Frontier Insights
According to a report by CCTV News, Li Lecheng, Minister of Industry and Information Technology of China, stated in an exclusive interview that the glass bottles used for photomask resins are one of the key scientific and technological projects under focus. Now, domestically produced photomask resin glass bottles have been put into trial use on production lines, with very positive feedback from customers.
Previously, more than half of China's photomask resin materials were imported from Japanese companies. However, China has now made significant breakthroughs in photomask resin materials. KrF lithography machines have entered large-scale application, and advanced ArF photoresists have already entered small-scale testing. Now, the domesticization of containers for photomask resins has further strengthened the self-reliance and controllability of China's semiconductor industry chain. At the same time, China's export restrictions on dual-use items to Japan have caused great anxiety among Japanese semiconductor companies.
References:
Heart Observation | Poking Japan: The Supply Chain Battle Behind a Small Bottle
Material Barriers
Photomask resin is a photosensitive material, extremely sensitive to ultraviolet light, and its core application is in chip manufacturing. The container for photomask resin must have the ability to block the spectrum and maintain a semi-transparent state to observe the liquid level.
The inner surface of the container must have extremely high chemical stability, without leaching out metal ions such as sodium and potassium, and must not react chemically with the photomask resin. It usually requires special borosilicate glass with internal chemical passivation treatment to ensure it does not stick to the resin and remains pollution-free. Additionally, the container needs good sealing and vibration resistance to ensure stability and safety during transportation.
Photomask resin has long been dominated by Japanese companies, with Japanese suppliers such as JSR, Tokyo Chemical Industry, and Shin-Etsu Chemical holding more than 80% of the global photomask resin market share. In the advanced EUV photomask resin field, Japanese companies have 100% market dominance.
Export of photomask resin must include the container. Without an appropriate container as a carrier for transporting photomask resin, even if the photomask resin is successfully transported to the buyer's factory, it may no longer be usable due to internal chemical reactions.
Chinese domestic photomask resin has mainly focused on the production of KrF, I-line, and G-line photomask resins. KrF photomask resin is suitable for 248nm wavelength lithography machines, while I-line and G-line are older exposure wavelengths. ArF photomask resin, which is suitable for 193nm deep ultraviolet light, is almost entirely dependent on imports.
A report published by Guangming Online pointed out that in 2021, the global photomask resin market was tight, with almost all upstream materials being hoarded by manufacturing plants. For China's chip industry, which heavily relies on imported photomask resin, this was a major blow.
Professor Wu Guangpeng from the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering at Zhejiang University said in an interview with the media that the biggest problem is that China has long relied on foreign photomask resin parameters and processes, and is unwilling or unable to adjust its processes to use domestic photomask resin.
For domestic photomask resin to enter the market, it must rely on local manufacturers making a determined decision to adjust the lithography parameters of their equipment and then test the domestic photomask resin step by step, learning from failures and moving forward. This is a difficult but reliable path.
References:
Breaking Monopolies: Domestic Photomask Resin Seeks a Way Out
Domestic Materials
Professor Wang Yuanyuan from the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Nanjing University said in an interview that although photomask resin has an application market in China, most of its technical patents are held by foreign companies. Companies from Germany, Japan, and the United States account for over 80% of the global photomask resin market share. There is a gap of 2-3 generations between China's domestic photomask resin and the world's leading level. Moreover, the photomask resin industry is technology-intensive, and for latecomer enterprises, it requires years of experience accumulation to achieve results.
A column report published by Huaxia Times previously indicated that most of the domestic companies researching photomask resin materials are concentrated in the low-level PCB photomask resin sector. In the technically challenging semiconductor photomask resin market, only a few companies such as Tongcheng New Materials, Huamao Technology, Nanjing University Optoelectronics, Jingrui Electric Materials, and Shanghai XinYang are working on breakthroughs.
References:
Domestically produced KrF photomask resin has already been supplied to enterprises with 12-inch production lines such as SMIC, Hua Hong, Yangtze Memory, and Unigroup.
KrF photomask resin matches the krypton fluoride lithography machine, primarily used for older traditional mature chips. ArF photomask resin matches the argon fluoride lithography machine, capable of supporting the manufacture of 14nm-7nm node chips with Fin FET transistor structures.
According to an industry insider who spoke to Huaxia Times, most customers are reluctant to replace imported materials with domestic materials at the supply chain level. After purchasing the materials, photomask resin manufacturers need to verify them through formulation adjustments. After obtaining results, they make further adjustments. Through repeated adjustments, they reach the standards required by the customer's production line. The number of adjustments cannot be predicted, and in some cases, it can exceed 50 times.
It usually takes about 2-3 years to complete the entire customer onboarding process. Replacing upstream material suppliers擅自 (arbitrarily) could affect production efficiency, resulting in financial losses for both parties. Therefore, few customers are willing to spend time testing the domestic supply chain.
The U.S. sanctions and Japan's recent actions are pushing the chip industry toward a path of de-globalization. Under these circumstances, where the risk of supply disruption is high, many companies have started to actively use domestic materials for production testing. This change has a positive impact on China's chip industry.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/7595470360074813987/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.