Japanese companies have joined the sanctions, and Chinese companies have said they have achieved mass production of key materials
In October last year, the U.S. enacted broader wafer restriction rules, which made the restrictions on GAA-based EDA software and various other semiconductor materials even worse.
After so many years of implementing the rules, the cards that the United States can play are basically out, so they began to attract other countries to participate in the restrictions, among which Japan and the United States reached an agreement to join the sanctions, cutting off the key materials of chips, and Chinese companies officially stated: We have mass production.
Countries and regions around the world perform their own duties in the semiconductor industry chain, provide their own advanced technologies, and help the development of the chip industry. For example, the United States provides EDA industrial software, the Netherlands ASML provides lithography technology, and Japan provides photoresist materials.
The three countries of the United States, Japan and the Netherlands, each of which occupy extremely important industrial influence in their respective fields, have reached the level of monopoly. Therefore, when the United States, Japan and the Netherlands reach an agreement, I am afraid that it will cause a reshuffle in the global semiconductor field.
The Netherlands has definitively cut off DUV lithography machines, and of course, not all DUV lithography machines will be restricted, and the process of reducing the variety of equipment is likely to continue.
Japan also has lithography machine giants, Nikon and Canon have been famous for a long time, not only camera giants, but also leaders in the lithography machine industry. From now on, it seems that Nikon will also be involved in the crackdown. In addition to photolithography technology, the transportation of photoresist materials in Japan will also be restricted. Although Japanese lithography technology is strong, it is the photoresist material that is stronger.
What is a photoresist material?What role does it play in the chip manufacturing chain?Essentially, photoresist is a photosensitive chemical material that, during photolithography, displays the pattern of the wafer and then replicates the pattern onto the surface of the wafer while protecting the substrate.
The next step is to use a cutting machine to cut the wafer into wafers. Throughout the lithography phase, the cost of applying photoresist is not high, but it has an impact of four to two thousand kilograms, which is the basic material required for the wafer.
Four Japanese companies, Shin-Etsu Chemical, Tokyo Chemical Industries, JRS, and Fuji Electronics, account for 72% of the global market share, of which JRS's EUV photoresist is expected to reach a monopoly level, and the rest of the Japanese manufacturers have a large influence on low-range KRF and high-range ARF, respectively.
It should be noted that photoresist also has a process, from low to high, it is G line, I line, KRF, ARF, EUV. Due to the low level of G line and I line photoresist, domestic manufacturers have mastered the relevant production and preparation technology, and Japan does not have to be presumptuous.
It is mainly limited to the field of KRF, ARF, EUV photoresists, especially the high degree of adaptability to KRF.
It has been reported that a domestic storage manufacturer has been out of stock of Japan's KRF photoresist. If there is no supply from Japanese photoresist manufacturers, it may affect the normal business order.
However, there is no need to worry too much, because Chinese companies dominate the mass production capacity of KRF photoresists. According to Jingrui Electric Materials on the interactive platform, the resolution of its subsidiary KRF photoresist products has reached 025-0.13 microns, has passed some important customer tests, and some varieties of high-quality KRF photoresist have been mass-produced.
This is undoubtedly good news, although KRF photoresist is not the most advanced material, it can reach the level of mass production, which is enough to meet the needs of most domestic wafer manufacturers. In addition to KRF photoresist, another major domestic manufacturer, Nanda Optoelectronics, is also investigating ARF photoresist.
Some time ago, Nanda Optoelectronics said on the interactive platform that the company has developed an ARF photoresist that can be applied to the 90nm-28nm process. And there are small amounts**.
Further down the ARF photoresist is the EUV photoresist, which can adapt to the higher EUV lithography process and is used for the mass production of chips. However, in this regard, domestic manufacturers are still in the process of research and development, and there is no news of a major breakthrough.
Of course, this is also normal. The domestic semiconductor industry started late, and it was more than ten years ago that it really paid attention to industrial development. Even many chip giants have a development history of only 20 years, in contrast, some foreign giants have a development history of up to half a century, and some companies have the help of global resources behind them.
Therefore, it is also gratifying that domestic manufacturers such as Jingrui Materials can realize the mass production of KRF photoresist, and more advanced ARF is also in the research and development stage, gradually promoting mass production.
As for EUV photoresists, we need to continue to accumulate R&D experience before mastering mass production, and believe that when the time comes, everything will fall into place.
Japanese companies have joined the ranks of US sanctions, photoresist will undoubtedly become the most critical restriction measure in Japan, and the Dutch ASML lithography company will also jointly adjust the shipping rules.
At this point, the Chinese people must break their illusions and not wait for the West to turn back. Only by developing its own products can the conditions for an active dialogue be created. And once there are domestic products that can be replaced, Western countries cannot wait to send them, otherwise the products will really not sell.