At present, the global photoresist market presents a Japanese monopoly, especially in the field of high-end photoresist, Japanese manufacturers almost dominate one side. Therefore, China's chip manufacturing is facing a huge risk of the first chain, in order to get rid of the dependence on foreign countries, China's photoresist manufacturers have been working hard to promote domestic substitution. Recently, Xuzhou Bokang announced that their two wet photoresists have entered the product validation stage and can be used at the highest 14nm node. In addition, they have 15 products of I-line photoresist, 30 products of KRF photoresist, and 26 products of ARF photoresist, which will effectively respond to the domestic substitution demand of Japanese photoresist. The breakthrough of domestic photoresist is of great significance to China's chip industry, which will help reduce dependence on Japanese products and ensure the stability of the first chain.
Photoresist is the most core filament in the lithography process, which can transfer circuit patterns to silicon wafers. According to different process advancements and different application fields, photoresist can be subdivided into semiconductor photoresist, LED photoresist, LCD photoresist and PCB photoresist. Among them, semiconductor photoresists are the most difficult category. According to the different advanced processes, semiconductor photoresists can be subdivided into EUV photoresists, ARF photoresists, KRF photoresists and IG-line photoresists. Different types of photoresist are matched with the corresponding lithography machine, for example, EUV photoresist is used with EUV lithography machine, and ARF photoresist is used with ARF lithography machine.
The breakthrough of domestic photoresist is not an easy task. Photoresist is formulated from a variety of chemical materials, including hundreds of permutations and combinations such as resins, photoacids and additives, which need to be continuously tried, verified and adjusted to be successfully developed. At the same time, the development of photoresists cannot be achieved by analyzing the composition of existing products, as the mixing of materials can lead to cost changes and is difficult to analyze. The degree of purity of the material is also a key factor in the manufacturer's ability to develop a full-fledged photoresist if the composition of certain materials is not known. These challenges make the research and development of domestic photoresists particularly difficult.
However, China, as the world's largest chip market, has been growing chip production capacity in recent years, and has set a goal of achieving a 70% self-sufficiency rate, and the demand for high-end photoresists is growing. Therefore, domestic photoresist manufacturers need to make continuous efforts to improve the industrial chain, accelerate the localization of the first chain, and contribute to the localization of photoresist. Only in this way can China enter the 7nm or even higher-level chip manufacturing process as soon as possible and truly solve the worries.
As an indispensable key material in the photolithography process, photoresist directly affects the quality and performance of chip manufacturing. However, the photoresist field in the international market is mainly monopolized by Japan, and the photoresist of Japanese manufacturers occupies more than 80% of the global market, especially in the field of high-end photoresist, which is almost dominant. For China's chip industry, this dependence on foreign ** is unacceptable. Once there is a risk of supply interruption in the first chain, it will have a serious impact on the chip manufacturing industry. Therefore, China has been committed to promoting the development of domestic photoresist and gradually realizing the substitution of Japanese products.
The breakthrough of domestic photoresist faces many challenges and difficulties. First of all, the development of photoresists involves the study of many complex chemical materials and formulations. The formulation of photoresists requires a lot of experimentation and tweaking to find the most suitable combination of materials and treatments. Secondly, the preparation process of photoresist requires strict control of the purity and purification process of the material, which requires high process technology and equipment from the manufacturer. In addition, the use of photoresist and its adaptation to different lithography machines and process conditions also require multiple verifications and improvements.
As the world's largest chip market, China's chip industry is growing rapidly. In order to cope with the monopoly situation of Japanese photoresist, domestic photoresist manufacturers are making important breakthroughs. Xuzhou Bokang announced that two of their wet photoresists have entered the product validation stage and can achieve process nodes up to 14nm. In addition, they have also developed a variety of photoresist products suitable for different advanced processes, providing strong support for domestic substitution. These results show that Chinese photoresist manufacturers have made significant progress in technology research and development and localization of the first chain. With the continuous growth of China's chip industry, domestic photoresist is expected to achieve breakthroughs in higher-level chip processes and make greater contributions to the sustainable development of China's chip manufacturing industry.
The breakthrough of domestic photoresist is an important step for China's chip industry to achieve independence and controllability. At present, China's chip industry is facing a huge dependence on Japanese photoresist and the risk of the first chain, in order to solve this problem, Chinese photoresist manufacturers have made important breakthroughs through unremitting efforts. Domestic photoresist has been successfully replaced in the high-end field, and some wet photoresist products can even be applied to the 14nm process node. However, domestic photoresists still face many challenges, including complex chemical material research, formulation debugging, purification process control, etc. In order to realize the localization of photoresist, photoresist manufacturers need to continuously strengthen technology research and development and the localization of the first chain, and make greater contributions to the development of China's chip industry. In the future, with the continuous development of China's chip industry, domestic photoresist is bound to usher in broader development prospects. Through continuous innovation and efforts, China is expected to achieve greater independence in the chip manufacturing process.