Chinese semiconductor industry
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coolieno99
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This I wouldn't know, but I read somewhere they are also looking at X-ray. China plan to build a synchrotron in Shanghai to generate X-ray for research purpose. Theoretically, X-ray can be use for sub-nm lithography. Besides this would give all those PH.D students something to do.
coolieno99
Junior Member
Hi WTAN,
So far so good, Your projected 7nm mass production date of 2022 will soon be realized. by that time we will be 2 generation behind instead of 3 from TSMC, 1 gen from Samsung and tied with Intel if they can pull it off. I'm not celebrating yet but we're close and I can smell the champagne coming.
from beijingwalker (Pakistan defense forum)
China moves closer to self-reliance in 7nm chip production
English
27 Nov, 2020, 15:16 IST
BEIJING, Nov. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report by China.org.cn on China moves closer to self-reliance in 7nm chip production.
China has recently made new breakthroughs in its 7nm chip-making process, reportedly developing tools and know-how for several segments of the manufacturing process amid efforts to reduce reliance on foreign equipment and material vendors.
Last month, China's chip customization solution provider Innosilicon announced that it had taped out and completed testing of a prototype chip based on the FinFET N+1 process of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). This achievement marks a new step forward in China's homegrown chip development.
Amid major trade restrictions enforced by the United States, SMIC's new generation foundry node is said to be comparable to the 7nm process by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry.
As China's largest chip foundry, SMIC will introduce its N+1 7nm node, marking a significant improvement over its current 14 nm production node, boasting a 20% increase in performance, power consumption reduction of 57%, a reduced logic area of 63%, and SoC (System on a Chip) area reduction of 55%, according to the company.
Moreover, the N+1 foundry node may enable SMIC to break its reliance on advanced Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines produced by Dutch microchip machine maker ASML, according to Liang Mengsong, co-CEO of SMIC. ASML is subject to U.S. export controls as its products contain American technology.
At the same time, China is working hard to develop its own lithography system.
The Suzhou Institute of Nano-tech and Nano-Bionics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Sinano), along with the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, recently announced a breakthrough in a new type of 5nm laser lithography technology. Experts believe it could lay the foundation for research into a self-developed advanced lithography machine.
The new technology has broken the traditional constraint in laser direct writing (LDW) with its ability to process at the nano level. In addition to ultra-high precision, the technology also demonstrates potential for mass production.
According to research results published in Nano Letters, a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal, the new LDW technology "exhibits an attractive capability of well-site control and mass production of 500,000 nanogap electrodes per hour," breaking the trade-off between resolution and throughput using nanofabrication techniques.
During the recent China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, ASML, the global leader in lithography machines, showcased its deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines, sending out a strong signal for its capability and willingness to export the equipment to China.
Previously, ASML's CFO Roger Dassen has stated that the company can export DUV lithography machines to China without a U.S. license. The technology can typically produce chips down to the 7nm node.
On the side of materials, Nata Opto-electronic Materials in east China's Jiangsu province announced that it has established China's first ArF photoresist production line, which is used to transfer electronic circuit patterns to silicon crystals in the 7nm chip-making process.
Previously, photoresist materials produced in China could only be applied in the production of chips with standards of 436nm and 365nm.
As the world's largest semiconductor market, China has been spending aggressively in semiconductor investment, acquisition, and talent recruitment to bolster the industry by on-shoring chip manufacturing equal to those of the world's top foundries.
A report by Goldman Sachs on July 2 predicted that China may be capable of producing 7nm chips by 2023.
Thomas Friedman, a columnist for the New York Times, said during an online forum on Nov. 11 that China attempts to build an entire microchip supply chain from end to end, and will be no longer dependent on the U.S. technologies, according to the country's latest five-year plan.
So far so good, Your projected 7nm mass production date of 2022 will soon be realized. by that time we will be 2 generation behind instead of 3 from TSMC, 1 gen from Samsung and tied with Intel if they can pull it off. I'm not celebrating yet but we're close and I can smell the champagne coming.
from beijingwalker (Pakistan defense forum)
China moves closer to self-reliance in 7nm chip production
English
27 Nov, 2020, 15:16 IST
BEIJING, Nov. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report by China.org.cn on China moves closer to self-reliance in 7nm chip production.
China has recently made new breakthroughs in its 7nm chip-making process, reportedly developing tools and know-how for several segments of the manufacturing process amid efforts to reduce reliance on foreign equipment and material vendors.
Last month, China's chip customization solution provider Innosilicon announced that it had taped out and completed testing of a prototype chip based on the FinFET N+1 process of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). This achievement marks a new step forward in China's homegrown chip development.
Amid major trade restrictions enforced by the United States, SMIC's new generation foundry node is said to be comparable to the 7nm process by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry.
As China's largest chip foundry, SMIC will introduce its N+1 7nm node, marking a significant improvement over its current 14 nm production node, boasting a 20% increase in performance, power consumption reduction of 57%, a reduced logic area of 63%, and SoC (System on a Chip) area reduction of 55%, according to the company.
Moreover, the N+1 foundry node may enable SMIC to break its reliance on advanced Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines produced by Dutch microchip machine maker ASML, according to Liang Mengsong, co-CEO of SMIC. ASML is subject to U.S. export controls as its products contain American technology.
At the same time, China is working hard to develop its own lithography system.
The Suzhou Institute of Nano-tech and Nano-Bionics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Sinano), along with the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, recently announced a breakthrough in a new type of 5nm laser lithography technology. Experts believe it could lay the foundation for research into a self-developed advanced lithography machine.
The new technology has broken the traditional constraint in laser direct writing (LDW) with its ability to process at the nano level. In addition to ultra-high precision, the technology also demonstrates potential for mass production.
According to research results published in Nano Letters, a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal, the new LDW technology "exhibits an attractive capability of well-site control and mass production of 500,000 nanogap electrodes per hour," breaking the trade-off between resolution and throughput using nanofabrication techniques.
During the recent China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, ASML, the global leader in lithography machines, showcased its deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines, sending out a strong signal for its capability and willingness to export the equipment to China.
Previously, ASML's CFO Roger Dassen has stated that the company can export DUV lithography machines to China without a U.S. license. The technology can typically produce chips down to the 7nm node.
On the side of materials, Nata Opto-electronic Materials in east China's Jiangsu province announced that it has established China's first ArF photoresist production line, which is used to transfer electronic circuit patterns to silicon crystals in the 7nm chip-making process.
Previously, photoresist materials produced in China could only be applied in the production of chips with standards of 436nm and 365nm.
As the world's largest semiconductor market, China has been spending aggressively in semiconductor investment, acquisition, and talent recruitment to bolster the industry by on-shoring chip manufacturing equal to those of the world's top foundries.
A report by Goldman Sachs on July 2 predicted that China may be capable of producing 7nm chips by 2023.
Thomas Friedman, a columnist for the New York Times, said during an online forum on Nov. 11 that China attempts to build an entire microchip supply chain from end to end, and will be no longer dependent on the U.S. technologies, according to the country's latest five-year plan.
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Question to the experts, What is a LDW, does it capable to mass produced a 5nm or 7nm chips without the need for EUVL?
The new technology has broken the traditional constraint in laser direct writing (LDW) with its ability to process at the nano level. In addition to ultra-high precision, the technology also demonstrates potential for mass production.
According to research results published in Nano Letters, a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal, the new LDW technology "exhibits an attractive capability of well-site control and mass production of 500,000 nanogap electrodes per hour," breaking the trade-off between resolution and throughput using nanofabrication techniques.
The new technology has broken the traditional constraint in laser direct writing (LDW) with its ability to process at the nano level. In addition to ultra-high precision, the technology also demonstrates potential for mass production.
According to research results published in Nano Letters, a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal, the new LDW technology "exhibits an attractive capability of well-site control and mass production of 500,000 nanogap electrodes per hour," breaking the trade-off between resolution and throughput using nanofabrication techniques.
Laser Direct Writing isn't suitable for mass production. Especially not against DUV lithography.
It can be used to write the masks used in lithography however.
Just notice the units of measurement they are using instead of wafers per month or wafers per hour.
A DUV immersion lithography tool can produce 275 wafers per hour. That's 300mm diameter wafers.
Each wafer might have over 700 chips in it. Each chip can have billions (1,000,000,000s) of transistors.
Mask writing tools are important as well, but it isn't in the main production line.
It can be used to write the masks used in lithography however.
Just notice the units of measurement they are using instead of wafers per month or wafers per hour.
A DUV immersion lithography tool can produce 275 wafers per hour. That's 300mm diameter wafers.
Each wafer might have over 700 chips in it. Each chip can have billions (1,000,000,000s) of transistors.
Mask writing tools are important as well, but it isn't in the main production line.
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Hi gelgoog,
Thanks for the info, so what is it's significance, the way the article was wrote is that China had solved it's EUVL problem by employing this method.
That article seems to have a lot of misinformation, or rather, poor conjectures. What can you expect, it is written by journalist. They are not trained in tech. One example is their hyperbole over SMIC N+1 process. AFAIK N+1 does not have same transistor density as TSMC N7.
It is a good process with low power consumption but is low density. All the news in that article have been posted in this thread before.
It is a good process with low power consumption but is low density. All the news in that article have been posted in this thread before.
Hi gelgoog,
Well I need to temper my expectation and thanks to you for me to realized that.
To be honest I think of all those news the most important one, to me at least, is Nata Opto-electronic ArF photoresist materials production.
Those are imported right now and this is a daily consumable product you need in the production line.
Also the SMIC N+1 tapeout. It might not be as good as N7 but it should be competitive against 10nm processes.
Those are talking about actual production not laboratory grade research.
Those are imported right now and this is a daily consumable product you need in the production line.
Also the SMIC N+1 tapeout. It might not be as good as N7 but it should be competitive against 10nm processes.
Those are talking about actual production not laboratory grade research.
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