Lead
The semiconductor industry has always been the core of the technology industry, and the semiconductor industry is realized by the collaboration of multiple professional fields, and the lithography machine has special importance, not only because the lithography machine is an important part of the wafer manufacturing process, but also because the lithography machine has the most patents and technologies in the semiconductor industry, which is the most difficult to break through.
Although only a handful of companies in the world can make lithography machines, China has already started research and development in this area, and the most recent research and development has made a major breakthrough.
At present, ASML occupies an absolute leading position in the world's semiconductor equipment manufacturing enterprises, and its EUV lithography machine alone occupies half of the semiconductor production, and at the end of last year, there were rumors that China's lithography machine research and development has been very close to the development process of ASML.
With this as a sign, China's lithography machine technology research and development has begun to enter the stage of comprehensive catch-up, which also means that ASML's good days are over.
Lithography machine.
Lithography machine is one of the most important equipment in semiconductor production, and now the semiconductor process has developed to below 7nm, which means that semiconductor manufacturers have begun to produce chips with a process of 7nm, and it also means that these chips have begun to be used on a large scale in the industry.
However, this means that there are not many companies in the world that have the chip production capacity of sub-7nm process technology, because chips with sub-7nm process have entered the extremely complex process production stage, including lithography machines used to make chips below 7nm.
At present, there are only two companies in the world that can manufacture lithography machines of 7nm and below, ASML and Nikon, and the lithography machines produced by these two companies can be said to be the best in the world.
However, ASML's lithography machine technology level and market share are much higher than Nikon's, so in fact, ASML's lithography machines account for the vast majority of the world's chips with 7nm process and below.
The important role of lithography machine in semiconductor production is self-evident, in short, lithography machine is the equipment that projects high-energy light on the wafer to project the graphic geometry onto the wafer, which is equivalent to a "seal" in semiconductor production.
When the wafer passes through the action of the lithography machine, multiple layers of measurement microscopic pattern structures are formed on the wafer, and these pattern structures are cracked out by different chemical substances, and different electronic devices are formed on the wafer.
Even though the process flow below 7nm is already very complex, the process flow of the corresponding lithography machine has become very complex, so ASML is actually the only company in the world that can develop lithography machines below 7nm.
ASML's EUV lithography machines have been commercially available for several years and perform exceptionally.
The core of the EUV lithography machine is the light source, and the light source required by the EUV lithography machine is mainly an ion, which can cause higher ions at the anode and emit photons with higher energy.
In the research and development of lithography machines, the research and development of light sources is a breakthrough and one of the difficulties.
Due to the breakthrough in the research and development technology of the light source, the difficulty of the research and development of the lithography machine will be greatly reduced, so only a few companies in the world have developed EUV lithography machines.
ASML is one of the best, with more than 200 patents and strong financial and technical support.
China's technology research and development in EUV lithography machine is also very influential in the world.
Because the research and development of EUV lithography machine is very difficult, the performance and technical level of the lithography machine directly determine the quality and shipment rate of chips of 7nm and below.
Of course, from another aspect, it is precisely because the development of the chip process of 7nm and below has promoted the improvement of the technical level of lithography machines, so the process of chips below 7nm is of great significance in the global semiconductor field.
As the world's leading semiconductor equipment company, ASML's lithography machines have a global market share of more than 80%, most of which are used to produce chips of 7nm and below.
The breakthrough of EUV lithography machine technology has brought a once-in-a-lifetime development opportunity to China, because China is not only the largest overseas market in the global semiconductor market, but also the country with the best production acceleration in the global semiconductor industry.
Lithography machine research and development in China.
For ASML, China is its largest overseas market.
Although the development of ASML has become a major vane in the global semiconductor industry, with the success of China's independent research and development of EUV lithography machine, these achievements have been implemented, so the development period of ASML has ushered in an inflection point.
The research and development of lithography machines in China began in 2000.
In 2000, Changchun Institute of Optics established a lithography machine R&D center, thus raising the R&D level of lithography technology in mainland China to the world's first-class.
With the accumulation of technology in DUV lithography machine and the innovation of EUV lithography machine, Changchun Institute of Optics and Machinery is able to develop EUV lithography machine based on duplex control technology.
In 2020, after 15 years of continuous struggle, Changchun Institute of Optics and Mechanics has completed the R&D and manufacturing of the first EUV lithography machine engineering prototype, and successfully built an EUV lithography machine R&D platform based on semiconductor technology.
The realization of this series of achievements indicates that Continental has the technical strength to manufacture domestic EUV lithography machines.
With the R&D and manufacturing technology of Continental's EUV lithography machine reaching the world's leading level, Continental will soon be able to make new breakthroughs in the manufacturing of core components such as light sources, dual tables, and objective lenses.
Therefore, Continental's progress in lithography machine R&D and manufacturing technology will soon be able to bring about changes in the global semiconductor market pattern.
The change in the semiconductor market landscape is a long-term process, and it will not happen overnight.
But when it happens, it will affect and change the future trend.
The breakthrough of China's semiconductor technology not only shows the accelerated development of China's scientific and technological innovation, but also shows the improvement of its national scientific and technological strength.
China's technological breakthrough in the field of semiconductors will surely attract the attention of the global semiconductor market.
With the accelerated development of the Chinese market, it will also attract the attention of global semiconductor equipment companies in the process of localization substitution, and accelerate the shipment of the Chinese market.
China, an important market, is an important battlefield for major semiconductor equipment companies to get involved and compete for market share.
It is foreseeable that as the Chinese market continues to grow, its market share will continue to expand, which will also affect the pattern of the global semiconductor industry.
Localized substitution.
Independent and controllable is a development direction that China cannot do, for 70% of the chip revenue comes from overseas, and now under external pressure, the mainland's semiconductor industry will usher in transformation and upgrading.
The United States has been making things difficult for China in semiconductor manufacturing equipment, but with the continuous improvement of the mainland's semiconductor manufacturing level, it is becoming more and more capable of manufacturing its own manufacturing equipment.
Under the suppression of the United States, even if ASSML is manufacturing equipment, the mainland must be independent, otherwise it can only buy equipment from the United States.
However, the United States cannot stop the problem of China buying equipment, so what the United States needs to do is to continuously increase sanctions against China and create trouble for China's development of semiconductor manufacturing.
Criticizing the United States also means that some high-tech products on the mainland are not available, but this is short-lived, and in the long run, this is a good thing.
This is because this has also compelled the mainland to continue to develop high-tech industries in depth and to achieve all-round independence and controllability as soon as possible.
Even if there is ASSML, but the mainland has the ability to do it, and the answer given by Foxconn on the 7nm chip is that it can be done, and the restriction is a means for the United States to make things difficult for China.
It's already very strict when it comes to the semiconductor industry.
In the field of EUV lithography machine technology, the bigwigs in the mainland have been following ASML, but they don't know that in the process of catching up, the technical principles of ASML have been simplified, and more advanced technology has suddenly been developed.
This is also the advantage of the mainland's development, and it also represents the arrival of the next industrial revolution, and the mainland has the ability to shoulder more medical and industrial equipment needs.
epilogue
Continental's breakthrough in EUV lithography machine technology shows that it has strong independent exploration and innovation capabilities in scientific and technological innovation, and has also injected new vitality into Continental's industrial development.
EUV lithography machine is a major breakthrough in China's scientific and technological innovation, and this achievement will inject strong impetus into the development of China's manufacturing innovation and technology industry.
The realization of the localization of EUV lithography machine is a great benefit to the mainland semiconductor industry, but it is also good for the global semiconductor industry, which reflects the idea of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
China not only has a huge market demand and market potential, but also will bring huge opportunities and opportunities for the development of global semiconductors.