Whoever masters the chip will have the initiative for future development.
In order to completely break the monopoly of lithography machines in Europe and the United States, in the past 14 months, China has purchased 257 lithography machines from the Dutch company ASML at a cost of 750 billion yuan.
For a time, China jumped to the second largest export market for Dutch companies, but this news undoubtedly made the United States panic and began to constantly pressure Dutch companies, warning them to immediately stop exporting lithography machines to China.
So, what is the attitude of the Netherlands? Will China's development be restricted?
1. The Netherlands sells a large number of lithography machines to the mainland
The lithography machine is also known as the "mother of chips", every small chip comes from the lithography machine, and it can be said that the advanced degree of the lithography machine determines the quality of the chip.
The basic principle of this technology is similar to that of a camera, which uses extremely fine light to "print" complex circuit clusters, which are then projected onto a silicon wafer coated with a layer of photosensitive material to form a chip.
However, it is very simple to say, but the technology is difficult to penetrate, especially the control of the entire precision has reached the nanometer level, which is difficult to do in China before.
At present, the accuracy of the world's most advanced lithography machine can exceed 7 nanometers or even smaller, but even if the mainland has continued to make breakthroughs over the years, it still cannot look down on it, which means that if you want to break the situation, you must rely on ASML in the Netherlands.
You must know that all countries need to rely on it to achieve their own chip research and development, among which Samsung, TSMC and other world-famous chip manufacturers are also its dependents, and it can be said that it occupies 95% of the global market share.
Therefore, the lithography machine technology it developed is world-class, and the mainland needs such lithography machine technology to achieve local independent research and development, so as to get rid of the restrictions of Europe and the United States on the mainland.
Also from 2022, the mainland has intended to introduce lithography machines from the Netherlands, but because of the intervention of the United States, the Dutch company had to cancel the sales order to the mainland, and thus began to impose export restrictions on the mainland.
But surprising is that just last year, the Netherlands suddenly began to sell a large number of lithography machines to the mainland, according to the news released by foreign media, in the past year, it exported 225 units to China, the number is unimaginable that this is true.
Then at the beginning of this year, in just two months, the mainland received another 32 lithography machines from the Netherlands, and the number reached an astonishing 257 in 14 months.
It is rumored that in this order, the United States is strongly opposed to the sale of the latest EUV model to us, which makes people feel that the Dutch company is openly opposing the warning of the United States?
Second, the United States pressured the Netherlands, and ASML openly questioned it
The United States has always been very dissatisfied with the Dutch sale of lithography machines to China, not only prohibiting them from selling the most advanced lithography machines to us, but also selling only dilapidated and backward machines to the mainland, and even dividing the restricted list in detail.
The EUV model sold by the Netherlands to China this time, its accuracy has reached 5 nanometers, although the price is expensive, but the technology is exactly what we need, the Netherlands has not sold to China before, and the only ones who are eligible to buy are the world's famous chip manufacturers.
This move can't help but make the foreign media panic, especially the United States, which is already afraid of the development of the mainland, this time the introduction of a large number of Dutch machines, they once again feel threatened, and dare not guarantee that China will not make a breakthrough this time.
Therefore, when the United States learned of this news, it immediately asked the Netherlands to carry out export controls on local companies, and even asked the Dutch side to immediately stop exporting a certain type of lithography machine to China.
Perhaps in the eyes of the United States, China's introduction of large-scale lithography machines indicates that we will seek breakthroughs in this area, and will inevitably become a threat to them in the future, but for ASML, anyone who sells is selling, as long as it is profitable.
In fact, in 19 years, Lao Mei began to meddle in the sale of lithography machines in the Netherlands, especially for the most advanced lithography machines in the mainland, which made strict restrictions, but in 2022, Dutch executive ASML publicly questioned this restriction.
He pointed out that the United States only demanded that its company not sell the best machines to China, but the United States has never stopped exporting the most advanced chips to China, and this restriction is unfair and they do not accept it.
And in March this year, he again took action against this restriction with action, and they proposed to move ASML out of the Netherlands, although the local government gave 19.5 billion yuan to block, but ASML still did not explicitly agree.
This kind of restriction by the United States is nothing more than "state officials setting fires", and by allowing countries to impose restrictions on China, China's development will be hindered, and then it will benefit from it.
After all, if China really breaks through the lithography machine technology, it means that it will no longer be restricted by Europe and the United States, and it will be able to manufacture the most advanced chips by itself, which will have an impact on both the export of chips and the international status of the United States.
So then again, how far has the mainland's lithography machine technology developed?
3. Breaking the monopoly of Europe and the United States is not a dream
For a long time, China's development in the field of chips has been hindered, which is indispensable for the United States to play a "nasty" role in it, constantly suppressing mainland chipmakers on the one hand, and restricting Dutch companies from selling lithography machines to the mainland on the other.
It can be said that the lack of advanced lithography machines directly leads to the inability to manufacture top-level chips, which means that if the country does not seek breakthroughs, then it will always be controlled by others.
Therefore, many people are curious, with China's current urgent technology, can it independently produce lithography machines? The answer is yes, since the mainland was suppressed by the West, the country has realized that only by achieving independent research and development can it not be controlled by others everywhere.
It is precisely because of this that the country has begun to send scientific researchers to seek breakthroughs in this area, and facts have also proved that after so many years of efforts, the mainland has made obvious achievements in low-end and medium-end lithography machines, and basically achieved self-sufficiency.
At present, for 28 nanometer lithography machines and deep ultraviolet lithography machines, we have entered the point of independent mass production, and the mainland has also made breakthroughs in its supporting equipment and parts, such as optical mirror films.
It is also reported that the mainland has made good progress in 14 nanometers and even 7 nanometers in recent years, but there is no doubt that there is still a gap between the world's most advanced lithography machines, after all, the mainland is still in the low-end field.
If we want to change this trend, we still need to work hard, which is why the mainland has introduced high-end lithography machines from the Netherlands in large quantities, but we must understand that the semiconductor industry has always been a global industry, and no country can do everything alone.
While pursuing breakthroughs in the future, we should also maintain an open attitude of cooperation with other countries and achieve the goal of self-improvement under the premise of mutual benefit and win-win results.
The author thinks
In the face of the warning of the United States, ASML still chose to sell the lithography machine to China, which is enough to reflect the subtle changes in the pattern of the global semiconductor industry, which is undoubtedly an important opportunity for the mainland, and the development of the mainland is inevitable.
Resources:
China Daily, January 26, 2024 "Dutch lithography machine giant released! "China has risen to second place!" 》
Global Network, September 9, 2023 "The Battle of Lithography Machines: Can the Netherlands Say "No" to the United States? 》
Global Times, January 2, 2024, "The United States Pressurs Dutch ASML to Stop Exporting Lithography Machines to China, Foreign Ministry: The U.S. Domineering and Bullying Behavior Seriously Violates International Trade Rules"
Observer.com, January 2, 2024, ""The United States Pressurs the Netherlands", ASML Cancels Part of China's Lithography Machine Orders in Advance"
Global Times2022-12-14 "Involving China, Dutch Lithography Machine Giant Publicly Doubts the United States"