Chinese semiconductor thread II
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US Lawmakers Look to Bar Chips Act Winners From Using Chinese Tools
(Bloomberg) -- US lawmakers want to prevent companies that win federal chipmaking funds from using Chinese-made equipment at government-backed factories, part of efforts to limit Beijing’s influence on domestic chip production.
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Under a bipartisan bill introduced Tuesday, companies such as Intel Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. would be barred from buying chipmaking gear from entities owned or controlled by China, as well as Russia, North Korea and Iran. The ban would apply only to US facilities supported by funds from the 2022 Chips and Science Act, not to manufacturers’ overseas operations.
“As the United States revitalizes its domestic semiconductor manufacturing industry, we must do everything in our power to stop China and other foreign entities of concern from compromising our microchip manufacturing facilities,” Senator Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, said in a statement. Kelly is sponsoring the bill alongside Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, while Representatives Frank Lucas, an Oklahoma Republican, and Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California, are leading a companion measure in the House.
The Chips Act set aside $39 billion in grants — plus 25% tax credits, and loans and guarantees worth $75 billion — to revitalize the domestic industry after decades of production shifting to Asia. Companies responded by announcing more than $400 billion in US semiconductor investments. And they’ve begun putting that money to work: Computer and electronics construction spending surged in 2024, reaching an annual pace that’s more than 20 times the pre-Chips Act average.
Around 85% of the grant money is allocated, with most of it set aside for leading-edge projects by Intel, TSMC, Samsung Electronics Co. and Micron Technology Inc. Officials have unveiled several smaller preliminary awards in recent weeks, including the first for a supply-chain project, and additional announcements are expected through the end of this year.
The US program set off a global subsidy race, with governments from Brussels to Seoul fashioning their own programs to shore up domestic chip supplies. China, meanwhile, continues to build up its own industry. Last month, it unveiled the largest semiconductor investment fund in its history.
That $47.5 billion vehicle, known as Big Fund III, aims to support a standalone Chinese supply chain. The push includes fostering areas like chip equipment that are dominated by firms in the US, Japan and the Netherlands. It’s part of Beijing’s efforts to counteract years of US-led export controls, which have cut off China’s access to cutting-edge chips and equipment from those three countries.
The US lawmakers cited that fund — plus a reported push by Huawei Technologies Co. in equipment research — in Tuesday’s statement. They’re concerned about both cutting-edge gear and so-called legacy tools, which are used for production of less-advanced chips.
Already, Chips Act recipients are barred from substantially expanding their output in China or adding to their physical manufacturing space in the country.
“If left unchecked, Chinese state subsidies and aggressive market tactics could lead Chinese-made legacy tools to be placed in manufacturing facilities in the US and allied nations in the future,” according to the statement.
Chinese equipment makers have made significant headway in the industry. They’re now offering tools to American companies, which are at least holding conversations about using the machinery, according to a person familiar with the matter. But the discussions may be more about gaining leverage in pricing conversations with American toolmakers Applied Materials Inc., Lam Research Corp. and KLA Corp., the person said.
Dun dun duuun!
The Chinese semi tools vendors are already having an impact on the market. With this extra requirement the US will further increase the costs for the construction of semiconductor factories in the US. Thus helping put another nail on its coffin.
The Huawei Kirin Orange Pi Kunpeng development board is now globally available. It’s running on Huawei’s OpenEuler Linux distribution. It appears to be a new Hisilicon HI1910 and may be related to the Huawei Atlas 200 AI module.
It’s on AliExpress now for $172 if anyone wants to give it a stab. Might order one myself and try it out. A lot of the newer Chinese semiconductor stuff is on AliExpress nowadays including Gowin FPGAs and NVMe SSDs and I’ve had great experiences with all of it.
Counting down until they find out that their toolmakers could be using Chinese components like RF Matching, vacuum components, precision parts and so on.
They already did. There was supposedly a visit by European politicians to a semi tools parts supplier in China.
CMS solution for Jingyuxing makes travel easier
With the development of automobile electronics and intelligence, products such as streaming media rearview mirrors and multimedia screens in the cabin are becoming more and more mature. Relevant laws and regulations have been issued at home and abroad to allow the use of electronic rearview mirrors CMS (Camera Monitor System) to replace physical rearview mirrors. On December 29, 2022, my country promulgated the regulation GB 15084-2022 "Performance and Installation Requirements for Indirect Vision Devices for Motor Vehicles", and later added camera-monitor systems, mirrors and CMS dual-function systems, and officially began to implement this part of the new standard on July 1 last year, which promoted the rapid development of the domestic electronic exterior rearview mirror industry.
CMS can enhance the driver's visual perception of the side and rear of the vehicle, especially in dark environments at night, strong light exposure and bad weather, thereby enhancing the safety and comfort of the driving process. The Jingyuxing VS919 is equipped with Jingyaoguang ISP to help the CMS solution and make travel easier.
Huazhuo Precision Technology delivered the first 8-inch SiC laser annealing equipment in China
At present, Huazhuo Precision Technology has delivered 8-inch silicon carbide laser annealing equipment to a leading domestic Fab , which will use it to improve the layout of the 8-inch silicon carbide chip process platform to achieve production capacity scale. At the same time, Huazhuo Precision Technology will give full play to its independent research and development and technological leadership to provide customers with efficient, multi-faceted, and intelligent 8-inch silicon carbide laser annealing solutions to achieve high-quality delivery.
In addition, Huazhuo Precision has established a strategic partnership with this customer . The two parties will leverage their respective strengths in the field of silicon carbide wafer preparation, further solve the processing problems in the field of 8-inch silicon carbide wafers, open up the key artery for large-scale mass production as soon as possible, and promote better development of the silicon carbide industry.
It is worth noting that, as of now, 31 companies around the world are promoting or planning to promote the construction of 8-inch SiC wafer production lines. Many manufacturers have revealed to us that the production capacity of 8-inch silicon carbide substrates may be fully rolled out this year and next year. Not only will the timing of the conversion from 6-inch to 8-inch be greatly advanced, but the delivery speed and quality of 8-inch SiC will become the key to competition.
In this regard, Huazhuo Precision Technology also believes that the market is increasingly calling for 8-inch SiC, and as SiC substrate production capacity is gradually released, many 8-inch SiC wafer lines are expected to be put into production ahead of schedule. However, new energy vehicles, data centers and other application fields have strict requirements on device quality, and equipment such as annealing processes used in the manufacture of SiC power devices must be updated and upgraded to meet the compliance mass production requirements of 8-inch SiC chips.
Han's Semiconductor joins hands with Southern University of Science and Technology to develop MicroLED display
In order to further deepen the cooperation between schools and enterprises, promote the deep integration of production, learning and research, and achieve a new situation of win-win between schools and enterprises, Shenzhen Han's Semiconductor Equipment Technology Co., Ltd. (Han's Semiconductor), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Han's Laser, and Southern University of Science and Technology held a grand school-enterprise cooperation awarding ceremony at Nansha Pingqian Industrial Park on June 6.
At the exchange meeting, Zhuang Changhui, R&D Director of Han's Semiconductor, extended a warm welcome to Professor Sun Xiaowei and his delegation. Mr. Zhuang emphasized that Southern University of Science and Technology is a national key university with outstanding educational achievements and rich educational resources.
Against the backdrop of the booming semiconductor industry, he eagerly hopes to leverage Professor Sun’s extensive influence and strong appeal in the industry to provide Han’s Semiconductor with more high-quality professional talent, and jointly build a strong alliance of industry, academia and research in the field of Micro LED new displays, thereby enhancing Han’s Semiconductor’s R&D capabilities in this field and further consolidating its leading position in the industry.
At the exchange meeting, Zhuang Changhui, R&D Director of Han's Semiconductor, extended a warm welcome to Professor Sun Xiaowei and his delegation. Mr. Zhuang emphasized that Southern University of Science and Technology is a national key university with outstanding educational achievements and rich educational resources.
Against the backdrop of the booming semiconductor industry, he eagerly hopes to leverage Professor Sun’s extensive influence and strong appeal in the industry to provide Han’s Semiconductor with more high-quality professional talent, and jointly build a strong alliance of industry, academia and research in the field of Micro LED new displays, thereby enhancing Han’s Semiconductor’s R&D capabilities in this field and further consolidating its leading position in the industry.
Huatian Technology Multi-physics simulation enables efficient development and accurate verification of advanced packaging.
Huatian Technology demonstrated a forward-looking strategic vision, established a simulation analysis team, and took the lead in introducing the industry's top electronic design automation and collaborative design analysis tools. The team worked closely with customers in all aspects of packaging design, production and processing, and reliability testing, providing key technical insights from multiple dimensions such as electricity, heat, force, and mold flow. Through interactive design simulation, the establishment of a simulation database and long-term data accumulation, measured data collection and analysis, and simulation parameter calibration, combined with the actual needs of the factory, the research and summary of simulation topics have been carried out, and the accuracy of the simulation results has been greatly improved, and is infinitely close to the actual situation. Interactive design simulation not only greatly shortens the product development cycle, but also significantly improves the quality and reliability of the product.
Mr. Ma introduced the electrical simulation, thermal simulation, stress simulation and mold flow simulation capabilities of Huatian Technology in detail, and shared several practical application cases. For example, through electrical simulation technology, Huatian Technology solved the integrity problem in high-speed signal transmission; through thermal simulation technology, it provided a full range of thermal management solutions from packaging to system level; through stress simulation technology, it optimized the packaging design of complex structures; through mold flow simulation technology, it optimized the device arrangement and packaging structure, and improved the overall quality and reliability of the product.
Mr. Ma introduced the electrical simulation, thermal simulation, stress simulation and mold flow simulation capabilities of Huatian Technology in detail, and shared several practical application cases. For example, through electrical simulation technology, Huatian Technology solved the integrity problem in high-speed signal transmission; through thermal simulation technology, it provided a full range of thermal management solutions from packaging to system level; through stress simulation technology, it optimized the packaging design of complex structures; through mold flow simulation technology, it optimized the device arrangement and packaging structure, and improved the overall quality and reliability of the product.