From this, it is not difficult to see that domestic chips have begun to catch up in the field of advanced foundry after experiencing the impact of the US revised rules. Independence and autonomy in chip manufacturing technology will become the “main theme” of domestic chips in the future.

Lithography machines and graphene wafers are here! The continuous development of domestic chip technology has also brought more and more good news. In the field of lithography machines, the 28nm lithography machine designed by Shanghai Microelectronics is expected to be delivered within the next two years. In October last year, the Shanghai Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences also announced an 8-inch graphene wafer, which has attracted the attention of many people in the industry. As a key material required for third-generation semiconductors, Graphene wafers are likely to bring “curve overtaking” opportunities for domestic chips. At the same time, due to the rapid development of domestic lithography machines, the president of ASML has also stated many times that he hopes to sell more lithography machine products to Chinese companies. Then, Will the time for domestic high-end chips be far behind? TCL founder Li Dongsheng recently stated that Bill Gates did not make a mistake before!

TCL Li Dongsheng expressed his opinion Mr. Li Dongsheng said in an interview “It will take at least 5 years to solve high-end chips.” For any country, It is very difficult to solve the production problem of high-end chips in about 5 years. . It is not unreasonable for Li Dongsheng to make such an estimate. First of all, domestic chips are not without accumulation in the field of advanced foundry technology. For example, SMIC Liang Mengsong once officially announced that the company’s eight most difficult tasks for 5nm chips have also begun. As long as the EUV lithography machine arrives, SMIC can carry out actual tests on 5nm chips, greatly reducing the time required to develop the process. Secondly, in some high-end chip manufacturing equipment, domestic equipment still exists. For example, the etching machine designed and produced by China Micro Semiconductor has successfully entered TSMC’s high-end process production line. . With these high-end equipment, the possibility of domestically-made high-end chips will continue to increase. Finally, key universities such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University have begun to deploy integrated circuits. Technical research on advanced equipment such as lithography machines is also proceeding in an orderly manner. In the field of research and development of high-end chip technology, the outdated concept of “buying is worse than making” has been overturned, and the development of the domestic chip manufacturing industry has already had a brand new situation.

Bill Gates was right! Microsoft founder Bill Gates once said that “limiting chip companies’ supply to China will cause some Americans to lose their high-paid father-in-law, and China will gradually become self-sufficient in this process.”

Today, the domestic layout under mature craftsmanship just confirms Bill Gates’ prediction. Starting from chips with mature technology, domestic chips will gradually complete localized production. In the field of high-end chip manufacturing, we have also never been absent. The good news of lithography machines and graphene chips has confirmed the feasibility of domestic high-end chips.

Under the layout of enterprises and key universities, the problems encountered in chip manufacturing will be gradually solved. However, we cannot be too conceited, as Li Dongsheng said, In the manufacturing of high-end chips, we It will take at least 5 years.

It is precisely because of the lack of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines that no company in mainland China can produce chips with 7nm and 5nm processes. Although SMIC ordered one from ASML in the early days, ASML has not been able to deliver due to US restrictions. In addition, the chip ban on ZTE and Huawei has completely awakened the consciousness of independent research and development of Chinese technology companies. Domestic chip manufacturers have also pinned their hopes on Chinese companies.

In order to solve the problem of the lithography machine being stuck in the West, Huawei, which has tasted the pain of bone removal, announced the first time that it has fully rooted in semiconductors to solve the problem of chip manufacturing. In addition, the Chinese Academy of Sciences also announced the entry of the lithography machine, which will be the list of the United States. Become a scientific research list of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and integrate the strength of the whole academy to solve the problem of lithography machine.

Good news one by one

First, in order to accelerate the research and development process of domestic lithography machines, Hubble, a subsidiary of Huawei, invested in Beijing Keyi Hongyuan Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd., and successfully became the seventh largest shareholder of this company. It is reported that the company’s main business is light source systems, which is one of the core technologies for manufacturing lithography machines. This company is also the world’s third 193nm ArF preparation molecular laser company. This light source system can be used on DUV lithography machines. This is an important step taken by Huawei’s self-developed lithography machine.

Second, according to media reports, the domestic lithography machine giant Shanghai Microelectronics said that a new generation of lithography machines is expected to be mass-produced by the end of this year or early next year, and its light source system uses the same light source technology as the ASML DUV lithography machine. The wavelength of the light source has exceeded 193nm. The light source system is derived from Keyi Hongyuan. And the precision of the lithography machine is 28nm. This lithography machine can not only mass produce chips with 28nm and 14nm processes, but also realize mass production of 7nm process chips. Kirin 980 uses 7nm non-EUV process.

In other words, domestic foundry companies are very likely to achieve the foundry level of 7nm process by the end of the year or next year, and there is no need to purchase DUV lithography machines from ASML.

ASML, can you stand it?

Since the United States began to restrict the freedom of ASML shipments, ASML has repeatedly stated that it wants to sell lithography machines to Chinese manufacturers while providing good after-sales service for my country. In ASML, Peking University professors also issued a warning. If ASML does not sell the lithography machine to China, China will master this technology in 3 years. According to past experience, as long as China masters this technology, its production cost is more than any other. Countries are cheap, and ASML may have to withdraw from the lithography machine market at that time. Good news about domestic lithography machines one after another, ASML, as a giant lithography machine, don’t know if it can stand it?

Chinese chips usher in spring

Due to Moore’s Law, the number of transistors contained in the chip will double every certain period of time. In 2018, TSMC achieved mass production of the 7nm process, and in 2020 TSMC achieved mass production of the 5nm process, in accordance with the development of Chinese technology. Speed, if Shanghai Microelectronics’ new-generation lithography machine is launched by the end of 2021, my country will achieve mass production of 5nm process chips around 2023.

At the beginning of the chip ban, Zhang Zhaozhong, a famous military theorist in my country, publicly stated that “in another three years, American chips will be unused because Chinese chips will be everywhere”. Now it seems that Zhang Zhaozhong has said it. I believe it will not be long. , my country will certainly be able to make breakthroughs in the field of lithography machines and chips.

More importantly, the current is an important juncture in China’s development process. We should give these companies some patience and tolerance. At the same time, we should give these companies some encouragement, because this is of great significance to China’s long-term development!