.
The CEOs of the two companies mentioned above both openly and secretly look down on China's ability to manufacture lithography machines. But in fact, China started not too late in the research and development of lithography machines, and at one point, its level of lithography machine manufacturing was not much different from that of the international top.
As early as 1966, Factory 109 and Shanghai Optical Instrument Factory jointly developed the first 65 type contact lithography machine in domestic history. After successful development, it was put into mass production by Shanghai Radio Special Equipment Factory. In 1985, the first distributed lithography machine in China, BG-101!, was successfully developed and manufactured by the 45th Institute of the Ministry of Electronics! It is worth mentioning that at this time, the gap between the manufacturing level of China's lithography machines and the international top level is less than 7 years.
Unfortunately, things changed in 1996 when more than 30 countries signed the "Wassenaar Arrangement"! According to the agreement, the semiconductor technology and lithography equipment exported to China were required to be two generations behind the most advanced international technology of the same period. In addition, at that time, China did not have surplus funds for independent research and development of lithography machines, which led to an infinite gap with foreign countries. In addition, in recent years, the United States has unreasonably suppressed domestic lithography machine companies such as Shanghai Microelectronics, and domestic lithography machine technology seems to have reached a point where it cannot catch up with the international top level.
Information source: Intelligent Manufacturing
