Global Monopoly of Technology

Another major bottleneck in EUV lithography is undoubtedly photoresist.

The current state of the industry is that the supply of semiconductor materials is very concentrated, and photoresist technology is the material with the highest concentration in the world and the highest barriers, with Japan and North America accounting for 95% of the market share.

Although Samsung Electronics Semiconductor is arrogant, it is also very powerful, but in fact it depends on the face of the Japanese. If the Japanese semiconductor material supplier is stuck in the material, Samsung Semiconductor will be lying in the nest.

There was a temporary technical exchange discussion in the lounge, and an engineer in charge of photoresist technology said in an orderly manner: "In 248nm and 193nm lithography, the mainstream has been using organic chemical amplification for more than 20 years. Photoresist CAR, which is a photopolymer used to create patterns."

Under the extreme ultraviolet lithography machine, the photon special machine CAR photoresist and generate photoacid, and then the CAR photoresist undergoes a photoacid catalytic reaction during the post-exposure process, thereby generating a photolithography pattern.

The principle is this principle.

The engineer continued: "CAR photoresist is used in EUV lithography, but because the energy of the light source is greatly increased, the previous practical results show that different and complex results will appear, which will affect the yield of the chip. ."

Luo Sheng nodded and said: "When we reach the EUV technology node, this is not only our problem, but competitors will also encounter similar problems. We still have to develop new ideas. If you come to the current industry, other semiconductor equipment and material manufacturers will try their best to do their best. In various ways, or new photoresist technology solutions are proposed, so that EUV lithography technology can continue to be used, thereby extending the life of Moore's Law."

The engineer just said again: "In terms of new ideas, several teams in our project team are trying new EUV photoresists in various directions, such as metal oxide photoresists that are still liquid, and dry-type photoresists. Research and development in the direction of photoresist and other directions.”

Luo Sheng thought for a while and said solemnly, "We can't keep our mouths shut. The new EUV photoresist technology is best to contend with a hundred schools of thought, and use the strategy of raising Gu to raise an ASML in the photoresist field."

Hearing this, Li Chunsheng immediately said, "That would cost several times the cost."

Luo Sheng spread his hands and said, "So much has been invested in the semiconductor field, and there is no way out except to bite the bullet and die."

Having said that, he looked at Li Chunsheng and asked, "By the way, what suppliers are there in China for semiconductor photoresist?"

Li Chunsheng: "There are several, but their existing technology and market share are not even a little bit worse than the international top level.

Relatively speaking, several well-known photoresist manufacturers are Kehua, Jingrui, Nanda Optoelectronics, Rongda Photosensitive, and Shencheng Xinyang. In the field of photoresist research, the Cote d'Azur laboratory has technical exchanges with several manufacturers. "

Luo Sheng nodded and didn't say much. He immediately looked at the person in charge of the photoresist project just now and asked, "What are the specific progress in new ideas?"

"The project team is carrying out demonstration research on negative photoresist, whose molecular size is one-fifth of that of CAR organic photoresist. The key point is that the light absorption rate can reach four to five times that of CAR. Precise and more accurate shaping of circuit diagrams.”

Luo Sheng checked the internal database and nodded to himself: "Dry photoresist technology can be invested in. This new EUV dry photoresist technology replaces the traditional CAR photoresist for the semiconductor process. Evolution is promising and could be a huge breakthrough.”

The advantage of this new technology is to improve the sensitivity and resolution of EUV lithography, and it can reduce the amount of photoresist used by five to ten times, bringing significant results in cost savings.

The cost of chips born under new technology nodes is very high, especially in the early stage.

In the current industry, led by organic chemical amplification photoresist CAR and inorganic photoresist n-CAR, liquid photoresist technology is used, and research on new EUV photoresist technology is not only the Côte d'Azur laboratory, but also overseas manufacturers. In actively promoting the development of new technologies, after all, extreme ultraviolet lithography technology is a major trend, this is a fact that will not change.

But only the new EUV photoresist technology of the Côte d'Azur laboratory is based on dry precipitation technology, which is an original technology.

The current mainstream photoresist technology is CAR, that is, the liquid photoresist is spin-coated on the wafer with the coater equipment, and then removed after exposure with a solvent.

The new technology of the Côte d'Azur laboratory is different from the traditional liquid photoresist coating method. Instead, a chemical reaction is carried out in the cavity, so that the dry photoresist is manufactured in chemical vapor deposition or atomic layer deposition, and then removed by etching.

The advantage of this is that it can improve the sensitivity and resolution of imaging and the resolution of EUV lithography exposure.

More importantly, the cost of process wafers can be improved, and these advantages are reflected in more advanced processes.

Luo Sheng closed the data panel, put the work computer aside, and said: "As long as the dry photoresist technology is completed, we can form two camps with Japanese equipment materials, and can break through the existing semiconductor technology rules, which is very important. Crucially, the industry as a whole will also bring about profound changes. There's not much to say, we've invested so much, and there's no other way but to win."

Everyone present nodded silently, and it was also full of fighting spirit. The current breakthrough gave the team great confidence.

It is true that apart from victory, there is no second way to choose, and I believe that victory is inevitable.

The temporary meeting was over, and Luo Sheng personally decided to allocate an additional 450 million yuan to the photoresist project team of the Côte d'Azur experiment to speed up the research and development progress and run multiple lines in parallel.

After leaving the Cote d'Azur laboratory, Luo Sheng called Yao Jianhong to his office half an hour later.

"The Zixing lithography machine should come out. Once it is officially exposed, not only the domestic integrated circuit field will set off turbulent waves, but the global integrated circuit industry will set off violent shocks. ."

Luo Sheng touched each other's fingers and said, paused for a moment and then said: "The breakthrough of lithography equipment is an unprecedented victory, but for the entire semiconductor industry chain, we still have not opened up the high-end area, and 60% of the technical links are still controlled by others. , but the Côte d’Azur product line cannot be interrupted, in short we still need foreign chip supply for a while.”

Now, spending money like flowing water can’t be effectively described, and the income of the Cote d’Azur can’t have a cliff-like collapse.

Game consoles, Azure smartphones, ieP tablets, and another major sideline PC business that will soon be launched must create a stable source of income to ensure profits to maintain the current stability of the company's hematopoietic cycle.

Yao Jianhong lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then looked at Luo Sheng and said, "What do you mean..."

Luo Sheng looked at him and said, "Our actual situation is that 60% of the technical links are still stuck, and it may take another three to five years for a complete breakthrough. This is an objective fact, a breakthrough in technological research. There is also a certain contingency, it does not mean that how much money I put in, and how much I put in, there must be an output."

Yao Jianhong nodded, but did not answer, but continued to listen.

Luo Sheng added: "The real, the real and the fake, the breakthrough of the Zixing lithography machine is a fact. This is our biggest bargaining chip, which can scare foreigners."

Having said this, Luo Sheng couldn't help but smile comfortably. Yao Jianhong thought for a while, and after scrutinizing Luo Sheng's words, it didn't take a moment for him to be enlightened.

"Mr. Luo, you mean that it is not only a breakthrough in EUV lithography machine technology, but a breakthrough in the key technical links of the entire semiconductor industry chain, or the breakthrough is only a matter of time, in fact not all A breakthrough, but because even the extreme ultraviolet lithography machine has been completed, this will give an illusion to outsiders, and other technical links have basically been opened up, thus gaining the dominance of the negotiation.”

Luo Sheng smiled without saying a word, but nodded in approval.

Looking at this issue from the perspective of a competitor, since the technical ban has no effect on Luo Sheng, there is no point in continuing the ban.

In fact, there is an element of gambling in it. The gambling is that those international semiconductor manufacturers believe that Luo Sheng's domestic semiconductor whole industry chain plan has successfully broken through the technical blockade.

However, the seemingly gambling component actually has an inherent logic to follow.

Those international manufacturers also have to eat. Seeing that their market share is about to fail, the original unbreakable covenant will inevitably crack due to differences in interests.

Even the extreme ultraviolet lithography machine has been developed, and it is slightly ahead of ASML. This is an objective fact. For those semiconductor manufacturers in the world, the results they have seen are shocking to them. is unparalleled.

This is an opportunity for Luo Sheng and an opportunity for the domestic semiconductor supply chain.

In addition, for many years, Luo Sheng has been emphasizing in public occasions to be in line with international standards, to actively open up and integrate into the world, to walk on two legs, not only to develop independently, but also to continue to purchase foreign high-end chips to maintain uninterrupted exchanges with the world.

Therefore, even if the Zixing lithography machine comes out and the domestic semiconductor industry chain is opened up, it will continue to cooperate with foreign chip manufacturers.

This is what I said before, so now the Côte d’Azur exposes the Purple Star lithography machine, and then exaggerates the fact that it has opened up the key technical links of the domestic semiconductor industry chain, but I will continue to cooperate with foreign manufacturers, you only need to Sell ​​me chips and I'll buy them.

International competitors will also believe what he says is true.

Because the market is big enough, and Luo Sheng said before that some money can be earned by himself, but if he doesn't earn it, he must leave it to others to earn it.

True and false, false and true, those international manufacturers will involuntarily connect these series of problems for comprehensive analysis, and the result is that their technical advantages are indeed gone, and they will not let go of their arrogant heads. There is no money to be made.

Think about the annual import value of the chip industry in the Greater China market exceeding 300 billion US dollars. In the past, it was necessary to import, but now the Chinese can solve it by themselves.

This is catastrophic news for some overseas companies in the ICT field, especially some semiconductor companies in Silicon Valley. If they do not have the Greater China market, they will starve to death, and a large number of semiconductor companies will definitely go bankrupt. The factory can resist, but business decline is inevitable.

So they dare not gamble because they cannot afford to lose.

Because of this, Luo Sheng dared to gamble, and he had a 100% certainty that he would win. Since he was 100% certain that he could win, it couldn't be called a gamble, but rather strategizing.

Luo Sheng said to Yao Jianhong: "Old Zhang, you send someone to shoot a promotional video for the Zixing lithography machine, and show some technical nodes and achievements that break through the monopoly blockade. It's a bit more beautiful, but the core technicians are mosaic. There are also some core technologies that have been mosaic, and then hyped, the purple star lithography machine is the ace of the trump card of the Jedi comeback, it is no exaggeration to say that this is a decisive factor for the next negotiation, don’t screw it up.”

"Leave it to me."

Yao Jianhong nodded heavily. For a moment, he couldn't help but patted his thigh, and said viciously: "This time the labor and management can slap the table in front of the other side at the negotiating table, and they also dare not speak out. I dare not speak. If you slap the table and leave, the other party doesn’t dare, if I slap the table and leave, the other party has to beg me, and the attack and defense will change.”

Holding technology in one hand and sitting on the US$300 billion Greater China market in the other is unprecedented.

Luo Sheng couldn't help laughing when he saw Yao Jianhong's reaction. He understood his inner emotions very well. He left Silicon Valley more than ten years ago, gave up the high salary there, and took the initiative to come to the Azure Coast to seek a job. A technology company that wanted to make a big splash in the field of integrated circuits was just starting out at that time.

For Cote d'Azur, this breath has been held for eleven years, and for Yao Jianhong personally, he has held this breath for more than 20 years.

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