Recently, Shenzhen-based semiconductor metrology equipment company, Escore Semiconductor, announced the completion of the first tranche of its multi-million RMB B+ round of financing.
This round was jointly invested by Shenzhen Semiconductor and Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund (Semi Fund), SMIC Capital, Bosera Innovation, and Yangtze Capital. Following the financing, the company will accelerate breakthroughs in key technologies, R&D of next-generation products, and the construction of its supply chain and delivery system, thereby enhancing its large-scale delivery and customer service capabilities.
According to public information, Essex Semiconductor was founded in October 2020 by Dr. Zhang Xuena, an alumna of the University of Science and Technology of China. Headquartered in Shenzhen, the company focuses on semiconductor front-end metrology and inspection equipment.
With optical metrology and X-ray metrology as its dual technological foundation, the company has established four major product lines: optical wafer metrology, X-ray wafer metrology, advanced packaging inspection, and scientific instruments, covering scenarios such as advanced process wafer metrology, advanced packaging inspection, and materials research. Its equipment has been adopted in mass production by leading domestic wafer fabs, and its advanced packaging metrology equipment serves the yield improvement needs of high-end products such as HBM.
Against the backdrop of rapid global development in advanced manufacturing processes, 3D stacking, and advanced packaging, the localization rate of metrology equipment, a core component for wafer fab yield control, remains below 10%. Achip Semiconductor employs a dual-track approach, combining optical and X-ray methods.
Its X-ray metrology technology is a domestic first, enabling non-destructive 3D structure inspection and adapting to advanced processes at 7nm and below, as well as applications such as HBM and Chiplet. The company possesses proprietary software platforms and core algorithms and adheres to the principles of self-developed and domestically produced key components. It will continue to promote the large-scale deployment of products such as the HighYield® IM series optical integrated metrology equipment, accelerating breakthroughs in incremental markets such as advanced packaging and AI chips.
