Top executives in the Chinese semiconductor industry are advocating for a cohesive national initiative aimed at advancing the development of operational lithography systems between 2026 and 2030, highlighting China's emphasis on enhancing technological independence.
Zhao Jinrong, the chairman of Naura Technology Group, Chen Nanxiang, who holds the positions of chairman and president at Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp, and Liu Weiping, the chairman of Empyrean Technology, collaborated on an article with prominent semiconductor institutes.
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They called upon the government to consolidate the country's resources to incorporate technological advancements into various institutions.
Since 2020, semiconductor manufacturing has become a crucial point of contention in the technology competition between China and the US. Washington has implemented restrictions aimed at preventing China from increasing its advanced production capabilities to below 7-nanometer.
“Taking lithography machines as an example, ASML's extreme ultraviolet (EUV) equipment has 100,000 components supplied by 5,000 suppliers, with ASML merely serving as the integrator”, the executives wrote in Science and Technology Review, a journal affiliated with China's science and technology professionals association.
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ASML Holding, a company based in the Netherlands, has established itself as the exclusive provider of EUV lithography machines worldwide, which are crucial for manufacturing cutting-edge semiconductor chips that drive devices such as smartphones, AI technology, and advanced computer systems.
It has been noted that China has achieved significant advancements in EUV laser light sources, wafer stage, and optical systems at various establishments.
However, the integration of these individual components into a unified system presents a notable challenge that needs to be addressed within the 15th five-year plan period according to experts. The article also highlighted bottlenecks in electronic design automation (EDA) software, as well as materials like silicon wafers and electronic gases, as crucial domains necessitating coordination at a national level.
In its most recent government work report, China has identified semiconductors as a key component of its emerging industry, in addition to aviation, biotechnology, and the low-altitude economy. The Chinese Premier, Li Qiang, emphasized key advancements in the field of domestically-led research and development of semiconductor technology in his presentation.
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The five-year strategic plan did not specifically address lithography machines but instead emphasized the need to enhance advanced process manufacturing capabilities and expedite the progress in key equipment, materials, and components.
Moreover, both the manufacturing and design aspects of China's chip production in this category are reported to be unrestricted. The executives in the article additionally advocated for the establishment of public platforms equipped with cutting-edge process capabilities to conduct research, development, and validation of the newest device structures, process equipment, components, materials, and EDA software.