On February 7, China's first 2.5D/3D packaging lithography machine manufactured by Shanghai Microelectronics rolled off the production line, which means that China has made a new breakthrough in chip back-end equipment, and the West cannot card China's neck in advanced packaging equipment. Although this release is not a front-channel lithography machine for the manufacture of chips, the conversion of etched silicon wafers into chips that can be used still requires the processing of the back-channel lithography machine, and the more advanced the design structure, the higher the requirements for packaging accuracy. In the case that the chip manufacturing process has approached the limit, working the chip structure is a better choice to improve performance, and the package lithography machine delivered by Shanghai Microelectronics this time is no less significant than the front lithography machine for chip manufacturing.
It is reported that the package lithography machine shipped this time is mainly used for high-density heterogeneous integrated chips such as high-performance computing chips and high-end AI chips in high-end data centers, representing the highest level in the field of packaging lithography machines, and is also the best means to improve chip performance at a relatively low cost. At present, Asmail has begun the commercial operation of the 1-nanometer lithography machine, and it can be said that the processing accuracy of silicon-based chips has reached its limit. If you want to continue to improve on this basis, not to mention whether you can do it technically, but the high cost is enough to deter many companies.
As the lithography process is approaching its limits, whether Moore's Law can continue has become a major problem plaguing the microelectronics industry. Under the premise that carbon-based chips and quantum chips cannot yet be commercialized, a better packaging process means that chip performance can be enhanced through the introduction of higher precision chip structures, thereby maintaining Moore's Law and providing a steady stream of new products for the market. From this point of view, Shanghai microelectronics is very forward-looking, because China masters the EUV lithography machine, approaching the process limit of silicon-based chips is what may be completed in the next few years, and paving the way for the subsequent development of chips before this means that China's microelectronics industry can start design work in advance, and the corresponding front-end lithography machine can quickly start the production of new products after it is put into use, thereby accelerating the occupation of the market and more efficiently breaking the monopoly of Western countries.
In addition, unlike Asmail, which specializes in the front road lithography machine, Shanghai Microelectronics is improving the 28-nanometer lithography machine and breaking through the 14-nanometer lithography machine technology, and its market share in the houdao lithography machine is one of the best. At present, the domestic market share of Shanghai Microelectronics' houdao lithography machine is 80%. The international market share has also reached 40%, which is a major hegemon in this regard. Now, Shanghai Microelectronics has mastered the production technology of the most advanced houdao lithography machine, and when the qiandao lithography machine achieves a process breakthrough and the domestic EUV lithography machine is unveiled, the integrity and advanced degree of China's chip manufacturing industry chain will be greatly improved.
In fact, for Shanghai Microelectronics, which itself occupies a large market share in the field of houdao lithography machines, the off-line delivery of 2.5D/3D packaging lithography machines not only means that the company will usher in more orders, but also means that the company can use the market to feed back the 28-nanometer lithography machine and the 14-nanometer lithography machine that are being perfected to accelerate research and development work. For China's entire chip industry, the technological breakthrough of Shanghai microelectronics has also improved the industrial layout, and after the improvement of supporting technologies in the next few years, China can immediately start producing chips of international advanced level.
In addition to the impact of market factors and industrial layout, the advent of domestic 2.5D/3D packaging lithography machine also means that the performance of domestic chips can be greatly improved under the condition that the process process is unchanged. According to TSMC's testing of the 3D packaging process, the performance of chips manufactured through this process can be improved by more than 20 times, and the progress of the 14-nanometer to 7-nanometer process only means about 55% performance improvement. According to the announcement of Zhejiang Haixin Micro Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd., which also masters 3D packaging technology, after using this technology for chip packaging, even chips above 28 nanometers can achieve the performance of 10nm or higher process chips, which shows that this technology has very broad prospects.
At present, China has not yet achieved a major breakthrough in the chip manufacturing process, which has also led to the limited market share of domestic chips. However, now that China has used advanced packaging technology and supporting equipment production technology, it is possible to improve the chip architecture while continuing to improve the chip process, and continue Moore's Law in three-dimensional structure. In this way, before the technological breakthrough of the chip process, domestic chips will greatly improve performance and increase market share. After the emergence of more advanced front-end lithography machines, domestic chips can further improve performance by improving the manufacturing process, strengthen market competitiveness, and break the monopoly of the West. In short, from the current momentum, China's high-level chip industry chain is about to be built, the place where the West can card neck will soon be reduced by one, and China's microelectronics industry will also usher in a new era.