In the chip manufacturing process, photolithography is undoubtedly one of the key steps. As we all know, the lithography process of the chip requires a lithography machine with a complicated process. As everyone knows, the lithography machine needs to be used in conjunction with photoresist.
Similar to the situation where the lithography machine is stuck, China is also facing the dilemma of being monopolized by international giants in the photoresist field. It is urgent to realize the independent research and development of photoresist as soon as possible.
Japanese manufacturers monopoly
The so-called photolithography refers to the process of "carving" the circuit structure on the silicon wafer. In this process, the surface of the silicon wafer needs to be evenly coated with photoresist, and different photoresists improve the performance of the chip differently.
As the core consumable of lithography machine, the production process of photoresist is complicated and has extremely high technical barriers, so it needs a long time of research and development investment. In this field, Japanese companies that started earlier have a certain advantage.
In 2019, Japan's JSR, Tokyo Ohka, Shin-Etsu Chemical and Fuji Electronics accounted for 72% of the global photoresist market.
Compared with Japanese companies, the construction of China's photoresist industry chain is much inferior.
China's lithographic collagen material market has been monopolized by Japanese and Korean manufacturers. Although domestic photoresist manufacturers have more flowers, they still have a big gap with international manufacturers in the field of high-end photoresist.
In 2019, mainland China was the only region showing positive growth in the ranking of global semiconductor material sales, accounting for 17% of the global market.
In other words, China has a huge demand for semiconductor materials such as photoresist. Under such circumstances, domestic photoresist companies need to step up research and development to break the situation where core materials are restricted by others.
The rise of domestic photoresist technology
Under the tide of localization of chips, leading photoresist companies in China continue to have good news.
According to news on June 30, the KrF (248nm) thick film photoresist product independently developed by SHXY Semiconductor Materials Technology Group has passed the certification and successfully obtained an order. This means that China's domestic photoresist has taken another important step in R&D and industrialization.
SHXY was established in 1990 and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2008. As a supplier of China's head semiconductor materials, SHXY has been preparing photoresist projects since 2017 and regards this as the company's third core technology.
The reason why the photoresist products developed by SHXY passed the verification quickly is also inseparable from continuous R&D investment. In November last year, SHXY announced a fixed increase plan. Out of the 1.45 billion fund-raising, 815 million yuan was invested in the research and development of high-end photoresists.
According to SHXY's plan, the company will strive to realize the industrialization of photoresist for ArF dry process in 2023. This will not only continue to fill the technological gap in China, but also further break the monopoly of Japanese companies.
In addition to SHXY, the ArF photoresist independently developed by JSND Optoelectronic Material Technology Group has passed customer verification; the KrF photoresist developed by SZJR Chemical Material Technology Group has also passed customer verification. It can be seen that, driven by independent research and development, Chinese companies have entered the fast lane in the development of photoresist.