Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 347 Semiconductor Industry Conference

On June 600, Xu Shenxue inspected Gulf Technology and saw the HDUV- lithography machine that was already in mass production.

That evening, Gulf Technology also announced on its official website for the first time that its new generation DUV immersion lithography machine HDUV-600 had entered mass production.

It also announced that the first lithography machine of this type has been delivered to Zhiyun Microelectronics and will be used for the most advanced equivalent seven-nanometer process.

This is also the first time that Gulf Technology has announced news about this type of lithography machine, including some detailed technical parameters.

This news also attracted a lot of attention from the media, industry insiders and even ordinary people.

That evening, the 7:30 news reported the news in detail: According to our reporter, my country's advanced semiconductor equipment company Gulf Technology Co., Ltd. has completed the research and development of the latest generation of DUV immersion lithography machines.

The new HDUV-600 lithography machine has reached the international leading level, filling the gap in my country's cutting-edge semiconductor equipment field and effectively promoting the development of my country's semiconductor manufacturing industry.

Wang Daolin, head of Haiwan Technology, said that the technical parameters of the HDUV-600 lithography machine have reached the international leading level. It is the most advanced lithography machine at present and can be used to manufacture chips with a minimum process of seven nanometers.

It is not easy to successfully develop a device that can be reported on the 7:30 news. There are very few devices that can achieve this level.

But the lithography machine can!
In fact, this is not the first time that Gulf Technology has been on the 400: news. In fact, it was on the : news after the successful development of the HDUV- lithography machine, the first generation of DUV immersion lithography machine. The report at that time was longer and more important, and was accompanied by an inspection by important personnel...

During the TV coverage at the time, Xu Shenxue could only stand aside and act as a commentator, introducing Gulf Technology's HDUV-400 lithography machine to a group of guests, explaining the important historical and practical significance of this lithography machine.

To be honest, the treatment given to the HDUV-600 lithography machine in current reports is a bit lacking... But it is a key technological breakthrough after all, so there will still be regular reports.

The successful development and delivery of the HDUV-600 model has made many people in China, especially some self-proclaimed industry insiders, sigh: I was too conservative.

When Gulf Technology developed the HDUV-400 lithography machine a few years ago, it also caused a public outcry, and many people in the industry also actively participated in the discussion.

There were also related discussions at that time, namely:
When will Gulf Technology's lithography machines be able to catch up with ASML's level?

After all, the performance of the HDUV-400 lithography machine at the time was roughly equivalent to that of the NXT-1950.

When NXT1950 appeared, it was already 2008. This lithography machine was also the core equipment that pushed the semiconductor chip process from the previous 32 nanometers to 28/ nanometers.

In other words, it is precisely because of this lithography machine that the 32/28 process has become feasible for large-scale mass production.

It took Gulf Technology many years to develop the HDUV-400 lithography machine, which has comparable core performance but lower production efficiency... However, this lithography machine has great historical significance, because its emergence means that Gulf Technology has broken through a series of key technologies of DUV immersion lithography machines.

At that time, people imagined that Gulf Technology would continue to work hard and strive to make progress every three years. After solving the 28-nanometer process, it would solve the problem of double exposure within three years and be able to lower the process to 10-22 nanometer lithography machines.

As for going a step further and even being able to perform quadruple exposure lithography machines, optimistically speaking, it would be a huge victory if this could be solved within five years.

However, what is unexpected is that after breaking through the key technology of DUV immersion lithography machines, Gulf Technology has made rapid progress in the rapid iteration of small models, almost one step forward a year.

The HDUV-500 lithography machine was launched last year, achieving an overlay accuracy of 1965 nanometers and fulfilling the basic requirement of double exposure. It can be used to make chips with a -nanometer process. Its initial performance was basically equivalent to that of NXT, but it was not very mature.

Later, Gulf Technology launched the upgraded model HDUV-500A. Although the workbench capacity is the same, its performance is better and more stable. Except for the lower capacity, the other performance indicators of this lithography machine are basically the same as NXT1970.

The advanced lithography machines purchased on a large scale by Zhiyun Microelectronics, SMIC next door, and some other domestic chip manufacturers from Gulf Technology are actually not the HDUV-500 model, but the HDUV-500A model.

The 500 model released last year was already impressive enough, but Gulf Technology delivered the newer generation HDUV-600 model in June this year, which brought the overlay accuracy down to nanometers.

The core performance level of this model is already on par with the NXT1980… Although it still has the same old problems, because the workbench is not very good, the production efficiency is low and the subsequent maintenance will be more troublesome, but it is still too scary.

You should know that although ASML had already developed the NXT1980 lithography machine last year, large-scale shipments actually only began at the beginning of this year.

However, the large-scale shipment of the same-level lithography machines by Gulf Technology was delayed by about half a year!
This means that the gap between the two sides has narrowed from more than ten years to four or five years, and then to the current six months.

The speed of this series of technological advances makes many people feel incredible.

Not only do outsiders not believe it, even our own people don’t believe it... It’s too exaggerated.

Therefore, many people also suspected whether Gulf Technology had copied ASML's technology... It turned out that their suspicion was not wrong, as Gulf Technology actually copied ASML's lithography machine directly.

It's nothing to be ashamed of if it's copied. After all, there are only a few technical routes. It's impossible for Gulf Technology to stop following the path that others have taken.

Be it Xu Shenxue or the R&D personnel of Gulf Technology, they never shy away from these things. If they can copy, they will copy. If they can't copy, they will copy... Galaxy Security sends back a lot of technical information every year, and a lot of this technical information is stained with blood. You say you don't want to copy, so why not?

Furthermore, the principles of photolithography machines are actually known to the whole world, and even detailed structural schematics can be directly searched on the Internet.

However, there are many people who know the principles and structure, but there are currently only two manufacturers that can actually produce lithography machines of this level: ASML and Gulf Technology.

For something of this level, all the detailed design drawings are given to you to copy, and you are taught step by step. If you can't make it, you just make it. Gulf Technology has obtained the complete design data of the EUV light source system for several years, but it still hasn't been able to make it...

Because the difficulty lies not in the design of the lithography machine itself, but in its subsystems!

Especially the various high-precision and advanced components in each subsystem!

The lens in the DUV lithography machine... is right there, and all the technical indicators are known to the world. If you have the ability, you can also make one...

There are only three manufacturers in the world that can produce this type of lens: Germany's Zeiss, Nikon, and Nanjiang Technology under Fairy Mountain Holdings.

In addition to supplying lenses to lithography machines, Nanjiang Technology also supplies lenses to satellites and scientific research equipment. It also makes consumer-grade lenses for civilian use, such as lenses for mobile phone cameras. These are currently the most technologically advanced in China, and are also among the top three in the world.

Why can Nanjiang Technology make this kind of lens? Because they have special equipment that is customized by many research institutions, such as ion beam polishers... Other companies don't even have the means to purchase these equipment.

Because these devices are not mass-produced equipment on the market at all, but are top-level equipment that are strictly controlled and developed in various research institutes!

Without approvals from a long list of departments, it is impossible to buy it.

The HDUV-600 lithography machine is considered to be the most advanced industrial equipment at present. In fact, it can be sold freely. Any domestic wafer factory can purchase it, and even overseas wafer factories can buy it with approval.

But some of the core equipment for making lithography machine parts are not even shown to you...

Many things cannot be plagiarized just because you want to. If you want to plagiarize, you have to be able to create them...

From materials to processing, every step is a sinkhole.

Behind Gulf Technology are more than 200 companies in the Fairy Mountain Holding Group, and behind the Fairy Mountain Holding Group are thousands of domestic companies, more than 100 research institutes, and dozens of top universities... It is very difficult for other companies to do so because they do not have the conditions.

Of course, if the companies are from European and American countries, they are not subject to sanctions and can freely obtain the industrial success of the entire European, American, Japanese and Korean systems, so they can also accumulate it... But for European and American manufacturers, doing so is not worth the loss, and they will suffer heavy losses.

The market for lithography machines is very small, with a market value of only over 10 billion US dollars a year. It is a very niche market with extremely high barriers to entry.

With ASML blocking the European and American markets, Nikon and Canon have difficulty in surviving. In addition, American semiconductor companies such as Intel, GlobalFoundries, and Qualcomm once wanted to set up a lithography machine manufacturer in the United States. Xu Shenxue actually participated in this process... in order to trip up ASML.

However, the subsequent plan was difficult to implement, and finally Intel and other companies had to give up and instead adopted the approach of controlling ASML.

The situation in China is actually similar. With Gulf Technology in the lead, there is basically no room for a second lithography machine manufacturer to survive in the domestic market.

Therefore, in this industry, being able to copy is considered a skill...

And Gulf Technology is the one that can be copied!

----

The mass production and shipment of Gulf Technology's HDUV-600 lithography machine has aroused some discussion among industry insiders and also attracted the attention of some ordinary people.

A number of domestic wafer factories have been gathering all kinds of information, placing orders, and anxiously waiting for this advanced lithography machine.

On June 29, Xu Shenxue attended a semiconductor industry conference. After a formal speech at the conference, he sat down and had a brief exchange with a group of domestic semiconductor industry bosses. Some semiconductor design industry bosses hope to obtain foundry services for advanced processes, such as the 14-nanometer process... The production capacity of this process is relatively tight. After all, most of it needs to be used to meet self-production, and the few remaining capacities are also taken up by large customers, and ordinary customers need to wait in line.

Some people hope to lobby Xu Shenxue to obtain as much production capacity as possible.

In this regard, Xu Shenxue could only play Tai Chi. After all, the production capacity of this technology was very tight. If he agreed to this company, what about the other one?
So they could only push the matter to Zhiyun Microelectronics to handle it, and they just laughed it off and didn't make any promises.

Some wafer fab bosses need to get the advanced HDUV-600 lithography machine as soon as possible.

Several domestic first-tier wafer fabs, including SMIC, Huali Microelectronics in the north, and Beiwei, are counting on using this lithography machine to achieve a breakthrough in the 14-nanometer process.

But if they want to get the goods, it will be next year at the earliest.

This year's limited HDUV-600 production capacity will be supplied to Zhiyun Microelectronics for the production of -nanometer process and subsequent -nanometer process.

Zhiyun Microelectronics' 500-nanometer process has completed technical verification and is currently in the process of improving the yield. It is not impossible to use the previous HDUV-A lithography machine to perform this equivalent -nanometer process, but the yield is too low and the cost is too high, making commercialization difficult.

Therefore, when the 600-nanometer process is officially put into mass production next year, it will actually be undertaken by the HDUV- lithography machine.

In addition, if the production of the 14-nanometer process is expanded in the future, this type of lithography machine will also be used, mainly because of its high output, good performance, and lower overall cost.

Therefore, Zhiyun Microelectronics has a huge demand for HDUV-600 lithography machines.

This also means that it is still quite difficult for other domestic wafer fabs to obtain HDUV-600, and the quantity is smaller.

Of course, they can't actually afford much because this lithography machine is very expensive.

The first batch of HDUV-600 lithography machines purchased by Zhiyun Microelectronics had a unit price of US$1980 million. Although the price is cheaper than ASML's NXT, which cost more than US$ million, it is still a super expensive equipment.

Some domestic wafer factories that seem to be wealthy have to tighten their belts and be thrifty if they want to place orders to purchase such lithography machines... After all, for one production line, you need at least four or five lithography machines of this level, which will cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

In addition, it is equipped with top-level supporting equipment of the same level... For example, the HSD-360 back-end lithography machine launched by Gulf Technology, this back-end lithography machine also costs more than million US dollars.

The purchase cost of various core equipment for the entire production line alone starts at 2 billion US dollars. This is just one production line with extremely limited production capacity. If you want a larger production capacity and want two or three production lines, then the investment amount basically starts at 600 to 700 million US dollars.

In fact, very few domestic wafer factories can handle this. Only SMIC can do it. The others just make one or two lithography machines to try it out, do some testing, and verify the technology.

Then we will think about how to raise funds to build a new wafer factory.

Therefore, for domestic wafer fabs, the HDUV-600 lithography machine is a goddess. They drool at the sight of it, but cannot afford it.

Their main purpose is still the HDUV-500A lithography machine, or even the HDUV-400 lithography machine.

However, the production capacity of these two lithography machines is actually limited. A bunch of domestic wafer fabs are placing orders, including Zhiyun Microelectronics and SMIC, as well as several other first-tier wafer fabs, which have priority in getting the goods. Therefore, it is not easy for ordinary small and medium-sized wafer fabs to get the goods in a timely manner.

Gulf Technology's HDUV-500A lithography machine can be said to be inexpensive and good quality. It currently costs only about 600 million US dollars, which is a little more than half the price of the model.

In addition, Gulf Technology has always provided package services, and various supporting core equipment can be purchased together. Not only is the technical support easy and the production line can operate quickly, but the total price can also be discounted.

The most important thing is that as long as domestic manufacturers purchase it, the supply is open and they just have to queue up to get the goods. It is not like buying ASML's lithography machine, which requires all kinds of troubles and is difficult to obtain approval.

Just because Zhiyun Microelectronics can get advanced optical technology from ASML does not mean that other domestic manufacturers can also get new models of lithography machines… Just because Zhiyun Microelectronics ignores sanctions does not mean that sanctions do not exist.

In addition, Gulf Technology can also coordinate with Zhiyun Microelectronics to grant patent authorization for some mature processes.

In many cases, Gulf Technology's lithography machines are selling quite well in China, and people are long in line to get the three models of ARFI lithography machines.

As for the first- and second-tier domestic wafer fabs, if they can get a batch of HDUV-500A lithography machines back and then buy some process patents from Zhiyun Microelectronics, it is hard to say about the rest, but the -nanometer or -nanometer process will not be a problem.

If the process technology is not good enough, just use the performance of the lithography machine to force it to increase. Miracles can be achieved with great strength!
The overlay accuracy of HDUV-500A can reach nanometers, and the single exposure resolution can reach nanometers. In theory, it can even produce an equivalent -nanometer process lithography machine through multiple exposures.

If a wafer factory cannot produce 28-nanometer process using this type of lithography machine, then what is the point of having such a wafer factory? It might as well go home and grow sweet potatoes.

You should know that this is the lithography machine that Zhiyun Microelectronics used when it was conducting the equivalent ten-nanometer process technology certification this year.

With the same lithography machine, others can handle 10 nanometers, but you can't even handle 28 nanometers, so what are you doing...

In any case, because of the emergence of Gulf Technology, and the fact that Zhiyun Microelectronics is willing to release some patent paid licenses for mature processes, other wafer fabs can serve as their additional production capacity.

All of this has led to the rapid development of the domestic semiconductor manufacturing industry. Some established wafer fab companies have begun to build new factories and use new processes. Even some innovative companies have emerged and started to get involved in the semiconductor manufacturing field.

Although they are involved in mature or even backward technologies, this is still a very good phenomenon.

In the semiconductor field, advanced technology is good, but mature technology is the mainstream. Even ten years later, 130-250 nanometer technology will still have a huge market.

The 55-90 nanometer process still has a certain market share.

The market for 28-45 nanometer technology is still the mainstream market.

Therefore, many domestic wafer fabs are targeting the mature process and even backward process markets... Mainly these two areas, Zhiyun Microelectronics has not been involved much and its production capacity is extremely limited.

Zhiyun Microelectronics has a broad vision. From the beginning, it aimed at advanced technology and did not pay much attention to mature and backward technology.

This means that huge market space has been created for the domestic chip foundry market!

Zhiyun Microelectronics' production capacity of process nodes above 65 nanometers cannot even meet the huge demand within the group, but it has stopped expanding its capacity!

Today, the production of many mature chips and auxiliary chips of Zhiyun Semiconductor, a subsidiary of Zhiyun Group, still needs to be outsourced to domestic wafer fabs such as SMIC and Huali Micro.

By the way, the two chip design companies, Zhiyun Semiconductor and Zhiyun Storage, are not only super large customers of Zhiyun Microelectronics, but also large customers of several other first-tier wafer fabs in China!

For example, an important source of revenue for SMIC is storage chip foundry, and its largest customer is actually Zhiyun Storage.

Because Jiangcheng Semiconductor, a subsidiary of Zhiyun Microelectronics, has an overly advanced production line and does not have much production capacity with mature, backward processes. But in reality, the storage chips used in many special fields do not actually require very advanced processes... In this case, Zhiyun Storage will outsource the production of these storage chips with mature processes to SMIC.

This is also what many people say. Zhiyun Semiconductor plus Zhiyun Storage directly support more than half of the domestic semiconductor manufacturing industry, bringing huge revenue and rich profits to domestic wafer factories, which then have the funds to consider expanding production capacity and improving technology.

This is also the reason why Xu Shenxue attended this semiconductor industry conference, because the overall scale of the semiconductor manufacturing industry is too large, and it is difficult to handle it relying solely on Zhiyun Microelectronics.

Zhiyun Microelectronics has always been targeting advanced processes, and is working on 28 nanometers, 45 nanometers, nanometers, and even nanometers and nanometers in the future. It no longer has much energy to expand the production capacity of mature processes. Even after a short-term expansion of the production capacity of the - nanometer process, there are no plans to expand it in the future.

As for processes above 55 nanometers, there is no plan to expand production capacity.

However, the domestic consumer electronics industry and other industries have an increasing demand for chips with 28-nanometer or even 55-nanometer processes, which requires other wafer fabs to fill this gap.

After all, the country's overall chip production capacity demand is conservatively estimated to be more than 10 million pieces per month, but the current monthly production capacity is only a few million pieces, and there is still huge room for growth.

As for advanced technology, the production capacity is only a few hundred thousand pieces. Compared with the huge production capacity of tens of millions of pieces in the entire chip industry, the proportion is pitifully small.

However, the investment in a wafer factory is too huge. If Xu Shenxue were to do it alone, it would take him a long time to complete it.

Therefore, Xu Shenxue still very much hopes that other domestic wafer fabs can be proactive and take on the task of expanding production capacity for mature and backward processes.

As long as they do it, Xu Shenxue will grant them patent authorization and sell them a full set of equipment with lithography machines as the core, and also provide some order support.

All they have to do is go directly to seek funding...

(End of this chapter)