Chinese semiconductor thread II

PopularScience

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You need to put the article in context; it was published before the two sessions and advocates for specific policy. If you read the original article in Chinese, it reads like one of those political articles from Qiushi that states a problem with the proposed solution being already decided before publication. The article is a post-hoc public justification.

From the article, it seems all the core EUV components have made breakthroughs and there will probably be a merger to create a national lithography champion to integrate the component and mass produce scanner. There will probably be other mergers to create a big national champion for EDA.
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Michael90

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You need to put the article in context; it was published before the two sessions and advocates for specific policy. If you read the original article in Chinese, it reads like one of those political articles from Qiushi that states a problem with the proposed solution being already decided before publication. The article is a post-hoc public justification.

From the article, it seems all the core EUV components have made breakthroughs and there will probably be a merger to create a national lithography champion to integrate the component and mass produce scanner. There will probably be other mergers to create a big national champion for EDA.
Hopefully you are right and there is already a process of merging many of those fragmented small players. China often have too many small players in several industries , and not enough mergers/acquisitions which can be a big handicap especially in critical fields dominated by big western/Korean/Japanese companies. So only by merging them can the country stand a chance of pooling her resources and catching up/surpassing them. It’s difficult for small dispersed players to pose any real challenges to established big players in such industries. In this regard it will be good for them to follow the example of shipbuilding industry where government encouraged merger to create a huge company who now dominates much of the world shipbuilding industry
 

jx191

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A collective post by leading figures in China's semiconductor industry has sparked heated discussion: Mobilizing the entire nation's resources to build our own ASML.

The article states that China has made breakthroughs in key areas of EUV, such as laser sources, mobile platforms, and optical systems. However, how to integrate these technologies into a complete industrial system with the full support of the nation is a problem that must be solved during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

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This is important because it's rare for leading figures to comment and discuss EUV technology outright.

I wonder how this statement compares to previous commentary about the EUV situation. Not much information was stated which is not surprising given tight opsec but I wonder how long "integration into a complete industrial system" will take.

From what I've heard, the EUV ecosystem isn't that far away from risk production/pilot lines and afterwards maybe even full HVM.

Nothing new seems to be reported but it's an interesting article. I'm not sure if the authors sound optimistic or pessimistic about EUV though. I can't tell by their tone, either way they probably aren't going to say anything too explicitly due to opsec.
 
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sunnymaxi

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This is important because it's rare for leading figures to comment and discuss EUV technology outright.

The entire ecosystem is necessary, not just the EUV scanner which is probably what they meant by integration into a complete system.

I wonder how this lines up with the timelines out there for the risk production, pilot lines, HVM etc. The 2027-2030 period is talked about a lot, I wonder whether we'll be seeing initial pilot lines or full HVM by then. If the full ecosystem can be integrated as a whole, HVM will be possible. The 15th 5 year plan period ends in 2030, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.
i have been reading all these comments and this is my first response to EUV related discussion/integrated system and those Chinese experts remarks.

nothing new information in fact there are many mistakes in that article ''China should mobilized entire nation resource and create its own ASML'' that is already outdated.

1. nation resources have already mobilized at least since 2020 to effectively created Lithography supply chain and countless suppliers have emerged for critical components. China right now have a working machine and all thanks to these efforts.

2. @tokenanalyst and i have stated many times, they are not only building scanner but creating entire ecosystem. like EUV photomask, EUV photoresists , inspection equipment , and EUV AIMS is incredible complex metrology tool.

apart from this EUV system you also need Etching , deposition , ion implanter , other Metrology tools for high end logic chip. this is where NAURA/AMEC/Piotech comes into play. AMEC is all set to release 3nm etching tool. Shanghai based company Jingce Metrology tools verifying on 7nm. so Chinese SME companies rapidly building advance logic tools/equipment and by the time local EUV will be ready other non-Litho tools will be ready too for integration into manufacturing line.
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one example.

this is an extremely important Patent and directly related to EUV AIMS metrology tool i just mentioned above. this device designed by SIOMP institute which is also an integral player in local EUV scanner program.

1772735891406.png

as you see, these EUV players not only working on EUV scanner but on other critical tools as well which is important for scanner.

see the entire ecosystem is taking shape. but the main question is, which company will produce EUV scanner. so i guess we have to wait and see.
 
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jx191

Junior Member
Registered Member
i have been reading all these comments and this is my first response to EUV related discussion/integrated system and those Chinese experts remarks.

nothing new information in fact there are many mistakes in that article ''China should mobilized entire nation resource and create its own ASML'' that is already outdated.

1. nation resources have already mobilized at least since 2020 to effectively created Lithography supply chain and countless suppliers have emerged for critical components. China right now have a working machine and all thanks to these efforts.

2. @tokenanalyst and i have stated many times, they are not only building scanner but creating entire ecosystem. like EUV photomask, EUV photoresists , inspection equipment , and EUV AIMS is incredible complex metrology tool.

apart from this EUV system you also need Etching , deposition , ion implanter , other Metrology tools for high end logic chip. this is where NAURA/AMEC/Piotech comes into play. AMEC is all set to release 3nm etching tool. Shanghai based company Jingce Metrology tools verifying on 7nm. so Chinese SME companies rapidly building advance logic tools/equipment and by the time local EUV will be ready other non-Litho tools will be ready too for integration into manufacturing line.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
one example.

this is an extremely important Patent and directly related to EUV AIMS metrology tool i just mentioned above. this device designed by SIOMP institute which is also an integral player in local EUV scanner program.

View attachment 170939

as you see, these EUV players not only working on EUV scanner but on other critical tools as well which is important for scanner.

see the entire ecosystem is taking shape. but the main question is, which company will produce EUV scanner. so i guess we have to wait and see.
Good point, nothing new was said which is not surprising.

I think the bigger talking point is trying to make sure all the small entities and companies working on different parts of the ecosystem are working together, and they can all merge their efforts when the time comes to finalize the ecosystem.

It's hard to make a fully functioning EUV ecosystem when the smaller companies are trying to outcompete each other constantly, involution.
 

tokenanalyst

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Good point, nothing new was said which is not surprising.

I think the bigger talking point is trying to make sure all the small entities and companies working on different parts of the ecosystem are working together, and they can all merge their efforts when the time comes to finalize the ecosystem.

It's hard to make a fully functioning EUV ecosystem when the smaller companies are trying to outcompete each other constantly, involution.
Believe me, there a not, "the involution" thing, if such thing really exists, mostly happen at the system-equipment level not at the component- subsystem level. Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturers are pretty strict with that. The EUV lithography supply chain is pretty much taking shape.
Of course EUV is not only lithography, there is metrology, mask inspection and so on. So expect that a lot of independent suppliers will try to enter that market.
 

jx191

Junior Member
Registered Member
Believe me, there a not, "the involution" thing, if such thing really exists, mostly happen at the system-equipment level not at the component- subsystem level. Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturers are pretty strict with that. The EUV lithography supply chain is pretty much taking shape.
Of course EUV is not only lithography, there is metrology, mask inspection and so on. So expect that a lot of independent suppliers will try to enter that market.
Yes, I just included that word because most people will be familiar with it.
I was referring to the future, rather than now.

The article did sound a lot like there was tough competition between smaller players in the EUV ecosystem though.
 

tokenanalyst

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Yes, I just included that word because most people will be familiar with it.
I was referring to the future, rather than now.

The article did sound a lot like there was tough competition between smaller players in the EUV ecosystem though.
I think is mostly referring to smaller tools manufacturers in deposition, metrology, Ion Implantation and so on that are popping up. SCMP is not reliable source for anything.
 

Kalum Pupeter

Junior Member
Registered Member
Hopefully you are right and there is already a process of merging many of those fragmented small players. China often have too many small players in several industries , and not enough mergers/acquisitions which can be a big handicap especially in critical fields dominated by big western/Korean/Japanese companies. So only by merging them can the country stand a chance of pooling her resources and catching up/surpassing them. It’s difficult for small dispersed players to pose any real challenges to established big players in such industries. In this regard it will be good for them to follow the example of shipbuilding industry where government encouraged merger to create a huge company who now dominates much of the world shipbuilding industry
And when they do not, they should be compelled. You cannot allow petty traders to obstruct issues of fundamental national importance.
 
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